DUBLIN DAY THREE.
After the hype of the previous day, we all went to bed kinda early – but not before packing up our room to move onto the next stop.
In the morning, we got up early and went to Dublin Castle, in the hopes of getting into a guided tour first thing in the morning. While reading online it said that the tours were all full, but we could chance it and show up, maybe get in a standby type line, and hope to get in a tour. We thought we would try, and if it was too late, we would just do the castle by ourselves and then head back to collect our things.
We were on a slight time crunch because we had train tickets to Belfast that afternoon, so we didn’t want to get a tour for like 1pm, because we would definitely miss our train, and we didn’t want that!
So we showed up early, before the place opened, and luckily we were able to grab some tickets for a guided tour!
This may come as no shock, but I LOVE courtyards. Why North America never built any is BEYOND me. I just love them, I love to photograph them, I love to stand in them, the whole thing.
Our tour guide was very lovely (although I forget her name). She took us around the castle, stopping first to see some of the remnants of the old building. Dublin castle has been seiged and captured so many times throughout history, mostly by Viking tribes and other conquerors. She told us lots about the history of the castle, the different wars that were fought, etc. It was all super interesting. At one point in this underground museum we were in, you could see the remnants of the old moat that went around the castle way back when. You could also see old stairs and doors leading out to the wall when the castle was more of a fortress.
We next went to the castle chapel. It was nice, complete with beautiful stained glass windows. At one point, our tour guide had to come in and yell for everyone to leave because we were taking too long and another tour was trying to come in…
Finally, we went into the royal apartments.
We got to see the royal throne – it was huge! The step stool was very necessary, as there was no other way to get onto the seat! It was decorated with Lions and Unicorns, holding harps.
We finished in the throne room, complete with national flags, royal blue carpets, and mahogany benches. It wasn’t set up in any royal fashion, it was just empty.
After the castle, we OBVIOUSLY had to make one final stop at our favorite place: The Queen of Tarts.
Luckily it was only a block north from the castle, so it was easy to stop by.
That day they had meringues and fresh lemonade, plus an extra fruit tart for my grandma.
After yummy treats, we had to rush a little to get back to our airbnb, grab our things, and make it to the train station. But thankfully we made it and took the train 2ish hours to Belfast, crossing the border while on the way!
And so we arrived in Northern Ireland, and into the United Kingdom! Yay!
We took a taxi to our airbnb, and after relaxing a little, we decided to spend the remaining hours of our afternoon at the Titanic Museum.
And man, what a museum!
The building was AMAZING! It was huge, it was crazy to look at!
The inside was also crazy.
We were there for several hours and near the end we were just skimming info.
It started out talking about Belfast history, specifically about industry and shipping. From there it talked about the shipping companies and people who would later design and build the Titanic ship.
And then we got into how the Titanic was built, how many people were involved, and all the work that went into it. It’s amazing how it all happened.
Out behind the building was a shipyard that showed how big the ship was, which was also crazy!
There were interviews and stories from survivors, which was crazy to read about.
They also talked about the years that followed, the lawsuits and ships that were later built. They also had an interactive zone that showed video footage from when they found the Titanic at the bottom of the ocean.
The museum was AWESOME. It was huge, and long, but ultimately awesome. The museum closed at 8pm, so we left and checked out a ship across from the museum that, while not the same size as the Titanic, was built around the same time.
We obviously had to have a little fun taking pictures on the boat 🙂
As it got later in the evening we had to go hunt for food. And thanks to a helpful guy at the museum, we decided to walk to the mall across the water to go to a restaurant for dinner. It was a bit of a jaunt, but we were able to walk along the waterfront, which was pretty nice.
We ended up eating dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe – very local cuisine. After that, we caught a cab back to our airbnb, where we, as usual, crashed for the evening.
True to nature, Belfast was misty, overcast, and raining part of the time. What a day!
Tomorrow is another big tour day, I can’t wait to share!
Stay tuned!
Wandering Miss Emma.K 