Monday, April 28, 2014

Dublin to Belfast, North Ireland

I've already featured my first day in Ireland (here),  but, in addition to that day, I spent one whole day in Dublin and then passed through North Ireland with a quick stop in Belfast before boarding a ferry to Scotland.

Our day in Dublin started with a visit to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells (an illustrated Gospel believed to date to 800 A.D.).


After seeing the book of Kells, we visited the old library of Trinity College.

 
From Trinity College, Katherine and I left the tour group and walked to Christ Church Cathedral.
 
 
Here are a couple of the best pictures I took inside the cathedral:



After leaving, we stopped for lunch at a festival that happened to be going right outside of the cathedral.  Katherine and I were both amused by the "Cranky Yankee" Corn Dog sign.  We sat on the grounds of the church and ate while watching the people go by--it was Katherine's idea to stop and it was a great little break.

 
After lunch we walked down towards St. Patrick's Cathedral. 
 

  
 Below are some of my favorite pictures from St. Patrick's:



 (St. Patrick stained glass window)
 

(burial place of Jonathan Swift.  On the way to St. Patrick's we passed plaques on some of the buildings quoting from Gulliver's Travels).

(colorful floor tiles)

(This is believed to be the spot where St. Patrick preached)
 
 
From St. Patrick's we began to circle back to our hotel, but first stopped in Merrion Square, a somewhat wild park in Dublin.  It is appropriately the home of a statute of Oscar Wilde, who lived in Dublin across the street form the park.
 

 
After the park, we started the walk back to our hotel, and crossed the River Liffy.

The next day we left and drove to Belfast, North Ireland for a very brief stop...
 
 
(Belfast City Hall)
 
(Titanic Memorial--the Titanic was built in Belfast)
 
and then we caught a Ferry to Scotland.

(My lunch of porridge.  It wasn't sure whether it liked the Ferry ride)
 
 
Now for a quick tea anecdote.  I spent the entire trip accumulating teabags from the different hotels we stayed at.  I had quite the collection by the time we left:
 

 



5 comments:

  1. How neat! How wonderful to see The Book of Kells. The stain glass window is magnificent.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So many comments on this one:

    --I am laughing at your extensive collection of teabags. I remember we had to raid the complimentary room stash at each hotel before clearing out.
    --LOVE your pics of the stained glass window and the Titanic memorial. Much better than mine.
    --Wasn't that ferry porridge pretty not-tasty? I feel like was making the same :-| face as your bowl when I was eating mine. But then again, we were on a boat and I am bad at boats, so maybe that was why.
    --The hamburger I got at the stand near the Cranky Yankee Corn Dogs tent was probably my favorite meal of the trip. Best burger ever. It was authentic Irish beef! I have pretty much turned vegetarian here recently, but I would make an exception if I ever end up back there.

    LOL, most of these comments are food-related. Must be dinnertime. :-D :-P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You did start asking me by the end whether I had found the tea yet :). The ferry porridge was very not tasty. We were both disappointed. I remember your bowl smiling...at least until you took a bite.

      I remember judging you for eating a hamburger. And I think that was the start of many hamburgers. Then again, I did keep making us go to pubs. Next time you have to pick places more! At least we didn't go to McDonalds. Or Subway.
      You're vegetarian now? I don't have the willpower to do that.

      Delete
    2. Hee, I remember demanding a burger stop and you judging me. SO WORTH IT, though, because that giant (AUTHENTIC IRISH) burger was a thing of true beauty and deliciousness. :') I like to eat but really have no standards, which is why I feel unqualified to pick places! I always default to, "Uh, this place looks like a restaurant," haha. :-D

      And it probably would be more accurate to call myself "mostly pescetarian"--sticking to veggies/fish UNLESS I end up in a Greek food place because then I just am forced to eat a gyro and there's nothing to be done about it.

      So much food talk, sorry.

      Delete
  3. Wow, you have had quite the tour! You get to see so much. I would love to see Trinity College and the Book of Kells. Collecting the tea is a fab idea.
    Hugs,
    Terri

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for your comment! I hope you have a wonderful day :)