Dublin -- Dud?

Looking back at the blog, we haven't written much about Dublin. Oddly enough, there wasn't much to write about. Our first impressions were that Dublin is like London's working-class brother. Doesn't have the polish or class, but is easy to talk to over a beer or twelve. We began our trip by making a stop in the Temple Bar district (which was reminiscent of our old stomping grounds of Lan Kwai Fong in Hong Kong). What goes on in this district you ask? Well, drink. Much of the nightlife, or just life in general revolves around beer. Many of the bars are quite friendly and are a interesting mix of locals and tourists. Many also have live music that ranges from traditional Irish to pop cover acts. I dared not speak of my hatred for U2, but I found a few locals who shared in my sentiment.

Speaking of beer, this is the home of Guinness (one of my favorites as is evidenced by my mid-section). The tour of the factory was less than interesting, but at the end you can relax in the Gravity Bar and with free pint. The 360 degree view of Dublin was neat, but getting a seat was next to impossible. We also spent some time at Trinity College, of which we're not sure its claim-to-fame but was a neat old campus to explore all the same.

AC also obliged my mandatory zoo stop, which actually turned out to be one of the best I'd seen. You could often get scarily close to the animals and I nearly pet a red panda while AC pranced around the farm animal exhibit and excitedly pet the smelly cow. What a city boy ...

The rest of our time was spent enjoying the unhealthy food washed down with an unhealthy amount of Guinness and meeting a variety of locals (the leprechaun being one of them). If you come here, don't plan but to spend more than a day or two in Dublin. Cork (pronounced something like 'cwaaarrk') is supposed to be really nice and is just a short train ride away.