I can’t believe we’re here, our last stop, Dublin. It’s a little bittersweet that our Irish adventure is coming to an end, but we are so excited to be in the capital city. We have plans to do all the things. Visit the Temple Bar, listen to live music, go to the Guinness Factory, and everything in between. Where do we even start?

At first, I’ll be honest, we weren’t in love. Well, Dylan wasn’t. Finding our Airbnb was a struggle, but eventually we got it and then we fell in love with it all. Thanks to my amazing husband for all the driving he did. We stayed in a cute apartment about a mile from the City Centre, it was perfect. You know how we love living a little off the beaten path. Dublin is perfect you guys, from Trinity College, to every pub, all the amazing food (especially the soups you guys, the soups), Temple Bar, and the famous Guinness Factory. The first thing I told Dylan I wanted to do was visit the Temple Bar. It was like the Eiffel Tower of Dublin for me, so being the great husband that he is, he GPS’d it right away. Have I told you how much I love him?

The place exceeded every expectation that I had. From the exceptional service (seriously, you get a beer right away) to the live music, it’s all so fun. My favorite part is that even though there’s a ton of people in there constantly, I mean hello tourist attraction, it’s so clean (how lame am I?). The bathrooms are spotless and I can appreciate that. I feel like I’m about to point out the obvious here, but maybe you need to hear it again to believe it, the bands they hire are insanely talented and the Irish know how to throw a party. The place is fun you guys. Go. We loved it so much that we went back there during our last night. If it isn’t on your Dublin bucket list (and honestly I don’t know why it wouldn’t be), put it there, even if your Airbnb host tells you it’s not worth it.

The other iconic thing we did while in Dublin was visit the Guinness Factory. Again, it exceeded expectations. They take history and creation to a whole new level. Make sure you buy tickets online in advance though, it saves on time and you won’t have to stand in line to buy tickets. Also, if you’re wanting your own custom engraved Guinness glass, get that ahead of time too (has to be ordered online like 2 business days before you pick it up), you’ll save money and you know you want it.

The storehouse sure knows how to teach you everything Guinness. From the exact recipe, to the water that must be used, and the temperature the hops have to be at, to the evolution of the advertisements. You’ll know all about it. It’s really cool and a lot of fun. I won’t give it all away though, don’t wanna ruin all the fun. With the purchase of your ticket you also get a free pint of Guinness and a few places to use it at: you can choose between a lounge, a bar where you practice pouring the perfect Guinness, or the famous 360 degree sky bar. We chose the sky bar and I recommend you all choose this one too. It is by far, hands down, the best view of Dublin there is.

The Storehouse and the Temple Bar were our only “must-see’s,” so the rest of our time in Dublin was spent wandering. Wandering is my favorite way to see cities, if you haven’t noticed. We saw Trinity College, went shopping, explored the mall, weaved in and out of every pub we could find. HA—funny story. Our first night in Dublin we went to a basement sports bar and I decided to order the chicken. What I didn’t know was that the chicken was spiiiiicy. It was so dang spicy but so dang good, which made it so hard because I don’t tolerate spicy food well but I was so hungry. I know it was hilarious watching me eat it, thank goodness they gave me a huge bowl of rice to mellow it out. On the bright side Dylan had the best salmon he’s ever eaten at the same place.

We also ended up in a bar that had live music—duh, and, wait for it, TAP DANCING. It was also the place where I had the best Bailey’s coffee in the freaking world. Can I remember the name of it though? Nope. Blogger fail. For me though, that’s what travel is all about, experiencing it for yourself and creating your own itinerary, not following someone else’s.

Dublin—along with all of Ireland—takes pride in appearances and presentation. The streets are clean, the storefronts are gorgeous, the drinks are picture perfect, and they present food so magically. The food presentation is so beautiful, even if you hate it you’ll want to eat it because it looks so dang good. I had no idea Ireland was that way but I loved it. I couldn’t stop taking pictures of everything, which I guess doesn’t say a lot because it’s me but seriously, it’s pretty cute.

Just like that, the first half of our honeymoon is over. It went by unbelievably fast. Ireland exceeded every expectation possible. We had been planning this trip since we were kids, we had high hopes, high expectations, and unrealistic dreams of what this honeymoon would be for us. I am so damn happy to say that Ireland was amazing and met every single hope, dream, wish, and expectation that we had. I’m literally crying writing this right now, because I miss it so much, we loved it so much. We are already planning a trip back, hitting Northern Ireland for sure, along with some familiar places. Thanks for reading—onto Italy.