Molly McGuffin does Dublin :)

When I showed my passport at customs, the guy was like, “Molly McGuffin … that’s Irish if I’ve ever heard one.” And I replied, “Nah, not really, my parents were just random/creative.” Haha, anyway I enjoyed that. We took a bus to our hostel on the Liffey River near the Temple Bar area. Unfortunately we had about 4 hours to kill before being able to check-in, so we dumped our bags and walked around the area. I’ve been to Dublin before, so this wasn’t really new to me but was fun to see anyway. Trinity College, St. something’s Cathedral, and the ever-so-touristy party haven of Temple Bar.

We took naps that afternoon at the hostel to try to catch up on our sleep before going out. In an attempt to find a more authentic Irish nightlife experience, we went out on the other side of the river (less touristy and cheaper). So we had our first beer at a really old, impressive bar – but lacking a bit of ambiance. So we moved down the street to another which proved to be a good choice – was a bit smaller, more cozy, filled with a few groups of animated, older Irish guys. This is when we started talking to Mick, an Englishman, and his Irish friend Paddy, who owned a rather shady shop across the street. Apparently two years ago while working as a parking attendant, Paddy had the idea of creating natural herbal substances that have the same feel & effects as certain drugs. According to his story, he is now a millionaire with 200+ of these “natural, feel-good” stores throughout the UK and Eastern Europe. Somewhat sketchy. Anyway, Paddy and his friends had been giving Mick a hard time about something that happened last week, joking around a lot, etc – and he’d obviously had a bit to drink. They stayed at the bar but occasionally came over to our table to chat. At one point Paddy told us that one of the guys in their group was in the mafia … and I’d believe it – he was older, short & stout with a long black coat with gray hair pulled back in a ponytail. And he wasn’t friendly at all. Then their joking with Mick took a more sinister turn, with some serious talking, a bit of pushing, and even a “gentle” head butt by the mafia guy! All this going on nonchalantly at the bar, with us little tourists sitting about 10 feet away … it was weird. Then Paddy went down to the bathroom, followed by Mick and later the mafia guy. After about 5 minutes they all came back up separately; seriously it was like a little mafia deal or something. Mick had a bit of a shiner above his eye and had clearly been hit with something. Even after that, he stopped by our table to say goodnight on his way out, but the others encouraged him to stay for a last pint. There was a pretty sketchy vibe so we finished our pints and left. Next we went to a bar on the river where we met the very friendly Carlos Paddy White. I don’t remember how we got on the subject, but both of our moms are named Kathleen White – “Nooo, my mom’s name is Kathleen White.” “Nooo, that’s my mom’s name.” Small world. Apparently he was a bit smitten with my lovely American accent (and a bit drunk) and proposed marriage a couple times, haha. Then after talking for a while, he was suddenly like “Wait … Carrie … you’re freaking Carrie Bradshaw!” Well, that’s quite the stretch, but I’ll take that anyday, even if it’s from a drunk Irish guy. After that we called it a night, satisfied with the Dublin pub scene.

Our buddy Carlos Paddy White ...