Photos by Patrik Kovax (IG – @Kovax_Photography)
What better way to kick off the month of March than by telling you all about my trip to Dublin, Ireland. I mean its Pisces Season, I was born on St. Patrick’s day, I’m basically a leprechaun so here goes.
Let me first start by saying Virgin Atlantic (first-class) & Delta One have been the greatest flying experiences for international travel I’ve had to date (preciate yall)… I won’t get into all of the gory details but not a fan British Airways, just letting yall know!
Anywho, I made the trip from SFO to Dublin and arrived pretty late in the evening. I’m talking 11:30 pm their time and I’m wide awake lol. My hotel was an hour away from the airport, there is no such thing as Uber in Dublin, you can use the app and it will order you a taxi lol. So I grabbed a cab. Literally, 300ft from my hotel entrance is both my office for work and a local pub. Its 12:30am on a Monday night and what was mind-boggling is that there are still a lot of people standing outside of the pub with fresh beers congregated around Barrel tables. All this to say… Irish Drinking culture is totally a thing!
My days were filled with work, but I made it a point to try and see as much as possible as soon as I was off. Most of this involved food so here’s the rundown…
Night 1: Just getting my feet wet lol.
Irish Pub Fare, I was definitely in a touristy spot, but the food was fire. I had the beef stew and mashed potatoes and of course a Guinness
Then to a Dublin staple… Temple Bar for more Guinness ( did I mention that all I drank was Jameson and Guinness on this trip lol)
Night 2: Context, I bumped into one of my guys at work who I know from the office at home. The conversation went exactly as you’d expect… “Brooooooo… What’s goodie. Why yeen tell me you were out here lol” (insert back and forth, line up “dinner” plans really we finna TU, and scene)
So we link and go to this spot called Diwali Restaurant. I’m super open to trying foods from different cultures… This was Indian, Idk about you but I base my judgment of an Indian restaurant on a combination of 3 things: The Butter Chicken, and/or the Marsala, and/or the Garlic Naan. In this instance all of them were exceptional and next time in Dublin this will for sure be a pitstop.
None of these nights are complete without at least a brief outing. Sooo… we took the 10 min walk over to Dicey’s Garden Club. The vibe was interesting, I could honestly see it going either way. If you’re out in Dublin looking for decent music and cheap drinks this could be the spot for you.
3. Night 3: This is my last night in Dublin, I fly out the next morning soooo…lets get it! A little bit of context I’d been running my mouth at the front desk of the hotel I was staying in and one of the front office staff mentioned that his colleagues doubled as a photographer (Shout out to Dean and Patrik)
Get off work and pick up a few things for the shoot. As a note, these are just the clothes that I had in my bag, I’ve wanted a pair of Dr. Matens for a while so I went and copped those, but other than that I had this stuff already. We roamed the streets of downtown Dublin for about 2 hours and get the shots and then closed out the afternoon in true Irish fashion at a pub with a Guinness. The conversation was centered initially on the shoot, but then it shifted and what do you know… Drinking plans!
So I leave the pub and go to dinner with a colleague from work, not gonna lie the Indian food was bussin so we ran that back lol. Then back to the hotel, nap, shower, quick change and Meet Patrik and Dean at the pub around 11:30. Its literally last call. I get one shot in me and they are like the nights not even started.
We grab a taxi and head to one of their local spots, The Teamline club. The DJ was Litttttt! Playing all bangers from the time we walked in. The host saw us walk in and immediately showed love. Gave us VIP access and had me on stage. We drank till our hearts were content and I left at like 3am. Epic night in Dublin complete!
A few things to note:
Main Stream Dublin shuts down around 7pm during the week. No shopping or the like is available. Restaurants generally close around 10pm and after that, all that’s left are the bars and clubs. Idk if this has been coined as of yet but Irish Hospitality is a thing. I felt pretty welcomed the entire time I was there and people generally just invited me to do things. Ireland is a beautiful place and although I didn’t get to travel to the cliffside if you ever go, make sure to carve out time to go see Galway. (I hear its best in the summer and its 2-3 hours from Dublin)
Needless to say i had a great time exploring Dublin and I cant wait to return.
No Irish exits for me!
To a Life Worth Living
The Wkender