4-16-11 (Dublin, Ireland)
Friday April 8th
Arrived in Dublin in the afternoon and briefly walked around the area by O'Connell Street. I found my way over to my first hostel and then set out to explore the northeast area of Dublin. I had a nice plate of fish and chips for dinner and enjoyed two pints. While attempting to leave the pub, I was stopped my an elderly gentleman that wanted someone to share a pint with at the bar. Being an agreeable person and respectful of my elders, I agreed. I believe his name was Danny McBride. Danny was extremely friendly and he seemed lonely for someone to talk to so I lent him my ear for a few hours that night. He was definitely charming with all the women at the pub and told about every young girl in there that she was the "finest lass in all of Ireland." I would then apologize for his brash ways and strike up a conversation with the girls. He was an awesome wingman and we both got thoroughly drunk. He showed me his famous "whiskey walking on water" trick which involved getting whiskey to float on top of a glass of water.
Saturday April 9th
My brother Michael arrived in the mid afternoon from Texas. I met him on the street after having enjoyed a nice Japanese bento lunch down on South Great Geroge's Street. We then went to find Michael some food down at a small local cafe called
The Crunch Cafe. The sandwiches were really good, the coffee was strong, and the waitress was a gorgeous redhead with an amazing figure. Life in Dublin is good.
I then took Michael over to Saint Steven's Green park. Eager to try freshly brewed Guinness, we stopped at a local pub near our hostel and drank some of the black stuff. We then headed north and found our way to the
Temple Bar and listened to some live Irish folk music.
Sunday April 10th
I was worried that there wouldn't be any Guinness tours on Sunday since Ireland is a fairly religious place but I should have known better! Michael and I made our way into west Dublin and took the
Guinness Storehouse tour. The storehouse is originally where the yeast was added to the beer to start fermentation. It was a really spectacular place and extremely stylized. Guinness uses over half of the barely grown in Ireland every year to make their famous beer. Michael and I enjoyed our free pint at the 7th floor Gravity Bar where you are able to see a 360 degree view of the entire city.
Later that evening we decided to go out and try to find an interesting pub and listen to music. We headed south down Aungier Street and found the Bleeding Horse Pub where they were hosting an amateur musician night. All of the participants were talented and I especially enjoyed an artist named
Tara Stewart. Not only was she beautiful, but she had an amazing voice and sang some unique tunes. I also enjoyed another artist that sang about seasonal depressive disorder and some emo heart break issues. I remember laughing at the tragic familiarity of his themes.
Monday April 11th
On Monday, Michael and I decided to take the
Jameson Distillery tour. Neither of us are huge whiskey drinkers, but it seemed only fitting since we were in Dublin. I have to say, I am really glad I took this tour. Call me old fashioned, but I think every man should no something about whiskey and all of the various derivations of it. The tour was extremely informative and I was glad to learn a little more about the complexities of this drink. Jameson is a triple distilled whiskey that is blended together from three different casks. They use barrels from the US, Portugal, and Spain to create the final flavor. If you want to try a surprisingly good whiskey cocktail use Jameson, ginger ale, and a lime with ice. Good stuff!
We had met some girls from England earlier in the day so we tried to meet back up with them later at Temple Bar for drinks and music. I hadn't really felt like going too crazy that night but after a few pints in me I was ready to go nuts and dance to the Irish folk songs. A few short-term friends we met on the street commented that they liked my jig. I tried to dance with the girl from Dublin, but she was very strict on the rules of Irish dancing and doing in the proper way. The bar was crowded and I was confused as to which direction I was supposed to be spinning her. She also taught me how to do some river dance type stuff where I would keep my upper body stiff and upright while only moving my legs and feet. I had a blast that night.
Tuesday April 12th
Although I could stay in Dublin forever, we decided to take a day-tour to the west coast area of Ireland. Our first bus stopped in Galway and we transferred to another tour bus that took us down south to the
Cliffs of Moher. Although we had to spend a lot of time on the bus that day, seeing the cliffs was worth the journey.
Before we arrived at the cliffs, we also stopped at a working family farm where they raise cattle and sheep. I actually chose to go with this particular company's tour because they offered the chance to see baby sheep on the farm. They were pretty cute.
Wednesday April 13th
Pub crawl night, enough said? Pints, shots, beer pong, pitchers, girls, dancing, awesomeness.
Thursday April 14th
My departure was in the late afternoon so Michael and I didn't really have anything planned for the day except for walking around the Temple Bar area and checking into his hotel. We had a lovely Irish breakfast with eggs, toast, sausage, bacon, pudding, beans, and coffee. Later that day we ate soup and sandwiches at a place called "Alamo." I didn't realize until after we were inside that it was a Texas themed restaurant. It was a sight for sore eyes to be sure.
Thank you Dublin and thanks to all the wonderful Paddy's! I had a wonderful vacation "
in Dublin's fair city
where the girls are so pretty" (lyrics to Molly Malone)
