After a whirlwind final morning in London, which included a tour of Buckingham Palace, we made our way back to Heathrow to catch our flight to Dublin. We were seriously pushing it on our timing but we made it just in the nick of time and got there right before our flight began boarding.

After we got checked into our hotel, the first order of business was finding a SIM card for Brett’s phone so we could make calls and look up maps. We walked through St. Stephen’s Green, and made our way out to Grafton Street. We found a mobile kiosk and got squared away and then headed on our way to find some local grub.

We ended up at The Hairy Lemon which served up an AMAZING beef pie. Whoever said the Irish can’t cook must really hate food, because everything I ate in Ireland was incredible.

We went and explored the Dublin Castle which is really cool. You can just walk right into it and there is a really pretty green space in the center with gardens that you can explore.

The next day we walked around the city, saw St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Christ Church, and the River Liffey. We got caught in an Irish rain storm which went as quickly as it came and finally made our way to the Guinness Storehouse at St. James’ Gate. It’s an awesome experience. You get to walk around the storehouse, see the water that comes in from the Wicklow Mountains, see and smell the hops that are used, and you can even go through the Guinness Academy where they teach you how to pour a proper pint of “the black stuff” and become a certified pint puller. From there you can hang out in the Gravity Bar which offers a 360-degree view of Dublin. On the windows are silhouettes of what you’re looking at; like Phoenix Park where the Dublin Zoo is located.  

We walked through the Temple Bar area later that night, and while I’m glad I got to see what the fuss is all about I am REALLY glad we weren’t staying there. Too noisy, busy, and touristy.

The next day we spent more time walking around the city and just taking in the beauty Dublin offers. We walked to the Jameson Distillery where they explain their triple distilling process and walk you through each step of the process. Pro-tip: if you do the tour and they ask for volunteers, volunteer. They are going to let you do a whisky tasting comparing Jameson to two other whiskys; you’ll get a “diploma” afterward, too. In addition to the tour, your ticket gets you a drink of your choice between two options. I passed on my drink and got Brett an additional whisky.

We ate at some really awesome places while we were in Dublin; I had a great lamb stew at this farm to table place just off Grafton Street. We ate dinner at a place in Temple Bar called Boxty where I ate the best beef stew EVER. Finally, we ate at a place we had seen on Bourdain’s show The Layover called Crackbird where we had some really good chicken.

After three days in Dublin we decided to take a day trip to Belfast. My Mom’s friend just so happened to be in Belfast while we were in Dublin, and since she lives 1,800 miles away when we’re in the States and was only an hour and a half away in Ireland we decided to drive up and meet her and her boyfriend for dinner.

We used Airbnb to find a place to stay in Belfast and ended up staying at the quainest little house with the most Irish lady ever. It was awesome.

Stay tuned for the final portion of our vacation!