Blue Lagoon Adventures: First city break of 2015

So back in 2014 - I believe it was around November. My aunt Jojo, got an email from RyanAir. They were having a sale on their already budget fares. We decided to take advantage of this fantastic offer & fly to Dublin for £30 return! Wow. I know. I thought it was too good to be true. January seemed a great time to go just after New Year (sales). The dates we booked to fly 10/1/2015 - 12/1/2015 a Saturday to Monday.

The next step was to find somewhere to stay. I have heard from so many people that Dublin is a very expensive city break..eek, was the flights the cheapest part? Um, no, using the awesome search engine www.laterooms.com I found a fantastic bargain. For £106 for the two nights, we booked ourselves into the Jury's Inn Parnell Street. That was around £25 each per night. This did not included breakfast, as I tend to enjoy roaming around and seeing what the city has to offer.

To be completely honest Jojo & I hardly did any real research into the city break. It actually was slightly ignorant of me but I was ill with the flu over Christmas and New Year, so I use that as an excuse. However, this city was full of charm and surprises.

We had to start off early, setting the alarm for 5am, out the door for 5:30 am. Yikes!!! But I was excited and honestly a tiny bit scared. I'm not a nervous flyer but it was so very windy & apparently many flights has been cancelled over the last few days. The flight was 8:05 am and only took us 40 minutes. So we flew in a gale. I was terrified on take-off as the plane was all over the place. Dipping and shaking but we got to Dublin quickly and safely. Jojo laughs at my terrified face! I guess we will always remember our budget trip with a big smile and laugh at my expense 😂😂

Here are some snaps from the flight (as I luckily bagged a window seat- I just love clouds)

Just after take-off.

Using Instagram (@cherryblossom313) how pretty is this sunrise?

Sunrise over Great Britain. Below those clouds - such nasty weather ☔️💦💧🌀❄️☁️

Getting closer to Ireland

First sight of Dublin. The beautiful Sunshine ☀️ Yet bitterly cold ⛄️❄️

The airport was massive but a breeze to get through. We only took hand luggage so no waiting around the carousel. As soon as we got outside, there was a Aircoach there waiting, we quickly bought a ticket (return €12) from the little kiosk set up by the exit door of the airport.

The coach was warm, service very good, clean, quick and efficient. We got off at O'Connell street, little did we know that our hotel was much closer than we realised. Literally about 5 minutes flat walk.

Our hotel was the Jury's Inn Parnell street. This was on the corner, so pretty...

From here the hotel is 1 minute walk. Outside the hotel, there are several pubs, restaurants, shopping mall and Tesco. I love to buy chocolates and snacks from there to munch on & a big bottle of water (the time I got ripped off in London paying £4.50 for a bottle of water in a hotel! 😡😤)

The staff were so helpful. As we arrived there before 10am and check in was supposed to be after 2pm. The lovely lady on reception said she would see if there was a room available (we were just looking for somewhere to leave our simple hand luggage) lucky us - there was a room available. So happy and exciting.

The hotel was superb, so clean and warm.

A simple photo of the twin room:

As we were starving, we decided to explore and walk down O'Connell street and along the river. We saw a small riverside restaurant and had some breakfast there. It was nothing too fancy but filled a gap. While in the restaurant we were deciding what to do. It was very fun to be spontaneous. I do wish I was more of a planner by nature but we should all be happy with who we are.

The Dublin Spire on O'Connell street, with some sunshine

Pretty Victorian style of O'Connell street.

After walking by the Liffey river (windy is an understatement) we decided to go with our plan of travelling on the sightseeing bus. This is the main reason we decided not to walk around everywhere (our initial plan)

Looking really glamorous in my #selfie

Windy selfie ❄️🌀💙⛄️

River Liffey

Jojo and I decided to use the Dublin City sightseeing bus. The big red double-decker bus. We went to the shop on O'Connell street. As we also wanted to go to the Guinness Factory we got a great deal. €37 for a two-day pass of unlimited travel around Dublin on the red or blue route. A ticket for the Guinness factory (with a token for a free pint) the ticket also includes money off many things in Dublin. Some pubs/restaurants can give you 2-for-1 on meals... Plus we also got a free Irish coffee at O'Sullivans pub near Trinity college.

The bus drivers are so jolly and informative, it was a great way to learn facts about Dublin City, life and history.

After riding around for a bit, we got off at the Guinness Storehouse. This is a must. I never really liked Guinness (I worked in a pub during my late teens/early twenties) but this was so awesome. We did he self-guided tour. I love going at my own pace. So much to do in there, reading all the methods, the history... Took so many photos...

9000 year lease signer by Arthur Guinness as you walk into the entrance.

I found it very cold inside so wrap up if you ever go there in the winter. But so fascinating.

Touching the barley... So much of it!

Water from the Wicklow mountains (I believe) this was beautiful and as you can see you can walk behind it and under it. It flows above a glass ceiling so pretty to watch it flowing above you.

Sorry for the bad photo, but this was in the tasting room. The lighting was low, but if you can make it out, it's a shot glass shaped like a pint glass. Filled with Guinness. In the first room, you are in a bar (quite a few of you) this room is filled with barrels giving off some steamy aroma of what is inside Guinness. Once they explain each ingredient they then ask you to grab your little Guinness shot, but not to drink it as you have to go into the next room (with low lighting). In the next room it feels like you are in the 1800s with the old paintings on the wall. You are told how to stand and hold the glass before ingesting it. I must admit it was delicious, felt so smooth with a really rich taste.

Moving on, we then checked out some advertising and bits and pieces of machinery.

I really liked this advert 😁 so funny with the crab!

At this point Jojo and I knew the Guinness was tasty and decided to hot foot it to the seventh floor- the gravity bar. With 360 degree views of Dublin! It was so incredible.

We used the token that came with the ticket, so busy up there but served straight away. The atmosphere was amazing and the Guinness we were drinking was no less than 2 days old. I took many pictures up in the gravity bar. Some silly drinking selfies and also of the glorious view of the blue sky over beautiful Dublin... Plus, a very gorgeous sunset. A silly fact, Guinness is actually ruby red and not black. Who knew?

Also, as we enjoyed the Guinness so much and the atmosphere + view was superb, we decided to have another. Quick advice, go down to floor 5 (gravity bar is on floor 7) go to the bar and buy your Guinness (or any drink) there, the Guinness was €5.00 which is a pretty good price for a city.

As you can see from the photos, it is easy to see why we stayed up there.