2 Days in Dublin

My daughter was on a one semester exchange to Trinity College in Dublin, what a fabulous excuse for a quick trip to Dublin!

I found a nicely priced round trip ticket flying with Ryan Air from Amsterdam to Dublin, and booked a room for one night at The Morgan Hotel in the city center.  

I made plans to meet up with my daughter, sightsee on day one and shop on day two.  Since my energy level is still not what is should be after chemo treatments, I kept the itinerary simple and built in some nice breaks.

 

My Travel Wardrobe

I wore my travel outfit of stretchy jeans, black t-shirt, black cashmere sweater and red Puma sneakers on the plane.  

In my rolling carry on I had some things for my daughter, and for myself there were fresh undies, socks, t-shirt, plus my toiletries, medicines and a jacket.  After I dropped of my daughters things, there would be plenty of room for my Dublin purchases!

In my carry on tote was my small crossbody purse, electronics, chargers, travel papers and a book.

Day 1, Dublin Sightseeing

The flight was uneventful, although there was alot of walking thru the airport and stair climbing on and off the plane.  Next trip I may consider checking my rolling carry-on bag and just having my tote to drag around.

Jumping in a taxi from Dublin airport, I met up with my daughter at Trinity College for a tour of where she was studying.

What a beautiful campus!  

We went thru the wooden doors of the front gate and into the big cobblestone square.  Here you can really feel the history of this campus. My time was short so we headed to the Old Library with it’s wood carved bookcases and imagined sitting and studying in one of the many alcoves.  

Upstairs was the Book of Kells display.  As a book lover I enjoyed the display of this colorful manuscript, with explanations of the history behind it and other examples of books from the time.  The entrance lines can be long here so I would suggest you book your tickets online in advance if you can.

We headed out of the Trinity Campus and wandered thru the streets of Dublin, which were lively and busy, I was happy I had worn my comfy walking shoes.  

We to the nearby Park, St. Stephens Green, drawn by the lovely quiet walking paths, it was time for a break. 

With fountains, gazebos, a lake, a waterfall, gardens, birds, and lots of benches to sit and people watch, Stephens Green was full of students and locals on a break soaking up some sun.

We wandered up to the river Liffey that cuts thru the center of Dublin and took a stroll along it’s legendary banks and across the Liffey Bridge.

After a quick day of sightseeing, it was off to a local pub for dinner with of course, a Guinness.

We headed back to the hotel for an early night to bed.  

The Morgan Hotel is a smaller hotel, wonderfully located in the city center, not far from everything.  My room was nicely updated, modern, neat and clean, with a comfy bed, and an elevator, just what I like.

 

Day 2, Shopping

The next day was our shopping day, woohoo!  We were up and out early.

First things first, coffee and scones at the shabby chic style Avoca Cafe near Trinity College.  The cafe is up above their trendy shop, but if like me, stairs are not your friend, there is an elevator in the back of the store that will take you right up to the cafe.

Once you’re full and ready to shop, head back downstairs to the Avoca shop and check out their wonderful selection of locally made throws and blankets.

With limited shopping time, the obvious choice was to head to the famous Grafton Street.  

I popped in to Cath Kidston and fell in love with her London Icon line of bags.  We stopped by River Island to check out the trendy clothes (they have plus sizes online), Boots for one of my fav lipsticks, Marks & Spencer for some english greeting cards and Ted Baker for some colorful chic handbags.  

As we headed to the Powerscourt Centre, I passed a shoe shop called Fly London with some wonderfully stylish yet comfortable looking wedges.  I didn’t have time to go in and try but I put that shop on my list for the next visit.

At the Powerscourt Centre I picked up some irish yarn at This Is Knit.

Now that I’m spending more of my time in the Netherlands, english books are expensive, so a trip to the bookstore was a must.

We stopped at the famous Hodges and Figgis, part of the Waterstones chain, in a beautiful old building with carved wooden bookcases and lots of wooden stairs.  There was a nice Irish department, several floors of books and lots of history.

Further down Grafton Street was the smaller Dubray Bookstore.  With their focus more on top selling books, paperbacks and book club picks, it was easy to grab some fun reads.

It was seriously time for a break so we made a stop at Starbucks to have a latte and talk over the days finds.

I was already out of shopping time and hadn’t made it to any of the plus size clothing shops on my list.  Unfortunately for me, the plus size shops were all in another shopping area over the River Liffey near Henry Street, so I’ll put those shops back on the list for next time.

One last stop to drop my daughter at her student apartment, I picked up my bags and grabbed a cab to the airport.  

An uneventful flight back to Amsterdam and I was home.

Dublin is an amazing vibrant city with so much to see and do that my quick two day stay barely scratched the surface and I can’t wait to head back soon for more, it was a fabulous trip!