The Luck of the Irish

[The Liffy River in the center of Dublin]

At the brisk hour of 3:30 a.m. last Tuesday I took off from my apartment in London, met the cab at the gate outside my school and headed to Victoria station to catch a bus to the airport and eventually board my 6:25 am flight. Why was I flying at 6:25am? well the price was right (10 pounds!!) I touched down in Dublin at around 8 am and headed to the city center to drop my bags at Abigail hostel.


[Me and Glotter in front of the clock tower in Trinity College, this historically protestant college still has a policy that condones the killing of a catholic with a bow and arrow from the window of a school building on Tuesdays... of course no one has actually done this in recent years]


After a quick breakfast, my buddy Michael and I headed to Dublin castle (which actually is not much of a castle) for a three hour in-depth free walking tour. Our guide was a sharp witted, fast talking 21 year-old Irish-German who (for lack of a better term) knew his shit on Dublin.

The city was absolutely charming, and has a interesting history. Historically Ireland is consistent with two things, Guinness Beer and revolting against the British (6 attempted revolutions before they finally got it right)

After the tour a nap was certainly in order, followed by a nice dinner at a pizza joint. That night we visited a couple pubs, where I tried my first pint of Guinness Stout and honestly I was not all that impressed. The pub featured live traditional Irish music (think flutes, recorders and guitar). We had a good chat with an American pilot then eventually wound up at a spectacular pub called the porterhouse which brewed their own (delicious) beer.


[Oliver St. John Pub in the TempleBar Neighborhood, great music and bad prices]

We called it an early night and headed back to the hostel.

The following day was spent visiting museums, the St. Stevens Green Park and eventually the Guinness brewery. The brewery was terribly touristy, and the beer only tasted slightly better. The top of the brewery had a magnificent 360 "bar" overlooking all of Dublin, so that was certainly a plus.


[Guinness, BRILLIANT!]

The next day was outstanding. Michael and I signed up for a mini-bus coach tour through the Wicklow Mountains and Glendalough. If you ever do book a day trip outside of Dublin, visit Day Tours Unplugged and you're guaranteed a great experience. Our tour guide was a semi-retired former army civil engineer that was as entertaining as he was informative. This was far from your "typical" bus driver. The mountains were breathtaking, but half the time it was too foggy to see much of anything. Before Glendalough we stopped of for lunch, where I had the chance to sample Guinness and Beef Stew, quite tasty! Glendalough was essentially an ancient cemetery and town built around two glacial lakes. Interesting artifacts and some really old monasteries.

[Cute, right?]


[Glacial lake in the Wicklow mountains]



[New Friends!]

On the tour, Michael and I befriended three Americans traveling from Barcelona. That night we met up with them at our hostel and eventually made it over to Porterhouse to listen to some live music and sip their exceptional micro-brew beer.


[Porterhouse bar, live music everynight and four floors with 5 bars!]


[Friends from the States]

The following morning was our last day in Dublin, Glotter and I set out to the Jameson Whiskey Distillery. I enjoyed this much more than Guinness, although I would not recommend doing this tour before lunch (or at least make sure you've got a good breakfast in your stomach).

[mmm whiskey in the morning...]

Overall, Dublin was an amazing place to visit. It's big enough to keep you busy for a few days and the people are charming. Great mix of touristy things, genuine irish pubs and if you take a day out of town the natural side of Ireland is breathtaking.

I have to go for now, but my Prague post will be up shortly.

Cheers,

~Sir Ross Leder