Dublin and Van Morrison

This past weekend I went overnight to Dublin to see a Van Morrison concert. Van the Man, as he is known in my family, is a Northern Irish singer and has been a family favorite since before I was born. My parents say they don’t have a song, but I know it’s either “Into the Mystic” or “Moondance.” Anyway, as soon as I knew I was going to be studying in Ireland, I started looking up tickets to go see one of his shows!

I ended up going alone (surprise surprise), but what is a surprise is that, the more I travel alone, the more I enjoy it. The concert was on Sunday night, so I decided to take a super early bus that morning to make the most of my time in Dublin. I chose a hostel called Abbey Court Hostel because its location had remarkable reviews, and it did not disappoint! For 16 euros a night it had clean dorm-style rooms, single bathrooms, a beautiful kitchen, a bar, common space, a hammock room, and was minutes away from all the major attractions. It was full of young, lively travelers, and I got a weirdly amazing vibe from the place and kind of just wanted to hang out there.

Dublin is twice the size of Cork but still only has about 500,000 people, and the feel is pretty on par with what you’d expect based on those kinds of numbers. It feels much more modern and ‘big city’ than Cork, but it doesn’t compare to Chicago or even Philly. It has all of the major amenities while still maintaining the cobblestone streets lined with pubs and all of the Irish charm and feel I’ve come to love beyond words!

The hostel was only a couple blocks away from the famous Grafton Street, so after picking up a salted caramel doughnut from the specialty doughnut shop next door (not as good as Beiler’s, but sufficient) that’s where I headed first. Grafton Street is the famous high-end shopping street in Dublin, so it had all the typical pricey stores you’d see somewhere like Michigan Avenue, but packed into a lovely cobblestone street that was already decorated for Christmas. I ended up walking up and down it aimlessly for a while since I couldn’t actually afford to buy anything but knew it was a must-see tourist spot.

Right off of Grafton is Trinity College, which I also wandered around for a bit. When I was deciding where to study abroad, I had the choice between University College, Cork and Trinity College in Dublin. While either would have been lovely, I am soooo happy that I chose Cork. In Cork I live amongst Irish people while they go about their daily lives. I shop in Irish stores and go to pubs with locals, while the area around and even on the Trinity campus is absolutely swamped with tourists. Trinity also houses the famous library with the Book of Kells, but I couldn’t bring myself to pay 15 euro to stare at some books, so I ended up just sitting outside in the sun for a bit. From there I walked to the Temple Bar neighborhood and sat in some festive pubs listening to traditional music: the perfect Irish afternoon.

But of course, the highlight of the trip was the concert. Van Morrison somehow has a richer voice in concert, and he put on a nice long show! He is also very tiny and super unsocial; he never said a word to the audience or cracked a smile the whole concert, which I thought was hilarious. I had a surprisingly good time attending the concert alone and just took a book and read while I waited for the show to start. I still stand by the statement that a good book is the key to solo travel!

The next morning I woke up, got (complementary!) breakfast at my hostel, and headed to the Guinness Storehouse to take a tour of the famous brewery. The tour is self guided and walks you through all of the components of producing Guinness beer, from selecting the ingredients to advertising and everything in between. Guinness is a dark stout beer, and it’s the high-intensity roasting of the barley that gives it that rich color and caramel undertones. I also learned that the same strand of yeast has been used in Guinness since it was first made, and that strand is so valuable the the head of the company keeps a tiny bit of it locked in his office safe just in case something happens to all the rest. At the end we learned how to properly pull our own pint and then got to sit in the rooftop bar that overlooks the entire city of Dublin to drink it. The tour made me feel strangely emotional about Guinness, and I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a pint so much!

My weekend in Dublin was short but sweet! While I'm going to miss Ireland something fierce, I'm starting to really look forward to my parents' visit and to getting back to America. But, as they say in Dublin (or at least at the Guinness Storehouse), "Like pulling a pint of Guinness, good things come to those who wait." Check out some pictures below, and stay tuned for my next post that will document the 10 day solo backpacking trip I’m currently on in Italy!

Cheers!

Summer