Julie & I left early Friday morning and arrived at Kinlay House, our hostel, in the early afternoon. We were located right in the downtown Temple Bar area and I have to say we couldn't have found a better spot to stay! The hostel was very resonably priced, clean, comfortable, and had free breakfast... can't get much better than that when it comes to hostel living.
After learning our lesson from Italy, we did quite a bit of research before going because we wanted to just jump right into what we wanted to do when we arrived in Dublin. We started our weekend with a tour of the Guinness factory. We didn't exactly anticipate what a long time it would take. The whole place is basically a museum about how Guinness is made, advertised and distributed. Interesting, but towards the end I just wanted to get to the top floor and have my complementary pint of the black stuff! The top floor of the factory gives a 360 degree panorama of the city below, which was enjoyable as we sipped on our pints. As much flack as I will catch for saying this, I didn't really like it! It's very much a man's beer. Very thick, syrupy, heavy. I prefer my cider (for the rest of the trip I enjoyed Bullmer's cider with black currant flavoring, delicious!). I felt like I had been drinking for over an hour and I looked in my cup and I had only downed about 1/5 of the glass. It was a little much for me. Later I found out that drinking an entire pint of Guinness is equivalent to eating an entire loaf of bread. So needless to say, I didn't feel so guilty about not finishing it.
outside the factory.
barrels of guinness.
julie enjoying her pint.As I said, we didn't realize how long it would take us to do the factory, so by the time we were done it was around dinner time and we walked to Temple Bar to find some grub and explore. The streets of Temple Bar are basically lined with "hippie stores" as I refer to them: shops that sell incense, wool blankets, scarves, and long fabric skirts, among other things. Dublin is very much a place for subcultures to hang out... I saw everyone from punks, to goths, hippies, yuppies, old men, and just your everyday traveller.
After dinner we were signed up to do a "musical pub crawl," so we headed to the pub to meet with the group. This was probably one of my favorite things we did the whole weekend. We visited two pubs, and at each we spent about an hour listening to two traditional Irish musicians play for us. Drinks were a bit pricy so there wasn't much drinking going on, but I enjoyed the music all the same. We learned about different types of Irish tunes, different tempos and how to count them, and the different Irish instruments. My favorite was the bodhran, which is a handheld drum with animal stretched across the frame, and you play it with any kind of thick double-headed stick (the guy who played it just used a simple paintbrush). You can make different beats on it with each side of the beater and by varying the speed you play and where on the drum you beat... it was so interesting to see and hear! I mean, I'm typically easily amused, and watching this guy play this drum could have kept me occupied for hours.
our pub crawl hosts jamming out.The next day of our trip was by far my favorite thing I have done this entire semester. We took a day-long bus trip to Glendalough, up in the mountains, and with the leaves changing, it was one of the most gorgeous places I have ever seen in my life. We made a bunch of different stops on the way there, most notably to the property of Arthur Guinness, about 2500 feet above sea level:
gorgeous view from the Guinness property.
gorgeous view from the Guinness property.'Glendalough' translates to "land of two lakes," the upper lake and the lower lake. We had a good chunk of time to go off and explore on our own once we got there, so Julie and I high-tailed it to the farthest point we could go.
upper lake, Glendalough.
no words, seriously.
upper lake, Glendalough.
no words, seriously.We had this really hilarious tour guide the whole day, who was self-nicknamed "Big Kev." He kept leaving his mircrophone turned on as we were driving and we could hear him making all these awkward bodily noises and grunts and such. Kind of gross, but we got a kick out of it. You could tell he had been doing this job awhile but still quite enjoyed it. And he knew a ton about the history of Ireland and the land we were driving through; I was glad to do some learning on my trip. So thanks, Big Kev, for showing us a good time.
The evening was rainy and cold, but Julie and I were determined to see what the infamous Dublin nightlife was like. We found a club with no cover and waited for it to get busy as we sipped on our delicious ciders. It was fun, but I have to say quite typical, as all they played was American dance music, there were people grinding up on each other all over the place, and there were lots of flashy strobe lights. Just another average club.
We were set to leave Dublin late on Sunday evening, so we set out to enjoy a non-typical day in Dublin. We started at the Smithfield Horse Market, which goes on the first Sunday of every month and is absolute chaos. It takes place in this city square, next to a bunch of high-rise buildings and hotels, which is such an awkward spot because to see horses tied up to street signs and out of the back of cars, you just kind of think to yourself, "wait a second, what century are we in??" The whole thing was very bizarre and so entertaining. It was basically really old Irish men and dirty little farm boys parading their horses, donkeys, and ponies around the square in hopes that someone would put a bid on it. To kill time, they raced their horses up and down the street and rode them around. Something about it just struck me as quite odd... I couldn't tell if the animals were happy or not. I didn't really see anyone actually making any purchases, so I was left to believe that although it was called a 'market,' it really was just an excuse for people to get together and show off their horses and socialize with one another. Very off the beaten path to visit, I must say.
The evening was rainy and cold, but Julie and I were determined to see what the infamous Dublin nightlife was like. We found a club with no cover and waited for it to get busy as we sipped on our delicious ciders. It was fun, but I have to say quite typical, as all they played was American dance music, there were people grinding up on each other all over the place, and there were lots of flashy strobe lights. Just another average club.
We were set to leave Dublin late on Sunday evening, so we set out to enjoy a non-typical day in Dublin. We started at the Smithfield Horse Market, which goes on the first Sunday of every month and is absolute chaos. It takes place in this city square, next to a bunch of high-rise buildings and hotels, which is such an awkward spot because to see horses tied up to street signs and out of the back of cars, you just kind of think to yourself, "wait a second, what century are we in??" The whole thing was very bizarre and so entertaining. It was basically really old Irish men and dirty little farm boys parading their horses, donkeys, and ponies around the square in hopes that someone would put a bid on it. To kill time, they raced their horses up and down the street and rode them around. Something about it just struck me as quite odd... I couldn't tell if the animals were happy or not. I didn't really see anyone actually making any purchases, so I was left to believe that although it was called a 'market,' it really was just an excuse for people to get together and show off their horses and socialize with one another. Very off the beaten path to visit, I must say.
smithfield horse market, dublin.
Following the horse market, Julie and I headed to the Dublin Writers Museum to educate ourselves. I didn't realize how many well-known Irish writers there are in history. I particularly liked learning about Oscar Wilde, he was quite the wit. I bought one of his books and am looking forward to enjoying it over coffee when I get back to the States. After the museum, we did a bit more exploring around Temple Bar, grabbed some delicious lunch, and shopped at the markets around town.
It was a quick flight back to London and I was right back into busy mode from the time I walked in the door. I really, really enjoyed Dublin and wish I had more time there! In fact, I almost wish I spent my break touring Ireland instead of Italy. It's very American of me to say, but traveling in a country that speaks English makes it all so much better on the whole... I will definitely be returning another day. I liked that we didn't do the typical sights while we were there either. I really think that finding off the beaten path kinds of things to do makes the experience so much more real and you see the city from a different angle.
Next stop: Paris! Cheers!
It was a quick flight back to London and I was right back into busy mode from the time I walked in the door. I really, really enjoyed Dublin and wish I had more time there! In fact, I almost wish I spent my break touring Ireland instead of Italy. It's very American of me to say, but traveling in a country that speaks English makes it all so much better on the whole... I will definitely be returning another day. I liked that we didn't do the typical sights while we were there either. I really think that finding off the beaten path kinds of things to do makes the experience so much more real and you see the city from a different angle.
Next stop: Paris! Cheers!
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