Luck of the Irish

This weekend Mara and I became Irish for the weekend as we embarked on our journey to Dublin. I got there Friday night and Mara and I met up with her two friends from college, Zane and Jeff, and we all headed out for the night. Even though you are legal to drink in Ireland at 18, some clubs and bars have a 21 age minimum. Why that is so, I couldn’t tell you. But I wasn’t going to let an age limit ruin everyone’s night, so I put my sneaky skills to the test and ended up getting past the bouncer and into one of the clubs. Besides that minor speed bump the rest of the night felt like a typical night out in a European club.

view of Killiney Bay

On Saturday Mara and I took advantage of the beautiful weather and headed down to Dalkey, which is a small town on the hill overlooking Killiney bay. We got off the tram at Killiney, a stop past Dalkey, so we could walk up the cost to enjoy the scenic view. We were also tipped off that we would be passing Bono’s house on the walk, so we kept an eye out for an extravagant house. Well, little did we know that all the houses on the coast would be stunning with gorgeous gardens and massive property overlooking the bay. So with our hopes of knowing which house was his shot we continued on to Dalkey admiring different properties we passed. Once we climbed the hill in Dalkey we were stunned by how cute of a town it was. After walking around a little and seeing the remains of old castles we headed for lunch at The Queens, where it was rumored that Bono hung out. And as our Irish luck would have it, right as we were paying our check Bono walks in and sits at a table directly behind us! Not wanting to disturb him too much, we listened in on a few of his quick phone conversations, whoops! But to our amusement he greets his friends on the phone by saying, “Hey, it Bono.” Hmm, if Bono was calling me I think I’d know who he was! Anyway, after mustering up the courage, well more like getting caught taking a sneaky picture of him by his friend, we had a short conversation with him and his blonde long haired friend about castles in Dublin. After our awkward encounter with the rock star Mara and I met up with her friend Jeff and he guided us to a cliff where we could see the entire city of Dublin. The view was incredible. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Mara looking over at one of the properties we passed

"Hey its Bono"

view of Dublin from the top of Dalkey

Malahide Castle

On Sunday, we had a very low-key day. We started it off by watching Jeffs soccer game, he plays for an Irish club team, and ended it at the Guinness factory. The factory was pretty cool, and it made Guinness start to grow on me, but I’d have to say the Heineken factory was much more entertaining. Mara and I made up for our low-key Sunday with a tourist packed Monday. It started with a stop at Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. After that we took a 3 hour bus trip to the northern castle Malahide and a small fishing port. At the castle we learned a lot about the nobles in Dublin and the history of the Irish. It was also very interesting to hear about the Protestant and Catholic disputes from a Catholic Irish point of view. After our excursion we walked around Dublin, saw he Temple Bar area (which wasn’t that exciting) and then ended our day with a romantic Farris wheel ride.

There are two things about Dublin that struck me as noteworthy. One, the people are very friendly! Everyone we met on the streets gave us directions and advice on what to do and see in Dublin. Plus the strong Irish accents were refreshing. And two, they sell an amazing (alcoholic) cider called Kapparberb. It’s actually made in Sweeden, but the Irish love it (and did I)! Today I leave for Copenhagen to see Lauren and then after that its off to Vienna and Budapest!