We checked out of our Airbnb in the morning and headed for Dublin, Ireland! It was about a two hour drive down and my body was still adjusting to the time change and this was the first time I hadn't felt good this whole trip. I had a stomach ache and so I slept most the way down to get my mind off of it. When we got into city center we all were kinda crabby so we needed food and coffee ASAP. It was a grey cloudy day and we had hoped for sunshine but were readily dressed just in case it wanted to rain.
When we found a parking garage, the search for coffee was on. Located right next to the garage and right on one of the main streets in Dublin was Bear Market Coffee. This was a small coffee house but absolutely adorable. The interior was a mix of bright white wood with accents of green plants and industrial iron bars. The tables and seats used wood blocks as the bases and the iron rods to hang them from the ceiling. The espresso machine was a bronze metal and same with some of their cups. It was an unexpected interior to find in Dublin but I loved it. A mix of earthy industrial interiors to start my day!
Most of the day we walked the streets and went in and out of shops buying ourselves gifts or others some gifts to remember Ireland! We also go the full experience of Dublin and the people there. Compared to Belfast, I preferred Belfast because the people were very nice and overall the cleanliness of the town was impeccable. They set the standards high with every city I'll visit now so Dublin was a let down in that case. But I still enjoyed the shops and few tourist spots we checked out. Otherwise Dublin's streets were dirty, crowded, and had a lot of homeless people. My opinion shouldn't deter you from visiting though, like I said there is plenty to be offered there for everyone. Probably plan ahead with things you want to see beforehand.
On our list of must see today though was the National Gallery of Ireland, an art museum with famous artists like Rembrandt, Caravaggio and John B. Yeats. I have learned about Rembrandt and Caravaggio in earlier art history classes at my college and that is what I am taking as my study abroad class here in Scotland. Art Since 1950, and we are learning about modern artists and movements. So t dip back in my past knowledge of artists was fun for me. Tested how much I learned in the classes too! John B. Yeats was a recent artist I discovered myself and he is mainly an abstraction artist. I was drawn to the use of color and the need to search for a purpose in his paintings. He also is an Irish artist, so I found it interesting to find someone in the country.
Afterwards, it was a constant rain and no rain day so we walked around a bit more and came across the city hall and the Dublin Castle which was close by. You can walk through the main floor in the City Hall and bask in its grand glory and learn about the statues there but it didn't spark much attention to us. The Dublin Castle you had to pay for, and we had just missed the last tour of the day. Sadly, but we enjoyed the exterior and wondered why half of it was the original stone and the other half was painted random solid colors like yellow, green and red.
We hadn't checked into our Airbnb yet in Tarmonbarry (which is central Ireland) and so we decided to drive out and grab dinner there. It was yet another two hour drive to get there so again I found an opportunity to nap. In no time we made it, unpacked, and went out to Keenan's Bar and Restaurant. This was a very small town (less than 100 people) and they had two restaurants and two pubs to choose from. So per recommendation from our Airbnb host, we went with Keenan's. There I ate fish and chips with a glass of Guinness beer. Afterwards we headed back to the house and unwound with a movie night. This was by far my favorite Airbnb because we were on the river that went through town and also it had the comfiest beds.
