067. Visit 5 countries I've never been to before (2/5)

IRELAND: Dublin

We were in Dublin to see Take That play a concert at Croke Park stadium. We made the most of having to go so far to see the show and stayed an extra night and day so we could have some time to explore the city. More on the show later!

We bought a three day city bus pass which let us use the airport's Airlink transfer bus, the Dublin Bus network and the hop-on, hop-off open top bus tour for our entire stay. At just 26 Euros each, the passes saved us so much money - such a great idea, they don't put the posters in the toilets just for the fun of it!

We flew out from Stansted on Saturday lunchtime. Once in Dublin, checked in and rested for an hour or so in the hotel room we headed out for a walk into the city. Our hotel was in Parnell Square right at the top of the central O'Connell Street. We intended to hope on a bus all the way down to the river and Temple Bar, but it wasn't really that far so we just kept on going. Our exploring turned into a hunt for somewhere to eat dinner, finally we found the familiar TGI Friday's restaurant.

Sunday was our full day for exploring and doing the tourist thing. It was a shame because everything is so slow starting on a Sunday morning - with Irish hangovers and the church-goers, nothing really came to life until lunchtime. While we waited for the shops and restaurants to open we hopped on the bus tour to Dublin Castle and walked back towards the Trinity College through Temple Bar and Grafton Street.

I didn't take many photos of the city at all, there aren't really that many infamous sites recognised by everyone. So I stuck with a few of the statues (Parnell and Larkin), Temple Bar and Dublin Castle.