A USD280 fare is too hard to pass up when you can actually fly to a different country in a different continent. So when United/BMI offered this super low fare to Dublin, Ireland, I took it up without much hesitation. After all it was President’s Day weekend and Dublin, for its lack of tourist attractions, would make a perfect relaxing holiday destination over a long weekend.
As usual my friends, at least those who have yet gotten used to my travel style, thought I was crazy to fly to Europe just for a weekend. It turned out that I was not the only one doing so. On my flight from London Heathrow to Dublin, the other two passengers seating next to me were also heading to Dublin for a long weekend. Both from Chicago, one was here to drink beer (yes, that is the highlight here) and the other one to see her boyfriend (aw… sweet).
There is not a whole lot to do in Dublin for a tourist (except for drinking) but there are definitely a few things to check out here. First there is the Dublin Castle. Frankly, It pales in comparison to the other century-old Castles that I have been to in Europe. There is also Trinity College and its famous old long- room library. For avid dark beer drinkers, you have to pay a visit to The Guinness Storehouse. The National Museum and National Gallery charge no admission fees for those who want to learn the history and art of Dublin. Shopperholics will enjoy the pedestrian only Grafton Street (which frankly is much shorter compared to other shopping streets I have visited). Nevertheless, they can find a few designer and boutique stores here offering quality and fashionable merchandise. For park lovers, you have St. Stephen’s Green (a much smaller version of New York’s Central Park). Lastly, for the ultimate pub crawlers, you have the entire city of Dublin offering you traditional Irish pubs for your enjoyment, especially in the Temple Bar area. This area reminds me a lot of the neighborhood that I reside in New York (Gramercy Park) since it is filled with Irish bars, especially on the strip of Third Avenue between 14th and 34th street. Dublin is also a very walker friendly city, with a few spots to avoid however, especially late at night.
The Irish are not known for their foods unless you are a big fan of corned beef and cabbage. Fortunately there is a growing appreciation for ethnic food in Dublin in recent years, mainly Chinese, Indian and Middle Eastern cuisine. When travelling abroad, Chinese know never to visit a Chinese restaurant that, in its attempt to "chink-up" the place, displays Chinese characters that are completely wrong on its window. Unfortunately there is a lot of these authentic wannabes in Dublin. Refusing to give in to the low standard of Chinese and Asian food in this city, I survived on Middle Eastern food and pizza during my stay here. They were delicious and reasonably priced. Speaking of price, Dublin is not that inexpensive of a city to visit. Food prices here are comparable to those of New York City.
No one can visit Dublin without visiting its bars/pubs. Under the assumptions that Irish were heavy smokers, I was a tad worried when I realized I had forgotten to bring my bottle of Febreeze only to breathe a sigh of relief when I found out the pubs/bars here were all smoke free. Apparently they passed the no-smoking law back in 2002, way earlier then when New York started enforcing that law. The bars/pubs here stay open until 2:30am-3:00am. Of course beer is the most common beverage ordered here, even at gay bars. There are only five gay bars in Dublin, the most famous ones being The George and The Dragon. They are both located on S Gt. George’s St., not too far from each other (both of the same owner apparently)
There appears to be many Chinese workers in Dublin. From shopping malls to gay bars, I saw many Asian faces performing chores like busting tables, checking in coats, cleaning hotels and collecting money to the bathroom. I also saw them biking everywhere and that reminded me of a typical Chinese city. I asked a local why there were so many Chinese migrant workers here. Apparently the Irish government allows foreign students to work up to 20 hours in this country. Unfortunately, many of these students abuse the system and work more than the maximum hours allowed. Many of them also signed up for English classes with institutions here but did not bother to attend classes. These institutions did not report their truancy to the government since many were set up to make money from these foreign students whose main purpose of coming to this country was to work. Well, I am sure some of them would argue that it was more effective for them to learn English from their jobs than from a lecturer. Besides the Chinese, you will see a lot of Polish migrant workers here too. They mostly work in construction and are needed to support the growth of the Irish economy.
I never had so much beer in one night until this trip. I am actually "beered" out! It also did not help that the bartender at one of the bars I went to was a Chinese guy. I spoke to him in Mandarin and he started pouring me free beer all night (never underestimate the power of Mandarin when you travel). The Dubliners are very friendly people. They also drink a lot. Who can blame them with such constant gloomy and rainy weather they get? Fortunately for me, the weather was sunny during my entire stay here. Yes I lucked out on the weather indeed.
All in all this was a relaxing trip. I drank and slept a lot (actually, passing out after getting intoxicated was more like it). I also ended up with a bigger beer gut than what I had wished for. It is time to dust off my gym membership card and put it to good and frequent use.
