So I mentioned this week how much I hate time zones. Well, we tried to off-set the hatred by staying awake on our first day. We had apparently brought the hot weather with us, which didn’t help sleepiness!
Getting through the Dublin airport was seamless – we were one of the last flights of the morning, so customs was a breeze. And our bags were coming around just as we got through. Taxis were readily available – although the transit system is so seamless, we absolutely could have opted for that if we weren’t exhausted. We arrived at our hotel around noon, less than two hours after our flight was on the ground. Unfortunately, such an early arrival meant our room wasn’t ready, so we decided to dump our bags and wander.
First things first, our hotel was stunning. The entire place had a classic feel to it, with a “private” gated garden overlooking the water out front. I say private, but it was open to the public. After sucking down some coffee in the shop near the lobby, we moseyed towards the water. There’s a gorgeous walking path that follows the coast. As it was Ireland’s hottest May day on record (Shannon Airport reached 29°C or close to 85°F), we thought walking the coast would be nice.
I get it, you’re probably thinking, “Oh, my sweet summer child!” and you’d be absolutely right. We got absolutely ROASTED. Sunburned in Ireland on the first day of our trip. Because we’re smart travelers. For the record, we had sunscreen…we just were dumb. Anyways, we wandered from our hotel down towards Forty Foot.
Forty Foot is famous for being an integral part of James Joyce’s Ulysses. (Aside…I’ve never read it, but it’s now on my list!) Given the weather, Forty Foot was jam packed – people were everywhere. And since it was a Monday, The James Joyce Tower and Museum was closed. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to go back to explore it, but it’s for sure going to happen on a future trip.
As we got warm (and hungry!), we headed back towards our hotel in search of air conditioning (HA!) and snacks. We ended up at Casper & Giumbini’s for an early dinner. They were all booked up until 16:30, but were able to squeeze us in at the bar, which we were grateful for. I stupidly didn’t take any food pictures, because I’m the worst at that, but I will say Italian sausage gnocchi really hit the spot.
As we finished up, Philip HAD to stop at Teddy’s for a traditional 99. And he didn’t even share the Flake!
All in all, not a bad start to our vacation!
Leave a Reply