Beer, Books, and Beauty

Posted on June 27, 2015 Updated on June 27, 2015

Hey All!

Welcome back to hear more about Ireland! Since I stayed in Dublin, a lot of the attractions were within the city. My favourite attraction in the Dublin was actually a tie between the Guinness Storehouse and the Trinity College Library. As being a beer fanatic, the Guinness Storehouse is right down my alley. I loved that I could find out the process of how it’s made, the marketing of it, and the proper way of tasting it. At the end of the tour, you have the option of doing a taste test. They bring you into a pure white room that has four smokestacks that allows you to smell the aroma of the ingredients. The room reminds me of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (with Johnny Depp) and the squirrel room. No idea why, it just does. Afterwards, they take you into another room with a shot of Guinness and tell you the proper way to drink it. You need to breathe in, take a sip, and breathe out. Very interesting as it is different from other tours I have done. Mind you, I don’t do it justice so you will have to go and try yourself!

Trinity College was another one of my favourite attractions. I am an avid reader so this really hit my little book nerd. I was in awe the whole time. When you walk into the actually library, all you can see is rows of books that line the walls. It has that old time library feel and even the smell. It gives you the sense that you may be in the wizarding world for Harry Potter. Loved it, definitely would do a tour of that again. Another thing with the library that I enjoyed was you can watch employees do book restorations. As all of my books are in mint conditions, this really made me happy to see people repairing worn out books.

One of my favourites outside of Dublin is the Cliffs of Moher. It was such a beautiful day to go. There was no rain, which is very uncommon for Ireland. It was sunny, warm, and a great adventure. The Cliffs are natural and are like nothing I have ever seen before! It was beautiful! Another amazing place to see is the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. It is located close to Belfast. It is a rock formation of varying heights that look almost like stepping stools. Very unique and definitely a sight to see! Unfortunately with the Giant’s Causeway, it was pouring rain like no tomorrow. By the end of the tour, my kobo and my friend’s phone did not work. To seeing these two places, there is only one downside. That downside is the amount of other tourists and travelers. We all want to see the same thing and all the tour operators bring them to those attractions. Great to see, but crowded as always.

Some other places worth a mention that I saw:

1. Dublinia
2. Grafton Street
3. St Stephen’s Green
4. Temple Bar Area
5. Carrick A Rede Rope Bridge
6. Dublin’s Wax Museum
7. National Lepruachen Museum
8. Merrion Square
9. Dublin Castle
10. St Patrick’s Cathedral
11. Christchurch Cathedral
12. The Old Prison
13. Town of Galway
14. Titanic Museum in Belfast
15. National Gallery of Ireland
16. National History Museum
17. National Library of Ireland
18. National Museum of Ireland
19. St Stephen’s Green Shopping Center
20. Dublin Ghost Bus Tour

I hope this gave you more of an insight of the different things you can see in Dublin and around the Island of Ireland! Unfortunately, I will not be having a blog out for a couple weeks. I will be backpacking around Europe. I will be hitting up Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Iceland and possibly Sweden! Tune in for late July/early August and read about the different destinations!

Until Next Time,

Matt C