Ireland - Dublin 🇮🇪

Belfast

On the day that we drove from Northern Ireland to Dublin in our trusty Peugeot 208, changing back to kilometers per hour from miles per hour, we stopped at the Titanic Exhibition and Crumlin Road Gaol (Jail) in Belfast.

The Titanic Belfast is located beside the Titanic Slipways, the Harland & Wolff Drawing Offices and Hamilton Graving Dock – the very place where Titanic was designed, built and launched. It was a very interesting walk through the history of ship building in Belfast and tells the story of Titanic from her conception, through her construction and launch, to her maiden voyage and subsequent place in history.

The Crumlin Road Gaol dates back to 1845 and closed its doors as a working prison in 1996. We learned the history of the site from when women and children were held within its walls through to the political segregation of republican and loyalist prisoners or better known as "The Troubles". We also experienced the underground tunnel that used to connect the gaol to the Crumlin Road Courthouse.

We would recommend both of these attractions.

We arrived safely to our hotel in Dublin that night and spent two full days there. The parking lot at the hotel was full so we paid for parking on the street and got lucky with a spot opening up the next morning at the hotel. Dublin is very walkable and has a lot of public transportation options which we put to use and we didn’t use the rental car while we were there.

The weather while we were there was a mix of sunshine and rain, rain and rain, wind and rain…. well you get the point.

The rain makes for beautiful parks and we walked to many during our time there. We also appreciated the churches, historic buildings and popular areas such as Grafton Street, know for its street entertainment and shops, and Temple Bar, known for its pubs, music and nightlife.

Bring on the drinks!!

Our most memorable attractions were the Jameson Distillery, Guiness Storehouse Irish Whiskey Museum. They were all done differently and each had something to offer. The Guinness Storehouse felt a bit like Disneyland for beer but after the tour we had a delicious Guinness on tap at probably the best table in the place with an awesome view. It took less than 5 seconds for someone to grab the table when we got up. We learned the most at the Irish Whiskey Museum and they made it fun and interesting. Our tour guide was very theatrical and the comparisons between Irish and Scotch Whiskey were very entertaining. Which one do you think they said was the best?

Not sure if you guys heard back in the states but shortly after arriving, the pilots of Aer Lingus went on strike. We had booked a one way flight from Dublin to Edinbrugh and it was looking increasing like we weren't leaving on Aer Lingus. We did a bit of checking, looking at other flights (instead of in the low $100's, we'd be looking at closer to $800. The ferry had increased in cost as well and it wasn't anywhere near where we'd have to drop off the car in Ireland or pick up our new car in Scotland. Things were starting to look grim when they announced the flights that were being canceled. It wasn't until we arrived in Dublin that we learned that the Aer Lingus flight we were booked on was actually on a partner carrier called Emerald Airways and was not impacted by the pilots strike. Ahh, some relief from the worry and back to enjoying Dublin.

Leaving Dublin was bittersweet but we were heading for new adventures, via Aer Lingus (er Emerald Airways), to Scotland. Slán go fóill, Ireland.