My thoughts about Dublin, Ireland:
Good:
- Dublin has a large proportion of young people
- There are lots of bars and clubs, good nightlife
- The Irish countryside is beautiful
Bad:
- Everything is really expensive there
- The city is kind of dirty and depressing
- The public transportation is no where near as good as London's
What I did / Where I went:
Guinness Factory Tour
For ~10 Euros it was definitely worth it, there is a lot of interesting history and you can spend a lot of time on the 7 floors of your self guided tour. The view from the gravity bar on the top floor is great. You get a free pint of Guinness at the end.
Jameson Whiskey Tour
Similar price to Guinness tour but not nearly as good. The tour is guided and fairly short, but if you can volunteer to do the whiskey tasting at the end go for it. You get a free mixed drink with Jameson whiskey at the end.
Wicklow & Glendalough "Over the Top" tour
Most definitely worth the ~24 Euros for the tour, which lasts from 10am until 5pm. The views you get of the Irish countryside are absolutely incredible so make sure you bring a camera.
National Gallery
Had tons of paintings from all over the world. Not very exciting but it is something you can do for free.
Four Courts Hostel
Great location, cheap, clean and well maintained, and a helpful staff. There are lots of other young people and stuff to do like a big tv, Wii, and pool table downstairs. If you need somewhere to stay for cheap in Dublin, this is a great place.
Burdocks Fish & Chips
For ~9 Euros you get a huge fried and breaded fish and a huge helping of fries, I was stuffed and couldn't finish it all in one sitting. Great place to eat that you should check out.
Pubs:
Brazen Head "Oldest pub in Ireland" - You can go there just to say you were in the oldest pub in Ireland, but it isn't exciting.
Woolshed - They are jerks and won't let you in if you are under 21.
Friar's bar & grill - The manager was annoying.
O'Shea's - Seemed like a cool little pub to hang out at.
International Bar - Really small and lame.
What more I should have done:
I should have gone to some of the clubs or other pubs that are in Dublin and check out more of the nightlife.
Showing posts with label dublin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dublin. Show all posts
Monday, 19 January 2009
1/19/09 flight back from Dublin, almost hit by car
Up for breakfast and I talked with Paul a bit about why we couldn't meet up with him the night before. I also met and talked with Julie, who I saw on a previous day in the hostel. It's a shame I didn't talk to her sooner because she seemed really cool. Andrew and I checked out and then wandered around Dublin looking for something to do before we headed out to the airport. We eventually found our way to the National Gallery and walked around looking at the hundreds of paintings that were housed there. I am not particularly interested in paintings but it was interesting enough and free.
We left and went to our bus stop, where we waited for almost an hour in the freezing cold wind for the bus to the airport to finally get there. Dublin public transportation is pretty bad compared with London. It was a short flight home, and I was almost hit by a cab trying to beat a red light as I walked back on Edgeware Road to our flat. Andrew stuck out his arm to stop me from getting in its path. Even though I might have been ok otherwise, it still made me think quite a bit. Your life could end at any moment, so live with no regrets as if every day is your last.
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| From Ireland Trip |
We left and went to our bus stop, where we waited for almost an hour in the freezing cold wind for the bus to the airport to finally get there. Dublin public transportation is pretty bad compared with London. It was a short flight home, and I was almost hit by a cab trying to beat a red light as I walked back on Edgeware Road to our flat. Andrew stuck out his arm to stop me from getting in its path. Even though I might have been ok otherwise, it still made me think quite a bit. Your life could end at any moment, so live with no regrets as if every day is your last.
Sunday, 18 January 2009
1/18/09 Part 2: Irish pubbin
We got back to the hostel and met a guy named Paul who was from Temple University in Philadelphia. He was visiting Ireland at the end of his studying abroad in Germany for the fall semester. We talked for a while and then agreed to meet him at the Woolshed sports bar to watch the Eagles game and the Steelers game.
Andrew and I headed out to the “oldest bar in Ireland”, the Brazen Head, which was founded in 1198 and the pub even has its own history book. After a little while two Irish girls about our age, Mave and Laura, sat down next to us at the bar and started a conversation. They were from a town in central Ireland named Achlon(sp?), which they boasted had the real oldest bar in Ireland established sometime in the 800s.
I ordered a pint of Pauluner, a wheat beer, which tasted much sweeter than other beers and I didn't particularly care for. The girls were vary friendly and asked for an explanation of the concept of different “bases” (1st, 2nd, etc) and then gave a demonstration to make sure we knew that they understood it. Next they asked us what song had the lyrics “from the window... to the wall”, which they heard in a club the night before. I knew it was by Lil Jon' but couldn't remember the song title (Get Low). We recited as much of the song as we could recall, and then the Irish girls started singing along very loudly.
The Irish girls were obviously really drunk, and entertaining. They explained to Andrew and I how they party hardcore. Apparently the Irish girls had started drinking yesterday afternoon (Saturday), went out to a club, continued drinking late into the night and didn't go to bed until 7am. The girls woke up at noon and had a “traditional Irish breakfast” of Budweiser and sausages, followed by more drinking the rest of the day up until the point when we met them around 8pm Sunday night.
After a while their guy friends showed up at the pub and introduced themselves and we talked for a bit. I asked one of the guys to explain the game “snooker” which was playing on the TV. He explained that it is similar to pool, but the table is larger, the balls are smaller, the pockets are smaller, and players alternate hitting the red balls and other colored balls. We finished our beers, said our goodbyes, and after a hug and more from Mave, Andrew and I headed out to the Woolshed pub.
On the way there I realized I was completely out of toothpaste, so we wandered around looking for an open shop, but most were closed after 9pm. I never thought I would miss 24hr Walmart, but I guess I took it for granted in Selinsgrove. We finally found the Woolshed pub after asking for directions, but the bouncer wouldn't let us in, saying that we had to be “over 21” and that it was “house rules”. I didn't fly halfway across the world to be denied from drinking for the same bullshit reason that I am “under 21”. As if I would magically be a perfectly responsible person the moment I turn from a 20 year old to a 21 year old.
We headed to Friar's bar and grill to watch the game and sat for a while without any drinks, but then the manager bothered us about buying drinks, so I ordered a pint of Baulmer(sp?). It was a tasty cider, and I sipped on it while we watched the game. There were a couple college age students sitting behind us that we talked to. All of them were from Dublin except for one exchange student from New Jersey. They were really into American football, and we conversed during the Pittsburgh game up until we left at half time. We said our goodbyes and then ran back to the Four Courts Hostel in the pouring rain.
Andrew and I headed out to the “oldest bar in Ireland”, the Brazen Head, which was founded in 1198 and the pub even has its own history book. After a little while two Irish girls about our age, Mave and Laura, sat down next to us at the bar and started a conversation. They were from a town in central Ireland named Achlon(sp?), which they boasted had the real oldest bar in Ireland established sometime in the 800s.
I ordered a pint of Pauluner, a wheat beer, which tasted much sweeter than other beers and I didn't particularly care for. The girls were vary friendly and asked for an explanation of the concept of different “bases” (1st, 2nd, etc) and then gave a demonstration to make sure we knew that they understood it. Next they asked us what song had the lyrics “from the window... to the wall”, which they heard in a club the night before. I knew it was by Lil Jon' but couldn't remember the song title (Get Low). We recited as much of the song as we could recall, and then the Irish girls started singing along very loudly.
The Irish girls were obviously really drunk, and entertaining. They explained to Andrew and I how they party hardcore. Apparently the Irish girls had started drinking yesterday afternoon (Saturday), went out to a club, continued drinking late into the night and didn't go to bed until 7am. The girls woke up at noon and had a “traditional Irish breakfast” of Budweiser and sausages, followed by more drinking the rest of the day up until the point when we met them around 8pm Sunday night.
After a while their guy friends showed up at the pub and introduced themselves and we talked for a bit. I asked one of the guys to explain the game “snooker” which was playing on the TV. He explained that it is similar to pool, but the table is larger, the balls are smaller, the pockets are smaller, and players alternate hitting the red balls and other colored balls. We finished our beers, said our goodbyes, and after a hug and more from Mave, Andrew and I headed out to the Woolshed pub.
On the way there I realized I was completely out of toothpaste, so we wandered around looking for an open shop, but most were closed after 9pm. I never thought I would miss 24hr Walmart, but I guess I took it for granted in Selinsgrove. We finally found the Woolshed pub after asking for directions, but the bouncer wouldn't let us in, saying that we had to be “over 21” and that it was “house rules”. I didn't fly halfway across the world to be denied from drinking for the same bullshit reason that I am “under 21”. As if I would magically be a perfectly responsible person the moment I turn from a 20 year old to a 21 year old.
We headed to Friar's bar and grill to watch the game and sat for a while without any drinks, but then the manager bothered us about buying drinks, so I ordered a pint of Baulmer(sp?). It was a tasty cider, and I sipped on it while we watched the game. There were a couple college age students sitting behind us that we talked to. All of them were from Dublin except for one exchange student from New Jersey. They were really into American football, and we conversed during the Pittsburgh game up until we left at half time. We said our goodbyes and then ran back to the Four Courts Hostel in the pouring rain.
1/18/09 Part 1: Wicklow & Glendalough
Woke up at 8:30, got ready, and had breakfast at the hostel before our tour. Our tour leader was an elderly Irish gentleman named 'Ed' who was very knowledgeable on Irish history. The tour first headed up to the hills above Dublin where we stopped for a magnificent view of the entire city.
Next we headed further up the Wicklow hillside, which at this elevation level was covered with light snow. We were about ½ the way up the mountain (300m above sea-level) when we stopped to get a view of a lake far below us at the base of the mountain. There was a huge snow squall right as we got there, and I tried to take a picture of the lake, but the wind was so strong that facing towards the edge was like getting hundreds of little needles whipped at my face as the snow and sleet swirled by. As we were leaving the snow squall calmed down, but we were forced to turn around and drive back down the mountain because there was too much snow on the narrow mountain passes ahead of our tour.
We headed back down and into the town of Glendalough to stop for a quick lunch and then headed out to see a waterfall on the side of a cliff wall. It was an incredibly magnificent panoramic view of the Irish countryside, as in front of us were two mountains on either side of a green farmland valley below, with the top of the mountain behind us.
Next we headed to an ancient 6th century monastery that was run by Saint Kevin. The monastery was torn down by King Henry VIII after he created the Church of England, and only a graveyard and ruins remain today.
At this point we were allowed to take a walk to visit the two lakes a few minutes walk away. By this point the batteries had run out on my camera, and I ran back to the tour van to get new batteries, so I got separated from the group. I walked around the first lake but could only take one picture because it was so windy and rainy. My face was numb and my feet were freezing cold and soaked. Apparently I took the long way around the second lake, but I got a spectacular picture of the lake with two mountains on either side in the distance.
I looked around for my tour van but they had just left to go back to the monastery without me. Luckily I found the other tour van for the Celtic tour (similar to ours), and they were very nice and drove me to meet the rest of my group. We headed back to Dublin with a quick stop at the ruins used as a set for the dragon movie “Reign of Fire” and the lake/river that is the water supply for Dublin.
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| From Ireland Trip |
Next we headed further up the Wicklow hillside, which at this elevation level was covered with light snow. We were about ½ the way up the mountain (300m above sea-level) when we stopped to get a view of a lake far below us at the base of the mountain. There was a huge snow squall right as we got there, and I tried to take a picture of the lake, but the wind was so strong that facing towards the edge was like getting hundreds of little needles whipped at my face as the snow and sleet swirled by. As we were leaving the snow squall calmed down, but we were forced to turn around and drive back down the mountain because there was too much snow on the narrow mountain passes ahead of our tour.
 |
| From Ireland Trip |
We headed back down and into the town of Glendalough to stop for a quick lunch and then headed out to see a waterfall on the side of a cliff wall. It was an incredibly magnificent panoramic view of the Irish countryside, as in front of us were two mountains on either side of a green farmland valley below, with the top of the mountain behind us.
 |
| From Ireland Trip |
Next we headed to an ancient 6th century monastery that was run by Saint Kevin. The monastery was torn down by King Henry VIII after he created the Church of England, and only a graveyard and ruins remain today.
 |
| From Ireland Trip |
At this point we were allowed to take a walk to visit the two lakes a few minutes walk away. By this point the batteries had run out on my camera, and I ran back to the tour van to get new batteries, so I got separated from the group. I walked around the first lake but could only take one picture because it was so windy and rainy. My face was numb and my feet were freezing cold and soaked. Apparently I took the long way around the second lake, but I got a spectacular picture of the lake with two mountains on either side in the distance.
 |
| From Ireland Trip |
I looked around for my tour van but they had just left to go back to the monastery without me. Luckily I found the other tour van for the Celtic tour (similar to ours), and they were very nice and drove me to meet the rest of my group. We headed back to Dublin with a quick stop at the ruins used as a set for the dragon movie “Reign of Fire” and the lake/river that is the water supply for Dublin.
Saturday, 17 January 2009
1/17/09 Guinness, Jameson, and Swedes
Woke up around 10am, got ready and then headed out to the Guinness Factory. The tour was really good, and had us walking through 7 floors of Guinness history, brewing processes, and distribution. At the end of the tour we got a pint of Guinness in the gravity bar on the top floor which was packed with people, and had a spectacular view of Dublin.
As soon as Andrew and I walked out of the factory, rain started pouring down along with huge gusts of wind. We were completely soaked and ran into the nearest Subway to scarf down two 6” ham subs, which were the cheapest food we could find at 1.99E each. We then headed back to the hostel and booked a tour for the next day (Sunday) to see the Irish countryside of Wicklow and Glendalough.
Around 5pm we headed to the Jameson Whiskey tour. Our tour guide spoke in a really monotone voice and cracked jokes with dry humor. The tour wasn't anything spectacular, and at the end I got a Jameson with Coke. Andrew got to do taste testing between Jameson Whiskey, Scotch Whiskey, and American Whiskey. Scotch has a smoky flavor and is distilled twice, while American Whiskey is distilled once and has a sweeter taste since it is made with corn. Jameson has a clean vanilla taste and is distilled three times.
Andrew and I talked to some of the other people on the tour and met 2 Swedish guys, Cristoph and Frederick. Cristoph lived in Sweden's 2nd biggest city Guthenberg(sp?), and Frederick lived in the northern part of Sweden, almost in the Arctic Circle. We walked with them to O'Shea's, a pub near our hostel. I ordered a pint of Smithwick's beer, which was decent, and conversed more with our new Swedish friends. They were staying in Dublin for the weekend near the big needle structure on O'Connell Street (sp?). Then they headed to Jameson while their girlfriends were out shopping. Frederick was studying civil engineering, but in Sweden they don't have “college” per say, it is more like a continuation of their public school. All of their schooling is paid for by the government, and they even get a student allowance to live off of. However, they said taxes on the middle to upper class in Sweden is something like 56%.
The Swedes asked how many beers that I considered a “drunk” level, and I responded like 5-6 beers. They said their outlook on drinking was different, and for them it was more like 10-14 beers, and that they frequently switched between liquor, wine, and beer all on the same night. Their definition of “drunk” was right on the border of blacking out / passing out. When we brought up that we had planned a trip to Amsterdam, the Swedes said that smoking marijuana was frowned upon in their culture, despite having far fewer negative health effects, and yet it was socially acceptable to binge drink to or past the point of throwing up / passing out.
The Swedes used the phrase “stupid Americans” only in a general manner, since they didn't like our political actions and leaders (I didn't like Bush either), but liked most of the American individuals they had met. They wanted to better understand the “American dream” mentality, and asked us if a rich man is considered a “good man” just because he is wealthy. I didn't agree with that personally, but I could certainly see how other Americans can get caught up in the huge capitalist rat race and forget to enjoy other people and car for their fellow human beings. It was very interesting to compare the Swedish socialist culture and the American capitalist culture and where they have similarities and differences.
We exchanged e-mail addresses with the Swedes and parted ways. Andrew and I headed to the Temple Bar area of the city and wandered around for a while looking for a good pub to hang out at. We ended up stopping at the “International Bar”, and I got a pint of Heineken for 5.10E, which is ridiculously expensive. The bar was lame and so we headed back to the hostel and went to bed around 2am.
 |
| From Ireland Trip |
As soon as Andrew and I walked out of the factory, rain started pouring down along with huge gusts of wind. We were completely soaked and ran into the nearest Subway to scarf down two 6” ham subs, which were the cheapest food we could find at 1.99E each. We then headed back to the hostel and booked a tour for the next day (Sunday) to see the Irish countryside of Wicklow and Glendalough.
Around 5pm we headed to the Jameson Whiskey tour. Our tour guide spoke in a really monotone voice and cracked jokes with dry humor. The tour wasn't anything spectacular, and at the end I got a Jameson with Coke. Andrew got to do taste testing between Jameson Whiskey, Scotch Whiskey, and American Whiskey. Scotch has a smoky flavor and is distilled twice, while American Whiskey is distilled once and has a sweeter taste since it is made with corn. Jameson has a clean vanilla taste and is distilled three times.
 |
| From Ireland Trip |
Andrew and I talked to some of the other people on the tour and met 2 Swedish guys, Cristoph and Frederick. Cristoph lived in Sweden's 2nd biggest city Guthenberg(sp?), and Frederick lived in the northern part of Sweden, almost in the Arctic Circle. We walked with them to O'Shea's, a pub near our hostel. I ordered a pint of Smithwick's beer, which was decent, and conversed more with our new Swedish friends. They were staying in Dublin for the weekend near the big needle structure on O'Connell Street (sp?). Then they headed to Jameson while their girlfriends were out shopping. Frederick was studying civil engineering, but in Sweden they don't have “college” per say, it is more like a continuation of their public school. All of their schooling is paid for by the government, and they even get a student allowance to live off of. However, they said taxes on the middle to upper class in Sweden is something like 56%.
The Swedes asked how many beers that I considered a “drunk” level, and I responded like 5-6 beers. They said their outlook on drinking was different, and for them it was more like 10-14 beers, and that they frequently switched between liquor, wine, and beer all on the same night. Their definition of “drunk” was right on the border of blacking out / passing out. When we brought up that we had planned a trip to Amsterdam, the Swedes said that smoking marijuana was frowned upon in their culture, despite having far fewer negative health effects, and yet it was socially acceptable to binge drink to or past the point of throwing up / passing out.
The Swedes used the phrase “stupid Americans” only in a general manner, since they didn't like our political actions and leaders (I didn't like Bush either), but liked most of the American individuals they had met. They wanted to better understand the “American dream” mentality, and asked us if a rich man is considered a “good man” just because he is wealthy. I didn't agree with that personally, but I could certainly see how other Americans can get caught up in the huge capitalist rat race and forget to enjoy other people and car for their fellow human beings. It was very interesting to compare the Swedish socialist culture and the American capitalist culture and where they have similarities and differences.
 |
| From Ireland Trip |
We exchanged e-mail addresses with the Swedes and parted ways. Andrew and I headed to the Temple Bar area of the city and wandered around for a while looking for a good pub to hang out at. We ended up stopping at the “International Bar”, and I got a pint of Heineken for 5.10E, which is ridiculously expensive. The bar was lame and so we headed back to the hostel and went to bed around 2am.
Friday, 16 January 2009
1/16/09 class, flight to Dublin
For class we had a guest speaker who used to work for HSBC and is now a manager of an Islamic wealth fund that invests primarily in commercial real estate. I asked him some tough questions about the financial crisis and he seemed very knowledgeable. I enjoyed his perspective and experience in the finance sector.
Andrew and I went to Victoria station and found our easyBus to the airport and got to leave early since all the passengers were already there. The driver was speeding through the streets of London and we go to the airport around 6:30pm and sat around forever waiting for our flight. Our flight got delayed 40 mintues, and we didn't get into the air until 10:20pm. RyanAir's motto is "the on-time airline"... yeah whatever. It was a really short flight and it seems like we spent more time waiting in line to get on the plane than we actually did in the air. The landing was pretty rough with a big bounce upon hitting the runway, and while descending it was like that feeling you get in your gut when a roller coaster drops from its peak.
We didn't land until almost midnight, and then we had to wait 20 mins just to get through passport security. We couldn't get on the next bus to the city center because it was full, so we had to wait another 20 mins for the next one. The bus dropped us off on Grafton Street by Trinity College and we headed to McDonald's for some quick food. It was really expensive there and one double cheeseburger was 2E (~$2.60). We asked for directions to try and find the Four Courts Hostel, but we were lost in a foreign city walking the wrong way, so we hailed a cab and rode that to the hostel. The hostel was nice and clean, and we quickly passed out in bed.
Andrew and I went to Victoria station and found our easyBus to the airport and got to leave early since all the passengers were already there. The driver was speeding through the streets of London and we go to the airport around 6:30pm and sat around forever waiting for our flight. Our flight got delayed 40 mintues, and we didn't get into the air until 10:20pm. RyanAir's motto is "the on-time airline"... yeah whatever. It was a really short flight and it seems like we spent more time waiting in line to get on the plane than we actually did in the air. The landing was pretty rough with a big bounce upon hitting the runway, and while descending it was like that feeling you get in your gut when a roller coaster drops from its peak.
We didn't land until almost midnight, and then we had to wait 20 mins just to get through passport security. We couldn't get on the next bus to the city center because it was full, so we had to wait another 20 mins for the next one. The bus dropped us off on Grafton Street by Trinity College and we headed to McDonald's for some quick food. It was really expensive there and one double cheeseburger was 2E (~$2.60). We asked for directions to try and find the Four Courts Hostel, but we were lost in a foreign city walking the wrong way, so we hailed a cab and rode that to the hostel. The hostel was nice and clean, and we quickly passed out in bed.
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