Past visits to Dublin…

This isn’t complete but these are the major places I’ve been to, like what you would find on Trip Advisor as suggestions to see…

• *The Jameson Distillery – shows the history of Jameson, learn about the Angel’s share and how to make whiskey, volunteer to be a taste tester!
• *The Guinness Storehouse – interactive and technology driven, learn to do the perfect two-part pour! and learn about what a fantastic guy Arthur Guinness was (seriously, he was wonderful)
• Temple Bar – filled with tourists but worth a walk through
• Grafton Street – big shopping area, but one of the most expensive main shopping streets in the world, lots of “buskers” or street performers
• *Kilmainham Gaol – pictured above, former prison now museum, used to house political prisoners, the tour guides are incredibly knowledgable; definitely worth the visit
• St. Stephen’s Green – this beautiful park is green all year long, it’s in the city center, there is an arch dedicated to the Boer War, lots of statues; I haven’t explored it all yet but I want to
• *Dublin Zoo – LOVE, especially the baby hippo I got to see; you get pretty close to all the enclosures and animals, and a tiger came right up to the glass while we were looking in
• *National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology – what an incredible place, built in 1890 with over 2,000,000 artifacts spanning back into the BC’s, and from Vikings, prehistoric Ireland, old gold, and more, and there are even bog bodies found that are older than Jesus; free entry, you have no excuse not to try it
• Art Museum – not my favorite one I’ve been to, but there are some good pieces in here
• Trinity College – established in 1592, I did not get to go inside but hope to on this visit, but beautiful campus and the Book of Kels is in there if you want to see it (not cheaply)
• Aviva Stadium – great place to see a rugby match, provided it isn’t raining (open air stadium)
• University College Dublin – another beautiful campus to walk around if you are in the area
• Molly Malone statue on Grafton Street – major tourist spot, and one of the only places in the city you will find leprechauns besides for the super duper tourist shops
• Oscar Wilde statue in St. Stephen’s Green – made from different colors of marble and stone and laying atop a rock, he is worth a look if you are in the park (my brother Tyler got atop the rock to get a picture laying next to him!)

Drinks All Around!

Before going to Ireland the first time, my brother Brian found a fantastic article on the round system of buying drinks in Ireland. It is from Irish Fireside entitled Irish Pubs and Etiquette. I found something similar on Matador Network titled Irishmen lecture Americans on pub etiquette. As I already know pub etiquette, this is for anyone who reads this that might come to Ireland. It really is a brilliant system, and it is something I think people should consider adopting here at home and you save yourselves the troubles of splitting the bill and your waiter/waitress the hassle of dealing with you.

If you are not a beer drinker and you like cider, have yourself a Bulmer’s (not too sweet or at all foamy). Otherwise, the national drink is Guinness. Some other Irish brewed beers are Beamish, Murphy’s, Harp, and Smithwick’s, to name a few. Fox News gives good but colorful descriptions of the top 10 Irish brewed beers, more than 1 of which is Guinness.

Before you go to the pubs though, get cash. In fact, have cash available for everything if you don’t have a chip and pin. In my visits, almost no one takes American credit cards except Tesco and Penny’s. The pubs won’t take a card for only one drink either even if they do take cards. So note to yourself– bring cash to the pubs. I am in the process of trying to get a chip and pin from my credit card company but never received clear answers on whether I could or couldn’t…

As a side note for girls, I love that you can go to the pubs in jeans and a tshirt or cute casual top, no judgment. And that you know if they have food or not because they post the menu on the door (food is important to me you will learn). You don’t even have to go in and ask for a menu. If you are going clubbing instead of pubbing, dress up. Doesn’t matter if you are a boy or girl, you dress up. Otherwise, you will be the odd duck in a pond of swans. If you are American, you will stand out even more (they can spot us out easily, even if we haven’t spoken a word).

Oakley’s, Jeans, Raincoat? Summer Weather in Dublin

My most important question I have come up with so far is this– what’s the weather like? How do I pack for 2 months? I’ve lived in Indiana my entire life, I know what to expect in June and July, and I know shorts and a tank top will work on almost any day in the Midwest heat. I’ve never been to Ireland in the summer, and Joe has not been to America in the summer, so we can’t compare notes. (I’ve included the most ridiculous meteorologist names from the USA here).

This also brings up another issue– temperature there is in Celsius not Fahrenheit. I can set my iPhone to *F but no one will know what I’m talking about if they ask me what the weather is like. Handy dandy Google helped me find this picture to the left. Maybe I should print it and put it on the wall? I hope to get used to using Celsius by comparing what it is close to and going from there. Unlike my brother Brian, I can’t do the math in my head to convert it the correct way!

According to Trip Advisor (one of my favorite sites) and the Dublin Airport weather tracking, there will still be rain in the summer, so I’ll definitely still be packing my rain coat and umbrella as I have on previous trips, just in case. I also learned that the Irish weather is much more consistent than the Midwest, and they won’t have days that are 72* and sunny and then the next day have it snow and be 30* like we did here last week. It just doesn’t happen there. From May to September, Dublin is said to have a maximum high of 63* (17* C) and low of 53* (12* C). So, shorts every day is probably not an option! There is supposed to be a lot of sunshine though, and Dublin I am holding you to it! There is nothing I love more than a beautiful sunny day, soft grass to sit on, and a good book in my hand. I don’t care if I have to wear jeans or a sweatshirt to do it. Maybe I should pack our families football blanket though… the bottom is waterproof, and I read that I should expect misty, foggy rain, so the ground could be damp.

So, step one completed– find a thermometer with both temperatures on it, find the average summer weather, get an idea of what to pack. Got it.

Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.  ~ John Ruskin