Pur essendo una metropoli, ciò che colpisce di Dublino, capitale dell’Irlanda, è l’ordinata, seppur vivace, quotidianità che vi si respira: a dispetto del fatto che conta più di un milione di abitanti compreso l’hinterland, Dublino dà l’idea di essere un luogo raccolto e poco caotico.
The busiest area, especially on weekends, is Temple Bar, a historic and famous district of Dublin full of pubs and various venues. Every Friday the party explodes here with live music everywhere and plenty of beer.
Just a few steps from these lively streets stands the Dublin Castle, the city’s ancient castle which, despite being right in the center, seems to confine outside its walls the external noises. Visitors are welcomed by a very green garden that leads to the actual entrance. Various rooms of the Castle can be visited, depending on the official engagements scheduled which may require the closure of certain wings of the structure. You won’t leave before admiring the rich exhibition of the Chester Beatty Library, also inside the fortification.
When it comes to museums, Dublin holds its own admirably with the Irish Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery, the National Museum, the Writer’s Museum, or the Natural History Museum. To get a grasp on Dublin’s history, on Dame Street there is the City Hall, an example of Georgian architecture and a place where the city’s history is told through permanent exhibits.
Not far from here is the Trinity College, the university of Dublin where you can visit the ancient library and the Book of Kells, a finely illuminated manuscript decorated by Irish monks, containing the Latin translation of the four Gospels.
A stop in the Trinity College gardens, then you can head to the statue of Molly Malone to start a walk along Grafton Street, Dublin’s shopping street.
Also worth admiring are the churches, two of which are particularly important: the Christchurch Cathedral, Anglican, is the oldest building in Dublin; a few hundred meters further and you find yourself before St. Patrick’s Cathedral, also Protestant, even larger and surrounded by gardens and flowers.
Continuing towards this city area, it is easy to reach the Guinness Storehouse, the factory that produces the famous dark beer. Visitors can explore it along the six floors that make up the route, at the end of which they can enjoy a pint in the Gravity Bar, the venue surrounded entirely by windows that overlooks the Guinness tower and offers a breathtaking 360° view of Dublin.
You can also visit what remains of the historic Jameson distillery, the company that produces the famous whiskey. It is time to return towards Temple Bar, guided by the light in the sky of the Spire on O’Connell Street, the largest street in Dublin. From here you can head to the banks of the Liffey River that divides the city into north and south sides; the most characteristic bridge connecting the two areas is the Ha’penny bridge: on one side there is Temple Bar, on the other the lively neighborhood full of little music shops, clothing stores, food from every culture, and very picturesque and characteristic fruit and flower markets.
For nature lovers, the Phoenix Park is wonderful, a huge park within which there is the Dublin Zoo and lots of green space, all to be enjoyed. Very special, at times poetic, is the Dublin Bay, about which James Joyce wrote a lot, whose statue is visible along O’Connell Street.
Also the Docks, the port area that is changing face in favor of new modern buildings, offers characteristic glimpses… who knows for how much longer, given the speed at which construction is progressing!
