MIKE AND JESS' TRAVEL DIARY
Germany and Austria Trip
Day 13 - December 18 2016
The flight options from Munich left us with either an 8 hour layover in Dublin or a 24 hour layover, so we decided to take the day to get a glimpse of the city we were sure to visit again.
It was about a two hour flight and we got into Dublin around one in the afternoon. We got a cab to our Airbnb right in the heart of the city. Our cab driver was wonderful and hilarious and I knew right away that what I had heard about how friendly Irish people are was correct.
Our check-in time was not good for our host, so he left his keys with “the guys at the shop down the street”. So Mike stood on the side of the busy street with our luggage as I headed in to the corner convenience shop. Once I get through the queue, I, very timidly, tell the attendant that I’m there to pick up James’ keys. “Oh, the keys! Here you go!” like this was an every-day request! We made it up the three flights of stairs with our luggage (no lift) and into the apartment.
We dropped some layers (it was about 10-15 degrees warmer here) and headed out to our first pub! The tall buildings throughout the city are made of red brick and there’s a pub about every two shops. The first one we hit is called the Long Hall and it’s one of Dublin’s oldest pubs and has retained the pub traditions- no music, partitions every couple of barstools for privacy. I was surprised at just how much better the Guinness was here than in the states. Actually, when we ordered the pints for the first time, the bartender nods and walks away to clean some glasses, wipe the bar down, etc. I thought maybe he forgot about us as a couple minutes go by. When he came back our direction, I noticed the creamy, frothy pints in his hand. We later learned they pour Guinness the “proper” way: a very slow pour taking 119.5 seconds.
After a couple pints, we made our way to The Stags Head and order bacon and cabbage as well as the lamb shank. The bacon and cabbage had a giant mound of buttery mashed potatoes with smoky Canadian bacon on top, cooked cabbage that had a flavor close to collard greens, and a cheesy sauce poured over the top. It was so freaking good. Mike’s was a gorgeous presentation of a giant lamb shank on the bone sitting on mashed potatoes and a moat of a winter broth with carrots, celery, and onion. Yum.
We hit a couple more pubs and wandered through the Dublin castle and nearby gardens.
On our way back to the apartment, we stop in at Fusciardi’s Restaurant for some fish and chips. It was wonderful and the second best I’ve had only next to the unbelievable fish and chips we had off the coast of Juneau, Alaska. We ended the night with a couple treats from Queen of Tarts and a last proper pint back at the Long Hall. We were only here a handful of hours, but it got us so excited to come back and tour the whole country. I can tell Ireland has a whole lot more left in store for us.