Incoming Trip To Europe..

[l_l_l]

I'm planning a trip to Europe in April.
I'm very excited.
I'll be visiting Amsterdam, then Ireland.
In Ireland, I will go to Dingle's aquarium, apparently it's pretty good!
Any of you know what else, fish related stuff or not, I could do out there?

Any of you know stores out there that are worth visiting?
 
Cheers!

 

[Munroco]

Guinness

 

[ShinySideUp]

AMSTERDAM
 
 
I lived in The netherlands for two years and often had to take our visitors to Amsterdam (we lived in Eindhoven) and we always used to put them on a boat for a while...
 
In Amsterdam take a trip on one of the tourist boats for a whistle-stop tour of the city. They take about an hour and are most informative. They will also point out the house where Anne Frank lived and you will find it a most unspectacular place and it's not surprising the Germans took so long to find her.
 
The Sex Museum is very interesting and not at all as sordid as the name might suggest.
 
Go to one of the 'cafe's' and try a proper joint but beware of people trying to sell you drugs in the street when they hear you are not Dutch; hash is freely available from respectable places at reasonable prices.
 
Central Station is a pleasant piece of architecture and there are street entertainers around there at times. Mind you don't get run over by a tram.
 
Beyond the red-light area is Chinatown and is worth a visit. The red-light area is a tourist hotspot and no one feels ashamed when they wander aorund the place.
 
Canals criss-cross the city centre and parking is a nightmare on the street.
 
Great city all round.
 
DUBLIN
 
Went there once and stumbled into a very bad area before revving up and leaving at a great rate of knots. From what I've seen of it (and that's not much) I'm not that keen. Others would have more information and be more favourable.

 

[Far_King]

Guinness

 
This.  The Guiness factory in Dublin. 

 

[l_l_l]

AMSTERDAM
 
 
I lived in The netherlands for two years and often had to take our visitors to Amsterdam (we lived in Eindhoven) and we always used to put them on a boat for a while...
 
In Amsterdam take a trip on one of the tourist boats for a whistle-stop tour of the city. They take about an hour and are most informative. They will also point out the house where Anne Frank lived and you will find it a most unspectacular place and it's not surprising the Germans took so long to find her.
 
The Sex Museum is very interesting and not at all as sordid as the name might suggest.
 
Go to one of the 'cafe's' and try a proper joint but beware of people trying to sell you drugs in the street when they hear you are not Dutch; hash is freely available from respectable places at reasonable prices.
 
Central Station is a pleasant piece of architecture and there are street entertainers around there at times. Mind you don't get run over by a tram.
 
Beyond the red-light area is Chinatown and is worth a visit. The red-light area is a tourist hotspot and no one feels ashamed when they wander aorund the place.
 
Canals criss-cross the city centre and parking is a nightmare on the street.
 
Great city all round.
 
DUBLIN
 
Went there once and stumbled into a very bad area before revving up and leaving at a great rate of knots. From what I've seen of it (and that's not much) I'm not that keen. Others would have more information and be more favourable.

Thank you for the very informative message.
I will try to book a whistle-stop tour of the city.
I will be biking around town, so parking shouldn't be that hard, unless you tell me, it is as hard to park a bike than to park a car?

 

[the_lock_man]

Definitely have a canal tour in Amsterdam, it's one of those things that is a must-do - the boat drivers are all multi-lingual, they will often have to say their script in 3 or 4 different languages, depending upon what nationalities are on board.
 
Having seen the bike park at Amsterdam Central Railway Station, I'm amazed they could fit any more bikes there, but in terms of bike parking on the street, there's plenty available.

 

[ShinySideUp]

Thank you for the very informative message.
I will try to book a whistle-stop tour of the city.
I will be biking around town, so parking shouldn't be that hard, unless you tell me, it is as hard to park a bike than to park a car?
 

 
I think you will have no trouble parking a bike presuming you mean a pedal cycle, Amsterdam is THE European city for bicycles. Take a lock though, people have been known to think ' oh there are so many bikes, who would miss just one?'

 

[l_l_l]

Thank you for your answers!
I am very excited about the trip, can't wait to go there.