Ireland Day 11 - Arriving in Dublin

Another rainy morning opening to a bright and sunny day~

This day we bid farewell to our car. Luckily for us, the numerous times we brushed the hedges on the narrow roads merely added to the tapestry of fair use and we had no trouble returning her.

Getting from the airport to our hotel, however, proved a challenge. Apparently someone else decided to arrive in Dublin today as well; Barak Obama. As a result, all the streets near our hotel district were shut down to all traffic and in fact the little street our hotel is situated on was even closed to pedestrian traffic.

The streets were absolutely flooded with people, so we didn't bother with much sightseeing. We ate at an amazing burger shop right in the middle of our district, Temple Bar, and spent the better part of the afternoon in our hotel bedroom listening to the speech out our window and watching it on TV, as all the festivities were happening only a few hundred metres up the road. In the topmost photo from today, you can see our hotel with the bright red facade on the lower level and our room window two floors up in the middle.

In the evening, the streets were still insanely busy and even trying to cross town proved a challenge of shuffling little steps and creating meeting spots in the event we would get separated by the crowds. The pubs and restaurants being so full that there was no room to stand let alone sit, we decided the best course of action was to find a local cinema and see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie :)

By the time the movie ended, the sidewalks were less crowded but the institutions were still packed, so we strolled the streets amazed that the edge of the sunset could still be seen even though it was nearly 11pm. There aren't many photos today because, frankly, we couldn't be bothered carrying the camera all evening! Its quite heavy and there is a lot to see over the next three full days of exploration, so we decided it was best to give it a rest for the time being.

Thats all for now! As I said, three more days in Dublin and the morning of the fourth we're flying back with the sun. It seems like the honeymoon is drawing to a close, but as we sit and pour over maps of the city and pick sights we 'must see' it is clear that there is plenty left to do.