I recently published an article about my first day in Dublin, Ireland (A Day in Dublin: Goal, Whiskey and Cathedrals). This is the second installment of that trip, and this was the busiest day of sight-seeing because it was "Culture Night" and many of the tourist attractions were free of cost and open very late. Obviously, I took advantage of this as did hundreds of others.
The morning started out with a stroll across the river to Temple Bar, where I got some photographs and then caught the bus to our first stop of the day, Guinness Storeroom.
A fishing shop in Temple Bar
Now, I do not drink beer, but this was recommended despite that. As Dublin is the birthplace to the well-known drink, I guess, "When in Dublin...". So, we took the tour. The 'museum' had an extremely large shop and several floors dedicated to making beer and the beer's history. We had a tasting, and we also poured our own pints. Unfortunately, I did not like it, so mine got poured and left. These drinks could be enjoyed upstairs on the top floor in the Gravity Bar. There are great views over Dublin from here, but the bar was much too busy with all of the seats and floor space occupied, so we just walked in and then back out again.
Guinness Storeroom
Our perfectly-poured pints waiting to be topped up
We spent many hours in the Guinness Storeroom, and in the early afternoon, we caught the bus back to town. Our tour continued to the docks area, and I got some nice photographs of the Custom House from the southern bank of the river.
Custom House
After getting off the bus on the southern side of the river and near Trinity College, we walked through the main part of Dublin.
Molly Malone statue
Our next stop was the castle, but it closed early so that it could be open later for "Culture Night". We ended up visiting the castle then. By that time, it was dark and the building in the photograph below was lit up with pink lights and had a band playing on the balcony while we queued. We saw the old part of the castle, of which only a couple lower walls and part of the moat are remaining. The newer part of the castle had a few lavishly-decorated rooms and people dressed in period costume.
Dublin Castle
After our castle visit that evening, we walked around the corner to the Charles Beatty Library and admired the illustrations and manuscripts from all over the world.
Chimney stacks
We visited St. Patrick's Cathedral after our afternoon visit to Dublin Castle. This is an impressive cathedral.
Interior of St. Patrick's
Interior of St. Patrick's
I had a mint hot chocolate from Butler's, a chocolate shop chain in Dublin.
Hot chocolate
Our "Culture Night" evening started with a trip to Trinity College, which was busy. It was also Fresher's Week. We waited around thirty minutes in the queue to enter the college to see the Book of Kells (an ancient illustrated Bible) and the impressive library.
Trinity College
Trinity College
The library was impressive and was on multiple levels with book shelves to the ceiling. Each area had its own ladder. There were also busts of famous writers here.
Library at Trinity College
Leave a comment