We got started a bit late on our second day as I was struck with jet lag and was WIDE awake from about 2-6 am after getting into Dublin in the early morning the day before. Jonathon woke up around 9 am, but couldn’t bring himself to wake me, so by the time we got up and moving, it was on the later end of brunch.

Luckily San Lorenzo’s was open on December 27th (for the first time this week) and had room for walk-ins! We were told we would have only have the table for an hour for brunch, but we weren’t hurried out of there. We had some amazing brunch comprised of mimosas, Pavorattis (a delicious blend of Prosseco and elderberry) and pork belly hash. The pork belly was so big that it was hard to tell the belly from the potatoes (from Jonathon’s mouth: “I can’t tell what is potato or belly, and I’m not mad about it!”).

From there we took a long walk through the busy Grafton Street area. We didn’t realize it at the time, but the day after Saint Stephen’s day is a HUGE shopping day in Ireland. It’s as big as Black Friday here in the states. After making our way through the crowds of people shopping, we continued down to St. Stephens green, which was gorgeous! I couldn’t resist taking so many phones, along with our first selfie of the trip:

Since it was a bit chilly, and I was getting cold, we walked to a bar just off Grafton Street called Clarendon Bar. This bar quickly warmed us up and served us Guinness. To our surprise, this was a big horse betting bar and most patrons were staring at the small tv screens, screaming for the horse they’ve bet on. We had a great time watching these races with the locals (although we didn’t bet on any of the horses).

We then went on a stroll that took us quite a bit East of Dublin before heading back North towards (and over) the river. We made it just in time to catch this beautiful sunset.

As we were walking home, we discovered that Trinity College was open to anyone and we were able to walk through campus. I’d wanted to go to the library while here, but unfortunately the library was closed until after the new year (like many places in the city). One thing we did notice was that the campus smelled like Abercrombie & Fitch’s perfume, which likely wouldn’t be unheard of in the states, but the campus is closed right now, so this was a surprise. Until we realized that the perfume was wafting over from the store located just off Grafton Street. To those wondering, A&F does smell the same as you remember.

After some quick RnR and wifi back at the apartment, we had a plan for the evening, consisting of a few restaurants and after dinner drink choices. Since we weren’t terribly hungry, we decided to get some apps and drinks at a few different places. Our first choice was 777 a tequila and taco bar (surprising from us, huh?). Unfortunately they were booked when we got there with a few spaces at the bar, but you had to order food and apps didn’t count for food.

From there we walked to Skinflint and grabbed some delicious gnocchi, meatballs, mashed potatoes and cider. We got both the spicy pork meatballs and the traditional beef. I thought I’d like the pork, but I ended up preferring the beef! The gnocchi and cider was pretty good as well.

I had been chatting with my friend Matt Galligan about places to go in Dublin, and he recommended getting a Guinness at Kehoe’s just off Grafton. After a bit of a walk (we got a little turned around on the side streets), we finally found the place. From outside it was very non-assuming – just 4 people outside smoking – but we walked inside to find a PACKED house! No room at the bar downstairs, so we went upstairs, to find more of the same, but we had to stay since this place had the best Guinness on tap! It was pretty delicious too. After a drink in this loud pub, we decided to make our way back to the apartment, but first, we had to take a selfie!

On the way we remembered that 777 was open late and had a special late night menu, so we stopped there on the way home. Luckily they had 2 seats at the bar and we were seated immediately! They had this HUGE candelabra full of wax right next to us:

Which brings me to a question – is Ireland the only place that has lit candles everywhere? Each place we’ve been has had big, open flame candles – which seems like a big fire hazard! Or maybe I’ve been in the American bubble for a bit too long.

Back to the tequila – it was amazing and we had a T-N-T (tequila and tonic – Jonathon’s go-to drink and a name that was better than anything he could have come up with) and a Margarita Especial. Everything we had here was quite tasty, the decor was interesting, and I loved that they promoted their social media everywhere.

As we walked home, we made a quick pitstop at the local convenience store and picked up some of Jonathon’s favorite things, Tayto chips and Cadbury Buttons.

What a great day!