One of my favorite people on this planet moved to Ireland for 6 months and she was living it up. She became a tour guide whenever she had visitors, she had 2 this week! She planned an amazing trip that I want to remember.
I arrived after a connecting flight into Dublin, I didn’t sleep much due to chatty neighbors, but it was EASY to spot the american. Wide-eyed and on Facetime trying to find my friend. I was near baggage claim and security told me I couldn’t record anything, he didn’t want to hear that I wasn’t. I keep walking and I find my friend. I did not seem to grasp that it was 5am there because I screamed and ran and caused a scene. She laughed. We got in a taxi and I was LOST. For starters our driver’s accent was so thick it was difficult to understand, next he was talking about lighting a fag and some good crack (spelled craic).
This american was confused and a little scared, not going to lie.
When we got out of the taxi my friend explained that a fag is a cigarette, and craic is equivalent to having a good time. I can’t remember all the other different words that were used, but they were all explained.
I felt better already.
My friend was staying with another girl our age who was hilarious, good company for the week. We started in Dublin, drove to Galway where my friend’s roommate went to college. This is was such a fun town, college town so we went out. We stayed up all night and watched the sunrise early the next morning. I found my favorite veggie burgers, that I have yet to find in the states unfortunately.
Everywhere we went felt like it was right on the water. Ireland is an island after all.
After Galway we took a bus to the Cliffs of Moher, I had read about how foggy it usually is and how it’s hard to see. Thankfully that wasn’t the case today. It was stunning, a clear blue sky. We walked 7.4 miles that day and ended up in Doolin. We got lunch with a women my friend knew from when she was a kid. Her grandmother had come to Ireland and stayed on her farm for a summer and her family went to visit. I love that they kept in touch and that this women was so willing to meet us. We talked about her farm, I had the best fish and chips and Irish coffee to date.
I was so impressed with the coordination, time and effort this trip had to have taken to plan.
Our next stop on our seemingly whirlwind tour of Ireland was Limerick. We stayed at O’Conner’s Pub and Paddy was our host. It was found an Airbnb! What a gem. We walked in to see a fishing shop on one side and a bar on the other, and the walls were covered in just things, random things and there was no rhyme or reason to it, just stuff he collected throughout his years. His motto was, “Everything is borrowed, never given back or stolen.”
We walked upstairs where we were staying to see our room and bathroom, there were 3 rooms. His room, which had it’s own bathroom. Another room with 2 beds, and the third room at the end of the hall was ours. 3 beds and right next to the bathroom. We got settled in and we ate soda bread for dinner, took a nap and we went back downstairs an hour or so later because we heard music, and the bar was packed! There was a tour group from France there and a live band. We grabbed a few seats at the bar and hung out. It was a lively group, lots of fun! Later that night when it cleared out, we spent a few hours asking him where everything came from and sure enough, everything had a story. He played music for us, we talked to the barkeep, Paddy played the spoons incredibly well.
The next morning we got up and were unsure of how we were getting into town because it was a far walk. We called for a taxi, nothing came. Paddy, our grandfather like friend, didn’t like us standing outside so he called us in, gave us some coffee and “porridge” (oatmeal). Meanwhile there was a bird stuck in his front window! While he called up a few of his friends to see if anyone wouldn’t mind giving us a ride into town. He was an eclectic man, but that’s what made his home, pub and airbnb all rolled into one so endearing.
Overwhelmed with the heartwarming hospitality we left the cutest little Airbnb in a car with one of Paddy’s friends and went to explore Limerick.
Later that night we headed back to Dublin and went out for pints before my flight home the next day! After a few rounds bought by other people, it was my turn. Me, having never ordered Guinness before went up to the bar and ordered 4 pints of Guinness. The nice bartender pours 4 and fills them about 3/4 of the way up and sets them down in front of me and asks for my money. So I give it to him, while whispering to my friend, another american visiting, “If this is all we’re getting I want some of my money back… they’re not even full.” She said, “Yeah, that’s weird.” So I asked him to please fill the glasses all the way up, and he laughed and then went to another bartender and they all laughed. He said, “Are you American?” To which I said, “That obvious?” And he taught me about the famous pour.
How to pour Guinness Correctly
- Hold the glass at a 45 degree angle to the nozzle
- Fill the glass up until there’s 2 inches left OR the beer reaches halfway up the Guinness harp
- Set the glasses down for 2-3 minutes to settle
- Place the glass back under the nozzle and instead of pulling the handle towards you, you push it back because it releases the beer at a slower pace
After an hour plus of looking through photos, google searching and 2 phone calls, I finally found an article that sheds some more light on the charming pub and Paddy.
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