Fri, 04 Jul 2003

author Tim	location Onboard Stena Line ferry bound for Fishguard, Wales
posted 21:24 BST 07/07/2003	section Europe2002/Europe/Ireland/Ireland 2 ( all photos )

Into Dublin ( 23 photos )
We'd hoped that Friday would be a bit more successful, and we were right. First thing was to work out what to do with the van while we were going into Dublin for a few days - no parking in there, and we were to stay with Gail, a friend of mine from working at RTA in Sydney. Chatting with the manager of the park, we managed to put the van into secure storage for the extended weekend for fifteen euros, way cheaper than we thought we could organise.
A bus helpfully pulled up right at the park and took us straight into the middle of the town - no fuss at all.
Now in the middle of yet another strange city, we needed to work out a plan of attack - first stop was the nearest cafe. Consulting city maps, we found the tourist office where we asked about places that could store our heavy pack for the day, and found one nice and central at one of the internet cafes. Of course, we popped our head into a few touristy shops to see if Dublin was any better in this regard.
By now we had a bit of a feel of the city, and it has a great vibe to it. It's been said that it's not a pretty city, it doesn't have fantastic museums, but it has plenty of life. The people we had chatted to thus far seemed genuinely happy and wanted to chat. That is strange in a commercialised big city - how Dublin does it I'm not sure, but it works well.
For lunch we found our way to the Dublin Castle, where we sat in the courtyard and ate sandwiches we had brought with us. On from there to wander the city semi-randomly, taking in the awesome Saint Patrick's Cathedral and accompanying Park, a few more tourist info places where we gathered intelligence to refine our attack on the city.
We had to get one thing out of the way - the Guinness Storehouse, home of the dark brew which you just have to drink when in Dublin. Despite the high price, the tour was suprisingly self-guided, although after a while we didn't really mind. It's not where it's actually brewed anymore - that's done down the road. Think of an all-singing, purpose-built Guinness World and you'd pretty much have it.
The history, brewing, transport, cooperage (very interesting) and other aspects of the world that is Guinness were explained in just enough detail. The highlight of the tour is the included pint in the Gravity Bar, easily giving the best views over Dublin you can get (the city has no high-rise buildings), and, the best pint of Guinness you can get anywhere. Supposedly. Even Liz drank hers, and described it as slightly less awful than usual, so that's saying something.
On the way down from there, we were suckered into the "Perfect Pint Machine". This is where they train you how to pull a pint of Guinness properly - it's not a simple task to get correct. We both had a go, and, oh whoops, had to drink the result. Great fun and we have the certificates to prove we are experts in it now.
Our ongoing text-message communication with Gail resulted in a call to meet up the road for the first time in two years or so, and we all seemed happy to see each other. After a quick wander back to get our bag from storage, we went to her place - a very new one-bedroom in central Dublin (walk everywhere!) which she had generously lent us the lounge-room of with an air mattress.
The night was supposed to be a gentle welcome of Thai dinner and then maybe a few drinks (several other friends were with us), but it somehow developed into a 3:30am arrival home, having visited a great Thai restaurant (going well so far), the trendy and truly massive "French cafe bar" Cafe en Seine (looking a little shaky) and then making it to "the biggest pick-up joint around" Break For The Border (oh deary me). It was such a great night, a good introduction into Dublin night-life.

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