Dublin: Europe JAM Trip Day 1

18 July 2023

My first overseas international trip! This summer I went on a 2 weeks European trip. The beginning and end I travelled alone, but the bulk of the trip it was myself (Jonathan), my best friend from college Amber, and her husband (and my close friend) Mark. I have lovingly coined our travels JAM trips, so this is my Europe JAM 2023 blog.

Day 0. These two bags carry everything I'll have for the next 2 weeks. My new friend Tony gave me this luggage recommendations and I am so thankful. He touted that it was 'perfect' for travel, with lots of zipped up pockets, and it would be everything I need for a long trip. It did not disappoint. I am so happy with this purchase, and it was a very affordable option, especially compared to other options.

1st destination: 24 hrs in Dublin here we come! I've been dreading long international/oversea flights, but it was actually great, and I'm happy I decided to plan my trip over here with a day layover so I could see an extra country. I took a red-eye, leaving Seattle Monday night. The airline served me two hot meals (including the quintessential beef and potatoes) and I had no one next to me, so I had both the window and aisle seats to myself. It was a rough start with 1 hour of sleep on my 8.5 hour flight to Ireland. To add insult to injury, after we landed we all had to wait an extra hour before being able to disembark the plane. But Tuesday morning I stepped foot in Dublin!

I received my first passport stamp from Ireland immigration! Then, I took a bus from the airport to Temple Bar Area, met a lovely ICU nurse from San Francisco and talked about life and travel. I'm already more extraverted now than my usual baseline. Travel excites me!

My first destination was Trinity College, taking in the beautiful buildings and scenery. It reminded me a lot of University of Washington Seattle (my alma mater), with the gray skies with lots of greenery. I didn't want to wait in a long line, and with a total of 20 hours in Dublin I purposefully skipped the Library and Book of Kells, to get in everything else I wanted to see, especially while there was still daylight.

Next, I zigzagged through Grafton Street, listened to a bagpipe player, walked through The Duke Dublin pub (I wasn't hungry yet, but I wanted to say I had been there), and headed to St. Stephen's Green, a beautiful park, lush and serene.

Then I visited Dublin Castle, took in the gorgeous interior and artwork (that 2D artwork looks 3D), and learned about the history of Irish Presidents (they have already had multiple female presidents, come on USA; we're way overdue).

I walked over and spend the next several hours at the Guinness Storehouse, enjoyed the 7 floors of exhibits, with history and explanation of the process for their proud craft, including a lesson on how to drink their beer properly. I topped off that stay (literally) with a delicious pint of Guinness overlooking the city from their beautiful 360º top level.

I had just enough time to taxi back (that's a whole separate story, my taxi driver was so nice! I learned how to taxi and how not to taxi successfully) to The Gaiety Theatre and experienced Riverdance The 25th Anniversary Show.

The performers (dancers, live stage musicians [that violin player, OMG], and singers) were incredibly talented, and absolutely love their art form - I cried, it was so moving. At this point of the night, I was running on almost no sleep and the jet lag was hitting hard. I was forcing myself to stay awake, to set my new clock. I kept having tiny bouts of falling asleep, having my neck stretch when falling down, and then immediately waking up to keep watching. I made it.

I ended the evening by walking to my Airbnb. Just a couple blocks away from the theatre venue, with twilight still illuminating the streets well enough to think this wouldn't happen yet, a drunk man broke a bike free of its lock, hopped on, attempted to ride away, and only seconds into his daring trip, completely fell over. Several locals walked up to him, and as a single traveler, self-preservation kicked in and I tally-ho'd out of there.

I walked along the beautiful River Liffey to my Airbnb and slept incredibly well (albeit 5 hours) before heading back to the airport for my next flight. Next destination: Prague!