Mrs FOMOist and I are only in the Northern Hemisphere for a limited amount of time, which is coming to an end pretty soon. So revisiting a country is unfortunately a treat, but sometimes it has to be done.
We went to Ireland (Cork) in March this year to celebrate our second anniversary. The plan was to go from Cork to Dublin and make our way back to London, but due to unforeseen circumstances that trip had to be cut short and for a while we thought we had missed out on Dublin. Missing out is not something we do very well, we are the FOMOists afterall! So when a workmate (now ex-workmate) advised that she was relocating to Dublin and was happy to host us, we wasted no time and booked our tickets for a weekend trip. In addition to us, we were also joined by another friend from London, Min and her friend, Jason so a total of six extremely fun people, exploring an unexpectedly trendy city of Dublin.
We caught the evening flight to Dublin on Friday, arriving at our friend’s place around 9.00pm. After the initial pleasantries, we wasted no time and ordered dinner. Jason (the friend of a friend) was as stupid adventurous as I am so I got the infamous Batter Burger, while he got the Spice Burger. Both are authentic Dublin foods, with mine a lot bigger than Jason’s but he did well in pretending he was full (he wasn’t).
Lauren, who was hosting us for the trip is a great planner, which makes her a great host, which meant I didn’t have to do any planning at all, knowing she’ll have it all sorted and boy did she have it all planned!
Saturday morning started with much needed brunch at Lemon Crepe & Coffee Co. This used to be our local friends’ regular back in their university days. Located at William Street South, in addition to serving up a delicious range of sweet and savoury crepes, it’s a great place to people watch.
With crepes in our bellies, we started off the walking tour of Dublin kicking off at the Trinity College campus. I had heard about the campus but didn’t realise how much of a tourist attraction the campus itself was, and for good reason. Lauren and her intimidatingly knowledgeable husband went to Trinity so they gave us a great tour around the campus, with Peter (Lauren’s other half) pointing out the windows of his dorm, the grand dining hall they used to eat at and the on-campus chapel they got married at (awwww).
After a stroll down memory lane, we headed to check out the infamously ornate Book of Kells where the queue went around the park with at least 100 people. But, did we have to queue? Nope! Lauren had bought us the fast-track tickets so no time is wasted queuing = legend! In addition to the Book of Kells, our visit also included a visit to the Long Room Library. I was very excited to say the least, given how I feel about libraries. I may have been to libraries in pretty much most of the cities I’ve been to.
By now we had burnt off the crepes and were ready (I was) for some chicken wings. After getting turned away due to lack of time (we got things to do!) from Elephant & Castle in Temple Bar, Lauren took us to her Plan B (or C, I can’t remember) at Crackbird and all our (mine in particular) worries of not getting the best chicken wings in Dublin flew away donning fingerlickingly good chicken wings from this place.
Next stop – Guinness Storehouse, it had to be done! I am sure you’ll find out everything that needs to be known about visiting this brew mecca with a section inside, shaped like a pint that can hold 14 million litres of Guinness, but here are a few insights anyways:
- There is a video on barrel making (I think on the 3rd floor). You can see this Cooper freestyle carving the precise panels of the barrel and then moulding metal sheets to hold it together. Not many people paid attention, but it is worth the watch. David (think that was the name of the cooper in the video) was a legend!
- Mrs and Mr Arthur Guinness were parents to a whopping 21 children. Mrs Guinness spent 16 years of her life pregnant. Mr Guinness must have consumed a lot of the good stuff (and by good stuff I mean Guinness, obvs).
- You can queue and pour your own Guinness badly after waiting for yonks, or you can go straight to the Gravity Bar on Level 7 and leave the pouring and the drinking to the respective experts.
Stomach lined with the hearty Guinness, it was now time to rush to our next booking – dinner at Camden Kitchen. Beautifully unassuming food, with an early bird set menu of three courses for €25, you really can’t go wrong. After dinner, all that was left to do was to paint the town red with the following:
- Drinking delicious cocktails at the Vintage Cocktail Club in Temple Bar. Lauren booked it for us but didn’t realise it was a speakeasy bar until we accidentally walked passed a black door with white letters “VCC”. The cocktail menu is extensive with most of them being hits, but I still think my choice of “Ceylon in the City” with VCC Bird’s Eye Chili Pepper-infused Mango Liqueur, was the best.
- The party then moved on to
an old man’sa traditional pub (because when in Dublin..) called the Long Hall. This is where the first shot of Sambuca was consumed, before moving onto our next stop. - This bar is know as the no name bar, because it has no name. After going up a flight of stairs, you walk in to what seems like someone’s lounge with TV in the corner and littered with mismatched furniture. A quick Gin and Tonic and swing of our hips (Mrs FOMOist and I are shameless when our jam comes on), we headed to what was described to us as “the institution”.
- A quick Google Search describes Copper Face Jack as “Legendary club with state-of-the-art lighting and a decidedly upbeat (even cheesy) playlist” and it was exactly that and much more. Sticky floors, teenyboppers, you name it, this place had it. Not a place you’d go on a first date to show-off your moves, but definitely the right place for a group of friends to dance the night away.
The youthful Jason at some point may have announced that he can drink anything while we were at Copper Face Jack so Peter and I made it our mission to buy him everything, which resulted in Jason pissed and Min pissed off – legendary indeed! Once home, leftover chicken and chips may have been consumed without any cutlery from a communal bowl, followed by a shot of Cafe Patron before calling it a night.
Sunday morning was a bit slow and we were booked in for the respectable hour of 12.00pm at this new cafe called BEAR. Apparently it’s relatively new, but my titillatingly spicy Bloody Mary and delicious Spuntino Eggs (duck eggs backed inside a bread) confirmed that they know exactly what they are doing. A quick observation made by all before we left is that the toilets are pink with very awkwardly located toilet paper. So if you need to go, make sure you pick up the roll from near the basin before you get comfortable.
Just a quick update on our living situation, we are now officially homeless and bunking up with our awesome friends who were kind enough to offer us their spare room for the next month before we depart from the Northern Hemisphere.
Another book was read yesterday and thoughts are shared on Magic!
For more awesome pictures, from this trip and others, click on the below button
Confessions of a FOMOist 
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