Since Joey was flying out of Dublin on Sunday, we thought it would be the perfect chance to spend the weekend there.
Friday: We made it up to Dublin Friday evening, and after dropping our bags at the AirBnB we made our way to Dublin Castle. The castle itself is not that impressive from the outside. It’s located in the center, surrounded by tall buildings all around. But once you get inside, the large rooms and impressive hallways are great. It was originally built for the residence of the British monarchs’ representatives, so relatively new compared to much of the history and castles of Ireland. The castle was turned in to a government complex after Ireland won it’s independence, and is still used today for state meetings, which was pretty neat.
We saw the Christ Church Cathedral, and herd the bells chime.
We then went to the Jameson Distillery on Bow street for a tour and a drink. The Bow street location is where the distillery was originally built and operated (now they distill in Middleton in County Cork). The tour was really interesting and taught all about the history of the Jameson Distillery as well as the history of Irish whiskey. Our tour guide was absolutely amazing and we had a blast.
After a delicious dinner near the distillery, we headed back to the city center to go to Temple Bar. Temple Bar was PACKED, and decked out in holiday decorations already! We just walked through Temple Bar and then went to a bar down the street for a pint and some live music. Didn’t stay for too long because it was so busy but we did get to listen to a bit of music and saw the bars and the crowds.
Saturday: We woke up early and walked to see Whelan’s, a music venue with Joey’s family name! Then we went to Trinity College campus and saw the book of Kells and the long room.
And then made our way to a pub for a traditional Irish pub breakfast. The rugby world cup final was on during breakfast giving it an extra bit of fun. We found some fun statues on our way to breakfast.
We then went to the Irish EPIC museum about emigration from Ireland. It was a really interesting story and a great museum and experience that was really interactive. Ireland has a large history of emigration and it was an interesting piece of knowledge to understand the reasons behind it. Outside the museum we saw the Samuel Beckett bridge and some cool looking boats.
Then we made our way down to Guinness, like many visits to Dublin do. We got tickets for a connoisseur experience meaning we got to have a more private experience and try four different beers and talk with an expert on the history and the beer of Guinness for an hour and a half with just a few other people. Really great experience and great way to learn about Guinness. After that, we went to the top floor to have a pint at the Gravity Bar which has panoramic views of the city. Unfortunately the weather made the views a little less panoramic and more just cloudy, but there was traditional music playing and a good time all around.
For dinner, we went to The Ramen Bar to celebrate our Anniversary! One whole year together! And we got to spend the day together which was really special seeing as we are living so far away from each other right now.
Sunday: I went and dropped Joey off at the airport before grabbing a bus home myself. A difficult task but a necessary one. His trip was so jam packed and full of fun. To next time!