A couple weekends ago I visited Ireland… a place that wasn’t high on my list, but turned out to be one of my favorite countries so far. The scenery is beautiful, the people are kind, and the Jameson whiskey is my new drink of choice.
Maggie and I did our first trip just the two of us and although Lea and Traci were missed, it was one for the books. We flew into Dublin on a Thursday and checked into Generator hostel. This was one of the cleanest hostels we stayed at, was in a central location, and had very friendly staff. After putting our stuff in the room, we were hungry, so we walked to some traditional, Irish… barbecue, ha. Lately I’ve been getting a bit tired of eating the same traditional foods over here so to have something that tasted like home was amazing. And honestly, this was some of the best barbecue I’ve had. Maybe because I haven’t had it in a while or maybe because it really was that good, either way, I’d highly recommend The Meat Wagon.
After eating some good southern comfort food, we went to the Dublin Castle. I’m going to be honest, compared to some of the other castles I’ve been to, this one wasn’t my favorite. We did learn quite a bit about Irish history, but other than that we would only recommend this place if you have some extra time or are a major history buff.
After the castle we headed to Jameson Whiskey Distillery. We were hoping to do a tour of the place but unfortunately it was too late, but we did have a drink at the bar and Ireland has officially turned me into a whiskey girl. Jameson, ginger, and lime y’all, YOU HAVE TO TRY IT!
That night we went on a pub crawl organized by our hostel. It went to a bunch of different pubs in Temple Bar, which we later learned is a huge tourist trap and locals aren’t caught dead there… but us Americans thought it was pretty dang fun.
The next day we did an organized bus tour of Galway and the Cliffs of Moher. After a three hour bus ride, the tour started in Galway, where a tour guide shared a bit of history before we had some time to ourselves. Galway is known to be much richer in history and more local than Dublin and we had the opportunity to walk around and admire the architecture, pop into some of the shops, and have a pint at a local pub.
After Galway, we were driven to the Cliffs of Moher and wow, they were stunning. This should be an absolute must on any Ireland trip.
Our tour also took us to the Burren where we were able to watch the sunset before returning to Dublin.
For dinner, we stopped at a local Irish pub where Maggie and I were asked to be wedding dates for a couple guys at the bar. If we didn’t have to take a tour bus three hours back to Dublin, you can bet your bottom dollar we would’ve went. Not because we were interested in the dudes (sorry boys) but because I was suddenly so curious to see what an Irish wedding was like… I’m going to go on a limb here and say its the best drunk party ever.
The next day we had a few hours in the morning before leaving for Cork, Ireland for the second half of our trip. We started at Kilmainham Gaol Museum, which is an old prison (four euros, buy tickets ahead). This was my favorite museum we did in Ireland.
We also visited the National Gallery of Ireland (free), which hosts work by Picasso and Monet and we walked across the Ha Penny Bridge before loading a bus for Cork!
Dublin and Galway are both cities I hope I have the opportunity to travel back to, they are such parties!
As always, thanks for following!
