Dublin & The 1975

In my stubbornness at not being able to get standing tickets to The 1975 gig in Glasgow, I bought tickets for their Dublin date instead and planned a 3 day trip around it for my boyfriend and I. It just so happened that he had never been to Ireland and wanted to go so it became a treat for both of us.

Our flight there was pretty empty, leaving us a spare seat in our row and several empty rows around us. The flight only took about 40 minutes from Edinburgh airport and was pretty uneventful. When we got to Dublin Airport we grabbed a couple of drinks from the vending machine in the baggage claim area before heading out to the bus stop to buy tickets and board our bus to the city centre (€12 Open Return).

We got off at Lower O'Connell Street, crossed the river and walked through the Temple Bar area - the tourist area of the city brimming with traditional Irish pubs and thriving with stag and hen parties at weekends - en route to our apartment on Chancery Lane. We chose to stay at the Staycity Aparthotel near the Viking area of Dublin, as it offered up all the amenities of an apartment whilst being beautifully designed and at a really good pricepoint. It also meant we could cook if we wanted to, or simply store goodies in the fridge/freezer and eat coco pops for breakfast.

After dropping off our luggage and getting freshened up and changed, we took to the streets for a wander and to find something to eat. After getting bummed out by the queue at Bunsen burger on Anne Street South, we settled for the quieter Gourmet Burger Kitchen just a few doors down and tucked into some hot chicken wings, some melted camembert with a cranberry sauce as well as a burger and chips each. We garnished off our meal with an oreo milkshake for me and a strawberry and oreo cheesecake milkshake for Nathaniel - delicious!

After dinner we headed back to the Temple Bar area and dived into 'Badass', one of the pubs on a side-street off of the main street, which had a live musician playing some awful covers of the likes of 'Wonderwall' as well as the odd Irish tune. We settled in with a pint each, Hop House 13 for me and Guinness for him, and enjoyed the atmosphere of the pub before deciding to call it a night.

The next day we got up around 9.30am, had some coco pops in bed, drank some Irish tea and got showered and ready to head out to the National Gallery of Ireland. The gallery currently has a JMW Turner exhibition on which is what had made our decision to head here first. The exhibition comprised of small watercolours and etchings of various destinations around the world including Venice and Switzerland  and was a real delight to see in person. Something about Turner's use of colour will just never be boring to me!

Venice in Watercolour by JMW Turner

National Gallery of Ireland

The gallery also housed a collection of paintings by the likes of Picasso, Peter Doig, Lucien Freud among many others. As well as a much older collection of paintings in grand rooms that became very difficult to find our way out of.

Nathaniel and a Picasso (behind)

Giacommetti bust

I don't know why this is my go-to pose?

After spending a couple of hours in the gallery we wandered the streets a bit more, passing the Oscar Wilde statue in Merrion Square as we made our way to the north side of the River Liffey. After exploring the streets and browsing the shopping streets, we decided a wee spot of lunch and a coffee was in order so we decided to hunt down Vice Coffee on Middle Abbey Street, an independent cafe. After accidentally walking past it 2 or 3 times, we finally spotted the sign and with much relief headed inside.

Vice is actually housed within a bar and ping pong club called WigWam and has a very chill vibe inside with fairy lights donning the ceiling and mismatched coloured chairs round each table. We each got a coffee and a sandwich off of the WigWam menu; the Carne Loca (€7): Beef Brisket, Cheddar, Peppers and Green Aioli on Ciabatta, and the Chicano (€7): Grilled Chicken, Tomato, Cheddar, Rocket and Black Pepper Mayo on Sourdough. Having half each, as we usually do, I have to say both were phenomenal sandwiches but I'd have to lean towards the Carne Loca for how mindblowingly juicy the beef brisket was. If you're looking for somewhere other than a Starbucks that offers really good food and coffee at a reasonable price then Vice is the place to go!

Presenting the Chicano with a side of Halloumi fries

 After filling ourselves up we did some more wandering picking up a couple of donuts each from Mr. Donut on Parnell Street, before making our way back to our apartment. One thing you will discover about Dublin is that it is undoubtedly the city of donuts, there are donut brands within your local supermarkets such as Londis and Spar, then there are independent donut shops everywhere you go! The entire time we were there we managed to try 6 donuts from 2 different brands and both were really good! I think I would recommend trying the flavoured ring donuts over the filled donuts though as the fillings can be a bit sickly.

In front of the Ha'penny Bridge

dorp face

Back at the apartment we got ready for the gig and then headed out to the venue, the 3arena. This gave us an opportunity to walk along the River Liffey and check out more of the city's architecture and many bridges. Once at the arena, we got ourselves a beer (although popcorn was optional) and I bought a couple of t-shirts at the merch stand and pretty quickly Pale Waves came on stage. 

Pale Waves

The 1975

Pale Waves played a half hour set, which I'll admit I was disappointed about as I love them alot and it's something I'll have to remedy by seeing them again on their next tour. In between sets we had time to stock up on more beer and then The 1975 came on. The gig was really great, the set design was really cool and surprising (a section of the screen at the back pushed in to create a little shelf for Matty to stand and sing in or the dancers to use) and the crowd was really great. It was really nice to be at a gig where nobody was afraid to dance rather than just sing along.

Walking home a little bit tipsy I was glad to get into my pyjamas and collapse into bed. 

The next day was our last day so we packed up all of our stuff, checked out, and set to explore the city one last time. We visited the Temple Bar Gallery which I visited last time I was here in 2017, and it was showing a film alongside some prints and sculptures by Ailbhe Ní Bhriain which were very sombre and haunting. 

We then headed back up to O'Connell Street to see the Spire and popped into Esquire Coffee for a quick pick me up. We then checked out the shopping centres and had a last wander around before deciding to get the bus back to the airport.

To sum up, it was a really nice trip away for a few days, and the first trip abroad Nathaniel and I had been on together. I'm excited to go away more together and we've already started a list of places we want to see. Dublin is always a nice city to visit, and I definitely wouldn't say no to seeing more gigs over there!

Have you been to Dublin? What did you enjoy about the city?

Love,

Melissa  x

P.S. If you do go to Dublin - try these crisps! They are awesome!