Dublin for a While

If you didn’t already know from my social media posts, I’m studying abroad this semester in Dublin, Ireland! I’ll be here until May, taking classes and exploring Ireland and the rest of Western Europe.

My friend Jenna and I arrived in Dublin a few days before move-in, so we stayed in Gardiner House hostel and explored the city. We walked around Temple Bar, shopped on Grafton Street, and ate and drank our way around City Center.

 

Day one highlights:

• The Garden of Remembrance. This square, full of flowers and a water basin in the shape of a crucifix, is dedicated to those who fought for Irish freedom.

• The many bridges that cross the River Liffey, the landmark separating North and South Dublin. O’Connell Bridge is a car and pedestrian bridge lined with palm trees (yes, you read that right – there are palm trees here). The Ha’penny Bridge is a pedestrian bridge lined with locks of all shapes and sizes. The Sean Heusten Bridge is a cast-iron bridge next to the main train station.

 

Cute locks on the Ha’penny!

The Ha’penny Bridge.

• Lunch/ dinner at Slattery’s Bar, a pub that first opened its doors way back in 1821. Jenna and I tried Orchard Thieves cider (thanks for the recommendation, Jack!) and split a Margherita Pizza.

 

The front door of the National Leprechaun Museum.

2 girls, 2 ciders, 1 pizza.

• The National Leprechaun Museum. We walked by, but didn’t go in.
• St. Stephen’s Green. This green space has a playground, a small war memorial, walking paths, and more palm trees.

 

Day two highlights:

• Shopping on Grafton Street, a pedestrian-only street with tons of shops and street performers.
• Temple Bar, an area with the most famous (and touristy) pubs in all of Dublin. This is a fun area to go and take pictures.

 

• Lattes at Frank and Honest, an Irish coffee company with great style and delicious matcha lattes. I’d say this company is the Starbucks of Ireland (even though there are Starbucks locations here too).
• DIY Dublin 1 walking tour. We walked all around the center of Dublin, passing historical buildings and the campus of Trinity College. Fun fact: Dublin has different “postal districts” because it’s such a large city.

 

 

Week one:

On Monday, Jenna and I left the hostel and moved into our apartment on campus! We spent the day getting organized and meeting our two new roommates, Maddie and Rosalie. On Tuesday, we went to Dundrum Shopping Centre, aka the largest mall in Ireland. We tried Chopped for lunch, a “make your own” salad bar with locations in Ireland, the U.K., and the U.S.A. We spent the evening in downtown Dublin at Devitt’s Pub and Copper Face Jack’s, where we met some new friends.

Wednesday was filled by a bus trip to IKEA to get bedding and other necessary apartment accessories. Thursday was occupied by multiple orientations in preparation for the onset of classes on Monday. Rosalie, Jenna, and I also went to The 105 Café for brunch – they finally tried a full Irish breakfast (see picture) while I ordered a hazelnut granola parfait and a latte. Maddie and I checked out the student gym and tried a weightlifting class that left me sore for the next four days. Then we went to The Clubhouse on Thursday night, the student bar on campus. Yes, there is a bar on campus here!

 

The interior of The 105 Café.

My cute breakfast!

We woke up at the crack of dawn on Friday morning to travel by train to Galway, a quaint town to the west of Dublin that’s notorious for Ed Sheeran’s song “Galway Girl.” Stay tuned for my Galway post, and let me know if you’ve ever been to Dublin before!

8 Coffees, 4 Destinations, 3 Hours, 2 Girls

I am not a food or drink crawl rookie. I’ve participated in 3 organized food crawls and a coffee crawl within the past year alone! I love food, drinks, and spending time with people, so food crawls are one of my favorite things. Well, until I feel like my stomach is going to explode.

 

Mokaya mocha!

My friend Stevie and I decided to have our own coffee crawl the other day, just for fun. We live near a lot of coffee shops, some of which we’d never been to, so we decided to explore! We chose 4 different shops based on their location, atmosphere, and Instagram page. I mean, if they have more than 10k followers, they’re probably pretty good.

Originally we were both going to get the same drink at every place to compare, but I wanted to try out drinks specific to each shop. So at each place, Stevie got her “usual” drink of an iced vanilla latte with skim milk and I mixed it up. Check out Stevie’s Youtube video on our adventure HERE!

 

OCC was decorated beautifully for the holidays.

The coffee trailer.

We began the day at Outside Coffee Co. (OCC), a vintage camper-turned-coffee cart set up in a garden full of chairs, tables, and GEO DOMES. You go up to the camper to order from a large list of drinks that include flavored lattes, tea lattes, cold brew coffee, & kombucha. There’s also food, from avocado toast to vegan “pop tarts” from Rise Authentic Baking Co.

 

 

Left: hot vanilla latte with soy milk. Right: iced vanilla latte with whole milk.

Enjoying my vanilla latte! This is actually from another trip to OCC, but I got the same drink.

Stevie got her standard iced vanilla latte, but OCC doesn’t have skim milk so she got it with whole milk. What OCC lacks in regular milk they make up for in non-dairy milk. You can choose from soy, almond, coconut, and even oat milk for $0.50 extra – less than what you’d pay at Starbucks for a milk alternative. They also have soy milk in a pitcher that you can add to your drink! I ordered a hot vanilla latte with soy milk, because it was 35ºF (HOT drink season). I loved my latte – possibly the best vanilla latte I’ve ever had! Stevie liked hers, but it was her least favorite of all only because it was made with whole instead of skim milk.

 

 

The geo domes!

Outside Coffee Co. has simple rules. You can bring your pets!

We liked OCC’s atmosphere – it’s super cute and outdoorsy thanks to geo domes and string lights. However, we both think we’d much prefer it in the summer, as we were cold even in the heated geo domes. We agreed that OCC is the place to catch up with a friend or have a photoshoot, but not the place to get a lot of homework done.

 

Lyon Street Cafe.

The inside ft. a coffee bean grinder.

Our next spot was Lyon Street Cafe. This is Stevie’s favorite coffee shop ever, so it was automatically the overall winner of  the crawl for her. Lyon Street is an indoor space full of white walls, hanging lights, and lots of seating. They have many drink options – cappuccinos, lattes, and pour-over coffees are a few. Stevie got her usual, while I tried a pour-over for the first time ever. It was Guatemalan in origin, with advertised notes of “chocolate” and “nuts.” It definitely tasted nutty, but I’m a little upset it didn’t taste more like straight-up chocolate (I’m joking). Stevie loved her latte, but this was probably my least favorite drink of the four. This makes sense though, as I am not a huge fan of black coffee. We both liked the atmosphere of Lyon Street, and thought it would be a great place to either meet a friend or do work.

 

My coffee.

Iced vanilla latte with skim milk & Guatemalan pour-over coffee.

Stop three was The Sparrows, somewhere I’d never been before. The Sparrows is more of a traditional coffee shop – it has comfy chairs, small tables, and even board games you can play! Stevie and I thought this would be the best spot of the four to get work done, as it’s cozy and quiet. It was my personal favorite, mostly due to the drink.

 

Oh my GOODNESS, my drink was the best drink I think I’ve ever tasted… coffee or otherwise. Stevie got her usual, and I got a “mokaya mocha” with soy milk – a mocha made with 2 shots of espresso & melted vegan mokaya chocolate. It was the most expensive drink ($6), but worth every penny. It tasted like straight chocolate. I would bathe in this drink if I could.

The final stop on our coffee crawl was Madcap, the staple coffee shop of our town. We were a bit coffee-d out at this point, so our enthusiasm was lessened. Nevertheless, we ordered two vanilla lattes, Stevie’s iced with skim milk and mine hot with soy milk. They were good, but I much preferred Outside Coffee Co.’s version. Stevie liked Madcap’s latte better than OCC because it wasn’t as sweet, whereas I prefer sweeter drinks. Madcap has a more modern, open layout. It’s a good place to pop into, but limited seating means it’s not the best place to do work.

 

The inside of Madcap.

The exterior of Madcap.

Stevie’s iced vanilla latte.

I drank every last drop of my coffees except for the pour-over, but Stevie didn’t finish a single one of her coffees!! She got about halfway on all of them, but the caffeine jitters still hit both of us pretty hard by the end of the crawl. I had to go home and eat some food to soak up the coffee! My favorite spot was The Sparrows, while Stevie’s favorite spot was Lyon Street. We each spent about $20 on drinks, which is a lot… but worth it for something as cool as a coffee crawl. I did it for you guys! For the blog!

$20 each, 8 coffees, 4 destinations, 3 hours, 2 caffeine buzzed girls, and a 10/10 coffee crawl! I can’t wait for my next food/ drink crawl!