After going to bed at 5pm on Sunday, our sleeping schedule was (expectedly) quite off. We both woke up around midnight or 1 am. I got up and read my book for awhile, hoping it would make me sleepy so I could fall back to sleep. Eventually, I did go back to bed and snoozed for a couple more hours. At 4am, I was awake again and I knew Greg was also awake when I heard him counting the chimes from the nearby Christ Church Cathedral’s bells. (I enjoy the cathedral bells – they toll every quarter of an hour and also bong out the time at the top of the hour – it is quite lovely.) Around 5am, we finally gave up and decided it was time to start our day. Greg was still pretty tired but I was energized!
Greg was to meet his coworkers at the Arlington Hotel across the River Liffey from the Temple Bar area where we are staying, so we headed that way, crossing the Millennium Bridge.
We ate at Mochaland Cafe, where we had an Irish breakfast. It was scrambled eggs (though they were a different texture than what I am used to), bacon (which was thicker than bacon in the states – almost a mix between bacon and ham – yum!), pork sausage, baked beans, and toast. I can honestly say that this was the first time I’ve ever had baked beans for breakfast! It also came with coffee, so even though I am typically not a coffee drinker, I had some anyway. It was a cool, drizzly day, which made the coffee extra nice. Greg is hopeful now that I might one day become a coffee drinker. Perhaps!
After breakfast, we still had some time before we had to meet up, so we crossed the Ha’penny bridge. (So named because when it was built, it cost a half-penny to cross.)
We were able to do some sightseeing along O’Connell street, including the Spire.
O’Connell Monument
You can see one of the bullet holes from the 1916 rising.
I just liked all the quotes on the Bachelor Inn.
After dropping Greg off at the Arlington, I headed back to the Temple Bar area to explore a bit before my scheduled tour to Glendalough. (More on that to come in the next post!)
