Today’s adventure is an outing to the National Botanical Gardens, located in the burrough of Glasnevin located on the northside of Dublin about a 30 minute bus ride from Temple Bar. I was invited by a new friend I met online, whom I’ll refer to as A. He lives very close to the gardens and suggested we meet there. The weather today is slightly warmer, close to 60 F, but no rain. I dress more lightly with a short-sleeve button up shirt and a lightweight hoodie. I haven’t taken any public transportation since arriving to Dublin, and I look forward to seeing more of the city along the way. I recently ordered a “Leap” card online that is the public transportation pass used here, but it hasn’t arrived yet, so I stop at a convenient store to buy a bottle of water and get change for the bus fair. It’s €3 to the gardens; fares are calculated based on the number of stops/zones you pass through, or “stages” as they are called. All of Dublin’s buses are double-deckers, with lots of seating on the upper level. I get on at the College Green stop on Dame Street, two blocks away from my apartment. Facemasks are required on public transportation, and the bus wasn’t very full. I head upstairs for some new views of the city. The rest of today’s post will consist of some photos.
A view looking towards O’Connelly Street with the Dublin Spire in the background:
A view of the Ha’penny Bridge:
Construction cranes can be seen everywhere in Dublin:
Next to the gardens is the Glasnevin Cemetery dating back to the early 1800s.
The River Tolka runs alongside the north side of the gardens:
A shot of the Phibsborough shopping district (this area was named as Dublin’s trendiest neighborhoods in a recent travel article, although A says that it’s “fake news”):
Dublin’s buses have USB charging ports everywhere:
