64. Dublin - Republic of Ireland

 The flight to Dublin was delayed as we were dealing with the control tower glitches from the previous weekend but nothing too inconvenient. The flight was smooth and before we knew it, we were there.

We caught a bus to the hotel in Dublin and to be honest,  I've never seen a room so small. For the price we paid, we thought we'd gotten better. Always check the measurements of the room I say!

Dublin displayed the impact of economic hardship as we walked past many permanently closed shops right in the middle of the city. 

The Temple Bar district and O'Connell Street (the main street) were the only areas with any sign of successful trading. I suspect it is solely due to the tourist trade.

One of the famous pubs in Dublin - The Temple Bar


A fantastic traditional Irish duo at the Temple Bar


These guys were really good. They were tight and sounded great. The guitarist had an open D tuning which gave the guitar a freshness to its sound. The place was packed and Max and I were settling in to seeing the guys play a set when a 'gentleman' decided to barf the contents of his stomach right in front of us. You've never seen people move so fast! Luckily, we escaped any of his deposits and decided to leave in case others on his table may have joined in the chorus. 

And of course, it's not a trip to Dublin without a tour of the Guinness factory.


The taste test - I'm glad to say they passed!


The traditional Irish harp image was used by Guinness until the Irish government was formed and decided to use it. To solve this issue, Guinness now uses a mirror image of the harp.




We visited church grounds that had an interesting gimmick. The metal bar has music vibrating through it but can only be heard by putting your elbows on the bar and putting your hands on your ears. Seriously!




After two nights in Dublin, we picked up a hire car and made our way to the Waterford pet sit.

Comments

  1. KayeSeptember 6, 2023 at 3:52 PM

    Guinness definitely tastes better in Dublin, to be sure, and the views from the bar area are fab. If you get back to Dublin, and you've got time, Kilmainham Gaol is excellent. It'll make you cry. Don't forget to get yourselves some Waterford crystal. Enjoy the rest of your stay and if you hear the word "feck", they're swearing 😂🤣 xxx

    ReplyDelete
  2. GlenSeptember 6, 2023 at 4:20 PM

    Sounds quite a colourful place. Enjoy your sit and stay safe both

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousSeptember 7, 2023 at 12:03 AM

    Had to laugh at your comments on the room size Paul...We were enroute back to Australia in Singapore and had an early flight to catch and decided to stay in a hotel next to the airport for a quick get away...the room was so small I had to go outside to change my mind lol Cheers, Ian
    & Som

    ReplyDelete

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