Dear readers,
I can’t believe that it’s taken so long for me to visit Ireland. I have been living fairly close most of my life (in Luxembourg, France and the UK), however, it wasn’t until my little brother moved to Dublin for work that I finally came to visit.
As a European, this is unacceptable (I know!), but better late than never. I didn’t know much about Ireland, other than some movie references, authors and of course the Notorious Conor McGregor. It was time to learn more.
I’m loving Dublin a lot so far. The people are extremely friendly and laid back, and the city is beautiful and lively, especially at night. It has a bit of a London feel to it, without the excessive display of wealth and shallowness. Dublin has a bit more of a hip, welcoming atmosphere I would say, and has many interesting historical sights to visit. Of course, as being part of the EU, it is also much more practical for European travelers using the EUR.
it's not a smile, my face is frozen...
My first night
As soon as I arrived, my brother picked me up at the airport and we took the bus to the center of Dublin. We hadn't seen each-other since he left Panama last year, so it was nice to see him!
reunited
He decided to take me to an Indian restaurant because he knows how much I like Indian food, and also because I so rarely eat it in Panama. The food was great as expected, and luckily for me, my brother and sister-in-law are also vegan, which makes restaurant selection easier for all of us.
After dinner, they took me to one of the many popular bars around town to do some beer tasting. You can’t possibly go to Ireland and not drink beer =). As you may know, Ireland is famous for its Guinness beer, which is a dry stout produced in Ireland and also the most sold beer in the country.
The bar we went to was called The Porterhouse Brewery, and we ordered a selection of Ales, Lagers and Stouts.
impressive beer menu
booze, booze and more booze
While taking a little cigarette break, we met a group of students from Chile and Argentina, who were in town to learn English. It’s funny, because I’m usually on the other side of the spectrum, welcoming English speakers to Panama to study Spanish at our school. These students had only positive things to say about Ireland, and Dublin in particular. I was still a bit jet lagged from my arrival 2 days prior, so we didn’t go home very late. I fell asleep as soon as I put my head on the pillow.
Being vegan in Dublin
The vegan community and movement is virtually everywhere, and you can see it in the multitude of restaurants, bakeries and cruelty free shops in the streets. The below stand from the Vegan Information Project I came across had different vegan cheeses to taste, with the goal of raising awareness and educating people about animal cruelty. They also sell different items such as pins in order to raise money for different causes.
The following morning, we went for a stroll in the city center, and looked for a place to have lunch after our tour. To my great surprise, being vegan in Dublin is a walk in the park. There are so many delicious vegan places to choose from, and it seems that it’s really becoming mainstream. There is really a vegan equivalent for anything! Chicken wings, chicken nuggets, burgers, sausages, cheeses of all sorts and much more! It made me extremely happy to see this, and I wish we had all these options in Panama, but I will have to be patient I think.
One particular dish that I craved from my meat eating years was a Kebab, and guess what! They even had vegan chicken Kebab! OK, this picture may not look that appetizing, but that’s only because I destroyed that thing before taking the pic...I had to tend to my basic needs first, sorry people.
kebab
During my stay I’ve tried vegan pizza, vegan Kebab, vegan donuts and today I tried the vegan Philly Cheese steak from McGuinness.
Philly cheese steak
I highly recommend that place, and make sure to order the cheese & garlic fries. I’m still wondering whether it was dairy or vegan cheese, that’s how good it was! Damn, I’m getting hungry again while I’m writing this. The menu at McGuiness is so large that it’s hard to decide what to pick (see below).
The Aperitivo is another great vegan place I recommend!
waiting for my BLT sandwich and beer!
Interesting things I discovered so far
The Dublinia
The Dublinia is a historical museum where you can learn about the medieval period in Dublin, and learn about the Vikings. It’s interesting to discover how people lived during this period, and how the Dublin we know today has been created.
my brother and I goofing around
Medieval toilet seat...they were playing farting noises to make sure we understood what this guy was doing
The Straight Blast Gym (SBG), home of Conor McGregor
I know what you’re thinking, but I simply had to go and see the SBG. It’s very close to the center (10 minutes by bus), so it wasn’t a big detour. The funny thing is, I only went to take a sneak peak inside and get a better idea of where and how a world MMA champ trains.
I went inside feeling a bit intimidated, and because I didn’t want to reveal the real reason of my visit, I pretended that I was interested in signing up for BJJ lessons. I felt too ashamed to say that I was only here to take a look (I know this sounds horrible), so please forgive me Jordan from the front desk, I didn’t mean to deceive you. The more fake questions I asked about class times etc., the more I realized how much I actually wanted to train, and my initial lie turned into truth. I’ve decided to take a day pass (EUR 20 which is extremely reasonable!) and join a BJJ class on Monday morning. I will tell you all about it in a separate post.
The Crypto Cafe
As the name suggests, the Crypto Cafe a pretty little cafe in the heart of Dublin which accepts cryptocurrencies as forms of payment, and is centered around all things crypto. The manager told me that they organize Steemit meet ups there once per month, but unfortunately my visit didn’t fall within those dates. The next one is on April 28th, and you can read more about it here
Stephen’s Green Park
This cute park is just what you need if you want to get away from the city rush. You will be able to see swans, ducks and many other bird species native to this area.
Thrift Shops everywhere
Dublin is full of cute little thrift shops that are using their proceeds for local charities. It’s a great way to go shopping without producing more waste, all while spending money for a good cause and look fashionable!
Getting around
Here in Dublin, the bus system is easy and efficient, so we went everywhere in these large double decker busses. They are identical to London busses, only the color is different, and people say “thank you” to the driver when they get off. This is something you don’t see often in other European countries, so it was a nice surprise. I’m always impressed when people are polite to each other, because nowadays, values get lost. Careful though, just like in England you have to get used to people driving on the “wrong” side of the street, and look right when crossing.
The weather
This is the only thing I couldn’t get used to was the windy cold. It’s April 14th at the time of writing this post, and it’s 10 degrees celsius. I knew it was going to be colder than in Brussels where I was wearing a t-shirt just last week, but I didn’t expect having to borrow a winter jacket and scarf from my sister in law. People here make jokes about the weather all the time, and say things like “this year summer falls on a Sunday”, or “you can expect to get about 2 weeks of summer”. The sky is notoriously grey most of the time, but people seem to be cheerful and happy regardless. Some c̶r̶a̶z̶y̶ ̶a̶s̶s̶ brave people even wear flip flops and shorts!
Alright people, I realize that this post is getting quite long, so I will end it here for now. I still have 2 more days to spend in this fascinating city, so you’ll probably read more about it soon! Of you have any tips in the meantime, feel free to mention them in the comments.
