The benefits of a local guide

While in Dublin I was staying with my friend, Lester, who I know from philosophy classes at school in Singapore, and who is currently on exchange at University College Dublin.

Alright, alright. So really he isn't Irish-local. But he's been in Dublin for nearly two months now, and that's nearly two months more than I was in Ireland! The great thing about staying with someone who knows the city is that you're with a person who already knows the city, and thereby already knows the best things to do (and the things you shouldn't, or that are overrated).

Funnily enough or not, lunch on my first day in Dublin was Japanese food, mainly because I've been going without my fix of tempura, ramen, and generally awesome Japanese food for a while now and I'm starting to really, really miss sushi and sashimi.



We also had a nice wander around the Dublin streets, which I felt a bit better about doing because at least with Lester I wasn't too afraid of getting lost in an unfamiliar city! And for all the music geeks out there, you will never guess what I found...

Now I know what you're thinking. What the hell is Handel's name doing on a hotel in Ireland? Well apparently, this site used to be a music hall - in fact, the very music hall where the first performance of Handel's Messiah was performed in 1742!!!!!!!




Handel's Messiah is amazing. With a capital A. Amazing. It's got some of my favourite female voice pieces in there - Rejoice Greatly, He Shall Feed His Flock, all great pieces and songs I'd love to be able to perform one day! I'm not religious, but music is proof that there's some sort of divinity out there.


Okay I'll get on to the rest of the Dublin writeup now because you didn't come to my blog to read about awesome classical music. LOL

We also took a nice stroll around Temple Bar, the main club/pub/nightlife district in Dublin. I didn't really go into anything because I'm not terribly into alcohol, but the atmosphere in the area was buzzing with lots of people!

Plus, policemen on horseback!!! There are no words. And bagpipers. Even outside of Scotland, you can't escape the bagpipes, which you can hear from a mile away, they're so loud!

Dressed in green for Ireland.

The next day, we headed out to a superb sunshiney day that made the birds sing and the trees shine! There were falling autumn leaves that made everything look so beautiful :)

We went to St Stephen's Green, which is a nice park near the centre of Dublin. There are even swans on the pond! I love how common swans are this part of the world - they just seem to be everywhere, in every random pond you go to. I've seen more swans in the past two months here than I've seen in 21 years!

And of course, the beautiful changing autumn colors in the leaves :)

I also really like how it's a real, proper park with dogs running around playing fetch and everything :)

After that, we went to Grafton Street, which is one of the major shopping areas in Dublin.

It was all pretty alright - the usual stuff, Boots, H&M, Acessorise - until I saw a Disney store and practically went nuts.

ROWS AND ROWS OF CHILDHOOD ON STORE SHELVES. I love Disney!!!!!

There was even a wee Merida section for the latest Disney film, Brave!

Seeing if I fit into Merida's dress :p

There's also a section for all the Disney princesses!

Damn, I LOVE Disney. I would have bought something from there - the only thing that was stopping was thinking that there's no way I could fit everything into my bag and got away with it on RyanAir...

We had lunch at Bewley's cafe, which is pretty nice.

Bewley's is apparently one of the two best-rated cafes in Dublin, and I'm definitely not going to dispute that - the food is delicious and the decor is gorgeous!

Where else would you find stained glass windows in a cafe?!

Bewley’s Café
78/79 Grafton Street
Dublin 2
Tel: +353 1 672 7720
E-mail: gs@bewleys.ie 

Monday-Wednesday: 8am-10pm
Thursday-Saturday: 8am-11pm
Sunday: 9am-10pm

We then went to Trinity College Dublin to visit the Long Room and Book of Kells, which is a manuscript of the four Gospels in illuminated manuscript. It's definitely one of those must-do things in Dublin; being in a place that old surrounded by artefacts and items that old yet well-preserved is a truly humbling experience.




The Long Room Library is about 200 years old - rows and rows of books upon books, old worn covers, ancient bindings, and all sorts of topics. It's quite marvellous as you come up the staircase and enter the Long Room - for just the briefest of moments, it really does take your breath away.

Part 2 of the Dublin trip will be coming up soon - featuring Christchurch Cathedral and crypt, and more awesome cafes in Dublin!

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On November 9 I will be hitchhiking to Amsterdam to raise funds for the Edinburgh Student Charity Appeal and associated charities. If you haven't already, please help by donating via Virgin Money-giving here. Thank you everyone!