My friend Sophie and I finally went to Dublin last weekend. It's been so long we wanted to go. So we took the plane on Saturday morning to arrive in Ireland before lunchtime. Once arrived in the city centre, we dropped our bags in the room we found on Airbnb and we tried to figure out how to start our weekend in the Irish capital.
As the Guinness Storehouse is the furthest attraction, we thought it would be better to start visiting it. It was very interesting and interactive. The best part of the visit was obviously tasting the famous beer at the top of the building offering a 360° view of the city. If you go to the Guinness Storehouse you will notice you can have your pint of Guinness on different levels but I think the best decision is to wait for the bar at the top. And it is not a legend, the Irish Guinness is defenitely the best! The taste is so different from the one you can drink in other countries.
Afterwards, we walked to the core of the city where you can find most attractions. The day before we arrived Ireland voted for (or against) gay marriage. So when we were on our way to the castle hundreds people were waiting at the gate for the confirmed result. The 'YES' won. We didn't see much of the castle but we were happy to see cheerful folks and to be part of History.
Keeping on walking, we arrived in Grafton Street and not far from there we stopped in a pub for another pint and to have dinner before we head to Temple Bar. The pub was called O'Donoghue's located on Suffolk Street. The food was really good and cheap (around €10).
Once the dinner and the pint finished we wasted no time to go at Temple Bar for a pub crawl. We arrived at eight o'clockish and the pubs were already full. We went inside 'The auld Dubliner' and the atmosphere was exactly what you expect from an Irish pub. A singer playing mainstream songs but making them sound Irish. People around were clapping hands, singing, dancing,... And the following pubs we did had pretty much the same mood. We didn't go back to the flat very late because we were tired.
Sunday morning, 9 o'clock and ready to go! Sophie spotted a restaurant named Sophie's (coïncidence? I don't think so.) which promises you a view of Dublin while you are eating your brunch. Well the view is not great but the food was good.
Our bellies full, we went to Merrion Square because I really wanted to find the statue of Oscar Wilde. We hardly entered the park and here he is to the left. A snap and hop! let's see Trinity College now. Unfortunately we didn't visited the library with the Book of Kells because the waiting line was massive. It was our last hours here so we didn't want to waste this precious time.
We went back to Temple Bar because Sophie wanted to hear traditional Irish music so we stopped by the famous Temple Bar Pub. It was about one o'clock and three musicians were playing in the corner of the pub. The atmosphere was still the same as yesterday night; joyful customers enjoying their pints, clapping hands, singing and dancing... The typical cliché of Ireland.
The last attraction we did before heading back to the airport was the National Leprechaun museum. This is a guided tour telling you all you need to know about the famous Irish creature. It was interesting and a place to go if you are fed up to wait hours for your tickets. It does not look like a famous attraction but I highly recommend it.
Finally we had some time to kill so we had a look at souvenir shops and went in a pub for our last pint in Dublin. We were really sad to leave. We wished we could have at least one more day to visit Howth or Wicklow Mountains. The architecture of the city is not incredible but the atmosphere is unique. I am really happy to have discover this city and its citizens.
Tips:
- If you take Dublin Bus you need the exact amount of money and only coins are accepted.
- When you are a pedestrian and it is not your turn to cross the road, I would advise you not to wait for the green light. Just look to the left or to the right to make sure you can cross otherwise you will wait ages and waste your time because the zebra crossing lights are really really long for pedestrians.
