The Emerald Isle

A few weeks after our weekend in Belgium, Tamara and I were off again, this time for a week in Ireland. We'd booked ourselves on a tour that would take us around both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The tour meant staying in hostels - something I'd only done once before, in Belgium. I wasn't looking forward to that part of the trip, but at least I had a seasoned pro with me. To be honest, I can't see myself staying in a hostel again if I can help it!

We flew out on the Sunday, arriving in beautiful, sunny Dublin. After breezing through immigration (and then waiting forever for Tamara - having dual citizenship is awesome :P), we made our way out of the airport and over to the big green Paddywagon bus, which would take us to Paddy's Palace, where we spent our first night. Our tour was to begin there the next day. I'd pre-booked the hostel, only to find out on arrival that they didn't have our booking. Of course. Luckily though they got us into another room, only and 8-bed instead of 4, so they refunded the money.

That drama over, we headed down the street for lunch and a little exploring. We were staying around the corner from the spire - known, amongst other things, as the Stiffy on the Liffey. Trust the Irish to tell it like it is! Other names for it include the Rod to God, the Binge Syringe, the Erection at the Intersection and a few others. I snapped off a couple of quick photos, picked up a sub from Quiznos, and then we continued down O'Connell Street. We had a map with us, and decided we wanted a photo of Little Britain Street, so headed for that. From there it was pretty simple. We were a short walk away from the Jameson's Distillery, so when in Ireland...

We didn't want to do the tour, but we did settle into the comfy leather chairs at the bar for a drink. Keeping in mind that I hadn't had a drink for over two years at this point, it only took one - very slowly sipped - drink to make me feel a bit of a buzz. Tamara thought this was hilarious, and laughed at me over it for the rest of the week!

We left the distillery and then headed back towards the centre of town. The weather was still glorious - sunshine and happiness! We wandered along the side of the River Liffey (unable to escape Essex no matter which country we were in), past another of Dublin's fine memorials, the Tart with the Cart, known more formally as Molly Malone. She too has other names - the Flirt in the Skirt, the Dolley with the Trolley, and the Dish with the Fish, along with a few more. Standing beside Ms Malone was a guy in a giant leprachaun costume. We also saw him at the end of the week, which I'd find somewhat odd, but hey, it's Ireland.

Just up the street from the Tart is a park. We decided to join in with the rest of Dublin and cob a squat and partake in a bit of people watching. It was awesome to sit in the sun and not have to think about how much work I wasn't doing and all the other dramas that were going on at the time. Eventually thought, like all good things, the time came to move along. The sun was starting to go down and it was a bit too cool in to sit in the shade. We soon warmed up though. Tamara, on one of her previosu trips to Dublin, had been to a restaurant called Luigi Malones. She had a vague memory of where it was, and wanted to go there again. Turns out she didn't really know where it was, and we walked all over Dublin, on both sides of the river, before giving up just near the Temple Bar region, and of course stumbling straight into it.

The food there was sooooooooooo good. We made early plans to go back there for dinner on our last night, just so that we could try more of the menu. Just thinking about it makes me want to go there now! By the time dinner was finished with, we decided to head back to the hostel as we had an early start the next morning. It was certainly a great start to the trip.