It's a small place, easily covered in a few days. If you stay anywhere in the city centre and are even marginally fit, everything is walkable. It's loaded with history, is justifiably considered one of the best places to see Georgian architecture and is studded with exquisite parks. The major museums are free.
Most strikingly, it's a place of abundant hospitality. Even after the hard wear of hen and stag dos, Americans searching for their ancestors, partying Six Nations rugby fans and twenty-somethings on the lash ... Dubliners manage to welcome you with open hearts. They start meaningful conversations and seem honestly concerned about helping you to have the best time possible in their fair city. Those pubs are famous for a reason. Somehow, you can feel more like a local in 10 minutes here than you can in a year in your English neighbourhood watering hole. The cozy atmosphere and friendly locals make it, quite possibly, the best city in Europe to go and just "hang out".
I knew Dublin well at the turn of the century, but hadn't visited in about 15 years. Tough years, during which the Celtic Tiger economy crashed and then clawed its way back to life. Most of what I loved about the city remains the same, though I did spot some significant changes.
- Immigrant workers, who had been a trickle in the '00s, now seem to be hovering near a majority of the hospitality workforce. We met a Brazilian waiter, a polish restaurant manager, Southeast Asian bar servers and hotel staff from India. While it's great to see a country that was once unable to find enough opportunity for its own people now with enough jobs to welcome others, they face a challenge. It's hard to carry off that legendary Irish hospitality when the guy bringing your pint of Guinness can barely speak English, much less engage in a merry conversation.
- Money has poured into the city and improvements are under way at an even higher pace than during the height of the .com boom. From the shining new offices in "silicon docks" and modern art installations to the glittering Aviva rugby stadium or the scaffolding sheathing renovations on many an old building, the city feels vibrant and prosperous. The biggest "improvement" will be a tram system in the city centre, but for now most main streets are a nightmare of construction traffic.
- Dublin has gone "foodie". I remembered a city rich with hearty, reasonably-priced comfort food. Traditional fry-ups, steak and Guinness pies, great burgers, beguiling potato dishes. Such menus now seem the exception to a rule of upscale oyster bars, tapas-style grazing, fine dining and ethnic eating. (More on food to come in a separate entry.)
Here are my top 10 picks for a great long weekend in Dublin.One: Take the Viking Splash tour
At €25 per adult, it's more expensive than other tours and doesn't feature hop-on-hop off. But it's loads of fun, with guides fit for the comedy circuit who also give you a fine overview of 2000+ years of history ... including the Viking age. There are horned Viking helmets for passengers and organised Viking roars at competing buses and unsuspecting locals. With a city centre this small, you don't need the hop-on-hop-off feature, anyway. Do this first, get the lay of the land, and walk back to what you want to visit over the course of the weekend. The "splash" element wasn't as big as I'd imagined. It's just a brief circuit around the basin in "Silicon Docks" rather than a cruise up the Liffey, but the experience of the conversion from land to sea vehicle is fascinating.
Two: Go to the Archaeology branch of the National Museum of Ireland
As in the UK, Ireland's national museums are free, so there's no excuse not to drop in to this treasure trove for a few minutes. And I do mean treasure. The main gallery on the ground floor is devoted to the gold of the pre-historic Celts. Case after case of torcs, earrings, cloak clasps and ceremonial objects to make your jaw drop. Off to one side you'll find "The Treasury", where curators have collected some of the greatest items from pre-history through Vikings and the late middle ages. Upstairs, there's a fine Viking section and more medieval goodies. All in an architecturally striking building attached to the modern parliament. Don't miss the gift shop in the entry rotunda with a particularly good jewellery selection.
Three: Go to a Pub
Go to lots of pubs. This is one of the glories of Ireland. You don't need to be a big drinker to enjoy them. They're about conviviality and fellowship. Even in high-traffic tourist areas they still feel authentic, because they're still filled with locals. No fruit machines, no bad pop music, no remodelling into themed gastropubs. And the locals will talk to you, something that will rarely happen in the UK. You're likely to find some live music .... especially if you head to O'Donoghues on Merrion Row ... which leads me on to my next point.
Four: Make an effort to find traditional Irish music
Some cities just seem more musical than others. Dublin shares with Prague and Vienna a feeling that music is woven in to the soul of the place. You could head to formal concert halls. Riverdance is currently in revival at the Gaiety Theatre. But most pubs lay on live music. Sometimes it's an officially booked band, sometimes a bunch of locals who've brought instruments and are jamming for fun. Check out the Abbey Tavern in Howth, a picturesque coastal village half an hour's train ride from Dublin. The Abbey stages its own singers and dancers in a regular Irish revue. It was a magical night for us as we joined the visiting Maryland State Boychoir. The Abbey's performers invited the boys to sing in return; sitting at their centre as they raised the roof was soul stirring.
Five: More Music ... go to Evensong
Dublin is the only city I've encountered with two cathedrals of the same religion (in this case, the protestant Church of Ireland); a conundrum that embodies much of the odd, fractious, artistic, warm yet contrary spirit of Ireland. Both charge to get in, though neither is particularly special as gothic cathedrals go. So attending an evensong service is a great way to get in for free, take a quick look around and drink in some great atmosphere. (Naturally, I'd encourage you to chuck some money into the collection box in thanks.) Again, we were riding the Maryland State Boychoir's coat tails here, and were lucky enough to hear gorgeous concerts at both St. Patrick's and Christ Church. The first is the National Cathedral, most famous for being under the administration of Jonathan Swift as he wrote blockbusters like Gulliver's Travels. It has an impressive choir area decorated with the remnants of the Order of St. Patrick. Christ Church is older, the cathedral of the City of Dublin, and home to some impressive treasures in the crypt. This includes a collection of plate William III donated to the city after winning the Battle of the Boyne, a point of political discomfort that's probably best kept in the basement. Evensong is usually around 5pm but changes with church and day. Check web sites for details of daily services.
Six: Wander Merrion Square
Seven: Hang out with Vermeer
You'll only be able to catch this blockbuster show at the National Gallery of Ireland until 17 September, but it's a good indication of things to come after the museum's €30 million, 6-year renovation. The special exhibition space is now in a purpose-built, modern wing and this show throws down the gauntlet to other European institutions. They've managed to accumulate almost one third of Vermeer's total work (10 of 34), even more impressive when you consider they started with just one and had to talk places like the Met (New York), the Louvre and the Rijksmuseum out of some of their biggest crowd pullers for the summer. The show puts those 10 Vermeers in the wider context of genre painting, illustrating how he and his competitors tackled very similar scenes in different ways. If you're an art lover, it's worth making a trip to Dublin for this alone. Even after it's gone, you'll have the pleasure of free entry into a beautifully renovated collection.
Eight: The Book of Kells
If you want to see it, book in advance and go first thing in the morning. I don't know whether it was the passage of time, or simply that I've never been to Dublin in high summer, but I've never seen the city so crowded. The wait to get into Trinity College Library at 11am on a Tuesday, without pre-booking, was 90 minutes. Trinity itself is one of the stateliest sets of quadrangles you'll ever find, but every inch was crawling with tourists. The buildings, the library and the book are all worth seeing. Just get in and out fast.
Nine: Buy knitwear
Irish woolens used to come in a limited, very traditional range. The designers have swept into the scene in recent years to turn that famous wool into more fashionable stuff. Quirky styles, eye catching patterns, interesting cuts. You can still find plenty of classic, cable-knit crew necks, but there's much more to tempt. The best shopping flight path is a short and direct one. Start at the Avoca on Suffolk Street, just across Grafton from Trinity College, near the main tourism information centre and the statue of Molly Malone. End at the Kilkenny Shop, straight ahead as Suffolk turns into Nassau Street. In between, there are plenty of smaller specialty shops, while the anchors offer a mini mall of clothing, craft and design. Americans benefit from tax free shopping. Brits will find prices only slightly less than at home, but the designs are unique.
Ten: Drink a Guinness
Even if you think you won't like it. Give it a try. It really does taste different here. They say it's the Liffey water. I'd guess it's simply the comfort you'll be feeling after all that hospitality.
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