A walk through St. Stephen's Green leads directly to Grafton Street, the most central pedestrian street in Dublin. Here, we always found a lot of fun street performances, lots of shopping, and some great dining spots.
On a busy weekday morning, the best place to grab a delicious breakfast bite is the Butler's Chocolate Café.
Besides the fabulous selection of gourmet chocolates of all kinds, they have the most delicious freshly baked croissants.
The almond croissant is actually my favorite here.
Butler's hot chocolate is incredibly luscious.
The special dark hot chocolate is wonderfully rich and flavorful.
My daughter definitely enjoyed her breakfasts here!
On weekend mornings, Grafton street is much quieter, and one place that opens early is the legendary Bewley's Oriental Café. Bewley's is an Irish company, founded in 1840, that produces coffee and tea for sale around the world. Bewley's Oriental Café has been operating on Grafton street since 1927. Their coffee is terrific and they have lots of delicious options for breakfast as well as bites throughout the day. A full Irish breakfast here is actually a reasonable portion.
This plate consists of potato farl, grilled bacon, sausage, tomato, black pudding, mushrooms, poached egg, a special relish and two slices of toast.
My personal favorite are the scones. The mixed berry scones are just gorgeous.
The fruit scones with raisins are also excellent.
After a good breakfast, it is time to start sightseeing. On top of Grafton Street is a statue of Molly Malone, inspired by the famous Irish folk song.
A visit to Trinity College across the street is a must as it hosts the Book of Kells, the world's most famous and oldest book.
The next important stop is Dublin Castle. The castle was built originally as a Norman fortress and now serves as a place for many functions of the government. The tour of the castle is fascinating, and the most intriguing part is found underground where the remains of the original Viking city of 1000 years ago can be seen. Hidden away are the beautiful Castle gardens where we love to spend time. This is also the location of Chester Beatty library which hosts many wonderful art exhibits.
Also on the itinerary are St. Patrick's Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, and Dublinia, wonderful interactive historical exhibits about Viking and Medieval Dublin.
In Dublinia, the food tent at the fair exhibit got my attention.
It must be almost time for lunch!
