I've conquered Ireland!

Well what a great weekend again, i'm still alive, my kidneys are still in good condition and i'm not bankrupt LOL.

It was an early start Friday morning up at 2am to be at Bristol airport for 5.30am with flight at 6.30am, due to it being so early i couldn't be bothered to read the map so Helen borrowed a Satnav, what a annoying rubbish invention. We typed in all the right information we took all the right directions and guess what, we had to find our own way there as it took us way out the way away from the airport. No thanks to the Crapnav we got there in time and made our flight.

So on to the plane Ryanair, very low price for return flight but their is a downside, i thought i was on a toy plane, when inside is all blue and yellow plastic everywhere, sweaty vinyl seats that when someone farted on the seat it vibrated so loud it drowned out the engine (by the way it wasn't me farting) and to top it all off a dried out hotdog was £6 but the hot chocolate was yummy.

No sooner than we had taken off we had landed "Hello Dublin". So we went to Helen's brothers (Vincent) house in the area of Rathgar dumped off our bags and headed in to the town centre where we had a look around ready for the big day on Saturday, feeling a bit peckish we headed in to George Street Arcade market for some food.

Inside here i had the best sandwich ever, i had a breakfast roll but it was made with a sunblushed tomato ciabatta and everything was cooked fresh and boy did it taste amazing and really clean flavours. The place was called "Honest to goodness" and here is their website.

http://www.honesttogoodness.ie/Honest_To_Goodness/Welcome_.html

We then continued on our way taking in all the places that could be possible places to get drunk in while we watched the rugby. As always when we go away i give Helen 1 day that she can go shopping so we went to Stephens Green shopping centre where i was very surprised at the prices as there wasn't that much difference in prices compared to the UK and some things were cheaper but i thought the centre itself was brilliant although i did have to go down 3 floors after going up 3 floors to get change to use the toilet then go back up 3 floors again, much better exercise than step aerobics and helps with bladder control.

Stephens Green Shopping centre

After being dragged around all the shops it was time to head back and stop off for a drink, well i am in Ireland after all so when in Ireland........

We popped in to a local pub called "Vaughan's Eagle House" where the world famous poet James Joyce was born in 1882, it was a great pub which was set up over 3 levels and still maintained all its traditional fixtures and fittings. Time for my first alcoholic drink in Ireland, now i bet you think i tried a Guinness but no i tried a Smithwicks Ale and it was so good, Helen had that traditional irish drink WKD blue with a straw, classy LOL. Then reality struck home, i'm in Ireland 10.59Euro for 2 drinks, what the........? Did i just buy a round for the whole pub? Water for Helen from now on. Now if any british tourists on Zakynthos say to me "its expensive on the island" my first words back will be "you should try Ireland".

Vaughans Eagle House in Rathgar

Thats it for day 1 as it had started very early so we stayed in, had a delivery curry and caught up on our sleep ready for saturday.

Saturday "Oh, What a beautiful mornin’,Oh, What a beautiful day.I got a beautiful feelin’Ev’erything’s goin’ my way". Time for a big Irish breakfast and my first time with white pudding and i don't believe it, its better than black pudding. Make a mental note any irish visitors could they bring me out some white pudding LOL. Time to Re-mortgage the house as my breakfast cost 9.95Euro just in a local cafe. Breakfast:- 2 Sausage, 1 bacon, 1 egg, 1 black pudding, 1 white pudding, mushrooms, 1 toast and tea.

In to town with a tummy full of fatty food to soak up the alcohol and first stop was a bar called "The Church" now with me being a man of the cloth i thought this was a good start and what a amazing start it was, inside this old church was a bar that was built on 3 levels again with all the original church decor left insdie and bar/restaurant has been built around it, i would love to work in somewhere like this i was wide eyed in wonder. Arthur Guinness, founder of the Guinness Brewery was married here in 1761 !!

Good start in there with Liverpool winning 1-0 and Ireland beating Italy, time to find the bar that we'll watch Wales in but along the way we took in some sights.

First of all was one that i couldn't miss even if i wanted to "The Dublin Spire" that was finished in 2003 and is 390ft high and was built on the spot where Nelsons Pillar stood that was destroyed by a bomb from the former members of the IRA, it really is a sight to see.

Then we crossed the Ha'penny Bridge which was built in 1816 over the River Liffey, this bridge is just up from Clarence Hotel that Bono from U2 owns, from the outside it looks a right dump but when inside i could tell it was well above my standards of innkeepers lodge LOL.

I was expecting to see Bono sat there in his JimJams (Pyjamas) reading the morning papers while necking a bottle of Jack Daniels, i was left disappointed.

Time was running out and the match was about to start so we up'd our pace through Temple Bar area which we would return to and decided to go to O'neills for the Craic and some real Guinness.

Along the way we passed the statue of Molly Malone who was said to be a beautiful street fishmonger during the day, some say she was a part time lady of the night also. There is no evidence that Molly Malone was a real person.

Where's my Leprecon net when i need it. Now i know i wasn't drunk as i hadn't had more than 2 drinks (i'm a lightweight) but i had to look twice as just next door to Molly was a 7ft Leprecon so to not look stupid just in case everyone else couldn't see what i was seeing i took a picture of him from across the road.

Now this next picture is a bit religious so with me being Rock Rev. Kev i thought i would show this updated version of the last supper by the artist John Byrne who asked people off the street if they would like to be in the Last Supper. After he had found 13 people to take part he dressed them up and took the photo that is now on enamel plates on the wall in Blooms Lane.

Now on to O'neills and my first pint of Guinness "Oh My God" how good does a proper pint of Guinness taste. I'd never had one before and now i really can tell the difference in taste, i'm not keen on UK Guinness but this stuff i stayed on all day. So i was set, Guinness in hand, welsh national athem on the TV and set for war with the English, 80 mins later we'd lost but because of the bar we were in and all the irish shouting for Wales while 2 english people sat quiet in the corner the day was brilliant and as Meatloaf sang "2 out of 3 ain't bad" Liverpool won, Ireland Won and Wales gave England the match. It was nice to read the next day Will "square chin" Carling actually admitting England didn't win the game, Wales lost it.

O'neills bar where the Irish were very friendly and cheered along with us.

Inside O'neills its all dark wood with green leather seating and brass trim everywhere. This is what a real pub should be like.

Then after all the tension of the rugby it was time to head back over to the Temple Bar area. The Temple Bar pub was established in 1840 on the site where Sir William Temple who was Provost of Trinity College, Dublin and Master Chancery in Ireland built his house in 1609 on the "Barr" which is the word for a raised sandbank for walking on which was shortened to "Bar" and so the name Temple Bar was born.

A 2 day trip was far to short as i loved what i saw and the history and the Guinness of course. I'm sure i'll be back very soon for a longer stay next time and i'd like to say a big thank you to Vincent for his company and for letting us use his house and to all the irish people who watched the match with us and made saturday such a great day.

A few truths about Ireland, Ireland is a beautiful place, the Irish people are friendly (accept the bus drivers LOL), Guinness is 100% better there than anywhere else in the world and there are alot of ginger Irish people haha.