A Weekend With The Irish

Eric and I spent our first few days abroad in Dublin, Ireland – what a cool city! The great thing we quickly discovered about Dublin was how walkable it was. It’s not this tiny little town, but it’s definitely small enough that you can cover all the big spots and explore other areas in a weekend on foot.

While I originally was thinking I would just do a post for each city we stopped at, after really going through our photos and recounting all we did, I realize how silly that was. I definitely owe it to myself, Eric, and anyone else who is interested to really recount all the great moments we had and share all the things that made our vacation so perfect! Today, I’m happy to be sharing a few of the beautiful sights we saw around Dublin.

We got in early in the morning to our hostel, and were tired from the long, full day of travel we’d just finished – but the adrenaline of being in this new place kept us going! The hostel we stayed at was called the Four Courts Hostel and I would definitely recommend it. The staff was so friendly and helpful, our facilities were clean, and they offered a walking tour and pub crawl – both of which we loved!

Eric and I immediately joined in on the free walking tour upon arrival and covered amazing ground. Two of the big landmarks we saw included Dublin Castle and Trinity College. Both were so beautiful! I loved the historic architecture of the buildings. Dublin Castle didn’t look like what I envisioned a castle might look like at first, but as we walked around and learned about its past, I could definitely see it come to life!

A couple fun facts about that castle – you may have noticed Lady Justice carrying the scale on the right side of the castle in the first photo above. While Lady Justice’s scale is supposed to be even to represent fairness and equality, this particular statue’s scale is always off balance. One tray lays under her arm, and therefore never catches any rain, etc., so the one that is not under her arm always sinks a little lower.

The last photo above is the helicopter landing pad behind the castle. It’s a neat little park area that people lounge around on. Those carved paths that you see above though, actually form one giant Irish welcome symbol. Anyone who lands here gets a friendly Irish welcome!

Bonus pic of Eric doing some dramatic role play –

Trinity College is gorgeous. We talked to a few people during our time walking around there, and everyone was so friendly. The famous Book of Kells, a manuscript of the Gospel in Latin, is on display here, but Eric and I ended up exploring more of the college on foot after seeing what a crazy long line there was and deciding paying for a ticket wasn’t a priority for us. If that is something of super interest to you when you visit, I would come prepared to wait or see if you can buy tickets ahead of time!

Another really cool thing Eric and I got to do during our weekend in Dublin, was attend a Sunday church service at St. Paul’s Cathedral. This was the first of many churches we saw while abroad, and it did not disappoint in the grandeur you often here about when European churches are discussed. The intricate carvings throughout the whole church, especially on the pulpit, were so beautiful. Impressive statues lined the halls. After the service, the kind church regulars even provided us coffee to sip on as we wandered through the cathedral.

The Dublin streets we walked through were just as cool as these buildings – so vibrant and bustling with people, with facades that made me feel like I was being transported to another little village in time. Some of my favorite things about Dublin, and pretty much all of Europe, were all the colorful doors that finished off so many of the buildings. Not gonna lie, we have quite a few pics posed in front of them, trying to look all cool and stuff.

We loved our first few days abroad and getting to spend them here in this friendly, cultured city! I’m looking forward to sharing more with you guys this week from our time in Ireland – including our tours of the Guinness Storehouse and the Jameson Distillery.

Happy Wednesday!