Day 2
Since my friend has less stamina than me. There was a toss up, either we go to Howth or South of Liffey, see Trinity College, National gallery of Ireland, St Stephen’s Green, Grafton Street, Fleet Street.
Then my cousin called, the National gallery is a must see before you leave.
So, we went on the bus E2 bus to Trinity College.
We loved travelling on the bus. The hotel youngster gave me a tip to get a leap card which was fabulous. It really helped as we could get on any bus or tram we liked.
South of the Liffey is abit different, calmer, leafier and abit posher. I still liked the northern edgy, quirky bit of the Liffey where we stayed though. We walked in the late evenings it was relatively safe.
Our first stop was National Gallery. We ended up staying 3 hours plus in the place. There was sooo much to see. The collection is pretty impressive from old Italian, Dutch and French artists to the modern artists.
There was a photo/paintings of famous Irish celebrities which was lovely.
Then, we went into the gallery shop and bought loads of gifts and artwork from Maine Jellet. The Achill Horses. I must have bought 10 of those. It was really beautiful. The only problem I had was, how the hell I am going to take this stuff back. I brought a backpack and carry on case.
Then, my friend loves shopping. We found this Kilkenny store. We spent more than 2 hours and more money looking at everything and trying to work out what else to buy and fit in our carryon cases. There was one handbag I really liked and this round glass ornament with a flowers in it. It was abit heavy. Alas, I had to leave them. I had to buy 6x pkts of Butler’s chocolate. I loved the scarves and hats too.
My friend loved the crockery and wished she bought her hard suitcase.
Next time, I need to bring a suitcase. The items were beautiful and some of the artwork from artists were amazing.
I told my friend. If we stay in this shop any longer, the bank will freeze our bank cards.
I managed to drag her out and we headed towards Dawson and Grafton Street. We didn’t have time to go to Trinity College. (On my next trip, God willing).
We had lunch in a cafe opposite UCD which was really lovely.
So, we ambled along Grafton Street which was lovely. We saw so many local musicians singing Irish folk songs. Ironically, one guy, sang one about the GPO. Then, I said we need to see Phil, we cannot leave without paying homage to the great Phil Lynott.
Then, we ended up in the pub having Guinness. We were too tired to move for a while.
During the the day, we chatted to various locals, giving us good tips. They were soo nice, helpful and friendly. It was a blast, only dent was, my bank card. I spent too much money
Then, we moved along Fleet Street and ambled along the lively Temple Bar area. Then, back to the hotel.
Then, we had figure out where to eat. She wanted Asian. I said, let’s go into the suburbs. I found this nice Asian (pakistani-fusion- asian) restaurant in Artane. As I already downloaded TFI app, which is brilliant. We worked our way how to get there.
Our only failing was, we mixed our bearings, when we wanted to go south, we headed north and vice versa.
So, we got the no 27b bus out into the suburbs. I loved it. We passed a park, where kids were practising their hurling. On the bus we met two locals who were saying that restaurant is their local and it was really good and they were getting off the same stop as us. Then, we saw Mount Temple school, didn’t the U2 lads go to school there?
One of the guys took us in the restaurant. He was making a reservation for Thursday
Here are a few pics
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