I love Dublin, but everything closes at 5PM - April 17

Our first day in Dublin was exciting but shorter than we had originally planned. Because our flight was delayed, we arrived in the afternoon rather than the morning. By the time we got to our hostel, checked in, showered, and walked to where we wanted to be, most everything we wanted to see was closed. So, while we couldn't go inside, we were able to see the outsides of three exciting places. And the nice thing about castles and cathedrals is that the outsides are pretty spectacular as well.

Say what you will about our hostel (see my next post), but it was in a good location. It was a short walk through the city center to Dublin Castle, Christ Church Cathedral, and St Patrick's Cathedral and park. Our inability to enter these sited has limited my ability to tell you much about their histories, so you'll just have to content yourselves with the pictures I could take before my camera batteries died.


The picture on the right, as well as the one above, was taken at Dublin Castle. It had a nice inner courtyard, which was where I took the video posted below.



Christ Church Cathedral was our next stop (right). It was quite beautiful: very old looking with beautiful windows. I think my favorite stop was St Patrick's Cathedral and park. The park was amazingly beautiful, with lots of tulips.



After all that walking, we were pretty wiped out, so we next found a place to eat. I have to admit that my very favorite thing about the day was walking around the city. That's one thing that I really love to do when I'm in a new place. I don't necessarily have to be going anywhere, but I love just walking around, looking at things and people, and getting the feel of a city. I wish I could describe how Dublin felt, but I've never been very good at that. I guess one adjective I'd use for Dublin is cold. That first night was freezing, and neither Nicole nor I had brought a coat. So after dinner we each bought one and then did a little souvenir shopping at the Irish version of Hawaii's ABC stores: cheap souvenirs at stores situated about every 20 feet (I can't remember the name of the stores).

All in all, it was a good day.