Day 13 - Free Day in Dublin
The day has finally arrived! This is the one day that we have absolutely nothing planned as a group so the entire day is our to explore the city of Dublin. However, a hiccup occurred with the sightseeing bus so we had to trek to the bus at 9am in order to get our individual tickets for the day. Once that mission was accomplished we boarded the bus and began our tour of the city. Me and two of my fellow travelers spent about an hour on the bus, gazing at the sights. Dublin is by far the most crowded city we’ve seen so the bus was completely full. Our view on the top of the bus let us see sights such as Phoenix Park, The Guinness Storehouse, and the many bridges that cross the river Liffey and connect the North and South sides.
What stood out to me about Dublin was the fact that the buildings aren’t the typical skyscraper one would find in larger cities. Rather, the ambiance and liveliness of the city seems to come from the people and the closeness of the city rather than from the business aspect. It was such a unique experience to be in a place where you can hear three different languages being spoken at once, see clothing of all ranges, and feel a sense of calmness despite the dense population. My companions and I hopped off near the Temple Bar area and made our way to a cute coffee shop. Unfortunately they had the audacity to not offer lattés so we went to another shop, Frank and Honest, and found that it was conveniently connected to a grocery store. After a quick lunch of deli food and coffee we made our way to the day's main attraction; Life’s Too Short Tattoo Studio. What better souvenir to get than a permanent one? We tried not to get our hopes up since we hadn’t made an appointment but we walked in at 12pm and they gave us an appointment for 1. Excited about our tattoos, we browsed the area and found some cute vintage shops. When the time was near we circled back and entered the studio again. The whole process was very quick and our artists were so kind to us. My artist, Roxa, has been tattooing for eight years and her work may be my favorite tattoo I’ve gotten yet.
More than satisfied with our results, we ventured back to the streets feeling refreshed. There were more vintage shops left and right so we popped in and out of them and found some great souvenirs. One shop, Lucy’s Lounge, even had a book for us to sign and some prices were upcycled from scrapped fabrics. Another gaged their prices by the kilo, charging €30 per kilo, which is like no shop I’ve seen in the U.S. I also appreciated how many pink buildings there are in Dublin, and just on the island in general.
Eventually we worked our way to Grafton Street and enjoyed the leisurely walk while enjoying the local musicians performing in the street. There was a brother duo singing Ed Sheeran Covers, a man playing the piano and singing, and two guys playing guitar.
Dublin is one of my favorite cities on this trip and I’ll be sad to leave it come Monday. I had to restrain myself from posting too many pictures since everything around me was so beautiful and unique.
The day flew by and by the time we retreated to the hotel for a break before dinner it was already 6pm! While in the lobby of the hotel we ran into our fellow travelers and saw their tattoos which were done at the same studio. After a quick selfie with the tattoo squad we waltzed the streets yet again to scope out a place for dinner.
