Arrival in Dublin

So Sean and I finally made it to Ireland! The flight was fine, but our rental car experience was quite the event. After not sleeping for God only knows how many hours, an exhausted Sean agrees to accepting a discounted manual transmission. He says that although he is not used to driving standard, he thinks we'll be alright. We weren't. Ireland traffic drives on the left side of the road, keep in mind. Sean had never drove like that...nor had he ever driven manual with the stick being on his left...nor did we understand the street signs in this foreign country...nor did we know how to get to our hotel among the rotaries and motorways. To make a long story short, after the laughs, the tears, and the drama (mostly issuing forth by my over-tired/cranky/bitchy attitude) we returned to Enterprise to switch to an automatic. That fixed all of our problems. We crashed in our non-touristy hotel, The Shieling Hotel, in the quiet coastal village of Reheny, North of Dublin, for most of the day, and made an excursion out to Dublin city for the nightlife.

The city itself is very quaint. The pubs all have magnificent outdoor lighting on the buildings, the black signs with the gold letters, and the vine-like flowers that pour from the second story planters, and the beautiful millwork at the bars.  There's definately modern buildings and areas, but it seemed to me like a lot of the architecture was well preserved. One of the the first things I really was intrigued by was the Georgian doors, which seemed to always be painted in a vivid bold color with a high gloss finish.  Sounds tacky, but against the drab cement, stucco, brick or stone townhouses, the colors and the intricate detailing of the millwork were phenominal. The city itself branches off from the River Liffey, where lit up footpaths and vehicle bridges span the length.

After driving our way downtown, we found ourselves at the Temple Bar area in the city center, south of the River Liffey, which has a preserved medieval street pattern and cobbled streets closed off for pedestrians/drunks. The area is always  loud and full of culture and liveliness, and as a result, we spent almost every night in this area. We proceeded to Quay's Pub for a DELICIOUS traditional Irish stew and the best Guinness ever (something very different about it out there compared to what Ive had in the States), which is brewed right down the street!

Comments

[Sean]

Haha I think this was the first day of my life when I actually feared you! Suuuuuuuuch a bad start to the trip. But we recovered, and I'm glad it happened now! "Sean get back in the @#%!ing car!" HA!!! Sorry!!

Attention all travelers to Ireland: Call to confirm the cost of your car rental. I PROMISE you that you'll be glad you did.
P.S. Rent a gps system too.

[Sean]

I need to go back!!!!! I'm experiencing severe Guiness/beef/salmon/bread/cheese/brightly painted doors/burning peat withdrawal!!!