Dublin Hop On & Hop Off, Day 7

The Dublin Hop on and Hop off Bus Tour is a great way of spending time in the city of Dublin. Our Route included all that we wanted to see, but the Jameson Distillery which we did on our own. There are many companies, our company had Red and Yellow double Decker and the yellow had a different route at some points. The Dublin Tourism office is inside one of Ireland's Churches, some of the churches these days are not Churches at all. We saw one that was a restaurant and this one were the Tourism Centre is. Just outside is the Bus Stop, this tour was about $ 20 each person, the Red Bus has a headphone for the tour the yellow does not.Dublin Castle is situated in the very heart of historic Dublin. In fact the city gets its name from the Dubh Linn or Black Pool (dubh = black), on the site of the present Castle Gardens and Coach House.
The Castle stands on the high ridge, the highest ground in the locality, at the junction of the River Liffey and its tributary the (now underground) Poddle, which formed a natural boundary on two sides. It is very probable that the original fortification on this easily defended strategic site was a Gaelic Ringfort, which guarded the harbour, the adjacent Dubhlinn Ecclesiastical Centre and the four long distant roads that converged nearby. In the 930's, a Danish Viking Fortress stood on the Dublin Castle site and part of the town defences is on view at the Undercroft, where the facing stone revetments offered protection against the River Poddle. Their settlement of Dyflinn (a corruption of Dubhlinn) quickly became the main Viking military base and trading centre of slaves and silver, in Ireland.

Dublinia (Above picture)& The Viking World is a heritage centre, located in central Dublin, at the heart of the medieval city. The exhibitions at Dublinia explore life in the medieval city and the world of the Vikings and are housed in a beautiful neo- Gothic Victorian building, the former Synod Hall of the Church of Ireland. This below is Dublinia in downtown Dublin.

Christ Church Cathedral (The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, commonly known as Christ Church, Cathedral of the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough and Metropolitical Cathedral of the United Provinces of Dublin and Cashel) in Dublin is the elder of the city's two mediæval cathedrals, the other being St. Patrick's Cathedral. It is officially claimed as the seat (cathedra) of both the Church of Ireland and Roman Catholic archbishops of Dublin. In practice it has been the cathedral of only the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, since the Irish Reformation. Though nominally claimed as his cathedral, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin uses a church elsewhere, St Mary's in Malborough Street in Dublin, as his pro-cathedral (acting cathedral).[1]

Christ Church Cathedral is located in the former heart of medieval Dublin, next to Wood Quay, at the end of Dame Street (the latter owes its name to a Norman French title given to Our Lady). The ruins above are in front of the Cathedral. We now walk to Saint Patrick's.

Above picture is of the ground of the Saint Patrick Cathedral, there are big and there is a beautiful fountain in the courtyard. I like fountains, so maybe is not that fancy, but it is beautiful to see a fountain working anywhere you go.


In 1991 they celebrated 800 years of worship at Saint Patrick’s. Many people wonder why there are two medieval Cathedrals in Dublin – one was outside the city walls, one inside. Since disestablishment, Saint Patrick’s has been the National Cathedral for the whole of Ireland, while Christ Church has been the diocesan Cathedral of Dublin and Glendalough.


Some of the beautiful Iconic Stain Glass Windows inside the Cathedral, there are also lots of statues and memorials. There is a charge for entrance, but if you come to Dublin and don't visit Saint Patrick's you have not visited Ireland or Dublin for that matter. It is worth the price of admittance.
Here I am waiting for the Yellow Bus, but it has not shown up. It was very cold so I rather walk to the next stop were the two lines were converging. What do you know as we are going up a small hill, the Yellow Bus comes down, we had time to get to it's next stop up the Hill. We caught in time, within 2 minutes of being there the bus came upon our stop, we hoped in and continue the tour.
In our way with the Yellow Bus we had to wait for the Red one, because we wanted to go through Phoenix Park. The Yellow Bus stopped at Heuston Station and there is were the Red Bus will be coming along in about 8 minutes. We had a chance to use the rest room and eat something at Super Macs, a double burger for each. Another Yellow Bus arrived, the Red Bus has broken down, there will be another one in 10 minutes. We got some coffee and waited.

The Phoenix Park (Irish: Páirc an Fhionn-Uisce) is the largest enclosed urban public park in Europe[1][2] located 3 km to the north west of Dublin city centre in Ireland. It measures 712 hectares (1,760 acres), with a walled circumference of 16 km that contains large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues. The park has been home to a herd of wild Fallow deer since the seventeenth century. The name is a corruption of the Irish fionn uisce meaning "clear water".[3]
Unusually for North Dublin, the park has an even-numbered area code (Dublin 8/D8). All other areas of northside Dublin (except for the adjacent Chapelizod) have odd numbered area codes, and even numbers if on the southside of Dublin.

The Wellington Monument (also known as the Wellington Testimonial Above picture) is a 63 metres (210 ft) tall obelisk commemorating the victories of Duke of Wellington.It would have been even higher if the publicly subscribed funding had not run out.
The phoenix monument is a Corinthian column with a Phoenix bird rising from the ashes at its pinnacle. It was erected by Lord Chesterfield in 1747. From here to the stop closest to the Distillery which will be our next stop.

Set in the heart of Ireland’s thriving capital city, Dublin, The Old Jameson Distillery captures the imagination and the spirit of Ireland! Let our expert guides lead you through the fascinating story of JAMESON, the world’s preferred quality whiskey. Follow the path through malting, milling, mashing, fermenting, distilling and maturing.The journey is completed with a visit to the JAMESON Bar where you can enjoy the ultimate whiskey tasting experience. After your tour, browse in the gift shop or lunch in the restaurant or bars and absorb the unique atmosphere.

After the Distillery we where in the mood for food. We decided we were going to go to the same Pub we went on our First day on Bachellor's Walk we found Panama Pub which is the latest bar to open in Dublin and although it looks small on the outside it actually opens up in length to reveal an upstairs and a downstairs. It is located on Bachelors Walk beside The Bachelor Inn and the difference between the two is huge. Panama is a well lit place and has a stylish wooden look adds to the atmosphere. The pints are a bit expensive but you'd expect this just by looking in the door. The barstaff are friendly and the service good. The seating is laid out down the sides and is fine although when it's packed it is hard to find a standing area and the 'bridge' looking over the basement level looks good.There's all sorts of pictures and Panamanian images on the walls that are not overly noticeable but are worth a look at.

It is a great Sports Bar and it was not loud, at least the days we went there lol! Here you see Irish Stew and Steak and Guinness Pie Stew.

After such a good meal I wanted to get some suspenders (with button's for the red corduroy pants) and some wool gloves so we headed toward Grafton Street to shop our last shopping. Popular Department Stores such as Marks & Spencers, Brown Thomas and BT2 and smaller high street chains including Vero Moda, Next, Oasis, A-Wear, River Island can all be found on Grafton Street. Up market stores such as Pia Bang, Reiss, Monsoon and Laura Ashley can also be found on this Dublin shopping street.Grafton Street is an ideal place for buying footwear. Shoe-shops like Korkys, Zerep, Barretts, Nine West and Bally provide a wide range of quality shoes. For gifts, there's the Dublin bookshop, the Body Shop, Tie rack, the Dublin Jewellery institution that is Weirs, along with other jewellers like Ernest Jones, Gavronski, West and another branch of Fields. There's the Camera Centre and a Spectra Photo to get your pictures developed. If you've phone troubles, there are branches of O2, Vodaphone and Carphone Warehouse. There are three pharmacies including a Boots, various banks and a few newsagents. I did find my gloves at Clerys 100% wool and handwritten sales order. Sometimes you never know when youare going to travel back in time.

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After here we were ready to go to our hotel, but we were going to stop at Quizno's for a Sandwich to take to our Hotel room and have next morning. We needed to be at Heuston Station by 630 to have some coffee and wait for the Air Link Bus 748 that will take us to the Air Port, since we had the LUAS/Bus 7 Day Card it was free. The Return ticket to the Airport or round trip is 10 euros per person, the card is one 26 euros and is valid for a week. Thanks for allowing me to share our trip with you and I hope that you have enjoyed the commentary. Until next year who knows where we will go, but I would not discount the West & North Coast of this beautiful Island or Ireland. Thanks for stopping by!