Well what else is there about Dublin?? Oh yes, the writers museum, Wilde's birthplace, Wilde's statue, the river Liffey, Croke Park, the Dublin Spire, George Bernard Shaw, the Wicklow Mountains, Yeats and James Joyce to name but a few. Let's not forget the splendid night life too.
Our little break to Dublin (another Travelzoo special) got off well from Leeds Bradford with Ryan Air - be warned as they do enforce their 1 piece of cabin baggage rules!! The flight had barely got to altitude when we were going back down again, fifty minutes only to get there. With bag reclaimed we headed outside for the bus into town and our digs at the Croke Park Hotel. The hotel was very nice and the room very spacious and warm.
We were about 20 minutes out of the centre so as it was evening we wandered into town and had a stroll up and down, ending up in a bar in the Temple Bar area with some Guinness. Now at this point Mrs D was not a Guinness drinker so she had some Irish Ale. There was live music in the bar and a good evening was had along with some splendid Guinness.
The following day was a Mrs D day (almost.) After breakfast we headed into town and the first stop was the writers museum. An Irish writers overdose was enjoyed here by Mrs D whilst I wandered around the museum looking at some of the older stuff in their which I have to say was quite good. After the obligatory photo outside we headed off in search of Mrs Ds hero - Oscar Wilde's house. With a plaque outside to mark the address another photo shoot was undertaken before we headed off to find the statue in the park which was unveiled by Wilde's grandson a few years ago. Another photo call here (even though Mrs D was not too impressed with the statue) before we went off to find a bench in the park for some well earned butties.
Part of the deal with the hotel was that we got complimentary tickets to tour either Croke Park stadium or the Guinness Storehouse. As we were staying directly across from the stadium and frankly not too bothered about a trek round a shed load of empty stands there was no contest, Guinness won it hands down!
After refuelling ourselves we got out our trusty Dublin map and planned our way across to the other side of town to the storehouse. On the way across the city we saw some of Dublins other landmarks on a lovely sunny day.
We arrived at the storehouse, which isn't really a storehouse at all, it is the original site of Arthur Guinness' brewing testament and is now a tourist attraction and a very good one too. All the brewing is now done in todays high tech fashion so the tour takes you round the old brewing site where there are vessels, videos, loads of info, shops. history and did I mention the free pint of Guinness at the end in the Gravity bar which is on top of the factory with superb views right across and over Dublin.
The tour was superb, very informative and very interesting. It works on floors with the story progressing as you get higher up ending up in the bar on top. There is a whole floor dedicated to Guinness advertising through the years and you could spend hours in there as some of their adverts are superb. There is also an area where you can pull your own pint of the black stuff but if your going to get some at the factory let someone do it who knows what they are doing, don't spoil it!!
So we arrive at the gravity bar on top of the site and there I was thinking I was in for two pints of Guinness when Mrs D announced, after a taste, how good it was!!! I was very surprised, 'tis good of course but can't keep her off the stuff now!!
We made our way back up to the hotel and had dinner which was very nice before heading back into town for some nightlife. Now, the Temple Bar area is a sea of bars and clubs with all genres of music emanating from within. There is something for everyone here. After wandering up and down taking in the atmosphere (bearing in mind this is Wednesday night, would love to see it on a Friday) we sat in another bar with more live music. It is simply wild down there, everyone joins in the singing, the Guinness is flowing (even to Mrs D now) it was great.
We headed back up to the hotel around midnight again and crashed out as we'd walked miles!!
Next and last day, breakfast and out down town again. Today was more leisurely and we had a river stroll, taking in the buildings and many statues that are dotted all over the place. We then wandered back into the centre where we went to a Phil Lynott exhibition. Another of Dublins sons, he may well have been brought up there but he was actually born in Birmingham!! You learn something everyday......it was an excellent exhibition and his mum Philomena was there signing books and doing pictures, lovely lady.
After the Phil Lynott experience we went and found his statue and it was my turn for a photo call before heading back up to the digs to collect our bags and check out. Bus back to the airport which is massive by the way, didn't know what to expect but didn't expect it to be that big!
The pilot announced before we took off that there were cross winds in Leeds Bradford so expect a choppy landing.......sobering thought. The flight back was done in 40 minutes, the landing as promised was bouncy but we were soon on our way home after a splendid few days in Dublin. We did have to make a slight detour on the way home to call and pick up some Guinness for my new found Guinness drinking buddy!!
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