Tag: LGBTQ

Ireland: In and Around Dublin

On By JC ThrashIn Travel

For our first afternoon in Dublin, we booked a free tour by Generation Tours and saw the top sights of Dublin, which helped formulate our plan for the week. We got dinner at the Oval bar, recommended by our tour guide. It was pretty good, but not the best meal we’d had, and a bit pricier than we thought it deserved. 

From there, we headed to a pub recommended by the musician who played at our wedding!, and as promised, there was excellent music – The Cobblestone. It was crowded, and we could only fit in the back of the pub at first, which made it hard to hear the musicians, but every 20 minutes or so, someone would depart, and we’d sneak a bit closer. 

Dublin Day Two: Howth

Howth is, if I dare say it, almost as incredible as the Cliffs of Moher, but minus the crowds. A little suburb on a peninsula off of Dublin, you can take the commuter train (the DART) there and back for 5€. There are four different loop trails to look at, and you can pick up the maps to each from the TI (about a 3-minute walk from the train station). We chose the second-longest, about 10km. We had planned to try the longest, but at only 2 additional km, it was way hillier, and most importantly, bypassed the Summitt (the mid-hike pub). 

The hike takes you up a narrow sidewalk at first alongside gated, fancy houses and condos, but once you get to the top, the actual trail begins. There are several viewpoint detours, and the trail is well marked with the four different options (which all run together for the first half of the hike). 

The views are absolutely incredible, and the first half of the trail takes you alongside the water (but way above it) for breathtaking scenery. As you near the lighthouse, the trails split, and those following the 8 or 10 km options are taken through town right past the pub. We didn’t eat, so I cannot comment on the food, but the pub had a great atmosphere, plenty of indoor and outdoor seating, and delicious beer options. 

From there we followed the red markers, which took us through another hiking area that is popular with the locals and their dogs, so we had to pay closer attention to the trail markers to avoid getting lost. At the top of one of the hills, we had a beautiful view of Dublin, before hiking back down into Howth. We grabbed a seafood lunch at Crabby Jo’s, which had great smoked salmon and a delicious seafood chowder. 

After lunch, we walked over to the Howth Castle, which now houses an automobile museum and cooking school (an interesting combination), but it was neat to walk around the grounds and see it. There are some paths near the castle and neighboring golf course, which are untraveled enough to make it seem like we were trespassing (we aren’t positive that we weren’t…).

That evening, we went to highly-recommended Darkey Kelly’s near the Temple Bar District. It was a bit disappointing, unfortunately; the food was OK, but overpriced, and in lieu of traditional Irish music, a band played Wagon Wheel (telling the audience that the song was called “Rock me Mama”).

On Wednesday, we took the Irish bus down to Trim to see the oldest Norman Castle in Ireland. We had planned to buy our tickets at the bus station with the promise of ticket machines that allow credit cards, but mysteriously all the machines were down, so we were forced to use the station ATM, which charged a fee in addition to an absurd exchange rate. (Until that point, we had gotten our cash at Bank ATMs only, which do not charge fees. Unfortunately, we just barely didn’t have enough euros for the bus fare!).

From the top of the castle.

The return ticket was 16€. We accidentally got off the bus one stop too soon, but it worked out as we took a long walk to the castle along the River Boyne. The River Walk was lovely, passing ruins along the way, and many locals with their dogs. Markers along the path tell the story of the history of the town. I would highly recommend the walk; not only is the path along the river lovely, but there are other medieval ruins to explore along the way.

We arrived at the castle behind a school group of about 50 kids, so we let them get a head start and took a quick Guinness break (it was almost noon). For lunch, we headed to a Rick Steve’s recommended (what we’ve begun affectionately referring to as Ricky’s Recs): Rosemary Bistro. My wife loved her burger, but unfortunately, the highly recommended tuna sandwich was really just a grilled cheese with a couple tuna sprinkles. (I should have taken a picture… when I say “tuna sprinkles,” I mean it literally.)

We headed back to Trim Castle and booked the next tour, which takes place every hour. While we waited, we explored the grounds. Though we had uncharacteristically sunny weather so far this week, our day in Trim was cloudy, but the impending drizzle held off for us to enjoy the outdoors.

The guide brought us through each level of the castle, sharing a bit about the history of the castle, what each of the rooms were used for. After about 45 minutes, we reached the top, awarding us with sensational views of the surrounding area. Our guide allowed us a few minutes to wander and enjoy the tower-top views before descending back down the narrow and steep windy staircase to exit back onto the grounds.

With about an hour until the next bus back to Dublin, we sought out a pub to relax with a pint. We discovered the hard way that before the height of tourist season and midweek, little was open, but we did stop into Sally’s for a pint of Guinness. We met other American travelers who had just begun their tour of Ireland following two weeks in Scotland, and enjoyed the artwork set into the heads of our Guinness draughts.

Day Four: Dublin Day

I had gone to bed feeling pretty beat and under the weather, so my wife allowed me to sleep in. I woke up about 8 minutes before the end of breakfast, which I take very seriously, so I threw on some clothes and ran downstairs to get my traditional Irish fare for one last time. 

Feeling better after some beans, eggs and a croissant, but still tired, we adapted our Dublin Day to hit the minimum. We had wanted to tour Kilmainham Gaol. Ricky’s Recs had warned us to reserve in advance during the high season, but since it was only mid-April, I figured we’d luck out. Unfortunately, we did not! 

Instead, we headed to the National History Museum, exploring the Iveagh Gardens and St. Stephen’s Green along the way. The National History Museum is free, and has enough to entertain folks for hours; we, however, focused on the main galleries for an hour, before heading out for some lunch.

We headed back to a pub featuring live music that my wife had noted earlier. It had a lovely patio, but as the cold rainy weather finally arrived for us, we ate and drank indoors (plus, the music was inside!) We ordered a toastie with some tomato soup and enjoyed the music. Even at a mostly empty pub at two o’clock in the afternoon on a Thursday – the musicians were quite talented. Here, we met more Americans; the wife was quite friendly, but the husband drowned out the music with his unending talk of golf courses, so we kindly took our leave and headed out.

We attempted the Brazen Head next; it was our Dublin tourist day, after all, but we balked at the food prices and instead settled for a pint on the beer garden. The indoor area was quite crowded, and though it was cold outside, the atmosphere was a bit calmer. From there we headed for our final Dublin meal, ordered much of the same that we would have eaten at the Brazen Head… but for half the price.

Then back to the hotel to pack up and roll out!

Dublin Lez-Travel rating:

Rainbows and gay bars are all over Dublin. We felt safe, and unlike Galway-area, not the only ones.

Ireland: In and Around Galway

On By JC ThrashIn Travel

We were fortunate enough to be sitting next to an off-duty Irish flight attendant (also gay), who not only provided sound advice for our trip, but also asked her friends for better wine and whisky than what they serve by default.

We landed in Dublin at 6:00am, flew through border control. We caught our coach (we used Dublin Express) to the Heuston Station, where we ate a full Irish breakfast – our first of many – and boarded our train to Galway. 

We booked a room at the Hardiman Hotel next to the train station and just off Eyre Square. It is a beautiful old building and lovely hotel, but fair warning: the rooms were HOT. The ancient windows made our hotel room into a greenhouse, as the uncharacteristically sunny days we enjoyed baked our room to over 80 degrees. The glass was hot to the touch and we could smell our curtains burning against it.

But otherwise, our stay in Galway was lovely. Once we arrived, we strolled the riverwalk while we waited for our rooms to be ready, enjoying the nice weather. After checking in, we grabbed dinner at The King’s Head, where I had my first of several Beef and Guinness Stew (mouth-wateringly good). And my wife, self-proclaimed fish and chips aficionado had the best she’s ever had. It was a somewhat pricey place, but the food was well worth the cost.

We crossed the street to Tig Cóilí, which featured traditional Irish music in the evenings. The pub was crowded, but we lucked out with bar stools near the back and enjoyed the music. 

What we learned about trad music sessions: many of the musicians don’t know each other and don’t play together regularly. Typically, any musician is welcome and can bring their instrument to join in. No mics, minimal singing and almost entirely instrumental, we observed musicians of all ages (as young as 18 and as old as perhaps 75) come together. One musician will begin a song, and one by one, the others join in. This was my favorite part of our experience in Ireland, where instead of shitty music blasting or mediocre DJs, there is live, talented and free music in almost every pub on almost every night, particularly in Galway, played by musicians just because they love it, with seemingly the only payment of a couple free drink tokens.

On our first full day, we joined a tour company to explore the Cliffs of Moher. Our tour guide was a bit eccentric, but he got us from point A to B (dangerously dodging bikers participating in a cross-county bike event). We chose the tour with Galway Tour Co. because they offered the most direct route to the cliffs, and the longest amount of time to explore (two hours). 

The path alongside the cliff is very narrow, barely wide enough for the two-way traffic, which made for a frustrating initial hike with fellow tourists packed in to get a glimpse of the UNESCO World Heritage site. We hustled as fast as possible down the path, stealing only a couple of glances at the cliffs, until we had hiked about half a mile and the crowds thinned out considerably. If we’d had more time, we would have loved to hike to the end and back, but unfortunately, most of the tour options are built around the philosophy of “here’s a thing to look at,” then “here’s a place to eat” then “here’s a quick stop for a selfie” and not built around allowing time to actually explore and experience. 

From there, we boarded the coach to Doolin for lunch. Now that we know what we know, for our next visit, we’ll take public transit to Doolin and begin the Cliffs of Moher hike in town, instead of at the overcrowded Visitor Center. In Doolin, we ate at McGann’s Pub, which had a delightful smoked salmon salad, and the best chips (fries) that we had in our time in Ireland. I finally ordered my first Guinness, which truly is worlds better in Ireland than American, even though we were across the country still from the brewery.

Day Three

On Sunday, we booked a ride on the ferry to Inishmore (Aran Islands). Related to what I said I’d do differently with the Cliffs of Moher, if we had made Doolin a home base for the cliffs, I would have done the same for the Aran Islands, taking the ferry from Doolin to Inishmere, the smallest island. 

Instead, we took a coach from Galway to Rossaveal to board the ferry to the largest island. The coach was a bit under an hour, the ferry 40 minutes. We reserved bicycles on the island from Aran Bike Hire, and it was a total clusterfuck with the entire ferry filled with tourists running to grab the bikes and begin their adventure. I had to go through three bikes before I found one with sufficient air in the tires, but it had plenty of other issues (loose brake calipers and jumpy shifters, for starters). But, the price was reasonable and the bikes got us to where we needed to be. (Next time, however, I’ll try the other bike rental company, Inis Mor Bike Hire, which is also right by the pier).

We took the low road first to be able to see the seal colony at low tide. Fortunately, as we are regular bikers, it didn’t take us long to get ahead of the crowds and families, and we enjoyed our ride more once we got out of the thick crowd and ahead of the horse-drawn carriages too (passing them was very scary though!). 

The views in Inishmore were absolutely gorgeous. We biked the five miles or so to the Fortress (Dun Aonghasa, 5€). It’s a climb on foot up to the top of cliffs where the ruins sit, harboring gorgeous views. Careful: there’s no fence or railing between the fortress and to the rock and ocean below!

We sat in the sun and enjoyed the views for a while, until the crowds we escaped on bike began arriving. We hiked back down to our bikes and took the high road back towards the port. On the high road, instead of passing the carriages, we were passed by tour buses. Typically at safe speeds and distances, but a few gave no fucks and flew by us, likely to pick up their customers at the fortress. 

We stopped at Joe Watty’s Pub. It was a delightful place, and not very overpriced despite the tourist crowds (our menu was for “low season” though, so this may not be the case during the summer). We had another seafood salad that was just as delicious before headed back to town. We had an hour to explore before our ferry departed, and we tried to bike out to the Black Fort, but with steep unpaved roads, we couldn’t make it with our dinky city bikes. We made a mental note to reserve mountain bikes next time. We boarded the ferry early to snag a spot on the roof (outside, where downstairs was indoors).

That night, we hit our favorite pub of our time in Galway: Tigin. The bartender was an absolute delight, and the musicians for the trad music session were wonderful. It wasn’t overly crowded, either, so we had a seat and could enjoy the tunes without drunk Irish students or loud Americans bumping into us.

On Monday morning, we enjoyed our last hotel breakfast (which had been delicious. If you risk the hot rooms to stay at the Hardiman, definitely get the package with breakfast). We walked to the train station and headed back to Dublin!

Lez-Travel Rating for Galway:

While we didn’t see any obvious display of pro-LGBTQ culture, we explored and didn’t need to hide that we were together; no one made any comments or gave us judgmental looks. A few establishments had rainbow flags, but not many. Going outside of the city and into the country did not feel as stark of a difference as it does in many U.S. metro areas (like Columbus), either. We didn’t feel out of place in the less urban areas outside of Galway. We did a few tours, and both times I believe we were the only gay couple in the group, but all the tour guides were friendly and accepting.