Monday, July 2, 2012

Weekend Trip to Dublin

For Ben's birthday we took a short trip to Dublin. I had suggested Berlin, but Ben wanted to go somewhere English speaking :-) After having been in Austria for nearly 4 months he thought he would enjoy some other language. 
This was our first trip alone without the kids. It was great to have some adult conversations, to read a book and to enjoy a meal. But I really missed those 2 little buggers and I was glad to be home again after the weekend.

We booked a cheap flight on Ryanair (57 Euro Roundtrip per person) and got a great hotel right in the city center. We decided to spend a little more and be close to everything, rather than having to take the bus. Our hotel turned out to be in a perfect location and we enjoyed walking everywhere.

We left Austria on Friday lunch time, were a little delayed and landed in the afternoon in Dublin. We took the city bus to the hotel and checked in. We just dropped off our bags and started our tour of Dublin. We looked at Trinity College, did some shopping and went to the pubs. At the first one we had dinner (fish and chips), a the second one we chatted with some nice older Irish man who bought us drinks (Baileys for me) and at the third one we got a night cap.

On Saturday we started with real Irish breakfast, which was delicious. We then set off exploring Temple Bar, Half Penny Bridge, some local markets and took a tour at Trinity College. A history student gave the tour and it was great. At the end we were able to visti the library and the Book of Kells. 

For lunch that day we had burritos - you have to enjoy the big city options (no Mexican food in Vorarlberg) and we then walked some more, went to the Guinness brewery, looked at some old churches and castles and went back to the hotel for a nap.

For dinner we went to a great American restaurant and we got super lucky. First the wait would have been an hour, but somehow we got seated within 5 minutes. The food was delicious.
And that night we went for a movie. Again, no English movies in Vorarlberg, so we enjoyed it.

On Sunday morning we had Irish breakfast for the last time and then headed back to the airport for our Ryanair flight. We were back home after lunch.

It was a short and intense trip, but we enjoyed it and next time we will go to Edinburgh.


At Trinity University they had a Shakespeare Festival - but it was raining a lot


First night at the pub: fish and chips and beers


Guinness tastes better in Ireland


Typical Irish Breakfast

Wandering around Temple Bar

Visiting the Guinness Brewery

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