Dublin, again

So I'm back in Dublin, technically it's the fourth time but whose counting lol. Ystdy I basically got off bus, found hostel, went and found food then back to hostel to plan today and crash. Today we went for a wander, gonna tell story through pics this time :) 

First off we walked up to Iveagh Gardens and along the way saw some rain protection hanging in the air

And Missie made a colorful friend

Then we wandered round Iveagh Gardens

Then headed to St Stephen's Green

We tried to go to the National Museum and the National Library of Ireland but both were closed (dumb bank holiday)

We then went to the GPO (Post Office) to see the 1916 exhibition, about the 1916 uprising in Ireland - took no photos here but it was very interesting and we learnt a fair bit. 

After this we headed to The Tram Cafe for lunch, had a lovely bowl of mushroom soup

We then headed to The Old Jameson Distillary but it was sadly closed (refurbishment so can't blame the bank holiday this time)

Saw some cool art nearby though

We then wandered up to the old city walls

Next on our list was Christ Church Cathedral - so so beautiful, minus the charging admission to see inside I loved it (and no did not see inside lol)

After a short sit down we plodded to the castle, cos we were to stingy to pay to go in we only saw the courtyard (pic below), and we were to tired to walk around to see if could get a good pic so to us the castle is a dud 

After all this we stumbled our way back to the hostel where I had a sleep. Nothing at all is planned for this evening as I am knackered and have to get up at 6.30am to get the bus to my ferry. 

Oh and here is a pic I took last night that I love :)

Go Belfast Giants

Missie and I went to our first ever Ice Hockey game tonight :) we went and saw the Belfast Giants vs the Braehead Clan, or in our terminology the green dudes (me) vs the purple dudes (Missie obviously). There was a lot we didn't understand and a bit we picked up as it went along, but overall we had a blast :) also it turns out there are only three periods of play, who woulda thought lol. 

Final score 3-2 to me :) Missie sulked the whole way home, poor baby lol

Ready for the game, had awesomely close seats almost right on halfway to :)

My team warming up

Missie's team warming up

Game time 

Belfast

Yesterday and today have both pretty much been me wandering round Belfast really slowly with lots of stops for tea or coffee along the way, the stopping for the drinks was purely so I could sit down and rest for ages not cos I really wanted tea or coffee. Oh and lots of coughing my lungs out and have gone through heaps of tissues, too much info you say, well tough!! Lol. 

Really do like Belfast and wish I was feeling better than I am so I could enjoy it properly but I did find a coffee shop (California Coffee) that I loved and went to a couple times, chilled there for almost 2hrs today and had the best ever carrot cake :)

Took Missie to the movies yesterday, we saw Trolls and really liked it. We got a frozen raspberry drink but they got the colour so wrong it was super weird, tasted of raspberry but looked like woulda been bubblegum.

Tomorrow I am heading back to Dublin for a couple nights, nothing much will be happening there either I would imagine, more resting with a lil bit of exploring thrown in. Am glad have done the two things I really wanted to do there already though, means won't be sad if don't get round to anything else lol. 

Random pics from our exploring (places I know what they are are noted below pics else I just liked, also they are not in order taken as it doesn't really matter and this note is more for me when I look back at this and wonder lol)

City Hall - daytime 

City Hall -nighttime

 

Our frozen raspberry drink

Titanic memorial at City Hall

Just randomly outside a pub

St Anne's Cathedral

Like the old and new contrast

Galway

I arrived in Galway on Monday afternoon and Eli and I have basically spent the last couple days just chilling and exploring. Monday night I went out for dinner then met up with Eli and we went back to The Spanish Arch cos our fav Irish band was playing, they are still awesome :) 

Tuesday morning we went to the museum and had a wander around there, then went to a nice lil cafe beside it for tea, we got so many cups from the pot that it seemed like an endless pot of tea hehe. We did a lil bit of shopping and had lunch then it was back to the hostel for a nap. We left again for a wander and some more shop browsing then back to the hostel for dinner, they had €2 chilli con carne which was very tasty, then us and some others from the hostel headed back into to main pub area for some live music. We ended up back at The Spanish Arch and although the band was different the music was still very very good, def my fav Irish pub so far. 

Today we went to a lil place by the river for a juice (we are reminding our bodies we love them, that and I have a rather bad cough I am trying to shake lol), and then after a cup of tea at a very cute tea cafe we did the Galway Tourist Train. John the driver was super awesome and let us ride in the cab with him, totally awesome fun :) after this we had lunch at a nice lil cafe and then shopped a lil more. Non of this shopping has resulted in many if any purchases but it's still been fun. After chilling at the hostel for a while we headed out for dinner and then were going to go to a storytelling and improv event but after seeing some of the people walking in we decided it probably wasn't for us so we went and had a couple half pints, one at a pub Eli's friend recommended as the best pub in Galway (I still prefer The Spanish Arms lol) and one at the oldest pub in Galway. 

Tomorrow I am off to Belfast for a few days, then on Sunday I am heading back to Dublin for a couple days before I leave Ireland and head to Wales. 

Gorgeous view I got on way to Galway 

Chilling with the street art

Galway museum

This statue was decapitated before it went to the museum

Random boat in museum

Driving the submarine in the science area hehe

Pretty houses by the river

By the river

Galway Tourist Train

My version of Guinness (aka water lol)

Irish Rock 'n' Roll Museum Experience

This morning I went to the Irish Rock 'n' Roll Museum Experience in Dublin. From the moment I arrived I knew it was gonna be awesome cos Mark (the dude behind the desk) started chatting to Missie and asking her where she had been and how she was liking Ireland. He then gave her a VIP pass and snuck her in without her having to pay the entry fee :) She totally loved all the attention. 

Then Adam came out and he was our tour guide. The tour lasted for around an hour and we went through many different areas including rehearsal rooms, back stage, green room and recording studio. We learnt all about different bands and artists that had recorded albums there and about the history of Irish rock and pop music. It was very interesting and very very cool. We saw the U2 room, Michael Jackson had a wall of memorabilia and we even saw some of the bands riders aka demands. I even learnt how to play some Queen on the drums :) cheers Adam for the quick lesson hehe

If anyone is in Dublin I would totally recommend going to this museum, so worth it :)

Outside 

Proudly holding her VIP pass

So many albums have been recorded here, this is only a small sample 

Tour jacket from the Jackson's Victory Tour in 1984

Missie playing the drums 

Me rocking some Queen rather badly lol

Backstage time

 

Just a couple of the riders, U2 cos I liked it and Slayer cos theirs is a lil nuts 

The Green Room

Sex Pistols display in the recording studio area

These guys are an upcoming band that Adam says are ones to look out for

The massive and mega heavy mixing desk