As I sit down to write this entry it suddenly occurred to me how predictable I am when it comes to visiting new cities. In fact, this entry is pretty much going to follow the same predictable trollop as most cities I traveled to by myself. Pubs and bar crawls...tick, free walking tour...tick, walk through city centre...tick, alcohol landmarks...tick, walk/hike...tick. I didn't get time to go to the Dublin museum though.
The only museum I needed to visit.
Either way, the rumours were true, Dublin was awesome fun! It was the first stop on my Irish trip and I celebrated in what I believe is true Irish fashion...by drinking buckets loads of grog (including guiness, for obvious reasons).
They couldn't pour it quick enough for me.
Just like in Berlin there were some free tours on offer; I chose to go with Sandemans and dabbled in their free walking tour of the city as well as their 12 Euro pub crawl. The most awesome thing about their pub crawl, despite the people I met of course, was the fact that I only had to pay once and was still able to go on it every night I was there. Which I did...
...naturally.
The walking tour took me around many of the sights that have had significant influence on the history of the town such as Dublin Castle including the Justice Statue and the Record Tower. We heard the myths and legends of Trinity college including the perks of becoming a Schol (some of which I believe may be somewhat outdated, and, dare I say, removed from the current statutes of the university) and the apparent myth that murder is fine from in particular areas of the university. We visited the Dublin garden and heard about the origins of the name of Dublin, stories of the journalist Veronica Guerin, and Author Jonathon Swift.
Dublin Gardens from the library. Apparently this also doubles a helipad because of course it does.
We walked through Temple Bar and heard of its rise as home to artists and thespians before eventually succumbing to becoming the popular tourists destination it is now. And, most importantly, I got to sing the about Molly Malone 'Cockles and mussels in front of her busty statue. We did more on the tour, but there is only so much I can fit in.
Baiky enjoys Molly's presence a little too much.
For me a trip to Dublin is not complete unless I have visited two places; the Jamieson Distillery and the Guinness Storehouse. The Guinness Storehouse is rated as Dublin's #1 attraction and despite my tour guides warning that it was a boring affair I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Admittedly the brewery tour itself was not worth the entry fee as it was self guided, but they have put a lot of work into the exhibitions and at the end I got to learn how to pour the perfect Guinness pint. Also, the top floor is, like, really high up, so I got an amazing view of the town.
Dublin from on high.
The distillery was just as good. There was a nice guided tour that went through the process of whiskey making. Most importantly, I was one of eight lucky guests to be a whiskey taster where I got to try three whiskey (American, Scotch and a Jameson) and then if I got to rate them. Being an intelligent lad I chose the Jameson as being the best and now I am a certified Jamison Whiskey taster too.
Certified!
That is most of my Dublin experience really. Other than that I went on about four bar crawls, which was grand; each night I pretty much bumped into the same bloke from Florida, was name escapes me, and some German girls I met on the first night. As usual Baiky made more friends than me and that was that. Visited the so called oldest pub in Ireland, but that title is apparently debatable (I found out later) On my last day I hired a car and commenced my own tour of Ireland, starting with a short 10 km run around Howth chasing a purple bullfrog.
Follow the purple frog!
As a final note, check the sporting calendar and avoid the weekend where US university's play a football exhibition match. Dublin was chock full of American tourists which means high accomm prices, difficulty finding tickets/seats in tourists attractions and restaurants, and the never-ending chant of "PENN STATE!" (oh, by the way, congratulations on you victory).
Views from the Howth Peninsula.
