Ireland/Sweden 2014: Dublin, Ireland: Part 2

Before I left on my trip I had looked up a couple of different walking tours that I could take of Dublin. I only had a few hours, so I wasn't sure how much I could get done. I also didn't want to spend money on tours and such as this was only my first stop of many. It's a good thing I planned that way, as I was in complete sticker shock when I got there. I kept thinking that I was doing my conversions wrong.

 

As I had started at the Dublin Castle (see Ireland/Sweden 2014: Dublin, Ireland: Part 1) I decided to do the Photographer's Walking Tour from Tripadvisor. I highly suggest using these itineraies. So from Dublin Castle and Chester Beatty Library (which I forgot to photograph) I made my way to Christchurch Cathedral.

 

 

Christchurch Cathedral was founded in 1028 and is the oldest structure in Dublin. 1028! That blew my mind, that I was standing taking pictures of a building that is almost 1000 years old.

 

The beauty of the architecture had me wishing I could stay there longer and taking even more pictures as I walked away.

 

I then tried to find Wood Quay. I never really did find it, but I did find these fun Viking ships as I walked.

 

 

This isn't a good picture, but this is the Viking museum. This is the only place in Dublin I wished that I had money and time to spend to see inside.

 

I think Lindsborg needs to put one of these bench areas in one of our parks. It was exciting to stumble upon this.

 

Next stop, Cow's Lane and Temple Bar. I'm not quite sure why Temple Bar is such a tourist attraction. I didn't get a drink there, though I thought about it. Just one more reason to go back.

 

Side note - I saw several Temple Bars in Sweden, but I didn't stop at those either.

 

This was a cute little square that was part of Cow's Lane. 

 

As I was looking for the City Hall and a few other small stops, I saw this art work on some of the buildings I passed. I took these pictures for my sister and the artists I have come to know.

 

After looking for a while and deeming that I was lost, I decided to move on to the Dublin Highlights tour. I was actually slightly disappointed with this one, but I did see more of Dublin.

First stop was the Bank of Ireland.

 

As I walked on I had to snap a picture of the Guinness sign. ;)

 

I then crossed the Ha'Penny (Liffey) Bridge. I was pleasantly surprised by all of the different styles of bridges that were all along this main road.

 

 

I've learned I LOVE water views.

 

An Irish fire truck. I took this picture for my dad.

 

Couldn't resist taking a picture of the Yellow Brick Road.

 

The Ha'Penny Bridge. You can see all the iron work that goes all along this bridge. We have then gotten to our next attraction.

 

 

The Daniel O'Connell Statue. Apparently the four winged sculptures represent Patriotism, Fidelity, Courage and Eloquence. O'Connell was one of the first (or the first) Catholic elected into Parliament.

 

Then I walked down the street to the GPO (General Post Office). It was the headquarters for the 1916 Rising. (I really should look up some Irish history so I know what all this means.)

 While I got quite a bit closer to The Spire, I thought it was more impressive to see it in it's entirety. Something you can't really capture right under it. You can see it in the back ground of the above picture. The tall pointy thing. The Spire is the world's largest sculpture.

 

The above statue was the last of my 'tour'. It's the start of O'Connell Street. The statue is the Charles Stewart Parnell monument. He apparently made quite the impression in his short 45 years, but the description doesn't exactly say what he did.

There were quite a few other monuments on that tour, but none of people that I really heard about, so I passed on taking pictures of them.

 

By this time I only had about an hour left before I needed to make my bus. I tried to meander a bit, but didn't want to stray to far. I sat on bench by the water for a while and peopled watched, but found out quickly that some of my jetlag was starting to set in. To the bus station I went.

 

I had hoped to stay awake on the bus ride to Belfast, but that didn't happen. These are two of the seven photos I was awake enough to take. 

 

Next stop Belfast, Northern Ireland and catching up with Heather and Phil McCollum.

 

 



Ireland/Sweden 2014: Dublin, Ireland Part 1

Many of you know that I was blessed enough to make a third trip to Sweden. Along with Sweden, I decided to make a 1 1/2 day side trip to Ireland. When else would I get the chance to go to Ireland, for just a couple hundred dollars.

 

I had posted some pictures on Facebook, but there are stories that I was unable to tell with just pictures. So here are some of the stories, with more pictures of course.

 

I left Kansas City on May 27. The flight to Chicago went smoothly. I knew I would only have about 30 minutes to get to the next gate, so in Chicago I hustled to get there. I had decided to only take a carry on (messenger bag) and a hiking back pack, which counted as my large carry on. No checked luggage. I'm still not sure if that was a good idea or not. It got really heavy when I had to move quickly, or go up hill, or just anytime really.

 

Back to the flights. I made it to the gate about 5 minutes before they started loading the plane. Whew. As a storm started to roll into Chicago, the plane was delayed for about 30 minutes. Making my supper start late (I wanted to go to sleep as soon as I could, but was starving.) This did however let me watch a movie. Other than the time issue, the flight went pretty well, but I didn't sleep well. That would make for a long next day.

 

I got into Heathrow about 9:20am (30 minutes late), which gave me only 30 minutes to get through the maze of hallways and 4 security check points. At times I was literally running in the airport and that backpack was getting heavier and heavier. But I got to the gate and got on the plane. Yes, I was the gross, sweaty, smelly person on that flight.

 

*Funny side note about flying into Heathrow. I had chosen Ireland over England, because flying to Ireland was cheaper (even though I had a connecting flight in London). Hmmm. I don't get it. I flew over Ireland 2 hours before I got on a flight to fly to Ireland. I think something is messed up there.

 

I finally got into Dublin airport about 11am on Wednesday, May 28. By the time I took the bus to Dublin city center I had about 4 1/2 hours before my bus to Belfast. Luckily the bus station had lockers. I felt so much lighter with out my bags.

 

The main thing in Dublin I wanted to see, was Dublin Castle. So that was stop one. (I mostly used my feet as transportation around the cities that I visited). So off I went.

 

 

 

 

 

Dublin Castle! It was established by English King John in 1204 AD, on the corner of the Viking town Dyflinn. I'm a sucker for this type of history. In this picture you see the Cathedral and one of the towers.

 

 

 

 

The beauty of this cathedral was amazing to see. I could have spent a lot of time in reflection and ah, but I knew I only had a limited amount of time to see more of the city. 

 

 

This was the gardens of the castle. The building across from the garden in the above picture was the stables. I spent some time sitting on a bench (eating my lunch of a couple of granola bars and Slim Jims).

 

 

I was told (and believe it to be true) that it is very rare to see the sky so blue. It was perfect temperature the entire day. Where I was standing to take this picture was in front of the Chester Beatty Library. I somehow did not get a picture of this.  I ducked into the library, and wish now I would have gone up to the roof, but at the time I just wanted to walk around the city more.

 

This is where my walking tour really began. Stay tuned for those pictures.

 

 

Wrapping it up

It's been over two years. I'm going to finish the bucket list, but not the facts. At least I can say I half way finished this project and hopefully I can do better with my new projects.

11. To sing in the Messiah
10. To sell something from my Etsy store (yes, I know I need to actually put things back on there in order for this to happen)
9. Own a Jeep Wrangler
8. Travel to Australia/New Zealand and see more of Europe
7. See the rodeo in Cheyenne, WY
6. Watch a K-State football game from the press box
5. Buy a pair of Jimmy Choo or Louboutin shoes
4. Learn to make Swedish Pizza
3. Complete this blog list (seriously, I don't know why it's so hard to think of 30 things I want to do?)
2. Learn to shoot a bow and arrow.
1. Find the one God has chosen for me, get married and start a family.

Ok, folks sorry this took so long and thanks for sticking with me.