Blogs from County Dublin, Ireland, Europe - page 155

California Dreaming From the moment I landed, I could recognize the echoes of the Bay Area in Dublin. It's younger inhabitants are hipper and more distinct from the old UK guard than I had expected. Perhaps it is because I walked out of my hostel and straight into the throbbing heart of the youth culture, on nearby Camden Street. In a glut of organic eateries, juiceaterias, cafelounges and multipurpose pubspaces, I found the two-headed monster that is Whelans and The Village. A pair of shiny nouveau loft buildings so out of place amongst the weathered brick that I half expected them to be plyboard fronts, hollow in back. Instead, the rear end of the block offered additional entrances to musical venues atop the well-kitted throngs of the portobello and prosciutto set. I just made that ... read more

Starting with Saturday, Charles and I wandered the city. We went to the National Gallery which had some very nice pieces, including a great Carrivaggo (sp) and a Vermeer. After that, we went to the Museum of Natural Science. It was creepy as hell...it was four floors of taxidermied animals. We then had lunch in a nearby park and wandered to another park. We watched some dancers there before heading over to St. Patrick's Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral and Dublin Castle. From there we went to a church that is said to have perserved human remains that supposedly inspired Bram Stoker, but it was closed. We went by the Jameson distillery, but didn't go on the tour. After a quick nap, we went to The Celt with the crew from The Rainbow (our hostel). We had ... read more

Well, Sal and Mick arrived in Dublin from Blackpool on Tuesday the 3rd of May, 2005. It was absolutely teeming with rain and so after a brief meeting of the executive travel committee, a decision was made to jump on the first bus out of Dublin to more favourable weather. As luck would have it, the first bus was going to sunny Limerick. Unfortunately, and unbenownst to us, Limerick is not really the best location for backpackers. Some time ago, the two or three backpacker hostels in the town were shut down and converted into emergency accomodation for assylum seekers (unlike Australia, there was no barbed wire etc. to keep these people in). So, after walking around Limerick City for about 3 hours with our backpacks on, we finally located what apparently was the only hotel ... read more

So I was able to hitch a ride from Doolin to Galway and I gave Armindo €10 because gas is around $4 gallon. Neither of us knew the area but it seemed to be near the city center so he pulled over and dropped me off on some corner. It was cool that he drove me because I got to see some of the Burren which I wouldnt have been able to see without doing a tour or renting a car or something. Plus it gave me someone to chill with, i'll be honest and say im just happy to be alive because the roads are extremely narrow. Theyre not even roads really, more like paved paths so everyone drives in the middle since theyre so narrow, but theyre also driving 100km/h and around blind bends. ... read more

Today has been a long, but exciting day. We landed in Dublin a little before 8am. We got off and i got my first stamp in my passport. We made reservations at the Camden Deluxe Hotel and took a bus into the town. We sat on the top deck of the double decker bus -- that was so cool! We dropped our backpacks off at the hotel and went walking. We saw St. Patrick's Cathedral and walked through the park. The old buildings are cool to look at. We walked around looking for food, but since it was Sunday, not much was open. We walked to the Guiness Brewery. That place was huge -- it was seven floors. It was a self-guided tour, so we walked around and got educated on beer :) THey had a ... read more