Dublin, Ireland - April 17th to 21st and May 16th to 17th, 2025

Dublin is a large city, with a lot of history, and a lot of things to see and do. It was our introduction to Ireland and we quickly learned a lot of Irish history. Dublin was where we entered Ireland and our last stop before we left Ireland. This post covers both of those visits to Dublin.

Thursday was a travel day, from Conwy in Wales to Dublin in Ireland. We had an early train from Llandudno Junction to Holyhead, where we would catch the ferry over to Dublin.

We woke up at 6 am, skipped breakfast at the Old Station Hotel, drank coffee and tea in the room, then walked across the street to the train station at 7 am. Our train wasn’t until 7:38 am, but we didn’t want to miss it. The train was an Avanti Coast, which we hadn’t traveled on yet. Avanti Coast is operated by the Italian train company Trenitalia. We had seat reservations, but the train was pretty empty. It was a comfortable ride, arriving in Holyhead at 8:22 am.

There are two ferry lines that allow foot passengers from Holyhead to Dublin. One is Stena Line and the other is Irish Ferries. Our reservation was with Irish Ferries, on the Dublin Swift, which is a high speed catamaran ferry. We’ll be taking a slower one on the way back in a month so we can compare the two types of ships that Irish Ferries operates.

The ferry terminal is right next to the train station in Holyhead. Check in doesn’t start until an hour before sail time with the last check in just 30 minutes before. Our ferry wasn’t until 10:45, so we had over an hour before we could check in. There were places to sit inside the terminal along with a little convenience store with food. Ann picked up a packaged yogurt with granola and dehydrated strawberries while Keith just had a coffee.

At check in, they checked our passports along with our booking number and gave us luggage tags for our checked luggage. Then we went through security, similar to an airport, and sat in a waiting lounge. The ferry was docked about a mile from the terminal building, so at 10:15 am, they took our checked bags and loaded us onto a bus. The bus drove us right up to the vehicle ramp of the ferry, where we got out and went up the stairs to the passenger deck. The drivers of the loaded vehicles joined us after parking their vehicles on the car deck.

The ship was nice. There were plenty of comfortable seats for everyone along with a brasserie and a bar. The brasserie was serving a full breakfast. We didn’t notice if it was a full English breakfast or a full Irish breakfast, as there isn’t much difference between the two. It is our understanding that the difference is that an Irish breakfast usually has Irish soda bread and white pudding instead of black pudding and potatoes.

Although the brasserie also had some pastries, there was a better pastry selection at the bar. Ann opted for a blueberry muffin along with a pain au chocolat while Keith got an apple cinnamon muffin. We were impressed with the food. It all seemed fresh and made in the kitchen right on the ship. As we were leaving the boat in Dublin, we could see the brasserie switching out the breakfast food for lunch food, as they prepare for the trip back to Holyhead.

The ride on the Dublin Swift took only two hours and 15 minutes, so we arrived at 1 pm. The Irish Sea was pretty calm the whole way, so it was a pretty smooth ride. Once we arrived in Dublin, the foot passengers had to wait until all the vehicles were off the ship before disembarking. There was no bus at this end, but it was a short walk from the ferry to the terminal to collect our bags. There was also no customs check, at least when we went through. Perhaps because they already checked our passports when leaving Holyhead.

Our hotel was too far from the ferry terminal to walk. We could see a taxi stand right outside the terminal on Google Maps, but when we walked out, no taxis were there. Keith got on his phone and ordered a taxi through Uber. It initially said it would arrive in ten minutes, then twenty, then eight, then 15. After waiting for about 20 minutes, a taxi pulled up (not the one we ordered), so we hopped in and cancelled our Uber. The ride cost us a little over 20 euros and he only took cash. We wanted to tip him a couple of euros, but he didn’t have anything smaller than a 5 euro bill for change, so we ended up paying 25 euros. The Uber we had ordered was going to be around 17 to 18 euros before a tip, but they didn’t show up, so we felt 25 euros was fair enough.

Our hotel was the Waterloo House Townhouse & Suites. It is an old Georgian property in a quiet neighborhood. We reserved a queen room which was comfortable for the two of us. There was no breakfast with the room, but we were not lacking for calories so far on this trip. There was coffee and tea in the room which would hold us until we went out for something more.

We arrived at the townhouse around 2:30 pm. It was not raining and we knew the forecast for the next two days included a lot of rain. So we took advantage of the weather and walked over to St. Stephen’s Green. It is a lovely park with trees, fountains, statues, and flowers. Stephen’s Green is the site where most of the Easter Rising took place in April 1916. The armed insurrection was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland. Throughout the park are informational signs about the history of the Easter Rising. The Easter Rising Commemoration Parade is held every year on Easter Sunday to remember the 1916 Rising. Easter was just a few days away.

On the way back from Stephen’s Green, we stopped at Searsons for dinner. It was only 5:30 pm, but the place was already packed. We managed to get a table for two, but we could see most of the empty tables had reserved signs on them, so we felt lucky. The rotisserie chicken sounded good to both of us. It’s probably not the most traditional Irish item on their menu, but Keith made up for it by having a Guinness. The food was delicious.

Friday was cold with light rain all day. Not looking forward to going out into the rain, we took our time before leaving the townhouse. After having a cup of coffee and tea along with an immune boost drink, we reluctantly put on our warm layers and rain coats and ventured out into the nasty weather.

Our first stop was something to eat. Just a few blocks from the townhouse was Sprout & Co Kitchen. It’s not traditional Irish food, but rather a locally sourced, seasonal, healthy fast food restaurant. It seemed like something that would be at home in Boulder, Colorado, similar to a Mad Greens or CAVA back in the States. Ann had the Middle Eastern Chicken while Keith had the Chicken Cashew Crunch. Our meals tasted fantastic. Ann didn’t realize how much she was craving fresh vegetables and her meal hit the spot.

From there we headed to St. Stephens Green to pick up a hop-on, hop-off bus for a tour of the city. There are several different hop-on, hop-off bus tour companies, but we went with the green bus of DoDublin. As we approached the bus stop, we saw a bus sitting there so we hustled over. However, the bus was just their office where you could buy tickets and the next bus would be by to pick us up in about 15 minutes. In the meantime, we could sit inside the office bus, out of the rain, until the next bus arrived. How nice! Since we were seniors, it was 30 euros per person for the 24 hour ticket. We could have saved 10% if we had purchased them online.

The buses are double-decker, with the upper deck mostly open and uncovered. When we hopped on board, there were no seats available below, and only a few seats available above, under the partial roof. We took the two seats right at the end of the roof. So our seats were dry, but the rain would hit our backs every now and then when the wind shifted, but Ann liked the opportunity to get some pictures during the tour without shooting through the wet windows.

The tour takes about two hours to complete, without getting off, which is what we did. We like getting an overview of everything, then deciding where we want to go afterwards. We don’t mind walking, so we don’t really use the bus as transportation. There was also a secondary route, about 45 minutes long that we could have taken as well, but we skipped that.

After our tour, we were ready to go inside somewhere to warm up. Our rain jackets were doing a great job keeping us dry, but our feet were wet and a little cold. From Stephen’s Green, we walked the length of Grafton Street, the main pedestrian mall of Dublin. Just a few blocks from the end of the pedestrian street was the Oliver St. John Gogarty in the Temple Bar area. Temple Bar has become a very touristy area that most locals avoid. But Gogarty has traditional Irish music for most of the day, starting at 2:30 pm, so we thought we give it a try.

The bar was packed when we walked in, but we found an empty table near the back and sat down. We couldn’t see the band from there, but we could hear them well. It was a little early for dinner, so Keith had a pint of Guinness and Ann drank a ginger ale while we enjoyed the music before ordering some food. Then we both had some Irish soup to warm us up and another round of drinks. Our total bill came to 76.60 euros, a little pricey for some OK quality, but we still enjoyed it.

We learned later that there was a restaurant upstairs along with music up there as well. Since we didn’t go upstairs, we don’t know what that area was like. We’re guessing it would feel a little less crowded with everyone sitting down and probably a little less rowdy. Downstairs there were people who had a few too many drinks under their belts, but everyone was in a good mood having a good time while we were there.

It was about half an hour walk or so to get back to our townhouse. By the time we returned, our gloves, pants, socks, and shoes were wet, but our rain jackets kept the rest of us dry. It felt good to change out of our wet clothes and make a couple of hot teas to warm back up.

Saturday was another cold, rainy day in Dublin. However, the rain was a little lighter, so our pants, shoes, and socks did not get soaked like the day before which made it a little more comfortable.

We got a little earlier start, leaving the townhouse around 9:30 am. Our first stop was a coffee shop for a light breakfast. It was Easter weekend and many of the little coffee shops were closed so we kept walking towards the more touristy parts of town. Café Nero, an Italian coffee shop, was the first one we came to that was open. Keith had cappuccino with a raspberry croissant while Ann had a chai latte with an almond croissant and a Sicilian lemon curd muffin. It was a great way to start the morning.

From there, we walked over to the Dublin Castle for a guided tour. We arrived just after 10:30 am and snagged the last two tickets for the 11 am tour. You can choose between a guided tour and a self-guided tour. The guided tour takes you into a couple of areas that the self-guided tour does not, such as the remains of the powder tower underneath the treasury and the Chapel Royal. We would recommend the guided tour as we learned a lot about Ireland’s history from our tour guide.

The castle was originally a medieval fortress, built by King John of England, on top of an earlier Viking settlement. A major fire in 1684 severely damaged most of the castle. After the fire, the castle was rebuilt as a Georgian palace, with a suite of grand reception rooms called the State Apartments to accommodate the Viceroy. The Viceroy was appointed by the King of England to act on his behalf in Ireland. In 1922, the castle was turned over to the newly-independent Irish State. State ceremonies are still held at the Castle.

After our tour, we headed over to Fallon & Byrne Food Hall for lunch. The ground floor is a market with a delicatessen, cheese shop, and coffee & pastry counter. Upstairs is a dining room and restaurant. Downstairs is a wine cellar. We opted for a couple of sandwiches and split a pasta salad from the deli. Keith had a ham and cheese toastie while Ann had the humdinger. The humdinger was goat cheese, rocket (arugula), grilled vegetables (such as bell peppers), and tomato pesto. Ann opted to have the sandwich toasted, which made it rather messy, but delicious. The pasta salad contained cucumbers and thinly sliced spicy red peppers.

Seating inside the food hall was rather limited on the ground floor, just one long table and a counter along the windows with stools. We started out standing next to a small spot on the table to put our food. Shortly thereafter, we were able to grab a couple of stools as they became available. As we were leaving, we noticed that there were some small tables outside along the street, partially protected from the rain under some awnings.

We had tickets for a 2 pm tour of the Teeling Distillery, so we made our way over there. It was about a 20 minute walk. We arrived early, so they let us join the 1:20 pm tour instead. The guided tour of the distillery was followed by a tasting. We chose the cheapest option, tasting just the Teeling Small Batch Whiskey along with a seasonal whiskey cocktail. We’re not big fans of whiskey as we were there mainly for the tour. The cocktail was more to our liking than the straight whiskey.

After our tour and tasting, we hung out in the cafe at the distillery. The only thing left on our planned itinerary for the day was listening to some Irish music at O’Donoghue’s Bar. The music didn’t start until 5 pm, so we had some time to kill. At the cafe, we both had the Moroccan Dust tea and split a raisin danish.

O’Donoghue’s Bar turned out to be a disappointment. The place was packed, with more locals than tourists. There is a partially covered beer garden with also seats inside. We couldn’t find a place to sit outside, so we grabbed a table just inside the open door of the bar. We nursed a pint of Guinness and a glass of ginger ale until the music was supposed to start. We found out that the group would be playing just outside in the beer garden. After our first round of drinks, we ordered some food along with a second round of drinks. Our food options were a ham & cheese toastie, a bowl of tomato soup, or both. We chose both. The soup was OK and the toastie was rather pitiful.

We thought we would be able to hear the music through the open door, but we were wrong. Every now and then, we could hear a drum beat, but that was it. So we finished our food, grabbed our drinks, and went into the beer garden to stand and listen to the music. The music was not amplified and the crowd of people were so loud, that we could barely hear the music when we were standing about ten feet from the musicians. We also noticed that many people in the beer garden were bringing their own food in from other places, such as pizza and sandwiches. We stood there for only a few songs as we finished our drinks, then we left. Perhaps the music is better when the crowds are smaller. It was a Saturday evening on a holiday weekend. But we wouldn’t recommend this place for music when it’s crowded nor for food anytime.

On the way back to our townhouse, we stopped at a Tesco Express. Keith needed some more ant-acid. When we returned to our room, there was an Easter card along with some Cadbury chocolate waiting for us. What a nice touch!

Sunday, Easter, was another overcast day. It rained off and on, but, unlike the previous two days, there were actually several periods throughout the day when it wasn’t raining.

For breakfast, we stopped at the Beanhive. Keith grabbed a carrot cake muffin while Ann picked out a poppy seed muffin. The muffins were huge, even by American standards. To wash them down, we had our usual cappuccino and chai latte. Beanhive had quite a variety of breakfast food, including a full breakfast. We’ll be back.

Then we went for a walk. We strolled up and down the River Liffey, crossing over the Ha’penny Bridge. It is a small cast iron bridge. Before the bridge, ferries were used to cross the river, all operated by William Walsh. The ferries were in bad condition and Walsh was informed that he either had to fix the ferries or build a bridge. Building a bridge was the cheaper option, so the bridge was opened in 1816. The initial toll charged was a halfpenny, or ha’penny. The toll was raised to a penny ha’penny before being dropped in 1919.

We worked our way through the streets on the north side of Liffey before ending up near the General Post Office (GPO) to check out the Easter Rising ceremonies. The area in front of the GPO was fenced off with solid fencing so we couldn’t see exactly what was happening in front of the GPO. We could hear music from military bands and bagpipers playing, along with some people speaking. Where the fencing was lower and not solid, there were military personnel lined up. We watched them march over to the GPO.

Then we were able to walk to the other side of O’Connell Street where we saw a public entrance to the GPO area. Since everyone had to go through a security check and we weren’t sure how much longer the ceremony was going to last, we decided not to enter.

Instead we went for another walk along the River Liffey. This time we ventured farther down, all the way to the N1 or R108, where the Brazen Head pub is. Along the way, a motorcade passed by. We’re assuming it was the president of Ireland heading to the ceremony. Later, three military jets flew over.

The Brazen Head is Ireland’s oldest pub, being established in 1198. They were scheduled to have traditional Irish music from 3 to 6 pm. We were planning to go there for dinner and wanted to make sure they were indeed open on Easter. It was a few minutes before noon, and there were people outside waiting to get in.

We had tickets for a walking tour of Trinity College scheduled for 2 pm, so we headed back towards the college. For lunch, we went to the Avoca Food Hall, not far from the campus. Avoca is a department store, with a food hall in the basement and a cafe upstairs. The food hall had premade sandwiches and other food items. We both had a spinach and tomato tart, which they kindly heated up for us. There were a few tables to sit and eat at. It was not crowded this time, so we had no problems getting a seat.

The tour of campus was given by a college student. He had some wonderful stories to tell about the rich history of Trinity. Trinity College was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I. For the longest time, only protestants were allowed to attend. All religious restrictions were finally lifted in 1970.

After our walking tour, we went into the Trinity College Old Library, which was included in our combined ticket. The library is a legal deposit library, containing a copy of every book published in Great Britain and Ireland. There are about five million books in the library.

A restoration project for the library is currently underway, so many of the books had already been carefully removed. Each book is carefully cleaned and scanned before being boxed up and stored. The library will be shut down at the end of the year for the multi-year restoration.

When we visited, many of the books had already been removed. However, there were still enough books there to make the Long Room look very impressive. Also housed in the Long Room is a copy of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic and the Brian Boru harp. The harp is what the Guinness trademark and Ireland’s coat of arms is based on.

The most famous item in the library is the Book of Kells. The Book of Kells is an illustrated manuscript of the first four Gospels of the New Testament of the Bible. It is believed to have been created by a Columban monastery around 800 AD. The Book of Kells has been kept by Trinity College since 1661. No pictures are allowed to be taken of the book.

In addition to visiting the Old Library, our ticket included going through the Book of Kells Experience, which was in a temporary building. It was a high-tech virtual experience of the library. However, we didn’t feel like it added much to our experience, since we were able to visit the Old Library and see the Book of Kells. However, we guessing that the temporary exhibit is more for when the Old Library is closed for renovations.

After visiting Trinity College, we walked all the way back to the Brazen Head Pub. Music was already playing when we arrived. However, the band was in a small bar section of the pub and that area seemed rather packed. Since we wanted to eat, we waited to be seated in the restaurant area of the pub. We couldn’t hear the music from there, so we were a little disappointed. However, the food was great. Keith had the bangers and mash while Ann ordered the bacon (ham) and cabbage. To drink, Ann had the Rockshore Cider. Keith mixed it up a little bit by having a Brazen Lager instead of a Guinness.

After finishing our meal, we left our table and took our drinks over to the bar area. We stood for a couple of songs, then worked our way over to the far side of the bar where we managed to snag a couple of stools to sit down. We are so glad we gave the bar area another chance. We stayed, enjoying the music and another round of drinks until almost 7 pm, after the band finished their session.

The bar was filled with locals and tourists alike. Many of the locals knew the words to half the songs and sang along. An Irish dancer took the small floor space and gave us a show for one song. He was very impressive. The band invited a singer to come join them for a song several times. Everyone seemed to show their respect and quiet down so we could hear the un-amplified voices of the singers. After the band finished playing, we briefly chatted with the group of locals sitting next to us. One woman said that she comes every Sunday for the music. This was the traditional Irish music experience we were looking for.

From Brazen Head, it was about a 45 minute walk back to our Townhouse. We were still smiling by the time we reached our room.

Monday, the sun made an appearance, at least for part of the day. The sunshine felt so good. We started our morning by going back to Beanhive for breakfast. This time Ann had the yogurt and granola while Keith had a croissant with our chai latte and cappuccino. And again, the portions were large. The yogurt and granola had mixed berries and a banana on top, with mixed nuts and honey on the side. The baristas made some lovely art on top of our drinks.

From there, we walked over to the Guinness Storehouse for our 11 am tour. Keith wanted to do the guided tour, but when we tried to book our tickets a few days earlier, the guided tours were sold out for our whole stay in Dublin. We opted for the self-guided tour instead.

If you want to see the inside of the actual brewery, this is not the tour for you. If you don’t like crowds, this is not the tour for you. However, we enjoyed the experience. It is seven floors, which take you through brewing process from the four ingredients to the old process of coopering, or making wooden barrels, by hand. There is a beer tasting room, where they explain the aromas and how to properly taste a Guinness. Another floor takes you through the history of their advertising. The Guinness Academy is on the fourth floor, where you can learn how to pour a proper Guinness and get your picture printed on top the foam of a pint of beer. Extra charges apply at the Academy, so we skipped that part.

We stopped in the Arrol Suite before our beer tasting. The Bodhrán Buzz were giving lessons on how to play an Irish drum, called a Bodhrán. Ann joined in. It was fun.

On the fifth floor, there are two restaurants and a bar. We decided to stop and have lunch at the bar. Keith had the Corncutter’s Lunch, which is similar to the Ploughman’s Lunch that we had in England. It is basically cold cuts, pickles, and bread. Ann ordered the beef & Guinness pie which came with Guinness soda bread. She was expecting the pie to come inside a pie shell, but it only had a crispy puff pastry lid on top. Soda bread is a quick bread made with buttermilk. This version was dark in color, probably due to adding Guinness as an ingredient.

Then we headed up to floor seven (there is no place to stop on floor six), to the Gravity Bar. This is where you exchange your ticket for your free pint of Guinness. Well, Keith decided he already had his fair share of Guinness by this point and decided to try the Hop House 13 Lager. Ann, who doesn’t like beer, opted for a soft drink instead. There are also wonderful views out over the city.

It was almost an hour’s walk to return to our Townhouse. As we got closer to Waterloo Street, we noticed all of the foreign embassies, especially on Fitzwilliam Street. We didn’t start noticing them until after the locals we met at the Brazen Head Pub told us we were staying on embassy row.

Also near our townhouse is the Grand Canal. There were a couple of canal boats docked when we walked by. They both offered dinner cruises on the canal. Just before we returned to the townhouse, it rained and hailed on us. So much for staying dry that day.

For dinner, we walked down Baggot Street a few blocks to Milano, a pizza place. It seemed popular with families. Ann was still full from her large breakfast and lunch, so we split a Margherita pizza (meant for one) and added a couple of side salads. Keith was still a little hungry, so he got a dessert, a salted caramel sundae. The food was decent and not too filling, just what we were looking for.

Tuesday morning was another sunny and rain free morning. Our rental car pick up was not until 3 pm, so we took our time checking out of the Townhouse. Waterloo Townhouse allowed us to store our luggage until the afternoon, so we went for a walk.

First we stopped at Tang, a small middle eastern cafe across the street from St. Stephen’s Green. We arrived at 11:30 am, which was in between breakfast service, which ended at 11:15 am, and lunch service, which didn’t start until 11:45 am. We wanted to eat lunch, so we ordered a couple of chai lattes while we waited for lunch to start.

The cafe served flatbreads and salads. We both had Moroccan lamb flatbreads with all the fixings. Ann’s was with beetroot (beet) hummus while Keith had traditional hummus. The hand-held sandwiches were delicious, but messy. They were definitely worth the 15 minute wait. By the time we left there, the line of customers was out the door.

From there, we headed over to the River Liffey and headed east this time. Once we got past O’Connell Street, the crowds of people thinned out. We went past the Custom House and the Samuel Beckett Bridge. We turned around at the old Diving Bell. The Diving Bell was used from 1871 to 1958 to build the port’s quay walls.

On the way back, we ventured over to Merrion Square Park with the Oscar Wilde Monument. By this time, we needed a bathroom, so we stopped at the Beanhive for chai lattes and a blueberry scone. Then it was time to pick up our luggage and go the Hertz office.

Ann originally thought she rented the car from the office near the Baggot Street Bridge, but luckily, back when we arrived in Dublin, Keith noticed the confirmation listed a different office. So when we walked by the Hertz office on our first day in Dublin, we stopped and asked if we could switch the pick up location. No problem. They were able to bring the car over from the other office which saved us a taxi ride. We added Ann as a second driver, which cost 10 euros per day, and then we were on our way.

We’ll cover the rest of Ireland in the following posts. This post picks back up on Friday, May 16th, as we drove from Westport back to Dublin.

Friday was our drive from Westport to Dublin. We needed to return our rental car by 3 pm, so we started our drive right after breakfast. It was a pretty easy route, with fairly straight roads and wide lanes. We were on N5 and N4 most of the way. Along parts of the highways, there was also a wide shoulder or berm. It was wide enough to be another driving lane, but it would disappear every now and then. You knew it was not a driving lane by the markings on the pavement. There was a dashed yellow line between the driving lane and the shoulder. We noticed that slow vehicles would move over to the shoulder to let faster vehicles pass.

N4 turned into M4, a motorway, as we approached Dublin. There was a section of the M4 that was a toll road, but we selected avoid tolls in Google Maps, so it routed us on the parallel road R148 to avoid the toll. It only added about ten minutes to the trip.

Since the three and a half hour’s of driving was relatively easy, we only made one stop along the way, at a place called An Granuaile in Kinnegad. It was a cafe with good ratings. We arrived at 11:50 am and they were still serving breakfast. We didn’t feel like breakfast, so we asked when their lunch menu started. They switched menus at noon, so we waited the ten minutes to have lunch.

Keith had the chicken sandwich while Ann had the smokehouse burger. Both sandwiches came with slaw and fries. The burger was loaded with cheese, bacon, and BBQ sauce, topped with a few onions rings. Both our lunches were very tasty and filling.

As we entered Dublin, we missed a turn. So we ended up winding around the one way streets of downtown Dublin, with heavy traffic and pedestrians. That was the most stressful part of the whole drive. We finally reached the gas station just one block from the Hertz office so we could return the car with a full tank of gas. The gas station was also stressful, as there was only room for two lanes of cars around the pumps. We sat in line, waiting for the two vehicles in front of us to leave so we could pull up to a pump. The person in the front car had gone into the convenience store, so they were not actively pumping gas while we waited. After we were done pumping, then we had to wait for a chance to pull out into the heavy traffic while we blocked access to the gas pump. These pumps said they had pay-at-the-pump available, but we didn’t take the time to figure out how to do it. The few instructions we did read talked about entering the max amount you wanted to fill and it would pre-authorize your card for that amount. There may have been a phone app involved, but we didn’t want to hold up the line of cars waiting to figure it out. We just went inside the store to pay. Everywhere else, contactless payment seems to be the norm and it is simple, including inside the gas station store. So why don’t they add that capability to the gas pumps?

We finally pulled the car into the small lot behind the Hertz office around 2:25 pm. The doors to the office were locked and a little sign on the front door said they would return in ten minutes. So we stood out front with our luggage for about 15 minutes. Then two employees pulled up in a car and hopped out. One of them came through the office, took the car keys and went back to inspect the car. Then he came back and said everything looked good and they will send the receipt to us via email. We never walked inside the office.

From there, we walked the few blocks over to the Waterloo Townhouse with our luggage strapped to our backs. We’d be staying there for the next two nights, the same place we stayed during our first visit to Dublin. After decompressing in our room we walked over to Sprout and Co for dinner. We weren’t very hungry after our big lunch and getting some healthy vegetables in us sounded good. We ate at Sprout and Co the last time we were in Dublin and really enjoyed it. This time we both ordered the Tokyo bowl. It was delicious.

As we were sitting there eating, we noticed that we hadn’t received the email from Hertz yet with our receipt. That got us thinking. We had no proof that we dropped off the car. Well, at least Ann took some pictures of the outside of the car as we were waiting for the employees to return, which might give us some proof. Were those really Hertz employees? Well, they did unlock the doors, or at least we thought they did. They came in the back door, so we didn’t really see if they used a key or picked the lock. Surely, the office has security cameras, but we never actually entered the office, as we only stood out front. Were we just victims of a scam? A little later, we were able to get online and find our receipt on the Hertz website which had the time we returned the car on it. Whew! That made us feel better.

After finishing our meal, we took a walk down to St. Stephen’s Green to stretch our legs. It was a beautiful, sunny and warm Friday evening and there were lots of people in Stephen’s Green enjoying it. Large groups of people were sitting in the grassy areas. Others were kicking around a ball. Some were enjoying their picnic dinner. Others were watching the swans glide across the pond. It was nice to see so many people enjoying the outdoors.

We started Saturday at our favorite breakfast spot in Dublin, the Beanhive. Ann had the yogurt and granola with a chai latte while Keith started with a croissant with his cappuccino. Then he decided that Ann’s yogurt and granola looked pretty good, so he ordered one. Either they forgot to ask him whether he wanted vegan or Greek yogurt or he didn’t understand the question because they brought him the vegan yogurt. It tasted like regular yogurt, so he didn’t mind. We’re not sure what they make the vegan yogurt from.

Then we walked around Dublin, trying to hit some areas we had not seen before. We started out by walking over to the Dublin Castle gardens. When we arrived, we found out that there were annual memorial ceremonies happening that day for those who gave their lives for the police force, called the Guarda. The gardens are the Guarda memorial gardens, so it seemed appropriate for the ceremonies to be held there.

We continued over to the River Liffey and wandered over to an area called Smithfield. There is a pedestrian area for several blocks with the Cobblestone Bar at the far end. We planned to come back to the Cobblestone later in the afternoon. For now, we stopped in the Cinnamon Cafe. We drank a couple of chai lattes and split a pain au chocolat.

From there, we wandered through Croppie’s Acre Memorial Park and over to Phoenix Park. Phoenix Park is quite large and we only walked around a small portion of it. We stopped for a couple of soft drinks at the Phoenix Park Tea Rooms. On the way back out of the park, we went by the Wellington Monument, an impressive obelisk, the largest obelisk in Europe. The monument was built from 1817 to 1861 and commemorates the victories of Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington.

On the way back to Cobblestone Bar, we got off the noisy streets along the river and took some quieter, more residential streets through Arbour Hill. We came upon a building that, at first, looked like a church. It turned out to be the Arbour Hill Prison, a medium security prison. It was originally a military prison which opened in 1848, becoming a civilian prison in 1975. Adjacent to the prison is the Church of the Sacred Heart, which is the prison chapel. Behind the church lies the old cemetery, which contains a memorial and burial place of the 14 executed leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising.

The Cobblestone Pub is not very large and doesn’t serve any food, but music was the reason for our visit. The bar is known as “a drinking pub with a music problem”. They have traditional Irish music sessions most days starting in the mid to late afternoon. On Saturday, the first session was from 2:30 pm to 5 pm. The session was an “open session”, meaning musicians can come and join in. Each session is led by two or more musicians who set the tone and style of the session. It is a social gathering of musicians to play, learn and chat. Others are welcome to come watch and listen, but there is an expectation to be quiet so everyone can hear the music.

When we first arrived at the pub, sharply at 2:30 pm, there were already musicians playing and lots of people already inside the bar. We first got a seat at the end of the bar, at the opposite end from where the musicians were. We were a little concerned because the bar patrons were being rather loud and we were having difficulty hearing the music. However, it didn’t take long before one of the bartenders went over and spoke to the loud drinkers. They quieted down and some of them left. Now that’s better!

It wasn’t long before a couple of seats opened up at the bar closer to the music, so we grabbed them. Now we could hear the music pretty well. Whenever there was a vocalist singing a solo or some other soft song, the bartenders along with customers would shush everyone so that it was perfectly quiet in the bar until the end of the song. We appreciated that.

Keith drank two pints of Guinness while Ann had two pints of cider while we listened to the music. The first pint of cider was a Rockshore apple cider, which she has had many times before, but for the second pint, she tried MacIvers Plum and Ginger Cider. She liked the second one better. The plum and ginger gave the cider a wonderful flavor.

There were about a dozen musicians playing during the session while we were there. It was a mixture of guitars, whistles, fiddles, banjos, concertinas, Uilleann pipes and a mandolin. The level of talent didn’t seem to be quite the level of talent that we listened to in Dingle and Westport, but it was quite enjoyable. It seemed more authentic to witness a group of musicians getting together to learn from one another.

After two hours, we decided we consumed enough alcohol and needed to go find some dinner. We needed to turn in early as we had an early ferry the following morning. We walked over to Darkey Kelly’s in the Temple Bar area. It was only about 5 pm, but the place was filling up fast. They had live music playing which was a little more modern than what we had been listening to, but it still had an Irish flair with some traditional Irish instruments.

We managed to grab a small table and order dinner. Ann had the tagliatelle carbonara while Keith had the pan-fried fillet of salmon. Ann enjoyed her pasta, but Keith felt that his salmon was overcooked and a little dry. For dessert, Keith drank an Irish coffee while Ann ordered the Guinness chocolate mousse. Since it was our last day in Ireland, Keith wanted to have an Irish coffee before we left. Ann was thankful that the chocolate mousse didn’t have much of a Guinness flavor, since she was more interested in the chocolate.

While we ate and listened to the music, we also watched the Gaelic football being played on the large screen TV. Dublin was playing Galway. We tried to figure out the rules. It looked like you could carry the ball, but needed to do something with it about every three steps, such as bounce it off your foot, bounce it off the ground, or throw it up in the air. The scoring was similar to hurling, where it was one point to get it through the uprights and three points for a goal, by kicking the ball into the net similar to a soccer goal. Just like hurling, the points and goals are shown separately. At one point, the score was 0-10 to 1-9, which meant 10 total points to 12 total points. We left before the game was over, so we don’t know who won.

And so ended our time in Dublin. It was a great way to start our visit to Ireland, as we learned a lot from the places we visited. We generally prefer small towns over big cities, but Dublin has a lot to offer. History, music, food, and drink. We definitely felt like we were in Ireland and we enjoyed our experiences.

Check out our related video: Dublin, Ireland

(Ann)