Dublin

The next day after visiting Cobh, sis and I headed to Dublin. The trip from Cork to Dublin was a three hour bus ride. It was not an interesting ride, not that I don't like the country side look but because the scenery of Ireland country side looks exactly the same throughout the journey.

The roads in Ireland are very much different from Malaysia as we see plenty of trees along our broad highways. The Irish country side were mainly fields of grass to rare cattle. Even the hills are covered with grass alone. Irish roads are very tight, most of the time it's only a two way double lane street. They do not have highways.

This is how the view looks like 80% of our time in the bus

Once in awhile our bus will stop and pick up passengers from a small town. The buildings in these towns look the same too. I really can't tell the difference between one town from the other because they look so similar.

Our bus will pull up on one of the bus stops opposite a row of shops for a minute or so. The towns are quiet. There are some locals who will be walking on the pathways and very few cars around. The shops are quiet too. I saw quite a number of Chinese takeaway restaurants and pubs in street corners.

The streets of a town we passed by

Dublin is the largest city in Ireland. Compared to Cork, Dublin is livelier and more packed. The traffic is busy, though still very far from what Malaysia has "achieved", and there are a lot more aliens here. By the way, Dublin is not read as "da-blin" but "duu-blin". I made the mistake of pronouncing it wrongly for many many years.

The architecture design of buildings in Dublin is very unique. They have a strong sense of protecting historical buildings and therefore most of their architecture are designed as such. Unlike Malaysia, where our country strives to create the highest skyscrapers, Dublin has strong historical atmosphere. Its downfall is that it lacks creativity and tends to be a bit monotonous.

Bank of Ireland

Inside the bank. It looks really beautiful but the system is a bit outdated. There isn't a numbering system. Everybody queues up for their turn.

The streets of Dublin are busier than of Cork

My favourite grocery store in Dublin - "Supervalu". It is just a stone's throw away from the hostel and it sells cheap instant food and fresh bread :D

Our hostel room at Aston Quay. Sis and I slept at two top bunk beds. I love their comforters!

Looking out from my bed. I love the view. Mind you, River Liffey does not stink nor is it dirty even though it's in the heart of Dublin. It's great to stroll along the riverside at night but it's windy.

After settling down, we bought tickets to join the city bus tour. It was rather expensive but a good way of touring the city for the day. The bus tour allows you to stop or board at any bus stop to visit nearby attractions. The ticket is valid for the entire day. The bus driver will also explain the background of these attractions and interesting facts of the city while we travel in the bus.

First stop: Trinity College

The square in Trinity College which was packed with tourist instead of students

One of the famous attractions of Trinity College was the library known as Book of Kells. Unfortunately the queue was horrendously long and we decided to forgo it to visit other attractions instead. It was a little disappointing because it was only later that I found out that original written manuscript of the Celtic Monks were displayed in the library.

Did I tell you it was a double decker bus with an open top? Exciting but scorching hot!

Houses in the city. It's boring to live in houses like that forever don't you think?

I really liked this building. So green! :D I wonder how it would look like during winter...

Shops in Dublin

Next stop: Dublin Castle

Dublin Castle is the central to the history of Dublin. It is also where Dublin got its name. We joined a guided tour into the castle and spent quite sometime exploring and imagining how the royalties lived in these luxurious quarters.

Record Tower, the only standing tower in Dublin Castle

Statue in front of the counter to register for the guided tour

Portraits are very common in the castle. One of them was even drawn by a famous artist (I don't know who) but no pictures were allowed due to copyright issues

Coat of arms representing each King

View of a courtyard from the castle

The ceiling. Each room is uniquely designed and crafted.

A long meeting table where leaders of the world meet. Shorter ones are bigger and meant for ladies because of their big dresses in the olden times.

This table is very meaningful. It was handmade by a criminal who did it in hope that the Queen will spare him from being beheaded. Unfortunately that did not happen because the Queen did not like its demonic elements. He was beheaded but the Queen kept this table.

One of the rooms displaying its furniture grandeur

Imagine pacing down these corridors in English dresses *dreamy*

The chandelier, it's humongous!

The throne. The legs were shortened to fit the Queen's height.

Ceiling of the Throne Room, so grand it makes anyone sitting on the throne feels truly invincible.

Portraits of one of the viceroys who represented the King

The Hall where many international meetings are still held

The ceiling portrait of the hall

A fire burnt down most of the towers of Dublin Castle, leaving the Record Tower as the only standing tower. Remains of the Gunpowder Tower are open to the public and that's where we went next!

A map of how Dublin Castle and its walls used act as a strong fortress for the city

The Undercroft of Gunpowder Tower

Stone stairs that used to lead up to the gates of Dublin Castle

A covered up archway. It was sealed to prevent a plague from spreading through the moat.

Final destination of the day: Christ Church Cathedral. This cathedral is situated right beside a busy street. It was crowded with visitors who sat on its benches enjoying the warm sunlight and cooling wind. An old man was sitting down on a patch of grass with his grandson while trying to teach him something (I have no idea what he was doing, it felt like he was training the boy to roll or something). It was an interesting sight.

Ruins of the church

I bumped into a high school schoolmate while entering the church compound. It's such a small world! Her name was Cindy Kim. If I'm not mistaken, she is studying in US and is having a holiday too. I don't know her very well but it's nice to actually meet someone you know in a different country.

Behold, the cathedral!

And someone was playing the pipe organ :) But it produced a Gothic sound, a bit eerie...

The altar

The reading stand

Statues and carved stones in every corner of the cathedral

I think it's a coffin

There was a display going on that day in the underground. This was taken before I knew no pics were allowed.

It's a cooling place. Who knew there's a place like this in cathedrals? I wonder if there's a secret underground passage in my church too...

Spending the day walking around Dublin was exhausting. We decided to get an instant pizza from Supervalu. It's buy one free one :D Bought some french bread (yummilicious!) and biscuits for the next day's day tour.

Just use the oven to heat it and it's ready to be served!

It was nice but too oily.

This was the best buy ever. It lasted for at least a week!

Cobh (pronounced as "Cove") in Ireland

The first place I visited in Ireland (besides Cork) is Cobh (pronounced as "Cove"). Cobh is a town at the harbour, 20 minutes train ride from Cork. Cobh is famous for being the last departure point of Titanic before she sank.

The train in Ireland is rather old. I was slightly disappointed because I was expecting something grander and modern. Ireland is a developed country after all! But it turned out to be just like our old KTM trains.

The weather in Ireland was quite cooling and windy. The trains were not air conditioned. Instead the windows were slid opened to allow the river breeze to ventilate the train. Tickets could be obtained at ticket counters but most people buy it from the train conductor, who goes around the train checking tickets just like the bus conductors in Malaysia.

View from the train. The river eventually becomes a muddy flow when it gets further from Cork.

We arrived in Cobh in the evening. A minute walk lead us to the riverside. Seats and fountains were placed beside the river. Many laughing couples, chit chatting friends and jogging locals filled the area. Bars and B&Bs were situated facing the riverside. One of the Bars was putting on a loud music which filled the air with more life.

Cobh is a little town. A place where people spend a quiet evening drinking in the pub or at the riverside. Life here seems pretty simple. No hectic traffic jams. No complicated office politics. Everything looks serene and peaceful, except for some occasional loud music banging from some old junk car.

Shop houses look exactly the same everywhere in Ireland and London. Small and cosy. Interesting to see at first but they get quite boring after awhile.

The big church on the hill looks exceptionally grand and magnificent in a little town of Cobh.

I didn't know why the roads had zig zag stripes till Bf told me it serves as a yellow line.

The true "Menglish" (Malaysian English) is in Cobh!

The wind was rather strong that day. I loved the breeze but I would prefer if it also has the salty smell that sea breeze brings. There were a few boats and yachts gliding gracefully on the river. There's not much activities in Cobh but there were quite a number of attractions in the area mainly chuches, museums and gardens. We did not visit most of them because we arrived there late and most of them closes at 5pm. But Cobh itself is quite a decent town to explore.

Statue of Annie Moore the first emigrant during the Great Famine in Ireland.

The riverside

The peaceful town of Cobh

Just to prove I was at Cobh.

It was a long walk up the steep slope to St Coleman's Cathedral on the hill. The wind was strong and chilly. It is a landmark of Cobh and its magnificent structure stands in contrast with the little town of Cobh, making it even more spectacular. The view of the harbour from St Coleman's Cathedral was breathe taking, overseeing the town of Cobh and the river. The quiet church gave a serene and pleasant aura as we stood on the grass patch taking in the view.

Where are the gargoyles?

The old wooden door reminds me of Harry Potter! It seems magical.

The good thing about churches in Ireland is that most of them are open to public for FREE. Let's go!

Peek-a-Boo!

The altar

9 out of 10 churches look almost the same in Ireland. They all have grand altars, big pipe organs, plenty of statues and they portrayed just how rich the church used to be back then. The churches in Malaysia are far from how they look like in Ireland but our churches have more life and passion!

Even the ceiling is made out from expensive wood material and look at their walls and pillars!

One of the twelve stations of the cross. It's a statue!

This is something special, a place where the readings are made. It is placed in the right hand side near the altar. Entirely made out from wood.

My favourite: Pipe Organ! The sound it produces is magnificent!

The next place we visited was the Bible Garden, another 10 minutes walk from St Coleman's Cathedral. The scenery of the garden depicts certain significant occasions in the Bible. It sounded like an interesting place but turned out to be quite a disappointment. I expected something bigger and nicer. Nonetheless, the flowers were beautiful. Plants grow very well during the summer in Ireland. Even lilies were grown simply in gardens, imagine how much they'll cost in Malaysia!

On the way to Bible Garden

Entrance to the Bible Garden. Feels like I'm heading to a Secret Garden.

Told you, the flowers were pretty.

A fake well signifying an incident where Jesus asked for a drink from a Samaritan lady. There was a big spider web near the handle :(

This statue of Mother Mary was located at a corner of the garden where trees hid it from the sun and some birds were croaking nearby so it was a bit creepy.

This was the first thing that welcomed our arrival. I have no idea what it's supposed to mean.

Cobh is also famous because of Titanic. Cobh was the last port of Titanic before it sank. There's a Titanic Trail for tourist but because we arrived late, we missed it :(

Titanic Trail plate

Anyhow, I took some pictures that has something to do with Titanic just to wrap up the visit to Cobh.

This actually leads to a pub (I think)