Anne Dublin

One of the joys of studying abroad is the opportunity for independent travel during the weekends. For me, I took advantage of our three-day weekend break to visit Dublin, Ireland. Yes, Dublin for the weekend indeed.

Unfortunately, the weather in Dublin is generally not as smashing as the weather here in Spain. I packed only for hot weather and rightly so, since the temperature in Guardamar averages around 30°C during the day (and it gets hotter apparently). Dublin, on the other hand, does not experience such temperatures on a regular basis during the summers. It was 15°C, cloudy, cold, and amazingly windy during my first day in Dublin.



So, to my dismay I shall say, I spent the morning shopping for clothes. I ventured out to Henry Street where all the shopping-related activities occur. While walking to Henry Street, I got to see quite a bit of Dublin, for I decided to use the map as little as possible in order to discover quaint local spots that are often overlooked in tourists maps and recommendations. And yes, that also means I got disoriented quite a bit. Luckily, Dublin has River Liffey running down the middle of the city, so as long as I knew where the river was, I knew the general direction I should head towards.



Here is a photograph of Henry Street with The Spire (pointy thing in the background)

Good. After I layered up (I guess I’m glad I went shopping?), I engaged in my Dublin expedition. I spent the rest of my day meandering about the city. I did visit the tourist hotspots, like the Guinness storehouse, Temple Bar (the pub hub of the city), Trinity College, and Grafton Street, which is the high-end shopping district.



I have to admit, I am a city-person, but I do very much enjoy visiting the country-side. I dedicated the first half of Day 2 in Ireland to see Newgrange, a Neolithic tomb-mound structure mentioned rather extensively in my architectural history class, and Knowth, a series of tomb-mounds but less well-known than Newgrange. Sadly, my camera battery ran out of juice, so I had to rely on my camera phone.

Excuse the quality of the pictures.

New Grange


Knowth


Other half of Day 2 continued back in the city. More meandering action was involved. Walked a lot indeed.

By Day 3 I was exhausted from walking, yet I still joined a free walking tour of the city. I learned a lot of Irish history and that was rather swell. Interestingly, during the last day of my Dublin trip, the weather was amazing. The sun was blazing and there were no clouds in the sky.
Ironically, I got sunburned in Ireland (and never once in Spain).


In the evening, I joined cheering crowds of Brazilian supporters to watch the Brazil versus Ivory Coast World Cup game. Brazil won, as expected. Excellent.


A beautiful night as well by the way.



A nice way to end my trip to Dublin. Good weather, good food, good people, good game.

Cheers mate,
anne.