Ireland:Dublin & Galway March 2012


This will be a less definitive guide to Dublin and Galway as I am blogging this from memory but I will try and relay as much as I can in as much detail as I can. I must say I never had any desire to go to Ireland but some of my friends from across the world were coming together in Ireland so I had to make the trip. Any boy am I glad I did, first and foremost the Irish are some of the nicest most friendly people I have ever met. They are helpful, considerate and polite. I went to Dublin on St Patrick's Day and it was an unforgettable experience. There were hundreds of people lining the streets and a sea of green, white and orange from hats to scarfs and jackets and gloves. All the pubs are exactly like all the other 'Irish' pubs I have visited in foreign countries, old, mahogany and full of loud, rowdy and drunk Irishmen :) There is also copious amounts of Magners and Guiness, Dublin itself is quite expensive, especially today but it's to be expected and fine for one night. Every pub is packed and there is a lot of singing and dancing. We partied the night away in a few Dublin pubs. I cannot remember the name of the pub but they are all very similar so you will get the Irish experience in any of them. 

Shopping wasn't a main priority on this trip so I cannot tell you the good places to shop, the same goes for hotels unfortuneatly as I stayed with friends. 

After we recovered from the drinking on St Patrick's Day we drove down to Galway, which is a university city. Galway is on the other side of the island and takes about 3 hours from Dublin. Whilst in Galway we frequented several pubs and went to a lock in which I would recommend. It's quite fun and a good way to talk to locals. 


The highlight of my time in Ireland was visiting the Cliffs of Moher in Clare County. They are very beautiful but stay away from the edge if you're afraid of heights like myself. The Cliffs were featured in one of the Harry Potter films. 


Other tourist destinations in Ireland include the Jameson, Guinness and Magners factories and St Patrick's Cathedral which I didn't have a chance to visit this time and some of the other cities including Belfast and Cork. 

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