CatMoore
Registered User
Posts: 12
(6/15/03 9:25 pm)
 
Part 2: Dublin; May 25 - 28, 2003

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We start our journey from the Coleraine rail station, and make our way to Belfast to catch the express train from there to Dublin. That express train was VERY nice. It was very relaxing, and only had one stop on the way to Dublin. Once we got to Connolly Station, we had to find a cab to take us to our hotel in the Temple Bar area. Well, Connolly Station has some construction happening, so we had to hike (with our luggage) to the bus station. It wasn't that far, but it is hard to drag two big suitcases through the streets of Dublin.

Eventually, we make it to a cab, then to our hotel (Blooms Hotel). I had stayed here once before back on St. Patrick's Day in 2000. They had changed the pub in the hotel to the Vat House (very nice, and great pup food). The hotel was basically the same. The Blooms Hotel is not a BAD hotel, definitely one of the more afordable hotels in that area, but there are some things that might be worthwhile spending a bit more money for! The beds, for starters, were not comfortable (the really needed to flip the mattress). All in all, that is probably the main "gripe" with this hotel. You can't beat the location, however, it's hard to sleep when the revelers are singing at 3am, or when the Guiness trucks come by at 5am to pick up the empties, and drop off new barrels.

All the pubs right in that area are great, although I was shocked how expensive it was compared to the smaller towns.

We visited Dublin Castle (it was closed on the Monday we were there, so we didn't get to go inside). We also walked to St. Audeon's, which is suppose to be the oldest church in Dublin. That was really beautiful, and the old Dublin wall that surrounded it was really neat, too. Then we made our way to the Brazen Head pup (oldest pub in Dublin). They were saying that you can tell how old it is because you have to walk DOWN from street level to get to the pub (which was really interesting, since you could tell how much the city has been built up around it). We had a pint there, and then decided to go to St. Michan's Church, to see the mummies. I think this was probably my favorite thing we did in Dublin! They take you on a tour of the vaults underneath the church, and tell you the history of everyone buried under there. It sounds a bit gruesome, but I thought it was very interesting! I'd highly recommend that to anyone!

To continue on, we decided to walk down the Grafton Street and just window shop. On the way we got to see the Molly Malone statue, and my hubby was happy to have his picture taken in front of her heaving bosoms (I kept joking about this with him later on!).

We made it back to the hotel and relaxed our sore feet, and geared up for our trip to Trim Castle the next day (which also happened to be our 1 year wedding anniversary! ).

I had also been to Trim Castle back when I had visted in 2000, but they had it all under construction, so you couldn't go through it. This time, however, they had tours, so we were all set! We made our way by bus to Trim, and it let us off right by the castle. It was even cooler than I remembered! We went right away to go on a tour, and we made our way through. The guide was wonderful, and he told us all the stories of when they were filming Braveheart there. They have done a great job on reconstructing the castle. It is set in such a picturesque area! We also hiked down to an old priory and church. We tried to find the echo gate, but somehow missed it!

We spent the rest of the day walking around Trim, and caught the bus back to Dublin before the main rush hour traffic was to start.

All in all, I think I prefer the smaller towns to Dublin. And that is nothing again Dublin at all, I just think that there is SO MUCH character in the smaller towns, and you meet people there that are more willing to hold a conversation with you. Dublin seemed like such a fast paced city, when compared to the rest of the country.

On the 28th, we begin our journey to "Middle Ireland: The bus to Roscrea" where my story will pick up next...

Michele Erdvig
ezOP
Posts: 1562
(6/15/03 10:40 pm)

Fun Trip

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Hi Cat,

Keep going we are enjoying the trip. And congrats on your first anniversary. I can't think of a better place to celebrate it than in Ireland. Did you get to shake hands with the crusader at St. Michan's? I agree about the small towns in Ireland. They can't be beat.

Michele

Anita
Unregistered User
(6/16/03 5:36 pm)

two different worlds

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I also did the train trip between Dublin and Belfast, but after I had been riding around on the trains in souther Ireland. I was also quite impressed with the train. The funny thing was when I got to Belfast I had to take the local comuter train one stop to get to my hostel. I thought I was in two different worlds. I had gotten off the new,modern, comfy clean train and walked down to another platform and saw this old, dingy, worn out train sitting in the station. When I got on the inside looked like it hadn't been washed in a while, and I realized I didn't know how to get off the train. There was no visible door handle or other door-opening mechanism. Fortunately, another fellow got off ahead of me and he opened the window, reached out and pulled the door latch on the outside to open the door. Whew! Thought I was going to be there a while. Dublin Castle was also closed the day I visited. I wonder if it is ever open?

DarrenA
Unregistered User
(6/16/03 6:21 pm)

:)

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FYI, all the commuter trains in N.I. are being replaced with brand new ones from next year on.

Darren, exhausted after handling 1300 bags for Team USA...