After an early wake up call, a bunch of sketchy trains, a couple getting intimate next to me on a plane, and some odd smells in the airport we finally arrived in Dublin. Dublin was almost exactly how I imagined it. Being the American that I am, attempted to hop into the front seat of the cab only to realize that it was the drivers side because now all the cars are flipped and people drive on the opposite side of the road. On the way to our Hostel we asked our cab driver, who happened to be listening to some MJ, what there was to do in Dublin. His response “Well ya get drunk, of course…” so taking his advice, the first thing we did was head to a little pub called Gogarty’s. We stayed there and had a few pints of Guinness and some traditional Irish grub and like always were immediately given attention by the locals and a group of Englishmen who dressed up their best friend in a Penguin suit for a stag party. Once again, I think the majority of the attention was a result of the pack of girls we travel with. The bros and myself then headed out to explore while we left the girls to have another pint or two.

We then headed to Fitzgerald’s Pub (Below) for another pint and watch some of the Arsenal - West Ham soccer game. After that we decided to check out some non-Pub related activities for a little while and head back to our hostel to change and then go meet up with the girls.

When we arrived back at Gogarty’s the girls had a few too many pints and baby Guinnesses and decided that’s where they were gonna spend the rest of their night. David, Wes, and I then headed to the famous Temple Bar to meet up with the other group of girls who were in Dublin that night. To make a long story short, the majority of the night consisted of going from pub to pub until we found the one for us. The one for me happened to be a little bar upstairs from one of the pub where two men were playing some blues music. I stayed there for about an hour and then headed home because a few of the girls were getting tired.

The next day consisted of more of the same. This time we headed to the Guinness Factory in Downtown Dublin for a tour of the museum and a tasting of a few of their different brews. We were able to see a lot of the unique parts of Dublin on the way there and I realized how great the city really is. Everyone is very friendly and pleasant to be around and oddly enough it reminded me of being home in New York. When we arrived at the factory we were told that we were doing our tasting first and then the museum. Mistake on their part. After getting to try a few of the different brews we were able to pour our own pints.

Of course I crafted the perfect pint and then proceeded to drink it perfectly. We then headed up to the sky bar (below) to have another pint or two for good measure before going into the museum. Personally, I really enjoyed the museum because I am interested in the brewing industry and enjoy Guinness but because there was such a large group of us, many of whom were hungry and a bit intoxicated I went through the museum a bit faster than I should have in order to appreciate all the different exhibits.

After a stop for lunch, where I had my first bowl of traditional Irish stew, we headed back to the hostel to get ready for the night. For the rest of the night we went to a small bar a little out of town to watch the superbowl. I turned 21 at midnight and it was great to be able to celebrate with everyone having fun watching the game. It was also great cause the Steelers lost, sorry Nick.

As much as it may have seemed like the weekend consisted of Guinness and walking around town from pub to pub, Dublin was a very interesting city and it was nice for a change to be able to live like the locals and enjoy the city with so many different people. I would have liked to have seen Galway and the surrounding areas but it wasn’t happening this time around. I look forward to going back to Dublin someday because I think it really has been my favorite city so far, just edging out Munich. Yes, there may be a connection there…