Ireland, Day 6 | Dublin, Part IV

Catch up on the first half of our last day in Dublin here.

After lunch, we decided to head over to Dublin Castle for a quick tour since it was so close to the restaurant (a five-minute walk). We only walked around the outside because I was a little “tour”-ed out by this point. We took in the courtyard and walked up the steps to the top of the castle, and then decided we had had enough, ha.

It was nearing 3 p.m. at this point and we were growing tired. We could have walked over to the cathedrals as they weren’t too far away but visiting times were a little wonky on this day since it was a Sunday. Instead, we decided to get on the city bus to go back to the hotel.

I used my handy Rome2Rio website to figure out where the bus stop was and thankfully, it wasn’t too far away. Yay! We got to the stop within minutes of the bus arriving. When I got on, the bus driver asked me where we needed to go and kindly let us know that there was a different bus coming soon that would drop us off right in front of Kilmainham Gaol. So nice!

And that’s when the fun began! Since we thought the bus was going to stop right in front of the gaol (as we were told!), we didn’t get off the bus at the right stop. We were supposed to get off at a stop near the gaol (it was maybe 1/4th of a mile away from our hotel) but we didn’t think it was the right place so we stayed on the bus. Oops. But I figured we’d ride the bus and wait for the stop to come around again. No harm, no foul, right?

We rode through the suburbs of Dublin for the next 45 minutes, and it was interesting to get a glimpse into the “real” Dublin. As frustrating as it was to not be at our hotel, it was a great people-watching experience!

And then, the bus stopped at a mall outside of Dublin and the driver called out, “Last stop!”

Um, what? What do you mean last stop?!?!

Apparently, buses don’t just keep driving around! Instead, we were stuck at this mall and had to figure out how to get back to our hotel. (We were definitely the only tourists at this mall, and I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb with my Carrolls Irish Gifts bag, haha.)

Our bus driver told us which bus to get on so we could get back to our hotel, but we decided we weren’t up for more public transportation. Instead, we opted for a taxi. But first, we needed money! We were all out of euros so I’m very thankful we were at a mall that had an ATM and a taxi stand so we could get money and grab a taxi quickly.

And fifteen minutes later, we were back at our hotel! Whew. What an adventure!

We spent some time relaxing in our hotel (and by relaxing, I mean we both took naps) before trying to decide what to do for our last night in Ireland. I suggested visiting The Brazen Head.

So we hopped into a taxi (we learned our lesson from taking city buses!) and headed into city centre for the night. We had a really friendly taxi driver who I actually had fun chatting with about our time in Ireland. He dropped us off right in front of The Brazen Head and we walked into the pub.

And walked out five minutes later because every table was taken. And remember, it’s first come-first served here in Ireland so it’s not like we could put our name on a list and wait for a table to come available. Nope.

So then we tried another pub that was across the street but that one was just as busy. We found an empty table but I had no clue how we would get any service because the bar was completely full (nowhere to wedge ourselves in to get drinks or a menu or anything). We waited for a little while to see if a server would come over but nothing. I suppose it was the sort of environment that rewards aggressive people who have no trouble flagging down waitresses or forcing bartenders to serve them, but that’s not us, haha.

So, we left and just started walking around the area to try and find a better place for us to have dinner. We’d been walking around for a few minutes and passed zero restaurants and I was starting to feel panicky. I was feeling silly about “forcing” us to take a taxi into city centre for dinner and also silly about “overreacting” to the loud, chaotic pub environment when most other people wouldn’t be bothered by it. (My mom definitely wasn’t bothered by it, but she understands how they overstimulate me.) So this is when I had my third meltdown of the day, oof.

I was hungry, feeling overstimulated, and also feeling like we would never find a restaurant to eat at. I started hyperventilating and crying in the middle of the sidewalk and my mom had to help me calm down and recognize that everything was okay. This is probably when I should mention that I hadn’t been taking my anxiety meds for… oh… two weeks and my experience with melting down so frequently when the littlest thing didn’t go right made me realize how much I need my anxiety meds. They balance me out and help me to get through life without freaking out a million times a day.

Eventually, we found a restaurant, a cute place that wasn’t too busy and had a quiet corner for us to sit. I had a cider (definitely needed it!) and ordered a pretty yummy chicken dish. It was just what I needed! And we were able to flag down a cab right as we left the restaurant to take us back to our hotel, which was perfect.

And that’s Ireland! It was a wonderful trip that taught me so much about my travel style and needs. I learned that I must build downtime into my schedule no matter how much there is to see. I learned that I prefer quiet restaurants over pubs, even if pubs give a more quintessential experience. And I learned that I really need to find better walking shoes next time because damn if my feet didn’t hurt tremendously just about every day!

My mom and I have our eyes on Italy, London, or Paris next for our international trip, so I think it’s safe to say we’ve been bitten by wanderlust. 😉