Early morning again here in Ireland, we said our goodbyes to Sharon this morning and headed toward Dublin. After checking into our hotel we traded in our car for a more city friendly bus pass and caught a bus from the airport straight into Dublin. The first stop was Trinity College, the oldest College in Ireland and smack dab in a busy bustling city. Next stop was the National Museum which is free and is out of the rain, which is what we wanted the most, the museum was interesting and tells the history of Ireland from prehistoric on. Something I learned was that Ireland was a Viking settlement at 2 different times in history. Did you know that?

Next we stopped for lunch in a traditional Irish Pub called Sheehan’s, and walked the posh walking streets close by. After window-shopping we made our way over to Dublin Castle and the medieval area of the city. I was blown away by the history this city possesses. The buildings in this area go back to the 900’s AD and you can still see the old city wall that is 775 years old! I guess when you come from a land that considers 1600/1700 ancient you are impressed by anything older! We had dinner in a pub that was established in 1100’s for heaven sake! I kept waiting for the walls to crumble on top of me as I ate my dinner. After strolling around Temple Bar area and enjoying the cobble stone street scenes we ended our night with some live traditional Irish music at Cobblestone Pub. Ahh, that was a full happy day. Tomorrow, Paris.

Happy Trails,

The Smuckers

Jamie’s Travel Tips:

-The Airport Holiday Inn Express is a great budget hotel to stay at if you’re flying out in the morning. Whenever we travel and need a budget place to stay on points, we always love staying at Holiday Inn Express hotels which are part of the Intercontinental Hotel Group. The hotels usually cost between 10,000 and 20,000 points a night and include free hot breakfast and wifi. IHG points can be acquired by signing up for the IHG credit card. This is one of my favorite hotel credit cards because the signup bonus is usually between 60,000 and 80,000 points, the card only costs $49 a year, and every card anniversary you get a free night at any level hotel (a great value). My wife and I both have this card so we will be using those free nights at the Intercontinental Del La Ville Roma in Rome.
-The most convenient way to travel between the city and the airport is via the Dublin Bus Airlink. A roundtrip ticket cost 10 Euros from the airport to the city and back. Just look for the green bus numbered 747.