Last weekend Flavia and I have done the actual celebration of Flavia's birthday. Although the DAY was August 31, the present in the form of a trip to Dublin for the two of us, was only scheduled to Oct 10-12, so we finally got to reap the benefits last weekend.

 

The trip started on Friday when we left London from the Luton airport later in the evening and took a Ryan Air flight straight to Dublin. For me it was the first time flying the low-cost carrier and had no clue what to expect. In fact, I couldn't complain about anything unexpected. All rules were strictly aiming at cashing more money for the compay, which was expected and understandable ... so both Flavia and I were careful not to break any of the constraints of a cheap flight and we did well ;o))) ...

 

We arrived in Dublin pretty late - around 11pm and quickly found our way to our 5-star Shelbourne Rennaissance hotel in the center - close to the Grafton street. We also learnt that our accommodation included free snacks and a breakfast - no issues there of course ;o))) ...

 

On Friday night we went out to see the Temple bar street where all the pubs and clubs are. Right there it stroke me as a totally amazing thing that there were so many busking musicians in the streets. I really enjoyed myself listening to the music.

 

We dedicated Satuday to the discovery of the city. Quite a lot of walking was involved and we got to see the Grafton Street, the Spire, the shopping district, Temple bar during daylight, St Stephen's Green park, St. Patrick's cathedral (from outside), the Guiness brewery, Dublin castle (from outside), the Trinity College, Christ Church Cathedral and others ...

 

On Sunday we then spent some time strolling around the Dublin docklands and then we also found the venue where the resident Octoberfest celebrations were happening, which was great.

 

I really liked Dublin. I didn't find the city to be necessarily rich in sights, but I found it fun and much enjoyable. People were nice and during the day also well mannered (while during the night I found the locals out of control getting absolutely hammered!!!).

 

Ireland seems to be a great country and I can't wait to go and discover it a little bit more by a week-long road trip maybe ... one day ... ;o)))