It seemed strange to me that I had never visited Ireland before, considering Scotland is a mere hop, skip and jump away.
It only seemed right to remedy this with a short but sweet visit to out neighbours to the west. And, after spending a weekend there, I would honestly recommend a visit to anyone who cares about good views, good people and good food.
Dublin was our home base for much of the trip and we spend half of our trip within the city centre, the other half in the suburbs.
We spent much of our first hours wandering around and getting our bearings of the area.
It really was amazing just walking around a city which was both very similar and very different to my home city.
One thing that stood out among the rest was the artistry in the buildings, which was easily missed if you forgot to look up...
We spent an hour trying to locate the statue of Molly Malone, to no avail.
Only after we had given up did we stumble into her, purely by accident, selling her cockles and muscles by the side of the road.
All throughout our trip we found little things which piqued our interest.
If I had one piece of advice to offer for Dublin it would be this: take you time and pay attention.
We would soon leave the city to spend time up north, away from the busy city and into more scenic areas.
We began by visiting numerous Game of Thrones sites.
We then travelled further along the coast, towards Carrick-O-Rede Bridge.
As the stories go, the bridge was used by fisherman for almost 350 years to fish from the island of Carrickarede (Rock of the Casting) but now is mainly used for tourism.
And despite how safe they tell you it is, you do feel a certain thrill as you look down to the waves below, crashing again the all-too-sharp rocks.
Definitely well worth the view of the ocean from the other side, though.
Gave us time to catch our breaths.
And while I would love to say we had ample time to wander around the rocks, we had underestimated how much time we had left.
I guess I'll just have to come back to see it again some time.
Or last day was a rush of trying to fit as much as possible into the few hours we had left.
The first step was to see the Guinness factory. As someone who does not like beer, I had low hopes. To its credit, the factory (first constructed in 1902) was full of interactive elements and a charming overview of the beer's history, with a fantastic restaurant on the top floor.
We then rushed off to the northern area above Dublin, a little fishing village called Howth which was once a Viking settlement (the Viking's were said to have invaded as far back as 819).
The view from the harbour was as beautiful as it was freezing, and we couldn't see a single boat in use out at sea.
We couldn't stay for long though, as the wind was so harsh we barely saw another person outdoors. And we were a tad underdressed...
Roughly 5 seconds after that photo by scarf was torn from my nexk by the wind...
Life tip: don't wear a skirt and tights by the ocean on a freezing day. You will fall ill.
The last hour or so was spent touring the nightlife of Dublin. That is, after we managed to get some feeling back in our frozen bodies.
Of course this meant seeing the famous Temple Bar.
It was then a quick rush to the airport to get back home in time.
So much to see in far too little time; a fun weekend but maybe a little longer may have made for a better trip.
I would definitely return for a longer trip some time in the future, but until then I'll hold onto these memories.