Dublin, Ireland (Part 1)

The next stop on my adventures in the month of May was Dublin, Ireland! I have to say, I did very little research for this trip. I did this for a couple of reasons...1) Time; 2) Only having 2 1/2 days in Ireland so I knew it would be a good overview trip; and 3) Sometimes it is best to just forget the guide book and see where the adventure takes you!

Julie and I left on Saturday morning for Dublin. As soon as we arrived, our first stop was the Guinness tour! This definitely did not disappoint!! We had such a great time going through how the brew is made, having a little taste, and buying a few souvenirs! It is a very well done tour and a must-see on any trip to Dublin!

Did you know the color of Guinness is really ruby-red and not black?
Water is one of the 4 ingredients in Guinness. Do you know the other 3??
Passport Duck had a little too much fun sampling the Guinness.
After we left Guinness, we headed to the Temple Bar area where we visited St. Patrick's Cathedral and thanked him for making the St. Patrick's Day celebrations so much dang fun all of these years!

After walking around the Temple Bar area and having a little snack, we visited the Dublin Castle, which was not all that exciting. It was then we realized, Dublin was not really all that exciting either. Now, I have to say, we really did not give it much of a chance. However, looking back on it now, we enjoyed the next couple of days outside the city and in the countryside and coast a lot better.
I do not want to be a huge downer on the city of Dublin, but there is really not that much to see. It could have been that we were tired (which is very true) and not all that interested in walking around...who knows.

However, I think it may have had something to do with wanting to get to our hotel as soon as we could. See, Julie found an incredible rate at the Ritz-Carlton Powerscourt. Ok, to be honest, I really do not frequent the Ritz very often, but I have to say this property was incredible. The property was located in the countryside just outside Dublin and was absolutely beautiful! Check out this link and you will see why we loved it so much!

http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/Powerscourt/Default.htm

So, this is probably why we did not stick around Dublin too long! I will be posting more from our little tour of Ireland and the spa day we had at the Ritz...so stay tuned!