Dublin Sightseeing

I must say, that Dublin charm is beginning to get to me. Whether it be jet-lag or culture shock, at first I wasn't too sure of the city. However, as we have spent more time acclimating to the city itself, I am becoming enchanted with it.

Yesterday once we got into Dublin, we were met with our Learn International Operations Coordinator and Irish man, Mark Mullally. (Just imagine him saying his name in his beautiful Irish accent!) Mark took us on a brief tour of the streets of Dublin in order for us to get an idea of how to navigate the bustling city. He was very knowledgable, educating our group on the rich historic city. To finish the day off, we went to The Church. It is the former 18th century St. Mary's Church that was turned into a restaurant. The food was absolutely delicious! If you ever find yourself in Dublin, The Church is a must.

The outside door of our accommodations at Trinity College Dublin. Isn't it charming?

My traditional Irish stew I ate at The Church.

My Bailey's cheesecake for dessert at The Church.

Overlooking the River Liffey

Today was filled with lots of sightseeing. Our group went on a Dublin city tour bus first thing in the morning. We got to see the many sights Dublin has to offer, including the Custom House, St. Patrick's Castle, and the Guinness Storehouse to name a few. After the lovely bus tour of Dublin, we got to see the famous Book of Kells in the Trinity College Library. Aside from the beautiful illuminated manuscript, Trinity College Library also has The Long Room, which is a huge library full of over 200,000 books. This library is the dream of book nerds all over the world. This is another must see.

A spire which commemorates the millennium (2000). We were informed that in true Irish fashion the spire was finished after the year 2000.

View of the bustling streets of Dublin

A picture of the Parliament House in Dublin. There are no windows in the building. There are two explanations for this: 1) there were taxes on how many windows a building had, so they opted for no windows to avoid paying the tax, or 2) the men who worked in parliament didn't need to be distracted by the beautiful Irish women walking by throughout the day.

The front of the Parliament House in Dublin.

Side view of the Daniel O'Connell statue.

St. Andrew's Parish Church

A Guinness arch near the storehouse.

The home of the Irish president.

A picture from the bus tour as we passed by the Temple Bar area.

The Perch is a cafe on Trinity's campus. The owl logo is intriguing.

The Long Room

A bookshelf in The Long Room. Notice how the books are placed with the largest ones on the bottom and the smallest ones on the top.

The gorgeous gold Latin placed between the two levels of The Long Room.

After the Book of Kells, a few members of my group split up to see more stops on the bus tour. The group I went with traveled back to St. Patrick's Cathedral. The church is absolutely beautiful, and I imagine the inside is too. A few group members and I are hoping to catch Mass there. From the cathedral, we traveled out to the War Memorials Garden. When the bus came to the stop, it kept going. We never stopped. So while I was excited to see the memorial garden for Irish soldiers who fought in WWI, we weren't able to see it. Fear not though for we checked out the Wellington Monument instead, which was dedicated to the Duke of Wellington commemorating his victory over Napoleon at Waterloo.

Sign outside of St. Patrick's Cathedral with times for Mass

St. Patrick's Cathedral

The crest on the outside gate leading to St. Patrick's Cathedral

A fountain in St. Patrick's Park and a neat building behind it.

The Wellington Monument in Phoenix Park

A close up of one of the sides of the Wellington Monument. The left writing is Latin, and the right is translated into English.

A close up of another side of the monument. The plaque underneath says Waterloo.

Following the monument, we ventured back to Temple Bar in order to grab a bite to eat. After being a tad indecisive on where to eat, we finally settled on Leo Burdock's for some traditional fish and chips. You can't be over in Europe and not have fish and chips, come on. You better believe I sprinkled lemon juice and malt vinegar on it, and it was scrumptious!

Overall, today has awoken the spirit of traveling and adventure in me. I am excited to continue experiencing Dublin and all it has to offer. I just know the next two weeks here will be an absolute blast! I may turn out to be a Dubliner yet. Stay tuned.

**Each picture is a slideshow. Make sure you click the arrows on the right to flip through all of them.**