Dublin (round two)

Just like Oktoberfest in Munich confirmed my German roots, the pubs in Dublin and the sweet taste of Guinness was more convincing of my Irish heritage than my stubborn red hair. The trip to Dublin marked my second trip to Ireland and my second time to my favorite pubs in the world…two words…Temple Bar.

Being my second trip to Dublin, I felt a sense of obligation to show my fellow travelers (the Blocks, Jason, Esther and Erin) a good time. So as soon as we landed and figured out a hotel we headed directly to Temple Bar for dinner at Quays Bar (pronounced Keys); which was of course followed up by a pub crawl through Temple Bar. This would not be my first pub crawl in the area. My brother Cody and I tackled these bars four years earlier, with similar results. To digress for a moment, in 2003 Cody and I (and parents in tow) spent our last day of our country-wide pub crawl in Ireland touring the Guinness factory followed up by drinks at the oldest Irish pub. We left the parents after pints at Auld Dubliners and Cody and I slowly made our way down the Temple Bar area stopping off at Quays Bar, Temple Bar, some other bar and ending in Fitzpatricks listening to two guys play any and all requests on acoustic guitars. We made it back to the hotel by 4 am, in time to pack and make our 8 am flight.

Ah, good times…But yet, that was 4 years ago (when I was still in my prime). This time around, our Friday night pub crawl took us from Quays Bar to Temple Bar to Fitzpatricks. Mellow considering our group, but apparently our minds were still relishing on the amazing Guinness and meat stew we had eaten for dinner.

With a full nights sleep, the crew was able to get up in time for breakfast and buy tickets for the big red bus tours. Half way through the tour, we got off at Grafton Street so the girls could shop and the guys could…well I am not sure what they did…there was talk about seeing Trinity College and the book of Kells. Shopping for the girls turned into Irish Coffees at O’Donohughes. We met back up with the guys, hopped back on the bus and were off to the Guinness factory for the highlight of the city.

Again, the girls went tearing through the exhibits in search of our free beer while the guys lagged behind to take in the facts and sights that the tour provides. (Talk about role reversals, I thought the women are normally into the touristy things and guys just want to find the bar or maybe that is just my family) While in the bar, enjoying our free drinks, I happened to meet (aka interrupt a conversation) a group of Canadians who were hockey players in Denmark. Random! Erin exchanged numbers and we made plans to meet up later.

In the meantime, it was about 6pm, we hadn’t eaten since breakfast. So we hurried home to get changed and find a place to eat. Unfortunately the process to find a place to eat turned into a two hour ordeal, with tempers and patience failing due to lack of food…apparently Guinness DOESN’T constitute a meal. After struggling to find a place that 1) was Irish, 2) could serve us within the hour and 3) had the right atmosphere, I got impatient and mentioned a great Irish brewpub called Messrs MacGuire, where I had been four years earlier with my family. BIG MISTAKE. Apparently a lot can change in four years, such as the menu and quality of food. Let’s just say we left the place two hours later still hungry (four of the seven dishes were sent back after waiting an hour to get them) and more sober (yes, a brew pub managed to run out of stout beer on a Saturday night).

Half of the crew wanted to head back to Quays Pub for food since we knew it was good. While they went upstairs to eat, Erin, Esther and I headed to the bar. A few drinks later, we were back in the game and the dinner crew headed downstairs. From Quays Bar we headed to Club M to meet up with Hockey Players. The dinner crew decided they didn’t want to go to a club and left to find a more traditional Irish Pub, I got Erin and Esther in for free. From there, the night got really interesting. The evening can be summarized by a montage of pink hot shorts with matching bathing suit tops, leopard print spandex dresses and some of the most impressive Irish accents I had ever heard… we are talking back country authentic Irish. To round out the experience, there was what appeared to be a Russian trani who was very aggressive in showing an interest in the Hockey guys we were hanging out with. The look of terror on their faces was priceless.

Overall the experience was completely different than my first trip to Ireland, but still 100% Irish. Ready and willing for round three!!