www.sundayterritorian.com.au Sunday, December 1, 2013. Sunday Territorian. 49

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sundayterritorian.com.au SUNDAY TRAVEL

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Raise a glass to a city built for pub crawlingDublin’s transition to a multicultural hub has only added to

the Irish capital’s heritage of architecture, culture and bars

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A HANDSOME HISTORYDublin has been making waves since the 9th century, and while you may have to dig deep to find traces of its Viking past, the city’s rich history since that time is clearly in evidence.

The city is home to medievalcastles and cathedrals, while the splendour of the 18th century, when Dublin was the most handsome Georgian city in the Empire, is reflected in magnificent public and private buildings boasting the elevated status of its most privileged burghers. How power was wrested from their hands is another story, and one you’ll learn in its museums and walking tours.

PERSONALITY GOES A LONG WAYGeorgian elegance aside, Dublin might not seem as sexy or as sultry as other European capitals, but Dubliners will tell you that pretty things are as easy to like as they are to forget.

Their beloved capital, aboutwhich they can be brutally unsentimental, has personality, which is much more important and lasts far longer. Garrulous, amiable and witty, Dubliners at their ease are the greatest hosts of all, a charismatic bunch whose soul and sociability are so compelling and infectious you might not want to leave.

HOLD YOUR HOUR & HAVE ANOTHERTo experience Dubliners at their most convivial, you’ll have to spend time in a pub. Dublin’s relationship with alcohol is complex and conflicted, but at its best, a night out in the pub is the city’s favourite social lubricant and one of the most memorable experiences of a visit to Ireland. Everyone has their favourite pub: for some it’s a never-changing traditional haunt; for others, it’s wherever the beautiful people are at.

ALL THE WORLD IS DUBLINAs you stroll through the city, you might come across a group of young Koreans hawking phonecards from their shop hatches. Or Nigerian teenagers stepping through beaded curtains into African salons for hair extensions, while upstairs their parents belt out gospel hymns in makeshift churches. Next door, Russians leave the supermarket laden with tinned

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multicultural Dublin, where locals queue up to try a new sushi joint or pop around the corner to buy sumac from their local halal grocer, who’ll break away from a conversation in Arabic to say “howarye” in a thick, Dublin accent.

DUBLIN’S TOP FIVE

1 A Dublin Pub“A good puzzle would be tocross Dublin without

passing a pub”, mused Leopold Bloom in James Joyce’s Ulysses. An impossible conundrum, given there’s at least one on every street, but the answer is simple: go into each one you find. One hundred years later, the alpha and omega of all social life in Dublin remains the bar, and you have more than 1000 to choose from, ranging from traditional boozers to trendy bars. It’s where you’ll get a proper sense of what makes this city tick.

2Trinity CollegeSince its foundation in1592, Trinity College

(tcd.ie) has become one of the world’s most famous universities; the alma mater of Swift, Wilde and Beckett, and the home of the famous

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cobbled quadrangles lined with

terial calm to the campus.

terpieces (by Degas, Monet, Manet et al) to Irish artists such

Francis Bacon’s actual London

Along its length an assortment of street performers set the mood, providing the soundtrack for a memorable stroll. On any given day you can listen to a guitarist knock out electrifying bluegrass, applaud young conservatory students putting Mozart through his paces, or stare down a silver-skinned mime artist and see who moves first. You will.

5 National GalleryThe National Gallery’s artcollection is an impressive

one, a history of art spread across six centuries and 54 separate galleries, including a beautiful new wing with a terrific cafe (nationalgallery.ie). The marquee names include Goya, Caravaggio and van Gogh, but no less impressive are the paintings by luminaries such as Orpen, Reynolds and Van Dongen. Don’t miss the Jack B Yeats room; as you find your way there, you’ll pass the odd Rembrandt, Velazquez and Vermeer.

illuminated manuscript the Book of Kells. Its 16ha are an oasis of aesthetic elegance, its cobbled quadrangles lined with handsome neoclassical buildings that lend an air of magisterial calm to the campus.

3 Dublin City Gallery —The Hugh LaneHanging on the walls of

a magnificent Georgian pile is arguably the city’s finest collection of modern and contemporary art (hughlane.ie), which runs the gamut from impressionist masterpieces (by Degas, Monet, Manet et al) to Irish artists such as Dorothy Cross and Sean Scully. The gallery’s extra-special treat is Dublin-born Francis Bacon’s actual London

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(clockwise from left) The splendid Regent House

Trinity College; the National Gallery’s expansive collection

studio, brought over piece by piece and reassembled in all its glorious mess.

4Grafton StreetA stroll up pedestrianisedGrafton St is always

warranted, if only to observe the perambulations of Dubliners of every distinction.

stroll. On any given day you can

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WHAT’S NEWRestaurant RevolutionTempered by the economic crisis, restaurateurs have learnt what works and what doesn’t. The result is a battery of new eateries that combine culinary ambition with a commitment to providing value for money. You’ll find evidence of this in all price categories, from the budget cafes to the top-end restaurants, where they work extra hard to provide a more accessible cuisine without sacrificing the brilliance that brought them to the top of the pile.

Tea CultureNew cafes such as Clement & Pekoe (clementandpekoe.com) and Wall & Keogh (www.wallandkeogh.ie) have raised the caffeine bar by offering a range of loose-leaf teas and specialist coffees served in wonderful settings.

The MarkerThe Marker (themarkerhotel dublin.com), the only new hotel to have opened in Dublin since 2011, is a five-star luxury experience in the Grand Canal Dock, housed in an eye-catching building.

This is an edited extract from Lonely

Planet Dublin (9th Edition) © Lonely

Planet 2013. RRP: $34.99.

4Raise a glass to a city built for

PAST REVISITED: (clockwise from left) The splendid Regent House entrance to Trinity College; the National Gallery’s expansive collection is housed in 54 separate galleries; and The Temple Bar is among Dublin’s more than 1000 pubs. Pictures: Lonely Planet Images

Raise a glass to a city built for pub crawling