🥃 Email #3: Drinking in Dublin
This post is part of the Europe & Asia 2005 Retrospectives series. It is a raw record of the journey, preserved exactly as it was written in internet cafes and sent as an email to family and friends. While my travel style has evolved, the desire to experience the world and the wanderlust expressed in these notes remain the same.
Original Email Date: October 9, 2005
Location(s): Dublin, Ireland
So while in London, I was the ultimate tourist; all I did in Dublin was drink. I've been to the oldest pub in Dublin (the Brazen Head Pub),
the Guinness Storehouse, the Jameson Distillery, and a pub crawl, where I can't remember half the places I went to, but I had a
fantastic time.
Okay, I've done a few other things too (like St. Patrick's Cathedral and Trinity College), but the drinking spots are definitely the highlights. Tonight, I'm headed out to the Temple Bar area (yep - more pubs) with some friends I met on the pub crawl. And then tomorrow, I am off on a day tour to Wicklow and Glendaloch.
Many of you have recommended places I need to go outside of the city, but unfortunately, I don't have enough time here. Four days were not
enough.
JM - I still haven't figured out what a Blarney Stone is.
HH - I never did make it to the Victoria and Albert Museum; I ended up staying at Hampton Court all day. We'll have to take a
trip in the future to do the stuff I missed. :)
HH, KL, SL - SP says hi, and she'll see you in SF next spring. She's doing another 6-month trip starting in November.
JJ - Looks like I may be able to meet up with you in Berlin. I'll keep you posted.
Having a blast, but miss you all.
Corissa
BTW - I have modified my itinerary in Europe, so below is the latest...
10/11 - 10/16 Paris
10/16 - 10/18 Marseilles
10/18 - 10/22 Barcelona
10/22 - 10/26 Rome
10/26 - 10/29 Florence
10/29 - 11/01 Venice
11/01 - 11/04 Munich
11/04 - 11/06 Salzburg
11/06 - 11/09 Prague
11/09 - 11/11 Berlin
11/11 - 11/15 Amsterdam
11/15 - 11/16 Frankfurt
The Retrospective Reflection (2026)
Reading this now, the shift in my priorities is hilarious. I went from checking off every major tourist site in London to basically checking off every major drinking establishment in Dublin. It is a reminder that travel isn't always about the "must-see" monuments. Sometimes, it’s about the people you meet on a random pub crawl who end up influencing your plans for the next few days. The fact that I was already adjusting my itinerary shows how quickly I was learning to embrace the flexibility of the road.
