March was a super busy month for me! Next to having some beyond lovely visitors I have also been taking a very nice trip myself and headed to Barcelona and Dublin. While it was my second time in Barcelona (and I am working on a post about my tipps for this beautiful town), it was my first time ever not only in Dublin, but in the Republic of Ireland in general. And to top it all of I went to celebrate St. Patrick´s with all the Leprechauns and fairies and obviously as much Guiness and Whiskey as I could possibly find. I instantly fell in love with Dublin and not because Day time drinking really takes a toll on me!



Getting there

Our most beloved cheap airline Ryanair will get you to the beautiful green isle from all over Europe without making you loose too much of that Leprechaun gold from the end of the rainbow.
I took a flight from Barcelona to Dublin with Ryanair and three more or less short hours I was surrounded by lovely people with even lovelier accents. To get into town you can get a variety of buses, but the Airlink or 747 is probably the easiest and for only 6 Euros quite cheap as well. Taxis have no set price, but will run the Taximeter. Journeys into town will usually round up around 25 Euros.




Preparation: 

Next to obviously wearing green and getting some cute little gimmicks to top off your outfit there are a few essential steps to take to make sure you have the best possible St. Patrick´s Day:

1. Book early! St. Patrick´s is obviously a huge tourist attraction and even at the end of January it will be almost impossible to get a somewhat central accommodation  We ended up staying at a lovely airbnb in Donabate a small town about 20 minutes and a 6 Euro return train ticket outside of Dublin. The rooms and our host were beyond lovely, but having to wait for over 30 minutes for a train after what feels like a gazillion pints of Guiness is not ideal to say the least.
2. Get your own drinks before the big day as stores do not sell alcohol before four on St. Paddy´s (no not even the shady ones!) and those bar drinks will add up. Also bring a convenient cup (like a to go coffee cup) as drinking in the streets is not permitted in Temple Bar.
3. Get to the bars early. Everyone starts drinking around 9 o´clock anyways so you might as well save yourselves the entries, that appeal at night and just get there bright and early as well. Have a big Irish fry up in the morning to coat your stomach and then let the world be your oyster. Enjoy the amazing parade that starts around 12 and has incredible costumes and music and then head off to wherever you think the Guiness will be the best (absolutely everywhere if you ask me). We just stumbled into the first bar we found in the Temple Bar area and had a great time and then somehow made our way to Dicey´s (only blurry memories of this), which was super cheap and had amazing music and a great crowd!




Sightseeing

When you have somewhat recovered from St. Patrick´s, there is still so much to explore and enjoy in Dublin. Why not start the day off with a relaxed walk in Phoenix Park, one of Europe´s biggest parks? Supposedly you can even meet deer there, but I wasn´t that lucky. Obviously you cannot miss Trinity College, Dublin´s oldest university right in the centre of town. You might want to do this when you do not need to sleep off a hangover and get there early to be able to enter the famous library without waiting for ages and have a look at the famous book of Kells.
After celebrating him why not visit St. Patrick´s cathedral to get a better idea of him and Irish history? And definitely head to the gorgeous Dublin Castle and enjoy wandering around in rooms that could come straight from my 9 year old dreams. For just a Euro more you get a guided tour that let´s you see the base of the medieval towers and the chapel, which insides are entirely made of wood, which I would definitely recommend. You should also have another sober stroll around Temple Bar, as it is really a beautiful area and you might not have appreciated that enough the day before.