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mekyrianow let me take you with me in a detailed travel log!
The company
My travel companions were Little Brother and two girls/women we met during our Indonesia trip in 2013. My current Dreamwidth avatar was taken during that trip. We had so much fun that we continued meeting after the holiday and it developed into going on trips together. We share the same type of humor and we are all laid back people. Little Brother came over to our place on Thursday night so E could drive us to the aiport in time for our 7.45 flight. We needed to be at the airport around 6.30 and we couldn't make it with public transportation.
Day 1: arrival and first impressions (this is a three day trip)
We all made it to the aiport in time and much to our suprise were waved through the security process. Didn'have to put liquids in a seperate bag and all that. Either Ireland don't care about receiving terrorists or the Netherlands don't care if they send them out. The flight was fast and we arrived around 8.00 in Dublin (We traveled one hour back in time zone). I am not a morning person so 8 am is really not a good time for talking or thinking. for me. At the airport the busses to the city center were clearly labeled and we found it really easy to get to Dublin. It's about 30 minutes from the airport.
Our hotel on Talbot Road was a bit shabby with tiny rooms, no airco and lots of street noises. I was rather okay with it but my travel companions found it overpriced, unsanitary and unfriendly. Ah well. All hotels in Dublin are expensive though, I think we paid 110 euro per night for a room. We left the suitcases and started walking to explore the city. Side note: neither of us prepared anything in advance. We soon found the Spire of Light and wandered into Trinity College. Home of an ancient and super cool library and the Book of Kells. It had a major cue for tickets, but we found an online ticket selling machine on the universtiy campus and got in after 15 minutes of sitting in the sun. It was well done, with enlarged images of the llluminated book. The library was very impressive. It reminded me how much I loved to read.
When we left Trinity College we found Dawsons street, a popular shopping street. We got lured in by frozen yoghurt (amazing stuff! Why don't we have that over here?) and a huge bookshop. It was so nice to wander around the bookshop, I wish I could have bought twenty or something books that lookede amazing. I went with a copy of Neil Gaiman - Norse Mythology. I adore Neil plus it looked like fairly short stories so excellent for light reading. All the while, the sun was shining bright, the temperature was 24 degrees celcius and the amount of people and tourists on the street was staggering. Marieke complained hat we had been in Dublin for ten hours and didn't hear anyone speak with an Irish accent.
Dinner was typical pub food, I went with lamb because how could you not eat lamb when in Ireland. It was good but on the fatty side. That night we went to the Temple Bar district, an old area with winding Streets, lots of pubs and abundant flowers on the outside of the buildings. Very pitoresque. It is also filled to the brim with bachelorette and bachelor parties, each one lugging the groom or bride around in a silly costume. We've seen people dressed up as a fairy, a carrot, with face paint and funny hats. Who does that? Who goes on a city trip for a bachelorette party? Anywho, I am not drinking alchohol and it is hard for me to stand for longer then 30 minutes so I didn't enjoy the part where we hung around in pubs. I liked the live music, a very nice addition to setting the mood plus we heard some decent performances along the way. I went to bed at 10 PM while the others went to the pub downstairs of the hotel for a couple of drinks.
Day 2: Jameson and Christ Church Cathedral
Once again we wandered around aimelessly and decided to go to a different area. We walked along the water passing the half penny bridge and went to Christ Church Cathedral. Which is suprisingly small for a cathedral, compared to the Notre Dame in Paris or the Dom in Utrecht. Gorgeous, gorgeous floor tiles though, and he crypt housed a small exhibition on the restauration of the cathedral and costumes from 'The Tudors', a BBC series that was partly recorded in the Cathedral. Totally fabulous costumes embroidered by hand, I loved seeing it up close. It also reminded me how much fun I used to have by dressing up in historic costumes. It seems like a life time ago and I am a different person now.
The vibe of Dublin is addictive. The vibrance, the aritstry of street musiscans and music coming from every pub, the dark and grim history combined with the upbeat and friendly people. I was totally getting into his trip! We ate delicious sweet cakes at the Queen of Tarts cake shop and had a look at he parliament. During tea we booked a tour at the Jameson Whiskey distillery. As the only non drinker, I wondered if I would like the tour. I had been to distilleries in Scotland a couple of years ago so I thgouht it would be a similar experience. I booked a child's ticket as I wasn't doing the whisky tasting or having a complimentary drink.
They have a seriously amazig marketing and communications department at Jameson. Excellent, from the leprechaun Irish Harry Potter lokalike who led the tour and talked us through the history including 3D projection, to a room where you could feel, smell and see the distilling proces and the whisky tasting with explanation on what to look for. I can now look like I know what I'm doing when drinking whisky. I was thouroughly entertained without drinking a drop.
We walked back to the hotel (we did everything on foot) where I had a lie down. That night we ate at a Thai restaurant in the Talbot Area.It didn't look like much on the outside but the food was great: freshly prepared and with fresh herbs and spices. We had so much fun catching up over dinner that it was 21.30 when we finished our meal. We decided to go to the pub underneath our hotel. It was slightly less touristy, more people of all ages and the musicians played a mix of Irish traditional folk songs and pop music. Plus one of them played the tin whistle very well, which added to the musical experience. We had seated places in the back so I could hang out a bit longer.
Day 3: Vikingsplash, leprechaun museum and back home
In the past couple of days we noticed yellow amphibic vehicels riding around town, filled with people wearing viking helmets and roaring battle cries. We wanted in on that! The tour company was called Vikingsplash and we got on an early tour on Sunday around 10.00. Vikings first setteld on what later would become Dublin, we got a bit of history of the city and a tour of the bassin when the buss transformed into a boat. It looked like it was ready to collapse anytime, they were old army vehicles build in 1966 and painted yellow. Suprisingly sturdy though. It was fun, informative and interactive. Would highly recommend. Plus the responses of people on the street were very nice when we did a Viking roar together.
We walked around Stephen's green, a well kept and tidy city park with statues of famous writers. I learned that Dublin was the home town of Bram Stoker, Oscar Wild and James Joyce. They are obviouly very proud because a lot of places are marked 'with plaquette's and statues. We passed the bar where the Dubliners played as well.
In the afternoon we went to the leprechaun museum. There were suprisingly very little leprechauns, as it is more of a story telling museum. An ice Irish lad with dark brown curls got us a student discount for joking around when ordering tickets and he told us stories. The stories were sometimes hard to follow as they included a lot of traditional Irish names for mythical creatures, plus names of places. It was a nice experience though, with tales about changelings, fairies, leprechauns and a headless horseman.
After having one last drink in the pub we collected our bags and headed for the bus stop. The screening process was a bit more thourough this time and we arrived back in Amsterdam at 23.15. Little Brother and I took the train and a bus back home where we collapse of fatigue.
In retrospect
I really loved being on a trip. I haven been on a citytrip or 'normal' holiday in four years. I had forgotten how much fun it is to be a bright eyed tourist and not having to dance or learn things. The company was great, the food and drinks were good and we had fun with the activites. I 'd love to visit the GPO museum but we didn't have time, and I entertainend the option of going to the movies at night. The last time we went to the movies was on Wednesday afternoon with Eliza in Day Care. We took a day off to see Rogue One. I hadn't dined out or had so much free time in the past three years. Plus I remembered that I had a total crush on Ireland, the Dubliners and folk music when I was sixteen and I revisted the good memories I had of buying Dubliners album and listening to folk music in my room, dreaming of going to Ireland one day. I know that I haven't seen Ireland, just the tourist filled Capital. It was great though. As souvenirs I brought back an enameled celtic peacock necklace (my last name is 'peacock' in Dutch) and a small silver pendant of a Celtic tree of life. I like how they are Irish but also pretty for every day wear. It will probably be another couple of years before the opportunity arises of doing a city trip again. This was a big succes though and I made some very fond memories of Dublin and talks with my friends.
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Date: 2018-06-13 07:58 am (UTC)I did not know your last name meant Peacock in Dutch - I live in Peacock St!
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Date: 2018-06-13 08:41 am (UTC)There were suprisingly little bar fight (as far as I could see). A lot friendlier compared to a dutch café
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Date: 2018-06-13 09:51 am (UTC)That's funny re the Dutch cafe comparison, what with everyone over here shouting about how pot smoking makes people peaceful and alcohol causes violence HA!
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Date: 2018-06-14 08:47 am (UTC)Interesting thing is that even though marihuana is allowed over here, most people don't use it. At least not the people that I know and not in the regular bars. Something about it being expensive, takes effort to buy and it's associated with a low social class.