Met up with a tour group today to get the lay of the land here in Dublin. Our guide was great, native to Ireland and a graduate of Trinity college in history and drama (betting this wasn't the job he was aiming for, lol) but the combination made him a great guide. We toured through the temple bar district, past Christ Church Cathedral, and Dublin Castle. Tons of tidbits of interesting history that I will probably forget. Though one of the more major streets, O'Connell St, named after a revolution leader, was once known as sniper alley during a conflict (honestly there have been too many conflicts in Ireland for me to keep them all straight). Anyway, my day was pretty much about the touring, and after I headed back to Trinity College to wander the campus and go see the Book of Kells, the oldest illustrated manuscript of the bible in the world, as well as the main research library, which was incredible. The long room holds the oldest books of the collection and the books were shelved to the ceiling which had to be at least 50 feet tall if not more.

Back to the hostel for a quick recharge (note to self, great location, s*** wifi, not worth it) and then off to dinner. Along the way to dinner I wandered through St Stephens Green and Merrion Square, two adorable green spaces that were landscaped to the extreme - nothing like Nose Hill, that's for sure. At any rate, dinner was much farther than I though (when the map says 2.8km I'm like, oh I can run that in 15 minutes....oh yeah I'm walking it....) but I made it!
Bloom Brasserie was soooo worth the trek. I'm definitely hitting home runs with dinner so far. The rack of lamb was delicious. Ironically you don't see lamb on the menu very offer here, as most sheep seem to be for wool rather than meat.