Summary of day four: a day filled with disaster and wonderful surprises. Let’s get this show on the road.
Morning
The goal for this morning was to visit an indoor market called Liberty Market. So, after the regular shower, get dressed, breakfast, brush teeth routine, I set out in the rainy streets of Dublin, on my way to said market. When I arrived there, however, I quickly realized that the market wasn’t actually open. As a matter of fact, there was a large banner hanging in the street – right next to the market entrance – saying something to the likes of “Liberty Market – open on Saturday from 11 am”. So there I was, in the pouring rain, with no umbrella and no plans left for the morning. It looked like the day was going to be a complete catastrophe.
Being a great problem solver (/sarcasm), I decided to carry out my afternoon plans a little bit earlier and then see how the evening would go. All in all, this was an excellent decision.
Late morning
My plan was to go visit St Patrick’s Cathedral and Marsh’s Library in the afternoon. These two were very conveniently located right next to each other. The struggle started when I arrived at the cathedral, though. There was an entrance fee of about €5 but it turned out I didn’t have any cash on me whatsoever. Now imagine trying to find an ATM abroad, in a city you’ve never been – and not even in the city centre, at that.
After some asking around, I found out that there was in fact an ATM inside a supermarket right around the corner. So obviously, I rushed there, as it was still raining cats and dogs and I didn’t fancy just standing out in the cold without getting anywhere. I went inside the store and walked to the back, where the ATM was located. As I approached the cash machine, something sparked a feeling of disappointment in me. There was a sign on the face of the machine saying “This machine is out of order”.
More late morning
By now, it was only around 10:15 am and it seemed like everything that could have gone wrong, did, in fact, go wrong. I went over to the cashier and asked if he could let me withdraw some money. It turned out he could only give me cashback if I bought something from the store. So I grabbed a Mars bar from the counter and withdrew my money. I finally returned to the cathedral and paid my entrance fee.
Time check: 10:25. Having arrived inside, I was looking around at the back of the cathedral when I heard a man call out that there would be a free, guided tour starting at 10:30. Naturally, I decided to stop exploring and wait for the man to tell me interesting anecdotes and fun facts about the place. I’m glad I did, because I actually learned quite a lot from this tour.
A view of the inside of St Patrick’s Cathedral.
More late morning and early afternoon
After this wonderful tour of St Patrick’s Cathedral, I moved on to Marsh’s Library. By now, the rain had more or less stopped. I entered into the picturesque staircase leading up to the library itself and I was intoxicated. This is what it looked like.
The staircase leading up to the main building of Marsh’s Library. (sorry for the poor quality, this was taken from my travel video – will be uploaded later)
Sadly, in the library itself, photography was not allowed, so I can’t show you any pictures of the inside. You can check out their website for a little insight, though.
As soon as I got into the main room of the library, there was an employee waiting to greet any guests coming to visit. He informed me that the admission cost had been scratched because of the ongoing painting and carpenting work that was being done. I didn’t mind, because I was not allowed to take any pictures anyway. So I strolled around the library for about half an hour, admiring the sight and smell of all these old books in one place.
Afternoon
By now, it was around 1 pm and I had already done everything I had planned for that day – except dinner. So when I came out of the library, I strolled into one direction and just kept going. That’s how I found some great things and places I wouldn’t have found otherwise.
Jam Art Factory
About two streets away from the library, I found this cute little art shop. They sold a creative of creative products, ranging from tote bags to greeting cards. There was one card in particular that I found rather amusing, so I couldn’t help but snap a quick picture of it.
Even though I have no idea what Busáras is, I’ve always been a sucker for puns and linguistic humour.
By now, the rain had stopped falling from the sky, which I was very thankful for. My shoes had become all wet because of the puddles on the streets and my coat was drenched as well. I managed to find a place to dry myself, though.
Dublinia
Somehow, I ended up at Dublinia. This is a museum right next to Christ Church Cathedral, entirely devoted to the history of the Vikings in Ireland. I hadn’t originally planned to go here, and I hadn’t even heard of this place before passing by, but it looked like an interesting place to visit. I went in.
The museum itself was a very interactive and informing place to spend some time. There were wax remakes of Vikings, you could spell your own name in ancient runes, and there was even a range of Viking clothing you could try on.
After this refreshing change of pace from the whole walking around in the rain without a clue as to where I’m going thing, I took the opportunity to climb the adjacent and accompanying St Michael’s Tower. This led to a great vantage point with pretty cool views of Dublin.
Late afternoon
Having done everything on my list and more, I decided it was about time to head back to my hostel and freshen up. I walked along the river Liffey for quite a while, as my hostel wasn’t quite in the city centre. I rediscovered a coffee bar I had been to a couple of days before, and decided to hop in and come to my senses in there.
The bar’s name is Dwarf Jar. They don’t have a website, but they do have a Facebook page. If you’re ever in Dublin and looking for a great, cozy place to drink coffee or tea and eat something, this is where you’ll want to go. My favourite was the chai latte, at my trusty seat by the window.
My view while I was enjoying my chai latte. It’s surprisingly fun to just sit and watch people hurry off to their destinations.
Aside from dinner, this was the last exciting thing that happened on day 4 of my adventure. I returned to my hostel, freshened up, and sat in the hallway editing my video and checking my dinner reservation. While I was sitting there, I met a young Swedish woman by the name of Ana. She was sleeping in the adjacent room and I had a nice talk with her.
Dinner
For my last night in Dublin, I decided to have dinner at a pub not far from my hostel. This was pretty much the only healthy dinner I had during my five days there. I decided to go for a vegetarian curry, and it was better than I had expected. Again, there were problems with finding money, because the pub’s machine wouldn’t accept my card. It all worked out in the end, though.
Soon after, I went back to the hostel and got to sleep early for once. This was the only night that I was all alone in my 6-person room. I enjoyed the well-needed quiet night and drifted away to sleep peacefully.
Thank you for reading this second-to-last blog update post! Sorry these last couple posts are a little bit late, the past days have been quite busy.
-S
