Saturday in Dublin

On Saturday we got up ahead of schedule and had a wonderful full Irish breakfast at our B&B.  Pat was very accommodating in assuring that we had plenty to eat before our adventure to the big city!  With bus passes in hand, we walked about two blocks to catch a bus into Dublin City.  It was a nice leisurely ride, especially since David did not have to drive on a congested Saturday morning.

Once in town, we walked several blocks (maybe 10?) to the starting point of the Dublin City Hop On/Hop Off (HoHo) tour bus.  The 90 minute loop route provides visitors with the opportunity to learn about and stop at many of Dublin's top attractions.  We only had the one day to see Dublin, which severely limited our choices from the possible 23 stops.

With the Guinness Storehouse a given, we thought that would leave us with three or maybe four additional stops to fill out the day.  What we didn't take into account was that the two OPW historical sites (Dublin Castle and Kilmainham Gaol) were by guided tour, based on scheduling upon arrival so some time would be lost waiting for our tour.

Our first stop on the HoHo bus was for Dublin Castle.  We had an 80 minute wait for our group, which we used to walk further down the hill to the Christ Church and Dublina.  The church was hosting an open market that largely had homemade baked goods and candies; not much in terms of farm type items (vegetables, fruits, etc.).  Dublina is a historical exhibit chronicling the history of the city with particular focus on the Vikings time in Ireland.

After milling around for about 45 minutes, we headed back to Dublin Castle for the start of our group's guided tour.  As was just posted this morning on TripAdvisor, Dublin Castle is not really a castle in function or reality today.  While yes, there was a castle built on this location in 1204, today "Dublin Castle" is an official government building that until the last century, was the official offices of the British government during their rule of Ireland.  It was here at Dublin Castle that the British surrendered to Irish rebels when Ireland gained her independence from Britain in 1922.

 A lot of Ireland's history is contained here and the tour focuses largely on providing that history lesson.  Our guide took us through several of the very impressive "State Apartments" including the State Dining Room, the Throne Room (where the very large throne of King George IV from 1821 is on display) and St. Patrick's Hall (which is still used today for the inauguration of the Irish President).

Only one tower from the original fortified medieval castle, dating back to 1228, remains in tact.  The Bedford Tower built in 1728 is another old structure here that remains in the courtyard which is largely overshadowed by the office like buildings that surround it.  The clock in the tower continues to be fully functional.

After our time at Dublin Castle, we boarded the HoHo and headed to the Guinness Storehouse.  Guinness has built this large visitors' center to tell the story of their beer which dates back to founder Arthur Guinness and the signing of a 9,000 year lease contract to operate the St.James Gate brewery in 1759.  The self-guided walking tour spans the expansive building with multiple floors of story boards, antiques and interactive exhibits.

With the completion of the walking tour, visitors are invited to use their ticket stub to have a pint of Guinness, either at their "pour your own" pint of Guinness on the fourth floor or have them pour it for you in the Gravity Bar on the seventh floor.  There was about a 20 minute wait for David to make it into the "pour your own" but he was able to learn how they do it and pour one for himself.  Since his mom and I don't drink beer, David was able to use one of our tickets for another pint upstairs while we used the last ticket stub for a diet coke.

The Guinness Marketplace has all the makings of a good tourist trap, with plenty of ways to spend your money.  They have an outstanding marketing program that prominently displays their brand throughout Ireland and the world.  For those needing to have a memento from Dublin, there are plenty of opportunities to buy something with the Guinness emblazoned upon it.

After our time at Guinness, we headed to our final tourist destination of the day, the Kilmainham Gaol.  Built in 1796, this prison has also played a very significant role in Irish history especially since our visit coincidentally  came at the 96th anniversary of the execution of 14 Irish rebels who fought England in the 1916 Easter Rising in another failed attempt at independence. After finally achieving her independence in 1922, the prison was decommission in 1924.  Today it stands largely as it did for more than 200 years.

Kilmainham Gaol is another one of the OPW Heritage sites and requires a guided tour to enter and access the buildings and grounds of the prison.  It was very eerie to walk through the narrow halls of the small cells, knowing how poor the living conditions were for the men, women and even children who were sent her for their crimes.

We also visited the work yards, as well as the execution yard where the Easter Rising rebels were killed the week of May 3 - May 12, 1916.  It was a somber reminder to everyone, but especially the Irish, of the sacrifices of many over centuries to achieve their independence from British rule.

Back on the HoHo bus, we went through Phoenix Park, which is one of the largest urban parks in the world.  Not only is it home to a large internationally recognized zoo, it is also the location of the Irish President's residence as well as that of the Ambassador to Ireland from the United States.

Our last stop in Dublin would be for dinner.  Having researched the HoHo bus route, I pinpointed what looked to be a nice pub that was conveniently near one of the 23 stops. Nancy Hands Pub & Restaurant did not disappoint.  With about 90 minutes until the final HoHo bus, we had plenty of time for an early dinner (around 6:30pm) and then back to our B&B in Malahide.

There was a bit of adventure as we exited the HoHo at the final stop and tried to get directions from the driver to our connecting bus that would take us "home" for the evening.  After some walking around rather aimlessly, we finally saw a #42 bus come from around the corner.  As it turned out, the driver providing us with instructions was off by one parallel block or something was lost in the translation.  Either way, we found our way to the correct bus stop and within the hour we were on our way.

It had been a long day and in spite of the exhaustion we felt, we all enjoyed knowing that we had just concluded one heck of a vacation!