Dubliner

Absolutely fantastic weekend in Dublin this past weekend. I definitely recommend the town for a day or two, as it is a hell of a good time with very friendly people who take in random strangers for a few pints. Honestly, it can be done in a day and a half to get a good feel for it. So, next time I will need to get out into the country and explore a bit to see what the rest of the country is like.

Friday: Easy day at work because the higher-ups all had a big shin-dig with clients the night before and it was a quite day for me anyway. So I cut out early to make it to the airport. There was nobody on the plane, which kind of surprised me as it was a 7:00pm flight on a Friday when everyone in London is trying to kill all the vacation days they hadn't used yet. No complaints, though.
I got to the hostel and checked in about 10:30. Jacob's Inn, fine place if you are not really all that concerned about being in a place with a great communal atmosphere. So I headed out on my own to the pub next door for a pint of Guinness. It really does taste better over there. At about the 10min mark of my Guinness (it takes about 15 to drink one properly, anyway) I was chatting with the girl at the bar next to me and she told me I needed to join her and her coworkers for drinks. We all left when the closed down about 4 and a half hours later. They managed to convincer their boss that since I was American, I had come over to replace the Canadian intern. Just a great time of shooting-the-shit, drinking and singing (no, not traditional Irish music, just random, poppy shit).
The only problem was the insanely loud and disruptive group of 8 Spaniards who came in at about 4 am and even though they knew they woke me up, they just kept on and didn't even make an effort to apologize.

Saturday: Heeding the advice of the Canadian from Friday night, I walked over to the Guinness brewery at about mid morning. Good idea, that. When I left at about 1, the line was a mile and a half long. The building is very well designed and there is a central atrium that is glass-encased on all floors and is shaped like a Guinness Glass. Very cool. Great tour, and it finishes with a free pint in the bar on the 8th floor with a tremendous view of the city.
The next highlight was the Old Jameson Distillery. This was a guided tour, with a very funny guide. He is apparently the one you want, as a group of 3 American students studying in Italy asked for his specifically, but were too late to make that exact tour. I learned very many important things, not the least of which is that Jameson tastes good. Although I was very disappointed in the tour guide when I was not one of the people selected for a taste-test of 6 whiskeys.
After that, I was able to spend the rest of the day just walking around town and getting a bit of a feel for what the city is like. It really is a beautiful place in the older Viking and Medieval parts of the city. Gorgeous Gothic buildings just appear as you turn corners, often accompanied by tasteful, subtle, more modern buildings that don't feel awkward or overpowering.
Finally, a pub crawl. Because if I'm in Ireland, I might as well just get hammered. This was not the best tour of my life. Typically, they include a bit of trivia about the town and some cheap or free drinks. Neither was included. We just hit some crowded, expensive places, ending up at a disco that I was in no mood for at that point. The other people on the tour were very cool, though, so I had a fun time. A few Germans, Sweeds, Aussies, Brits and Americans, good mix. The problem: the tour guide decided to leave a crowded bar without me in town. Fortunately, the bouncer knew where she was headed and I made my way.
I got back to the hostel about 3, and one of the Spanish chicks had stolen my pillow.

Sunday: Really just got a bit of a late start and walked around Dublin. Chilly, but not bitterly cold and no rain, so a perfect day to walk around town when you're on your last few Euros of the weekend. I did go see the exhibit on the Book of Kells, a 1000 yr old copy of the New Testament that was ornately made, and a bit about the documentation of Irish history. Well worth the visit to Trinity College Dublin. Beautiful campus. Again, very friendly people to show me around and just chit-chat a bit with. Flight home was easy, and empty again, if a bit delayed.

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