A Dublin Pub Crawl

In lieu of exams and final assignments finally being turned in, my break has officially begun and I can have a life once again!

I’ve decided to highlight some of the pubs and clubs I’ve been to in Dublin since arriving in September. Mom, Dad, I swear I didn’t go to all these places in one night. I was tempted to join in the 12 pubs of Christmas Irish tradition but I saved my money for England instead. I’ve only selected places that are within walking distance of each other, so anyone who wants to take this list and create their own pub crawl feel free!

THE PUBS

Against the Grain

 This had to be my number one recommendation as it has become my second home- or so all my friends tell me.  The staff are friendly, and there are all kinda of craft beers on tap- there are also some craft ciders that are great here as well! Some of my favorites here are McIvor’s Medium Cider, Of Foam and Fury double IPA, and Buried at Sea stout. Upstairs there is a pool table and a kitchen that has some of the best chunky chips I’ve had.

Don’t come here for a Guinness though, you’ll just be disappointed.

The Bleeding Horse

 

I’ve been here a few times and I absolutely love the atmosphere, there are even big projection screens that come out when there is a football match on. The upstairs can get a little toasty, but there is plenty of space if you want to get together with a few friends. You can also get some tasty pub grub here- the sweet potato fries are excellent!

Camden Exchange

This can be a little pricey depending on what you order, but this pub offers a wide variety of craft beer and cider. It is also one of the only places I know that has a vehicle mounted on the inside wall. There are all kinds of knick knacks incorporated into the décor giving it a quirky character. 

If you or your friends smoke, there is a pretty big indoor smoking lounge that you can enjoy. The Pilgrim’s Red Ale is delicious, and overall this is a good place to have some chats with friends.

P.Mac’s

This little pub is deceptively large and is always seemingly full of a mixture of people. If you get there early enough you might be able to snag one of the booths. Now this isn’t a typical ‘booth’- at least not what I am used too- these are like separate cubicles that you can be almost completely isolated from the rest of the pub. It can get noisy towards the end of the night but by then you'll be having a grand old time.

Cassidy’s

Although this one is a little further away than the other’s listed above- this is right off D’Olier Street- Cassidy's is a great place to start a pub crawl. There is room to sit both upstairs and downstairs and there is even a couple board games and jenga games you can play. The mixture of chairs, tables, and sofas give the place a living room like feeling- and I don’t mind it at all. Be wary though, some of the chairs have a way of eating you alive.

Some bars that I didn’t mention but are worth a visit are: The Gin Palace, The Hairy Lemon, The Mercantile, and Anseo.

A great thing about Dublin is that you can literally turn any corner and there will be a new pub to explore. I’ve been to quite a few in Dublin City Centre- go to The Autobahn if you’re near Glasnevin in the North!- however there are still so many to visit, and there seems to be new ones that pop up every month. 

Can’t wait to explore more this session.

So sláinte and drink on!

Xx kim

…..

• If you’re wondering about prices, there is quite a range. I would say that the standard pint is around 5 euros, but you can get beer for as low as 4 and cider as high as 7. 
• One thing to consider is that a pint here is 500ml, in America it’s around 470 but the glasses are often under-poured and there is no law where it has to be this amount. Back in the states, bars can serve you in whatever glasses they have, but here the pints are often over-flowing.
• Remember that the beer in Ireland is often stronger than back home- especially if you’re drinking craft as it can get over 8%. A few of these and you'll be well on your way to merry.
• If you are not a beer expert, don’t be afraid to ask the bartenders for a recommendation although make sure the place isn’t too busy. Have an idea of what kind of brew you might like and they'll point you in a direction to find your right beer.
• Pubs in Dublin- or seemingly the entirety of Ireland- are more like community living rooms so don’t be afraid to talk to strangers and make some new friends.

Old Friend, New Adventures

Yes there was no entry last week, however I’m not going to apologize.

The sole purpose for this blog is for me to share my adventures with friends, family, and whoever may want to read it.

But, above all, it’s for me to write down and remember my experiences.

In the past week and a half I’ve done more than my part of socializing; both hanging out with friends and strangers, and finally doing touristy stuff all around Dublin.

My friend Allie- who is from Canada but we met in Australia- stayed with me from Sunday to early Thursday. I hadn’t seen her in almost 18 months and it was a much-needed reunion.

She has been living my dream of backpacking across Europe but I am so glad that she decided to jump the water across to Ireland. She made me realize how much I miss Australia, but also how little sightseeing I’ve actually done since arriving in Dublin nearly three months ago.

I can navigate around Dublin.

Honestly, it’s not that difficult.

Allie and I below some of the lights on Henry St.

I hadn't gone to visit one of the many free museums, and had yet to take a night to explore the amazing lights that Dublin has to offer during this festive season. Allie also kept reminding me to take pictures- which I’m sure my family will be happy to see.

We went to three museums on Tuesday alone and we even got to take a tour of The Irish Sun news office- but that’s another story.

Over the past few days my life has been manic. As part of one of my courses, we had to join a group and start a social media campaign. I was assigned a campaign about craft beer, one of the luckiest chances in uni so far. Through this group I traveled to Galway, made many a new friends, and have come to a better understanding about what craft beer and cider actually stands is. If you want to check out what I’ve been into in that respect here is our Facebook page, it was such a neat assignment: OurLocalBrew

What has taken the most time in regards to the campaign is the video editing. I’ve done a fair share of filmmaking when I was younger so I jumped at the chance to film some interviews with people in the industry. One thing I forgot to remember is how time consuming editing a video can take. Having to put up two videos in the last two days, I spent probably seven or eight hours staring at my computer screen and doing not much else.

I’m glad the way everything turned out and you can check out my videos here: 

Other than that school is winding down- although I should really say up with all the assignments looming in the future.

Ireland is finally starting to feel like home in the sense that I have a solid core group of friends that I can rely on. Although it’s only been three months, it feels like so much longer and I love it.
.......
Also, it has been extremely stormy here. The wind has been incredible and it even hailed a bit last Sunday. Shout out to Teresa Mannion of RTE for breaking the internet when she reported on storm Desmond in Galway.

Happy Thanksgiving... And Christmas

Remember how I said all of my coursework was looming in the shadows? Well it came onto me like a ton of bricks.

No entry last week- obviously- due to the sheer amount of pressure this one assignment was causing me. However, that’s over and I can take a breather until the next one.

Christmas.

Christmas lights at the GPO.
http://bewleyshotels.blogspot.ie/2014/09/the-magic-of-christmas-in-dublin.html

It’s starting to be an acceptable time for me to start singing Christmas carols and start my Christmas shopping. Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and though I haven’t celebrated with a real turkey for over 8 years, it’s that fact that I won’t be able to spend time with my friends and family that I am missing.

Also, pie. I love pumpkin pie.

Festivities are just around the corner and all the beautiful lights are up in Dublin and the Christmas markets are about to open and I’m actually getting a little bit excited for the holidays.

The reason why there aren’t going to be many of my photos in this- or next week’s blog- is that I lost my phone and it will take a while to replace it. Yes, I have a camera and I will try and bring that around more but it’s just not the same.

Amazing picture featured in the Irish Times
http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2000023.1415906311!/image/image.jpg

And to anyone that is wondering, I lost it in a taxi.

And, yes, it was an excellent night.

…….

In other news here’s a shout out to my favorite non-Uncles Paul and Al who got married after 3 decades together! I wish I could be there to give you a big hug!

Halloween Escapades

Jana and I in costume.

I’m going to ignore the majority of the week and focus upon one day, one particular holiday that is…

HALLOWEEN!

This holiday has always been such a fun time in the past and I was excited to see how Dublin would handle it. I was especially excited this year since my friend and I were dressing up as Thing 1 and Thing 2- birthday twins for the win! We even had the Dr. Seuss poem to read out if people didn’t know who we were. The costumes were homemade so they didn’t last very long, but we had fun and that’s all that matters- plus they were cheap, gotta love saving some money.

I co-hosted a Halloween party with my friend and there were both old and new faces that attended. Everyone was dressed to the nines in their best Halloween gear. I have a brief background of fx makeup so I helped out a few people that night, and I’m pretty happy with most of it- Sorry Diego!

There were about twenty of us that decided to venture into town, and we had to rush from Diego’s flat to catch a bus into town. A journey that would normally take less than half an hour turned into a ride of over an hour.

A blurry picture to try and illustrate just how bus city centre was on Halloween.

Once we arrived at O’Connell, the bus could barely move since there were so many people. Queues for clubs were around the corner and down the next street! I never thought that Halloween would be such a big event here. There were some very creative costumes out there, and I can’t imagine how much time some people put into their outfits.

Not only were all the girls dressed up, but quite a few of the boys went all out as well. I thought that the States knew how to do Halloween but I am absolutely blown away by Dublin that night.

Well done Dublin. Well done.

Some of the gang.