A Travel Guide to Ireland

My trip to Ireland was going to be a special one for two of reasons: I decided to finally propose to my girlfriend of almost 10 years. After 5 years of dating I heard a lot of, “Wait, how long have you two been dating?” followed by “What are you waiting for?”. It all got very tiring and I had to put an end to it. 

The other reason was that I became an Irish citizen. Ireland’s laws grant citizenship to anyone whose parents or grandparents were born on the island. My grandparents were from Co. Longford and started a family off of McLean Ave in Yonkers, NY like many other Irish immigrants of the time. Despite my heritage, I had never been to Ireland. Once the passport came in the mail, the situation felt ludicrous. How could I be a citizen of a country that I never visited? 

Planning a trip and a proposal at the same time made for a stressful couple of months but it all worked out in the end. I came back to New York and thought no more questions would be asked but I quickly realized it was only the beginning.

“I’m so happy for you guys! So, what are the plans for the wedding?”. Well, it might be another 10 years before I have an answer to that.

Where to visit?

Photo from Kerry on our last day in Ireland.

Ireland is a small island so you can see a lot without needing to travel very far. Despite being a transit-riding city slicker, I have to admit that Ireland is best experienced by car. To start, I see an itinerary best planned by landing in Dublin and departing from Shannon and I’d only recommend renting a car when leaving Dublin. 

When leaving Dublin, decide on heading north or south.

If you go northwest, drive across the country to Donegal, Sligo or Mayo and experience Ireland’s rugged west coast dubbed the ‘Wild Atlantic Way’. There is natural beauty in all of these counties from The Slieve League in Donegal, to the beautiful beaches and rock formations in Sligo, to Connemara National Park in Mayo.

By going southwest, you can see Cork, the Republic’s second biggest city, or opt for a slower speed in seaside towns like Kinsale and Clonakilty. Afterwards, you can head toward the Ring of Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula which boast sweeping views in a setting that feels untouched by time. 

Both routes lead to a final couple days in Galway before departing from Shannon Airport in neighboring County Clare. 

How long to stay in each location?

Taking in the views of Benbulben in County Sligo.

I had an ambitious itinerary due to the proposal which meant needing to divide 9.5 days in 5 different places. Barring the nerve-wracking stress of proposing, I had an amazing time but it wasn’t the most relaxing vacation ever. There was a lot of driving done on the trip. Due to the close proximity of places in Ireland, you may be tempted to stay in as many counties as possible, but that can get tiring quick and driving in Ireland isn’t easy! An hour of normal travel may nearly double and will require a lot of concentration on some very tight roads. 

It all does depend on the amount of time you have in Ireland and maybe your appetite for being behind the wheel. 3 stops, maybe 4, is definitely enough! 

Dublin

I’m a big Guinness drinker so I had a couple of pubs that I knew I wanted to visit. I was hesitant to waste time on our short trip to Dublin by going to the Guinness Storehouse because it might surprise you to find out, but there are a lot pubs in Dublin that have better Guinness than the Storehouse. Megan pushed me to go and honestly she was right. You are visually stimulated throughout the self-guided tour by the creative exhibits and the sheer scale of the storehouse’s 7 floors. By purchasing the Guinness Academy ticket you get to pour your own Guinness before heading up to the top floor which has beautiful views of the whole Dublin area. I’ll begrudgingly say, don’t skip the Guinness Storehouse. 

The consensus best pint in perhaps all of Ireland, not just Dublin, is John Kavanagh ‘The Gravediggers’. To prove that you can get better pints at most pubs in Dublin, Megan went into the trip and out of the the Guinness storehouse not liking Guinness, but after one glass at Gravediggers, it all changed. I didn’t need any more confirmation that she was the one but that definitely did seal the deal for me. It’s a 10-15 minute ride from Dublin’s city center in Glasnevin and the pub’s pints and charm does not disappoint. 

Sligo

The big moment.

Sligo is where I decided to propose to Megan. It was actually my hand that was forced into it all because she insisted that if we go to Ireland then we must stay in a castle at least one night. Pretty bourgeois if you ask me, but I reluctantly gave in and looked for castles that worked within our itinerary. I came across The Markree Castle in Sligo and remembered hearing about the county being criminally underrated. I saw a picture of a road in Mullaghmore while looking up things to do and it just spoke to me. This was going to be the spot. 

We had just one day in Sligo but I managed to plan three different walks, a visit to Sligo Town, a proposal and dinner reservations. Easy.

We started at the Keshcorran Caves as we drove from the midlands to the west of Sligo. It’s a 20 minute hike up to a set of caves with incredible views of the countryside below. You walk up a winding path flanked by roaming sheep and it’s all very picturesque and equally smelly. Meg thought she saw a ring box in my pocket and became nervous that I’d propose knee-deep in feces. I didn’t have the ring box in my pocket despite what she thought she saw, but from that point forward she had an inkling of what was going to happen. 

After settling in at the Markree Castle, we went into town for a bite at Hargadon Brothers and then went off to the Benbulben Forest Walk. Benbulben is a massive rock formation that hangs in the background of everything you see on the coast of Sligo. The walk puts you right up against Benbulben and it’s super casual, very easy going for all non-hikers like Meg and I. 

My itinerary for the day gave it all away. There was an obvious travel redundancy that on a normal day I’d never plan. The plan called for a stroll at sunset before heading to dinner. She was really quiet in the car, she knew and I could tell. 

She said yes but only after we stopped traffic! 

We finished our trip with two days in Galway and three in Kerry and I often find myself wanting to go back. I want to spend more time in Dublin drinking in old boozers. I want to have a couple of late nights in Galway. I want to head back to Sligo and just relax without the anxiety of asking someone to spend the rest of their life with me. I’d love to drive down to Kerry again but this time in the passenger’s seat. All in all, I wouldn’t change anything about the trip because it was one that I’ll never forget but it’s almost equally special knowing it won’t be my last. 

A Travel Guide to Lisbon

An interest of mine is the concept of place. What separates a memorable place from one that could be anywhere? There’s the technical sides of a city like the transit system, layout, public spaces and then there’s the culture with its food, music and people. All those things are massively important when I visit cities but it really didn’t matter when I visited Lisbon in 2022. Lisbon charmed me, and it’s hard to put into words why but I was at ease there and I want to go back. I guess logically, I could give you the reasons why Lisbon made me get all abstract and sentimental enough to write a blog post like this, but that’s no fun. There’s an aura about Lisbon and you don’t have to stay long or break the bank to experience it. 

This was the first European vacation that I ever planned and I did a copious amount of research ahead of it, so if you’re contemplating a trip to Lisbon, I hope this information serves you well. 

Miradouros

After my first few Google searches of Lisbon, I knew that I wanted to stay somewhere with a view and my obsessive research led me to the discovery of Miradouros (Portuguese for viewpoints). These viewpoints typically come in tandem with a park or a quiosque (kiosk) where you can sit down and order a drink or a small bite to eat while you think about how you could get used to doing this every day for the rest of your life. So, I followed my instinct and I booked a hotel directly across the street from one of these miradouros and it was easily one of the best decisions I made on my trip. 

My girlfriend and I flew overnight from New York to Lisbon and I didn’t get an ounce of sleep. We went across the street to sit at a quiosque and waited for our room to be ready. My heart was beating incessantly begging for rest while my brain looked out at the city and thought “Fuck. This is nice. Let’s get an espresso”. She slept for hours once our room was ready and I couldn’t blame her one bit. Me? I was thoroughly caffeinated and determined to walk around and put as many rolls of film through my camera as I was at the height of a film shooting phase. After my walk, we went out to eat and I thought that was day one in the books but my body had other plans. I didn’t sleep a single minute that night and I was well over 36 hours without sleep. The sun was about to rise and I had a pack of Cinestill 800 that I carried around for months never having the proper excuse to shoot it, so I headed out and made as many photos as I could. 

Sweets

Lisbon in those early morning hours was very quiet but like any major city it quickly got going. The first sign that the day had truly begun was seeing the doors open on Patriarcal - Panificação Reunida de São Roque. The conversations were already flowing inside the cafe as light began to pour onto the streets outside. The cafe is adorned by azulejos (Portuguese ceramic tiles) and pillars that connect the counter to the high ceilings above. The place resembles more of a Catholic Church than a business. As I quickly found out, pastries are important to the Portuguese and they are really really good at making them. My first Pastel de Nata was biblical and it became my breakfast go-to on the trip. The Pastel de Nata is the star of the Portuguese pastry show, an egg custard filled treat that you absolutely have to come home and say you’ve had because if you don’t then I can say without any uncertainty that you fucked up. 

Make a point to find bakeries, mom and pop type establishments and get pastries because it’s something that is quintessentially Portuguese. 

Getting Around

Once you have something in your stomach, you will be ready to attack the city and check off all the tourist attractions you researched. Do it by foot. You’ll miss so much by immediately hopping on transit or worse getting in a rideshare or even way worse by getting on a tuktuk. After one trip to Lisbon, I cannot be persuaded to be anything but anti-tuktuk. If I hated them being in Lisbon for just over a week, I can’t imagine that the locals hate them any less. Tuktuk’s are bike peddled carriages with guides who bring you around town without you having to break a sweat. Maybe it’s the overweight American tourists who I see lounging in the back of these things that make me dislike them, but they do in fact clog up the streets and sometimes the sidewalks all for the amusement of someone who is too lazy to walk or do their own research and will be fucking off back to their boring suburb in a weeks time.

This leads me to my next point; stay somewhere you can discover things that interest you on foot and where you can easily hop on a tram, bus/train within a short walk.

Where to Stay?

I stress myself out over this question. I am not talking about hotels, though. Hotels should always be secondary in your research, they are just a place to sleep. Instead, I mean that I spend weeks scouring YouTube videos and blogs from people like me who are obsessed with places and what gives them the character they have.

It’s my thought or maybe fear, that staying in a neighborhood that doesn’t match what I want to do or experience will make or break my trip. If you want to stay somewhere idyllic and residential, then think Alfama. If you want somewhere you can act like a local, stay in Graça. If you want to dine in cutting-edge restaurants and shop in concept stores, then it’s Príncipe Real. If you don’t like trudging up hills and maybe you enjoy luxury brands, you can stay in Avenidas Novas. If you want to party into the late morning hours and sleep through the day, then Bairro Alto is for you. 

What to Do?

I always feel more pretentious than I actually am when suggesting what people should do on their travels. It’s your trip, do what you want and then you can make up your own mind. I can tell you that Port Wine sucks, and it does, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try it. When it comes to Lisbon, you should spend some time roaming, just let yourself gallivant around neighborhoods and areas off the beaten path. Go to a restaurant or a tasca where you’re the only tourist in there and eat a meal that you’ll talk about for years to come. Take day trips to a beach town like Cascais. Lisbon is a football mad town, go see Benfica if you have the time. Most importantly, don’t wear yourself out thinking you have to see all the landmarks in-town because that should never be the point when traveling. 

Food and Drink

These guys conquered the high seas so they like seafood but more specifically they like bacalhau, just good ole codfish, nothing too exotic or difficult to get behind. They cook them in a variety of ways and in many shapes and unsurprisingly they are all good, so definitely eat bacalhau as it will be unavoidable anyway.

Portugal is the largest producer of wine corks, so of course their wine is also very good. Drink a lot of it. Their beer is okay but definitely crushable. I’m a Sagres fan not so much a fan of Super Bock.

I always look for restaurants with 4.3 stars and up on Google Maps but I can say I was blown away on multiple occasions by places we just stumbled into by chance because the standard of food is just so high in Lisbon. 

Recommendations

• Maybe skip Sintra as a day trip if you’re on a tight schedule. You’ll be made to believe that it is a crucial stop during your trip to Lisbon, but if you’re not a castle enthusiast or a history buff, then it’s kind of boring. You’ll be shoulder to shoulder with tourists and need to fork over 30 odd Euros to get a tuktuk up to one of those gaudy castles. If you want a change of pace from the city then sure, the views are gorgeous.  

• Ride a tram. Tram 28 is the famed tram that hoards of tourists line up for in the Baixa. If you want to ride it, try getting on at a stop before it reaches the Baixa or simply just take another tram. 

• My one restaurant recommendation is Zé da Mouraria. It’s a hole in the wall, and you can easily miss it if you’re not paying attention. They created a dish called Bacalhau de Mouraria and it will be a last meal request when I get the electric chair someday. They might tell you that you’ll only have a couple minutes to eat or that the wait is insanely long but I suspect it’s because they want to keep the space for their regulars and locals, which is fair enough. Just say that it’s fine and I’m sure a table will open up very quickly. 

• Things to research on your own: Fado, A Ginjinha, Padaria, Bifana, Portuguese Sardines, Boat Tours, S.L Benfica, CP Portugal, Jardims, Sintra, Cascais.