Dublin: 48 Hours

Dublin has come and gone. I'm sure it's changed a lot in recent years. It's very multicultural. Parts of it have the feel of "Little Warsaw" since there are so many Poles. Lots of bachelor and bachelorette parties and Americans so it doesn't always have the feel of old Ireland. It has more of the feel of a very walkable London.

Our highlights included a two-hour walking tour about the 1916 Rising. Got to see the General Post Office, still scarred with bullet holes. We took a tour of Croke Park, the third-largest stadium in Europe. Learned more about Gaelic sports such as hurling and Gaelic football. We did not know they were amateurs. The biggest perk for the players is the swank players lounge with free food and free beer- but only for two hours.

The Book of Kells was one of those predictable sites overrun by tourists that often proves to be a disappointment (such as Changing of the Guard). Only two pages of the books are open and they are just swarmed. The old library at Trinity College, also part of the admission, is much more impressive.

We did our share of pub-crawling. The Brazen Head, Dublin's oldest, was my favorite. We're up in Belfast now. I'll try to check in again in a couple days.