Dublin's Green Side and Touristic Activities

Dear all,

now even my last weekend here in Dublin is spent and I will already be back in Berlin next week around this time.

On Monday one of my fellow German Interns and I decided to go to Phoenix Park again, as we were told by the other Interns that there are free living deer to be found. Sadly, we only spotted one stag... After that we went again to Eatokyo and ran  into one of my flatmates of our group and her companion. Though we again went to Eatokyo on Wednesday. We just can't seem to get enough of this place, haha.

At Eatokyo I enjoyed some nice Sushi on Monday (didn't do any pictures) and on Wednesday I treated myself to this awesome Seafood Ramen Bowl.

We also had this superb sunrise last week...

On Friday we went to O'Reilly's as usual and met up with one colleague of one of our German interns, though we were all in all fewer as the other German intern group we usually went to pubs with, already had their last day on Friday (but we obviously did a proper farewell party earlier that week).

On Saturday I spent my day with the same German intern as from Monday at Dublin's National Botanic Garden. The area is well taken care of and really is a great spot to relax. The most astonishing point though is, that one doesn't need to pay any entrance fee. We also have a Botanic Garden in Berlin Steglitz, but one has to pay a small entrance fee to get access to the garden.

On Sunday, the aforementioned work colleague and two other fellow German interns and me did a Free Walking Tour of the northern part of Dublin. It's great as you just meet up with the guide who has an umbrella with him near The Spire, which you can't miss at O'Connell Street next to the GPO. The Tour was really interesting as our Guide shared some Dublin insider info with us and all in all did a great job. I also went to The Rolling Donut again, although I went with a Rosie Lee Donut (red velvet donut) as they didn't had the cool blue one this time. We also spotted this fantastic café called Choco Bó, at which you can create your own chocolate bars! Well, obviously we made use of this opportunity, esp. since they had a special offer to create them for only € 2,50!

Rosie Lee Donut

Afterwards, we did a quick stop at O'Reilly's and then went to the colleagues house to eat some chips we bought along the way.

And since we have such lovely weather today, I also did some pictures of my usual way to work and the Business Park where we're located at.

I will probably write 1 to 2 follow ups when I returned to Berlin, so stay tuned! ;)

Until then,

F

Roaming Through Howth and Delving into Megalithic Tombs

Dear all,

The first week was a rather busy series of events, though this will probably apply for the upcoming weeks as well.

I took care of the accounting area at our office and mastered our scanner completely, but I will have to carry on some of my current tasks at the beginning of the second week.

A few of my room mates and I decided to end the week in a pub stroll in Dublin's Center. We first went to Kennedy's but went to Dicey's Garden after that. Although I have to admit that it was nice going to Dicey's, I'd rather doubt that I will go there again during my stay, simply because House music isn't much of my cup of tea.

We spent pretty much of our entire Saturday at Howth - a definitely must-go if you're staying near Dublin! You can easily catch a DART to Howth and get off at the final station (Howth). You'll be directly at the heart of the peninsula.

We had splendid weather and choose the longest hiking tour that covers up most of the area. After exploring some of the small port's area and walking up the pier, we started to head off. Although the info at the visitor centre said that the hiking tour should be approximately 3 - 4 hours, we needed about 6 hours, since we took loads of pictures. And trust me every single one of them was worth the additional time.

You should stop at the small market area close to the DART Station. They offer homemade sweets (as in the pictures), other foods and souvenirs as well.

We spent our Sunday at Knowth, one of the megalithic tombs near Brú na Bóinne. You can easily pick one of the Bus Eireann's to Drogehda and get on the one that stops on the parking lot of the Brú na Bóinne's visitor centre. You should keep a close look on the bus operating times though, as we missed the return bus to Drogehda. It's still possble to get back by foot, though we had to walk around 7 km back.

There are two megalithic tombs open to the public around that location. You can either choose to visit both of them or just one. We picked Knowth, as it seemed more interesting and we hadn't had that much time. The guided tours take about an hour and are quite informative, at least for me, as I was rather unfamiliar with the tombs and Ireland's history. The visitors centre itself offers a great café and a few arts and crafts shops which sell unique souvenirs. It's worth a visit!

Just a tip if you're usually travelling with Dublin Bus using a leap card: you can also use your leap card budget to buy Bus Eireann Tickets, but you will only be able to buy single cards. I guess it's better to pay for a (day) return ticket in cash if you're not going to take the Bus Eireann on a regular basis.

      

Until then,
F