Malls and meandering: Dublin day two

February 16, 2010

Dublin, Day two… my idea of a perfect vacation. Museums, shopping, walking around, maybe a castle or two, and good weather. I’m happy.

Day two started off great. We woke up early, ate our free continental breakfast consisting of toast and frosted flakes, and sat down to plan our day. Shopping on Westmoreland and O’Connell Street was top of the list. We saw too many good shops to pass up on our bus ride in. Then, we decided we would head north to check out the Writer’s Museum and Hugh Lane Art Gallery. Lastly, we would eat at the Cobblestone, another good pub we read about. We got dressed and headed out.

On our way to all the shopping streets, we wondered south a bit and found St. Stephen’s Green. A park and surrounding area that has always been the more affluent area of central Dublin I think. That area was nice, but we were anxious to shop. After a few pictures in the park, we found Top Shop. And then we found A/Wear, and Penney’s and Schuh’s and too many other stores to count. I bought a dress and some other things. They barely fit in my bag for the trip home!

After a long day of shopping, Hal, Viv and I found this magical place called the Candy Café on our way to the Hugh Lane Gallery. I had a huge coffee. Still recovering from Thursday night’s lack of sleep. After that quick pit stop, we descended on the Hugh Lane Gallery, which we read was awesome. Didn’t disappoint. I won’t go on describing what paintings and things I loved here, because I’d probably put everyone to sleep, but trust. It was great. I bought two pocket books at the bookstore and walked away with a smile on my face. And I almost got run over by a car. Should probably look both ways before crossing. That might be smart.

So, we headed back to our hostel after that. We decided to take a new way home. Thinking we knew the city pretty well by this point. We didn’t get lost. We found the Ilac Mall. And then we found Jervais Mall. And Mary Mall. And H&M and another Top Shop. More shopping! And this place was crazy. It was literally a sea of people, moving in waves along this narrow street. I loved it.

Oh, I forgot. As we walked up Westmoreland Street this morning, there were street performers everywhere. One guy blowing huge bubbles, like four-foot bubbles, into the air. A man with a few dancing puppets playing Michael Jackson songs on his boom box. A group of young people playing in a string quintet. It was like a carnival! So fun.

On to dinner. Cobblestone wasn’t what we thought and Viv wanted to eat Italian. No luck there. Everything was booked for Valentine’s Day, but we found GBK. Gourmet Burger Kitchen. By the time we found some place to eat, I was so crabby and exhausted that I would have eaten my shopping bags. GBK was good. Hal found a girl she went to high school with who is studying in Paris for the semester. Crazy. After a Bulmer’s Pear Cider I was ready for bed.

Laying in my tiny hostel top bunk, I was starting to miss London. I missed the Tube and the crazy driving and crabby city dwellers. For the first time, I kind of thought of London as home. I feel like I’m finally getting myself settled in here. I know where I’m going (most of the time) and things are familiar to me. I’m going to miss it so much when I have to leave.

And that was day two in Dublin. A little less exciting than Friday, but still so much fun. To the coast and cliffs tomorrow!