Dublin is small enough to make you feel at home, but big enough to easily keep you entertained for a weekend. It is therefore the perfect city break when you are out of annual leave days, but still would like a change of scenery. Bring a boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, friend or dog and explore the city with an umbrella (needed).
Walk down Grafton Street and its fellow shopping streets and buy a warm Irish jumper at the Aran Sweater Market. Take a walk around Dublin Castle, a very colourful sight with a lovely garden. Have lunch at FishShakCafé and Instagram your prawns with the charming decor in the background.
There is very little you need to pre-book to enjoy yourself, but the one thing you don’t want to miss out on is the Guinness factory, known as Guinness Storehouse. Buy tickets online and collect them at the venue to skip the queue. Diageo, the company that owns the dark ale, built this museum/ treasure hunt house/ information centre for grown ups who would like to behave like children. You can see how the beer is made, the old commercials and marketing tactics as well as attend the Guinness Academy and learn how to poor a pint of Guinness properly. You then get to drink that pint with a magnificent view of Dublin. I personally fell madly in love with the fish on a bike. The fish was a marketing attempt by Guinness a while back with a fish peddling along on a bicycle.
Once you are done with Guinness Storehouse (takes up to four hours if you really see everything), head on to a proper Irish pub with live music. We tried Darkey Kelley’s near Christ Church Cathedral. Otherwise Queen of Tarts looked great from the outside and is something we would like to try next time.
Spend the Sunday looking at the Book of Kells inside Trinity College and see the AM-AZ-ING library on the second floor. Anyone who likes looks will not want to leave and may find some inspiration in organisation and rolling ladder arrangements.
Head down to the canal and Grand Canal Square to see Bord Gáis Energy Theatre and the strange red poles outside. Apparently it’s supposed to look like a forest, but unfortunately comes across as unfinished fibre optic broadband digging. Better luck next time architect!
Take an early evening flight home from Dublin airport and look at all the crazy photos from the night before.
