I went to Dublin for 5 days in July 2022, so this is a much belated post (even more belated than Juhi’s recent posts on Meghalaya!). Dublin was the first overseas trip that I did after spending COVID and lockdown in the UK, so I have a particular affection for it as my first foray back into an airport and on to an airplane. Ah, to have my (metaphorical) wings again (need to take advantage of that more)…
To clarify, in case there is some confusion amongst our international readers, Dublin is in the Republic of Ireland, which is separate from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Geographically speaking, Ireland is a separate island from Great Britain (which is the island comprising England, Scotland and Wales). Northern Ireland (e.g. Belfast) is on the same island as the Republic of Ireland. The Republic of Ireland is a part of the EU and uses the Euro as its currency. The rather complex history of Ireland continues to be written, as illustrated in the Brexit-related negotiations ongoing.
I had a relaxed city break in Dublin – the sights could be seen in a shorter amount of time, but equally, it was nice to walk around Dublin, just soaking in the atmosphere. Dublin has a historic vibe like London, but is smaller and more laid back – though perhaps that’s just because London is generally the opposite of laid back – and easier to walk around. I enjoyed the hours of roaming around, eating ice cream and listening to my audiobook (of course, Ulysses by James Joyce) in the unexpected sunshine and blue sky (I got lucky with the weather). Aside from a short trip to the seaside at Bray, I didn’t travel out of Dublin, so the rest of Ireland awaits me on a future trip.
Day 1 (Dublin Airport; St Stephen’s Green; Temple Bar)
I took the opportunity for a river-side ice cream – alas, the ice cream was not amazing, which may have been my fault for choosing an unconventional orange and choc-chip flavour.
Aspirationally, I want to be the kind of person who avoids airplane travel and takes trains everywhere. However, with no Eurostar-style tunnel, train options are rather thin on the ground. Therefore, airplane it was. Flights to Dublin from London are regular and generally 75-90 minutes (a short hop). Dublin Airport is also close to the city centre (c. 10km). Although there are buses, we opted for a taxi and the journey went smoothly, although – as sometimes happens – the taxi had a ‘broken’ card machine so we had to find an ATM to obtain some Euros for the cash payment.
We had a leisurely afternoon flight and early evening arrival, so the first day in Dublin was relaxed. A dinner at a (rather forgettable) hotel restaurant, and then a short walk around nearby St Stephen’s Green. St Stephen’s Green is one of the three ancient commons of Dublin, although its current design incarnation is more recent (from 1880). We were also staying near Grafton Street, a busy shopping street in Dublin – not so much my taste (I also generally dislike extended shopping on my holidays anyway), but still a lively atmosphere with some buskers in the summer.
More exciting was Temple Bar, a riverside neighbourhood and the hub of Dublin’s live music and nightlife scene. It is probably also (at least by density of people) the most touristy part of Dublin and full of signs for Guinness. Being that my travel companion was not a fan of Guinness nor of live music nor nightlife, and my desire for ice cream surpassing any other desire, I did not enter any of the pubs etc. in the area. I was glad, given the noise and bustle, that we were staying a decent walk (around 15 minutes) away from Temple Bar, rather than being in the thick of things in the cobblestoned streets.
Despite the hustle and bustle, I did enjoy my walk in Temple Bar (accompanied by an ice cream from the riverside Cloud Nine) and if revising Dublin, I would be keen to see some more of the cultural and artistic sights in the area – in particular, the National Photographic Archive, the Irish Film Institute, Temple Bar Gallery + Studios and the Project Arts Centre.
Day 2 (National Museum of Ireland; The Garden Room; Dublin Castle)
Another late morning and lazy start to the day (this was a theme on this holiday), with a hearty hotel breakfast at the Brooks Hotel. I certainly enjoyed different Irish-ish breakfasts across the 5 days (I can’t quite recall and can’t find a detailed menu for the Brooks Hotel’s breakfast, but I seem to remember various presentations of potato and also Irish soda bread?) and they were good fuel for leisurely walks.
The morning was spent at the National Museum of Ireland. I’m normally a big fan of museums, particularly where I am new to a city and country (which I was – I had not previously visited Ireland); but I was underwhelmed by this Museum. Perhaps it was because the Museum was quite busy with visiting school children, but I found it harder to navigate the physical space in a logical and intellectually coherent way than I had expected. It certainly wasn’t a bad experience – for instance, I found it fascinating to see the bog bodies – human cadavers mummified in peat mud bog, and thus preserved in quite a disconcerting way – which I knew something of from Seamus Heaney’s poetry – but not quite as amazing or as efficient as hoped.
Lunch was at The Garden Room at The Merrion Hotel, probably my favourite (and fanciest) meal on the trip. As the name suggests, the dining room had full-length glass windows looking into a picturesque garden / courtyard – there were also punters outside enjoying the (relative) summer heat and sunshine. The food was well done and surprisingly big in portions, which certainly helped justify at least part of the price – a pleasant surprise, as I had expected such a nice place to be a bit stingy on portion sizes. It felt somewhat odd to be the youngest people there (except for a young baby, whose christening appeared to be the subject of celebration at a nearby table) but that is the hazard of a trip to a fancy hotel pre-school holiday season (and thus pre-summer family catch-up season, I suppose) for a meal. There was also some art scattered throughout the Hotel (I couldn’t tell how famous or artistically special those pieces were, but it was still cool).
After lunch was a visit to a Dublin Castle, where we took a guided tour. I do like guided tours (by a human), so I was glad that there was one readily available and included within the admission fee, although we only arrived about one hour prior to closing and without pre-booking tickets. Although I did enjoy the visit to the Chapel Royal and the basements, my favourite part (which was both, part of the guided tour and also the subject of free exploration time prior to closing) was looking at the State Apartments. I liked learning more about the different Presidents of Ireland, and the various official events that had been hosted in the State Apartments.
Dinner was at Bar Italia, a quay-side restaurant just north of the River (Liffey) opposite Temple Bar. The food was tasty and the atmosphere pleasantly buzzy, but I did not get to enjoy people-watching during the dinner as much as I hoped – since I dropped a quarter of my pizza on my jeans and managed to burn myself! The remainder of my pizza was tasty though…
Days 3 and 4 to follow in part two…
FORUM HOPPING 