Dublin - Day 014

I arrived in Dublin at 10 AM. I found an ATM and got 20 Euro. Outside I found the buses and I bought a one-way ticket to the city center for 6 Euro. I got downtown and had no idea where I was. I had a map, but I learned very quickly that it is very hard to find what street you are on. It seems most the streets have no signs, but when they do the sign is on the side of a building. It was also very cloudy, so I couldn't tell my direction.

When I came to the Spire of Dublin (which I'll post a picture of later) I knew I was on O'Connell St, but I only found the name of one of the intersecting streets. There was a large statue of a man with his hands extended placed in front of the Spire. I thought he was welcoming outsiders to Dublin so I thought I'd walk past him and it would lead me to the center of Dublin. I was wrong.  I got to the end of O'Connell street and turned back. So actually, the man was facing the river; he must just be happy for the river in front of him or the large spear behind him, or both.

I was on the O'Connell bridge before I even realized it. The walk was much quicker than I anticipated because my map is at a much larger scale than my Manhattan or Philadelphia maps. Also, the street was very crowded with pedestrians and the bridge is so wide I didn't even notice the change from street to bridge. From that point on I found my way very smoothly.

The first thing I noticed when I walked into my hostel was that they were playing Bob Dylan on the radio.  I couldn't check in until 2. I hung around since I had all my stuff with me.  Then I checked in, put my big bag in the luggage room, took a shower, and then took off to walk around Dublin.

Budget:

Bus to downtown: €6 ($9.37)

Food: €11 ($17.18)

Hostel: €18.5 ($28.89)

Total: €35.5 ($55.44)

Also, my bank charged $5 for the ATM transaction.

Pictured is a group of buildings termed Bachelors' Walk, on the North side of Liffey.

This is the O'Connell bridge.