1st Day in Dublin..

First impressions as I get off the plane - greeted by a cutting wind and grey skies, nothing different there then, although there was the sound of musical Irish accents in the air to soften the chill.

The bus ride into the city centre was uneventful except for the Irish road signs alongside the English ones which I could make neither head nor tail off. This showed my ignorance to the fact that the Irish language, (insert name here) which I will find out the name of shortly was used in a rather more widespread fashion than I thought, although I noticed English was used in the Metro I found lying about on the bus. Now I find myself typing profusely on my little iPhone keys since my cousin (Serge) will be with me shortly. All I've seen of note so far is a giant needle in-between the two main car lanes running along O'Connell street.


I have since found out that the Irish language is called 'Gaeilge' and is widely known amongst the people but not as widely used as English, especially in Dublin. After a quick stop over at Serge's flat, it was out for a walk around the city centre which was held at a ridiculously fast pace by my cousin who I think might have missed his calling and should be competing in the Olympics in the Race-walking event (a dead cert for a podium finish). The most interesting stop over on the tour was at Trinity college which was an oasis of serenity compared to the commotion of the rest of the city.

Listening to our stomachs and after a bit of deliberation, we stopped into a French restaurant where the food proved to be as delicious as anything I've had recently. During the meal I'd been chomping at the bit for a pint of the black stuff, but after having stuffed our faces we decided on a walk before doing anything else. We walked through Temple Bar, an area of historical importance to Dublin and crossed the famous Ha'penny Bridge which used to carry a toll for anyone coming into the Temple Bar markets.

After finally having worked off some of my meal and feeling ready to tackle a Guinness, we made our way to find a pub. The 1st one was way too packed and the 2nd, to my amazement didn't serve Guinness!! We finally found a decent watering hole which ended up having a great atmosphere and a decent live band, and I finally got to taste what I'd been longing for all day..