If you had told me last year that I would spend New Year’s Eve in Dublin in 2012, drinking Guinness and listening to Irish folk music in a small pub, I would have definitely thought you were crazy.
For one, Dublin was never in my original itinerary. But let’s face it, that “original itinerary” didn’t exactly work out as planned. Secondly, if I was a betting woman, which I’m not, I would have guessed that I would be either back in the UK working a 9-5 job again or, if things had gone really well, I may be on a tropical beach somewhere wondering how the hell I had managed to come so far.
Well, it was neither.
After spending Christmas at home with my family in Manchester and planning to head to the States for three months at the beginning of the year, it seemed only right to stay somewhere close to home, yet en-route to the US. My trip was far from over, yet that tropical beach was just too far away.
As I had only ever been to Dublin for one whistle-stop day, and it has always seemed like such a lively and vibrant city, it seemed like the perfect choice.
I had no agenda for my two days in the city. My only specifications were to eat lots and drink lots.
I suppose I should also add here that I am not a big fan of New Years Eve. I never have been. It has always seemed to me to be a bit of a “non-event”, with lots of build up and hype and then usually a big anticlimax and a depressing and terrible hangover the following day.
I was hoping that my first ever NYE spent outside of the UK would help to erase this long-held contempt for the biggest night of the year (so some people say – I mean, Christmas Eve?? Hello??)
The celebrations themselves started around 4pm. We headed out for an early dinner and then started our pub strut around some of the most well-known pubs in the city.
After enjoying a few drinks in several pubs, we decided we wanted to go somewhere with a bit more atmosphere for the actual countdown. We had heard about a small pub that was actually only a few feet from our hostel, which was famous for regularly showcasing live Irish folk music and so we headed there hoping that our luck would be in and that we could experience a more traditional atmosphere.
We weren’t disappointed.
When we arrived, the small pub was already filled with customers, crammed in along each wall listening to what seemed to be one long jamming session between several local folk musicians. It was wonderful.
Now, I don’t drink Guinness at home. It is like drinking a meal in a glass to me and is far too heavy to enjoy more than one. However, if you’ve read my Dublin post from two years ago, you’ll know that I actually loved the pint of black stuff I had had at the Guinness factory. Working along the theory that anything that is brewed within the local area is bound to be much fresher than it is at home, I ordered a pint at the bar. And yet again, it was cold and refreshing and so much lighter than it has ever seemed to be on those drunken St Patrick’s Days when I’ve sampled it before.
So folks, that was pretty much how I spent my New Years Eve in 2012. Drinking Guinness and listening to folk music in a small pub in Dublin. And I’m happy to report that it was probably one of the best New Years Eves I’ve ever had, simply because it was so low key, meaning no room for disappointment.
It was a great way to end a fantastic year.
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