When I came back from my fabulous trip to Italy, I discovered that I still had the entire month of January as vacation. So, after partying in Paris for a while, I decided to head to Dublin by myself for the weekend, courtesy of a super cheap Ryan Air ticket. It was a lovely city, much cleaner than the places I've seen in France, and of course, it felt great to be speaking my native language. Although with the Irish accents I encountered, it barely felt like it sometimes. 
St. Stephen's Green
Thank God they had these handy signs--with everyone driving on the wrong side of the road, I almost got myself killed every time I stepped of the sidewalk. 
Dublin Castle
Above is the sign for the bus tour that I took around on Friday during the day. It was a great way to see all the highlights of the city--I was able to hop on and off throughout the day wherever looked interesting. Fortunately, the first night I was there, I managed to recruit a real life Dubliner as my tour guide, and he took over after the bus tour. We saw everything from the Guinness Factory and Temple Bar to Phoenix park and O'Connell Street. It was helpful to have someone translate the slang I kept hearing like, "how's the craic?" or "fivers" or "quid." We had fish and chips, Irish tea, and of course, a couple pints. The first place he took me was the Guinness factory, where they produce 3 million pints a day. You wander the Willy-Wonka-like factory with soaring ceilings, an indoor waterfall, and audio-visual information. On the top floor is the 360 degree view of Dublin from the "Gravity Bar," where we got a pint of "the black stuff" then watched the sun set over the city. I learned a lot about Guinness, including the fact that you have to wait after it comes out of the tap for it to settle and turn black.
Last call at one of the many cozy pubs lining the streets of Dublin, each one of which was packed on this Friday night.
