My Ireland Home: Day 3

On Sunday the Swedes headed home at lunch time so it was just me, 2 girls from Philadelphia and a ethnically confused Dane/Bulgarian. I managed to escape from the girls for a bit while they did the walking tour which I had done on Friday. While they were discovering the secrets to my previously unprompted knowledge of Irish history, I was exploring along the River Liffey and headed down towards the Port at the mouth. I came across some of Ireland's most interesting and most recent architectural ventures with some very modern buildings sitting on the river bank. Outside the port is a large Ferris wheel similar to that of the Wheel of Brisbane. There were some great market stalls in this area and a really good funk/soul band entertaining the crowds.

Some more exploring took me to the Grand Canal Theatre, the main performance venue in Dublin which is very modern and very abstractly designed. This led on to the discovery of the home of Oscar Wilde, the famous Irish writer, which was a modest townhouse in a street of identical doorways. I then headed for the National Museum and looked at the various Viking and Egyptian exhibits on display showing parts of Ireland's quite interesting history.

After leaving the museum I dropped into a tiny little pub called O'Donoghues Bar which is a revolving door of Irish music, both rock songs and very traditional ballads. It was nice to sit and listen briefly to a quartet playing some very traditional Gaelic ballads.

I then headed back to the hostel, hoping to get to Christchurch Cathedral in time for the Evensong service. It turns out I have difficulties reading 24 hour time. I interpreted 15.30 as 5.30pm...so I was 2 hours late for the service at Christchurch. I was really disappointed by this as I was very eager to go inside and experience the 980 year old Cathedral properly. Behind the Cathedral is the sight of the old Dublin Musick Hall which was the venue where Handel gave the world premier of "The Messiah" in 1742.

Down the road from Christchurch is St. Patrick's Cathedral which was built in 1192 on the site believed to hold the spring where St. Patrick carried out baptisms in the 5th Century. The Cathedral and surrounding gardens are beautiful and a definite highlight of the trip.

On my way back to the hostel I stopped in to do some souvenir shopping. My options were either Guinness merchandise or leprechaun merchandise. What diversity! It made it difficult when getting things for Matthew and Andrew considering they aren't too keen on either of the options!

Back at the hostel we all got ready and headed out to a quiet place to eat dinner and listen to more of the addictive live Irish music.

I was awake before the sun was up on Monday, jumping on to the bus again to take me back to Dublin Airport for my flight home to Leeds. I met a girl from Tasmania who has been living and working over in London for a few years now at the O2 Arena and who seems to go backpacking whenever she wants...this has given me some scary ideas!

Unfortunately customs weren't impressed with my jar of Guinness Wholegrain Mustard which I was carrying in my bag and it was put in the bin. Sorry Andrew Benfer...no Irish memento for you :(

I boarded the 0740 flight to Leeds-Bradford and waved goodbye to Dublin and to the 3 crazy days of Irish fun! I'm still devastated that I didn't run into the Corrs though.

Customs House
Built 1791

Sean O'Casey Bridge

Jeanie Johnston Famine Ship

Samuel Beckett Bridge

Dublin Convention Centre



The Point Markets



Looking out to sea

The Aviva Stadium



Grand Canal Theatre



Leinster House

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Goodnight Dublin...

My Ireland Home: Day 2

At about 1am on Saturday morning the other three girls arrived from Leeds: Kira, Liz and Diyana, who all had classes on Friday so took the late flight.

At around 9am they were somewhat awake at the breakfast table and we started planning our day. We decided to head to the General Post Office (which is a hugely impressive building built in the early 1800s) then to Penney's (the Irish equivalent of Primark) and then off to the Kilmainham Gaol (Dublin's old jail built in 1796) followed by a tour of the Guinness Storehouse.

The three late-comers still needed to get ready so Martina, Maria and I headed off by ourselves again to see the Post Office before meeting up with the others on our way to the jail. The building is quite spectacular and is in the centre of town. Inside is still the same since it was built, picture the bank from Mary Poppins.

Outside the Post Office is the Dublin Spire, a giant needle like tower pointing 121.2m into the air. It is located on the same spot which once housed a statue of Admiral Nelson, who was a British naval hero, similar to the one of Admiral Nelson which stands in the middle of Trafalgar Square in London. The statue was bombed by the IRA, although it was barely damaged, as a sign of the Irish not wanting to have any association with England or English history. So instead they commissioned a new monument, The Spire, which was designed by an English architect, at an English firm in London and used English steel for its construction. The intellect of the Irish is something to be seen!

Eventually all  of us met up at the markets being held in Temple Bar. Temple Bar is basically a small suburb whose name is self explanatory. Whilst there is no shortage of pubs and bars across Dublin, Temple Bar is an area of about 20 blocks which are packed full of Irish pubs, bars and clubs and is the home to much of Dublin's nightlife.

After stopping at the markets we headed to the Kilmainham Gaol where we toured the facility that has held most of Ireland's most famous revolutionaries and political figures throughout its history. It is a large place with plenty of very cold stone hallways. Numerous films have been shot there including the original Italian Job and one of U2's video clips.

The Guinness Storehouse was the final major destination for the day and, thankfully, was just around the corner from the jail. The tour took us through what used to be one of the factories, explaining the different processes as we went along. The tour ends in the "Gravity Bar" which is the highest point in Dublin with 360⁰ views of the city, out to sea and the mountains. This is where you sit and relax with your complimentary glass of Guinness. Needless to say I enjoyed my Coca-Cola. To put it all into context, you are offered almost 3 FREE pints of Guinness whilst on the tour. Although it is probably all included in the ticket price, so in theory I was wasting my money!

Nanna and Poppa Scott should be proud!

We came across Ireland's oldest inn for dinner, a place called the Brazen Head Inn established in 1198. You would think that after 812 years of trading they would have their customer service perfected...guess again! The only Irish person working was the old man behind the bar, who was probably the original owner. Everyone else was Eastern European and not the friendliest of people. The food was pretty average as well. I walked by the kitchen and noticed our "Fresh basket of home-made Irish Brown Soda Bread" sitting in the plastic packet which it arrived in from the factory which mass produces them. For those travelling to Dublin in the future avoid this pub!

In order to lighten our mood after such a dismal dining experience we hit up a few pubs and clubs in the Temple Bar district and danced the night away. I faintly recall climbing into bed when most normal people would be starting their day...



The very grand General Post Office



The Dublin Spire
The symbol of Ireland...designed and fabricated by Englishmen!

Temple Bar streets during the day

Liz buying some cheese at the markets

The girls...operating at their own pace.



Kilmainham Gaol
The gallows were located where the window in the centre is for the public hangings



In a cell...which is apparently where I'm destined to end up
according to Mr Dave (next door neighbour)

A sad me standing with my ID...still not 21



The girls enjoying one of their MANY free glasses of Guinness!




View from the Gravity Bar...looking over Dublin and out to sea.




Martina with her Guinness...and me sipping my coke!



The sun setting over Dublin

Temple Bar nightlife!

My Ireland Home: Day 1

At 4am on a very dark and cold Friday 15th October I crawled out of bed and got ready to leave for the airport. Destination: Dublin city, Ireland. I was heading to the Irish capital for a couple of days with 5 of the girls from Leeds: 2 Swedes, 2 Americans and a Dane (slash Bulgarian).

Some would say I am a lucky man...they clearly haven't gone travelling with a large group of girls!

I left on Friday morning with Martina and Maria, the Swedes. The flight was barely an hour...I don't think they even bothered to put the landing gear up! We arrived around 7am and spent the next 1.5 hours waiting for a bus as the one we needed drove off on us despite my furious waving at him. Needless to say, our first impressions of Ireland weren't too great. Eventually we caught our bus and arrived right outside the hostel's door. We set our things down and headed off to discover the city.

We ended up joining a walking tour of Dublin which kept us occupied for around 3 hours. The tour was guided by a nice guy who is a qualified Barrister, which one him points in my book, and a history buff. Most importantly the tour was FREE! The tour took us around some of the most notable destinations in Dublin such as the Dublin Castle, City Hall, Christchurch Cathedral, Temple Bar district and Leinster House (where parliament sits). The history of Ireland is quite an interesting one involving Vikings, Romans and, obviously, the English. Most importantly, every war/rebellion/revolution that Ireland has started...they have lost.

At the end of the tour we headed to a pub called O'Neills with the tour guide to grab a late lunch.

Given our shared interest in all things boring, ie. law, politics and the state of the Irish economy, Richard (our tour guide) recommended we check out the courthouse. So after lunch Martina, Maria and I headed to what is called the Four Courts to get a taste of the Irish judicial system. The building is very impressive and was built in the late 1700s. It is the sight where the Supreme Court of Ireland sits, the highest court within the Republic. We actually went into one of the court rooms which was hearing a personal injuries matter at the time. The accents slightly diminished the severity of the subject matter I think!

After explaining to the girls what we just watched we headed back to our hostel to check in to our rooms. After a much needed nap and a shower we headed out for our first night in Dublin. We ended up at a pub called Oliver St. John Gogarty which plays live Irish music every night. We sat or hours eating and enjoying the atmosphere. So much fun!

Afterwards we went for a walk along the River Liffey and took in the sights and sounds of the Dublin nightlife. By now our nap had worn off so it was back home for the night!

My first RYANAIR flight
and the first flight where I have boarded from the tarmac...I felt like a rock star!

Maria and Martina
Looking alert boarding the plane!

Dublin International Airport

Front of Trinity College

Brown Thomas
The Irish Harrods

The back of Dublin Castle

Christchurch Cathedral
Built 1030

Dublin Fusiliers Arch

The Four Courts
Ireland Courthouse

Oliver St. John Gogarty
The Irish pub where we had dinner

The band at the pub

The Ha'Penny Bridge
Built 1816

Looking downstream.
The Ferris Wheel and light are at the Port of Ireland.

A regular Martha Stewart...without the tax fraud...and not a woman!

During the week Kira, Diyana, Liz, Calum and I got into the routine of cooking for each other. The meals progressively became more elaborate and, naturally, I was the last one to cook.

Not one to bow down from raising the bar, I personally feel that I outdid myself.

The menu for the evening was roast pork which I prepared with lemon and herbs (turns out I'm pretty good at scoring a pig) served with a potato and sweet potato bake, fresh carrots and steamed beans. I spent hours in the kitchen slaving over the meal and hours longer waiting for it too cook. Eventually it was done and to the satisfaction of everyone who shared it.

Mum would be proud...I purchased my first Pyrex dish (as if we don't have enough at home already!)

I tried to get Kangaroo steaks for everyone but the only place that sells them is a farmhouse 30mins out of town. Next time!

Disclaimer: no one was ill, injured, harmed or endangered before, during and/or after the process. It was good!



My beautiful pig!




Diyana carving it up.




The spread...we don't have fancy serving dishes.




My plate!




Happy diners :)