Tag Archives: Dublin Ireland

Apr23

My Irish Spring – Archeology museum & wandering (Thursday)

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Wow… How long has it been since I’ve done an international trip? How much longer since I’ve gone international solo?

Let’s see. The last international trip was to Scotland, right before the Pandemic hit. When I had that really bad flu… right before the Pandemic. With COVID. That presents sort of like a flu. That I’ve somehow avoided getting, as if I’d already gotten it and gained an immunity… Okay we’re not going down that road the last time I went abroad was January 2020. Three years and change.

The last time I went on a solo international trip? Well, that’d be New Zealand, back in 2012. 11 years.

It’s high time I explored.


I got accepted to Trinity College’s MBA program back in November, and accepted the offer that same month… though I delayed admission until 2024, to give me some time to finish up in Oregon and save up a bit more money. While talking to the admissions officer though, I learned about a Business forum put on by Trinity in March – a perfect opportunity for me to stretch my international adventure legs and see if Dublin would make a good home for a year or three!

I planned, I packed, and I set off on my first solo international trip in over 10 years…

(Please note that these are my raw notes from the trip. I’m proofreading them for obvious mistakes… but they’re still short-hand. Because life is busy, and blogs don’t need to be perfectly edited.)



Thursday, 09-Mar-2023



Wake up later than planned… huh. I guess the forum was more taxing than I expected? I mean, I know socializing is draining, but… hmm. Interesting.

Grab a full Irish breakfast nearby, and start into some scavenger hunting for the day… mainly looking for a rock climbing guidebook for myself. Which… turns out, is really hard to find! Three outdoors stores and a bookstore later, no one has anything in stock. Kinda strange, but I’m not quite ready to call it a conspiracy just yet… That’s fine, though – I got some good walking in, and was able to scratch a few things off my scavanger hunt thanks to exploring so many shops, so… win!



My drive to find a climbing book quelled in failure, I turned to my usual for this trip – Museums! See… advantage to National Museums – they’re free, which makes wandering in super convenient. Which led me to my favorite museum of the trip so far – the Archaeology museum! A full walkthrough of human inhabitation of Ireland, from the earliest stone-age through to “modern” Christianity! It was really cool, and I spent quite a bit longer in there than I have at any other museum so far – so much so that I actually closed down the museum, being one of the last people out the door!



I wandered some more, toward an early dinner and an early bedtime, aiming for an earlier start tomorrow morning. Dinner was a surprisingly amazing BBQ spot, literally at least as good as anything in Oregon, if not better. Then home to do some laundry and relax away from the absolutely frigid rain!

Apr19

My Irish Spring – The flights out (Saturday and Sunday)

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Wow… How long has it been since I’ve done an international trip? How much longer since I’ve gone international solo?

Let’s see. The last international trip was to Scotland, right before the Pandemic hit. When I had that really bad flu… right before the Pandemic. With COVID. That presents sort of like a flu. That I’ve somehow avoided getting, as if I’d already gotten it and gained an immunity… Okay we’re not going down that road the last time I went abroad was January 2020. Three years and change.

The last time I went on a solo international trip? Well, that’d be New Zealand, back in 2012. 11 years.

It’s high time I explored.


I got accepted to Trinity College’s MBA program back in November, and accepted the offer that same month… though I delayed admission until 2024, to give me some time to finish up in Oregon and save up a bit more money. While talking to the admissions officer though, I learned about a Business forum put on by Trinity in March – a perfect opportunity for me to stretch my international adventure legs and see if Dublin would make a good home for a year or three!

I planned, I packed, and I set off on my first solo international trip in over 10 years…

(Please note that these are my raw notes from the trip. I’m proofreading them for obvious mistakes… but they’re still short-hand. Because life is busy, and blogs don’t need to be perfectly edited.)


Saturday and Sunday, 04-March-2023 & 05-March-2023


Get up fairly early, lock down the house, and head into the city. Pine State Biscuits for breakfast, then hop on the plane! Note the different philosophies of travel clothing… some people dress down, completely comfortably in sweats, whereas others dress up, stylish, in glorious suits like they’re going to the theater. Interesting.



Flight to Seattle, super quick and easy. Barely worth mentioning.

Seattle = quick chicken fingers and relax, then on the plane!

Flight to Paris = long, but I sleep pretty well thankfully. Blankets, pillows… it’s not bad. Read a ton of my book, and enjoy the easy overnight. Helps that there’s an empty seat next to me!

Paris = surprisingly quick, just through a second security that takes ~5min, then wander a bit and grab some lunch… quiche and gnocchi bolognaise!



Flight to Dublin = quick, though full… so not as much room. Try not to sleep too much, to help set my internal clock to Dublin time. Soon enough, we’re landed.

Dublin = Land, super easy, customs doesn’t include a bag search and takes ~5min. Easy peasy. Grab a cab, get to the apartment… and check-in goes just as quickly.



Settle in for a bit, then go out for a wander. Walk around the North Side, then through Temple Bar. Find a small restaurant attached to a hotel and grab a very mild and stereotypical Guinness stew with a good red ale. Wander around Temple Bar, and appreciate the memories of similar college party streets from when I was at Northeastern. Then head home, quick shower, and sleep surprisingly well!



First Impressions on the city:
– Can’t tell if its because I’m in a party area, but I feel like people dress up more here… I’ve noticed this in other European cities before too.
– It’s small… no particularly tall buildings, and not even Trinity has anything over what looks like 5 stories. The tallest building in Dublin is 22 stories, whereas Portland is 40, and Boston is 60.

Apr18

My Irish Spring – Ben’s going international! (The Overview)

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March, 2023

Wow… How long has it been since I’ve done an international trip? How much longer since I’ve gone international solo?

Let’s see. The last international trip was to Scotland, right before the Pandemic hit. When I had that really bad flu… right before the Pandemic. With COVID. That presents sort of like a flu. That I’ve somehow avoided getting, as if I’d already gotten it and gained an immunity… Okay we’re not going down that road the last time I went abroad was January 2020. Three years and change.

The last time I went on a solo international trip? Well, that’d be New Zealand, back in 2012. 11 years.

It’s high time I explored.


I got accepted to Trinity College’s MBA program back in November, and accepted the offer that same month… though I delayed admission until 2024, to give me some time to finish up in Oregon and save up a bit more money. While talking to the admissions officer though, I learned about a Business forum put on by Trinity in March – a perfect opportunity for me to stretch my international adventure legs and see if Dublin would make a good home for a year or three!

I planned, I packed, and I set off on my first solo international trip in over 10 years…



An overview:

My plan for Dublin was as interesting as it was simple. I’d asked around, and created a list of gifts that friends of mine wanted me to get for them in Ireland. I took it, and made myself a rudimentary scavenger hunt – an opportunity to explore the city without timeline or deadline, a chance to relax and decompress in a new place while leaving behind the highly regimented and “always 5min late” routine that defines my life in Oregon.

I’d fly out on Saturday and Sunday (Thanks, time zones), and then spend Monday and Tuesday floating around the city enjoying my freedom from schedules. Wednesday would be spent at the business forum, followed by more gloriously improvised floating from Thursday through Sunday. Monday would find me flying back to Portland, after which I’d return to the day to day life of an engineer in Wilsonville.

Of course, I had places I wanted to see: The Guinness brewery, the Jameson and Teeling distilleries, and every national museum I could get myself into. Trinity College had a tour I’d go on, and full Irish breakfasts were calling my name.

None of those had specific days, much less times, assigned.

Instead, I’d explore and enjoy myself. Plan-free, without a timeline.