Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland. Though I saw lots of tourists from all over the world, I didn’t see anyone who seemed to be from Japan. (I believe there are some, but I didn’t really see anyone who might be Japanese.)
Then, what could we do in Belfast which might not be so fascinating for the Japanese people?
Belfast is cosmopolitan (at least for me) but quite compact. It might be suitable for shopping, but I wondered about sightseeing in Belfast. Famous sightseeing places seemed to be outside of Belfast.
However, there is still famous stuff in Belfast, so in terms of Belfast city sightseeing, I took part in the Belfast walking tour.
Booking is required, but the walking tour per se is free. Since this sort of walking tour wants some tips, at the end of the walking tour, it’s polite to give some tips. In my case, I had no idea how much I should give, so I gave the guide 2 GBP which was the biggest amount of cash I had. I wanted to give him 5~10 GBP, but I didn’t want to ask him to give me the change because it sounds weird, and the notes I had were 20 GBP or something. (Sorry, Mr. guide.)
Before participating in this walking tour in Belfast, I wanted to go to the loo in the accommodation I stayed at, but since girls occupied there, I headed to the meeting point of the walking tour, and asked the guide where the public loo was. He told me there were loos in Belfast city hall. It was free.
The Belfast walking tour started in front of Belfast city hall. We sometimes stopped, and listened to the guide’s talk. His historical or political talks were interesting. The guide lived somewhere else temporarily, but other than that, he has lived in Belfast all in his life. He had some experience in guiding in Belfast, so he was reliable.
The Belfast walking tour ended at the salmon statue.
The guide also recommended a few nice pubs in Belfast. (I didn’t go to any of them as the next day was St. Patrick’s Day, and in all the pubs there would be a crowd.)
The walking tour took two hours. I would recommend you to wear some trainers that you are used to so you can prevent yourself from injuries with your shoes. Luckily, when I attended the walking tour, it wasn’t even showering.
2. Belfast castle
In the afternoon of the day I joined the walking tour in Belfast, I went to the Belfast castle, too. You can take only one double-decker called Metro from the Belfast city centre to the Belfast castle.
Once you arrive at the nearest bus stop to the Belfast castle, you need to walk to the Belfast castle. The Belfast castle is situated in the middle of a mountain (or just a steep hill), and at some point it’s sharply inclined. Also, after the shower or rain, the ground is pretty slippery so be careful. You need to climb the mountain quite a lot.
The admission is free to the Belfast castle. If it’s sunny, the coastal side that you can see from the Belfast castle is spectacular. If it’s not a cold season, then you might see some flowers in the garden at the Belfast castle.
However, the inside of the Belfast castle was a bit creepy. Perhaps it was because of the silence there. I didn’t check any rooms in the Belfast castle. I also didn’t see many tourists there.
When going back to the Belfast city centre from the BElfast castle, you should probably have enough time, particularly in the afternoon on a weekday, after 3 pm.
It seems schools in Belfast finish then, so the pink doubledeckers as Metro appeared to be used as school buses. I saw a number of buses from the city centre, but the bus to the city centre was delayed a lot.
However, I patiently waited, and could get on one. Therefore, it’s better to avoid putting any plans with specific time after visiting the Belfast castle.
3. Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast
What is more about Belfast, I went to Crumlin Road Gaol. This gaol was used in real life in the past. I purchased a ticket online in advance, and it cost 13 GBP. I went there in the morning. I felt the Crumlin Road Gaol was far from the Belfast city centre as Belfast per se is really compact, but it takes only around 20 minutes by walk from the city centre to the Crumlin ROad Gaol while I took buses on the way to the Gaol.
This kind of gaol has realistic creepiness. Since I’m chicken though I’m interested in such places, I walked very slowly, and sometimes followed other visitors. 😂 There are two points where there are automatic announcements, detecting human visits: one is inside of the gaol, and the other one is outside of the gaol. The system suddenly starts announcing, so the elderly woman in front of me said her heart would have stopped. Besides, that lady was affected twice. It’s not good for elderly people. 😂
The Crumlin Road Gaol used to keep women and children as well, and there are explanations on it and dolls too. You can see the hanging room as well.
The Crumlin Road Gaol also has a restaurant, and you can have lunch or dinner at the restaurant where you might slightly feel the gaol. (The menu isn’t like a gaol menu. You don’t really feel the gaol in the restaurant unless you pay attention to the atmosphere there.)
★Summary
Usually I go and see sightseeing places by myself, so I took part in the walking tour for the first time in my life, which was the right decision. If you can have a fun or experienced guide, you can listen to fruitful stories from them.
As for the Crumlin Road Gaol, I had to be brave as I’m chicken, but I’m satisfied that I could go there. (And I still like this kind of creepy place…) It seems they have events at the gaol from time to time like on Halloween, but that’s too much for me.. That’s too scary…
Though I had been to Northern Ireland once before the trip in March, 2023, I just dropped in a county called Enniskillen which has the border with the Republic of Ireland. Therefore, I had never done any sightseeing in Northern Ireland before. Also, I wanted to visit some filming locations of “Game of Thrones”.
The places I wanted to visit most were typically Giant’s Causeway as well as the Dark Hedges which is one of the filming locations of “GOT”. Since I love abandoned castles, I hoped to see the Dunluce castle if possible. However, if I tried to go to all those places by myself even though there are only three, it seemed to take one day.
In addition, I didn’t have a valid driving licence in Europe at that time. (I have a driving licence in Japan, and yet due to the fact that I have lived in Estonia for more than one year, I was not eligible to apply for the international driving licence. Hence I went to a driving school in Estonia.) As I was not legally able to drive a car, public transports were the only option for me to travel. However, given that I wanted to take buses, I had to consider the bus routes, theri frequencies, and their time.
I wondered what to do, and suddenly I thought “Maybe I can go somewhere else on a day trip?” Then I googled and found a tour in Northern Ireland on the website called Viator.
The tour started in Belfast and took approximately nine hours, going to major sightseeing places in Northern Ireland. Looking at the itinerary of the tour, all the places I wanted to see were included.
Therefore, in this article, I will talk about the tour and the points on this tour!
On Viator’s tour I attended, we went to several sightseeing places, but here I selected a few places I wanted to go before this trip!
a. The Dark Hedges
The Dark Hedges is the filming location for “GOT”. If you google this place, it looks creepy, but it wasn’t when I went there probably because we went there at noon.
But I’m glad that I could go there, and I want to see the Dark Hedges in a dark time!
b. Carrick-A-Rede bridge
This bridge is the one this tour has its picture, but
we couldn’t go close to there.
We just saw it from far away.
This is because, according to the tour guide, you can cross the bridge only on a private tour.
I was a bit disappointed, and yet if the tour had included this option, the tour price would have been more than 40 EUR, and the tour couldn’t have finished in a day.
I want to go there on a private tour some day!
I’m pretty sure I would be a chicken there, but I want to try to cross that bridge!!
c. Giant’s Causeway
When it comes to Northern Ireland, Giant’s Causeway might be the first thing you might imagine!
It’s very famous, and a typical sightseeing place in Northern Ireland, but I had wanted to visit there for a long time! The admission fee was included in the tour fee. You can walk around there by yourself, or you can walk while listening to the guide’s talks. (The guide fee is also inclusive.) I walked with the guide. He talked about geology, anecdotes and his experience-based stories concerning Giant’s Causeway. (Since it’s located in the coastal area, and sometimes it’s very rainy and/or windy, you can borrow a headset to listen to the guide’s talk.)
Giant’s Causeway was much vaster than I thought, so I didn’t have enough time to walk everywhere. I want to go there again!
When it’s rainy, the ground is quite muddy and slippery, so it’s better to wear anti-slippery shoes which can be dirty.
d. Dunluce castle
The Dubluce castle is an abandoned castle. I love abandoned castles so much for some reason.
However, we couldn’t go that close to the Dunluce castle.
The coach stopped at the official view point where you can see the Dunluce castle. It was slightly disappointing. The coach stopped there for only 10 to 15 minutes as we just saw it from the view point.
But I could see the castle at that time, though it’s blurry and hard to see in the picture, so I’m satisfied.
On the contrary, I still want to see it more closely, so I need to try again.
3. Food & beverages, toilets and the internet on the Northern Ireland tour
This tour does not include food or beverages. It might be a good idea to bring at least a bottle of water, and yet for some people who participate in this tour might need more in summer. However, at some points on this tour, you can buy something at a store. Depending on the place, there was a convenience store called SPAR.
We spent lunch time at a restaurant in a town named Ballintoy, and they had a coach menu. (This is probably due to avoiding the congestion at the restaurant.) The coach menu had an option with which you can eat champ, Northern Irish mashed potato. I will talk about this in a different article. During lunch time, you can spend time at the restaurant, or you can stroll around there. It’s not mandatory to have lunch at the restaurant, so if you want to save money, or you are not so hungry, then you don’t need to book dishes on the tour. (The tour guide understands this so no need to worry about saying no thank you.)
In terms of toilets, I felt I could go to bathrooms at almost every sightseeing place. I didn’t have to wait patiently for peeing. 😂 However, if you arrive at a place where you have an opportunity to go to the loo, it’s probably better to go. Plus, after leaving Giant’s Causeway, you can’t get any chance to go to the loo until you arrive in Belfast. I recommend going to the loo in Giant’s Causeway as the distance is quite long to Belfast.
What is more, surprisingly, the coach didn’t have any internet access or changing ports. However, it’s understandable in a way because some buses or coaches have either or both of them whilst others don’t in any countries (even in Estonia). It wouldn’t be a bad idea to bring a phone cable to charge though. I was also fine without the internet on the coach since I could use giffgaff’s internet up to 15 GB.
★Summary
Whenever I travel somewhere I have never been, I’m like “I want to go to this place and that place.” Then after visiting them, I feel “I want to see it in a different version, or in a different season”. Then I go there again. That’s why I go to the same places repeatedly.
Honestly, I thought I wouldn’t feel I wanted to go to Northern Ireland again as I would be satisfied, but in fact I want to go there again…
As for the tour, I would recommend it if you wish to see lots of places in Northern Ireland during a short period.
Before going to Northern Ireland, I had been to Scotland in terms of the UK trip, and it was before Brexit as well as in 2019. I have used a SIM card from Telia’s brand called Super since I came to Estonia. As of 2019, as Super’s services were different from recent days, I used Super’s SIM card in Scotland as well.
However, this time the situation was different. Brexit has been done, and the UK is excluded from the roaming package offered by Super because it’s valid in the EU.
Asking Super’s support, the only reasonable way to use the internet in the UK was to use a British SIM card. Otherwise roaming on the Super’s SIM card is very expensive.
Then I googled British SIM card brands/providers, and found that in the UK having a contract with the provider is pretty common unlike Estonia. However, a few of the providers sell SIM cards without any contracts, and I decided to buy a SIM card from either LEBARA or giffgaff.
I went to Belfast from Dublin by coach, and arrived at the coach station in Belfast. The Belfast coach station is located in the centre of Belfast, and there is a convenience store called WHSmith. (This convenience store is kind of hidden so it’s a good idea to ask the exact location at the coach station info centre.)
I searched stores where they might have SIM cards in advance, but it seemed some of them didn’t have SIM cards, and unfortunately WHSmith in the Belfast coach station didn’t have SIM cards. (In Estonia, you can buy SIM cards basically at any R kiosk. Also it was surprising that the convenience store in the coach station didn’t have SIM cards.)
The manager of that convenience store asked one of the security guys (?) to guide me to the device accessory store where I could buy SIM cards. This device store can be found after the doors near the ATM in the coach station. A guy who seemed to be from India or somewhere runs this store.
I asked this Indian guy for a SIM card, and he just showed me only a part of the shelf where he had lots of SIM card options. Later I found LEBARA and giffgaff’s SIM cards on the opposite side of the shelf, and got giffgaff’s one.
Asking how much it cost, he just told me to bring it to the pharmacy next to the device accessory store. I went to the pharmacy, but the clerks said “Sorry, you can’t topup that provider here. You need to go to Tesco.” Then I went to Tesco outside of the coach station, and the Tesco clerk explained everything to me nicely.
I didn’t pay for a SIM card, which appears to be okay in the UK, and yet I am not quite sure about this as this Indian guy didn’t handle my request properly.
2. After inserting a SIM card
After inserting the SIM card, I couldn’t connect to the internet, so I asked the Indian guy at the device accessory store where I got the SIM card, but he was just showing me a fake smile, talking on the phone. However, when some other customers came to the store, he handled their requests. I told him “The SIM card doesn’t work. There is no internet.” Then he said “I’m talking to my boss 😊”, showing me a fake smile. He still handled other customers’ requests while he was talking on the phone.
After waiting for him for one hour, I turned off my phone, and connected the internet, solving the problem on my own. Then I said “I solved the problem by myself” to him.
I felt so annoyed and disgusted because those who were nice to me were all the whites. The Indian guy at the device accessory store properly talked to only the white customers. This is the fact that “the minority bullies the other minority”.
The beginning of the trip in Northern Ireland was awful.
3. The provider I chose
I topped up giffgaff’s SIM, paying 10 GBP. I think I got 15 GB for 10 GBP. If I remember correctly, given that you top up more than 10 GBP for the giffgaff’s SIM, you can use roaming up to 5 GB in the EU for free, so I used giffgaff’s SIM until I got home in Estonia.
I cannot recommend giffgaff as I’m not an expert in terms of British SIM cards or internet providers, but this service was pretty good, I think.
In Estonia, you can buy a SIM card for 1 EUR, and I buy 1 GB for 3 EUR, so I felt 10 GBP was expensive in the beginning, and yet with 15 GB, actually giffgaff is cheaper. Since I’m outside quite often while travelling, I was happy to have giffgaff’s SIM with 15 GB for 10 GBP, which I didn’t have to pay attention to the amount I could use.
★Summary
To use giffgaff’s service I needed to create their account, but as it was a top-up SIM card, I still keep their SIM card even now. Also, I want to go to Northern Ireland again, and want to visit Wales some day, so it would be useful anyway.
One thing I learnt this time was I should bring a paper clip next time when I need to change the SIM card because I had only earrings that hang on the holes in the ears, not those need to catch from the back, and the ones that hang on the holes in the ears are too weak to open the SIM card port. You still need a bit more power if you use a paperclip to open the phone SIM card port, but you can break paper clips, and they can open it. In order not to forget the paper clips, I store them with the SIM in a bag now.
I finally summed up the expenses on the trip to Japan in 2022! Since Estonia and Japan surely use different currencies, some are calculated in EUR, others are in JPY.
There are 11 items.
Quite a lot!
To use this article as a reference for my next trip to Japan, I categorised them.
I booked the flight tickets on Finnair for September and October, which had one transit and cost more than 700 EUR. Then I booked the flight tickets on JAL for the same travel period, which had two transits and cost around 680 EUR. Due to the timing of JAL’s cancellation, the flight tickets that I booked on Lufthansa were for November and December, which cost 851.40 EUR.
It was expensive, but acceptable.
All flights above were from Tallinn to Kansai airport.
2. Transports
Then I’m going to talk about the transport fees.
The coach from Tanabe to Namba Osaka cost 2,900 JPY. Since I bought a ticket for only one way, it should have been more expensive than one one-way ticket of the round-trip tickets.
Plus, I spend 9,925 JPY for other transports in Kansai.
On my trip, the trip starts from the day when I leave home until the day when I come home, so all the expenses during such a time are included in the trip expenses. Therefore, the taxi fees to and from the airport – 15.10 EUR – is also the transport fee here.
3. Food and drinks
This is about the food and drinks. I don’t included the expenses for lunches and dinners I had with my friends in Japan. They are socialisation expenses. In this item, the contents are snacks and sweets I bought for myself, and food and drink just for myself (wherever I had such as convenience stores, supermarkets, cafes, etc).
This cost 25,536 JPY. Before I left Tallinn, I was too hungry at the Tallinn airport, so the hotdog I had there was 3 EUR.
I think I could save more money if I stayed in a monthly flat in Japan.
4. Cosmetics
I spent a lot of money on them. Lol
I used 26,373 JPY for makeup cosmetics. lol
The total cost for the perfumes I bought was 11,731. Since I bought 8 bottles, it makes sense… (but I think this information isn’t so useful lol)
I spent 8,5151 JPY for basic cosmetics.
However, at some point I was too lazy to categorise everything, so I believe I spent more.
In addition, I purchased contacts for 90 days in Japan as they were slightly cheaper, which cost 5,596 JPY. (I bought them on Amazon.)
5. Socialisation
For the budget on socialisation, considering what to do in Japan, I made a plan to spend 4,000 JPY per meeting. I calculated separately when I needed tickets.
I used 30,639 JPY in total.
6. Amusement park tickets
As for the tickets at amusement parks, I spend 6,720 JPY which was cheaper than usual (by using the COVID travel campaign), Soraniwa onsesn cost 3,154 JPY (including the ice cream I had there), 3,500 JPY for buckwheat noodle making class, 1,600 JPY for illuminations, 1,440 JPY for atoa (aquarium) by using the discount.
7. Accommodation
On this trip to Japan in 2022, after staying at my parents’ place, I changed the hotel rooms. For this, I budgeted 70,000 JPY in total.
However, actually the total expense for the accommodations was 66,691. (Besides, I booked all of them on Booking.com, so sometimes I got 10% discounts and the total expense was below the budget!)
However, I still do prefer a monthly flat next time.
8. Souvenirs to myself
As for the souvenirs for myself, I used 68,091 JPY since I bought sloop-ons, a wallet, stationeries, Japanese foods, etc.
Strictly speaking, the cosmetics are for myself too, so I REALLY spent a lot for myself…
9. Souvenirs from Estonia
Regarding the souvenirs from Estonia to Japan, I bought sweets, bread and soaps. My selection was almost the same as what I bought for the trip in 2019. The difference I would say is that I chose the different band for the soaps or different tastes/flavours of chocolate.
The total expense was 56.16 EUR. (Is it too few?)
10. Souvenirs from Japan
There are no big differences between the souvenirs from Japan and those from Estonia. I spent 8,465 JPY.
11. Others
Let’s talk about miscellaneous stuff. As I have a chinchilla, I duplicated two sets of keys for my friends who took care of him while I was away. It cost 32 EUR.
Plus, I bought insurance for 33 EUR which helped me with the accident in the beginning of the trip.
What is more, what I needed while travelling in Japan was the internet. In my case, I had rented the mobile Wifi for one month, which cost 5,380 JPY.
Last but not least, I spent 9,215 JPY for the use of the internet cafe, watching and drying, renewal of the driving licence, etc.
★Total expenses
Items
JPY
EUR
Flight tickets
851.40
Transports
12,825
15.10
Food and drinks
25,536
3
Cosmetics
53,924
Socialisation
30,639
Amusement parks
16,414
Accommodation
66,691
Souvenirs for myself
68,091
Souvenirs from Estonia
56.16
Souvenirs from Japan
8,465
Others
20,380
68.56
Sum
302,965
994.22
To sum up all of these, I spent approximately 300,000 JPY in addition to 990 EUR. When calculating the total cost with the rate that 1 EUR equals to 140 JPY, it is around 440,000 JPY.
I’m not sure if this was a low or high cost anymore…
However, I am pretty sure that I spent lots of money on the makeup cosmetics, so next time I believe I can save more (or I don’t have to spend that much). But if I eat out more often, the total expense will perhaps be the same.
Maybe this is a normal value.
By the way, the daily cost is around 15,700 JPY. It sounds like one stay in a posh hotel.
Since I was going to visit Japan, I was shopping online from time to time. Usually, I order something and it arrives at my parent’s place in Japan, and I ask my mum to send it to me with some other stuff approximately once every six months. However, since I was going to Japan this time, I anyway bought lots of things online, and my mum got deliveries and kept them at home.
What I bought was mainly cosmetics. Amazon Japan really has everything! I bought 100 face packs… (Eventually I brought only 70 packs to Estonia. I gave the rest to my mum.)
Beside makeup cosmetics, I purchased an eye mask, Fantastic Beasts’ DVD, and shoes online.
Ah and perfumes too…
I didn’t buy skin care products or stationeries because I wanted to buy them in Japan.
I spent 30,000 JPY (207 EUR) at this point.
By the way, I will write another article on how much I spent on this trip in Japan.
2. Suitcases and bags
The reason why I bought so many things online was because I had enough capacity in my suitcases.
Last time I used LOT Polish, and I could bring only one 23kg suitcase. Based on my experience, I selected an airline on which I was allowed to bring two 23kg suitcases for free. Also I was very lucky.
When I came to Estonia, I brought only one suitcase and one 8kg backpack, so I needed one more suitcase. Then, my friend told me that he unnecessarily had multiple suitcases, so I got one big one. It was shaped almost like a square, and looked different, but the size was fine as per the rule on the airline.
Additionally, I bought a haversack on Lindex and a backpack on Nordace. With these I was ready for hanging out and going out and carrying on the airplane.
As for the backpack, I had wanted to buy it for a long time. On the other hand, I found a nice one coincidentally on Lindex.
3. Collin
Plus, I have Collin who is my roomate chinchilla.
As a chinchilla can live without care for two nights, I looked for a pet sitter who can come to my place and take care of him once every three days.
a. Pet sitters
At first, I used a website called PetBacker, but when I asked my friends, they just said yes.
As I was going to stay in Japan for four weeks, I divided the period into two: the first two weeks and the latter two weeks, during each of which, I asked them to come five times.
It’s easy to take care of a chinchilla. One just needs to let him take a dust bath, feed him, and give him a treat since in Collin’s case, he is being patient during the cleaning time. I hadn’t started letting him take a walk in the room. This is because it had been only two months for him to move to my place, and he nibbled everything as he was only four months old (four years old in human). Therefore, I planned to let him take a walk once he is mature enough, and didn’t include this activity in the to-do list. In total, it took only half an hour.
b. Keys for my flat
In order for my friends to take care of Collin, they needed to come to my place, I decided to make spare keys. My flat owner told me there was one more set of spare keys when I moved in the current place, but I needed two sets, so I decided to make two more sets.
Keys can be duplicated at a key-and-shoe shop in a shopping centre. (I don’t know what it is called.)
Since the clerk told me there are duplicable keys and non-duplicable keys, I showed mine to him. He said mine were duplicable.
It took only about five minutes. He immediately duplicated two sets. One set cost 16 EUR so in total I paid 32 EUR.
I’m not sure if they were cheap. 😂
4. Souvenirs for my friends and family in Japan
Let’s talk about souvenirs to my friends and family in Japan. This time I bought soaps, a calendar, chocolates, a pouch as well as black bread.
I bought Kalev’s chocolate. They sell two different big bags with different flavours, so I bought one kg (two bags) of one type, and another kilo (two bags) of the other type, plus two different flavours of chocolate additionally.
As I did the similar thing in 2019, I feel like doing something different next time.
5. Decluttering
I did decluttering too. However, it does not literally mean that I threw away something. I brought already-read books, saved CDs and something I don’t use in Estonia but want to keep in JapanJapan. Most were books. Since then, I have wanted to read books on Kindle, but I like paper books better because I can know how far I am to the end.
6. Travel insurance
Whenever I travel, I have travel insurance. Like last time, I used an insurance company called Globe Partner. I don’t know any other insurance which I, as a Japanese individual living abroad, can have travel insurance to go to Japan. It cost 35 EUR. I have searched for some other insurances, and yet they cost around 100 EUR.
7. Mobile Wifi for the trip in Japan
While travelling in Japan, the must-have item is Wifi. Like last time as well, I rented a mobile Wifi on Rakuten’s Wifi rental shop for one month.
I received a mobile Wifi in Kansai airport, and I returned it by post. Last time I returned at Narita airport’s Wifi service desk, but this time I had to check in at 6.30 am at Kansai airport, so I wasn’t sure if the Wifi service desk was open. Therefore, just in case the desk wasn’t open, I returned the Wifi by post.
★Summary
I really bought lots of cosmetics… But it’s all good because the more I have, the longer I can use them. I am so glad that I got eyeshadows in different colours.
I am Japanese and my family lives in Japan, so I can do these things, but if I were a non-Japanese tourist, the preparation would be much harder. I wonder how they do with Wifi? I would be worried because I was when I travelled here and there in Europe in 2015, having a SIM-locked phone. Particularly when walking. Actually, sometimes I was worried because the Wifi connection was bad once in a while. ON the other hand, when the connection was smooth, it was very comfortable.
You may wonder about expenses before moving to another country or studying abroad, but this should not mean that we can ignore how much it costs for one trip in a country that you want to visit. There may also be some people who want to go to a fascinating country that is expensive, but still care about their finances.
I always search budgets before deciding a destination or before going to travel there. Then decide how much I save for that trip per month from the point that I searched until the point I travel, depending on how many months are left. I always use a website called ”Budget Your Trip”. They show budgets not only in the destination country’s currency but also in the currency that I use (i.e. in my case euro). (If you use an ad-block add-on on your browser you always see some pop up like I see, so I use this website on the browser that I don’t have the ad-block- add-on.)
In the case of Ireland, the budget trip costs 44 EUR per day and 309 EUR per week, per person, and the mid-range trip costs 109 EUR per day and 766 EUR per week, per person. However, in my case, I decided to save 1300 EUR which was my budget.
First of all, let’s talk about our flight tickets. We bought flight tickets on Ryanair. This expense is marked in the tab called ”Travel fees” in the spreadsheet that I share every month on Twitter. The flight tickets for two people cost 281.79 EUR. My boyfriend paid 140 EUR and I paid 141.79 as he was going to drive a car almost a whole week, and splitting 1.79 EUR seemed to be very stingy.
Perhaps because of the season, the flight tickets weren’t cheap.
2. Transport in Dublin
Next, here is about transport in Dublin. I bought a 24-hour Leap card which cost 8 EUR. My boyfriend didn’t bring sufficient coins, so I gave him one ride on a Dublin bus from the airport to the city centre, which cost 2.60 EUR. Also on the first day, a taxi drive to my friend A’s place cost 10.20 EUR. Moreover, we took another taxi from the accommodation on the last day to the airport and paid 24.60 EUR.
3. Car rental
In terms of car rental, renting a car cost 936.42 EUR, and charging the fuel (diesel) twice cost 144.65 EUR, in total of which it was 1,081.07 EUR. However, since my boyfriend paid for all of these, we decided that I would pay for accommodations. But still there were some differences of 350 EUR. He didn’t care, and yet I paid him back 174 EUR because I even couldn’t help him drive, I wanted to pay him back.
4. Accommodations
This is about the expenses on accommodations. I’m pretty sure that it wouldn’t have cost that much if I travel by myself or my Japanese friend S who has travelled with me before. Even if I had chosen private rooms, I’m sure we wouldn’t have had to pay that much. 😂 Since we booked the accommodations right before heading to the destinations, it cost a lot…
Two nights in Galway required 238.56 EUR, another two nights in Mayo was 180 EUR, and two nights in Dublin cost 314.64 EUR, so in total the expenses were 238.56 EUR. I paid for all of these.
In addition, it cost 248.35 EUR for the hostel in Dublin, where we were supposed to stay. This was also supposed to be two nights. If you read the article about the accommodations in Dublin, you will see the details…
Adding all of these, the expense is almost the same as the car rental fees and fuel fees, but I didn’t want to include the hostel cost for the first day in Dublin personally, I deal with it as my own expense.
I will triple check whatever it is from next time when travelling with whoever they will be. 😂
5. Food expenses
When it comes to food, we always paid for two of one by taking turns. This rule? culture? was created because I stopped him paying for both of us at restaurants twice in a row. 😂 By taking turns to pay for food, I paid 179.90 EUR in total. However, this includes a few cups of coffee for him while he was driving.
6. Travel insurance
When you travel abroad, you should have travel insurance. If we have a Japanese credit card, it often has travel insurance too whilst Estonian debit cards don’t. For this reason, I always purchase travel insurances on Swisscare. If a Japanese person who travels to Ireland from Estonia for eight days, it cost 14.70 EUR.
7. Others
Other than the above, I paid for Harry Styles’s concert which was 104.65 EUR as well as the goods which was 35 EUR, for parking and highways which were 10.30 EUR in total, and for souvenirs which totally cost 7.88 EUR.
Some people (particularly Japanese people) feel like buying and bringing souvenirs when travelling. Or, you might feel like giving something specific from your travel country that one of your friends or someone wants to go somewhere?
On the trip to Ireland in June, 2022, I didn’t buy a lot of souvenirs, and yet there are some recommendations of souvenirs even for yourself as a traveller when going to Ireland, so I made a list.
When I started living in DCU’s (Dublin City University) student accommodation in 2015, as a welcome gift, one small package of Barry’s tea was on the kitchen table, which was the first time I knew Barry’s tea.
At that time, Barry’s tea package in the accommodation was a green box, and it seemed to be a normal version of Barry’s tea. Later my Irish friend told me “Red Barry’s tea tastes richer,” since which I always buy red Barry’s tea. There is also a black version.
The sizes of packages are small (20 tea bags), medium (80 tea bags) as well as big (160 tea bags).
In 2019 when I travelled to Ireand, I bought the biggest one (160 tea bags). At that time, I flew to and from Dublin by Lufthansa, and they allowed a bag up to 8 kg for free. However, We flew by Ryanair to and from Dublin this time so we could bring only the small one (20*25*45 cm) for free, so I couldn’t buy the biggest one. (Strictly speaking, I could have bought it as my boyfriend had more space in his bag.) Therefore, I bought the medium size. Personally I was still satisfied. I got ready for a boring winter in Estonia!! 😂
Plus, while you are travelling in Ireland, and if you are not lactose intolerant, I recommend drinking tea with Irish full fat milk.
Super tasty!!
It’s a bit irrelevant, and yet even milk only is super tasty!!!!
2. Rich tea biscuits
Rich tea biscuits are not Irish, sorry, but British. Recently I came to know that in Nigeria which used to be the British colony, they can get rich tea biscuits. So envious!!! Therefore, if you go to an African shop in Estonia, it’s said that you can get rich tea biscuits. (I want to try it while I’m taking a break from the ketogenic diet.)
Unlike cookies, rich tea biscuits taste crispy (?). Given that you are interested, check out a scene in Dalkey island in the film called “Sing Street”, where two characters eat rich tea biscuits.
The thing is that the rich tea biscuits match tea. 🤭
What I bought was cheap Tesco’s (British supermarket chain) private brand rich tea biscuits, and yet it was still good.
I often ate rich tea biscuits while I was an exchange student in Ireland. (Usually I ate rich tea biscuits or digestive biscuits.)
3. Cadbury’s chocolate
Cadbury is also from the UK as a brand, and yet there is a company called Cadbury Ireland in Dublin. I was shooting an independent film when I lived there, and one of the actors was from Northern Ireland. He said
Since I came to Estonia, I have eaten dark chocolate more often, so I felt it was super sweet, but it was really tasty.
I happened to encounter a new flavour of Cadbury’s chocolate in Dublin, which was orange, hence I chose that one as a souvenir for my coworkers. Since there are more products such as chocolate bars and other chocolate products from Cadbury, you may want to check them if you are interested. Ultimately, you can buy some small chocolate bars in Dublin airport.
4. Tayto
Tayto is something Irish!!
Tayto is an Irish crisps brand. It’s thinly sliced, and there are three flavours. Personally I love salt and vinegar. However, it seems many people prefer smoked bacon.
I didn’t buy this time, and yet in 2019 I bought one big bag, in which there were two small bags of three flavours. If you calculate, there should be six small bags in total, shouldn’t there?
Surprisingly, there were seven. 😂
I counted multiple times, but there were seven. 😂 I don’t remember which flavour had one more bag though. Then I told my Japanese friend A in Dublin by messaging, she said “I’ll buy and try too~”. 😂 So, if you are lucky, you may get one more?
Ireland is a super easygoing country. Estonia is rather more serious. 😂 Therefore, I think it’s less stressful to live in Ireland. Easygoing processes for immigration, repairs, etc are inconvenient though. 😂
They are easygoing, and that’s why they don’t care how many small bags are in one big bag. 😂
You can buy small bags of Tayto at Spar (kiosk) or convenience stores in Dublin airports.
Also, this is pretty common in Ireland that each kiosk has some meal deal consisting of sandwiches, a bottle of drink and a bag of snacks. You can get a small bag of Tayto in that way. It’s like a side “dish” of a sandwich.
There might be just big bags with one flavour like crisps you can see in Japan or in Estonia, and yet I don’t know as I ‘ve never seen or I’ve never paid attention to such a type of product in Ireland. Perhaps you can look for it in Tesco.
5. Carol’s products
When it comes to Ireland, some people think of Carol’s which is a souvenir chain shop. There are a lot around in Dublin.
If you want to buy some classic souvenirs like magnets, postcards, etc, go to Carol’s. They also sell garments and accessories.
In my case, before ending my exchange student life in Ireland, I bought a big Irish flag. I’ve still decorate it in my bedroom. 😂
If you have no idea what to buy for souvenirs, just go to Carol’s just because they have classic souvenirs. You can also ask for duty free there.
Except for the purchase when I lived there, I’ve never bought anything in Carol’s. I prefer something specific and local such as Barry’s tea. 😂
6. Pennys
Pennys is Irish Primark which is a fashion product chain shop that sells clothes, accessories, and housewares. I’m not sure about Primark in the UK, and yet Pennys in Ireland has products with “Irish designs”. The price is low, so maybe you can save more money than buying souvenirs in Carol’s? As an exchange student in Dublin, I bought T-shirts with the Irish flag or something like that for my brothers.
Butler’s is an Irish chocolate brand. When being the exchange student, I often saw many Japanese exchange students buying chocolate souvenirs there.
Me?
I didn’t buy any, of course.
This is because it was boring and too ordinary to choose chocolate as souvenirs, particularly from some brands, famous ones. I feel like giving local chocolate that we can get in supermarkets as the flavours are extraordinary. (I personally don’t choose anything ordinary for gifts because I want to see how the receivers react. 😂 Of course sometimes it’s ordinary. 😂) If you want to give basic souvenirs, Butler’s could be an option.
★Summary
From my point of view, Irish souvenirs are just for my self-satisfaction. However, hopefully this list could be some reference for those who want to travel to Irealnd. Perhaps my perspective is strange because I used to live there.
My personal strong recommendations are all of them except for number five and seven. If you are fond of something local or something that is probably not in normal souvenirs shops, get those products and/or go to Pennys!
Ah, I’m so glad to have bought Irish tea, and I’m so looking forward to enjoying a boring winter in Estonia with hBarry’s tea! 😂
Here is a summary of public transport in Ireland. Besides the transporate I am going to mention here, there is a coach called Bus Eireann or long-distance trains in Ireland. However, the transport that I am going to mention here are only those I used in real life or I considered using, which are mainly transports in Dublin.
If you seem to use public transport in Dublin , you should probably count how many times you may use public transport, and how much you may need to pay during your stay in Dublin, beforehand.
Leap cards are used by the locals, and it’s available among the travellers too.
When I travelled to Dublin in 2019, I was visiting places where an Irish movie “Sing Street” was shot, and I had some other visits, so I bought a Leap card valid for 72 hours. It cost 16 EUR.
This time on the trip to Ireland in JUne, 2022, I bought a 24-hour Leap for 8 EUR. Only I bought, who knew that the frequency of using public transport is high enough. My boyfriend didn’t buy a Leap card.
2. App you can use in Dublin
When you move around by using public transport in Dublin, the following apps may be useful.
a. Dublin bus app
The UI is antique, and it looks the same as in 2016, and yet it does still work.
However, you shouldn’t trust any timetables basically. It’s always delayed. (Or maybe I should say it doesn’t follow the timetables. It looks like no one cares about the time as the Dublin buses’s speed is too fast.)
On the other hand, it’s still useful when the Journey Plan app below doesn’t suggest any good routes, or when you look for bus numbers.
b. Journey Plan app
The Journey Plan app is more recent. The UI is up-to-date, and yet the suggestion isn’t that good. However, basically it’s an OK level, so not problematic.
If you are a bit worried, compare the suggestions from the app and from Google maps.
3.Public transport in Dublin
Since Dublin’s public transport has some characteristics, I summarise in this section.
a. How to take a Dublin bus
On a Dublin bus, they accept only Leap or cash. If you don’t know this, you may need to use a five-euro note or even more than that for one drive.
This is because they don’t give changes.
If you want to take a Dublin bus, you need to show that you want to get on when the bus is approaching you. Otherwise they don’t stop in front of you. Also if there is no one to take on, the Dublin buses just keep going without stopping. (Plus the speed is very fast. 😂)
When riding on the Dublin bus, and tell the driver where you want to go, they tell you how much it costs. It cost 2.60 EUR from Dublin airport to the city centre of Dublin (as of June in 2022).
My boyfriend, who doesn’t like buses, doesn’t use buses even in Tallinn. Besides, since it was a different country, he had no idea how to get on the Dublin bus. (Of course.) Plus, since I brought a bunch of coins, I paid for him, and he got on the Dublin bus by using my Leap. Therefore, everything went smoothly.
Since buses require passengers a faster speed than any other public transport, it might be profound for beginners. However, since you can calculate fares in advance, if the environment is well enough, you can prepare cash, particularly coins. (I did before going to Ireland as an exchange student. Thanks to it, everything went smoothly.)
On the Dublin bus, you need to get on from the front door, and get off from the back door. Don’t mix this.
b. How to take Luas
Luas means “fast” in Irish. However the real speed is as “fast” as bicycles. 😂 It’s basically a tram, and yet it’s easy to take one.
There is a Leap card-reading machine at Luas stops, so Leap card holders just need to read the Leap cards there. If it makes a sound, it’s OK.
Given that you need to buy a ticket, you can buy one at a Luas stop. You can pay by card, so no cash is needed.
You can get on and off at any door.
In Dublin, you should buy a Luas ticket. It’s really random to get inspected. Unless you have any tickets, you will be kicked out from Luas. (I’m not sure if they really charge fines. This point is the same as Tallinn.)
c. How to take DART
DART is a Dublin train. You can use it when you go to Dún Laoghaire. Aviva Stadium’s nearest stop/station was DART. Given that you travel around only in the centre of Dublin, you may not need to use it.
Since my boyfriend didn’t need to go anywhere by DART, I don’t know how to buy tickets at a DART station…
By the way, some Dublin buses have USB charging ports, and yet DART doesn’t have any. (At that time, my phone charge was very low, and I wished there had been.)
4. Taxis
We used taxis in Dublin too. I usually don’t use taxis wherever I am. However, we had no choice but to use a taxi at some point in Dublin.
a. Bolt
Bolt is from Estonia, and yet we could use it in Ireland too. Therefore I didn’t need to download any other taxi app additionally ,which was a good point. (Eventually I did though.)
In Estonia, when taking Bolt, the fare is shown in the app, and when getting off, the price never goes high or lower than that. If it shows 5 EUR, the final price is 5 UER.
However, in Ireland, even if you used Bolt, they used a metre system, so the app showed the price range.
In fact, when we used the Bolt taxi, it was more expensive than the shown price range.
Because of that, I thought “I probably won’t want to use Bolt again even if I need to use a taxi again.”
b. FREE NOW
FREE NOW seems to be used in other countries including Ireland. However, it’s not available in Estonia, so even though you can download the app, you can’t use it in Estonia.
FREE NOW was like Bolt Ireland, and it showed the price range. FREE NOW’s price range was more trustable. I eventually paid the cost between the actual price range.
Therefore, from my experience, if you want to use a taxi in Ireland, perhaps FREE NOW is better than Bolt.
By the way, when I lived in Dublin in 2015 and 2016, Uber was the only option. Has Uber gone anymore? Anyways, in the first place, I deleted the Uber app from my phone… (a long time ago.)
5. GoCar
GoCar is an Irish car sharing service. There are different cars. Although it’s not that common in general in Ireland, AT is available there too.
Due to this fact, we planned to use GoCar to travel to Ireland, and yet I found that the driver’s verification might take 48 hours one week before the trip. Because of my occupation, Compliance verifies sometimes manually, so if there are lots of registrations, it would take a longer time than it’s written there, I thought. Therefore, I immediately shared that information with my boyfriend, but
he registered on the first day in Ireland…
I thought:
You didn’t check my message properly.
😂
Of course it took more than 48 hours to get verified.
(I thought like that because I was able to guess thanks to my occupation. However, from a pure customer’s perspective, taking more than 48 hours may be unexpectable. In the web page, they mention “We try to verify within 48 hours”. My friend A’s husband also said “They verify within 48 hours”, so they cannot guess. Of course people tend to take it as written because in any page it was written “it may take more than 48 hours”.)
Eventually the car rental was cheaper, and the trip style was that we decided where to go right before going, and this is why the car rental cost more cheaply. If you have a determined destination, and the route is determined too, then car sharing may be cheaper in my opinion.
★Summary
When going to Irelna, I wanted to take aDublin bus at least once, so I was happy to take one. As for Luas, it is easy for travellers, but boring for Dublin bus fans. 😂 This is just because the Dublin buses have two floors! (In the Continent, long buses are more common, but the two-floor buses are more fun to ride, and I think it needs less space.)
In summer 2022 when my boyfriend and I were travelling, it was post COVID, and since the number of travellers increased (or got back to normal?), every airport in Europe was crazily crowded. (Tallinn airport wasn’t an exception, but it seemed to be better than Dublin airport or Manchester airport according to news.) Therefore I decided to write a post about how Dublin airport actually was.
First of all, June is generally a vacation season in Europe. In Japan it’s the rainy season, so there may not be many tourists, but in Europe many people take longer vacation days from their annual leave between May and August to travel.
Ireland is one of the European countries where many people go, and of course people mainly go to Dublin, therefore Dublin airport gets very busy and crowded too. For this reason, the airport is more congested than any other season in general.
However, it was a post-COVID time.
According to my Dublin friend F, people forgot the rules for the cabin baggage, and some of them have actually brought big whole bottles of shampoo. Because of such passengers, it seemed to take time for security checks. But this is merely one of the assumptive reasons, and yet mine is:
People were not able to travel owing to COVID, as per which the security checkers were laid off, but then now it’s post COVID, and they need more employees at security checks.
I don’t think airlines and airports increase the number of flights all at once, so I believe we cannot say it is because of the increase of the flight numbers.
In our case, perhaps because our flight was in the morning, the situation was much better than I was worried. However, I thought if it had been a flight in the afternoon, the situation might have been chaotic.
2. From Dublin city centre to Dublin airport
Our plane was planned to depart at 9.30 in the morning Usually, personally I go to the airport 2 hours before the departure, and yet I received an email from Ryanair that the passengers should be at the airport 2.5 hours, and 3.5 hours before the departure if the passengers have check in luggages.
I talked about this to my Japanese friend A’s husband in Dublin, he said he would have been at the airport at 6 am, i.e. 3.5 hours beforehand.
I wondered, and decided to be there at around 6.30 am.
From the accommodation in Dublin to Dublin airport I personally wanted to take the Dublin bus, but we decided to take a taxi the previous night. (I didn’t think about anything, but my boyfriend thought the taxi fee would be cheaper in the morning than when we saw.)
Then, when I was about to call a taxi, he asked me the price, I said “It says maximum 27 EUR.” and he said “Let’s take a bus…”
Man, it’s too late. 😂
If I had known the situation in the airport, I might have been able to change the plan, but the situation was unknown until we arrived there. Since I need to get a visa check at Ryanair and it’s too late to depart by taking a bus, I called a taxi.
As for the taxi, there will be a different article.
It took approximately 10 to 15 minutes by taxi from the centre to Dublin airport.
3. Ryanair’s visa check
When going back from Ireland to Estonia, of course I needed a visa check.
At Ryanair’s check in counter in Dublin airport, there was only one counter for the visa check. Another five or six counters were used for those who have check-in luggages. Even at past 6.30 am, the queue was already organised, and therefore the visa check-in counter was also used for check-in luggages. However, it was meant to be for a visa check, the Ryanair staff let me though prioritised.
Probably because this time we went to the check in counter together, the Ryanair staff gave me two boarding passes.
He looked a bit happy.
I’m happy too.
By the way, the paper that I printed out just in case was not necessary at all as they don’t give us a stamp anymore. There is no point in bringing the printed stuff.
4. Security check at Dublin airport
We were waiting for the security check for quite a while but less than one hour. It took more time than Tallinn airport, and yet we didn’t need to worry about our flight.
However, it took around one hour in total for the visa check and security check eventually.
5. Security check isn’t the only one you would queue in Dublin airport
At Dublin airport, the security check is not the only one you may queue for.
On arriving at Dublin airport, the airport staff asked us if we came for the departure, and then guided us to the specific lane. (The route to the checkin counter was the same as before though. It was a bit irritating that we had to be guided.)
In addition to this, cafes in Dublin airport also had long queues.
I craved coffee, and I was hungry, so I decided to buy something at a cafe near our flight’s gate. On Ryanair’s flight, you can get a cup of coffee (and maybe other non-alcoholic drinks) for 3 EUR, so the price was almost the same. It depends on you whether you buy at the airport or Ryanair’s plane.
★Summary
Eventually, when we arrived at the flight gate, we had enough time so we have no idea how crowded afterwards at the security check in Dublin airport it was. Maybe there was a longer queue. It could happen at that time. Therefore our decision to go to Dublin airport earlier was right.
We arrived in Tallinn at 3.30 pm, and we both were exhausted.
Before the trip, I had seen a post on Facebook thatTallinn airport was crazily crowded, but in real life it was not like that actually. However, I thought we should perhaps be more careful in other cities (especially popular cities in summer).
Being at the airport earlier is better than having a too tight schedule or being late.
Even when you have been on a diet, on a trip you want to eat something you want to try, don’t you. Of course we were not able to afford eating at restaurants and cafes for every meal, but still we enjoyed many restaurants and cafes in Ireland. In this article I include some restaurants where you can eat something Irish!
First of all, let’s talk about Dublin! Dublin is a capital city in Ireland like Tallinn in Estonia, but Dublin is much more urban and you can have a lot of international cuisines.
When I travel from Estonia, I want to eat something not only local but also international which is scarcely available in Estonia and with better quality (because it is not tasty and/or it does not exist in Estonia)…
a. Boojum
Boojum is an Irish burrito chain restaurant. My first burrito in my life was Boojum in Dublin. I still don’t know what super authentic burrito is, and it seems real Mexican burrito seems to be different, but still I like Boojum’s burrito as it tastes good. In Estonia, it’s not easy to get a burrito. (The portion isn’t enough, or personally I’m not satisfied with the contents of a burrito in Estonia.)
We happened to find a Boojum restaurant in Smithfield where we were supposed to stay, so we went there. In Boojum, you can customise your burrito. However, it might be difficult if you don’t know how to do it. (My boyfriend seemed to be struggling a bit, and when I ordered a burrito at Boojum for the first time, I struggled too.) Since it is a chain restaurant, they handle orders really fast.
He had never eaten burrito before, and wanted to compare it with kebab. 😂
The result: kebab is better. 😂
I like both.
They also have a menu called burrito bowl, and yet be careful as the portion is bigger than burritos. (In Estonia the portion of a burrito bowl was better than a burrito at a Mexican restaurant…)
They had light breakfast as well as sandwiches. The sandwiches were hot. The portion was big enough. It was tasty though.
They have teas and coffees but it seemed they didn’t have many kinds of juice. I don’t basically drink juice, but he drinks. It appeared to be only juice with some kinds of vitamins.
As for teas, they have both English and Irish breakfast teas! Of course I chose the Irish one. You don’t need to tell them to give you a jar (?) of milk as they for sure give you with tea. By the way, they serve you tea in a pot, so maybe you can ask for two cups to share? Although It is normal to get served in a pot even for one person in Ireland and Scotland…
I searched some cafes in advance, and on Tuesday morning in Dublin, we went to a nice-looking one (as he didn’t care, I chose there), it was full. The cafe seemed to be small and popular, so we took plan B.
But, it was full too?
What on earth are they doing on Tuesday morning?
I had only 2 plans for breakfast, so I was a bit disappointed, but I immediately searched again on site, and we went to La Pausa Caffe.
Four days in a row, we had Irish breakfast at B&Bs, and he liked it, so he was about to order one again there. However, eventually he chose sandwiches, saying
I understand that feeling. When it comes to something local, I want to eat the authentic one too.
By the way, later he asked my friend A’s husband and friend F if they have Irish breakfast every day. I felt like he had been asking Japanese people if we eat sushi every day, so I enjoyed that moment. (This is because he barely knew Ireland at that time.)
Unfortunately they have Irish breakfast only a few times a year.
I get it, we can’t eat that heavy stuff as a breakfast for 365 days. 😂
The breakfast at La Pausa Caffe was good, but since I have temporomandibular joint dysfunction, I had to close my mouth manually once. It happens regularly, so I know how to fix it and wasn’t surprised, but it bothered me, yes. My boyfriend was surprised. 😂
At La Pausa Caffe you can have bagels too. I chose a bagel. I didn’t have any energy to customise it, hence I selected simply the one with salmon, cream cheese and vegetables. When I came to Dublin in 2019, although it was a different place I had a bagel too.
This is because in Estonia bagels are not sold one by one, and it is not popular at all. LaterI found you can eat bagel sandwiches at a cafe called Ruby in Tallinn. However, I would say that is the only place you can get a bagel not in a dozen or anything. On the other hand Estonia’s neighbour – in Latvia bagels appear to be more frequently eaten. Perhaps due to such cultural differences (More Jewish are in Latvia), he had no idea what bagels were. That actually surprised me as Latvia is just over there for us.
The con in my opinion is that they served me a cup of coffee even before the meal. I wanted it after the meal. However, the overall was good.
In 2016 when I lived in Dublin, I came here some times with my friends. Before going there, suddenly I asked my boyfriend “Do you know Irish coffee!?” and he was like what-the-heck-is-that.
For those who have no idea what Irish coffee is, it is
coffee with Irish whiskey.
It’s alcohol.
Therefore, at Vice Coffee Inc when we were about to order something, I asked him “Do you want to try Irish coffee?”, and he immediately said yes.
Irish coffee
I don’t know the price of Irish coffee at Vice Coffeeto Inc as it was on my friend F, but in general Irish coffee is often a bit less than twice as expensive as normal coffee.
Spiked hot chocolate
That day I tried an unfamiliar drink too: spiked hot chocolate. It’s not just hot chocolate but with Bailey’s (cream liquor)!
Both Irish coffee and spiked hot chocolate tasted good.
If you are not tolerant to strong alcohol or not a fan of coffee, the latter one might be better. Both are eventually alcohol though.
e. White Rabbit
A Korean restaurant that my friend F recommended to my boyfriend who wanted to eat something Korean is White Rabbit. It was also because White Rabbit is close to Vice Coffee Inc.
It was more like a canteen rather than a fancy restaurant, and it seemed partially the menu was a Japanese fusion.
We chose a bowl with sweet and spicy pork, vegetables, and egg, which were on rice. At White Rabbit you can choose a sauce, and we both chose gochujang.
We liked it!
It cost around 20 EUR for two.
f. Pho Kim
We went to Pho Kim with my friend A and her husband.
As per his request to have some Vietnamese cuisine, they selected a Vietnamese restaurant which was their favourite too. The only tasty Vietnamese restaurant that I know in Tallinn is Pho bar. I like pho, and Pho Bar’s pho is good, but they don’t have many varieties.
Since we had a late lunch, we ordered Vietnamese spring rolls and something like an omelette.
We (friend A, her husband and I) thought it’s called spring rolls nevertheless it is deeply friend or raw, but technically speaking it’s officially called summer roll or Vietnamese spring roll. (This is said to be because the fried one is Chinese.)
In Germany where my boyfriend once lived they call it summer roll.
We found this fact because he said “Is this spring roll summer roll? In Germany they called it summer rolls.”
I personally want to go to Pho Kim again, and want to try other dishes. They have lots of menus, and the restaurant appeared to be run by a Vietnamese person.
g. Fibber Magees
The place we spent the last night on this trip was a bar called Fibber Magees. My friend told my boyfriend who loves metal, and since we promised to go for pints a the last night, we went there.
He ordered Guinness twice. He said he loved it.
I had long-hoped Swmithwick’s! It’s red ale. While travelling in west Ireland, I couldn’t buy it as one can… On the final night, I finally could enjoy it! I chose cider for the second pint, but I thought I should have chosen Smithwich’s again or Guinness.
Fibber Magees also had Asahi beer (Japanese beer)!!
If you love metal, you should probably try this bar.
2. Galway
In Galway we went to only two restaurant and cafe! Our accommodation served as breakfast, and I bought microwave meals for one of the two nights.
a. Donnelly’s of Barna Restaurant & Bar
Donnelly’s of Barna Restaurant & Bar is a gastro pub 2 minutes by car from our accommodation in Barna in Galway. (A gastro pub is like a restaurant and bar.)
Perhaps since Barna is a countryside town, there were lots of old people, but they were having fun.
Looking at the menu, we said
“This is expensive…”
However, I thought that in the first place the price range was normal for me, and wanted to pay for his meal as he drove a car a lot, so we stayed there.
I ordered fish and chips, and he ordered a burger with Irish beef. His burger was slightly more inexpensive. The price to dine out in Ireland was as expensive as to do in Sweden. (That is, it costs 1.5 times more expensive than Estonia.)
I like both fish and chips, but I’m not a fan of fish in fish and chips. I ordered it to enjoy malt vinegar. It’s very tasty to add malt vinegar on chips with salt.
In Estonia you can also get fish and chips, and bars have them as part of their menus, but they never have malt vinegar. That’s why I want to have it, and therefore I was satisfied.
I planned somewhere else, but since it seemed they offeufrred only takeaways, we went to Galway Cakery Café in the shopping centre.
At Galway Cakery Café we had an Italian menu. My boyfriend chose calzone, and I ordered panini with goat cheese and vegetables. It didn’t taste like goat cheese… It was good enough though.
In my case I had possibilities to choose cheese. The other option was perhaps feta cheese. (I don’t remember that much…)
3. Mayo
In Mayo we went to only two restaurant and cafe too. This is because on the first day we had sandwiches that the owner of the accommodation in Barna, Galway, for lunch, our B&B in Mayo served us breakfast, and we got food at a supermarket in Castlebar (Mayo’s county town) for one of the two evenings.
a. Maple Chinese Restaurant (Take away)
In Ballinrobe where we stayed in Mayo, there was nothing. We planned to get food at a supermarket, but the kitchen in our accommodation was not for guests, so we were not allowed to use it. In the dining room, there was no microwave either, so I chose Maple Chinese Restaurant where we still didn’t have to pay a lot.
I still don’t know why he selected Chinese, and he found one, but it offered only takeaway. Later we found another Chinese restaurant which was Maple Chinese Restaurant, and we went to the town of Ballinrobe.
However, they closed the restaurant, and they accepted only takeaway orders, so we eventually brought food to the accommodation.
They had lots of dishes though. He chose Chow Mein. I chose the one which I could select the main and the side for, hence I chose the stir fried beef and vegetables in a spicy way, and rice as a side dish. (Of course they offered chips as a side dish! It didn’t cost extra if the order was rice or chips, but it seemed to cost extra if you choose friend rice, etc.)
The price was the same as what he chose, but
“Yours looks tastier than mine…”
😂
The portion was quite big. I was satisfied with two thirds. He ate the rest. I’m glad he enjoyed it.
Personally it was okay, but since we didn’t have many options to get food itself, I don’t make any complaints. 😂
b. Supermacs
Supermacs is Irish McDonald’s. (Of course there are original McDonald’s in Ireland.) This is not in the west or County Mayo but on O’Connell street in Dublin, too.
I have known Supermacs since I lived in Dublin, but I’m not a huge fan of burgers or fast foods in the first place, so I had never been there, whilst my boyfriend loves burgers and sometimes goes to Estonian (or Blatic) McDonald’s – Hesburger. (However he’s not fat at all. How envious it is that he doesn’t have to care about it.) Therefore, as he had wanted to go to Supermac since I talked about Supermacs, we went to Supermacs in Castlebar for lunch.
Beides, he loves bacon. As I expected, he chose a burger with bacon. (Once he was told that the cholesterol level was high, and since then he less frequently had bacon.) I didn’t have anything specifically I wanted to try, so I ordered the cheese burger meal.
If it’s McDonald’s in Japan, we can choose vegetable-fruit mix juice, 100% fruit juice, coffee or tea, and yet in Supermacs they offer only sparkling soft drinks and water.
Me? I chose a bottle of water.
Although you may think “You should have chosen something else cos water costs nothing!”, I don’t like the afterwards of fullness in my stomach with fizzy drinks, so water was fine for me. (Plus, it was helpful for us to hydrate ourselves with that water. Everything was alright.)
The burgers were, even though he chose a big one, small unlike the images, so you don’t need to worry about the size and portions. Therefore, the cheese burger that looked normal size in the image was smaller than I thought so I wasn’t full at all.
In terms of chips, I do prefer McDonald’s. especially the saltiness. For some reason, Supermacs served a tiny bag of salt for chips separately. (They will give you even if you don’t ask.)
Overall I like McDonald’s better in my opinion.
★Summary
When I lived in my hometown, as a family trip, I went to Cairns in Australia and Guam in the US. Although we stayed in the hotels, we always had bread, cheese and fruits that we bought for breakfast beforehand at a local supermarket to enjoy local foods and get them like a local, instead of hotel meals, which was my mum’s idea. I was a teenager at that time, and I was interested in different cultures and felt different and special when it comes to non-Japanese foods which are different from Japanese products even though they were normal in local and normally available in local supermarkets. Therefore I liked this style of travelling.
Because of this, on this trip to Ireland, though I wondered if we would keep going to cafes and restaurants all the time or if we could get food in supermarkets as this was the first time to travel abroad with him, it was something middle of those styles, so I was comfortable. (I was like “Oh you are also okay with supermarkets’ ham and cheese only.”) Since I felt comfortable, I was rather glad that there was no impression that the “Random foods from a supermarket are fine” mentality was not frugal. (My main reason is surely financial. It’s too much in everything if I eat out every meal.)
Even on a trip with friends, the way of thinking about how to spend money is important, so it was good that ours are similar. I thought my solo trip was too frugal though.
In this article Included Irish foods and drinks, and yet those are just part of Irish culinary culture. There are more Irish dishes. Since I love Ireland too much, I want to cook Irish (or Guiness) stew or coddle now. 😂😂 It’s such a pity that I can’t get Irish sausages in Estonia though…
zooks.ee 
