Sabbatikos

Tawny and I arrived in Dublin a day before Clara and Ian. This gave us time to explore the city and gather our bearings before they arrived.

I had visited Dublin years ago for work, and ever since, I’ve wanted to go back and bring my family for a vacation throughout Ireland.

We checked into the very posh, The Shelbourne hotel, located just across from St. Stephen’s Green. Having just flown in we started our exploration of Dublin with a walk through the park to fend off our jet lag. We left the park through Fusiliers Arch and walked down Grafton Street towards Trinity College, the touristy Temple Bar, up to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, down to the Dublin Castle, and eventually making our way over the River Liffey to the 120 meter tall Dublin Spire. It was a lot of walking, but we felt it gave us a good feel for the city.

We walked back towards our hotel, and found Fade Street Social, where we had a very good dinner before heading to Toner’s Pub (near our hotel) for one last pint.

The following day, Clara and Ian arrived midday and we took them on a similar tour of the city to try and keep them awake until a reasonable hour so they could adjust to Dublin time. We visited an interesting exhibit at the Coach Head Gallery at Dublin Castle.

Afterwards we took them to Temple Bar for pints, dinner at Elephant & Castle (where the chicken wings had been recommended by a work colleague – she wasn’t wrong! We revisited these wings again when in Galway), more pints, and some live Irish Music at The Oliver St. John Gogarty. A good introduction to Ireland.