Dublin

Although we had a horrendously eventful journey to Dublin, we had a wonderful stay. We woke up early on Friday and had breakfast at a small cafe before visiting St. Patrick’s Cathedral, one of Ireland's largest churches... Too bad there was a gift shop inside, it kind of took away from its holiness.

So we decided to move on to the alcoholic portion of our day - the Guinness Brewhouse, complete with 7 floors dedicated to demonstrating the brewing process. And it’s true what they say... the Irish love their beer. 

After sipping the freshest Guinness beer we will probably ever have, Merrin and I decided to visit Malahide Castle, which is one of the oldest castles in Ireland, located 30 minutes outside of the city. So we diligently followed our map and made it to the train station (with the help of one friendly Irishman who saw us looking confused and pointed us in the right direction). We bought our tickets, waited on the platform like good little commuters and got on the first train that pulled into the station - unfortunately for us, we were a little too eager to get to Malahide. 

Ten minutes into the train ride I noticed the flashing sign at the end of the car saying “Final Destination - Howth,” which is not where we wanted to go. We got off at the next stop only to discover that the next train to Malahide would be arriving in a short 43 minutes. So we promptly hopped on the next train back to Dublin and decided to postpone our visit to Malahide. We returned to Dublin, visited Trinity College and saw the Book of Kells Exhibit - one of the oldest illustrated manuscripts still existing and headed back to the hostel before eating dinner at an Italian restaurant - pizza and wine craving satisfied. 

On Saturday we had a delicious breakfast at a little hidden restaurant (and by hidden I mean located in a really sketchy alley way) called The Cake Cafe. (Note to self - when ordering pancakes in Europe, expect crepes... not that I minded.) 

We had decidedly experienced enough cultural things the day before so we proclaimed it “Shopping Day.” We wandered around the cobblestone streets near the city center and found some cool shops (and doors). 

After a few swipes of the credit card, and purchasing another suitcase for Merrin (very necessary) we went to the Soup Dragon for a delicious bowl of soup to warm us up since the temperature was rapidly dropping and the Irish rain was starting to pour. And what better to do on a rainy day than see a movie? The Rise of Planet of the Apes it was - great movie, salty popcorn, enough said. Then we wandered into an old bookstore - the Winding Stair, browsed the dusty shelves, bought a few books and headed home... Note - I use the word home very loosely here. Since my normal home doesn’t have showers that are operated by pressing a button, which has to be continually pressed every 30 seconds for the duration of said shower. I will be blocking that out as soon as possible because it was slightly miserable. Merrin and I went to Cafe Novo for dinner. We opted for salads (one caesar and one goat cheese with sundried tomatoes) in the hopes of finding dessert later, and split a bottle of wine. Two and a half hours later, not quite satisfied with our salad dinner, because lets be honest, our stomachs have expanded since leaving good ole’ US of A, we tipsily found our way to another restaurant for dessert -  one order of strawberries, merengue and ice cream in a martini glass for me and a chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream for Merrin - yes please. 

Which brings me to brunch at Odessa. All went well except for the brief moment where Merrin caught her menu on fire and proceeded to inform the waiter that the candle holder’s were clearly not tall enough to protect said menus from bursting into flames. With the crisp smell of burning paper lingering, we enjoyed our brunch of eggs Florentine and thick french toast with berry compote and whipped cream. Then we decided to give Malahide another go. As the temperature dropped and the rain drizzled on, we got on the train that said “Final Destination - MALAHIDE.” Once we arrived, we blindly followed the signs pointing us to “Malahide Castle Entrance.” Twenty-five long, shivering minutes later we arrived cold and wet to the castle. Not quite as soaring or majestic as we had imagined, Merrin accurately proclaimed it to be more of an everyday residence than a castle, although it had been in the Talbot Family for a remarkable 800 years. We took a guided tour of the castle - two drawing rooms, one sitting room, a large dining and only 4 bedrooms?? It was no Buckingham Palace, that’s for sure. Then we made our long journey back to the train station, a little underwhelmed by the whole castle experience and extremely underdressed. I have yet to mention that in the 50 degree weather, wearing short dresses, sandals and sweaters, we were clearly the only Florida girls in Malahide that afternoon. Everyone else was wearing pants, close toed shoes, jackets, and scarves. We looked very out of place compared to our Irish counterparts. 

We made it back just in time for Art Tea at the Merrion Hotel - Tea and desserts inspired by art. We got there at 5, over ate, declared it dinner and left at 7. And I enjoyed every sugar-filled bite. 

We shivered our way home, our feet still cold and wet from Malahide. I hope it's warmer in Brussels...

xo

Kelley