To the land of St. Patty

Deadfall

So......honeymoon coming up in June, and I'm heading to Ireland. I've always wanted to go, and the soon-to-be wife is just as excited. Only thing is I'm hopelessly naive when it comes to international travel. The furthest I've been is Hawaii, and the only other country I've been to is Canada. Which doesn't really count.

Inspired by the scathing D&D thread about tipping, what is the customary tipping procedure in Ireland? I've been lurking in that thread for a few days and skimming through it, but couldn't really get anything useful out of it.

Is it customary to tip in restaurants overseas? How about taxis? I will be taking a taxi from the airport to my hotel. Housecleaning? Anybody else? Our hotel is right next to the LUAS train, so getting to and from Dublin shouldn't be a problem.

A lot of travel sites and hotel menus brag about "traditional Irish dishes." And I honestly have no idea what that is. I've learned bangers and mash, which is on every single menu I've looked at, is sausage and potatoes (right?), which is my kind of meal. Is that traditional Irish dish?

I have an idea of what I'd like to see, and have a few travel books, but those are like 500 pages long and are a bit overwhelming. Is the Guinness brewery as awesome as it sounds? What else is worth seeing in Dublin? How about the surrounding areas? I know how touristy it is, but I'm going to Blarney. And I heard about some kind of sweet glass-blowing factory that I had to see.

Speaking of Guinness, I know that can't be the only delicious brew they have over there. I'm not really a big "drunk," but I enjoy trying new beers. What new beverages should I be on the lookout for? .

SlickShughes

I loved my honeymoon trip to Ireland, and so did everyone else I've talked to who's taken a trip there. Quick answers:

Tipping: is not customary in Ireland, but in some cases (mostly bars) I found I couldn't break the habit. Never had a bartender bat an eye though, so I think they'll take it if it comes, and not care if it doesn't. I did tip my tour driver, but he worked for an american company, so that's a bit of a gray area I think.

Food: bangers and mash is (unless I'm mistaken) a British/English thing, but you can certainly get it there, just perhaps not under that name. It's a breakfast thing. Expect "traditional irish breakfast to include Sausage, eggs, bacon (think canadian), potatoes, tomatoes, brown bread, and perhaps Blood Pudding - a type of sausage made with oats and (you guessed it) blood. Expect potatoes with everything. Seriously. I didn't have a meal without a potato in it while I was there (10 days), some meals even had 2 (Shepherd's pie with a side of french fries?) - expect mostly mashed and roasted. Oh, and tea all over the place. Tea and Coffee change places in popularity. To go along with it, have a scone - better there than anywhere else. For lunch and dinner, moving past the potatoes, expect things like Shepherd's Pie, Stews (beef or lamb), roasts (beef or pork loin), and fish. I'm told the fish and chips are quite good, but I'm not a fish person.

Guinness Brewery is full of win. On top of the walk through of the beer making process and the history of the place, the bar at the top has the best view in the city, and a pint is included in your admission. On a similarly alcoholic note, check out the Jameson Distillery, which is also fun and includes a drink for you. Other things to see: the General Post Office, where the easter rebellion happened, Phoenix Park, home of the second largest obelisk in the world, Grafton Street for general shopping and such like, Trinity College - especially the book of kells, a beautifully appointed bible, Temple Bar district - for nightlife and what not, St Stephen's Green - Dublin's central park-ish park, the James Joyce tower - setting of the first scene of Ulysses and a good view of the bay, um, that's all I can think of off the top of my head.

The "glass-blowing factory" is the Waterford crystal factory in, unsurprisingly, Waterford. It is sweet, and certainly worth the trip. You get to see the whole process. Blarney is also quite a bit of fun, despite it's touristy pedigree - there's more to it than the stone, there's alot to see and explore there.

Other brews: Murphy's and Beamish are both stouts on par with Guinness. Harp is also pretty tasty, if you like lager. A note - Stout layered over lager (Guinness over Harp for example) - is called a Black and Tan here in the US, but a Half and Half there. Black and Tan was a name for the occupying British soldiers back in the day. Also, an Irish Car Bomb - my favorite drink! - doesn't really exist there. Don't make the mistake my cousin did and order one in Belfast. Bad idea.

Deadfall

That was very informative and helpful.

I love me some Carbombs, so I'm glad you gave me the heads up on that one.

Waterford, that's what I was thinking of.

Food: bangers and mash is (unless I'm mistaken) a British/English thing

That's what I thought too, but it's showing up on all the menus I've been checking out. Mostly hotel menus, so maybe that's it. I love meat and potatoes, so that kind of cuisine sounds right up my alley.

Thanks.

SlickShughes

Deadfall wrote: »

I'm not really a big "drunk,"

Deadfall wrote: »

I love me some Carbombs,

Does not compute. Car bombs, while tasty, are definitely a get me drunk really quick kind of drink.

Are you staying in Dublin for the most part, with Waterford/Blarney your only excursion? Are you renting a car, or taking a tour down? Dublin is a great place, but spend some time seeing the country side if you can. It's hard to describe, but the land there really is strikingly beautiful.

zilo

The Guinness brewery is indeed full of win. If we'd stayed longer than 2 days I would have wanted to go twice.

Also there's a Musical Pubcrawl that kicks off at... let's see if I remember... Oliver St John's Gogarty. A guitarist and a fiddle player take you on a tour of four or five different pubs in the Temple Bar district (near-ish the Guinness brewery), play a couple songs at each pub, it's great fun.

Also I found out you can get a beer at 7am on a Wednesday in Dublin. Guinness + coffee + breakfast sausage is a hell of a breakfast.

mooshoepork

Bangers and mash is just mash potato and sausages. It is win, especially with gravy. I too thought it was a British thing though.

Willeth

Ireland is part of Britain. It's not part of the UK, but it's a part of Great Britain.

Although people may get touchy about this sort of thing.

Kilroy

Willeth wrote: »

Ireland is part of Britain. It's not part of the UK, but it's a part of Great Britain.

Although people may get touchy about this sort of thing.

Yeah, saying that is a good way to wind up with injuries.

I'd definitely recommend getting out and seeing as much of the countryside as possible; Ireland is an amazingly beautiful place. Be sure to check out Newgrange and the other prehistoric sites, they're easily as impressive as Stonehenge.

Ponge

Willeth wrote: »

Ireland is part of Britain. It's not part of the UK, but it's a part of Great Britain.

Although people may get touchy about this sort of thing.

Ermmm... No it's not. Great Britain refers to England, Scotland and Wales. Ireland is one of the British Isles, although that is contentious and won't make you many friends in Ireland.

John the Skrull

SlickShughes is right on the tipping aspect, for a long time it wasn't done but nowadays with tourists and the like being so common everyone is used to it. Generally speaking most people won't care if you don't or do but you certainly won't put a foot wrong if you tip the waiter, taxi driver etc.

About the LUAS: there are two lines which are (for no good reason) not connected. The red line covers the northern part of the city (O'Connell street, the museum of decorative arts and history) and the green line covers the southern part (St. Stephen's Green). They're best for getting into/out of the city.

I would really suggest checking out the museums if that's your kind of thing. The Natural history museum (my favourite) is closed at the moment unfortunately but the others are also quite good. The National Museum of Ireland - Decorative Arts & History is nice and in a really beautiful building. The National Museum of Ireland - Archaeology & History is also really cool: It's where you'll find preserved viking longboats and Celtic artifacts. Also it's on kildare street which is where Leinster house (the Parliment building in Ireland) is.

I'd also put in a second vote for Trinity college and the Book of Kells. Again this is all if you are interested in the historical aspect.

Also just to clarify Ireland isn't part of Great Britain. Great Britain is England, Scotland and Wales. Ireland is part of the "British Isles" but that's a purely geographical name.

In any case you won't need to be discussing this over there (and i don't think anyone would raise an eyebrow about a tourist making that mistake, it's a common one).

Willeth

Ponge wrote: »

Willeth wrote: »

Ireland is part of Britain. It's not part of the UK, but it's a part of Great Britain.

Although people may get touchy about this sort of thing.

Ermmm... No it's not. Great Britain refers to England, Scotland and Wales. Ireland is one of the British Isles, although that is contentious and won't make you many friends in Ireland.

Cock, have I got that the wrong way round? I thought that the British Isles and Great Britain were the the same thing, whereas the United Kingdom was only what the Queen ruled over, which doesn't include EIRE.

EDIT: Yeah, I have. Embarrassing.

Solvent

You know my two cents on tipping? Don't do it. Don't mean to rain on your parade, but tipping is a crap practice that, once entrenched (as in the USA), means service workers can receive shitty wages because they get to keep tips on top of that.

Much of the world that hasn't had that US influence pays its service workers a proper wage, and they don't need or expect tips. Until it becomes common practice since it has spread from America, and now guess what? Service workers pay goes down because now they get tips.


/rant

Willeth

Solvent wrote: »

You know my two cents on tipping? Don't do it. Don't mean to rain on your parade, but tipping is a crap practice that, once entrenched (as in the USA), means service workers can receive shitty wages because they get to keep tips on top of that.

Much of the world that hasn't had that US influence pays its service workers a proper wage, and they don't need or expect tips. Until it becomes common practice since it has spread from America, and now guess what? Service workers pay goes down because now they get tips.


/rant

WARNING

THREAD HOLOCAUST APPROACHING

STAND WELL BACK

Deadfall

SlickShughes wrote: »

Deadfall wrote: »

I'm not really a big "drunk,"

Deadfall wrote: »

I love me some Carbombs,

Does not compute. Car bombs, while tasty, are definitely a get me drunk really quick kind of drink.

Right, allow me to clarify.

I enjoy carbombs, but not all the time. I don't go out anymore simply to get blitzed. Except for St. Patrick's day, because well, it's St. Patrick's day. Nowadays, I'd much rather prefer to try new micro-brews and experiment with new flavors. Colorado is the land of micro-brews, it seems. And it's delicious.

As for my itinerary, I'm staying for five days in Dublin (Tallaght, actually, but using that as a base to get to Dublin) and taking another five days to rent a car and drive around the countryside.

I'll be traipsing (sp?) around the land staying in B&B's, checking out cool castles and sampling local flavor.

AlyceInWonderland

Ireland was my first time across seas. I went about 4 years ago, and it's still the most amazing trip I went on, easily.

The people there were absolutely fantastic, and I couldn't have been happier about the money I spent to go. Best decision of my life, still.
If you weren't already going to Dublin, I'd tell you to check out the town of "Killarney." It's close to the ring of Kerry, and several other amazing sites.

You'll have a blast in Ireland, especially with the new wife with you, I'm sure. Holy God, I wanna go back again.

poshniallo

Food:

Bangers and Mash is a normal sort of food.

Meat and Potatoes, sure. A lot of the obvious Roasts (especially Lamb, which is bloody lovely there), served with cabbage, other veg, potatoes and gravy. Irish produce tends to be excellent, so you may find yourself (as I do when I'm there) saying odd things like 'No more Roast Beef for me! Just seconds of cabbage!'.

Really traditional is something like boiled bacon and parsley sauce, which I personally hate, but some love.

In Dublin, raw oysters are common with brown bread and a pint of stout (Guinness, since it's Dublin).

When you're near the coast, all kinds of seafood are popular.

Soda Bread is lovely - my favourite kind of bread.

In recent years Irish food has been going through a bit of a change, and there is a lot of good-quality foreign food and fusion food.

Places:

Dublin is quite small, and don't expect it to hold your attention for long.

I really recommend the Wicklow Mountains, which are just next to Dublin - you can get the bus or join a tour. Braveheart (along with others such as King Arthur) was filmed there.

The Powerscourt Estate is lovely:

http://www.powerscourt.ie/gardens/



As is Glendalough:

http://wicklow.com/glendalough/



When I'm in Dublin, I always go and have a cup of tea at Bewleys. Buy some truffles.

Drink Tullamore Dew or Powers. Oh! Go to Johhnie Fox's - highest pub in Ireland, great food.

Oh god the nostalgia is killing me - I'm gonna have to go put on Danny Boy and get drunk.

vonPoonBurGer

SlickShughes wrote: »

Tipping: is not customary in Ireland, but in some cases (mostly bars) I found I couldn't break the habit. Never had a bartender bat an eye though, so I think they'll take it if it comes, and not care if it doesn't.

Yeah, they probably picked up on the fact that you weren't a local and just went with it. In England, that would actually mortally offend the bartender. There, tipping implies that the bartender is crap enough that he probably needs the extra coin to make ends meet... My girlfriend actually had an English bartender push a tip back in obvious disgust. So yeah, it's Ok if you forget in Ireland, but don't do it in England!

Evyl

I was in Ireland last year, and one of the first things I learned there was - don't tip. The local patrons don't tip, and they don't want it to become accepted practice, so the get pissed when they see people doing it.