A day in Dublin

On my journey home to Canada, I decided that I would travel through Dublin as the flights worked out cheaper than flying out of Manchester. It was a quick flight to Dublin from Liverpool and I was soon on the ground exploring. I had arrived mid-afternoon so skipped out on museums that I knew would be closing soon enough.

On the recommendation of the hostel employee, I headed over to O'Neill's on Suffolk Street. I was a bit hesitant, not really knowing what to expect when I reached the place but I pushed forward and went inside. I was not sure how it worked if I was to sit and be served but I quickly found out that you queue up and order food either from their soup and salad bar or from the carvery. I chose to go to the carvery after browsing the menu and finding my mouth watering.

Direct from the websites description, I got the Slowly Roasted Irish Turkey with Honey and Mustard Baked Crowe's Ham for €11.95. I had to add a Yorkshire pudding on top. It was like Christmas and Thanksgiving had come together to give me this amazing feast. To drink I ordered a Guinness and sipped it and ate my food in their upstairs beer garden. If you are ever in Dublin and looking for an easy bite thats delicious and relatively inexpensive, I highly recommend O'Neills. 

After leaving O'Neill's I wandered a bit aimlessly around the city centre. The last time I had been in Dublin had been with my family in March. I had a really great time but now I was on my own exploring the city. If I had been spending more time in Dublin I would have set myself a game plan on where to go and what to see but I was only left with a few hours before I would head back to the hostel and get ready for bed in hopes of sleeping before my big flight to Canada.

After my wanderings, I checked in for my flight to Canada and sorted out my route to the airport on a Sunday. The airport buses don't run as early as they do on Monday to Saturday so I was left with having to pay for a shuttle to the airport. To end the night I enjoyed a Murphy's ice cream getting caramelised brown bread and dingle sea salt.

After my delicious ice cream, I headed back to my hostel and into bed. Canada awaited me.

Off to Dublin!

I'm off today to Dublin. I am spending the night in Ireland's capital city before heading across the Atlantic to Canada. It's been 500 days since I've been home. Feels crazy but I am super excited to be making the journey home for the summer. I have managed to get the entire month off of work. It is unpaid so I have to keep an eye on the budgeting side of things but with a pay cheque due in August, I think I will make it through without breaking the bank.

I spend the night in Dublin arriving in the afternoon so hopefully can get some sights in before having a pint of Guinness and dinner. I'll be staying in a hostel near the castle for the night before heading to the airport for my flight to Canada. Flying Air Canada to Toronto then off to Calgary to stay with my dad.

I'm with him for a few days then off again to Vancouver for my friend's wedding and the rest of the month with family and friends.

March Instagrams

The Return

I've been gone for two weeks now and have finally returned home. This time it is alone. I left my family in Dublin and flew the very short half hour flight across the Irish Sea to Liverpool. After a quick bite to eat in the airport, I arrived home by bus. It was a very happy feeling to walk into my room. I put on my pajamas and crawled into bed.  My trip to Paris, London and Liverpool with my mother and sister was amazing. We had so much fun and made so many memories. Flying to Belfast with them and meeting my sister's mother-in-law Carol for our week of driving around Ireland was so different that I would have to say they were two separate vacations. I'll be trying to make more posts about my adventures soon.