Top o' the Morning (or, night) to Dublin, Ireland!

On July 4, 2013 we did the most Americanly (Google says no spelling suggestions, but just go with it) patriotic thing possible and booked a trip to yet another European city. While we couldn't be in the States, we still made sure to celebrate big time with a weekend in Dublin, Ireland.

The weekend began with frantic rushing to the airport. We left on a Thursday, directly after class and only had 3 hours until our plane departed.

My roommate and I decided to take the train to the airport to save the 6 euros it would cost us for the Aerobus. We took the metro to the train, couldn't find the train station (HOW), got on the wrong train, had to ask a passenger for directions, jumped off at the nearest stop and hailed a cab to the airport. We did not end up saving the 6 euros.

Flights are cheaper through RyanAir, so that was our airline of choice. Because they're so cheap, they're also more strict on bag size restrictions and have a complicated process to check passports and boarding passes before going through security. Hurdle #2.

Hurdle #3 was passing the long line of impatient Europeans to get our passports stamped in the EU only line so we'd have enough time to run to our gate. (The guards checking Passports were exchanging donuts and talking to children. Not a lie.)

Despite all the struggles, we made our way onto the plane and to Ireland!

Landing and getting to our Hostel was a breeze. We stayed at Skybackpackers on Dublin's north side, and were within 5-10 minutes walking distance to everything we wanted to see. The building was an old recording studio where U2 and Van Morrison (among others) once recorded. They play up the whole music theme and, let me tell you, the Irish LOVE to drop U2 into any conversation.

It was such a great location and while it felt like I slept on a sheet of slate, I recommend it to any young person visiting Dublin.

We checked in, dropped off our bags and immediately headed straight to the Old Storehouse in Dublin's Temple Bar for some traditional Irish food.

Smithwick's, Harp, Bulmer's - Ireland's drinks of choice. 

Beef and Guinness casserole with champ! Cleaned the plate, no doubt. 

 Don't think I let the day pass without showing my patriotism to the USA. Of course, I wore red white and blue.

In front of the River Liffey

We spent the night celebrating the Fourth at Bad Bob's and woke up the next morning for a walking tour of the city.

In 18 cities across Europe, you can find SANDEMANs New Europe tour guides. They're usually daily tours that leave at 11 & 1 and cover the main history and attractions of the city. We got to see and learn so much about Dublin that wouldn't have known just wandering around by ourselves. Oh yeah, they're also free.

Courtyard outside the Dublin Castle. 

Trinity College.

Trinity College.

Bank of Ireland

Grafton Street

Taking it back to some Irish folklore, we also got the chance to see what Leprechauns are really like, hear their history and channel our imagination at the National Leprechaun Museum. We really acted like big kids making our way through the Giant's Causeway, climbing on the furniture in the "giant's house," learning about faeries and becoming Leprechauns ourselves.

Our hostelmate, Jo Hannes! He's from Germany, learning English and we hung out with him all weekend. 

"Errbody dat see a Leprechaun say yeeeaaa!"

After resurfacing our inner children, we made our way to a more mature, adult attraction - THE GUINNESS STOREHOUSE! I loved Guinness before traveling to Dublin, so it was interesting and exciting to see how it's made. 

The storehouse was six stories of Guinness history.

Stand in front of each decade-decorated television and you can see old Guinness commercials. So cool to see how ad styles have changed over the years.

When in doubt, pinky out. 

A huge screen with the world's social media reactions to Guinness & the Storehouse. Love it.  

At the top is the Gravity Bar, with a 360 degree panoramic view of the city.

Ben and Jo Hannes

Plus, when you finish the tour, you get a free pint!

Mi amiga, Andrea!

We ended the trip with a night out with our new German friends, a chocolate-filled lunch at The Sweetest Thing cafe (U2 reference) and a painless trip back to our 'home' in Barcelona.

PS - Yes, I did have to think of the most stereotypical thing possible to name this post. 

You can find more pictures from my trip to Dublin on my Flickr account.