Dublin, Ireland was my very first destination in Europe. I had lived in the south pacific, all over Canada and the US, visited Cuba but had never been to Europe. I planned an 8 day trip that included Dublin, Brussels and Barcelona.

Although I only had a few days in each city, it was the perfect amount of time to get a sense of these places. I ate a lot of delicious vegetarian food, took some great day tours and met some nice people.

I’ve always wanted to go back to Ireland and almost made it back this summer to attend a ukulele festival. But, alas there is so much to do and so little time to do it in.

But, aside from some really great ukulele festivals, there are some excellent ukulele camps for kids in Ireland. Hopefully, in the next few years my son will be keen to go to ukulele camp and practice his English as well.

I did a really great walking tour led by a graduate of Trinity College. He was very knowledgeable and fun.

He even gave me some genealogy information on my Grandmother’s maiden name, which is not typically Irish, although her family was from Ireland. She was so pleased when I told her about it months later.

The tour took us from Trinity College to the Irish house of Parliament through some neighborhoods and to the Irish Music wall of Fame.

I met a Journalism student from India, and we ended up at this little cafe near the Wall of Fame for a coffee and some pastries. I also picked up a purple ukulele at a nearby music shop (pictured in this photo above.)

I really enjoyed Dublin and can’t wait to go back one day. Aside from the walking tour, I went on an amazing Music pub crawl tour. I’ve linked the tour with as it’s currently available.

The tour I took was easily the best tour I have ever gone on. Aside from the two musician hosts being friendly and talented, there was a lady on the tour from Canada who got up and performed a song from her newest folk rock album.

As well, everyone on the tour was in great spirits as we visited three different pubs and learned about their musical histories.

We also learned about “sessions,” which are these long jam sessions that anyone can join held in bars that often go on all night into the early morning.

I definitely added that to my bucket list as something I want to experience one day. However, I would only last maybe an hour -lol! I can’t see myself playing my ukulele until 3am!

When I visited Dublin, I was vegetarian and ate at several nice places. But I wasn’t on Instagram back then and only shared a few food items on Facebook.

But, I did go to the Wooden Whisk for a delicious breakfast, a Japanese restaurant, and a take-out place and for Falafels at this restaurant just up the street from Trinity College.

I’ll always remember it as the waiter asked if I wanted to try Fava Beans, but all I could think of was the Silence of Lambs which he thought was hilarious, so I chose the falafel meal instead. It was delicious.

I stayed at Isaacs Hostel. It was a great place, good vibes with female-only dorm rooms, as well as private rooms, mixed, male-only, etc. Also, they have an airport shuttle service which is so handy for late-night or early-morning flights.

I used Hostelworld to find my lodging if you’re looking for a great selection of budget travel options.

Have you been to Dublin? Tell me about your Trip. I want to go back with my family in the next year so I’m interested to hear recommendations and must eats.