Dublin Day 1: We Made It!!

After a cancelled flight to Philly, a 15 min mad dash to our rescheduled flight, and a 6hr flight we made it to Dublin at around 8am Irish time (3am EST). We caught a Dublin bus for 6 euro pp and got dropped off a couple blocks from our hotel in Temple Bar, the Temple Bar Hotel. Despite arriving at 9am, the concierge was very accommodating and gave us a room instead of having us pay for porterage for the day.

After settling in we headed out. First on our list was Trinity College, a mere 3 block walk from our hotel. At Trinity, we went on a 30-min guided tour with a very entertaining guide who was a student at the college. He gave information about the buildings and told stories of traditions and famous pranks. The tour ended at the Old Library, which houses the Book of Kells; however, the line to get in was crazy long. Our guide recommended that we try back later in the afternoon.

From Trinity College, we headed down Grafton Street, a well known pedestrian shopping area, and a couple streets off of Grafton, we had lunch at Busyfeet and Coco Cafe. I had a French sandwich, that had brie, avocado, cucumber, mayo and lettuce and Jon had a sandwich with curry chicken, lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes. My sandwich was very light and had a very interesting flavor (to be honest and mayo kinda made it weird) and Jon's had too much curry on the chicken. Busyfeet & Coco had amazing espresso drinks, though! We really enjoyed their cappuccino and mocha latte.

After lunch, we walked through the beautiful St. Stephen's Green and enjoyed the pleasant weather and nice landscaping. We even ran into a bunch of kids dressed up for "Zombie Day." After observing Zombie day, we headed up a block to the National Archeology Museum. Though it was a small museum they had some amazing exhibits including incredibly well preserved tools, gold jewelry, and BODIES from before and during the Bronze Age. The bogs and swamps in Ireland have the perfect conditions for preservation. The bodies were mind-blowing... you could see their skin, hair, organs, and even finger nails! Unfortunately... no pictures allowed. :(

On our way back to the hotel, we swung through Trinity College again to check out the Book of Kells line. We were pretty tired at this point, so we walked right through the lead-up exhibit, straight to the manuscripts. The miniature artwork drawn by the monks in the 9th century was absolutely spectacular to see in person. A floor above the Book of Kells, we got to walk through the gorgeous Old Library of Trinity College. The beautiful, long room made entirely of wood and stacked from floor to ceiling with book shelves packed with old books was breath-taking.

From here, we headed back to the hotel from a much needed nap. Then, we headed back down to Grafton Street to wander for a bit, before ending up at O'Neill's Pub for dinner and the US-Ghana football game. The atmosphere at O'Neill's was quaint and warm, exactly what you expect out of a pub, and the fish and chips that we ordered for dinner were awesome!

Sunset - 10pm

After dinner we wandered some more around the city before grabbing some gelato for dessert and enjoyed the late sunset.

We are very thankful for our safe travels and what we have experienced thus far. We pray that God would continue to bless our journey and use us to bless the people that we encounter along way.