My friend from back home, who was studying at St. Andrews in Scotland, and I decided on a destination that we could meet at for a weekend. We both arrived at Dublin airport on a Thursday evening, myself from Exeter and her from Edinburgh, caught a bus to the city, then hopped on the train to get to the Airbnb in which we were staying. It was located outside of Dublin in the village of Blanchardstown, around a 45-minute bus ride to the center of Dublin, getting off by the River Liffey. After “checking in,” we took a bus to a nearby shopping center for dinner, choosing a Wetherspoon chain restaurant (at the time neither of us had heard of nor had been to one before), called The Great Wood.
We had a fully-packed first day of exploring. Taking the bus into the city, we walked around the Temple Bar neighborhood, visiting the famous Temple Bar with its festive outdoor decorations, and shopping in a few vintage stores. Then, we walked to Trinity College to see the library and Book of Kells exhibition—unfortunately, we visited at a time when the manuscript was not on display. From Trinity College, we made our way to St. Stephen’s Green Park, and from there, we walked to the Dublin Castle and did a self-guided tour. Our dinner was in the Temple Bar neighborhood at Luigi Malones Dublin, and we finished off the night by experiencing the jam-packed Temple Bar.
Our Saturday was filled by a daytrip to the Cliffs of Moher through the Irish Day Tours company. We waited for the bus in the morning for its departure at 6:50am by the Mary Malone statue with all of the other tourists, who were traveling to the Cliffs of Moher or the Giants Causeway. From Dublin, the coach took us to the Cliffs, where we walked along the pathways, getting sprayed by seawater and almost blown over by the powerful winds. It was a magnificent view, and we were lucky to have clear skies, as there was a chance of poor weather that day. From the Cliffs of Moher, the coach drove to a small town, Doolin, where we stopped for lunch at the local pub. Then, it took us to Galway, where we had just a couple hours to explore. The shopping streets in Galway next to the Eyre Square, including William Street, Shop Street, and High Street have no vehicle traffic, so we walked down that way towards the water; we could see that they had begun to set up the holiday lights on and in-between buildings. We stopped in the Aran Sweater Market on Quay Street, where we quickly bought our souvenirs and high-tailed it back to the waiting coach. Sadly, on the way back to Dublin, I began to feel soreness in my throat, which of course was a bad sign. Once we were dropped off in the city, we walked to the Temple Bar neighborhood again in search of a place for dinner, deciding on Bad Ass Café.
Our last day in Ireland was again spent in the capital. To begin, we had brunch at a very small café near St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Then, we walked to the Guinness Storehouse for a tour of the pint-shaped building. Each level had a different themed exhibition or activity. There were floors showcasing how the beer is made and past advertisements for the beer. Then there was a room where a worker taught you the correct way to drink Guinness, and finally, you were taught how to correctly pour a pint of the beer—you even got a certificate for successfully learning how to pour a pint of Guinness.
Unfortunately, at this point, I was feeling unwell, possibly as bad as a slight flu, but I tried my best to push on (I did feel bad because I thought that I was making the trip less enjoyable for my friend). After our tour of the storehouse and, of course, a trip to the gift shop, we decided to find a place for dinner, where we were going to meet a flat mate of my friend’s and a friend of the flat mate from her home college back in the States. We decided to try The Market Bar on Fade Street, which turned out to be a beautiful building with a long history, having been an abattoir and then a sausage factory in the past. After dinner, I felt so unwell that I had to ask my friend if we could return to the Airbnb instead of going to a bar that had been recommended to one of the other girls. I felt terrible for cutting the night short, but I honestly felt as if I was going to faint. Also, we both had early flights the next morning, so I hope she wasn’t too upset about ending the night early.
Monday morning was another very early wake-up call. We both had flights leaving Dublin around 6:30am, so we left the Airbnb in a taxi before 5:00am. Initially, the pro of having such an early flight was that we could both make it to most, if not all, of our Monday classes, however, with how sick I felt, I decided to take a rest day once I got back to Exeter after the coach ride from Bristol Airport.
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