Jessica Writes

How we got there

We flew Aerlingus to Dublin Airport from Amsterdam. It was a short 1 hour and 10 minutes. We took a 20 minute ride on a bus to town, it was cheap and makes very frequents trips to and from the airport.

Accommodation

We got an apartment for three nights through www.staydublin.com. The price was very reasonable, and it was located within walking distance of the Temple Bar area and Grafton Street (main shopping district). We did have several problems, though.

Our apartment had two bedrooms, a full kitchen with washer and dryer and a living room. A fuse was out, so the TV, washer and dryer, oven and mircrowave did not work. The iron was also broken, which caused Chris, an ironing freak, great distress.

When we informed the reception person, he promised the issues would be resolved, but it took them two days. Also, whatever chemical they used in the bathroom, it was so harsh I found it hard to breathe in there and we ended up having to prop the door open so I didn’t get sick just being in there to shower.

The beds were not good, and it was quite noisy. That wouldn’t have been too bad if the other issues had no existed. We did arrange for a 60 percent discount, but Chris has yet to call Expedia.com, who we actually paid and reserved through.

If we get the discount, this review will greatly change and I would probably reccommend them to others.

Transportation

We were able to walk to most places including Temple Bar, Grafton Street, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin Castle, Guinness Storehouse (we didn’t walk back, though) and other popular spots.

Entertainment/Eating

Oliver St. John Gogarty (Gogarty’s)

I got sick while we were in Dublin, so we only got to go to one Irish Pub, and we actually ate there as well. This was a large place, three levels: a bar on the first floor, a bar with small stage on the second and a nice restaurant on the third.

We ate dinner and then went downstairs to hear some music. The band was great, and featured a man and his grandson as part of the group. It was very lively and the crowd sung along. The entire building was packed with tourists but everything still felt authentic and didn’t lose its charm.

http://www.olivergogartys.com/restaurant/

Major sights we saw and would recommend

Guinness Storehouse

If you like beer the least bit, this is worth a visit just to drink a beer high above Dublin. For more details, see my post here. Or, check out http://www.guinness-storehouse.com/.

St. Stephens Green
This city park is quite lovely, and a nice place to picnic or take a rest after shopping on the busy Grafton Street shopping district. There is a large pond, and little hidden trails in the bushes, as well as a large green area with lovely flowers.

That’s pretty much all I can recommend in Dublin. If I didn’t get sick, I think I might have had some more for you.

I haven’t posted since Sunday because I picked up a nasty cold, and it has really affected what we have gotten to do.

After leaving Dublin yesterday, we caught a short flight to London. The city is awesome — the combo of old and new, similar to New York city but not quite. We took a walk through the theater district and purchased some discount tickets to see We Will Rock You, the Queen musical. Chris really wanted to see it, I would have preferred seeing Kelly Osbourne in Chicago but I have been a drag the last few days so I let him choose.

We ate dinner at a great little cozy restaurant and checked out a pub. It was a great night.

Today, we got up will all the intentions to see the major sights of London. First we went to the Tower of London, which was fascinating, and we got a great historical tour from a Beefeater (a Yeomen Warder) — guards of the Tower of London.

My favorite highlight was seeing the crown jewels. The royals definitely had some bling going on. We saw what is the second world’s largest diamond, 530 carats!! It was unreal.

We also saw the axe that beheaded Anne Boleyn, and I just finished reading a historial fiction about her — so that was cool in a grisly sort of way.

After the Tower of London we went to Westminster to take a look at Big Ben.

Then that was about all the excitement I could handle. We’re heading to the theatre soon (hopefully with a quick stop at Harrods first for some shopping), and will grab a late bite to eat before coming back to the hotel to pack.

We will definitley need to come back to London sometime time, we only got to scratch the tiniest of surfaces here and there is much more I would like to see.

Tomorrow, we head to Paris!

Today Chris went home to the motherland. No, I don’t mean Ireland, I mean he went home to the land of the perfect pint. He went to the Guinness Storehouse to see how his favorite beverage is made.

See the giddy excitement as Chris arrives on the premises.

Chris gets schooled on the health benefits of Guinness.

At the gravity bar, we each got a perfectly poured pint. Note the shamrock froth, and Chris’ greedy little hands impatiently reaching for his long-awaited Guinness.

I personally preferred the view of Dublin over the Guinness. You could see the city at 360° - an amazing view.

We took in the Police concert last night –it was hilarious to see our fellow concert goers in the crowd of 50,000. Men in suits arm-in-arm swaying to the music and singing at the top of their lungs and a family of four, a son around 12 rocking out with his beer drinking older brother, probably 15, and two hip parents. It was an interesting sight.

After the concert, we hit a few pubs and ended the night with a taste of what was to come as we stopped in an Irish pub and listened to Johnny Cash and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Today we landed in Dublin, and it was warm and sunny — very unusual for this part of the world. We took a long walk around the city center, through Trinity College and then lingering at the picturesque Saint Stephens Green park. We watched the ducks and little children rolling around gorgeous, bright flowers and the greenest grass I have ever seen. Now its about 10:30 pm and we are off to a corner pub for some dinner. Tomorrow, we’ll travel to Ennis and I learn more about my married namesake!

An amazing sight — Blue skies!!!