Dublin

"Dublin had lots of beer. There were also many places to get beer for us to drink. There were places that made beer, as well as locations where beer could be found. Beer. I liked Dublin very much."

That's Nick's account of our trip to Dublin...I'll try to elaborate a bit :)

We flew to Dublin on Tuesday afternoon. I found a fantastic deal on tickets with RyanAir, a price which came with only a couple of minor inconveniences. When we got to the airport, we stood in line at the check-in desk only to be told that since we had already printed our boarding passes and weren't checking any luggage, we could go straight upstairs to security. The security man checked our passports, signed his initials, and sent us through. We waited an hour or so before we were asked to line up to board. RyanAir does not assign seats, so it is something of a free-for-all once boarding begins. We finally made it to the front of the line, only to be told that since we were non-EU citizens, we required an additional passport check. We had to go back out through security and back downstairs to get a silly little stamp...they didn't even look at our passports...then up, through security again and back to the end of the line. We made the flight an were even able to find seats together...but I was not a happy camper!

The flight was short, and the views out of England and into Ireland were fantastic!

After we landed, we took a shuttle from the airport to the train station near our hotel. We had another minor setback when the hotel couldn't find Nick's reservation...this was eventually resolved when we realized he had booked it on my account! We decided things would be much easier if we had the same last name :) Since it was getting late, we decided to just walk down the street to a nearby pub. We intended to enjoy a pint and some good Irish food, then call it a night...but Nick got pulled into a football (soccer) match on the telly and we ended up staying for quite a while.

The next morning we got up and boarded the Dublin Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour. These buses proved to be well worth the money during our stay...they ran all through the "touristy" part of the city, and the live commentary was laced with sarcasm and highly entertaining. We got off at Temple Bar and explored a bit, stopping at a cafe for breakfast. We then walked over to Trinity College, where we wandered through campus and visited the old library. The campus was lovely, but I think it would drive me crazy to have tourists all over the place when I was trying to get to class! The library houses the Book of Kells, a richly and intricately decorated manuscript containing the four Gospels in Latin thought to have been copied by monks around 806 AD. The books were amazing and the Old Library was absolutely spectacular...unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures in either.

When we left the college, I drug Nick on "A 90-minute Walk Through Literary and Georgian Dublin" courtesy of our tour book. This took us through gardens, along a canal, and past several notable (but not necessarily picture-worthy) sites, including the childhood home of Oscar Wilde and several of the settings from James Joyce's Ulysses.

At the end of our walking tour, we again "hopped-on" a bus and headed for the Guinness Storehouse. About halfway there, our tour guide broke some bad news...the Storehouse was closed to visitors due to a function for employees. I wish I could have gotten a picture of the look on Nick's face...disappointment like I had never seen before! Fortunately, the driver was joking, and he dropped us off at the entrance a short time after. The Guinness Storehouse was remodelled around a huge pint glass atrium. In the center is a copy of the original lease signed by Arthur Guinness for 9000 years at 45 pounds per year. Now that's foresight!

The tour took us up seven floors, starting with the ingredients section which included a waterfall, a giant vat of barley, cases of hops, and the safe where Arthur Guinness kept his secret line of yeast, part of which is still used in every batch of Guinness.

We learned about the brewing process and the historical development of Guinness, and we saw displays of the different bottles and advertising campaigns used. The highlight of the tour, however, was when Nick got to learn How to Pour the Perfect Pint!

Once Nick was satisfied and could die happy, we took the bus tour of the west side of the city, passing Kilmainham Gaol and the Dublin Zoo. We hopped off in time to catch the last tour of the Old Jameson Whiskey Distillery. The guided tour took us through the distilling process and pointed out all the ways that Irish whiskey is different than Scotch or Bourbon. At the end, I has the opportunity to become a Qualified Irish Whiskey Taster...unfortunately the camera died and we have no pictures of the event, but I do have a diploma to prove it!

We had dinner at an Irish pub in the Temple Bar district, then stopped for an Irish coffee at another pub on our way back to the hotel...had to make the most of our short time there!

Thursday was a whirlwind of trying to squeeze in as much as possible before heading back to the airport. We followed another tour in the guidebook, this one taking us around the original Viking town. We started at Christ Church, a beautiful cathedral with 12th-century crypts underneath.

Attached to the church is the Synod Hall, which houses the Dublinia exhibition covering the formative period of Dublin starting with the Vikings. Looking back, I think the exhibit was designed for a younger crowd, but we enjoyed ourselves!

The tour also took us past St Audoen's Church (the oldest in Ireland), the last intact piece of the wall around Dublin, St Patrick's Cathedral, and Dublin Castle (which is NOT a proper castle, in my opinion!).

After lunch (at an Irish pub, obviously) we decided to hit up the National Museum circuit. We walked through the National Gallery, the Museum of Natural History, and the Museum of Archaeology. All were very nice...and free!

Like all good things, our trip had to come to an end. We said goodbye to Ireland (and our last few euros!) with a half pint of Guinness and a pint of Bulmers Irish Cider in the airport pub.

We saw and did a lot in Dublin in just two days, and we agreed that it is definitely worth a trip back some day!