Three guys in a dorm

Showing two of my dearest friends the best of what Ireland has to offer. In a weekend, kicking off Friday afternoon and hugging goodbye 70 hours later. Admittedly, the weather did cooperate, with bright uninterrupted sunshine to accompany us everywhere we went. I generally find that the more diverse one’s weekend is, the longer it feels when looking back. This one felt like a year and a day.

Deciding to give Koen & Luijkx a good feel of what my Friday afternoons generally are like I took them straight upon arrival to the Barge for a beer, after which we dropped off their bags at home and headed for a long and delightful dinner at Bodega, which towers undefeated on my list of favourite restaurants in Dublin. Also this time she did not let me down, as the food was gorgeous as always. McSorleys and the Bernard Shaw for drinks afterwards, calling it a day not too late as Saturday morning had too much to offer just to lie idle and hungover in bed. Eggs & bacon on bread still warm from the bakery and chop chop off into the car and uphill into the Wicklow Mountains. The first 30-odd kilometres the landscape were familiar to me –as I already discovered this treasure while cycling- but after a while the rugged hills around each curve in the road held new views for me as well. Glad to be driving a Volkswagen with sturdy tires we found our way through the at times spectacular landscape, eventually arriving at Glendalough. The hike around the lake, the excellent food in the local restaurant (dinner and breakfast), even the snoring roommates and crappy shower in the hostel, they all made for a fantastic stay in the mountains. Sunday morning on the way back we dropped by the UK’s and Ireland’s largest waterfall, which really isn’t too impressive after having seen the likes of Gulfos in Iceland, and whose presence generally attracted a whole lot of plebs from town who set up tents and barbecues and treated the whole place generally as a camping. On the way back to Dublin we hit some balls at Leopard Stone’s driving range, where Koen got acquainted with the basics of golf and where Luijkx got himself a double hernia by wielding golf balls with crude swings into the ether, looking more like a logger in the Amazon than a golf player. He did reach farthest though. Sunday evening featured live music, first in my favourite bar in Dublin and later on by the same band somewhere more downtown. We concluded the night in a Brazilian salsa bar and had obtained enough need for sleep to sleep in till noon the next day. Brunch in the bright sun in Ranelagh and off they went, into a cab, and back to the Netherlands. Admittedly I did give them a proper taste of Ireland, but what made the weekend such a great one was their presence. Good friendships last over time, and the fewer you get to see one another, the more intensely you enjoy their presence. Thanks for coming over guys!