Ireland 2023 - Day 1 - Dublin arrival

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On Friday, Oct. 13, I arrived at Dublin Airport at 11 am, and enjoyed a NERO coffee in Terminal 2 before catching the T84 Express Bus into the City. The last of only five stops is the Harcourt LUAS tram station, a short walk to the Iveagh Garden Hotel, where I checked in before 1 pm.   

I had reserved a budget "City Pod" room, down one level, and even for one person, it was tiny. The room was as wide as the bed was long, maybe 78 inches. A pop-out window above the bed opened at street level & brought in the sound of trams & people walking by, but thankfully it faced a side lane & not onto Harcourt.       

Owing to lack of sleep on the Atlantic crossing, I tried to nap around 2 pm, but a nearby construction site, in the excavation stage, generated a continuous barrage of banging & metal-scraping sounds. I surrendered to fate and took a walk, and Iveagh Gardens was just around the corner. 

Built in 1865, Iveagh Gardens "were restored in the late 1990s, as a Victorian treasure". The eight-acre property is nicely landscaped, with a variety of open or wooded paths. Two of three entrances to the Gardens are hard to find, which may be why Fodor's travel guide calls Iveagh Gardens "Dublin's best kept secret". 

Dublin lies at 53+ degrees north, and the 4th photo below shows the low angle of sunlight on a fall afternoon.      

Then it was a 25 minute walk to the Grand Canal, which I imagined would be a quiet place to stroll, but on the south side there's a busy 3-lane thoroughfare. But there were some quiet moments, and two impressive canal barges went by.    

note - you can enlarge any part of a picture by left-clicking in and then out again (with some exceptions). 

	the hotel		Iveagh Garden maze		the falls
		October afternoon light		a quiet spot in Dublin
			Grand Canal barges
		a brief stroll through St. Stephen's Green		same floor for bedroom & shower

note - St. Stephens Green, a 22-acre park, is in the center of Dublin, a fifteen minute walk from the Hotel. In the 1800s, Sir A. E. Guinness (of the brewing family) had the garden features we see today built, and then gave the land to the City.    

Once back at the Hotel, I had a 5 pm dinner at the attractive restaurant, with a great menu.  My first draft Guinness Stout of the trip was far more flavorful than at home, more like a meal, and you can enjoy it longer.    

After dinner I took a second Guinness back to the room, but never finished it, falling asleep around 8 pm. 

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