Dublin Part 2
Welcome back to part two of Dublin!
No trip anywhere is worth going if you don't visit the archaeology museum! Dublin's national museum of archaeology was beautiful. So there's nothing truly unique or outstanding there, but the building itself was outstanding. It had these lovely coloured ceramic tiles, huge archways and ceilings, and such an impressive vibe you couldn't help but be in awe over it!
As you can see, it was rather hard to to pay attention to the exhibits with such exuberant decoration around. I must say, it would have been nice for the museum to have more general information about the building around, as well as more detailed information about the exhibits, but it was still worth a visit.
Next up we visited Kilmainham Gaol. First thing is first. Make sure you book your ticket in advance. We arrived in the afternoon expecting to just buy a ticket and walk in, but actually, you have to be booked onto a organised tour to be allowed inside. So we managed to get a ticket for early the next morning on the first tour, as most of the other ticket had gone. So make sure you check and book in advance. It was an interesting tour, which tells you about the role of the prison throughout Dublins history, from it's foundations, through troubled periods such as the great famine, the movement for independence from the British Empire, it's decline and closure, then up to it's restoration and opening to the public. It was a very interesting tour, however, we did feel the tour guide especially was very Republican, and failed to give a fully balanced history, but all in all, it was an informative and interesting visit.
If you like to learn about the history of Ireland's struggle for independence, then I think you would enjoy it. Just take the commentary with a pinch of salt.
If you've got kids, then Dublinia should be first on your list. The history of Dublin, crammed into a museum, specifically aimed at little ones, with plenty to see and do. We were a little surprised by it, we weren't expecting it to be like that, especially as the reviews we had read didn't really make that point clear. If you're just adults, then it might be a fair idea to skip, and just head straight to Temple Bar. But if you do go inside, it's good fun, even if it is rather dated in places. You can also buy a combo ticket for both Dublinia and the Christ Chuch Cathedral next door, which is also nice to visit.
No matter where you are, a cat is always watching you!
The following pictures are all from the Christ Church Cathedral next door, which has an amazing collection of ceramic tiles.
All hail, the glowing wet floor sign!!!!!!!!!
The cathedral cat, which got stuck in one of the organ pipes and was mummified, only found a few years ago, and now eternally chasing the mouse.
Something I would just like to get off my chest. While the population of Ireland starved, and donated money to the catholic church to save their souls from eternal damnation in hell because of their sins, the catholic church took their money and made them believe that praying for forgiveness would save them. The catholic church is one of the worlds richest and most powerful organisations, so why on earth did it not step in? It could have single handily prevented so many (if not all) deaths from the famine.
Even today the church is shrouded in hypocrisy, double standards and the theft of rights. And I don't just mean in Ireland. Even just recently in England, the church condemned zero hour contracts, and branded companies like amazon with evil remarks due to their tax avoidance and treating workers like slaves.
And yet the church pays little, if any at all tax, and one of it's own churches admitted to hiring cleaning and maintenance staff on zero hour contracts. Pot calling the kettle black me thinks?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/09/13/cathedrals-offer-zero-hours-contracts-called-evil-archbishop/
But I digress. Ill have an entire post dedicated to what I think about religion, and more specifically the catholic church in a later post.
Dublin is a relatively easy city to navigate. The tram (Called the Luas) is easy to use and frequently serves, and a couple of days we got day tickets in order to do and see everything we wanted to. If you're in Dublin for a week or longer, it maybe worth looking into getting a full travel/transport card. It was just over seven euros a day for the Luas tram ticket, so if you're there for a few days, it can get very expensive indeed.
That was my main issue with Dublin. It was frightfully expensive there, probably not much different to London in terms of pricing I thought, and what you get isn't always the best of quality either. Sometimes you're better off either going fully budget, or high end, and skipping out the middle parts, like we did when we went out for dinners. Either stick to fast food style things (we found an awesome make you own burrito style place near the hostel), or eat somewhere nice and get something good for it. Although to be honest, that advice works for pretty much anywhere!
We also managed to find a nice little gaming arcade near the spire, where we spent an evening on the coin machines and playing pool, which was rather enjoyable just to relax and spend some time causally chatting while playing. It's little moments like these that really make times away from home very special indeed.
Overall, Dublin is great for stag do's, but not so good for culture chasers like us. We both agreed that four nights in Dublin was enough, and after getting a taste of Ireland, we both know we want to return someday and explore more of this magical emerald isle.
No trip anywhere is worth going if you don't visit the archaeology museum! Dublin's national museum of archaeology was beautiful. So there's nothing truly unique or outstanding there, but the building itself was outstanding. It had these lovely coloured ceramic tiles, huge archways and ceilings, and such an impressive vibe you couldn't help but be in awe over it!
Next up we visited Kilmainham Gaol. First thing is first. Make sure you book your ticket in advance. We arrived in the afternoon expecting to just buy a ticket and walk in, but actually, you have to be booked onto a organised tour to be allowed inside. So we managed to get a ticket for early the next morning on the first tour, as most of the other ticket had gone. So make sure you check and book in advance. It was an interesting tour, which tells you about the role of the prison throughout Dublins history, from it's foundations, through troubled periods such as the great famine, the movement for independence from the British Empire, it's decline and closure, then up to it's restoration and opening to the public. It was a very interesting tour, however, we did feel the tour guide especially was very Republican, and failed to give a fully balanced history, but all in all, it was an informative and interesting visit.
If you've got kids, then Dublinia should be first on your list. The history of Dublin, crammed into a museum, specifically aimed at little ones, with plenty to see and do. We were a little surprised by it, we weren't expecting it to be like that, especially as the reviews we had read didn't really make that point clear. If you're just adults, then it might be a fair idea to skip, and just head straight to Temple Bar. But if you do go inside, it's good fun, even if it is rather dated in places. You can also buy a combo ticket for both Dublinia and the Christ Chuch Cathedral next door, which is also nice to visit.
Something I would just like to get off my chest. While the population of Ireland starved, and donated money to the catholic church to save their souls from eternal damnation in hell because of their sins, the catholic church took their money and made them believe that praying for forgiveness would save them. The catholic church is one of the worlds richest and most powerful organisations, so why on earth did it not step in? It could have single handily prevented so many (if not all) deaths from the famine.
Even today the church is shrouded in hypocrisy, double standards and the theft of rights. And I don't just mean in Ireland. Even just recently in England, the church condemned zero hour contracts, and branded companies like amazon with evil remarks due to their tax avoidance and treating workers like slaves.
And yet the church pays little, if any at all tax, and one of it's own churches admitted to hiring cleaning and maintenance staff on zero hour contracts. Pot calling the kettle black me thinks?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/09/13/cathedrals-offer-zero-hours-contracts-called-evil-archbishop/
But I digress. Ill have an entire post dedicated to what I think about religion, and more specifically the catholic church in a later post.
Dublin is a relatively easy city to navigate. The tram (Called the Luas) is easy to use and frequently serves, and a couple of days we got day tickets in order to do and see everything we wanted to. If you're in Dublin for a week or longer, it maybe worth looking into getting a full travel/transport card. It was just over seven euros a day for the Luas tram ticket, so if you're there for a few days, it can get very expensive indeed.
That was my main issue with Dublin. It was frightfully expensive there, probably not much different to London in terms of pricing I thought, and what you get isn't always the best of quality either. Sometimes you're better off either going fully budget, or high end, and skipping out the middle parts, like we did when we went out for dinners. Either stick to fast food style things (we found an awesome make you own burrito style place near the hostel), or eat somewhere nice and get something good for it. Although to be honest, that advice works for pretty much anywhere!
We also managed to find a nice little gaming arcade near the spire, where we spent an evening on the coin machines and playing pool, which was rather enjoyable just to relax and spend some time causally chatting while playing. It's little moments like these that really make times away from home very special indeed.
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