Our first impression of Dublin was that it was not as appealing as Edinburgh – it’s dirtier and not laid out as well, feels a little more crowded, and generally we didn’t feel as safe walking some of the streets. However …. we still had a ton of fun!

Our favorite things:

• Kilmainham Gaol: This former prison (gaol is the Irish word for jail) housed many political prisoners and lots of children. The youngest was three years old and spent two days there for begging. This jail closed in the 1920s and was really nicely refurbished by a bunch of volunteers in the 1960s as a tourist spot to tell the story of the 1916 Easter Uprising. (also a photo of us in front of Ha’Penny Bridge below).
• Jameson Distillery: We had already done the distillery tour in Edinburgh, so we opted for a cocktail making class. A ton of fun! We made a whiskey sour, an old fashioned and a whiskey punch. All very good!
• Trinity College Long Room Library & Book of Kells: Book of Kells is interesting, but not what I really wanted to see. The Long Room Library is the star – holding over 200,000 books on two stories. It’s very Harry Potter-esque. Super cool to see it, although I thought the floating earth – an “art installation” in there right now – cheapened the view.
• Phoenix Park: There was an unusually sunny afternoon in Dublin (rains here literally every day), so we decided to take a walk in this park that is twice as big as Central Park. We happened upon the zoo and decided to wander through it for a while. There were animals … and small children .. it was a zoo (a nice one).
• Guinness Storehouse: This 7-story celebration of all things Guinness is wonderful. Sure, there’s a tasting. And yes, you wander through a lot of exhibits that explain how they make Guinness taste so great (check out the water video below – super cool – sound on!). But the real beauty of this place is the sheer size of it and your ability to wander at your own leisure. And the 7th floor circular bar with your free pint of Guinness – “free” being a relative concept here since you pay for it with your entry fee – but the wonderful 360-degree view of Dublin is quite nice while you’re sipping your pint. A couple of fun facts about Guinness:
  • They claim each pint has more than 300 million bubbles. I was like, how do they know, did they count them???!
  • When they pour a pint, you can see the bubbles at the bottom of the glass flowing downward. They say those bubbles are then going up the middle and forming the head on the top of the glass, which is supposed to be 12-18 mm thick.
  • There is a group of professional tasters who meet each morning at 10 a.m. to make sure all is well in Guinness land.
• Temple Bar: This neighborhood is famous for a ton of pubs with live music. We visited a few, including the namesake Temple Bar.

Overall a good time, and we kept up our nightly gelato habit. Got to have priorities! 😉