A Long Weekend In Dublin

So shortly after I got back from Barcelona in February, I headed off for a long weekend in Dublin with an old work colleague. I know February was ages ago, but I’ve been super busy and time has just felt like sand running through my fingers lately!

I was pleasantly surprised by Dublin. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but when I arrived, it certainly wasn’t anything like how I imagined it would be! There are some beautiful buildings in stark contrast to some interesting, quirky works of art, and the people were much more friendly than they are back home.

We arrived early afternoon, check-in to the hotel, put our bags down and pretty much went out straight away. We wandered along the River Liffey…

Past the restored Custom House and crossing over one of the bridges, with the view of the Samuel Beckett Bridge in the background; glittering glass buildings shining on the surface of the water.

We headed up well-trodden cobbled streets and past typical Irish pubs, some walls on street corners dotted with colourful art, and we just wandered aimlessly taking it all in.

Before long, we found ourselves standing opposite the famous Temple Bar, but our stomachs were rumbling so after looking around, we left to find some burgers to fill our bellies with.

After lunch, we headed over towards historical Trinity College, where we wandered around the grounds.

The college was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I and is one of the seven “ancient universities” in the United Kingdom and is Irelands oldest surviving university.

Trinity College (also known as the University of Dublin) is considered the most prestigious and elite university in Ireland (and indeed Europe) to attend.

It also houses an incredible library and the Book of Kells, which we were unfortunately too late to visit, but we figured since we were in Dublin for a long weekend, we had plenty of time and would try and return the next day to see it for ourselves.

We wandered back to the hotel in the early evening to rest our feet after all that walking and make some dinner plans.