When I arrived in Dublin, it was quite chilly, colder than a typical LA winter day, but the sky was clear. I figured out the bus to the city, got off on O'Connell St as suggested, and made my way to the Morrison Doubletree in Dublin to check in and have them hold my luggage. The desk clerk suggested a hop-on, hop-off bus and the Teelings Distillery, which is the only working distillery left in Dublin. Since Mei and the family wouldn't get in for a few hours, I figured it would be a good way to kill time and try to stay awake. The distillery ended up being quite interesting and the flavour of the single malt had caramel and oak. You could choose to get the basic single malt plus cocktail, or a tasting with three types of whiskeys. They explained how to taste the whiskey (swirl, smell with your mouth open). Now slightly boozed up, I got back on the bus to make my way around Dublin and get the lay of the land. By the time I got back around to where the hotel was, it was lunch time and there would still be another couple of hours until Mei and gang arrived, so I popped into a restaurant that had a sandwich board advertising a prix fixe lunch. The place, called Winding Stair, indeed had a very narrow stair taking you above a bookstore. The dining room was airy and bright and the food was quite delicious.
By the time I finished lunch and got back to the hotel, I had only a short rest in the lobby before the family showed up. After making arrangements with the hotel to get our rooms (and the famous Doubletree cookies) we took a stroll to Grafton St and Trinity College. While at the College, we went to check out the Book of Kells, but discovered that they were closing for the day but the door attendant suggested we buy tickets for tomorrow since the line gets really long. That was the first of many serendipitous turns for us on this trip.
From the College, we walked over to St Stephen's Green to enjoy the lawns, trees and pond. Stephen and Neve had to go back to the hotel. Mei and I found a playground in the park and Mason spent some time there before we started walking back to the hotel, which was not far. Unfortunately, we got lost. The map we had didn't show the same street names as the signs on the buildings, plus Mei and I have terrible sense of direction. We had a very long but scenic stroll past some of the famous Georgian streets with their colourful doors. Some how we finally saw the river Liffey, headed for it, and made our way back. After a short rest at the hotel, Mei me and the kids headed to Temple Bar for dinner. We stopped at a sweets shop for the kids to get a couple of small sacks of candy. The area was definitely hopping! We tried to find an Irish food establishment but without reservations, the waits were too long. We ended up at a ramen place, Eatokyo, for a very satisfying dinner. I slept well that night!
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