Thoughts on Dublin (Baile Átha Cliath)

Let me preface this by saying that it has been a life long dream to visit Ireland. My first visit was a little underwhelming which made Gina a little sad for me I think. The problem was our little side trip to Dublin was kind of a spur of the moment type thing and wasn't really planned out very well, which is my own fault. Also, since we didn't have time to hit the countryside all we saw of the Emerald Isle was Dublin City, which is like going to Seattle and only seeing downtown (which also happened to me recently). It was nice and the people were wonderful, but Dublin doesn't have a 'thing' to go see. In London there were so many landmarks and famous places to visit it seemed as if the whole city was a tourist destination (which it sort of is now that I think about it). With Dublin you just don't get that. At least I didn't.

I do highly recommend the Guiness Storehouse and especially the resturant inside. We had the best meal of our entire trip there. Trust me, you will not regret ordering the Guiness and Beef stew.

We decided to do a hop-on/hop-off bus tour to avoid walking in the freezing cold. This was a pretty good value and saved Gina feet from further damage. We were able to go see Trinity College (founded by Elizabeth I in the 1500's), Christs Church Cathedral, St Patricks Cathedral, Guiness Storehouse and a few other sights during our one day stop in Dublin. The view frome the 'Gravity Bar' atop Guiness is amazing. 360 degree views of Dublin and incl the mountains and the sea. Fantastic.

One final note, Dublin Intl Airport is far superior to Heathrow. Not sure why this is, but Heathrow seems more like Crapville Municipal than a real airport.

Cheers!