After a delayed flight to Dublin from Reykjavik, we arrived in Ireland at about 1100 and by the time we got to our hotel, it was noon. Our hotel is on O’Connell Street Upper, I think that means we’re north of the river Liffey(?) but I’m not sure.
We managed to get checked in early, thank you IHG status, our hotel is the Holiday Inn Express City Center, nice hotel with the usual amenities but unlike the HIE in the US, this one has a bar which make it even better.
Somehow, we manage to hit Europe and the UK during Pride Week and this trip was no exception. We also seem to be here during the World Cup and, once again, we are. A great mix of people looking for a party and, the Temple Bar (not a bar) was rocking yesterday and last night.
Once we were checked in, we headed for Trinity College to see the Library and the Book of Kells. The Library is about as old school library as you would expect for a thousand year old college. We learned later that the books are not categorized alphabetically or by the Dewey Decimal System but by size, literally, weight. Apparently, the old River Liffey ran under the campus and, there’s some settling that’s still occuring so, heavier books at one end, lighter/smaller at the other. You can’t make this stuff up.
Before we could do much more, we needed to drop laundry off at the American Laundry, drop off service allow you to not waste time, you pay more but your time is worth more when you’r travelling. We’ll pick it up on Sunday. We sent the rest of the afternoon strolling Dublin before heading back to the hotel to clean up before dinner.
For dinner, we chose The Shack, back in Temple Bar. The Shack offers traditional Irish food in a kind of funky setting. The difference is that it’s traditional but well done. The Salmon that I had was fresh and not over cooked. Susan had a seafood pasta which was well prepared and very large, the proportions in general were generous.
We finished dinner about 8:30 and headed back for our hotel, jet-lag was still hitting us both, me worse than Susan, the early light means…I’m awake early, combined with our 0400 wake up call, I’m tired. Drinks to go in the bar and lights out by 2200. Probably didn’t accomplish much today, that’s the way it goes sometimes.