Posted by Karbo
On the 19th we drove back to Belfast from Derry and took a Megabus to Dublin. Once in Dublin, we asked 3 different bus drivers for directions to our Airbnb neighbourhood and all 3 gave conflicting advice. Maybe it was us, but we found the transit system in Dublin pretty confusing and the lack of transit directions on Google didn't help!
After dropping off our backpacks, we walked through the city centre to O'Connell Street, which is one of the major thoroughfares in the city. Statues and memorials, such as the Spire, line the street.
We went to explore Temple Bar and while it's a fun place to grab a beer, the restaurants there are definitely charging tourist prices! We would recommend going somewhere else to eat.
On the 20th we started off with the free Sandeman walking tour. During the tour we were interrupted by a man who decided to display his "White Power" and swastika tattoo to the group, which made things a bit uncomfortable but we think our guide recovered pretty well given the circumstances.
After our tour we went to the Chester Beatty Library, which is an amazing (and free!) museum that houses artifacts, manuscripts, and art from the collection of Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, who acquired his collection throughout the course of his life and bequeathed it to Dublin on his death. We'd been to a lot of museums up to this point but it was pretty incredible to think that everything we were looking at came from one man's collection.
We were lucky to be in Dublin for Culture Night (previously mentioned in our Belfast post), which is an annual event where cultural participants open their exhibitions to the public and waive the admission fee. There was also live music throughout the night and performances by local Irish artists. We think Culture Night is a great initiative - maybe it'll make it to Vancouver one day!
On the 21st we were both feeling lethargic so we didn't do much except walk around Dublin and visit the Dublin Oktoberfest.
On the 22nd we went to the Guinness Storehouse, which Jason had been looking forward to ever since we arrived in Dublin. There are tastings of Guinness throughout the storehouse and you also receive a full pint with your admission ticket. Since I'm not much of a drinker, Jason ended up having 2 of everything and was quite buzzed by the time we left the storehouse at 3pm.
The 22nd was also the date of the Gaelic football finals where Dublin won the championship game against Mayo. The whole city was watching the game and it reminded us of the Canucks during playoffs. We weren't able to catch the game on TV so we went to one of my favourite places for dessert, Queen of Tarts.
On the 23rd we went to Trinity College and the Book of Kells exhibition. The Book of Kells is a manuscript containing the four Gospels in Latin that was written around the year 800 A.D.
In the afternoon we took a train to Howth, a seaside suburb of Dublin that is known for it's seafood. We bought fresh mussels at €2.50/kg! I'd like to point out that we didn't end up having any mussels in Brussels because nothing could compare with the prices and freshness of the mussels in Howth.
For our last dinner in Dublin, our Airbnb hosts, Fara and Davy, cooked the mussels in delicious white wine and cream sauce. After dinner we chatted until pretty late over a bottle of wine. Davy is from France so he gave us some insider advice on Paris. They are a very friendly, easy-going couple and we shared some great laughs. We wish them the best of luck in their new home, San Francisco!