Dublin, Ireland – May 2019

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The train from Llandudno Junction arrived at Holyhead after about an hour. The train station and the ferry station are in the same building and the transition is incredibly easy. The Irish Sea crossing starts in the station where we were herded onto a bus that took us to the ferry. After a couple of hours at sea (relatively calm in our case but not always), we entered Dublin Bay and passed the Poolbeg Lighthouse, which you can walk out to from the city.

We caught the city bus at the ferry terminal. Called the Dublin Bus, it requires cash to pay on board, and surprisingly, I have found the drivers to be a bit grumpy. That was also the case on this day. We were able to scrounge up three euros each and climb aboard. The stops are clearly announced on a screen and through a speaker, but somebody does have to push the Stop button if you want to get off. We succeeded in disembarking at Talbot St near Connolly Station. This was a 20 minute walk to our Airbnb on Primrose Avenue, and we stopped at Madigan’s for lunch. They offered a salad bar which was good but more tuna salad and bean salad choices and not the same as a salad bar in the US.

After a rest at the Airbnb, we ventured out to master the tram, a modern version of the streetcar, which is called Luas, Irish for speed. Luas requires that you purchase a ticket prior to boarding. Fortunately, the tickets are available at each of the dozens of stops. There are just two Luas lines in Dublin, one basically goes east-west and the other goes north-south, and these lines connect to other public transport on the edges of the city. Once you understand this, it’s pretty straightforward to use and it costs about three euros ($3.30) per ride.

One final note about navigating cities in the UK, especially if you’re not from the UK. Cars are coming at you from a different direction. This is dangerous, and I have often found myself forgetting to look LEFT instead of right. I think I just have to visit more until I get used to it!

Even though there’s only two ways to look, and you’d think that wouldn’t be so hard, these reminders at the crosswalks are extremely helpful.

Enough lectures about how to get around and live through it. We took Luas from Broadstone to the Dawson St stop and headed over to Grafton St. This is a pedestrian street with nicer shops, crowds of people, and street musicians. It’s fun to walk to but it’s mostly high end and touristy shops. It is also right on the edge of the Temple Bar Neighborhood, the real heart of Dublin’s nightlife. We wandered haphazardly through, stumbling upon many interesting places. We stopped at Grogan’s for pint.

Grogans Pub is one of many great places in Dublin, especially when the crowd is pouring out and we can drag stools across the street to drink a pint.

We came upon the sexy and solid Molly Malone with an electric guitar soundtrack behind her. We ended up having a dinner of terrific tapas at Fade St Social.

The Ha’ Penny Bridge carries pedestrians over the River Liffey from Temple Bar to the north side of the river.

The csat iron Ha’ Penny Bridge was built in 1815 as an alternative to the seven ferries that floated pedestrians back and forth across the River Liffey up until that time.

We finished out the evening watching a great father-son duo playing music at the Trinity Bar. We had breakfast the next morning at Lovin Spoon where the South American owner creates a jovial, fun atmosphere with her laugh.

The owner of Lovin Spoon in Dublin ducks behind the counter to avoid being in the picture. She’s a riot.

Then we boarded the bus to the amazing Newgrange which you can see here. Later that afternoon, back in Dublin, we went to The Cobblestone for some outstanding traditional Irish tunes. Check out the banjo player who looks like she’s about 12 years old! This place was packed. I’m standing in front of the pub’s entrance to the left, and to the right is solid people between the bar and the wall. It’s a very festive, upbeat atmosphere.

The Cobblestone has regular drop-in acoustic music sessions, and patrons gather around in the tight space to enjoy the remarkable music.

After dinner at the nearby Oscars, we went across the Ha’ Penny Bridge to Merchant’s Arch where a crowd was watching a couple guys playing pop songs. This was our last night in Dublin and our flight was heading to Chicago the next day. I always find this bittersweet at the end of a vacation, a mix of leaving these memories behind and a desire to be home again.

In the morning, we caught the Dublin Bus #16 at the Upper Dorset St stop, and, for three euros each, got a lift to the airport. The Dublin Airport is pretty easy to navigate. The security lines went quickly although we had to do it twice – once in the normal fashion and then in customs, our bags were again sent through machines. We went through US Preclearance in Dublin where US Customs agent screen people before they board. It was quite minimal and painless, and when we arrived at O’Hare, we were free to go with no customs processing at all.

Below is the bus stop, view from the second deck of the bus, an airport sign to US Preclearance, and the plane! Dublin is part of a 10 day trip to the British Isles.