It’s always so much fun to add a country to the count! I finally made it to Ireland, and was pretty surprised at how warm it was. Warm, quiet, and super rainy. Apparently a ton of places shut down and stop serving food at unreasonable hours like 6pm… and only serve alcohol from then on. Ah, pub culture.

What I did:

1. Quintessential Temple Bar stop– Kate took me to the street with all of the pubs… which were the only things hoppin at 9pm on a Sunday night. We went into one to see some live music, and then went somewhere a little more quiet to indulge in some Irish Coffee.
2. Cliffs of Moher— I booked this on Viator. Long drive across the country on a bus full of people. When we got to the 700ft tall cliffs, it started to downpour and fog rolled in. I literally sprinted to the top of the stairs (thanks for the strength and speed Orange Theory!) where the tower is and snapped as many photos as possible until the cliffs disappeared in fog 10 minutes later. I’m sure when you can actually see them, the cliffs are way more breathtaking. The tour also took us to Burren national park… which kind of looked like Mordor, and we got to see smaller cliffs. Towards the end of the day we stopped for Irish coffee outside of Galway, and visited a very old, very destroyed 12th century Abbey. One of the worst day trips you can take in the rain. Plus, no wifi on the bus. Fail.
3. Trinity College / Book of Kells— According to Kate, Trinity is beautiful when it isn’t raining. Unfortunately for me, it was another downpour of a day. The book wasn’t even on display! They were restoring it the days I was in town. Whatever. The long library was what I came for anyway. Very Harry Potter-esque.
4. Guinness Storehouse— The Disney of beer breweries. Also a bit like Willy Wonka with a bunch of smells and tastes and sounds and sensory overload. Learned how to properly drink and pour my Guinness, got a certificate, and went up to the sky bar overlooking the city around sunset. The rain stopped just enough
5. Food, Drink, & Wandering— Don’t judge me but I got Nandos. To be fair it’s really hard to find food in the evenings! I wonder if the Spaniards who visit just die of starvation simply because of the hours. Anyway, a tour guide also recommended Mexican food. First of all, it was tex mex. Very different. Secondly, the tortillas tasted funny and the guac came out of a can. Third, they didn’t serve molten queso with their chips. WHAT?! I asked how many times Americans complained. They need to go to Austin, Texas immediately and learn something. Luckily with Kate to guide me I got amazing tea at Clement & Pekoe, and a yummy lunch at Hatch and Sons café. Culinary crisis averted. There’s a really cute café in Smithfield near the hostel called Cinnamon Café which I also loved.
6. Ice skating— We took the LUAS out to Dundrum shopping center with Kate’s company to go ice skating. No offense to the Irish… but ice skating really isn’t their forte. There were about 50 people too many on the rink, the ice was more like skiing conditions in Pennsylvania, and it was totally treacherous and hilarious. I had no regrets drinking a few cocktails before I hit the ice.

How I got there: $19 trip from London Gatwick to Dublin on Ryanair. Not even kidding. Then the 747 bus to the city center. Look at me! From fearful taxi-cab taker to pro public transport navigator in 2 years.

Where I stayed: Generator Hostel. My Irish friend tells me it’s in the dodgy part of town and made me promise to take a cab home one night… but I found it totally fine! The hostel is literally inside the Jameson distillery building. Since the distillery is closed until March they’re actually holding the tastings inside the hostel. Random.

Only bad thing about this place is that it is a 20+ minute walk to the heart of the city. 15 minutes to Guinness.