Dublin | Blissfulbritt

After 10+ hours of traveling, we laboriously flop into an airport taxi. Initial laughter and shock commence after seeing the steering wheel on the opposite side of the car, it’s much different mentally envisioning what it might look like than actually seeing it.

My copilot Sam sits in the front seat, after initially approaching the drivers side out of habit. Our driver asks us where we’re going, and away we drive. A short few minutes into the drive Sam asks the question. The question. The question that is imperative when traveling to a new location.

“Where do you like to go around here?”

With minimal hesitation our adorably accented cab driver spits out the word “Howth” followed by instructions on how to get there. “Take the DART to Howth, go to The Summit Bar, and walk to the back of the pub. From there you’ll see a grand view of Dublin.”

Knowing nothing of what a “DART” was, I quickly wrote HOWTH in the note pad of my phone, after asking him twice to spell it aloud due to his unique pronunciation (of which we discovered everyone said slightly different, and I’m still not sure of the correct way to say the word.)

After a little bit of research, and lots of asking for help/directions we figure out how to get to Howth. We spend the morning exploring the tourist attractions of Dublin, and head for Howth around 2p.

The DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) is an electric rail system that takes you all over Dublin, and into other cities as well. The ride itself was grand, giving views of other areas, but upon pulling into the final stop we were greeted with a view we were not expecting.

Howth is located at the outer edge of Dublin, and is the last stop of the DART. The peninsula views were breathtaking.

We had no plans on this peninsula, other than finding The Summit Bar. Until we saw the island in the above photo. We sat, we stared, and then we saw the ferry boats.

“You guys want to go to the island?”

Ten euro later we stepped foot onto Ireland’s Eye. No second thoughts. Impromptu adventures to accompany the already impromptu trip to Howth. The procedure for getting from the boat to the island was simple. Just climb up the rocks like a spider monkey.

The instructions from the captain were straight forward, “be back before the boat leaves, and watch out for the Gannet nests.” I thought nothing of the last instruction partly because I had no idea what the hell a Gannet was, and partly because I was so enamored by the castle.

That’s when I saw them. The illusive Gannet. A bird that looks much like a Seagull. And they.were.everywhere. The nests were like landmines, one wrong step and the Gannet would cry a sound that haunts your dreams.

Rightfully so, this island is where they breed and raise their young. I tried to communicate to them that we came in peace, but they didn’t quite understand human language.

Every step became a calculated equation. Don’t get too close, and don’t make eye contact when the mother starts gurgling at you. My focus was turned to the top of the island, I wanted to step foot on the summit of it.

Uncertain of why no one else seemed interested in climbing the island, we found two other brave souls to follow. The four of us carefully avoided being blown up by the landmines and headed towards the summit.

Look close – upper right of the hill. A GANNET FACE.

The closer we got, the harder it was to find a designated path. Not that this has stopped me before, so I attempted my own. I momentarily deviated from the pack, and when trying to catch back up I slipped on a rock. And fell. On my ribs. Hard.

Too concerned with reaching the top I pushed the pain out of my mind. The pain never went away. The entire trip. In fact the pain is still here as I write this post. Over two weeks later (albeit they’re not as painful as they were at the beginning.) I definitely bruised them, and my luck would cause this to happen on the second day of the trip. HA.

Pain aside, we discovered the summit was LOADED with nests and the four of us decided to head back to the center of the island where the smart people were. But not before one of the other guys was DIVE BOMBED by the part of the equation we forgot.

Daddy Gannet.

Walking turned to jogging as we tried to avoid a painful death by Gannet. With the luck of the Irish we made it back to civilization unscathed. Never have I seen a sight like these nests, but I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.

Bruised ribs and all.

We made it safely back to the mainland and set our sights on finding The Summit Bar. The Cliffs Notes version of this part of the story is that the bar was far. Really far having already walked around for the entire day. Alas, over an hour and many large hills later we found it.

On the walk to the bar

I ate my body weight in potatoes, which tasted like angel tears and fireworks. Potatoes in Ireland are TOP NOTCH. From here we made our way to the “back of the pub” which turned out wasn’t literal, and we had to walk a little further to find the Cliff Path Loop.

Worth every mile.

We took the scenic path back to the DART station, and I slept very hard that night. I didn’t get to thank our cab driver for the suggestion because we ended up taking the bus out of Dublin to obtain our rental car the next day, but I hope the universe somehow lets him know we appreciated his suggestion.

Thanks, Jay.

Travel Tip: Always, always ask the locals where they like to hangout. Often times it’s off the beaten path allowing you to fully submerge yourself in their culture.

My trip to the Emerald Isle both started and ended in Dublin. My flight left Seattle and landed in London, then from London to Dublin and vice versa. Despite the 8hr time difference, our first night in Dublin we went out to explore. This was both an attempt to get on schedule with their time zone, and because…well…Dublin!

We arrived around 3pm Ireland time, 11pm Seattle time. And stayed awake until 9pm Ireland time…you can do the math.

The city center itself reminded me of a slightly smaller, less busy Seattle. That is if Seattle had random castles and cathedrals at every corner, and if Dublin had 10x more Starbucks locations. Dublin was the only area I saw a handful of Starbucks locations until I reached Cork nearly a week later. I didn’t mind though, who wants Starbucks in another country?

Not I.

Dublin Castle

The city itself is very walk-able. We chose not to get our rental car until leaving Dublin, which was a good move. There is limited parking, and I can assure you I would have been 5.76% more stressed if I had the car. We chose a hotel close to the city center and covered over 30 miles on foot in the first two days.

There is a pub on every corner in Dublin just like there is a Starbucks on every corner in Seattle. You don’t have to worry about getting thirsty, or hungry. We stopped into the iconic Temple Bar, but didn’t stay long. Just enough to say we went. 😉

After wandering the city and grabbing a bite to eat, we retired to our hotel for the night. We chose hotels and B&B’s for this trip, all of which were fantastic aside from the two Dublin locations. They weren’t terrible, but they weren’t great either. The following morning after day one in Dublin I went for a run around the city.

Irish people seem to come alive a wee bit later than I’m used to, and it was great to run through the city with minimal people. The weather was cooler than the previous day giving perfect running temps. I ran by the city river, through the streets, passed cathedrals, and donut shops. Mmm. Donuts.

I didn’t worry about getting lost because on day one we located a large spire that quickly became a point of location. No matter where we were, we could always see the spire, and from there it was easy to find our hotel. Navigation level expert.

Even if I did get lost, the people in Ireland are so friendly. I lost count of how many times I asked for directions in Dublin. Without a cell phone to navigate location we relied on good ol’ fashioned verbal directions. It was fun.

The spire

Doors of Dublin

Where we stayed: Nights 1-2 we stayed at Hazelbrook House B&B, but we were disappointed to learn that we had to pay extra for the second B. No breakfast, small room, and uncomfortable bed. Alas the location was perfect so it was fine.

Night 10 (final night) we stayed at Dublin City University, because they rent out the dorms in the summer. It sounded awesome, but the beds were worse than Hazelbrook. The walking paths nearby were lovely though, and it was very close to the airport. Again, not so bad.

Edible Highlights: The donut that broke the camels back was found at Off Beat Donuts. Before departing Dublin at the beginning of our trip we wandered the city a bit more. Not much was open (remember, everything comes alive later than in the states) but the donut shop was.

This was the catalyst to my “eat everything” mantra.

Sweet mother of pearl. That donut filled my soul in ways I cannot describe. It gave me the green light to put away my food fears and just eat. Everything. My vegan friends would be horrified, but I was liberated. The food in Europe is nothing like in the states, and I felt better physically than I had in years. Yes…years.

Cheers to that.

Live music, mini farmers markets, friendly people, Dublin was a great start to the trip. My next two posts will share more of Dublin with my trip to Trinity College and the Guinness Factory, as well as a spontaneous adventure to the outskirts of Dublin.

Travel tip: Ask for directions. The people in Europe are very friendly, and this allows you to gush at their awesome accents.