EXPLORING THE CITY
MORNING
Start the day with breakfast at KC Peaches on Nassau Street near Trinity College. The first whole foods cafe in Dublin (no additives, preservatives, artificial flavors or colors), they serve every sort or morning eats, including a full Irish breakfast if you’re up for it. Then take a 20-minute walk or hop a taxi to City Kayaking on the Liffey’s north bank at Commons Street on North Wall Quay. The Liffey cuts through the heart of Dublin and marks the Viking origins of the city. City Kayaking will guide you on a two-hour paddle upstream and back, under many of Dublin’s famous bridges, passing such landmarks as the Custom House, Four Courts and St. Paul’s Church.
MIDDAY
City Kayaking’s pier sits right next to the Jeanie Johnston tall ship, so if you’re not ravenous after your kayaking, take a quick tour before heading for lunch just a short walk past the Samuel Beckett Bridge (the Irish Harp Bridge designed by Santiago Calatrava). Chow down at the Boat Bar & Bistro Kitchen on the Cill Airne, a restored tender that once served passenger liners when they stopped in Cork on the run between New York and England. Since you’re on the water, have some seafood chowder or fillet of sea trout.
AFTERNOON
From the Cill Airne, it’s a short walk across the Beckett Bridge to the Grand Canal Basin and Ringsend, where the Grand Canal begins its 81-mile course to the River Shannon in Ireland’s west. Take a walk along this leafy waterway, passing locks that spill feathery waterfalls into pools and soften the sounds of the busy city around you. Take a moment to share a bench with Patrick Kavenagh (1904-67), Irish poet, who will be waiting for you in repose as a bronze sculpture. If you listen carefully, you might hear him whispering some verse. Then continue walking until the bridge at Leeson Street and look to your left for the Joe Byrne Bets Here building, and wonder why it’s important to know where Joe Byrne bets. If you’re in a good rhythm, continue for a few more locks before returning to Leeson Street and heading back toward the Liffey, through St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin’s signature city-center park. Drop into the historic Shelbourne hotel for a well-deserved pint at the No. 27 Bar & Lounge or afternoon tea in Lord Mayor’s Lounge.
NIGHT
For dinner, make your way just a few blocks from the Shelbourne to Farm Restaurant on Dawson Street near Trinity College. Farm is family-owned and operated and serves locally sourced, mostly organic produce in its simple European dishes. Have some comfort food (cottage pie or fish pie) or roast pork or steaks. They have veggie and vegan dishes as well. After dinner, if you’ve been moving fast, catch a play at the Gate, Abbey or Gaiety theaters, but be sure to save time and energy for a stop at O’Donoghue’s Pub on Merrion Row. It’s just a few blocks from Farm, a classic local pub where you’re almost certain to find a music session under way after 9 p.m., sometimes two of them in separate rooms. You’re not on the water here, but the music will make you feel like you’re floating, and they do mix water with grain to create the best way to close out your night: downing a pint of Guinness.