Dublin, Ireland doesn't scream "adventurous," so I'm not really sure why I decided to fly 5,000 miles from San Francisco to visit Ireland's capital city. A Lithuanian guy I met in Amsterdam a couple of years ago did say it was booming, and I've read about Dublin's economic revival, so was probably just curious to see what all the fuss was. Whatever the reason, the fact that the Irish love to drink and Dublin is home to Guinness and Jameson were added bonuses.
Unfortunately, before my trip I caught a nasty cold from my sister's boyfriend while visiting the family for Christmas, so my stay in Dublin was utterly miserable, mostly confined to my dorm room sleeping with a bloody nose. I didn't get to do as much as I wanted and I blame my illness for my so-so photographs, which incidentally you can view here. But enough of the whining.
Impressions
Beautiful. Small. Charming. Expensive.
Dublin is surprisingly beautiful with its wonderful architecture, clean streets, grand parks. The buildings are old, but not decrepit; sophisticated, but not pretentious. There's a lot of history in Dublin, but you'll have to know where to look. Its top tourist attraction, the Guinness Storehouse, is just an unassuming warehouse in another part of town. There's no definitive landmarks in Dublin, at least not on the scale of--say--Moscow's St. Basil's Cathedral or Paris' Eiffel Tower.
Spire, Dublin's modern landmark
The city itself is small, easily walkable from end to end. The Liffey River that horizontally divides Dublin is more like a stream. Its largest street, O'Connell Street, is comparable to a busy lane in major cities like New York and Tokyo. The numerous and famous bridges that connect Upper and Lower Dublin barely qualify as bridges (granted, I live in San Francisco, home to the Golden Gate and Bay bridges). But Dublin's smallness is part of its charm. Not too big, not too crowded, just perfect size.
Dublin's famous "half penny" bridge
One thing that is not perfect about Dublin is the high prices. With the weak dollar, it cost me something like 12 USD for a McDonald's Big Mac meal! That's just ridiculous. Believe it or not, drinking a pint of Guinness is probably the cheapest thing to do in Dublin for a tourist.
Guinness
Dublin and Ireland are internationally known for pubs and Guinness. I think Dublin holds the honor of most bars per capita, but frankly, I didn't think there were that many. The Guinness Storehouse is well worth the visit. There indeed is something special--almost magical--about drinking a pint of the black gold in its home.
Lodging
Unless you're an investment banker, forget about a nice hotel room in Dublin. I ended up staying at the Globetrotters Hostel. Location is great, North of the Liffey, just one block parallel to O'Connell Street. Very central, very convenient. The room was small, but clean. There's a little common area with a TV and one free Internet station. The best part, the delicious Irish breakfast buffet.
On the down side, there are no electrical outlets for you to charge your iPod, computer or phone. The front desk will charge them for you, but who wants to leave their phone at the reception. The dorm rooms all have electronic key lock (like hotels), but there are no individual lockers inside the room, so you can't secure your valuables. There is free WiFi available.
Tips
Airport- I found Dublin International Airport (DUB) very clean, comfortable and nice. Plenty of restaurants and shops to keep you busy, although the restaurants are mostly before security check-in. The airport boasts Wi-Fi Internet access, so you can use your laptop. Otherwise, you can use one of the Internet kiosks (not free, but still reasonably priced).
Airport Transfer - The easiest way to get to/from the airport to city center is by bus. As soon as you step outside the airport you'll see the AirCoach buses. 12 Euro for a round trip ticket. From the airport to O'Connell street drop off was about 30 minutes. The bus was new, clean and comfortable. They come frequently, so you'll probably not have to wait more than 10 minutes.
Audio Guides - Dublin Tourism offers free audio walking tours on their website. You can download them to your iPod and listen on the plane to get a sense of things, or you can do the actual walk as you listen to the guide. Free, fun and useful.
Weather - The weather during late December/early January is cold, but not too cold. A good winter coat will do. It will rain, however. Half my days were rainy.
