Surprise birthday visiting Dublin

I’m sure many of you have heard the saying, “life is a journey, not a destination.” This has never been more true for me than when I planned a surprise birthday trip to Dublin for my husband. It was an amazing experience that we’ll never forget! If you’re thinking about organizing a surprise trip for someone close to you, here we tell your how we celebrate it.

Announcing the surprise birthday, destination Dublin

It turns out that it was Vincent’s birthday, and I was finally able to give him a surprise gift (after always, for one reason or another, he wasted the surprise and found out what it was ahead of time), but finally I did, and the surprise was “kidnapping him” and take him with me to Dublin. 

This was possible thanks to two friends from work who went to eat at home on a Saturday as if nothing had happened. At dessert time, I told Vincent that we are going to the airport, and he knew it at the last moment. I gave him 30 minutes to pack his suitcase. I already had it prepared and hidden mine.

Arriving to Dublin

We arrived in Dublin and then took the bus to go to the hotel. Curious for me, but normal for the locals, the door to get on the bus is on the left side. They also drive on the wrong side, or normal for them. Well, you know, “normality” is relative.

We stayed at The Gate Hotel and I don’t have much to say about it, it was close to the center, well located. Nothing spectacular. Except for the succulent breakfast that we were served: eggs with beans (but beans like with ketchup), very good.

Get your flight to Dublin at the best price

Exploring the city of Dublin

Temple Bar

After the succulent breakfast, we ventured to visit the Temple Bar area, which is where the traditional pubs are and where the city’s nightlife is concentrated. This area is so named because Sir William Temple was the one who purchased the land in the 1600s.

We saw the famous Oliver St. John Gogarty, a very pleasant pub in which they have highly recommended traditional music.

Also in the neighborhood there is a pub called Temple Bar, and it is one of the most beautiful postcards of the place. Although at night I have to say that after visiting the Gogarty and the Temple, I prefer the first one.

It is super nice to walk through this place, either by day or by night. Of course, at night get ready for half the world to greet you as if they were lifelong friends, because after a few pints the Irish become inseparable friends of everyone who passes by.

Along the way we found several statues with characters that are part of the history of the city, or simply for fun. Vincent began to talk with some of them (just kidding). In that a sewer appears to us and, of course, we take the now traditional photo of the foot.

St. Patrick’s Cathedral

The cathedral was built next to a well where Saint Patrick is said to have performed baptisms to convert people to Christianity. This cathedral “competes” with that of the Holy Trinity, also in Dublin, and it seems that the discrepancy that a city has two cathedrals has been resolved by giving one the status of Dublin Cathedral and the other, that of Saint Patrick, National Cathedral status.

Unfortunately we couldn’t get in, well, that’s for the next time.

Jameson Distillery

We went for a walk around the Jameson distillery, but we didn’t go in because it was a bit expensive (13 20 euros each). Anyway, it’ll be for some other day when we cheer up.

After the frustrated whisky visit we continued walking down the street and suddenly there were LOTS of horses on the street. When suddenly we arrive at a square FULL of hairy horses, characteristic of the area. Normal, they need a lot of fur to withstand the cold. They were so pretty, but yes, wherever they went they left their “little fertilizers”. I kept wondering what event was there, but there were many hairy horses.

Guinness Brewery

We said “see you later” to the horses and took a tour of the famous GUINNESS beer plant. But we stayed at the door because the price at that time seemed excessive to us  15 20 EUROS for each one, so we just went around the outside. Whenever we return with a better budget, we will visit it.

The Phoenix Park and the deers in the wild

On the second day of visiting Dublin, we basically spend our time in Phoenix Park, which is huge! So we rented a tandem bike, one of those where two people can ride, it’s worth mentioning that it’s been a very long time since I’ve pedaled, so it was a good idea for me to go with this bike to avoid the fear of falling.

One of the interesting things about this park is that there are big green fields where there are deer in the wild, you can see them in the huge, huge green field. So we pedaled until we reached them and when we did, we saw them very relax sunbathing in the field, just be careful with the poos. I was very happy because I could get closer, and they were like nothing happens. Of course, you shouldn’t trust them too much because they are huge.

Surely we will return, in Ireland you feel a very cool atmosphere. People are very cool and very festive, so see you soon, it was a nice birthday celebration in Dublin!

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