Dublin, Ireland Vacation - Day 2 (7)

Dublin, Ireland Vacation – Day 2

May 8, 2009 | Photography, Travel Photography

Day 2 of Dublin was a great day. Kristen and I got a lot accomplished after getting a night’s rest. We purchased a Dublin Pass for a day, which pays for a bunch of attractions and stuff in Dublin. It was well worth getting it if you plan on using it. We ended up going to the Dublin Zoo, Kilmainham Goal, Guinness Storehouse and St Patrick’s Cathedral.

Our first stop was to Phoenix Park and Dublin Zoo. The zoo was awesome, especially since the weather held up and was quite nice. This is a big zoo, so be prepared to walk a lot! I believe they just opened up a lot more space in the zoo in the African Plains area, so that’s why. There are loads of different species here including various monkeys, birds, elephants, reptiles, tigers, rhinos, seals, hippos, zebras and lots more! We spent a good 2 or 3 hours here and I enjoyed it a lot. My favorite was seeing the Orangutan swinging from the tree. He kept trying to break the tree limb off, and then kept falling down and tumbling. The little spider monkeys were fun to watch, Kristen and I wanted to smuggle one out of the zoo.

After the zoo, we walked down to Kilmainham Goal, which is the former Dublin prison that was the place that most of the rebels of Easter Rising got executed. It was probably one of the most interesting places we saw on our trip. It has loads of history, and you learn a lot about the prison, the Irish rebellion, and people that stayed there. We had a terrific tour guide with loads of knowledge of the place. The tour group was very big, which was a shame because I wish I had time to take more pictures inside the prison. It was tough trying to take a picture inside without anyone in your shot. That’s the downfall of tour groups, but that’s the only way to see inside the prison.

Next up was the Guinness Storehouse. I don’t drink but it was still interesting to see how the famous Irish beer was brewed. What I liked the most was the Gravity Bar, which is located all the way at the top of the museum. It was great up there because you can see ALL of Dublin, and even out to the seaside villages & towns as well. What’s even cooler, is you get a FREE Guinness or in my case, Coke. I doubt Empire State Building would serve beer at the top for free. I was almost afraid to get a soft drink there, because I didn’t want to be the only one drinking a damn Coke. I just didn’t want to get beat up for it. But not like I was going to succumb to peer pressure or anything. After that, it was time to go to some cathedrals.

We originally wanted to go to Christ Church Cathedral but it was closing, so we headed down the street to St Patrick’s Cathedral. We just made the closing and got to sit inside the beautiful Cathedral. I took some photos inside and then realized I wasn’t allowed to do that since it was after closing. They didn’t say anything to me, but I stopped taking pictures. There was a choir there practicing which sounds amazing in St Pat’s. It was just nice to relax and rest my hurting feet & legs. I’m an old man ya see. If you plan on going to Dublin, be prepared to walk…A LOT!

After that, we got some food and went to bed early because we had a very long day ahead of us. We were going to the Cliffs of Moher, Limerick, Bunratty Castle, The Burren and Galway Bay the next day! We didn’t know how the weather was going to be that day (weather changes every minute over there), and well..let’s just say it was an experience…

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