Blog Post - Dublin

Crossing the pond and moving 9 hours ahead of time zones was tough. It was my first time jumping more than 3 hours, and it took me many naps and three full days to get acclimated. Luckily, Dublin in July is wonderful because it stays light until almost 10:30 PM because it’s so North. I’d never experienced this before, and I loved it. My trip to Dublin was the perfect introduction to Europe. From the moment I arrived, I was captivated by the mix of rich history, the vibrant nightlife, and the warmth of the locals.

New Friends

I made amazing friends over my first two nights in Dublin! The night that I arrived was the 2024 Euro Cup Semi-Final soccer match between England and Netherlands. While watching the game, I met some incredible people from all over the world. On my second night in Dublin, I joined a pub crawl where I met two guys from California (San Diego and the East Bay). They just graduated college and were coming to the end of their Europe trip. For the remainder of my time in Dublin, I hung out with some combination of all these people.

Golf

I really wanted to play golf in the UK and made it happen at Howth Golf Club, only a 30-minute drive from downtown Dublin. The course was short but very narrow and challenging. I lost many golf balls into the thick bushes lining each hole. Thank goodness I brought a bunch of balls from home - I needed all of them. Links-style golf is hard because I don’t hit it very straight. At an American course, when I hit it sideways, the ball usually ends up on another hole. Despite the difficulty, the course was beautiful, and the weather was perfect. I got paired up with another American from upstate New York who was a great player. For lunch, I had a chicken salad and coleslaw sandwich with onion and cheese potato chips. That flavor of chips is extremely popular in Dublin.

Comedy Club - Adam

In Ireland, they have a saying, “Good Craic,” which means fun. It was very fitting that the famous comedy club in Dublin was named Craic’s Comedy Club. I went to a show with my aforementioned new friends. The show was excellent. We got there early, and just before the show started, a guy came in and sat in the seat in front of me. When he walked up, I turned to my new friends and said, “This is my best friend’s cousin right here.” After he sat down in front of me, I tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Adam, it’s Angelo.” He turned around and we couldn’t believe that we sat next to each other at a show on the same night halfway across the world by chance. We ended up partying that night after the show and then hanging out the next day, too.

Guinness

There was no escaping the influence that Guinness has on Ireland. It was everywhere. I like it, although it is not my favorite style of beer. I had enough Guinness for a whole year in the 5 days I was there. This picture was from the legendary Guinness Storehouse that houses a factory, museum-style tour, and sky bar that looks over the city. The only thing they served at this sky bar was, of course, Guinness, and they poured it non-stop. There is an exact science to pouring the perfect pint of Guinness, which they invented and mastered in Dublin. The storehouse was a few miles away from the Temple Bar area. However, the sky bar was on the 7th floor with a 360-degree view. It was my opportunity to see Dublin from above. If you continue through the blog you will see I love landscapes and city views.

Overall

My trip started with a bang! Other highlights were hanging out with people I know from home: Daniela and Conor. In addition, I walked around Trinity College and went on a walking tour to learn about Dublin’s history. Everything was good Craic. I swear they had Guinness running through pipes underneath the city to all the pubs and restaurants. Each place must pay their Guinness bill, just like water and gas.