These last couple of blog posts are long overdue. I flew back to the US on December 15th but I stayed really busy in my last couple of weeks abroad, with both school and trying to squeeze in some last traveling.
In the first week of December, I took a trip to Ireland with two of my friends, not my usual travel crew. We spent our first two nights in Dublin.
Getting to our Airbnb from the airport definitely had a learning curve. We quickly found out that the busses in Dublin only take coins, not cash, and won’t give you change. We were not prepared for this so we had to stop at a gas station and buy stuff that we didn’t really need just so we could get change for our bus tickets.
Shortly after we checked into our Airbnb, we went to a pub called Grainger’s Café Bar. It was our first “Irish experience” so far. We ordered fish and chips, a burger and fries, and a baked potato, all of which were delicious. However, the best part about our meal was the waiter/bartender, he was the only one working that night and did an amazing job, he was also hilarious.
We went and did a tour of the Guinness Storehouse. It was a cool experience, and I learned a lot there. I recommend visiting if you are in Dublin. I bought a lot of gifts for my family and friends in the gift shop there, which was an added bonus.
Afterwards, we headed to lunch at “The Brazen Head” which is advertised as the oldest pub in Ireland but after some quick research, it appears to be the second oldest. The oldest pub is “Sean’s Bar” in central Ireland. While it had a pub atmosphere, I felt that it was somewhat of a tourist trap. It was absolutely packed and everything was more expensive than other places we had seen. I got a burger and fries, however, the burger was about 2 ½ inches thick and tasted more like meatloaf than a burger. It didn’t help that the burger I ate the night before at Grainger’s was the best burger I have ever had.
Because of limited availability and booking last minute, we stayed in a different Airbnb every night that we were in Ireland. Our Airbnb the 2nd night was technically still in Dublin but it was nowhere near anything that we planned on visiting or where we had previously stayed. After having so much difficulty with getting change for the buses, we decided to walk the 45 minutes to our Airbnb with our stuffed, heavy backpacks on. By the time we got there, we were all starving and started to walk back the way we came to check out some of the restaurants we had passed on our way over. We ended up eating at a Thai place called “San Sab.” I had never had Thai food so I really had no idea what to order. I have a very low spice tolerance so I was nervous that I wouldn’t be able to find anything that I liked. The waitress very highly recommended some spicy food to us that my friends got and absolutely loved. I got Pad Thai which was good but the spice still kept me from finishing it. The waitress felt very strongly about her recommendation and was so happy that my friends liked it.
Overall, I was very impressed with the food Dublin had to offer. Especially after only being able to eat Italian food for months, this was a nice change of pace that more closely overlapped with the cuisine I’m used to back in the US.
A Message from the Office of Global Engagement:
The safety and security of Drexel students is a priority for the University. As part of the efforts to support Drexel students that are studying abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Office of Global Engagement has conducted a rigorous review of programming and provided additional support to participating students with customized pre-departure orientations and regular check-ins during the required self-isolation period and the term.
You must be logged in to post a comment.