Today We will talk about Dublin as it has much to offer any traveler. Whether you like to shop, eat, party, sight see or just relax Dublin offers it all. Our taxi driver David told us about Bewleys for a good breakfast since that was Carens desire when we first arrived that Friday morning. It is located at 78 Grafton St in the heart of the shopping district. It is casual fare and you will mostly a young crowd from Trinity University down the street. Food was good and reasonably priced. Now when I say reasonably priced, I mean for Ireland. They use Euros there and when you figure what the cost is in US dollars you may be in for a surprise. Though Ireland has had its economy hurting like the rest of Europe, two areas where there has been no change in cost, is the drink and food. A pint of beer can cost 6 or 7 US dollars and a meal at a decent restaurant can cost about 40 US dollars or more per person. An 8 oz bottle of coke will usually cost about 4 US dollars. The exchange rate was about $1.35 per Euro. Best to purchase Euros at the Airport you depart from as they will give you about the best exchange rate available. Use either cash or credit card to make the purchase of Euros. If you use a credit card make sure you tell them you want the purchase of Euros charged as Euros not US dollars. If you do it as a dollar purchase there will be additional fees. Keep this in mind with any credit card purchases over there. There is also a VAT tax over there (value added tax) on purchases made. The tax is 21%, you heard right 21%. Good news is you get that back when you leave. Make sure the place of business where you make your purchase will give you a VAT form that you can turn in at the airport. There are 2 locations for refunds. One for purchases made in cash and one for credit card purchases. You can ask someone at the airport for there location. Credit back to your credit card can take a few weeks so be aware.
Back to food and drink in Ireland. You will find a pub can offer the most bang for your buck or Euro. We were in Ireland for 13 days and never had a bad meal. Ireland offers more than just meat and potatoes these days.You can still get a great meat and potatoes meal if that is what you want.
This is the Blarney Inn Hotel just a few blocks from Trinity College.
This is one of those meat and potatoes meals you can get from the Blarney Inn Hotel. The cost about $13.00 US dollars. It was so good and the entertainment was free.
These guys were friendly and good musicians. Think they started about 9PM
She was one of two dancers who showed up later and did traditional Irish dancing. At one point she managed to get me and a few other people up to dance with her. Had enough beer in me I did not mind to look foolish.
This is Trinity College were students from around the world come to study. It is also the site of the Ancient Book of Kells which contains 4 gospels of the New Testament in Latin written around 800 AD by Celtic Monks.
This Christs Church or more formally known as The Cathedral of The Holy Trinity. It is located in the former heart of Medieval Dublin. The history on it is long but worth reading. The Church has been used for filming the Showtime mini series The Tudors.
This is a view from the top of the observation deck at the Guiness Brewery. Best Guiness I ever tasted.
Well that does it for today. I will check in again tomorrow with more on our trip. Hope this has been of help, and again if there are any questions let us know.
Cheers,
Charlie Cotter
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