Hi everyone! I decided that since I haven't always written about my trips, but have been traveling for many years, I would occasionally do these "Vintage Voyage" posts, where I can share my experiences from some of my past adventures. These will be formatted the same as current trip posts will, and since I haven't done any of those yet, this will give you an idea of how things will be set up. I plan to divide future trips into day by day posts, but since this is an older one, many things are just grouped together. Today will be Dublin!
I have a long history with Dublin. I had wanted to go for years but every time I was about to plan a trip, something else came up. I had been trying to go since 2008, when I thought I would extend my Scottish vacation since the flight was easy. That didn't end up happening, and each following year I kept saying that would be the Ireland year, but always ended up going somewhere else. Finally, in 2011, I decided I had put it off enough, and that would be the Dublin year! I went from the 12-26 July (this is my preferred time to travel if I can organize it that way) and when I finally landed in Dublin, I was thrilled. All the years of being distracted from it had finally come to an end.
I love history and mythology, so I was eager to start getting lost in Ireland's museums and superstitions. I was also anxious to check out the legendary nightlife! I stayed in the O'Callaghan Mont Clare Hotel in Merrion Square, just behind Trinity College, and down the street from the Irish Parliament. I liked the location of my hotel, it was central enough that I could be on Grafton Street in a 10 minute walk, but in a pretty quiet area. On my first day, I went out exploring, as I always do, to get the lay of the land and see where everything is. I did some shopping on Grafton Street, the had some lunch in St Stephen's Green, where I always loved to kill time if I was waiting for a museum to open or a tour to start etc. I remember that afterwards I decided I would go and wander around Temple Bar. I was trying to find something specific, but I can't remember what it was now, I think it may have been a movie theatre since I was planning to see the last Harry Potter film sometime while I was in Ireland. Anyway, the Temple Bar district is the crazy party area at night, but during the day is pretty much dead and devoid of tourists with the exception of the main pedestrian area. I stuck to the main part for most of my wandering but then I decided to take some smaller streets, all pedestrian alleys, and I got really really lost. The streets don't necessarily go in a direction that actually leads to anything like a main avenue, they're more like an inner maze, so one turn lead to another as I kept guessing which one might lead me back out to a main street. It was an eerie feeling, being alone in the small passageways of Temple Bar during the day when no one was out in the area. It gave the place a magical kind of vibe, almost like a mystery that I would have to find my own way out of. Eventually, after a good 15-20 minutes, I followed a winding street that dropped me off in the middle of Grafton street! I couldn't believe it, since it did not feel like I was walking anywhere near the direction of Grafton, but I must have just been confused since the alleys went in so many different directions. After being forced to get my bearings this way, I felt really comfortable with the city, since central Dublin is not large at all.
Leinster House, Irish Parliament
Merrion Square
Oscar Wilde statue, Merrion Square
Molly Malone statue
Trinity College
I started off my trip with museums, since I love them and Dublin has quite a few. I had always wanted to see the famous bog people, preserved for thousands of years, in the National Museum of Archaeology and History. The museum was really close to my hotel, so this was naturally one of my first stops. I love looking at old artifacts and art pieces, and the museum has quite a large selection of Celtic items, including a gold collection that they are very proud of. I also stopped in the National Gallery of Ireland, about 2 minutes from my hotel, and spent only a short time in there since much of it was closed for renovations. I also did the wax museum, which was ok, but definitely not a must see. I went to the Book of Kells exhibit but again I wasn't thrilled with this either, I enjoyed wandering around the Trinity College grounds and library much more. I bought a 2 day pass for the Hop On Hop Off bus, which had 2 different routes that would take you to all the major sights in the city. You could get on and off at any of the different stops as many times as you wanted to for 2 days. I really liked this, since it came in handy for sightseeing and the times that I didn't feel like walking back to my hotel (there was a stop right across the street). Using this bus I was able to go out to Kilmainham Gaol and the Guinness Brewery, which are slightly outside the central city. The Guinness brewery is always considered a must see in Dublin, but to be honest, I was never a beer drinker, so I didn't really care. However, Dublin reformed my spirit sacrilege and converted me into a Guinness lover. I still do not like beer, but I now like Guinness. The brewery tour itself was really not that interesting to me since it was mostly various levels of modern LCD screens streaming videos of hops being brewed and how things are bottled, etc. As a history lover I was expecting to see the original factory preserved or something, so I was let down. They did have a copy of Arthur Guinness' original lease on the building which is what I found the most interesting. The tour includes a voucher for a free pint of Guinness in the rooftop bar that overlooks all of Dublin, and that was nice to see, even if the rest of it wasn't what I had expected. The Guinness brewery is one of the last stops on the bus route, and after it comes Kilmainham Gaol, so I did that right after Guinness. I LOVED Kilmainham Gaol, which is a jail built in the 1700's that also held the members of the Easter Rebellion, and is crazy haunted. I love haunted places and ghost tours, as I have mentioned, and Kilmainham is full of those type of things. The tour was a nice length, and very informative. I got to see the whole prison, the different wings, you could go in some cells, in the courtyard, and all guided by a person, not a headset, which I always prefer. I definitely suggest getting out to Kilmainham Gaol if you are ever in Dublin!
View from atop Guinness
Kilmainham Gaol
Practical note- When I go away in the summer, I always go for at least 2 weeks, which allows me the chance to really get to know a city and to fully explore most aspects of it. With Dublin, I had also planned on a few day trips, which I love to do, it's always nice to see other cities and to get out of your main base for a while. However, I had wanted to see some of the west coat, especially the Ring of Kerry, but I came to find out that you really need a car for going all over Ireland, a train just doesn't really do it since some places are really out there. The western part of the country is also too far to do on a bus day trip, which I wasn't aware of, so that was a bit of a let down. I'm mentioning all this because while I love Dublin, I do think that 2 weeks is a VERY long time to spend in a city of its size, not including the nightlife scene. I would recommend about 3-4 days in Dublin. 3 days would give you all the time you needed to see the main sights and enjoy some dinners and other things.
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