How to do Dublin in 1 1/2 Days {Day Two}
My little furry travel companion knocked out by jet lag at the Ashling Hotel in Dublin
Author: ArtsyChowRoamer
Touring Ireland-Day Two in Dublin
BREAKFAST AT THE ASHLING PARK GATE HOTEL
We woke early to fix ourselves a nice “cuppa” tea with the nifty water boiler that The Ashling Park Gate supplied in our room in Dublin. My furry travel companion was jet lagged and had to be coaxed into getting up. His business finished, we were off for the big buffet breakfast; ready to tackle day two which I’ll share with you in this post.
The breakfast is fabulous at this hotel-they really do have everything you could possibly want along with stations for cooked requests too. The day was misty so we grabbed a cab instead of The Luas. There is also a system of hop on hop off buses in the central city that you might find useful when visiting Dublin.
THE NESPRESSO SHOWROOM
We headed back over to Grafton for a little more shopping and photo ops where we stopped at the Nespresso coffee showroom. Having visited many before, they are all beautiful and usually have tastings of their newest arrivals going on. It didn’t disappoint so we bought some pods and headed on our way.
New taste with a shot of milk in this latte at the upscale Nespresso showroom in Dublin
WALKABOUTS GREAT WAY TO SEE STUFF
Our walkabouts always find out of the way places to hop in for a beer, glass of wine or snack. Wondering without plan introduces you to neighborhoods where you get the best feel for a place. We passed a shop with three outdoor tables and only two tables inside.
It was downstairs, small, cute and had lots of goodies for breakfast and lunch. I told a slice of pistachio cake to “get in my belly” and my husband grabbed a peach and custard tart. We also had them bag a couple of croissants for snacking later as we drooled over the homemade pastries and pies.
A view down into the cute little lunch cafe during our walkabout in Dublin
TRINITY COLLEGE & THE BOOK OF KELLS
We then decided to make our way over to Trinity College to tour the campus and maybe get a look at The Book of Kells collection. The campus is very busy with students hanging out, riding bikes, rushing to class and tourists snapping pictures everywhere.
It would be a great place to go to school and was good for a couple of hours entertainment because you do wait in line to see those books. The closest we got was a shot up the steps from the gift shop! Buy a ticket in advance!
The buildings are architectural gems and there were several interesting exhibitions going on in the various galleries around campus. The bookstore and gift shop were absolutely jam packed but they do offer a nice selection of items if somewhat pricey! Do make time for this campus. It is on everyone’s list and we really enjoyed our time there.
SNACK AT LE CAVE
Nest stop we ducked into an underground wine bar called Le Cave for a glass of wine and a terrine of pure foie gras with toasted brioche and red onion chutney which was excellent and the perfect size for a little pick me up. Woof!
THE JAMESON DISTILLERY TOUR
Since we didn’t have much time left we decided to do the tour at Jameson DIstillery because it was right around the corner from the hotel. It was great fun and fantastic whiskey tasting to boot! The tickets are pricey but worth it. Just get your hand up in the air when they ask for volunteers and do it fast!
Take the Jameson Distillery tour in Dublin as it is great fun and a little whiskey never hurts right?
DINNER AT FX BUCKLEY
Back at the hotel we changed for dinner and headed out to FX Buckley which had several locations around Dublin. After a little dust up with the manager, (who thought they could plate shame us into ordering entrees!) we ordered a bottle of red wine and two small plates of fillet of steak tartare with fresh horseradish, watercress and potato chips.
They are known for their dry aged steaks at FX and we could see why after chowing down. The atmosphere was nice and we enjoyed the dinner but the glitch at the beginning along with service issues like late appearing after dinner drinks did not send us over the moon. You know I will always tell you the truth!
Fillet of steak tartare; a small plate served at FX Buckley under protest
CONCLUSION
While you probably could have gotten more done in a day and half than we did, it wouldn’t have been a lot more. You might also be interested in reading more blogs about Ireland under Explore the World and Edible Fare.
The things we focused on gave us a good feel for the city and some of what it has to offer in the way of art, food and travel. These high spots should be on your list should you get to visit. I hope you enjoyed the tour and hey don’t be a stranger! Let me know what you’d like to know about Ireland or what you want to read about OK? Until next time…
Cheers,
ArtsyChowRoamer
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TO MY READERS: This post was updated with info, pics and videos on 1/4/20