IRELAND 2012: Dublin

The world famous city of Dublin is the capital of the Republic of Ireland and the heartbeat of the nation. A cultural, traditional and vibrant city it attracted 3.5 million visitors from abroad in 2010 according to Visit Dublin's website.

And I stayed here every night during my holiday and travelled from here everyday to all the locations I visited across the island. Frankly, I felt like a travelling boomerang!

One of the things I find strangely amazing is the ability to learn a city's geography very quickly upon arrival for the first time. Arriving into Dublin's Busaras, I honestly didn't have a clue where I was (obviously I knew what city I'd arrived in!) in terms of where in the city centre I was. So I walked around like a lost soul for an hour in circles round O'Connell Street and back to the Busaras again and so forth!

Until I finally figured out which bus to take for my hotel. That was a relieving moment because I did think at one point that I wasn't going to get there and my phone battery was running very low. It was a desperate time but sitting on the bed in the hotel room was a glorious moment. Especially when you take into account that I refused to fly to Dublin and instead travelled from Fife all the way to the Irish capital via various forms of transport.

But I saved Dublin until the end of my time in Ireland. The day after I went to Anascaul in County Kerry, I paid a visit to the country's most important sporting venue. Not just for sporting reasons but obviously for historical reasons as well. Cue in Croke Park.

Croke Park is symbolic of Ireland's unique sporting culture. Unlike in other countries, the Irish nation holds very dearly to their hearts the sports of Gaelic football and hurling. We had a charming, energetic and informative tour guide who took us round the stadium and took us back in time, especially to the time when Ireland went to war with Britain to secure its independence.

Croke Park and that silver desk where the trophies are presented

The visit was well timed too as it was the moment when I declared my support for County Kerry GAA. Its obvious why I did that.

On another note, what I most loved about the stadium was not only the extraordinary capacity of the ground but the views you can get of the whole city of Dublin facing west. Take a look at the picture below, it will make you awe.

View of Dublin's landscape from Croke Park

Next I paid a brief visit to Dublin Mosque. The city has a strong and vibrant Muslim community and the main mosque used to be a Roman Catholic church before it was converted. Although its not as big as the main central mosques in Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland, it still attracts many visitors every Friday and throughout the week. I went inside to have a look and spend some there in contemplation and reflection.

Dublin Mosque

On the Saturday, I also toured the Aviva stadium where Leinster Rugby play their home matches and where the Irish national rugby union and soccer (see you've got to be careful here because if I stated football then you'd be thinking Gaelic football) teams play their home matches as well. Formerly known just as Lansdowne  Road stadium which, before it was transformed, was relatively small. Now though, this stadium has a capacity of just over 50,000, similar to Hampden Park in Glasgow. But it is much smaller than Croke Park which can seat over 80,000 fans.

Later in the day I toured Trinity College and had a glance at the Book of Kells. Ireland's answer to St Andrews University, its traditions and workings fascinate not even just the visitors but the current students of the educational institution. I have to admit being the sort of person who watches a lot of TV, I couldn't get Gay Byrne out of my head. I think those of you in Ireland know fine well what I'm talking about!

I also walked along the quayside of the Liffey and was so lucky to have the sun shining as I managed to get some excellent pictures of the new Samuel Beckett Bridge. I also took some time to inspect the famine memorial by the river. Its so hard and scary to believe that it was only over 150 years ago when this disaster struck Ireland seeing approximately a million people dying from the macabre effects of the famine and a further million people emigrating.

Samuel Beckett Bridge

Finally, it was time to wave Slán as the ferry took me home back to Holyhead in Wales before I set on my train journey back north to Scotland.