3D Trip 2022 Day 3 - I Should Be Wearing Silk Everyday
If I was going to map the normal trajectory of Jenn and my first few days of vacation it would be to start strong and then need a day or two to recover. Today was exactly that. We slept into a little after 9 AM (which is unheard of at home, thanks to Frasier) and I went for a run while Jenn got ready and ordered us breakfast. When we finally left a little after 10 AM we walked out to an absolutely stunning morning in Dublin.
We didn’t make it far before running back to drop off my jacket and head back out. Our first stop on the itinerary today was to go to the Old Library at Trinity College. When we arrived we were greeted by signs that said they were sold out for the day. One thing I don’t think I’ve mentioned is that there is a college football game being played today between Nebraska and Northwestern University which will house over 40,000 attendees. The entire city is filled with people from both Universities decked out in their gear which unfortunately means a lot of the touristy areas of Dublin are much busier then they might have otherwise been. We were able to walk around the University but it will require us to go back in a week if we want to see the old library.
On our way to the next stop we intersected with an Irish parade where hundreds of uniformed officers (maybe soldiers) marched through the city streets. After they passed we made our way to the Winding Stair Bookstore where we browsed their very Irish centered authors before making out way from there ti Dublin Castle. Unfortunately this was a very similar outcome to the Old Library in that the castle was actually closed for the day for the festivities. We were able to see the outside of the beautiful castle but once again we might have to go back here next week when we are in Dublin for a day.
Our final stop on today’s walking tour was to St. Patrick’s Cathedral which fortunately was only a few blocks away. We weren’t planning to go in but having struck out on the first two stops we went inside but when we saw the €8 price tag, Jenn said I don’t want to give any money to the Catholic Church so we stayed on the outside. It was a beautiful cathedral and was easily worth the walk. Even though we didn’t get as much accomplished today as we had originally hoped for it was such a beautiful day out that walking the streets of Dublin wasn’t a bad compromise.
At this point we had probably walked 4-5 miles and our feet were starting to hurt so we walked back to our hotel where we had a light lunch in the hotel lobby. Jenn had a glass white wine and I had a delightful cucumber cocktail. Jenn had a seafood chowder and I had a gem salad. It was the perfect light meal to tide us over before a bigger dinner that evening.
The last stop of our Dublin leg of the trip was a barbecue restaurant called Mister S. I’ve never thought of Dublin being a place for barbecue but the restaurant came highly reviewed and recommended so we made the 40-minute walk from our hotel to the restaurant. The good news was it was worth every step. After sitting down Jenn got a glass of wine and I had a pilsner and we started our meal with the burnt ends spring rolls. What an incredible concept, but some burnt ends in a spring roll, it was one of the best things I’ve eaten all year. For our main course Jenn got the smoked beef short rib with a chimichurri sauce and I had the grilled pork chop with a sticky glaze. Everything was divine even if Jenn may have gotten a little of the meat sweats before she was done with her meal.
Sadly that was the end of our day in Dublin. We made the beautiful walk back to the hotel walking through St. Stephen’s Green and getting back to our hotel a little before 8 PM. When we watched an episode of Trying and packed up for our flight to Dubrovnik early tomorrow morning. I don’t think either Jenn or I had very high expectations for Dublin, but we had an incredible time and are even looking forward to having another half-day back before heading home at the end of the trip.
