Help me plan a trip to Dublin & Glasgow

[private joker]

Initial brag: a good friend of mine just scored a gig being Frank Black's tour manager overseas. (He did the job in the States and they liked him enough to keep him on)! The international tour kicks off in Dublin Feb. 9 and continues in Glasgow Feb. 10 and then Manchester/London/etc.

I've been invited to go to the shows, and since I've never been to Ireland or Scotland (I have been to England) I think I shouldn't pass up the opportunity to not only visit Dublin and Glasgow but also hang out with Frank Black and potentially Bono, who evidently has drinks with Frank after the show every time Black plays Dublin.

That said, I need to plan the trip (with 1 friend) and figure out how to do it efficiently, with as much fun/ideas as possible but also not too expensive (we're not broke, but we're not ballas either).

[Note: I can't actually travel with the band; we're just friends of the tour manager so we can only join up at the show itself and at the pubs afterwards; we have to take care of transportation ourselves.]

1) What's the best way to get from place to place? I'm thinking flying round trip from Los Angeles to Dublin, and in the middle having a round trip from Dublin to Glasgow for the second show, so we can hang in Glasgow too, but come back to Dublin to catch the flight back to L.A. Is this OK? Or should we just like take a ferry from Dublin to Glasgow and ferry back? Are there ferries? Are they cost-effective?

2) The second show is a Sunday (Feb 10) in Glasgow. Should we hang out and see the city Monday/Monday night as well? Is there stuff to do there on a Monday in February? Or will it be so freezing cold that everyone's shacked up inside. In which case we should head back to Dublin or even go to London and fly back to L.A. from there.

3) I'd love some ideas of what to do in Dublin when we get there. We might arrive Fri. morning Feb 8, the day before the first show, so we'll have 36 hours on our own. Any recommendations? And what about lodging -- B&Bs? Hostels? Hotels?

4) Same goes for Glasgow -- recommendations, lodging, sights, etc.

5) Weather -- I've heard Dublin doesn't get that ridiculous in the winter for some reason. True? I'm a pussy when it comes to cold weather so I'm afraid. Glasgow... aiya. It sounds like I'm going to turn into a block of ice. Is it really unbearable?

Thanks for any advice, etc...

[Yeti]

You know Glasgow is quite a way inland, right? I would just fly. Oh and you should see Edinburgh for a day or two.

[private joker]

So, fly from Dublin to Glasgow, see the show Feb. 10 then maybe take some sort of train to Edinburgh the next day maybe? Spend Monday night there? Maybe I could then fly back from Edinburgh to Dublin...

*sigh* So much traveling!

[Yeti]

yeah you can get the train or a really really cheap bus if that's your bag. they are very well connected.

[suzzer99]

I enjoyed riding the tour buses around Dublin. Although the open-air part might be a little annoying in the winter. Also check out the jail (Kilmainham Gaul) if you get to do any touristy kind of stuff. I thought that tour was fascinating. Other than I don't think you can go wrong getting drunk at a pub! There are a lot of cool areas of town other than Temple Bar, which is the most touristy. Don't be afraid to try some of the other, hipper areas.

And that's about all I know of Dublin. Never been to Scotland, but I'm hoping to go with my Dad in 08.

[private joker]

Anyone know anything about Manchester? Since getting to Glasgow seems annoying, we're thinking of skipping the Feb 10 show, staying in Dublin one more day, then going to Manchester (by ferry? or do we need to fly?) on Feb 11 for the Feb 12 show there.

Historically, Manchester holds a place in my heart -- but what's it like, is there stuff to do? Or is it a dark cold place full of hooligans and thugs waiting to beat up Americans?

[markontap]

[ QUOTE ]
1) What's the best way to get from place to place? I'm thinking flying round trip from Los Angeles to Dublin, and in the middle having a round trip from Dublin to Glasgow for the second show, so we can hang in Glasgow too, but come back to Dublin to catch the flight back to L.A. Is this OK? Or should we just like take a ferry from Dublin to Glasgow and ferry back? Are there ferries? Are they cost-effective?

[/ QUOTE ]

That's probably your best bet. LA to Dub and then return flights to from Dublin to Glasgow. With Ryanair you'll flying into Glasgow Prestwick, about 30 miles from central Glasgow. With Aer Lingus you'll fly into Glasgow airport in Glasgow's suburbs. The boat isn't really an option as you'd have to get that from Belfast (about 2 hours on the train) and you'd have to get the train again when you get to Scotland to get to Glasgow.

[ QUOTE ]
3) I'd love some ideas of what to do in Dublin when we get there. We might arrive Fri. morning Feb 8, the day before the first show, so we'll have 36 hours on our own. Any recommendations? And what about lodging -- B&Bs? Hostels? Hotels?

[/ QUOTE ]

Hotels are relatively cheap and of a high standard. I'd recommend staying on the south side of the City, around the Stephens Green area.. It's probably the most central spot for nightlife. If you have a bit of time, the usual tourist stuff is good.. Guiness Hop Stores, Dublin Castle, Temple Bar etc.. More at http://www.dublintourist.com/

[ QUOTE ]
5) Weather -- I've heard Dublin doesn't get that ridiculous in the winter for some reason. True? I'm a pussy when it comes to cold weather so I'm afraid. Glasgow... aiya. It sounds like I'm going to turn into a block of ice. Is it really unbearable?

[/ QUOTE ]

Dublin is fine during the winter.. Tradewinds from the carribean keep the weather settled and temps reasonable all year all year around. It's generally overcast with temps of about 4-8C, about 39-46F. Glasgow is fairly similiar although a bit colder.

Let me know if you need to know anything more.

[FionnMac]

PJ,

As a big pixies/frank black fan i'm verrry jealous!

You won't recognise my 2p2 name i'm sure since i stick to msnl, but i'm a student in manchester so i'll be going to his manchester show fo sho. Can't seem to find tickets or even tour dates on ticketmaster/seetickets etc (wtf is up with that?) but i'll just get one off ebay if i have to.

Of course feel free to pm me if you do decide to come to Manchester and have any questions/queries etc, hopefully i can help out in some way.

[LeadbellyDan]

Im going to Manchester next weekend. Pretty cool city if you wanna go out n that. As far as Scotland goes, Iv only been to Glasgow breifly and although it seemed a cool city I prefer Edinburgh especially from a tourist point of view.

I wouldnt bother with ferrys n that just decide which city u wanna go to and fly there. Once there take trains if you wanna move around more. And book everything well in advance to save a whole bunch of £s.

Oh and when is FB's tour - couldnt find much via Google and would like to check him out. Only time ive seen him play is with Pixies at V-festival.

[private joker]

Thanks for the help so far, everyone! Keep the ideas and tips coming!

Leadbelly -- here's the Europe schedule I have so far:


FEBRUARY





9 IRELAND DUBLIN VICAR STREET

10 SCOTLAND GLASGOW GARAGE (NME show)

11 ENGLAND Tbc

12 ENGLAND MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2 (NME show)

13 ENGLAND LONDON KOKO (NME show)

14 ENGLAND Tbc

15 Off

16 FRANCE PARIS ELYSEE MONTMARTRE

17 GERMANY COLOGNE PRIME CLUB

18 GEMANY BERLIN POSTBAHNHOF

19 GERMANY HAMBURG FABRIK

20 DENMARK COPENHAGEN VEGA (Small Hall)

21 Off

22 LUXEMBOURG LUXEMBOURG DEN ATELIER

23 SWITZERLAND LAUSANNE LES DOCKS

24 SWITZERLAND ZURICH ABART CLUB

25 Off

26 BELGIUM BRUSSELS BOTANIQUE (Orangerie)

27 HOLLAND AMSTERDAM MELKWEG

28 HOLLAND NIJMEGEN DOORNROOSJE

29 HOLLAND ZWOLLE HEDON