The Emerald Island

We flew Aer Lingus from London to Dublin (less than a two hour flight) and really enjoyed Aer Lingus. It was the first time we flew them. The flight was not full and the flight attendant noticed when we got on the plane that we were traveling with friends and said that if the row behind us did not fill up, he’d move our friends closer to us. So nice and I feel like you never experience something like that on US domestic flights!🤗 Anyway, the row behind us ended up getting filled, and I had some big responsibilities on this flight sitting in the emergency exit row, so it’s best I did not have any distractions. 😏 Aer Lingus takes safety very seriously. I was in the middle seat but they made me move to the window seat (it was empty) in the event I had to open the emergency exit 🤣 Not sure how much help I’d actually be in that situation, but it was cute of them to genuinely think I could. 🤣🤣

Anyway, when we were coming in for landing in Dublin, I quickly realized why Ireland is often referred to as the Emerald Island. Everyone tells you how green Ireland is, but you really can’t comprehend it until you see it for yourself. Unfortunately, I did not take any pics during landing because I was sick and my ears were popping SO bad!

Dublin

I’m just going to say this now and get it out of the way- I did not like Dublin. Please don’t @ me. ✌🏻

Don’t get me wrong, the people there were lovely and the food we had was amazing, but Dublin just didn’t do it for me. I was sick as a dog in Dublin and maybe that had something to do with it, but I really felt like all there was to do in Dublin was drink. I love popping into local bars and pubs to have drinks, but I like doing that mixed in with other activities, and Dublin didn’t seem to have too many activities other than drinking (crazy Irish 😜). We spent three days in Dublin (we also spent the last night of our trip in Dublin) and I think that was the perfect amount of time.

We stayed at Brooks Hotel, which was awesome and I highly recommend it if you’re planning a visit to Dublin. Dan and I somehow got upgraded to a suite and it was amazing! It also came in handy because of how sick I was. Dan had his own space to watch TV while I slept and when I called for room service, I had a table that I could eat my dinner at. I also discovered that they have their own movie theatre (could be a good option for kids or a rainy afternoon).

I also have to say that getting around Dublin was very easy. When we landed we got a 3- day travel card at the airport, which gave us unlimited access during those three days to the bus, train, various bus tours (like hop on hop off, ghost tours) and airport travel. A tip for fellow travelers who plan on taking the bus in Dublin- you need to flag down the buses for them to stop. It doesn’t matter if you are standing at the bus stop-if you don’t flag them down, they won’t stop. Learned that one the hard way lol. 👋🏻

All the Dublin Things:

We did do all the stereotypical things people go to Dublin to do or see- Guinness, Jameson, Trinity College and we toured Kilmainham Gaol (an old jail). I recommend getting tickets in advance for all of these places, especially during high season. I’m not sure if there is an official tour of Trinity College, but the campus is open to the public and we simply walked through it while we were on our way to the train station. Jameson was better than I thought it would be. We did a secret tasting, which I recommend as it was more personalized and then had whiskey cocktails at one of the three bars they have on site. I had some kind of rhubarb whiskey cocktail that I’m still dreaming about! I don’t drink beer, but the water I had at Guinness was seriously the most delicious water I’ve ever tasted! 🙏🏻 Dan swears I was high on cold medicine, but the water supply comes from the Wicklow Mountains (I also did not know that Ireland had such beautiful mountains) and it was heaven. I wish I could have bottled up that water to take home with me LOL. 🤣

We did not tour any churches and did not visit Dublin Castle, although we did see it from the outside (kind of hard to miss). I would have liked to see Dublin Castle, but I don’t feel like I need to go back to Dublin just to see it.

Howth

The real gem of Dublin for me, and I think Dan would agree, was a small fishing village about a 20 minute train ride outside of Dublin called Howth. We got the recommendation from a local and it did not disappoint.

Howth is on a peninsula and there are hiking trails that take you all around the peninsula. The trails are listed as “light, low intensity” trails. I somewhat disagree. Again, I was still pretty sick, but I thought they were a little more strenuous. I definitely did not wear the right shoes, so that’s the one thing I’d call out about that. I definitely feel that the average person could do the hike, but make sure you wear sneakers or even hiking shoes, if you have them. I also recommend dressing in layers and packing water and snacks.

The village center (which included a Starbucks to my surprise) is lined with boutiques, cute restaurants that serve fish and chips and Guinness, and a playground that was filled with kids and their dotting parents. For me, Howth was my true introduction into Ireland and its culture.

We ended up spending the ENTIRE day in Howth and really didn’t want to leave to go back into the city. We both fantasized about buying a house in Howth and living happily ever after. While Howth is small, they seemed to have everything they needed-grocery store, florist, hardware store, shops, restaurants, etc. It seemed like the perfect place to live out your days and I find that my mind still wanders there today. I try to convince Dan we should go for a long weekend! 🙊

We spent one fabulous week in Ireland and I feel like we’ve only scratched the surface! We did a lot while we were there, so I’m going to break Ireland out into a few posts. Stay tuned for more Ireland shenanigans!

Slainte!

-Steph, xx