A single parent's guide to a holiday in Dublin City

It's been a month since we had a 4-day holiday in Dublin. Wanted to write about it, but I was busy as well as lazy. Anyway, all 3 of us had great fun in the city. Initially the trip was planned as a day trip to the Japanese embassy for my passport renewal. But, as the time was during my girls' Easter school holiday, I decided to have a holiday. We needed a break, as it'd been nearly 2 years since we stayed outside our house.

Here comes a guide for (single) parents who don't want to go insane during a holiday in Dublin.

1. Preparation
   It's very important. Very very important for your sanity. Before booking anything such as a hotel room, go to Dublin Tourism site to see what kind of places you can visit with your children. Also check the transport system in the city (I find Luas (tram) very useful), and most importantly shopping centres and supermarkets where you can buy snacks and sweets, and where you and your children can stay for free when waiting for a shower to stop.
   I find organising such as booking a hotel room very easy. I booked a hotel near Connolly station (Belfast trains arrive there). It is situated along the Liffey, so we enjoyed nice river-side walks to and from the city centre every day. (Warning: Dublin. especially along the river, can be quite windy.)
   
2. Warn your children in advance
   This saves loads of moaning and whining during your holiday. Knowing Dublin was not as big as London or Tokyo, and it was not famous for family holiday, I told my girls that this holiday is more educational than kids' adventure. Also I told them that we were not going there for a shopping spree but for enjoying a big city full of things our town didn't have. It's a good idea to tell children to expect new experiences, and also to speak to them with a positive attitude. Fortunately my girls were old enough to understand my intention. And they also thought that they were getting too old to demand anything childish.
   
3. On the way to Dublin
   We took the first train of the day to Dublin. Just after 7am! We could have taken one around 8:30am or one around midday. But I wanted to visit the embassy for my passport application in the morning (so that the new one could be issued later that day). So, I asked the hotel for early check-in, and we left home early.
   It took only 1.5 hours to Dublin. My girls had prepared for a long train journey with drawing sets, books and snacks. So, no "I'm bored" in my ear. Instead, we heard a man at the same table snoring, which became something to remember. There was not passport check or anything near the border or at the train station. I wonder if immigration officers were too lazy to start working before 9am???
   
4. Passport renewal
   My passport renewal was much easier than I had expected. A month before the holiday, I emailed the embassy in Dublin to find out what I needed to bring for the application. The reply said, "If your name and registered address (honseki) haven't changed since the last passport application, you don't need to bring registration paper (koseki) with you." So, even though my marital status had changed, I didn't need to obtain official paper from Japan, which saved time and money. All I needed was my current passport, 2 photos and the fee. Great.
   My girls had expected the embassy building to be something like a big posh mansion. But it's on the 3rd floor on a ordinary-looking building beside a shopping centre. Inside the embassy we were the only visitors. Probably it would be nice to get a job there if you don't want to be too busy. I filled the application form in 5 minutes, and handed it over to the staff with the photos and the passport. Se told me that the new passport could be ready in the afternoon. But I told her that I would collect 2 days later, which seemed a bit of relief for her. It was a nice dry day, so I didn't want to make another journey to the embassy on that day. I just wanted to go somewhere nice in the afternoon. I didn't forget to collect my new passport. I must say that I love this new one, because now I have a machine-readable micro-chipped passport like any other people (10 years ago, the embassy issued me a fake-looking non-machine readable one), and also because I don't look like a criminal in that photo this time.
   
5. What to see
   Here's the places we visited.
   1. Dublinia: A medieval-themed museum near the Christ Church Cathedral. It was designed for kids as well as adults, so a good place for families. There are things that kids can touch (and even sniff!), so you don't need to keep shouting "Don't touch!" and scare the other visitors. Inside is quite dark, but it adds a lovely atmosphere to the old building.
   2. Christ Church Cathedral: You will be at the entrance of the cathedral when you come out of Dublinia. It's a Church of Ireland cathedral, which was our second visit this time. Not a bad place to visit with young family when you want to see an old building or experience some spiritual atmosphere. If your child says "Boring" at the entrance, tell him/her "Let's go and see some animals inside". There are mummified cat and rat in a glass case, which is quoted in James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake. Somehow they got stuck in an organ pipe many many years ago, and were found dried up. My children insisted to see the animals again, which is the reason for our visit. I am not a Christian, but I must say that I love this cathedral. There is something that makes me calm and peaceful inside. Oh, and an elderly man who was in charge of collecting entrance fee charged me at a student's price without me asking any discount. Lucky me.
   3. Cinema: I know, I know, Dublin is not anything special for cinema. But my girls wanted to watch !The Game Plan" and it was shown in one of the cinemas in the city. Why shouldn't we go in when we have plenty of time? It was a nice change, anyway. We were watching it in the morning, so there was a bit of discount. The film wasn't as bad as I had expected. Didn't know The Rock could act...
   4. Dublin Zoo: Great place to spend a sunny afternoon outside. Nothing special, and all of us agreed tat Belfast Zoo was better for animals. It was alright. One thing, though. From the city centre, we took a tram to Houston Station, and walked to the zoo. It was a up-hill walk for 15-20 minutes, and we were knackered by the time we joined the queue for the entrance tickets. If I lived in Dublin, I would definitely go there often in summer. The zoo is situated in Phoenix Park where has massive space and as green as green should be. It would be nice to have a picnic there.
   5. Museum of Modern Art: We visited this arty gallery simply because my big girl and I like modern art. Too small for a national museum for modern art, extremely tiny, compared to Tate Modern in London. The collections were alright, but they didn't enrich my mind as much. But I must say that the building and the surroundings were very beautiful. I wish I could work there. We didn't expect families in the museum, but my wee one wasn't the youngest among the visitor. We saw a couple with a pram (a baby inside, of course) and a family with a 5-6 year-old boy. Nice to know that I am not the only crazy parent who takes her children to indulge contemporary art.
   6. Guinness Storehouse: Why should ignore this place while you are in Ireland? Modern-looking museum about the country's most famous drink. I once visited there more than 10 years ago on my honeymoon. But the place was beautifully refurbished since then. It didn't bore my children even though they weren't allowed to sample the black stuff. They had a glass of Coke each, while I was enjoying a pint of Guinness. (Some nice ladies were having either soft drinks or just half-pints. But I needed a pint. It was beautiful.)
   One thing. It wasn't not cheap, but chocolate muffins at a little cafe in the middle of the building was the most delicious chocolate muffin we had ever tasted.
   6. St Stephen's Green: We went there to sit with yummy pastries from Bewley's cafe. (I had a pear danish.) Well-tided nice place. Somehow it reminded me of "Hibiya Kouen" in the middle of Tokyo. Fortunately it showered after we finished eating! A police officer was there all the time. Once I heard about muggers in that park on the TV news. It must have been true.
   7. National Museum of Archeology (or, a name like that): We popped in this small museum only because there were plenty of time to kill before we got on the train. It's like a doll house, compared to my beloved British Museum in London. Still, there were quite a few interesting artifacts from all around Ireland. Also some Egyptian and Cypriot stuff were on display.
   
6. Food
   As we live in the North, Irish/British food is our everyday stuff (as well as food from other countries). So, we didn't look for anything Irish. But this time, we went to 2 Japanese restaurants: Yamamori Noodles and Wagamama. Why? Because my children had never been in a Japanese restaurants before. They were very excited about going to eat "proper" Japanese stuff. And they weren't disappointed. Both restaurants were very nice. I mean, the staff were very friendly and efficient, and the food were decent. I was more than happy to leave generous tips for them. If you want to have ordinary Japanese food served by smiling Japanese waiting staff, go to Yamamori Noodles. If you want a bit of modern touch, go to Wagamamas. Wagamam had kids' menu (and their kids' ice cream was heaven for a vanilla addict like me. Yes, I couldn't just watch my children eating ice cream.)
   Breakfast at the hotel was too expensive, so we bought bread, fruit and something to drink on the day before on the way back to hotel. It saved some money alright. And also we carried a bottle of water and some snacks during the day, because having a bun and a drink in a cafe can be rather expensive in Dublin.
   We also had "usual" stuff, such as fish + chips and pasta at a cafeteria, too.
   
7. To make things easier in the city
   In general, Irish people are very friendly and helpful to visitors. So, you shouldn't experience silly ignorance in the city. They are kind to a woman with small children, as many other people do. But also I realised that a bit of politeness and smile make my life easier while dragging children around the city. Especially smiles.
   
8. And...
   We walked a lot. I don't have a car, so we usually walk more than the average folks. But even so, we walked a lot. Fortunately my girls are used to walking, so there was no "I can't walk any more, Mummy". Good walking shoes are a must, indeed.
   Strangely things such as escalators and ticket barriers at train stations were something that made my girls excited. Yeah, we are just country folks...
   And finally, while on holiday, step back for a few seconds and watch your children enjoying themselves. It should make you feel relaxed. It was great to watch my girls walking and happily singling "Always look on the bright side of life..." on the way back to hotel after a long day. (Well, it might have just proved that we were a bunch of idiots...)

It was really a nice holiday, as we really really needed a change of air. And it was also a little surprise that going on a holiday as a single parent wasn't as stressful as I had thought it could be. Well, I was really stressed during the preparation time due to uncertainty. Silly me.
Currently we are thinking about going on a holiday in London with my parents next year. This will be a challenge for me because I will have to deal with the oldies as well as my girls. Oh well, I will worry about it next year, then.