We returned the car to Hertz before heading into the city by taxi. With only a day and a half in Dublin, we eased ourselves back from our rural experiences by visiting Stephens Green Shopping Center and Grafton Street.
Stephens Green Shopping Center
The last day we walked 5.6 miles, 14,740 steps according to my phone, around the center of the city. (Why is it easier to walk farther than you normally would when visiting new places?) The weather was beautiful.
Grafton Street
I have been in many cities, but in Dublin, where we were, every street was full of people walking very quickly (very quickly!) to somewhere: shoppers, students, business people, tourists. I wonder if the same is true on cold, rainy days? At Trinity College (home of the Book of Kells), we entered and quickly exited the extremely crowded gift shop.
Temple Bar Area
The Aran Woolen Shop was the most interesting because we were waited on by a sweet young Islamic woman and an older Irish man. While there, we met a young woman from Tokyo. Hearing the variety of languages spoken on the streets, it was clear Dublin is an international city. At our hotel restaurant (Ashling Hotel), Karla was from Brazil and was one of our waitresses. Her husband works for Google. They moved to Ireland 6 months ago and she was just beginning her job.
Ha'penny Bridge
We walked across the Ha'penny Bridge which celebrated 100 years of service this year. It was the first pedestrian bridge to span the Liffey River (which runs through the center of Dublin). A century ago, the fee to cross—a ha'penny, of course.
Mostly, we just absorbed the ambience of the city before heading to the airport very early on our last day in Ireland.