DUBLIN ROCKS!

It wasn’t a surprise to Tim and me that when the alarm clock went off at 4:30am the day of our trip,  it was more than painful to get up. Having acknowledged this the night before, we were all packed up and ready to go, so all we had to do was wake up and leave! Destination #1-DUBLIN, IRELAND. Our flight was at 7am on Wednesday, with a short layover at JFK and we were sanctioned to arrive in Dublin at 6am Thursday morning. Ireland is 8 hours ahead, but our total travel time= 15 hours. OUCH. Although we “lost” a day of travel, I see it as we gained a day because we got there so early on Thursday! Getting to Dublin was the easy part. I slept well on both plane rides, all things considered, and I was very pleased with the airline Aer Lingus. We had individual TVs, 2 meals, and more leg room and reclining action than expected. Tim however, didn’t sleep too well on either flight, so it was a grueling start to the trip. However, we were both all smiles once we saw the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, they call Dublin.

Allow me to paint one last picture of our travels before I move on to our actual explorations of this awesome city. I had the grand idea to get a spray tan the night before the trip. I was destined to be in shorts, tanks, and bikinis once we hit Italy, and I wouldn’t dare be caught without a California glow. Not having time to catch some rays, I went for the spray…Tim so nicely pointed out that not only was I getting more orange each minute of our flight (I looked like an umpa loompa), the Irish aren’t exactly known for their sun kissed tans either…so I might as well of had an American flag with the California bear stuck to my forehead. Add to that my over the top leopard print luggage, tall boots (my theory was to save room in my bag), and lack of navigation skills and you get a helpless orange blonde tripping in the cobblestone streets, and a frustrated, tired husband that is 10 yards ahead wondering why he let me leave the States! To my defense, I found this awesome sign ;)

We couldn’t check in to our hostel until 2:30pm and by this time it was 7:30am-so we had about 7 hours before a nap or shower were in site. Neither of us were thrilled about this, but we pressed onward and mapped out our day over a traditional Irish breakfast. We were staying in what they call TEMPLE BAR, which is the hot spot of Dublin. Our hostel was 2 doors down from the original Temple Bar, for which the area is named. The best way for me to describe it would be the Gas Lamp District of San Diego. Everything was walking distance and we hit the ground running with our early start. After getting our bearings on the area, we walked to St. Patrick’s Cathedral (first Church in Dublin), The Braising Head (oldest bar in all of Ireland), the Guinness Brewery (home of the Irish stout), the Dublin Castle and then back to Temple Bar for Lunch....just to name a few! All before 2pm mind you, so at this point we were delirious, but feeling good after a few beers. ;)

 Knowing the nightlife Dublin had to offer, we unanimously decided to do a Pub Crawl on our first night. Best decision we’ve made as a married couple! All joking aside, check out that adventure here.