My Dublin trip...

tcc_dc

For those that care, because some asked that I recap my trip to Dublin...

We arrived in Dublin on Wednesday the 7th and left on Monday the 12th from Washington, DC. It was the first time I have been back since 2003.

The first impression was how much building was still going on in the city. One picture I have from 2003 is from the Gravity bar where ever you looked you saw cranes, well that was the same scene this time, but just in different places.

Anyways, thoughts:

Kilmainham Gaol - first time I had ever been there and was impressed with the tour. The tour lady we had was very engaging and answered any and all questions. It gives a chill to think about the conditions some lived under. The kids burial spot was quite disturbing.

Other places we visited that I had been before was St Pat's, Christ Church, Guiness Brewery, Trinity College, St. Stephen's Green, Grafton Street, GPO, etc...were pretty much as I remembered them.

Pubs/NightClubs visited

Dice Bar - Nice little lounge, decent prices, and good service, went early in the evening
Porterhouse - great great beers, my personal favorite was the Wrassler's stout (went to both near Grafton and Temple Bar).
Brazen Head - been there before, but my friend's really liked the pints and food (tried North Star there and I personally did not think it was all that)
O'Neills - seemed the same as 2003, but my friends also gave it the big thumbs up, one friend said the Sheperd's pie was some of the best
Bankers - good little bar with a friendly staff, good setup for a comedy club I thought
Temple Bar, Auld Dubliner, Gogartys - put these all in the same sentence as they were all the same places, way too many people, expensive beers, some fights, but it is something my friends wanted to see since they had not been to Dublin before
Turks Head - suprised, but liked the place quite a bit, mainly stayed on the second level and away from the downstairs...or maybe it was Temple Bar and others so bad that this seemed normal
Viper Room - Had a great time there, liked the setup, and the staff were great, would go back again and again, did not seem like many tourists in there, had a good conversation about rugby at Croke Park
Voodoo Lounge - Good music, friendly staff, the clientele was not big fans of rugby at Croke Park
Club M - the tourist trap that was expected, I believe half the people were from Boston and the other half from France , did not stay long
Pravda - Liked the setup and the vibe was pretty cool, everyone was in a talking mood
Sine - the only place I did not get in that I tried, so no report
Gill's Pub - I am going to give a write up about my trip to Croke Park on the Rugby forum, but the pub and street were good times...

Food
Leo Burdock's vs Cinellis - 4 out 4 preferred Leo's...fish just seemed to be better
Heuston Station Pub (forgot the name but it had Galway in it) - grabbed a bite there when we arrived and it was ok
Wagamama - pretry good noodles, the place was packed...

Everything else was pub or a sandwich from Spar

Likes
Northsiders versus Southsiders and vice versa- the insults were funny, to me it sounded like a reverse Chicago where Northside has the money versus Southside which had less
Conversations about Croke Park - lots of passion both ways, but most people were very civil
No USA bashing - last time in 2003 there was a lot of it, where as this time, it was all directed at Bush, I thought one taxi driver was going to have a heart attack talking about the way Bush walks
Croke Park Experience - something I will remember forever

Observations
Foreigners - my god it seemed totally different in certain parts of the city, which is good or bad depending on how you see it, definetely many more than 2003
Prices - jesus, food has gotten expensive (even at a SPAR for a snack)
French Flags - the ugly American in me could not believe all the French flags flying in pubs, windows, etc....some of their singing in the locals faces would have got a beat down in the USA
Walking - still faster to walk to many places instead of taking a taxi
Beers - seemed that many of the pubs were carrying imports more than last time....was sad to hear that Caffrey's was not made anymore, but Kilkenny made up for it...


Troubles
Only one time did anybody try to start any trouble, when a Russian or Pole tried to start a fight with my friend when he was walking.....once I showed up they left...

American TV - whenever at our room, we saw all the crappy shows (except for a few) we see in the States, I feel for you as I thought only we had to suffer:eek:

Overall, a great trip and Dublin is still a great city to visit...can't wait to return.

Cheers...

tcc

g-punkteffekt

Glad you had a good time here, but leave the French alone, Ireland has a good relationship with them (unlike the yanks and their freedom fries), they helped us out over the years and their revolution inspired us to revolt too. They were the first republicans. I like the french flag and their anthem.

catch--22

Nice review! All about food and beer!! mmmmmh!

I'd try and give you my own one from DC going back a few years...but I was only there for a brief stop-over and didn't get to visit a single bar!

latenia

Didn't get into Sin E? How messed up were you? :eek:

Flukey

A good report on Dublin. I am glad that you and your friends enjoyed your visit and that they will come again. Thanks for reporting back to us.

boneless

Glad you enjoyed the trip mate!!

spurious

In fairness, Spar and the like are incredibly expensive for sandwiches.

Dyr

tcc_dc wrote:

Observations
Foreigners - my god it seemed totally different in certain parts of the city, which is good or bad depending on how you see it, definetely many more than 2003


tcc

This is not true, nothing to see here, move alongksi, ignore that elephant in the middle of the room, its not really

biko

Glad you liked Dublin. When/If you're over again, see if you can find the time to see more than just the city. For instance the Wicklow Mountains or Newgrange passing tombs. There is quite a lot to see just an hour or two outside the city, as well as inside.

vibrant

Thanks for posting this, you certainly got a lot squeezed in to your short visit! Glad you enjoyed yourself.

Perhaps the folks at www.tripadvisor.com would love to see your tips - you could also give tips on the hotel you stayed in, etc. I use that site a lot for planning biz trips, and a review like yours about a city I'm travelling to would be incredibly useful.

Rb

Glad to hear you'd a good trip.