Ireland Pt. I
Dublin
We kicked off our Ireland trip with four days in Dublin. Once we landed, we arrived at our hotel that was nice enough to let us check in at 10:30am. We took a quick nap since neither of us could sleep during the 8 hour flight. So after 2 hours of sleep, we started exploring, eating, and popping in and out of pubs. The Guinness does taste better here, I'll give them that. We were also really impressed with the food scene.
Our Favorite Pubs:
Our Favorite Restaurants:
- Bar Pez - tried an Austrian orange wine and had amazing oysters and olives
- Metro Cafe - phenomenal pancakes
- Pi - really good neo-style pizza
- Murphy's Ice Cream - there are more locations in other cites around Ireland, so it won't be our last time visiting.
Grafton Street beat out the infamous Temple Bar in our mind, but you can easily see why the hype is still deserved. We hit a few of the big "tourist" spots like Dublin Castle, Trinity College, and the National Gallery of Ireland. For the most part though, we didn’t do a ton of the typical places, we were more aiming to soak up the atmosphere and see where the day took us.
Another stand out for us was Phoenix Park. We took a jog one morning and just ended up there. It’s massive! We actually took a wrong turn while walking around (Google's fault, not Ryan's fault), we were stopped by security, and informed we were walking into the President of Ireland's lawn. We kindly backed away slowly.
After four days, we picked up our rental car and set out for the countryside. Driving through the Dublin streets was a quick crash course on left-side driving. So getting out on to the country roads was a little less antsy! The roads here only have space for one car but they expect it to work for two.
Glendalough
As soon as we got outside of Dublin, the landscape changed quickly. Rolling green hills and sheep-filled pastures popped up almost immediately. On the way to Glendalough, we made a quick pit stop in the small village, Roundwood, after seeing a sign for coffee. A local pointed us toward The Roundwood Stores and said we’d regret not stopping. We couldn't refuse the nice lady and it did not disappoint.
Glendalough was awesome! The whole area is lush and peaceful, with mossy trees, and a calm lake surrounded by hills. The 6th-century monastic ruins and tombstones were surreal. We strolled the paths, took some photos, met some ducks, and enjoyed the slower pace after a few days in the city.
Kilkenny
I focused intently on my driving as the lanes got narrower, while Kaitlyn fell asleep. We finally made it to Kilkenny. We knew instantly when we arrived, Ryan did a good job researching for the trip! We stayed at a bed and breakfast called Mena House, I guess Rick Steves found it before us, but either way it was amazing. The host was incredibly welcoming, and gave us a great rundown of the city. The breakfast also was top notch.
We spent time exploring the city, including Kilkenny Castle and The Black Abbey. We had some great pasta at Ristorante Rinuccini. Then we ended up in the basement of Kyteler’s Inn watching the Hurling finals (Cork vs. Limerick) with the locals, and a live trad band playing in the background. It was every Irish stereotype we were hoping for.
The next morning we drove out to Mount Juliet Estate for "Afternoon Tea" at the Manor House. This was a 500 acre estate built in the 1700s. After tea, we toured the rest of the property and both agreed it’s definitely somewhere we will want to come back in the future.
We’re heading out to Galway tomorrow.
More to come soon!
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