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I like the sound of Urban Adventure. It just oozes city travel fun. For the last 10 years or so we’ve done a series of what we call Urban Adventures – really short trips to cities simply to be tourists, see what’s what, and taste what the city has to offer. These are really the only times we allow ourselves to be tourists. Anyone that knows us knows that we generally hate what tourism has become and tend to do our traveling in longer, slower, more casual and respectful bites.
Over the last decade or so of our travel escapades, our Urban Adventures have taken us Valencia (Spain), Venice (Italy), London (England), Paris (France), Munich (Germany), Barcelona (Spain), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Singapore, Rome (Italy), New York, Austin, Seattle, Portland, Denver, Washington DC, Chicago, and others and they all seem to take pretty much the same form.
We book dirt cheap, last-minute flights, find a cost-effective place to stay right in the heart of the city, and we walk…a lot. We try to hit most of the bigger tourist attractions that are suggested by so-called travel experts – sometimes just to walk by to be depressed by the crowds, but often we do go in if they are of serious interest (or not crowded or free). We find street food, small bars, take public transit, and try to do what locals do for food and drink. Then, poof, we’re out. These aren’t long trips. They are simply chances to feel the vibe of the city and the people.
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Where this time?
Our latest Urban Adventure took us to Dublin, Ireland for a quick in and out. Total time spent, like 3.5 days – which is actually about a day longer than most, but we met friends there for a day and shared some time and a few pints.
Why Dublin?
Well, like I said before, we met some friends there. But, beyond that, we had never been and have been told by many of our peeps that it was a must-visit (although sometimes I think they say that because they like going to places that are filled with white people who speak English…it makes them feel safe while still saying they are “traveling”). That, and Irish history has always been a bit of a blind spot for me that needed correcting.
What were the highlights?
Although we do use these trips to hit as many of the attractions as possible, I generally only talk about the ones I actually liked or are somewhat unique. Yes, we did just about everything, including the “castle” and cathedral, National Gallery, Trinity College, the Long Hall, and the Book of Kells, took a hop-on-hop-off bus tour, walked through their parks, had a whisky tour and tasting and hung out at pubs in Temple Bar. But there were a few that stood out.
The Contemporary Photography Museum of Ireland
As usual, the best cultural / exhibit experience is not on the travel menu or Tripadvisor. This museum was holding their 2022 PhotoIreland Festival. Needless to say, we like photography. The exhibit was free to the public and was billed as a comprehensive overview on the history and art of photography in Ireland. It was a tad raw and somewhat amateurish at points, with lots of hits and misses, but was definitely an interesting display of photographic styles. There was certainly some good art and perspective, including a few of the video installations, and I am super happy to have stumbled onto it right across from the Dublin Castle. Trust me, the photos were better than the Dublin Castle.
Half Day Bus Trip to the Glendalough & Wicklow Mountains
Normally, I wouldn’t be caught dead on a bus tour, but this one was a quick chance to get out of the city and see some of the countryside. We started early and grabbed the bus right outside our hotel, got front row seats on the bus, rode up into the country and got to take a quick 2 hour hike around some lakes, old castles, temples, and mountain valleys. It was really pretty, the tour guide was quippy and interesting, and we were back by noon. Not too bad. That, and getting a chance to escape the hoards of people in central Dublin even for a few hours is recommended.Oh, and cheers to the guy playing the Cranberries over the bus intercom during our ride back into the city. On brand and classic.
Food and Drink Scene
This was the winner for us. Often, we struggle to decide our food options on these things, but Dublin has a great mix of food and drink that made it easy. It’s on the pricey side (€20 for a bowl of chili and chips and €8 pints are a tad high for my fixed income budget these days, I guess), but options are limitless. We had really good breakfasts, pub lunches, a couple bistro experiences, and lots and lots of beer. Like most other modern western cities, there is ample ethnic and cultural variety and I probably could have kept trying new places for a month. Good stuff. Yeah, there are thousands of pubs basically selling the same 4 beers, but it’s still good.
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Love – Hate – Ate
Love
La Cave Wine Bar and Restaurant
We found this killer little wine bar in the basement of an old building. They said it was the oldest wine bar in Dublin (1986 is still old) and had a great little French bar / speak-easy vibe. Small but really good wine selection – we drifted from Rhone to Tuscany – and offered a more than adequate cheese sampling.
Hate
Guinness Storehouse
Jesus, what a clusterfuck. That place was way too busy, over touristy, and a pointless waste of €26. The “tour” is worthless (not that I needed more info about how beer is brewed), just a walk around to see some posters, video screens, and displays trying to describe their “process” and then into a stark white room to crowd around and smell some aromatic smoke with 100 of your closest friends before getting your first 2oz taste of Guinness in a dark room gussied up to look like a pub but filled shoulder to shoulder with even more people. Hey, at least they have this great top-floor bar overlooking the entire city where you can get your free “I paid for the tour” tour pint. Sadly it is packed with hundreds of loud people that made we want to flee for my own sanity. That place sucked. Just go to any number of pubs within a 5 minute walk of the place, get a Guinness and save your money.
Ate
The Boxty fries at Gallaghers Boxty House in Temple Bar. Were they just fries? Yes. Were they fabulous? Fuck yes. It’s the simple things.
Random Thoughts and Useless Observations
- They love sheeping. There are more sheep than people in Ireland.
- Dublin is kinda like a grittier, rougher, more trashy (in a good way) London…but still just as expensive
- Trash is everywhere and it doesn’t seem to be rare to see puke, blood, and actual human shit on the street
- Dublin is definitely where American capitalism goes to vacation…and clearly where Americans go for International travel
- Panhandlers are a tad judgmental – This guy walked by our table, cup in hand, asking for anything to help. I reached in to my pocket and grabbed the only coin I had (I mean, come on…I never have cash). It was a 20 cent piece. When I dropped it into the cup, the guy heard the sound of one coin landing on the paper bottom, looked down, shook his head, and sighed a sigh of total disapproval as if to say, “Seriously, that’s all I get?” Then he gave me look, rolled his eyes, and walked away muttering something under his breath. I know it’s not much, but Jesus.
- And, as always, my “don’t ever be the fourth guy” rule is in total play here in Dublin. What’s that, you ask? Well, any video on YouTube of a guy taking one in the nuts, getting blasted out of a cannon into a tree trunk, or flipping his ATV off the roof and onto his head always happens when there are four guys together. One guy is good. Two is fun and friendship. Three guys together starts to get a little sketchy, but hell, put four guys together and someone is going to the hospital that night. The testosterone won’t allow for a chill evening. Need any further info on this theory, just go to Vegas any night of the year.
- For a place that has such a bad heroin problem, it’s surprising to see that they built an art installation that appears to be just a giant dirty needle sticking straight up into the air.
The Take Away
Dublin is worth a couple days, and if you want to stay longer, you gotta get out of the city, explore the countryside and check out some villages. Learning more about The Troubles (just 300 years of Catholic/Protestant – IRA /British rule shit) continues to fascinate and scare me. So does the history of Irish people being shipped to America during the famine. But what got me more was a genetic theory making the rounds lately saying that all the beautiful people got abducted by the Vikings back in the day, draining the gene pool in Ireland and culminating in there being a ton of beautiful people in the nordic countries. Gotta be honest…hadn’t heard that one before.
What’s the craic?
