One more day above the roses

Alrighty, so I'm a bit behind on this blogging game here. Ryan has basically summed it all up nicely so far though. Flights in were not the most restful, the first few hours in Dublin were a bit taxing as we were running on fumes and in a new place. The nap we took yesterday afternoon was probably the fastest I have ever fallen asleep. I don't remember anything after the second my head hit the pillow, and I did NOT want to wake up to the alarm (not that I ever do). It turned out to be a great first day in Dublin though, as Ryan said. We had a nice time at the Guinness Storehouse tour and very much enjoyed having our first pint of the good stuff here in Ireland. I also had a great time in the bar district, and hearing the live trad I've been listening to for years being played in real life in Dublin was beyond amazing. 

Today has been no less amazing. We started out this morning with a brief walk from our hotel to the Trinity College area. We had our first full Irish breakfast at the Kilkenny Cafe. It was probably not the best representation, as it was served cafeteria line style and it was obvious that some of the food was not the freshest, but it was a decent introduction to the meal none the less. We also got some fresh coffee, which perked us both up. 

Following breakfast it was across the street to the Trinity College library and the Book of Kells exhibit. The history behind the Book of Kells made it worth seeing, and the Long Room of the library was fantastic. It is an enormous room containing around 200,000 books along with sculpted busts of many writers and philosophers. It is quite the sight to behold, and it doesn't hurt that it bears resemblance to the library in the Harry Potter movies =)

Once we were done exploring at Trinity College we made our way over to St. Patrick's Cathedral and St. Patrick's Park next door. The cathedral itself was gorgeous, and inside of it we were able to see the burial place of Jonathan Swift. For obvious reasons, I love A Modest Proposal.

Following our tour at the cathedral we took a short walk to the Liberties neighborhood, thus named because of its location outside the former protective wall which surrounded the city of Dublin, thus making its residents at liberty to do as they pleased. We took a tour at the Teelings distillery, which boasts being the fist new distillery in Dublin in the past 125 years. Of course Ireland is famous for its whiskey, and Dublin used to be home to a number of distilleries, however a combination of factors beginning in the early 20th century caused a significant drop off in the number of distilleries in the city. 

The distillery was fun to get a tour of, and the highlight was the conclusion of the tour where we were treated to a flight of 3 whiskies. We got to taste a single grain whiskey, a small batch whiskey and a single malt whiskey. While I am relatively new to the experience of sipping straight whiskey, I found the single malt to be the most pleasurable (AKA least disgusting, haha!). I'm coming around a little bit, but I will definitely be sticking to the beers, ciders, etc when we go out to the pubs (and Ryan will thank me when he's not having to spend the night holding my hair back for me). Maybe by the end of the trip my taste for whiskey will have come around...we'll see. 

After the distillery tour was over we decided to grab a bite for lunch. We went to a pub called Thomas Read. Ryan got a soup & sandwich combo and I got a chicken pie. Of course we each got a pint to wash it down with. 

Now we've just headed back to the hotel room for a minute of rest before the night ahead of us. Not sure exactly what will be in store for us, but there are several more pubs and restaurants in the area that need exploring! No matter where we end up, I'm sure the night will be filled with trad, hearty food and plenty of pints =)