I’ve rolled down the car window. The Irish countryside welcomes me with open arms. The cool summer breeze is in my hair. Ed Sheeren’s Shape of You is blaring out of the speakers. I’m wearing a mini skirt and boots. I’m nodding off while the driver and the GPS do their thing… I’m reliving some long overdue born-to-be-wild-80s moment. All is well… I WISH. Continue reading The Misadventures of Driving in Ireland
Galway retains that old world charm without being tacky and kitsch. Galway City only has a population of 80,000, but culture is teeming from every street corner. Buskers play harps on the street. Traditional Irish music is a regular feature at many of the pubs. It was lively, vibrant – full of tourists, students, locals. I almost forgot about the small population. it felt like everyone was there. Continue reading Galway City: the Ireland of my imagination
I love Airbnb. Most of my generation has used it at some point or another. But… before Airbnb showed up with its fancy algorithms to connect hosts with guests all over the world, there was the old school BnB. And Ireland is the perfect place to re-experience the traditional BnB. And before you worry about ratings and reviews, registered Irish BnBs are star rated by Fàilte Ireland: the National Tourism Development Authority. Whilst Booking.com has some BnB options, I found it fairly limited if you’re looking for something off the beaten path. A bit more Googling later, I found what I was looking for. Continue reading Ireland BnB: the old school Airbnb experience
In the Republic of Ireland, the signage on the roads are in Irish first and English second. As I cross the border, I see the very first sign written only in English. “Welcome to Northern Ireland,” it reads. Some vandals have decided to black out the ‘Northern’ so it reads ‘Welcome to Ireland’. Continue reading Northern Ireland Road Trip: crossing the confusing unmanned border
The highlight of the day and the reason why we did this long drive. The Cliffs of Moher are often touted as Ireland’s Most Visited Natural Tourist Attraction. The advertisers weren’t lying. There were LOADS… and I do mean LOADS of people there. After the LONG LONG drive, I was excited to finally arrive at our long overdue destination. It all sounded like a good idea when we were planning the trip – but the moment I arrived at the super famous Cliffs of Moher, I realised that I’m scared of heights. Oh yes. It’s a childhood problem. Continue reading Ireland Road Trip: Limerick, Quin Abbey and Cliffs of Moher
Two teetotallers cannot be trusted to attend a booze tour. We should know better. We don’t. So we decide to do two things that are a ‘must-do’ on the Dublin bucket list. We decide to go to the Jameson Whiskey Bow Street Tour and the Guinness Storehouse Brewery Tour. Hey – just cause we don’t drink doesn’t mean we should miss out on all the fun. But is it fun if you’re not drinking? Continue reading Dublin’s Jameson Distillery and Guinness Brewery: 2 teetotallers on a booze tour
Dublin feels like an old friend I haven’t met in a while. I’ve changed, but my old friend is same old same old. Days in Dublin start late and finish late. I don’t mind the starting late part, but I don’t care much for the finishing late part. I’m not big on the pubbing culture. Dublin feels like a mix between Leicester and Melbourne. It’s a little sleepy and slow like Leicester, but the food and pub culture is very reminiscent of Melbourne – where I lived for five years. Continue reading Day 2 in Dublin: the Leprechaun Museum, the Natural History Museum, Riverdance and Irish food
Dublin reminded me a whole lot of Leicester in the UK minus all the brown people. On Saturday at 8am, it was a small sleepy town that had yet to wake up from the night before. It was refreshing to see a place so quiet first thing in the morning. With a population of 530,000 people, I wouldn’t describe Dublin as a big city. Continue reading Day 1 in Dublin: the National Museum of Ireland, the Book of Kells and Irish culinary delights
The Mercantile 