I really enjoyed my recent minibreak to Dublin; although it only lasted a couple of days I found it a nice diversion from my quotidian concerns.

Not long after my 6am posting, I picked up my heavy backpack and made my way over to Liverpool Street, where I met up with my friend Etsu. From there we took the Stansted Express train to the airport. I was really disappointed with the Stansted Express actually; I’ve used the Gatwick Express once, which uses these slinky red cone-nosed trains, and expected a similar quality of transport from the Stansted version, especially as it cost up to £17 each way. Instead we had to travel on a crappy train with broken seats and litter everywhere. The worst thing about the Stansted Express is that it’s the only way to get to the airport in a decent amount of time; the other trains going there take hours and don’t run during the early hours. I was glad to get a £5 discount on my return ticket through the airline.

The flight to Dublin was free of charge without taxes, and the return flight cost 2 pence, incurring about £10 of taxes. Unfortunately because my friend doesn’t have an EU passport we had to pay £8 each for airport check-in. Though the flights themselves are so cheap, Ryanair makes its money from the optional extras (airport check-in, priority boarding, credit card payment). Never having been on a proper budget airline, I was worried about having to find our own seats on the plane, envisioning mayhem and fisticuffs onboard, but it was fine. I would say that there’s no need to pay the extra £4 per flight per person to be first onboard, unless you’re in a big group who wants to sit together. In total we paid £20 each, the same amount as the train to Stansted Airport…

I’ve become quite nervous on planes in recent years, for which I blame Lost and Final Destination. I hate the take-off and landing, though I’m fine during the cruising period. The plane was quite small - only six seats in each row - so it was easier to feel when the plane was changing direction, and I was quite glad that the flight to Dublin only took an hour. Etsu slept for most of the flight, while I read a novel inspired by Errol Flynn’s time in Jamaica.

After we’d landed and I was waiting for Etsu to come through passport control, this big African guy in his late 40s who’d been on our flight approached me and asked me for my phone number. He was quite persistant, and in the end I told him that I had a boyfriend. (I hate doing that, as the fact that I’m not interested should be enough - I shouldn’t have to evoke the idea of some non-existent alpha-male to reject someone’s advances. And besides sometimes that line doesn’t work - he might try to convince you that he’d treat you better or be a better lover than you’re current guy, or that what your bf doesn’t know won’t hurt him, etc. etc.)

So after that we took the AirLink bus (€10 for a family ticket) to O’Connell Street, which is one of the main thoroughfares of central Dublin. Our hotel, the 3-star Ripley Court Hotel, was a short walk away. I’d chosen the hotel based on its budget cost (€65 per room per night) and its reviews on TripAdvisor, but I was still rather worried about how nice it would be. I needn’t have worried. Although from the outside the hotel looked quite unwelcoming, the interior was lovely. The hotel room was really nice too, plenty of space and a lovely ensuite bathroom. We enjoyed a massive Irish/continental breakfast each morning, featuring bacon, eggs, toast, cereals, hash browns, sausage, fruit, etc., which provided us with plenty of energy for the day ahead.

After we’d unpacked and had a brief rest, we decided to explore the area, aiming for the river. Walking back to O’Connell Street, we traversed shopping centres and main streets, and somehow ended up on a street which contained several sex shops (of course). We walked around some more then eventually ended up at a generic cafe where I had a thai curry and Etsu had some pasta. I was shocked when I went back to the counter for another orange juice and was asked for €3.25; though I’d been warned that Dublin was expensive, it was dearer than I’d expected.

Wednesday was our only full day in Dublin, so we both wanted to make the best of it. Etsu really wanted to see the Book of Kells, so we visited Trinity College and the Book of Kells exhibition that morning. The best option was to have a guided tour of the college (€10), which included the cost of visiting the Book of Kells. Our guide was a cute, geeky PhD student, who gave us some background on the college buildings (including several which were designed by architects who’d never visited the site), plus information on which of the halls of residence had housed famous former students such as Oscar Wilde. He also told us about the professor who was killed in a gunfight with students on campus. After the tour we went on to see the Book of Kells, for which we had to queue for a while despite already having paid for our admission. It was interesting to find out about that impressive work, and the mystery of its origins.

I ended up having to buy some trainers as the leisure shoes I’d brought with me were hurting my feet. We stopped off in a branch of Footlocker, and I picked up a pair of Nike Air Maxes. I didn’t actually mind buying them as I’d wanted some new trainers for a while anyway.

After lunch at an Irish pub we went on to my choice, the Irish Writers’ Museum. I enjoyed finding out more about writers like George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett and Oscar Wilde, and to view artefacts like their typewriters and correspondence. I also learned about the Irish writers’ tradition of subverting authority, and challenging the status quo.

We returned to our hotel for a brief rest then ventured out to the lively Temple Bar area. We walked around, and enjoyed the live music from street performers and shopped in some of the souvenir shops. After a while we ended up in the Bad Ass Cafe…

We wanted to sample the famous Irish Guinness before we left Dublin, so after we’d checked out of our hotel room on Thursday we went to a nearby pub and ordered two half-pints. Though it was much more pleasant that the Guinness I’ve tasted previously, I couldn’t finish my half-pint, but luckily Etsu was happy to finish it off for me.

Our flight home was delayed for about an hour, due to technical issues, but 50 minutes after take-off we arrived safely in London.

Overall I really liked Dublin. Ideally I would have loved to have had a week to really explore the city, and perhaps to take a day trip out to the Wicklow Mountains, but two days was a nice taster. Though there were a few similarities with London, I felt like I was in an European city like Paris or Brussells rather than a British city like Birmingham or even Edinburgh. They use the Euro, their road signs use kilometres instead of miles per hour, and even their pedestrian crossings reminded me of those I’ve seen in mainland Europe.

When I visit foreign countries I can’t help noticing other black people (I saw a handful each day, and was surprised to see an afro hair shop near my hotel), and I think that Etsu was also looking out for other Far Eastern people, as she mentioned that she hadn’t seen as many Japanese people as she’d expected. I also noticed a lot of Eastern-European people living and working in the city. There was a moment when we were walking through a park when every group of people who walked past us spoke a different language, which reinforced how cosmopolitan this international city of culture had become.

By the way, did I find the inspiration for a certain blogger’s name?