This time
Irene will tell you about her trip to Dublin, capital of Ireland.
First of
all I want to say that since this trip I found my hobby, my passion and how I
would like to work for a living…TRAVELLING. It was the first time I travelled
alone, so in some moments I could overcome some difficulties by myself and it
gave me a little more confident about my actions and what I wanted to do. Also I met one of my best friends in there. We
were living together for 3 weeks, enjoying great and unforgettable moments and
we created a beautiful friendship. Due to all these, my experience in Dublin is
so special and magical and I would love to go back again and discover more and
more places.
Thanks to a
scholarship, I had the opportunity to travel to Dublin, visit the city and, the
most important reason, practice English. About the improvement in English, it
didn’t go very well because Dublin is full of Spanish people. There was not a single place where I entered and didnt heard words in Spanish. The first day was
very useful because I was lost and the map didn’t help too much, so I could ask
a couple the address of the building. But during the 3 weeks, I would had
preferred an intensive and stressful English days.
But let’s
go to talk about Dublin, the huge green and peaceful parks, the famous black
beer and the traditional Irish music playing in Temple Bar.
|
Phoenix park |
Dublin is
well known due to its huge and green parks where you can have a great Sunday
with your family and friends. This is one reason because I love Dublin. Saint
Stephen’s Green, the Botanic Garden and Phoenix Park are the most famous; and
also in the last one there is a zoo inside but I don’t recommend paying for it,
the animals you can find there are not very exotic or difficult to see in other
zoos.
|
Saint Stephen's Green |
|
Botanic Garden |
|
Hello Sweety :) |
The city is
divided by the river Liffey in two parts, O’ Connell Street and Temple Bar.
|
River Liffey |
O’ Connell
Street is the main street in the city center and you will recognize it easily
thanks to Spire, a very long monument placed in the middle of the avenue. Also
there are people since early in the morning until the midnight. I liked this
place due to the variety of cultures and people from all around the world. If
you want to buy souvenirs or gifts, O’ Connell Street and others streets next
to it are full of shops and some shopping centers. It is place really cool to
walk or go shopping for hours.
|
O'connel Street |
Spire
The other touristic
part in the city is Temple Bar, being, in my opinion, the most attractive
neighborhood in Dublin where you couldn’t decide between many kind of bars and
pubs. In every narrow street there is a place to enter and listen to the traditional
music while you are drinking an Irish beer. You will not have the possibility
to be bored because even in the morning there are several markets like Food
Market or Book Market. You
can listen different songs and music coming from every pub. It’s amazing.
|
Temple Bar |
MUSEUMS AND
OTHER PLACES
Dublin is
also a good choice if you are a museums’ fan because there is a great offer of
them around the city. I will give my
opinion about some of them and then you can comment if you agree with me or not.
-National
Gallery of Dublin. In this museum you have the opportunity to observe paintings
made by important artists like Caravaggio, Monet or Picasso. Of course you
cannot compare it with Louvre museum but you can enjoy the paintings from Middle
Age.
- Guinness
Storehouse. In my opinion this is the king of the museums in Dublin. In here
you can learn the process of the famous black beer Guinness. The visit is
organized very well because at the entrance they give a kind of phone where it
is explained the history of this drink and how it is prepared. You need time
for this museum; it is divided in 7 floors and you can touch most of the things
that you see. I highly suggest you to visit even if you don’t like beer because
when you arrive to the top of the museum, there is a beautiful sightseeing of
the city. Also they give you a free beer but if you don’t drink alcohol, you
can ask for a Coke or Seven up.
-The Old
Jameson Distillery. This museum is also interesting to know the different
phases of this traditional and well-known Irish whiskey. Moreover, you can
enjoy of a whiskey tasting and recognize which one is Jameson. But to be
honest, this is not so spectacular as Guinness Storehouse.
-Dublinia.
Do you want to go back to Vikings or medieval times? Are you interested in it?
If you answered YES, this is your place. Dublinia shows how people lived and
worked in the old city through reconstructions not really well-made. The museum
is a good option for families because kids can play roles and interact with different
objects from Medieval Times.
- Leprechaun
Museum. First of all I will explain that Leprechaun is a type of fairy in Irish
folklore, usually taking the form of an old man, clad in a red or green coat,
who enjoys partaking in mischief. In my
opinion, this is one of the worst museums I’ve never been. In here, they try to
move visitors to Leprechaun world and make you feel tiny and small as a
Leprechaun, so for it they use huge chairs, tables and cups. Also there are
other dark and white rooms with umbrellas on ceiling and colorful fabrics. I
didn’t understand the purpose of this museum so from my point of view it
doesn’t worth to visit it.
-Trinity
College. It is the oldest university in Ireland, created in 1592. It includes
16 hectares with in squares and green spaces around the buildings which
represents the rich architecture of those times. Important writes like Jonathan
Swift, Synge or Oscar Wilde studied here. This is one of the first places I visited
in Dublin, and I really liked the environment, I felt myself like I was in a
typical university from a movie.
-
Kilmainham Gaol: It is an ancient prison
built in 1796 and it is famous because some scenes of the movie “In the name of
the father” were taken in there.
|
Saint Patrick's Cathedral |
|
Christ Church |
|
Next to Molly Malone |
Please leave an e-mail or comment if you have any questions
Regards
Irene Jimenez & Isak Uzun