Adventures of a Vegetarian

As part of my Dublin trip we went to Bru Na Boyne, which is near the town of Drogheda. You MUST go to passage Tombs of Newgrange and Knowth which is in Bru Na Boyne. This is literally one of th emost amazing neolithic sites on the planet. You can get a bus here (about 60 km from Dublin). Or they do a package tours from your Dublin hotel. Or if you have a car you can drive and stay overnight in Drogeha.

The tombs are only accessible by guided tours from the visitors center. It is close enough to do a day trip there but arrive early as the number of visitors per day is limited. They actually run a remarkably effiicent operation here where you are given specific times to board buses at the visitor center to to see each of the tombs, are given a guide, and a set amounbt of time at each tomb. When you go make sure to check out BOTH tombs and the museum ( i.e. pay the full price). If these ancient wonders which pre-date Stone henge (circa 3200 BC) don’t knock your socks off, then you aren’t wearing socks or you don’t have a pulse. This place is truly amazing and makes stone henge seem quaint. I would reccomend bringing a flashlight unless you are lucky to be there on the solstic. Make sure to check out the tomb reconstruction in museum as well, you can only reach it through the museum’s theatre (after the short movie you leave through the shaft tomb reconstruction). They also have an excellent cafeteria in the museum with lots of veggie fare to choose from.

If you are going to stay overnight the nearest big city is Drogheda. This is not that attractive of a town (it is a Dublin outskirts economic expansion boom town), so I reccomend just the one night, itis pretty dull actually. There was an excellent indian restaurant here, however, where we had a vegetarian feast, called Bengal Spice on Stockwell street, a block or two up from the river crossing. We ended up ordering about 5 of the side dishes (these were actually the traditional fare and purely veg) and much cheaper than the mains. Excellent food and excellent service!

I traveled to Dublin for work and then vacation this past summer. It is a beautiful city filled with history, friendly people, and a modern day bustling city. It is like london but prettier and easier to get around. I found several excellent vegetarian and veg friendly restaurants.

Cornucopia – Vegetarian restaurant in the center of the action on Wicklow street is always jam packed with people. You order at the counter from a selection of mains, soups, salads, drinks, and desserts. Then they give you your number and find a table at this fabulous place. I went here twice because it was so good. They do lunch and dinner and have music some evenings.

Fresh – This is a vegetarian cafe inside the Powerscourt Towncenter on the upper level. They have a massive selection of very FRESH salads, soups, sanwiches, and juices. I think they only do breakast and lunch. The food was fantastic, a good break from a hard day of shopping.

Govindas – Hare Krishna vegan restaurant right down the street from the Merrion Hotel and the govt buildings. They do purely veg indian inspired food here with huge portions at very reasonable prices; lunch and dinner. Great for take way too. They have another branch, although I didn’t try that one

Blazing salads – Heatlh food shop/cafe that has vegetarian hot entrees that you can get in a take away box although there is some counter seating at the front. Good for lunch on the go or to eat in the park.

El Bahia-Middle Eastern Morrocon restaurant that has an excellent vegtable tagine, great ambience and service, and very close to trinity college. Note it is not purely vegetarian, but they are many choices here for us herbivores. Make sure to get the Morrocon mint tea as well, the waiters pouring abilities will make your evening.

Now for the drinks:
My favoroute pubs were the Stag’s Head (for the ambiance) and O’ Neils. Both are near Trinity college and O’Neils has a very extensive Irish beer selection. O’Neils also has a few veg options on their pub menu. The pubs in the Temple Bar area are very touristy (blaring American rock an’ roll songs at 2am), but this is the only area of the city where the pubs are open well after midnight. So you may have no choice if you want to party late.

Queen of Tarts – for the sweet tooth(s) in all of us, near Dublin castle

Leo Burdock’s – Well you have to check out the most famous chip shop in Dublin, and you can get them with curry sauce. A great carb-only lunch…It is near Chester Beatty library

Things to do:
Visit trinity college grounds and make sure to see the book of kells. The national museum is free and incredible with its selection of pre-celtic and celtic treasures. This museum will give you a whole new view of what the ancience people of ireland (we are talking several thousand BC) were like and their beatiful metal work and pottery. There are several churches, parks, squares, and the Dublin Castle that are also worth visiting. Also check out Chester Beatty Library (next to the Dublin Castle), it is free, and has a nice cafe with veg options and a pretty park out front to picnic.

Where to stay:
If you can afforfd it the Merrion hotel is amazing, I got one night in here, I felt like royalty, seriously. If you want to do a long stay try out the Trinity college dorms. I stayed here for a week in an apartment style dorm. It was really nice, comes with a kitchen / living room, and the central location is excellent. The price was prety reasonable too. You can share it with strangers (cheaper) b/c each room is locked in the apartment, which reduces the cost even further. You can also get singles or double tht come with an attached bathroom, but no kitchen / loving room. All the rooms come with breakfast in the cafe. There is also wireless internet access, which is a plus. There is laundry facilities on site as well.

How to Get Around:
The bus service in Dublin is excellent, frequent, and inexpensive. There is even a 24-hour a day direct bus-courch service to the airport (7Euro) that you can pick up from all over town. This will save you a lot of money. You can buy tickets in advance at the travel office just outside of Trinity College near the College Green. But there are pick up points all over the city. The pick up point at the airport is also very obvious or ask anyone and they will point you towards it. The drivers are all relaly nice so if you just pop up a bus and ask if it is going your way they are sure to point you in the direction of one that is.

Near By Places to Check Out:
You MUST go to passage Tombs of Newgrange and Knowth which is in Bru Na Boyne. Check out my other post on Droghead and Newgrange for more details.

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