Where the Girls are so Pretty...I first set my Eyes on Sweet Molly Malone...

Day 2 in Dublin

The weather wasn't so great on our second day in Dublin. The rain didn't deter our tourist spirit and we set off to explore Trinity College. Along the way we passed the Molly Malone Statue and I insisted on having a photo with dear old Molly because of the ol' Irish tune which I am naming my Dublin Blog posts after! 

So Trinity College reminded me a little of the Oxford and Cambridge Universities with the large, imposing and grand buildings littering the campus - inset with a few vile 70's additions! After wandering round taking in the sights we followed a route straight through the campus to exit at the east end and venture to Merrion Square and the Oscar Wilde Monument.

 The Oscar Wilde statue is located on the west corner of Merrion Square which is surrounded by gorgeous georgian terrace houses and is next to the large old buildings that make up many of Dublin's free Museums - the National Gallery was straight opposite dear Oscar and so that became our next location in order to shelter from the rain! Purely because we were beginning to look like drowned rats and my glasses don't yet have windscreen wipers attached!

In the National Gallery we had a wander round one part of the collection and I overheard a few art historians giving groups talks about specific paintings which was very interesting. 

My favourite paintings in the rooms we perused were a Van Gogh which features rooftops in paris and a Picasso.

 In one part of the Gallery was a children's area providing paper, clipboards and colours. Like any students we are still all kids at heart and set about creating our own masterpieces. Dec drew Hannah, Ashley drew a car, carrot and dog, Hanna drew an eye and I drew a cartoon of the 4 of us!

In the afternoon, we headed to Jameson's Distillery to learn about the distillation process required to make whiskey before sampling a dram of the Irish tipple! I was one of the lucky few selected to complete a taste test comparing Jameson's to a scottish whiskey and then to Jack Daniels - I have to say Jameson's was probably my favourite! I recieved a certificate to recognise my new taste testing abilities and then settled to a long drink of Jameson's with Ginger Ale and Lime - which is one of my favourite drinks!

Since we were in the Smithfield area we decided to head further West along the Liffey to visit the war memorial at Phoenix Park.