Dublin Travel Diary | Days 1 + 2

At the start of August Sean and I flew out to beautiful Dublin for 4 days. Neither of us had been to Ireland before and with Sean's family links to the country we were super excited to delve into the history and explore the city. Unfortunately we were enjoying ourselves too much to take lots of photos and I'm kicking myself a bit now that I hardly have any to show. Anyway here is a run down of what we got up to in those few days...


Day 1 - After a very early start we arrived in Dublin at around 9am; we were checked into the hotel by 10:30am and by 11am we were riding around on a sightseeing tour bus. We needed to make the most of every second here as we only had a few days. The first few hours were spent viewing the city from the top of the tour bus, taking in lots of information as we went. There really is just so much history here and I think tour busses are one of the best ways to learn a lot in a short amount of time. 

After a few hours of looking at all the touristy stuff we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our first night out. After realising I'd left my hairbrush at home (along with my toothbrush, phone charger and makeup wipes) I sent Sean out to buy me one and we were out not long after 7. The plan was to find a nice place to eat around Temple Bar area as our hotel was 5 minutes away but it was just so busy. I think the amount of people around coupled with being in a new place set me on edge and I just couldn't stay in that area. I was really annoyed at myself for getting so anxious but we soon found a little american dinner that was super cute and dead cheap. 

After our slap up burger meals we headed to The Dublin Hard Rock Cafe for our all time favourite cocktail; The Southern Rock. Me and Sean are trying to visit every Hard Rock eventually and this one marked our 5th! We soon turned in for the night after deciding I just couldn't hack the Dublin nightlife.


Day 2 - The second day was also another early start. We had pre-booked tickets to Kilmainham Gaol for a morning tour but we also really wanted to change hotel rooms. After a lot, and I mean a lot of pleading with the reception staff they were willing to move us but only if we moved right then! With only 5 minutes to spare we packed everything up and popped it into our new, much nicer hotel room. We then dashed off to take one of the most interesting tours I've ever been on. 

I can't even explain the emotions that go through you as you wander around Kilmainham, its so easy to feel sympathetic for the former residents and angry too but I mostly just felt sad for them. As you are told their stories it's so hard not to get emotionally attached to them. The story that spoke to me the most was of Joseph Plunket and Grace Gifford, who were married just hours before his execution. It's really worth reading about those two and the others involved in the Easter Rising but you'll probably cry, don't say I didn't warn you. 

After that emotional rollercoaster we walked down the road from the jail to where Sean's grandad was born. Sean wanted to see the house he used to live in and get some pictures for his grandad. Out of courtesy for the current owners we knocked on to see if was okay to snap some pictures and explained why we were there in the first place. After talking to Patricia the new owner we discovered that Sean is actually related to her husband and we were soon being invited in for tea and to chat about Sean's family! It turns out her husband is Sean's grandad's cousin and they had lost touch when he came over to England 50+ years ago! 

After leaving there we headed back to get ready for our second night and went on the hunt for some traditional Irish stew. Turns out I'm not the biggest fan of Irish stew. We decided to give temple bar another go and despite staying in a few pubs for a little sing song and a couple of pints I really just couldn't enjoy myself. My confidence was virtually none existent that night again and I'm so gutted I let everything get on top of me. For whatever reason I just couldn't get settled and felt sick again for the whole night. 


I was going to put the whole holiday into one post but I've written a lot more than I thought I would so I'll post the second half next week! I hope you guys actually enjoy my ramblings! 

Have you ever been to Dublin before? Did you love it?

Thanks for reading!

xxx

2 comments

  1. Dublin looks so dreamy and I LOVE the fact that you've visited five Hard Rock Cafes, now that's what I call utter dedication, especially when it's in search of a good cocktail ;) It's so lovely that Sean got to chat to Patricia, and that's so special there's so much family history there! Anxiety is the worst, I'm so sorry you had a tough time of it. Being in a new place can be unsettling sometimes to the say the least. I hope you're feeling better now lovely and I'm always here if you need me <3

    Sophie | soinspo xo

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    1. Dublin is seriously the best! We had so much fun despite me getting a bit wobbly here and there! Thank you so much my lovely! xxx

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