Learning way too much & ticking off something on my bucket list!

Today was our second (and last) day in Dublin, which does feel a little weird, because it feels like we’ve been here for both a month and also 2 seconds.

We had quite a few things booked today, so it was an earlier start than our last couple of days. First on the menu was the Viking Splash Tour, which takes you on a ‘duck’ vehicle, which were made in WWII to help evacuate soldiers. It can go on both roads and water, so it’s perfect for Dublin tours, as they can do sections around the streets and also on the River Liffey. I had seen a couple people online say how fun and engaging the tour was, so I convinced Dad to set some time aside for it. And I was so glad we did! The tour centres around Dublin’s Viking-related history, which was also perfect cause we hadn’t done anything related to the Viking period as yet. As you board the vehicle, which pulls up to a random spot near a park, you get a viking helmet for the duration of the trip- unfortunately for Dad I did in fact make him wear it for the entire time. We also had to roar like Vikings at Dubliners which was quite cathartic honestly. Our tour guide’s name was Keith and when I tell you he was slay, he was so slay. He was in full peasant-like attire, and immediately I thought ohhh this is about to be iconic. And I was very much correct. The whole thing was like if Horrible Histories was live, funnier, and in Dublin. So, it was perfect. So many of Keith’s jokes were so borderline inappropriately adult, luckily the vast majority of which went straight over the kid’s heads. We were a bit nervous the whole tour would be a bit too ‘on the nose’ kind of situation, but we were very happy to pretty much immediately be proven incorrect.

The tour went from 9:30am until 11am, which was a bit longer than expected, but the peak hour traffic was pretty bad so that why probably why. The next activity we had planned didn’t have an entrance time anyway, so it didn’t really matter. Both morning activities were on opposite sides of St Stephen’s Green, an inner city park I absolutely fell in love with. If anything, Dublin needs more city parks, the Green was absolutely gorgeous, a highlight of the day for sure. Anyway the second activity, being the Museum of Literature Ireland, or MoLI, was note even a 10-minute walk away from the tour drop-off point. We headed straight there once the Viking Splash Tour finished. This museum was clearly a smaller, more niche type of setup, but I really enjoyed the quieter and slower pace of this experience compared to the tour this morning. Although I do think if you don’t already know a bit, or have an interest in literature, you’ll find this experience dull. I, of course, really liked it, but even taking in all 4 floors of items and stories, it only took me just over an hour to see everything. If you just kind of walk through and skim things, you’ll be in and out in half an hour, which really isn’t worth the time. Again, I really enjoyed it, especially because there was a lot dedicated to Oscar Wilde, and he’s definitely one of my favourite authors, but yeah, this experience is definitely more on the niche interest side of things.

Finishing up at MoLI, we realised there was a small-ish Famine exhibition set up at the shopping centre around the corner. Honestly if it was more than a 10-minute walk away we wouldn’t have bothered, but we were both curious about that side of Ireland’s history, and the exhibition was very compact so we thought we’d give it a go. Overall it was a great little activity to chuck into the day! It definitely wasn’t done in a crazy interesting or engaging way, if I didn’t actively want to know more about the Great Famine (or Hunger) I probably wouldn’t have really engaged with the displays. But, my curiosity helped with keeping me locked in, and I learnt heaps. My favourite part of the exhibition, which well-surmises the message throughout the display, is by John Mitchell, a Irish Nationalist who said “The Almighty (God), indeed, sent the potato blight, but the English created the Famine.” Damn the tea in that is crazy. And honestly after seeing and reading everything the Irish were put through time and time again from the British, there’s not a single smidge of a lie in that.

Needing a break after our earlier start to the day, we went back to our Airbnb for an hour or 2 to have some lunch and chill out for a bit.

Our next plans weren’t until 4pm when we had entrance booked to the Book of Kells experience at Trinity College. Although I have some opinions on Christianity and religion as a whole that the Book of Kells probably wouldn’t want to hear, I actually really enjoy doing religion-related experiences when I’m travelling, mostly because I know nothing about it, and find it really fascinating. They also have some really pretty artefacts and churches, the Book of Kells being another one. From what I know, the Book of Kells is a section of the New Testament from 800 AD, brought from the Iona Islands to Ireland when monks were fleeing Viking pillaging. The work inside is extremely detailed, especially the artworks. Whilst we saw sections of digitalised art, the page the College had the actual Book open to was about the Genealogy of Christ. Like girl, you’ve just had an 11 part audio guide talking about how intricate the art was, and how difficult it was to complete, then you have the Book open to a bunch of words? Honestly it was a bit underwhelming after all that buildup.

Part of the ticket was also the Long Room, which is also known as the Old Library within Trinity College. It’s been on my bucket list to see for many years now, and when I realised we would be in Dublin and the library would be open, I just knew we had to go. This also didn’t disappoint at all, if anything the photos of it did not do it any justice at all. The only unfortunate thing was that a lot of the beautiful, ancient books of the library were actually not there, as they’ve started a big new preservation process to record and create a digital copy of every book there. Easily there would be tens of thousands of books in that library, it’s a massive task to complete. But with growing concerns about the book’s condition and risk of fire (the entire library is timber), it was deemed a necessary task. Honestly it was incredible to see, I don’t have the words to describe the feeling of walking off those steps and turning and the doors just being wide open to the library. Big book nerd moment for me!

Checking off the last couple of activities included getting a couple of drinks and eating at a pub, which at this point are just compulsory daily activities.

Now we’re back at our Airbnb and getting ready to get roundtrippin tomorrow! Dublin has most definitely grown on me over the last couple of days, and I’m disappointed to be leaving so soon. I’m glad that we’ll end up being back here in a couple of weeks.

See you soon Dublin!

Currently MIA,

Lauren x