So, what can I say now that the jet lag is gone?
Air Travel
Red-eye was perfect for us. We left on a 9:45p out of JFK to Dublin (arriving 9:30a). The flight with Aer Lingus was nice despite an individual who preferred to be the only jackass in the entire plane to have their window open over the cloud line. We even arrived in Dublin early!
Getting Around
Getting from Dublin Airport to Dublin city center was easy providing you’re okay with asking some questions - we asked some kiosk attendants in the designated bus area and pretty soon we were waiting for the line that would take us to our hotel. The only oversight here was that we almost missed our bus when they changed attendants and I didn’t tell the new guy to warn us.
I’d like to put out there that it was brilliant to do the bus; still reeling from the flight length and timezone travel, I was not in any condition to decipher the driving-on-the-other-side-plus-wheel-on-the-other-side car thing while also trying to navigate traffic circles.
First (and only!) Hotel
We arrived, got our room set up at the O’Callaghan Merrion Square hotel. Our first room was… not good. Short list: No A/C, I had fix the TV speakers (with my fists), and I ended up jamming our window open with the Guest Service binder. I called the desk but the women there blew us off. Half an hour later my girl went downstairs to retrieve someone, he had us moved to a much more functional room. I would rate their customer service high, and the new room was as expected and very nice.
We went off to walk around to the city and try to find the ‘Queen of Tarts’ for tea and lunch. We had two hurdles here 1) we were in a touristy area, so no one knew where we were going, and 2) our Frommer’s map was off by like, 4 blocks.
Allow me to stress this: Ask a bartender. Every bartender we talked to was perfectly polite.
We made it there with the bartender’s direction. The food was delicious and the coffee excellent considering the wild number of warnings I received about the lack of good coffee in Ireland.
On Cork Lane near there were some excellent local artisans who made some awesome stuff. One guy who works in one of my favorite artistic styles whose name evades me completely. It’s really like ‘found art’ but anything that breaks the ‘4th wall’ between art and canvas works for me. This particular guy made bowls and display pieces in chunks of wood, allowing the natural contours of the bark to show through when it’s appropriate. It was truly brilliant.
We next wandered to Ha’Penny bridge and at Grafton street found plenty of familiar places; Starbucks, McDonalds, Burger King, all the stuff we were so desperate to escape. So it goes.
Trinity College
Our hotel was right near Trinity College so we stopped in for a tour but the last one had already left by 3:40. We did a naughty thing here and jumped on with an in-progress group, but I would have happily paid if given the chance. The campus is beautiful and I urge anyone to take the tour to get an idea of the college, there’s plenty of photo opportunities.
We ended the first night (and 32 hour day) with dinner at Porterhouse bar, which is known for it’s good food and craft beers. We both had the sampler which was three drinks each a third of a pint. We picked a Porter, a lager and ale each, all awesome.
I feel like I have too many good things to say. The weather sucks! When someone tells you that Ireland ‘is the country of four seasons in one day’ then nods sagely, they are not kidding. Everyone neglects to mention, however, that it includes monsoon season in that rotation. Bring an umbrella, preferably a sturdy one, and some warm clothes. Despite being here in the Irish summer, I was wearing 3 layers at all times, two being a hoodie and a jacket.
Weirdest thing so far? Stuff closes. I live in NY, this closing thing is totally ridiculous. Plan to get your shopping done early kids! They don’t mess around when it comes to quitting time in Ireland.
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