What I did in Dublin!

Last month I took a trip to Ireland and Germany.  A friend and I spent a few days in each country and here is  how it went!

We arrived in Dublin off of a red eye flight from Philadelphia.

 We landed at 6am but felt like 1am for us with the time change. By the time we got to the hotel it was close to 7am. Unfortunately we were unable to get checked into our room that early. We dropped our bags off and thought we would go to for breakfast. Finding breakfast that early was a challenge. Nothing seemed to be open. We finally found a place that opened at 8am. I got avocado toast and a Chai latte. When we arrived back to the hotel, our room was still not ready. I think I fell asleep in the hotel lobby waiting for our room. The hotel staff kept asking us if we wanted a coffee. I replied no I need a bed. We finally were able to check in at 12:30 pm. Boy did that make for a long morning. After taking a nap and freshening up we did a little pub crawl through the Temple bar district for drinks and dinner.

The next day we woke up and took a Viking Cruise Tour. It was a unique vehicle that went on the road as well as the river. It was a fun way to see the city.

That evening we went to a few more pubs before going on a Ghost Tour. This tour started out on a bus as our tour guide told us ghost stories of different things that went on in the city ages ago. We also got off the bus at certain locations that are supposedly still haunted to this day.

The following day we did the Guinness Factory Tour. We did the self guided tour which was basically following the herd of people walking from floor to floor to read about the history of how Guinness  was created. The best part was at the very top. We received a voucher for one free Guinness that was at the Gravity Bar that overlooked the city of Dublin.

Later that afternoon we went on an Irish Food Trail. This was one of my favorites. I have never been on a food tour but have seen them in many cities. I never though it would be worth it because I assumed you would only get some small bites here and there. This was totally different. We went to three different locations and when it was all said and done it ended up being a three course meal. 

The first place we went,  we got to choose between mozzarella sticks or seafood chowder, which I chose, and it was delicious. The second place we could choose Irish stew, bangers and mash, or fish n chips, which I chose. This was tasty as well and not greasy at all like I though it would be. The final location, we learned how to make an Irish coffee, which was a lot of fun. That was paired with a brownie sundae with homemade ice cream. At the other locations we were also able to enjoy an alcoholic beverage that paired well with our food. This was another great experience that has me excited to try another one the next time I visit another country.

The last time I was visited Dublin I was 16 and on a school trip. I told my friend that if we were coming here, were not going to do any bus trips to see a bunch of sheep in fields, because that's all I remember from my trip. I have to say that this was a very different experience with our pub crawls and other fun activities and I greatly enjoyed it. 

Molly Malone

The next day we were off to Munich for Oktoberfest!

See you in Germany!  ~ L

( Our travel posts are meant to help others who are planning a visit to these destinations)