Ryan and I spent our final two days in Ireland in the fun city of Dublin!
After saying goodbye to Galway after breakfast, we drove slightly more than two hours to Dublin where we planned to tour the Jameson Distillery.
I bought our tickets online ahead of time, so we only had 15 minutes to wait until our tour began once we arrived.
The Jameson Distillery and Guinness Storehouse tours were both recommended to us several times, though a few people said they were quite touristy. While I wouldn’t say the Jameson Distillery tour was a “must do,” we had fun with it and enjoyed learning about the whiskey-making process.
And I can’t complain about the complimentary whiskey ginger ale I got at the end of the tour one bit!
After we finished our drinks, we headed to our hotel to check in and unload our bags before heading back out into the city.
We were able to book another last-minute stay at a small boutique hotel located right outside of the city. We had no problem making the 20-minute walk into the city center each day (even in the snow) and liked being a little bit removed from all of the commotion.
Right after Ryan proposed to me, I had a surprise weekend away in Ft. Lauderdale coincidentally planned for him for his birthday. We stayed at a boutique hotel that weekend and ever since then love keeping an eye out for small, unique hotels in larger cities.
Blog reader Marie recommended the Hampton Hotel to me and it had such a fun, eclectic feel.
Our room was spacious and the bed was incredibly comfortable. We also loved flipping on the remote control fireplace each night when we came in from the snow.
And the bathroom was a stunner!
After we dropped our bags off, we bundled back up and headed out into the dreary weather.
The weather during our entire stay in Dublin was crazy cold and it snowed the majority of the time which, as a Florida girl, I loved. It was beautiful, but admittedly not quite as glorious when the wind picked up and the large flakes started smacking us in the face as we walked around.
Before dinner, we wanted to make sure to do a little more sightseeing and walked through St. Stephen’s Green Park which was vibrant and green, even in the drab weather.
We then walked to Trinity College because we wanted to make sure to have time to see the Book of Kells and the Long Room in the Trinity College Library before it closed for the day.
The Trinity College campus was beautiful! Since my alma matter was founded in the mid 1900s, it is still considered a relatively new university, so I absolutely love the contrast that comes with walking onto college campuses that are rich with history.
Since we arrived so close to closing time, we were able to buy discount tickets to see the Book of Kells, though pictures were not allowed. (One thing that really amazed me was the fact that the book was written on pages made of calfskin!)
Photographs were allowed in the Long Room, the main chamber of the Old Library that houses more than 200,000 of the library’s oldest books.
It was a beautiful room and we spent all the time we could looking around until we were told it was closing time.
And then it was time to head back out into the cold!
It didn’t take us more than 20 minutes exploring the shops and cafes on Grafton Street to feel like we needed a hot beverage to warm up, so we popped into Butler’s for hot chocolate.
It completely hit the spot! Rich, creamy and WARM!
Next up on the agenda: Hit up the pubs in the Temple Bar area!
We spent several hours in this area. Though I’ve heard that it’s always quite lively, a soccer game between Ireland and Austria was on the televisions in many of the pubs which seemed to bring a ton of people out in full force. It was a fun atmosphere, that’s for sure!
I also managed to order Irish stew for dinner at one point at a pub. (I cannot remember the name of the pub for the life of me. This is why I snap pictures of the outside of buildings!)
Eventually Ryan and I made it back to our hotel and though we planned to head right to bed, the hotel bar and dessert called to us, so we ordered another beer and shared a plate of the bread pudding before calling it a night.
Day two in Dublin is comin’ up in a bit.
I will also be announcing all the winners of last week’s giveaways! Stay tuned!
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Wow, what a chic hotel in Dublin! That Irish stew looks delicious. What sorts of meat were in it?
Oh my goodness, the Long Room looks amazing! I’d love to see it someday!
What a Fun trip! Dublin is definitely a must do for me!
That soup looks divine!
My husband would LOVE to see the whiskey making process. Plus the pictures in general just make it look so beautiful!! <3
Seriously so weird seeing you in Dublin! 🙂 Can’t wait to see what you got up to on your second day! The snow has finally stopped, it’s still chilly but the sun has come out to play a little!
Yum that bread pudding looks amazing.
I’ve heard the Guinness tour is really cool. That library you went to looks amazing as does your hotel.
Seeing your photos gives me a completely different view on what I thought Ireland would look like. 🙂
That bathroom is fabulous!!
I am loving the looks of that Irish Stew, too! I am sure that that tasted great after having not felt too great for a couple of days there.
I love the fireplace!
I am sooo jealous you got to go to the Jameson distillery!! My fav whiskey!
I love reading your recaps and living vicariously through you!
Your vacation pictures are just amazing. My boyfriend would die to go to the Jameson brewery! I love how green and lush all the grass looks there. We got more snow on Easter and I am ready for the muddy brown stuff to dry and green up! 🙂
I have been drooling over all your vacation pics. I’m so jealous! That hotel looks cozy and adorable. And don’t even get me started on the sightseeing!
It’s so beautiful there, Ireland’s been a dream destination for me for a while now.
I’m living through you at the moment.
The hotel looks super cozy, love that.
Another great hotel, really you guys found some good places to stay! I’m glad you enjoyed the snow, living in Chicago I try and find warmer vacation spots in the winter for a change of weather!
What’s the sauce that came with the bread pudding? Cream anglaise? Looks yummy!
Everything looks beautiful but the weather does not look ideal. A big adjustment from Florida weather right now, I’m sure!
How cute is your hotel! What a fun place to stay. The library at Trinity College sounds amazing — I worked in a library for a time, so I’m a bit nerdy about all sorts of library things. The one at Trinity looks like a place I need to visit!
I loved Dublin and was almost tempted to apply to Trinity College after visiting the campus, so beautiful!! That hotel you stayed it looks amazing!
Your hotel looks beautiful! And Dublin looks like such a cool city!
You went to Jameson?! Very cool! That’s a great photo of you and Ryan, too!
I’m so jealous of your adventures right now! Looks like so much fun!
ahh all these posts are making me miss it so much! glad you’re having fun!!
Wow the Long Room is incredible…I can’t imagine what that actually looked like in person!
I cannot figure out why people always say something is “touristy” as an idea it is something one should not do. Tourists do touristy things. The Seattle Space Needle, the Statue of Liberty are touristy, but they are also some of the unique attractions of the city. Of course I would go by the touristy Guiness factory if I were there!
All the food looks so yummy!
I’m actually doing everything (except the Whiskey tour) in about 6 weeks when I head to Ireland for my uncle’s wedding! This is getting me so excited! Glad you’re loving Ireland!!!!
I hope you have a blast! We LOVED Ireland!
Looking at all your pictures makes me want to plan a trip! I’ve always wanted to go to Ireland and Scotland (where my father’s family is from). And what a great idea to stay at smaller hotels/B&B’s.
I loved Dublin:) Bummer that the weather was so cold, but it looks like you had a blast!
Beautiful! I’m jealous for sure!
Oh my gosh Julie, The Long Room looks like my absolute dream, I feel like I could get lost for days and days there!
I cannot express enough times how jealous I am that in a matter of a few days you were able to jet off to Ireland. Seriously I just want to move there.
What a vacation ya’ll have had!! I enjoy reading all of the recaps….I’m living vicariously through you! 😉
That hotel looks so nice! I’m glad you got to see the Trinity College library and experience Temple Bar. I loved Butler’s hot chocolate – I want some right now! I’m really enjoying reading about your travels 🙂 Glad you’re feeling better now – what a bummer to happen on vacation, especially one so jam-packed with travel and activities.
That hotel looks so fabulous!!
I love the decor in the Hampton! Black white and pink are the colors in my bedroom so I love everything about it! The campus does look beautiful as well as the library! I can’t wait to see Day 2!
Wow, looking through your photos is just amazing! I’m glad you’re getting to do and see so much! I was really close to studying abroad at Trinity College during my junior year and your photos of the campus and library are making me regret my decision to go somewhere else just a teeeeeny bit…
It looks like y’all are having a great trip but I am making a mental note to visit Ireland when the temps are warmer. I am not sure I could handle the cold!!
Isn’t the Jameson with ginger ale and lime so delicious?! I’m not a big straight hard liquor girl and lots of times mixed drinks are too sweet, but I loved that cocktail!!!
LOVE the hotel room! And I’m a huge fan of Smithwicks here in the states. I’m sure it’s MUCH better in Ireland! #jealous and #happyforyou all at the same time!
Are you planning to post the giveaway winners today? I’m a little too excited about them all so I feel like I’ve been stalking your blog all day 😛
just posted the winners 🙂
I am loving your vacation posts!
Love all the pics!! The hotel is so neat looking!!
I love your cute lil beany! haha, I just had to point that out because you look cute in it. 🙂 And that hotel looks so cool and futuristic~love the modern fireplace.
Ok so I am trying to convince the BF that we MUST book that hotel for our weekend in Dublin in July 😉 It looks amazing!
Love the hotel- absolutely beautiful!
My good friend from Grad school is currently living in Dublin! I went to visit her last fall. Seeing all your pics are bringing back great memories from my own trip! I want to go back! 🙂
Smithwicks is the best beer! I love that stuff!
You’ve stayed in some amazing looking hotel rooms! And I love the food pictures, so yummy!
-AJ
FitTravelerAJ.blogspot.com