It was a holiday weekend in Spain so, naturally, everyone packed their bags and headed off to different corners in Europe. I decided to join the group traveling to Dublin.
We left Wednesday night (or I guess you could say Thursday morning) at midnight. We traveled in a very uncomfortable bus through the night, arriving in Barcelona between seven and eight AM. From Barcelona, we flew with Aer Lingus and arrived in Dublin in the early afternoon.
Hostel
The hostel we stayed at was called Abbey Court. It was huge. From the front, it looked like a small to medium sized building, but the thing was a maze inside. The walls were decorated with spray painted faces of celebrities and scenes from movies. We stayed in the rainbow room, a 24 bed dorm. It probably wan’t the nicest hostel there is, but it definitely had a great location and low prices. The water pressure in the showers sucked. It came with free breakfast, which was pretty much two types of cereal, some fruit, and toast. Plus tea and coffee. The hostel had a hammock room, a BYOB bar, and other cool common spaces. I wish I would have known to bring a lock for my drawer and a towel next time.
A photo of the hostel that I stole from the internet
Activities
Thursday, after stopping at the hostel, we decided to tour the Guinness factory. It was a self-led tour but I thought it was interesting. The tour ended with a free pint of Guinness with an awesome view of Dublin. While we were there, we happened to run into Usher! His body guard told us to stop taking photos but Cody got a good pic.
A dark beer that I actually enjoy
Cheers from Usher
On Friday, we decided to take one of those free walking tours where the tour guide is only paid with tips. We learned a bit about the history of Ireland and visited some cool locations, including Trinity College. Our tour guide pointed out a bar where only two years ago the artist, Hozier ("Take me to Church”), had performed and was happy to be paid in beer.
Trinity college
On Saturday, we took a day trip to the cliffs of Moher. It was a long drive but included a few stops along the way. We saw a castle, which the tour guide said if you run around counter-clockwise, you’ll get your virginity back. We also stopped at an old Irish graveyard and a chocolate shop.
When we arrived at the cliffs, it was a beautiful, sunny day. I couldn’t believe how lucky we got with the weather. There wasn’t much wind, which is good because apparently someone was swept off the cliffs just a week before our visit. I’ve seen very few places that compare to these cliffs. They were absolutely beautiful.
Magic virginity castle
The Cliffs of Moher
It's okay family, I'm not sitting right on the edge, it's an illusion
Food
The food in Dublin is amazing. I had Guinness beef stew twice in the one weekend I was there. It was too good to even stop and take a picture. I don’t remember the name of the pub where I got it the first night, but the second time was at a place called O’Neill’s, which was very good and gives you HUGE proportions. I’d recommend it to anyone going to Dublin.
In Dublin, there’s pretty much any type of food you could want. There are tons of different kinds of restaurants. Because we were there for such a short time, we decided to eat mostly Irish food. We did, however, stop at a yummy pastry shop called Sweet Sicily. I had a Nutella tart. It was amazing. The paninis also looked good.
Sweet Sicily, an adorable cafe
So many yummy things
I also tried an Irish coffee, which was apparently invented by an American. It was okay. I don’t really enjoy whiskey or coffee so I don’t know what I was expecting to like here.
Nightlife
The main bar area in Dublin is called Temple Bar. This is a whole area, not just one bar. Although, there is a bar called the Temple Bar, which we went to. It was pretty crowded. Well, most of the bars and pubs in this area are a bit crowded. But many of them play live music, which was really cool. This area had a really nice atmosphere and I had a lot of fun. It’s definitely somewhere you “must go” when in Dublin, but it’s better to drink beforehand because drinks get really expensive, especially the later it gets.
Temple bar area
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