Dublin, Ireland

September 2018

I had already handed back the keys to my flat in Sheffield, so upon arrival back, stayed with friends before heading off on a little trip to Dublin! I had wanted to go to Ireland for so long, and whilst Dublin was only a tiny taste, I was excited!

Like most ancient towns, it had a large riving flowing through it, a network of cobbled streets, and a mix of modern and old, hodgepodged together. Situated on the mouth of the river Liffey and founded by the Vikings in the 9th century (though settled long before then) Dublin certainly has a long history.

Dublin was picturesque in parts, however we also quickly discovered it was really expensive. Lots of things, such as pub meals and seeing the Book of Kells in Trinity College would have to wait until we could return, hopefully richer. Instead, we enjoyed wandering the streets.

We did of course budget for the occasional pint, how could one not in Ireland!?

We stayed in an 8 bed dormitory in a hostel, to keep prices down. Never a fun experience, though manageable with ear plugs and eyemasks, it did allow us to spend some money on a couple of activities. Firstly, the Guinness Factory! One simply cannot go to Dublin without visiting it. Did I mention neither of us actually like Guinness? Minor detail of course.

The tour was surprisingly enjoyable and informative, from the brewing process, to the history of Guinness, including some amusing advertisement campaigns from the past. Did you know pregnant women in Ireland were once advised to drink a Guinness a day, as apparently it was a great source of iron? Imagine a doctor saying that today!

As part of our ticket, we each got to pour our own pint, something of an art form, we were informed. You have to pour slowly, taking almost 2 minutes to pour correctly (rather longer than a normal beer!) The double pour is also very important, you stop once three-quarters full, allow it settle, and then finish the pour. It may be an art-form, but the beer tasted no better in my opinion.

The entire experience took us a couple of hours, and was well worth the price of the ticket (though this time frame may have been extended by us slowly, oh so slowly sipping the Guinness!) 

Keeping costs low, we were delighted to discover the National Museum of Archaeology was completely free! My main interest in going here was to see the famous bog bodies:

 Bog bodies have been discovered from Denmark to Ireland, mainly from the Iron Age, and most of them killed violently, sometimes in several different ways (gotta make sure they're really, really dead right?)

 The thing that makes them interesting though, is the condition of the bodies. Bogs environments are anaerobic, which means without oxygen. The cool thing about this is it means things that would usually decompose rapidly (wood, flesh, string etc) do not, leaving people - and their clothes - perfectly preserved for thousands of years. Ancient people must have understood this, as they sometimes used bogs as a sort of larder, preserving butter in them! Here is a photo of the charmingly named bog butter - I am sure it tasted just as good as it looks. Mmmmm.

Appetites whetted by the bog butter (not) we decided to stop for a Bahn Mi and Pho - I do love sharing, two meals for the price of one!

 

Our other notable excursion involved a day trip out to the local village of Howth, by train. I had been recommended the trip by a facebook friend, and I am so pleased I was!

It's a cute little fishing village, with some interesting shops and pubs to wander. It was a fine, though blustery autumn day, and we walked out to the Lighthouse for better views.

And a quick selfie in the wind!

We decided to walk the other way towards the cliffs, and were pleasantly surprised to find an easy cliff-top walk. Apparently part of the Bog of Frogs Trail (I couldn't make this up if I tried) we soon found ourselves away from the tourist bustle.

The views back to Howth were gorgeous, but we didn't continue on the path too far, as we were getting hungry.

We had incredible fish and chips on the beach for lunch, and felt very British. I discovered some beautiful wintery ivy on the way and stopped for a quick photo op, before we headed back to Dublin.

Only a brief trip, it was our last morning before I knew it, and I realized I hadn't even tried an Irish coffee yet! Yannick was appalled so I quickly tried to remedy this. A brief adventure around Dublin to find one for less than 15 euro (!???) and I settled in for my far too early in the morning alcoholic coffee, which was delicious by the way. 

We had organised a couple of housesits to get us through the rest of the year travelling on the cheap, and so headed for the airport, destination France!