I had another opportunity to work remotely from London by tagging along on my boyfriend’s work trip. I don’t think I’d ever been in the U.K. in the dead of summer and the dry, sunny weather was a game changer! We spent a lot of time walking the streets and soaking in the sun instead of ducking out of the rain every chance we got which is how most of my other London experiences have gone.

This time we also tacked on an extended weekend in Ireland. Neither of us had ever been and it was more amazing than I imagined!

We flew into Dublin on Thursday night and made our way to our hotel near the Temple Bar district. It’s definitely the most lively area in town and reminded me of New Orlean’s Bourbon St.

If there is one restaurant recommendation you take from of this post it’s The Seafood Cafe. A truly wonderful dining experience. Sit at the bar and you can watch the chefs at work. We also got recommendations from the host for basically every restaurant we visited for the rest of the trip.

The next day, I worked a bit from the hotel room and later we went to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells and The Old Library. It was a bummer that they have removed all of the books from the library for conservation but it was still cool to see.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Book of Kells, the National Trust of Scotland describes it as such:

One of the greatest treasures of its kind, the Book of Kells is an illuminated religious manuscript from the medieval period. Written in Latin, it contains the four Gospels of the New Testament and would have been crafted by the Celtic monks in the Columban monastery on Iona, circa 800.

We then grabbed some of the best fish and chips I’ve ever had at Leo Burdock. And after 24 hours in Ireland, we finally indulged in our first pints of Guinness. And yes, it does taste better over there.

We had second dinner that night with some mind-blowing slices of pizza at Bambino’s. My east coast boyfriend said it was some of the best pizza he’s ever had and he’s sort of a pizza snob so that says a lot!

On Saturday, we picked up our rental car to begin our voyage west. Glenn was an absolute champ at driving on the left side of the road and I only feared for my life a few times.

We first drove to the town of Athlone. Our destination: Sean’s Bar the oldest bar in Ireland…and possibly the world! We got there a little before noon and it was pretty empty. We enjoyed some phenomenal Irish coffees (or are they just regular coffees if you’re in Ireland?) and got out of there as a big tour bus pulled up.

Continuing on to Galway on the west coast of the island. We arrived in the early afternoon and grabbed some more Guinness and seafood at Tigh Neachtain’s (don’t ask me how to pronounce that).

Galway was super cute and felt like a small fishing town but it was also packed with people. There were enough pubs that we managed to get in to a few without waiting in line and we also ran into our friend and fellow Chicagoan who just so happened to be in Ireland as well.

The next morning, we hurried over to Magpie Bakery before they opened. We had seen them going viral online and knew that you had to get there early becaue they are only open until they sell out. We arrived 15 mins before open and were still about the 8th people in line. It was SO worth it though.

We departed Galway and headed down the coast to Doolin and the Cliffs of Moher. One thing about me is that I hate crowds and avoid busy overlooks or visitor centers if I can help it. That also means we end up walking a whole lot vs driving and parking like everyone else.

I had seen that Doolin was only a few miles from the Cliffs of Moher overlook so I thought, “Why not hike instead?” and once again…it did not dissappoint. We had to hike a bit further than I had originally planned because we couldn’t find parking near the trailhead but the hike was flat so it wasn’t too streanuous. How far is “a bit further”, you ask? In total, we hiked almost 9 miles. But like I mentioned, it really wasn’t a challenging trail and it took us about 4 hours total.

After the cliffs, we drove to Limerick to break up our trip back to Dublin. It was a Sunday night and the town was pretty quiet but we did have a nice meal at Curragower. It’s a restaurant on the river and if you get a seat on the patio you have amazing views of King John’s Castle.

For our final full day in Ireland, we drove back to Dublin and explored the town some more. I ended the trip with ice cream from Murphy’s and Glenn went back to Bambino’s for another slice (seriously, it was THAT good.)

I feel like I always say this, but we really only scratched the surface on exploring Ireland. I’d love to get back and head north and south on the island. Hopefully, our frequent trips to London will allow us to visit again soon!