This past week, I was lucky enough to have my parents visit in Dublin!
The night before they arrived, we went to an acclaimed taco bar in the city and what we found there was super unexpected. We walked over to the location, sort of hidden down an alley, but we were taken to a local chain Mexican food place. Very confused, we walked inside and were greeted by a worker who led us over to a wall that happened to be a secret door into the restaurant! Speakeasy tacos were definitely not on my Dublin bingo card. We each got our own plates of tacos and they were divine, but I was a bit overconfident in my ability to handle spicy food. It must have been the hottest food I’ve ever had in my life and I sat in our booth with tears streaming down my face most of the time. Apart from that, the experience was awesome. The vibes of the restaurant were unique and fun and the walls were covered in stickers and messages from past customers.
Then on Saturday, my parents arrived in Dublin! I told them they had to beat the jet lag, so I immediately met them for lunch and we spent the day walking around center city and Grafton Street. They were loving the vibe of the city and all of the buskers on the streets. The biggest thing they had to get accustomed to was the weather because we got caught in the rain a couple times. One of their “must see” things in Dublin was Temple Bar, so we spent a bit of time in the Temple Bar district. We stopped into Temple Bar for a quick drink and enjoyed some live music and Irish dancers!
On Saturday, they wanted to go to the Guinness Storehouse and they brought me along for my second visit. This time we didn’t have a tour guide, but they booked some extra perks in the Storehouse where we could do taste and smelling tests of the beer and learn how to pour our own Guinness! My dad was very proud to have learned a trick when we poured our own Guinness: he was told to ask the instructor, “well who gets to pour the you made to show us?” and she gave him the free beer! Good going, Dad! We ended the day with some Thai food and went into O’Neill’s Bar where we ran into a bunch of Bucknell students!
On Monday, their last day in Dublin before heading to Dingle Peninsula, they woke up and took a tour of the Kilmainham Gaol, which I strongly recommended. We had another low-key day walking around the city, stopping into some stores and museums. We went to a pub for a late dinner and my dad made me try Guinness Pie. I turned my nose up at it at first, but it was actually quite delish! Then we met up with Lucie, Kiki, and Zoe for a few drinks at Searson’s to end the night. I was so lucky to have my parents visit this weekend, and so excited for them to see the rest of Ireland!
The coolest speakeasy taco bar! (I didn’t know these existed!)
My mom and I left my dad alone for thirty seconds and he ended up with a flight of Irish whiskeys in front of him???
My lovely parents and I enjoying a drink at Temple Bar!
They stayed in the cutest hotel ever near center city that used to be an old school house! Their room apparently was the principal’s office
These Guinness professionals poured their own drinks!