Peter and I traveled to Dublin a couple of weeks ago to meet a guy-turned-friend who we met on safari. Twice. Almost thrice, actually. He was staying at the same camp (there are only six tents at the camp) that we stayed at during our first safari. Ironically, we never spoke with him during that trip. He’s a quiet guy and kept to himself.
On our second safari, he arrived at camp a day after we arrived! I do not know what the chances are of staying at the same tented safari camp in the middle of the bush TWICE are but it was really strange. We spent a lot of time chatting with him during our second safari, closing down the “bar” every night of our stay.
If safari number two wasn’t coincidental enough, we nearly missed him at camp on our third safari – he arrived a couple of days after we departed. The world is small sometimes.
Anyway, we’d connected through social media after safari number two and we decided to visit him in Dublin.
Similar to my trip to Dublin with my friends Jill and Nikki, I don’t have much to write about from a tourist/visitor perspective but we did manage to do two new things.
Dawson Lounge
The Dawson Lounge is the smallest pub in Dublin. You’ll find this pub just off of Stephen’s Green. Enter the small door and descend the narrow staircase to the subterranean pub that has a maximum capacity of 50 people.
The ceiling was very low and I felt like I could touch all four corners of the room just by stretching out my arms. It was crowded and hot and we drank our pints as quickly as possible.
If I’m being honest, I much prefer cozy pubs at street level but I’m glad I can tick this one off of the list.
Live Irish music
Ironically, it was a bit difficult to find a pub with live Irish music. I suppose our parameters were too restrictive because we wanted to be in a pub that wasn’t standing room only and that wasn’t loud as shit.
We settled on Hughes Pub. The musicians play in the small “lounge” in an area at the front of the pub that is closed off from the rest of the pub.
There were only a few seats and tables in the little lounge area. It was cold outside so the windows were fogged and full of condensation. We sat right next to the musicians.
The experience was authentic and intimate and exactly what we were looking for. Below is a short clip I recorded on my phone.
Yawning gets you everywhere 
You should have taken Peta to the Leprechaun museum!
I thought about it but then I came to my senses and thought going to a pub was a better idea.