Our trip to Dublin had been a bit last minute to have a mini mid-week break for my birthday. We knew we wouldn't have a lot of time here. Ryanair used
to do flights from East Midlands where you could fly out first thing and back late the same day. Before COVID we had planned to do something like this.
However with this now being a birthday break and with Ryanair's schedule having been reduced we decided to fly out in the early evening before having a
nice meal out with after drinks planned, explore Dublin's sights the next day and then fly home late afternoon.
When we booked our flights we had totally forgotten that my birthday always overlaps with Download Festival which takes place right next to East Midlands
airport. This meant our flight home was full of Download revellers but thankfully for us we arrived back just a bit too late for the worst of the traffic
and we didn't have too many issues.
Upon arrival we checked in to our hotel and immediately went out for a nice meal at a Syrian / Lebanese restaurant called Damascus Gate. The place was a
bit questionable from both the outside and inside, but the reviews had been very good so we gave it a try. We were glad we had as the Mezes and food was
amazing and although quiet in here mid week the small scale of the place meant it still had atmosphere. We had been tempted to simply stay here for more
drinks but we knew we should head into the city centre on route to the famous Temple Bar. This was a birthday in Ireland of course, one that wouldn't be
complete without some whisky drinking. If one place would have atmosphere and be open late on a Wednesday night it'd be the Temple Bar. We weren't wrong
upon our arrival we could barely get in the venue or place an order. Thankfully after not too long we managed to get a table and enjoy the live music,
singing crowds as we drank Guiness, Whisky cocktails and Whisky shots. The four of us had fun here and we met several locals. One of these locals we
spoke to as we were leaving and he informed us at almost 2am that he was due to deliver a presentation at 9am the same day. We wished him luck as we parted
ways and ended the night.
The next day, slightly worse for were we had a late start and then set about visiting the sights of Dublin. We visited the castle, The Book of Kells & Old Library,
Trinity College, St Stephen's Green among many other sights before having a late pizza lunch and then catching our flight home. As it had turned out we
had the exact amount of time needed to properly experience Dublin and the drinking and birthday celebrations had really made this trip.
