Wow. I don't know if I was just so happy to be reunited with my dad or if Dublin City is truly just so magnificent, but I have to say that this weekend I went on one of the best trips I have ever taken. The city itself is not only beautiful and lively, but the people we met there were all so incredibly warm and kindhearted. Everyone from our taxi driver to the gentleman running the cashier for the Book of Kells tour was eager to help and quick to make conversation - I have never met a city of people as hospitable as I did in Dublin.
To be honest, the weekend started off poorly. I didn't give myself very much time to get from my house to the airport so I was extremely stressed out. Even after making it to my gate with some time to spare, I was flushed and irritable. The flight was only two hours long (power-nap long) and soon enough I was out of the terminal, greeted by one of my favorite people in the world, Dad! No one quite like family to make you feel better. We took a cab to the town center, which ended up taking twice as long as expected due to all the rush hour traffic, and finally arrived at our hotel around 7 in the evening or so.
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| The modest buildings on the street our hotel was on |
We then decided to venture out on to the streets to find Temple Bar, an area nearby on the south bank of the River Liffey that is full of pubs and restaurants. Of course Dad didn't want us looking like dorky tourists holding maps so, instead, we got lost and discovered The Hairy Lemon.
What a great place for our first meal! The interior was cozy, resembling the inside of a 19th century house with posters, photos, and other memorabilia covering the walls. We started dinner with two Guinnesses (of course) and calamari (our favorite), all while eavesdropping on our Taiwanese table-neighbors who Dad found hilarious. And following the appetizer, bacon-wrapped bangers and mash for Dad and a traditional cottage pie for me! After dinner, we resolved to find Temple Bar, and we did! We were just a few streets off so we wandered around the area a bit before heading back to the hotel for the night.
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| Dad at The Hairy Lemon |
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| Temple Bar |
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| Ha'penny Bridge |
After breakfast, we walked to and through St. Stephen's Green, which is gorgeous.
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| Georgian doors |
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| Park ranger's house - how cute! |
Then, we found one of the Hop-On/Off bus stops and ended up "hopping on" to see the city. We took it to the Guinness Storehouse, where we did a tour, went into the tasting room for the "full experience", attended the Guinness Academy to learn how to pour (or pull) a perfect pint, and visited the Gravity Bar! Our little excursion ended with a visit to the gift shop, which sells things from Guinness chocolate to Christmas decorations.
We got back on the bus afterward, which lead us around the rest of Dublin so we were able to see Kilmainham Gaol, the zoo, the Old Jameson Distillery, and the shopping street of O'Connell. From O'Connell, we walked back toward our hotel, over the bridge, on a mission to find a Mexican restaurant my friend told me about.
Little Ass Burrito. That was the name of the place. And it was so good. I have truly missed Mexican food so I finally got my fix!
From there, we kept walking, seeing Trinity College and the area around it, before going back to the hotel for a nap. It sure is tiring to go beer-tasting and Mexican-food-searching...
For dinner, we wanted to go out to Temple Bar. We ended up going to this restaurant that really wasn't very yummy, besides their mouthwatering tomato-pepper soup. Later, we finally went to The Temple Bar, one of the most popular bars in the area. It was so fun! There was a big crowd and live music, the band covering some popular songs so everyone could sing along (my favorite was obviously "Molly Malone"). We then continued to bar-hop a bit down the street, ended up getting our faces painted, and then concluded the night at a calmer bar called the Bad Ass Cafe (I know, right?), watching this eccentric, older woman dance on the street to all the music the place played. (Side note: there were a great number of homeless people on the street, many of whom were actually young men and women. Everywhere else I've been, the homeless are usually around 40 years old or older. However, in Dublin, there were people on the street who were no more than a few years older than me.)
On Saturday, we had breakfast at Bewley's Cafe on Grafton Street before heading to Trinity College for the Book of Kells (BoK) and Old Library Tour. The BoK was tremendous - it's over 1,500 years old and the script is still in incredibly good shape with these extremely intricate illustrations that seem impossible to draw. After seeing the book, we were allowed to walk through the Long Room of the Old Library that was built in the early 1700s. It was very impressive, with thousands of ancient books lining the shelves. It's the biggest library in Ireland and houses the oldest harp of its kind in Ireland, which probably dates from the 15th century, and is the model for the emblem of Ireland!
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| Exploring campus |
Next, we headed to Merrion Square so I could see all the Georgian houses. We saw Oscar Wilde's townhouse and wound up doing an architectural tour of a house that now serves as the office for the Irish Architectural Archive. The tour was okay (Dad didn't really love it), but we had a nice time admiring all the pretty Georgian doors and their knockers.
After another desperately-needed nap, we headed for St. Patrick's Cathedral and found the cutest coffee shop on the way where we stopped for a snack. (Another side note: we learned the very first night at The Hairy Lemon that all Irish restaurants/cafes must denote whether things are gluten-free or not since Ireland has the highest percentage of celiacs in the world! This coffee shop was completely gluten-free!)
Unfortunately, the cathedral ended up being closed for a few graduation services that day so we decided to visit the Christ Church Cathedral instead. Like most European cathedrals, it was very beautiful, but our favorite part was catching the choir rehearsal that was going on that afternoon.
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| Outside St. Patrick's Cathedral |
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| Christ Church Cathedral |
Then, it was time to go shopping for the special Irish sweater Mom asked for! So we left the cathedral, but didn't get very far before Dad found a cafe/pub down the street that had live music. I loved it - the duo was much more traditional than the groups we had seen the night before at Temple Bar so it felt more authentic and made our drinks taste much more...Irish.
We finally found Mom a suitable sweater (and a scarf for me!) at The Sweater Shop on Nassau. The ladies at the store were extremely helpful and friendly, another great example of Irish hospitality!
On Sunday morning, we had breakfast again at Bewley's before going to the airport.
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| Look how big those scones are! |
I could not have asked for a better weekend. An enormous thank you to Dad for an incredible 4 days in Dublin. There is no one else I would have rather visited Ireland for the first time with. I miss him so much already - 2 months until we'll be together again!
What a lovely city! The Dublin tourist office would love to get their hands on this. I wish I were there!
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