Dublin was our last leg of our European vacation, and I was hot and cold on it, I was excited about some things, but not as excited as I was as I was to visit London, York or the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Dublin didn’t seem to have as many things to do; but I was kind of excited for a more chill few days to end our trip. We stayed for 3 nights and stayed at The Hendrick Smithfield which was located in a good location outside of Temple Bar.
When we got to Dublin, I immediately noticed it wasn’t as grand as London or Edinburgh and wasn’t as historic as York. Dublin didn’t quite feel as European, and despite being less multicultural than London, I couldn’t feel a distinct Irish culture. The buildings were brown and grey, and there aren’t too many epic buildings, yet it still has its own charm. Although, I couldn’t help but notice that the Georgian architecture almost resembled a Chicago style, without the enormous skyscrapers. Even though it didn’t feel as unique as many other European cities, people love Dublin. It’s a global city; so, there’s plenty of things to see and do, eat, there are lots of events, and public transportation is good. And, Dublin always feels lively and busy with people, without being as crowded as London. The city has lots of people walking around and bars and pubs are always full and lively.
Temple Bar
Talking about lively, one of Dublin’s main attractions is Temple Bar… a neighborhood packed with pubs, restaurants and tourists galore. The pubs have colorful facades and are lined with flags, flowers and other things to make them stand out. The place is always lively but it’s mostly packed with tourists. Locals will tell you to avoid it, but Temple Bar is somewhere you must at least walk through if you’re visiting Dublin. Just be careful with your spending; like all tourist attractions it’s pricey and it will cost you about €11-12 a drink, similar (or even slightly more) than London with the exchange rate. Despite overpriced beers, it was fun to slam back a few in Temple Bar.
I stopped at a couple of different pubs, but the most iconic was the actual “Temple Bar” with its red exterior, flowers and packed interior. Like most Irish Pubs, the place was busy and everyone was dancing and singing to the live music. In addition to Temple Bar, we had dinner at Quay’s pub, stopped for an ice cream and the next day tried an Irish Coffee, a hot coffee mixed with whisky and topped with cream. We also ate some delicious oysters and seafood in a nearby restaurant.
Other Attractions
In addition to the great pubs of Temple Bar there are many other places to see. And a quick side note, there are many other excellent pubs outside of Temple Bar, the beers are cheaper and they will be a bit less busy. One evening we stumbled across the Brazen Head, one of Irelands oldest pubs, and boy was it a cool experience.
A lot of the tourist attractions are in walking distance or close by public transport so that’s a plus. On our last day in Dublin, we went out exploring. We strolled through Trinity College, a world-renowned and famous 16th century college. It was a nice walk, but nothing spectacular. We were going to visit the Book of Kells but decided to save money for once and skip it.
From Trinity College we strolled past Dublin Castle which was a cool site to see. We also strolled past a few famous churches and statues such as the Molly Malone Statue. And in addition to some of these famous sites, it’s just nice to walk along the River Liffey which runs through the center of Dublin. Temple Bar is adjacent to the river, but so are many other restaurants and pubs. There is also the Dublin Spire. But unlike London, the buildings aren’t historic and grand, but it’s still a nice city to walk around and it’s easy to see many of the famous sites.
And everyone knows Ireland’s most famous staples, and that’s Guinness, so don’t forget to book a visit to the Guinness Storehouse. The Guinness Storehouse is educational, visually stimulating and family friendly. More about this will come in a later blog.
Trips and Excursions
Dublin is famous, but so is the Irish countryside, with the beautifully green rolling hills and farmland, tremendous cliffs towering down to the Atlantic and the Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland.
We debated to booking a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher and the town of Galway, but since we had just come back from Scotland and the Isle of Skye, we decided to do something a little bit different and booked a trip to Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK and a separate country from Ireland. The tour consisted of a visit to Belfast, The Giants Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site consisting of 40,000 basalt columns on the Atlantic and the Dark Hedges, the iconic roadway lined with several hundred year old trees, as seen in Game of Thrones. It was a good tour at a good price, but I’ll talk about this in another blog.
There are also many other cool Irish villages and towns to check out. If we had more time, it would have been nice to explore the beautiful Irish countryside including Cork.
Food
The food in Ireland is similar to England and Scotland, but some things were even better. Like England, Ireland has great farm land and grass-fed beef. The cheese and dairy are excellent and so are the potatoes and fresh bread.
The Fish & Chips are freshly caught and have tasty breading. The chips are good, and the gravy always adds to the meal. And I’m not an oyster guy, but my wife was craving seafood so we stopped at The Seafood Café next to Temple Bar. Let me tell you this, I thought I’d have been grossed out but the oysters were excellent, super fresh and flavorful. And one night at Quay’s in Temple Bar, we decided to go with the Irish Stew and the Cottage Pie. The strew was delicious; the Guinness sauce was extremely flavorful and the meat tender. ‘The Cottage Pie was like a Shepard's Pie but on steroids. The potatoes were creamy and tasty and the meat on top with gravy was delicious. The fresh bread and butter to dip into the stew was excellent also.
We also tried an Irish Breakfast, similar to an English Breakfast but larger. There were eggs, sausages, bacon. tomato, beans, hash brown and pudding. The breakfast was filling and delicious.
Final thoughts
So, all in all our trip to Dublin was a solid way to end out our European vacation. Ireland is lively and busy, with people always out and having fun. Despite being busy it is less stressful to navigate than London. The architecture and history aren’t as grand as London and it doesn’t feel extremely “European”, but Dublin still is nice and has its own charm. Just like anywhere in Western Europe, Dublin is expensive, especially in the summer, so be aware of when you’re travelling. But, if you’re looking for a laid back, fun vacation with lots of drinking and some options for day trips to beautiful countryside then Dublin might be right for you.
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