A two weeks ago a friend of mine mentioned that his company was flying him to Dublin, Ireland for two weeks to release a project. Many a drunken night later we shot our mouths off about my meeting him out there and abusing the company’s hospitality for a few days. And being the Guinness connisseur that I am, I was all for the idea. And I’ll be damned, but this round of drunk talk is actually coming together.
I called yesterday about pricing a airfare, it was doable, and tonite I bought a ticket. I leave Wednesday and am staying through Sunday. Of course before making these plans I forgot that I’d need a passport. Since passports generally take 6 weeks these days, I was in a tight spot. After a drive into the loop, and a long day dealing with government employees at the US passport agency I am getting an expedited passport Tuesday, the day before I leave. Yay!
So, dopers of the world, what the hell does a guy do in Dublin for a few free days? I’ll probably be alone, and on a modest budget for a couple of days and I’m wondering what the must see sights in Dublin are. Of course I’m going to visit the Guinness brewery, and probably take a bus trip out to see a castle in the countryside, maybe the one with the Blarney Stone. Our nights will be spent sampling every pub in the city limits. Besides that, what are the touristy things to do there?
Second, I’d like to pick up some souveniers. I know Waterford and Belleek are made in Ireland, would I save some bucks buying this stuff at the source? Knowing that this isn’t exactly Mexico, what are the best little trinkets that Ireland might be known for?
Tristan, would you like your honorary pint to be at the begining of the night or the end of the night?
Milo, I could tell you all thats how it went, but the sad truth of the matter is that the fine woman behind the counter, after looking at my intinerary, said “Dublin, where’s that, Germany?”. Sigh.
Hmmm, never realized there was a Dublin contingent of dopers. I’d like to meet up with some of you, but I’m not sure how it’d work out. I’ll have no way of contacting anyone, and with airlines these days I have no idea when I’ll actually be in. Thursday night and Friday I’ll be partying with my friend, so if we worked something out it’d have to be after i got settled in on Thursday. Any ideas?
“Huzzah! Glay-vah! Cairshmeha! (totally phonetic spelling, and I don’t even know what it means…) This one is for Tristan, who is eating his liver that he’s not here!”
quaff
Ideally, it should be a great local cider, since I drink cider instead of beer… Strongbow was pretty good, but I don’t know if they’ll have it. Guiness is good though.
There are internet cafes galore here, so you shouldn’t have trouble contacting us. We’ve also all got mobiles (I think hibernicus is the only one foolish enough to actually post his number on the board though!).
Or we could do this: you pick the night, we’ll pick the place, and if you don’t show up we’ll just have another good DubDope without you
The cider of choice here, btw, is Bulmer’s, and it’s much better than Strongbow!
Who all is around? Anyone able to do a lunch or happy hour on Thursday? I’d like to make a DubDope but until I can get in touch with my buddy (via e-mail Monday morning Dublin time) I’m not sure if I’ll have any nights free to party.
Keep me posted on any ideas, and if you guys are willing to round up the troops I should have a better idea of what I will be able to fit in come Monday.
Lunch probably won’t work as we’re all pretty spread out around the city, but I think most of us could make an early evening. Probably best to start a new thread with “Dublin” in the title to make sure everyone looks at it. Also a few of them don’t have internet at home so won’t be able to see this until Monday.
The usual suspects here are:
me
TwistofFate
yojimbo
hibernicus
Damhna
micilin
Pergau
So how much would I have to pay to get someone to send me some? I can verify that I am 21, and love cider… sadly, around here all they have in Hornsby’s, which isn’t too bad, but we have learned that it is the Budweiser of ciders… everyone has it…
So Omni, interested in bringing some back and then sending it my way? I would pay for postage and cost of Cider…
Barring that, what’s the International rate for a 6-pack of Bulmers, or any other highly thought of Cider? DubDopers?
You sure are a brave soul going out of the country on such short notice. You really need to keep your feet planted and invite one of us SDMB women to go with you on your last minute excursions, I know there are quite a few that would volunteer to go with you. Sheesh!
Okay, Ireland is one of the few places I would really love to see as I am not much of a traveler. But I suspect I have either Irish or Scotish background somewhere so to go there would be oh so awesome.
Omni, I sent a couple of the lads a text message about your visit, so maybe by the end of the day we’ll know when they’ll be free. Will keep you posted.
Tristan, I’ve been told that Bulmers is now available in some parts of America, but under a different name. Of course my experience with that is that sort of thing is it usually doesn’t taste as good either (just consider the disgusting way Pepsi Max turned out when it went to America as Pepsi One) but I’ll see if I can find out the name for you anyway, just in case. FWIW, the closest American cider I’ve ever had to Bulmers was called Cider Jack. MMMMmmmm…
Tristan, I’ll think about it, I’d be happy to hook you up if I can, but I’m probably gonna be packing light. In such a case I’m not sure what I’ll have in the way of carry-on space, and I’m hesitant to put carbonated beverage in my checked baggage. And if I do bring back some booze, the first thing is gonna be a bottle of authentic Irish Whiskey for myself :).
