Since James Madison University generously gives their students off the entire week of Thanksgiving, I was fortunate enough to visit Dublin, Ireland to visit my sister who has been studying abroad there this semester. I traveled alongside my older cousin Tara, neither of us having been to Ireland before, let alone Europe. We planned to stay for four days (Saturday to Tuesday) to visit my sister and tour around Dublin. Coming from a crazy Irish and Scottish family, we were excited to be traveling to a place that we’ve heard about our entire lives and to have the chance to put on our best Irish brogue!
Time change
Since we’ve never traveled to Europe, the time change was definitely something to get used to. Our flight out of JFK left New York around 9 p.m. our time, and arrived at Dublin at around 7:40 in the morning. Ireland is a five-hour time difference from New York, so we were a bit jet lagged. It was extremely hard to go about our day especially while wearing yesterday’s clothing and feeling like it was 3 in the morning. We arrived at our hotel, which looked over River Liffey, dropped off our bags and headed to breakfast at a small café called Mochaland. There we had sparkling water and toast with jam to hold us over until lunch. Breakfast helped ease us into the beginning of the day, though we took a well-deserved nap as soon as we received the call that the room was ready. The time change was definitely a large struggle for me throughout my entire trip in Dublin, though I don't recommend letting the jet lag get to you. There were times that we wanted to sleep until 1 p.m. but if we did that, we would have missed out on some of the many things Dublin has to offer! My tip is to fight the jet lag, drink some espresso and go about your day. You got this!
My sister and I in Dublin! Photo taken by Erin Feltkamp
Pubs
Upon arriving to Dublin, my friends and family who have visited raved about the nightlife, pubs and most importantly, the beer over in Ireland. Everyone said that the beer that they had was the most fresh and crisp beer they’ve ever had, so I was excited to try for myself. Since my sister had spent her entire semester living within the city, she knew of many different bars and pubs to go to, ranging from popular tourist bars, to local “old man’s pubs,” as she calls them.
Here is a list of bars we went to:
Temple Bar Pub
Bad Bob’s
The Quays
Fitzsimmon’s
Glimmerman’s
Many people know the Temple Bar area as a typical spot for tourists to get dinner and drinks. Temple Bar area is filled with twinkling lights and cobblestone walkways. I felt like I could have been walking through Epcot in Disney World. The only downside was that the streets were extremely packed with tourists and locals, let alone the bars. We spent our first night checking out the bar scene, where we decided to walk into a bar called Temple Bar Pub, which was decorated beautifully with Christmas decorations. The beauty of the bar took my cousin and me by surprise, though we were not impressed by the amount of tourists and lack of personal space. The next couple of nights we spent in Dublin my sister took us around to the more local bars, which were not too far away from our hotel or the heart of the city. We went to Glimmerman’s (the typical “old man’s pub), which was lined with old rock band posters and random paintings or findings. The seating was an array of different kinds of couches, with clashing pillows and chairs. There were also two fireplaces, which customers were encouraged to hangout by, since the weekend was quite chilly. Our favorite bar of the trip was by far Bad Bob's. Though we are still unsure about the meaning behind the name, we continuously had a good time with good service there. At Bad Bob’s, we were able to escape the crowds of tourists, while still allowing us to meet people and have a good time. Plus, Bad Bob’s has a live cover band every night, which is sure to bring in a fun crowd. One of my tips for the bar and pub scene in Dublin is to look outside of the box for the less tourist-populated establishments. I realized that almost every place I went to has a live band or DJ every night. Plus, the less popular bars are most likely to have the cheapest drinks.
Temple Bar Pub. Photo taken by Erin Feltkamp
Guinness Factory
Though the Guinness Factory is most likely the top tourist attraction in Dublin, it was one of the major highlights of my trip and I definitely recommend visiting. While making your way to Guinness, be sure to type ‘Guinness Storehouse’ into your GPS to avoid walking to the warehouses rather than the tour. Tickets are 18 euro and each includes a free drink. If you did not purchase tickets beforehand, no need to worry. You can purchase tickets for the tour at the door for 18 euro as well. There are seven floors of the tour: the Guinness retail store, brewing story, the Arthur Guinness story, tasting experience, world of advertising, Guinness academy, restaurants and the Gravity Bar. While on the tour, I was able to learn about the process in which Guinness is made, while ending with tasting a refreshingly cold Guinness (yes, they drink cold beer contrary to popular belief). The most interesting parts of the tour for me were the tasting experience and world of advertising. In the tasting room, we were given a “mini Guinness” and were taught the correct way to drink it. Hint: breathe in, take a sip and let the liquid hit all sides of your mouth, swallow and breathe out. I surprisingly found the taste of the beer a lot more enjoyable after this experience. Though, I’m not sure if I just appreciated the free tasting. The world of advertising interested me from a public relations major perspective, because I was so amazed how the advertisements have changed from the beginning of Guinness to today. And of course, how could I not be amazed by the view from the Gravity Bar? The bar overlooks the entire of Dublin, and we were lucky enough to get to the top just as the sun was setting. See the beauty for yourself in the picture below!
Fresh brewed Guinness at the Guinness Factory Gravity Bar. Photo taken by Erin Feltkamp
Guinness Factory Gravity Bar. Photo taken by Erin Feltkamp
All in all, Dublin was a great mini-vacation before I headed back to New York to enjoy Thanksgiving with my family and friends. If you enjoy pub hopping, plenty of belly laughs and some good old fish n’ chips, Dublin should be at the top of your list. I don't think I’ve ever laughed so hard with people I’ve just met, or had a better time at a bar full of strangers. This place is surely a place I will come back to in the near future, and hopefully I can experience different areas of Ireland then.
