Yvette's First Irish Pub Crawl

From Lonely Planet's Guide to Dublin

Pub Etiquette

The rounds system - the simple custom where someone buys you a drink and you buy one back - is the bedrock of the Irish pub culture. It's summed up in the Irish saying, 'it's impossible for two men to go to a pub for one drink.' Nothing will hasten your fall from social grace here like the failure to uphold this pub law. The Irish are extremely generous and one thing they can't abide is tight-fistedness.

Another golden rule about the system is that the next round starts when the first person has finished (preferably just about to finish) their drink. It doesn't matter if you're only halfway through your pint, if it's your round get them in.

Your greatest challenge will probably be trying to keep up with your fellow drinkers who may keep buying you drinks in every round even when you've still got a clatter of unfinished pints in front of you and you're sliding face first down the bar.

You should be aware that banter is the fibre of sociability. 'Slagging', or teasing, is the city's favorite pastime. If you can give as good as you get, they'll love you. Remember to pack a wad of self-deprecation, for they'll warm to you much quicker if you don't take yourself too seriously.

And now I'll start with a guide to how to be a single and alone traveler in Dublin:

1. Spend a few days not smelling the brewing stench of the Guinness Factory.
2. Walk around and watch for people standing outside pubs with pints and cigarettes. The pub with the fewest dodgy blokes standing outside is probably a winner.
3. Now that you know your destination for dessert, go get a good dinner in you because that Irish beer is good strong stuff and drinking it on an empty stomach isn't advisable - even if you're only planning on one pint. And if you have a glass of wine with dinner, you're just acting like the locals because it is Friday night after all.
4. Go find that pub that you were eyeing earlier and once you find the right door, enter, stop, scan the crowd and find yourself a perch on a barstool right near a friendly looking bartender.
5. Order a pint of Guinness. Put it down to let it settle out.
6. While waiting, look left and right to see who's there - and if there's a nice looking person start talking to him or her.
7. Continue talking and start drinking the Guinness that is now beckoning you.
8. Ireland is a land of merry chaos - go with it.

And that is how I had a fantastic night of pub-crawling in Dublin. More specifically, that's how I started an unimaginable night rambling through Dublin.

I walked through the yucky rain to the crepe stand I really wanted dinner at, but they were closing so I went to the Italian joint next door. After a nice dinner I decided to walk to a bar I'd seen walking around Dublin my first night here that just really caught my eye: The International Bar. I squirmed my way through the smokers and drinkers on the stoop (there's no smoking inside establishments in Ireland). At first I didn't see any empty places to sit, but I worked my way to the back of the pub and found a stool. I ordered my first Guinness - and let it sit obviously to let the bubbles fall through appropriately. I'm rather amazed that I could actually drink Guinness after the atrocious smells of the past 2 weeks. But I did.

There was a local entertainment paper on the bar next to the woman sitting to my right. I asked her if I could see it to check if it was dated through this weekend. It wasn't, but we struck up a great conversation. The guy she was with came back in having gone out for a smoke and we were all just chatting away and drinking our pints.

2 (or 3? can't remember) pints later we'd talked pretty much every taboo subject you could think of for an international contingent to talk about in the first acquaintance: politics, American politics, religion, sexuality and the perceptions of one country on another. My lovely drinking companions were Siobhane and Paul - 2 native Dubliners - although Siobhane now lives in Berlin and was on holiday so had gotten together with Paul to catch up. However, my new "welcoming party" to Ireland decided to move onto another pub and next thing I know Siobhane has one of my arms and Paul has the other and I'm being dragged half a block away to Grogan's Pub. It was PACKED! And after Siobhane spilled a pint on some rather unattractive lady's lap and picked up a round for our table, we were back to chatting away. Some more pints later we had flipped through the entertainment guide for this weekend (Grogan's had it) and decided to make our way to The Sugar Club which was a short hike away. Swigging down the last of our pints, we were off...

After traipsing silly-illy through St Stephen's Green, we made a quick top off at Hartigan's because crossing the street was looking daunting to Paul. Ran into Paul's brother and some of his brother's friends so they bought us our fortifying round. This was a true no-frills pub which my lil' guide to Dublin describes as follows:

This is about as spartan a bar as you'll find in the city, and is the daytime home to some serious drinkers who appreciate the quiet no-frills surroundings.

Then we finally made it across the whole 2 lane street to the Sugar Club and after grabbing a great table towards the bar - we managed to get drinks and started listening to a kickass ska band. Siobhane dragged us both to bring us down to the dance floor and we alternated songs dancing and drinking for the rest of the evening. Since it was a club license, they were able to serve beer past the pub cutoff of 2am so I was there until around 3am when I finally bid my newfound Dublin friends cheers and grabbed a cab back to my flat with 2 new phone numbers in my mobile and many wishes to have my visit Berlin by Siobhane.

Talking to my mother quickly (thank you mother for putting up with your rather hysterical daughter) I dragged my drunk ass to bed. Woke up at 9am with a hangover that could kill a cow having had at least 10 pints last night...... After a rough day, I finally got out of bed for a "final" time at 4pm feeling human. And now that I've fortified myself with a yummy sandwich and tea I feel human again.

Now that's one hangover I earned by participating in the Irish National Sport: Drinking and Pub Crawling... and I don't regret it in the least!