By Day 3, we had a generally good feel for the main areas of Dublin.  We didn’t need to consult any maps, and we elected to vary up our routes even more.

We started off with Bewleys Café for brunch (thanks again, Bill and Patricia!).  To save money, Chris and I have been splitting virtually every meal while in Dublin.  This came as a surprise to most waitstaff—“wait, there’s 2 of you, and you want only 1 meal???”  But, it’s been a good method to balance our budget and eating habits.  And a local common practice we’ve seen is prix fixe menus (2 or 3 courses).  So, it’s actually quite easy to split one of those meals and be full.

At Bewleys, though, we decided to splurge on our own meals, which were huge and wonderful.  The café has many levels, even including a theater at the top!  We sat on the James Joyce balcony and finished off brunch with a cupcake…chocolate, of course.

Although we’d visited Trinity College on our first day, we wanted to get a closer look.  We took a tour, led by one of the undergraduate students, around the campus.  About 16,000 students attend Trinity College every year.  There were many interesting facts about the various architects employed to build various buildings over the years.  Over a hundred years ago, some students (while enjoying their culture and getting drunk) decided to walk over to their professor’s residence on campus and throw rocks at his window.  The professor, Ford, was not too happy about this and eventually grabbed his gun and shot at the students.  They, drunk and now not pleased either, went to their dorms a few yards away and grabbed their guns.  Professor Ford did not make it out of that gunfight alive.  The university then instituted a “progressive” no firearms policy.

After the tour, we made our way to the museum showcasing the Book of Kells.  This was a book containing 4 gospels dating back to the 2nd century.  It was eventually passed on to Trinity College for safekeeping during the Viking wars.  The book featured meticulous calligraphy with creative religious illustrations.

We then proceeded to the college library which was enormous and filled with old, oak books and academic memorabilia.  I loved the smell of the musty books and the tall, narrow ladders required to reach them all.  I thought it was all very breathtaking, and they had busts of famous Irishmen and leaders of academia in each alcove.  They had artifacts from the School of Physics on display, so I got to see an old amputating saw from the 1800s and vials of medical remedies. 

Dublin is also rich in arts culture—Irish music, dance, and theater.  We were missing the theater festival by a few weeks but they did have the Fringe Festival running.  So, we saw a play called “Intimacy,” performed by 3 Australian actors.  It incorporated a very honest style with no fourth wall.  We really enjoyed it and found the topics and acting style very unique, engaging, and refreshing.

Post-theater, we stopped across the street for some caffeine.  I thought I’d try an Irish coffee.  Not my brightest idea.  You see, this Irish coffee was just a single shot of espresso and a full shot of whiskey.  That’s all.  It was quite strong and not really enjoyable for me.  Chris mentioned to the waiter that I would prefer changing it out with the Bailey’s coffee, and we got a blank stare.  Another waiter came by and basically was like “yeah, you should’ve gotten the Bailey’s.”  Our tough luck and a reminder of the take-it-or-leave it manner of many Irish citizens we encountered. 

We closed our evening at a random pub (we ate at pubs every night) on Bewley Street.  It was essentially the opposite of everything we wanted, but that made it funny, and we were pretty hungry by then.  So we enjoyed our last evening in Dublin with chicken & leek pie and black pudding.  Yum!

All in all, Chris and I found Dublin to be inspiring.  We were pretty impressed, too, that it never rained on us!!!  The skies were dark sometimes, and the ground wet, but somehow we always missed the rain…

Total walk time: 6 miles

On Day 2 (Thursday, Sept 15th in Dublin), we spent the day enjoying Dublin.  We were definitely still affected by jet lag, though.  I had awoken at 3:45am that morning and therefore only slept 4 hours.  We were tired but also very energized about our time in Dublin!

We decided to try a new route towards the City Center, so we walked along a creek/canal/loch.  It was a quaint area, with large, leafy trees and a paved sidewalk along the way.  There are many interesting details in this city—for example, each little loch gets its own name.   I was also enamored with things like the Georgian townhomes with doors painted different colors (red, yellow, blue, etc), and the intricately detailed lampposts (some even featuring clovers).

Turning onto a random road, we discovered a part of Baggot Street.  It was a cool area with little cafes, coffee shops, and boutiques.  We purchased a scone, muffin, and coffee at O’Briens—a Starbucks-esque chain—and people watched along the street.

Then, we headed to St. Patrick’s Cathedral.  Built in the 13th century upon the grounds where St. Patrick was thought to have first baptized congregants, it is the largest cathedral in Ireland.  Most of the church burned down in the early 1500s during the war and was rebuilt over the next 100 years.  Its gothic architecture is staggering and enhanced with the Celtic cross. 

Walking inside, you see the small pews with little embroidered personalized seat cushions; lavish memorials from wealthy and religious families to their loved ones; and of course, the intricate stained glass.

One thing we found really interesting was that Jonathon Swift, the wry author who wrote Gulliver’s Travels, was also a priest.  He actually went to Trinity College in Dublin and eventually became the Dean of St. Patrick’s.  An eccentric man, he taught his dog how to climb trees.  He even used a pen name to stop an England government-approved businessman from pumping new currency into Ireland, which risked threatening Ireland’s economy.  He created many enemies with his outspoken wit, but he was also very generous, leaving much of his estate to St. Patrick’s and to a fund for the first mental health hospital in the area. 

I also enjoyed that he requested 3 memorial sites at St Patrick’s—his own (where he is buried), his closest “friend” Stella (she is also buried there), and his manservant, who died at age 29.  On the epitaph, Swift first thanks the man for his “discretion.”  The humblest of all memorials in the cathedral, the servant is in rich company, and its noted that Swift would have much appreciated that.

We then walked over to St. Stephen’s Green.  This came at the suggestion of my former co-worker and friend, rock star Bill Bourke, and his wife, Patricia.  They took Chris and me out for Dublin fare a few days before our trip and provided an extremely helpful set of recommendations (which we often referred to).

St. Stephen’s Green was very beautiful with flowers, ponds, trees, etc.  We even saw a few famous Americans!

There are little tributes throughout to legendary Irish citizens, like James Joyce and Arthur Guiness.

This tribute is something that you often see around Dublin.  The Irish are very proud of their roots, history, and beer (Guiness)/whiskey (Jameson).  Irish culture seems to somehow blend this historic charm with the energy of the 21st century.  Everywhere you look there are pubs, celebrations of Irish ancestry, and centuries old buildings.  It’s quite impressive.  I will say, though, that I also saw a lot of signs around town communicating concern over Irish issues and culture.  It seems that they are particularly concerned with protecting it from an identity crisis. 

Speaking of culture, we took the Guiness Storehouse tour.  Interesting brewing process.  Amazing architecture – the innards of the store house are built like a pint glass J  A free pint of Guiness came with the tour so I tried my first Guiness…surprisingly yummy, despite my dislike for beer.

We also stopped by the Dublin Castle.  It appears like a random small castle stuck in the middle of the city.  It was primarily used as a prison and to house heads of state, which begs the question of course; where exactly is that line drawn? 

Lots of walking throughout the day and many interesting experiences.  We both developed our appreciation for Dublin and its history, which can be felt walking along the stone walls and cobblestone roads.  We also got a better chance to feel the laidback, yet rather brusque, vibe of the city.


Total walk time: about 11 miles

We made it to the UK!  Door to door (from leaving Chris’s families’ house at 5am on 9/13 to arriving at our Dublin hotel at 10am on 9/14), it took 21 hours total travel time. 

Checking in at Sacramento was easy.  Too easy.  Don’t even need to show your passport/we’ll just believe you are honest kind of easy.  Then, we breezed by security and had a short flight over to LA.

In LA, we boarded the plane for Chicago, and found out the plane was delayed for maintenance (ended up being 2 hours).  At least our plane was really new—a 1960s Boeing 767 with ashtrays, central TVs, and little leg room.  I was super hungry at this point, and Chris asked the flight attendant for the available snacks.  Since we were almost in the last row, they were all sold out…except for one cookie.  Chris let them know his girlfriend was starvin’ marvin, so they just gave us the cookie for free.  Saweet!!! Then, on their next driveby, they tossed over a bag of nuts.  We totally lucked out and that sustained us until the layover in Chicago.

Even with the 2 ½ hour delay in LA, we thankfully didn’t miss our connecting flight in Chicago. We then realized we would get to spend 8 more hours on the same vintage plane as before!  But, really, we were headed to Dublin to begin this adventure…so we got over that pretty quickly.

We arrived at our hotel at 10am and tried to see if early check in was available.   It was not, so Chris and I walked and discovered Dublin for a few hours.  Because we had taken the bus in from the airport, we had gotten an idea of the basic geography as we drove in.  We walked around the City Center and visited Trinity College.  Erected in 1592, this is Ireland’s oldest university, and one of the oldest in Western Europe.  Graduates include the likes of Samuel Becket (and we also checked out his namesake theater on campus) and author Jonathon Swift.  The university also houses the ancient The Book of Kells.  Absolutely worth seeing, btw. 

By 2pm, we were soooo tired—neither of us had gotten more than 4 hours (inconsecutively) sleep in 48 hours and therefore looked like total zombies.  We started falling asleep in the lobby when it was time to check in.  Out of habit, when checking in, I decided to spell my last name for them—“O-B-R-I-E-N”—until I realized it was as ridiculous as spelling Smith in the US.  The fact that we were in Ireland hadn’t totally sunk in yet! 

After getting into our room, quickly followed by a 4 hour nap, we decided to check out the Temple Bar area.  This was Dublin’s attempt at reviving a rundown part of the city and filling it with pubs and theater scene.  Remarkably, locals also frequent this area.  We split some Bangers and Mash (actually quite good) at the Auld Dubliner and proceeded to stroll through the scene, soaking in the spirit of the Irish and some lively music (which is all “traditional” – allegedly).  We found the people to be lively, as well, and in a mutually agreed upon word – spunky.

Total walk time: 8 miles