This post is part of the April 2015 A to Z Challenge. Find the challengers via the Blog Sign-Up or on Twitter using #AtoZChallenge

Here’s a little word association game. What do the following have in common? Guinness, James Joyce, U2. That’s right. Dublin!

Dublin is a vibrant and musical city. There are buskers everywhere ranging from fiddlers to harp players, especially along Grafton Street, the main shopping street.

Literature lovers will not be disappointed by Ireland’s capital. There is the Dublin Writers Museum and the library of Trinity College, which holds the Book of Kells, is a thing to behold! The city has such famous sons like James Joyce and Oscar Wilde and especially Joyce is celebrated like no other. There are not only statues, but every year on June 16 the entire city celebrates Bloomsday with Ulysses readings and dramatisations in pubs and out in the streets.

Harp player by the Molly Malone statue. Copyright Cornelia Kaufmann

The Spire on O’Connell Street. Copyright Cornelia Kaufmann

The Spire on O’Connell Street seen from the other side of the river Liffey. Copyright Cornelia Kaufmann

Outside the Dublin Writers Museum. Copyright Cornelia Kaufmann

Speaking of pubs: Guinness is on tap in every pub either side of the river Liffey, the Guinness Storehouse is right in town and there is an abundance of whiskeys (note the spelling). Oh, and music! There’s always music.

How much do you know about Gaelic football? If the answer is “not a lot” then head out to Croke Park stadium to see a match or visit the museum to learn about and try your hand at Gaelic sports.

Ha’penny Bridge. Copyright Cornelia Kaufmann

The Oliver St. John Gogarty Pub in Dublin’s Temple Bar district. Copyright Cornelia Kaufmann

Inside Kilmainham Gaol. Copyright Cornelia Kaufmann

Night-time lighting, Temple Bar Building. Copyright Cornelia Kaufmann

Croke Park Stadium. Copyright Cornelia Kaufmann

The famous Ha’penny Bridge across the river Liffey. Copyright Cornelia Kaufmann

Don’t, however, make the mistake our teacher did on our class trip to Dublin and try to get from Croke Park to Kilmainham Gaol without consulting the map. What should have been a 6.5km walk turned into about twice that. The 60 students he had in tow were not impressed. At all.

We didn’t see any real leprechauns anywhere around Ha’penny Bridge, unfortunately. Though if you look hard enough, you may see the grown-up variety in the streets.