Vanessa's Irish adventure

*From the archives 2014*

Hey all! I have another adventure for you—this time, to Dublin!

I know when I started writing this blog I initially focused on travelling to some fantastic spots within the UK, but for someone from North America, travelling around Europe is so cheap and easy, I just can’t pass up the opportunity while I’m here! 

My trip to Dublin was of certain significance for me – a pilgrimage of sorts. Firstly, I was travelling back to my roots, where my great-great-great grandparents had emigrated to eastern Canada, presumably around the time of the Great Famine. My father’s family hails from Newfoundland, which has been called “the most Irish place outside of Ireland” existing in the world. So, in some strange way it felt like I was completing full circle a journey that my ancestors had undertaken so many years ago.

Secondly, as an English student, I was in heaven – not only has Dublin been named UNESCO’s City of Literature, not one but TWO of my absolute favourite writers have their roots there: James Joyce and Oscar Wilde. Oscar Wilde was truly the world’s first celebrity and an incredibly witty, talented man, who met a tragic end as he was years ahead of his time.

Although I’ve read Joyce’s Ulysses, I don’t claim to fully understand it in the slightest – it was a book that chewed me up and spat me back out like some disconcerting whirlwind. For some ineffable reason, though, it has been one of the books to most profoundly impact me in lifetime thus far, seeming to contain the entire universe within its pages. 

Our first night in the city, my roommate and I were famished so we popped into a restaurant right across from our hostel. I have to say, although I didn’t expect it, Dublin is certainly a foodie city. From more traditional pubs to cosmopolitan restaurants, everything we ate was par excellence. As well, roaming the streets you are constantly exposed to a cornucopia of delicious and inviting smells, from meat warmly marinating to fresh bread baking and steaming mulled cider.

We also did a Sandeman’s free tour of the city. Our guide was Conor, a born-and-bred Dubliner whose passion and love for his city was overwhelmingly evident. Conor packed so much historical and cultural knowledge as well as quirky tidbits about Dublin into the tour; from the Celtic and Viking origins of the city to Dubliners’ endearingly sarcastic attitude towards Bono that it went a half hour overtime.

I would replicate everything he relayed to us here but I feel the tour is really something you should undergo firsthand! But I will say, though, that the craic was 90.  

The adventure didn't stop there though....