Possibly going to London and Dublin

[rd02sir]

Hello ladies and gents
I have recently gotten the opportunity to tag along with my parents to a work conference mid march. Both my parents have been to both places a few times. While my dad is at conferences, my mother usually goes sightseeing. So she has seen the must sees already. A first over the pond trip for me.
I'll be visiting the usual turisty places
Is there any pipe related places that I should check out while I'm there? Any hidden gems of places? I'll be staying very close to downtown.
Is there anyone who would like to meet up with a Canadian and smoke a bowl?
What are some blends that are hard to acquire over there?
Thanks for the tips!

 

[adam12]

Didn't see that many pipe places in London. Dunhill was lame.
Dublin - go to Peterson's, but it's a very small store. They have tours of the facility but we didn't take one.
In all honesty, maybe I was missing something but we went to a bunch of shops in both cities, and nothing there compared to what we have in the states

 

[rd02sir]

Adam- how are the prices at Peterson?

 

[adam12]

No different than anywhere else you buy a Peterson. In fact probably a little higher because it's a thing tourists want to see.

 

[rd02sir]

Damn, I was hoping to get a pipe from each place, to remember my travels. Oh well, it'll be worth the memories.

 

[adam12]

I bought a seconds from Peterson, as a souvenir. But didn't buy anything in London.
Maybe some others have a better story than mine, but we actually went out of our way to visit pipe shops and it was sort of a dud. I guess I was expecting huge racks of estate Ashtons and size 6 Dunhills as far as the eye could see, but nothing of the sort

 

[rd02sir]

That's too bad, thanks for the heads up tho!
Maybe someone here knows of some hidden gems.

 

[reichenbach]

Although I can't remember the name of the shop in London, I read about a long standing pipe shop that still keeps a courtesy gas jet lit outside for when gentlemen walking the streets needed to light their pipes. That might be a cool photo-op to remember your trip. Does anyone else know what I'm talking about? I just did a quick search but I couldn't turn it up. I think I saw it on one of those forbes or the economist top ten slide shows. I'll do some more digging tomorrow if no one knows. Now it's bugging me.

 

[rd02sir]

Reichenbach- that would be really cool if you could find that. That really does sound like a cool photo op

 

[dienne]

I think adam12 has a point but since you'll be in London I suggest you to go to the Segar & Snuff parlour in Covent Garden (it's a shop on the first floor). A very small old fashioned tobacconist I think it may be worth a visit. They have their own mixtures and sell some pipe also, maybe you can find something interesting for not too high a price.

 

[martin]

Dublin is a nice place but you should also visit Cork while you are there.

Ireland is a beautiful country, nice people and gorgeous women too.

 

[rd02sir]

Cool thanks dienne, I'll check that place out!

 

[logandow]

Have a great trip!

 

[mluyckx]

In Dublin, check out James Fox tobacconist. I found Pete's there cheaper than at the Peterson factory.
Martin: Been to Cork several times. Lovely town. Had many a Murphy's in An Brog !

 

[wildcat]

Visit the homes of 3 noteworthy pipe smokers and authors:
CS Lewis http://www.cslewis.org/programs/kilns/
JRR Tolkien http://tolkientrivia.blogspot.com/2004/11/tolkiens-home-20-northmoor-rd-oxford.html
GK Chesterton http://www.littleflower.co.uk/chesterton.htm

 

[uberam3rica]

i envy you. I've only been out of America once, and it was across the boarder to Canada. I don't remember where we went but there was nothing there so we just went back home.

 

[reichenbach]

Sooooo, yeah. I shot my mouth off. I've been looking for the outdoor gas jet that, allegedly, a lot of tobacco shops used to have for lighting tobacco products and I haven't found anything yet. I don't think I dreamed it but I can't find anything as of yet. But the James J Fox tobacconists shop at 19 St. James Street seems cool. On the website it says that it's one of the few stores that was exempt from the smoking ban so if it's raining (which it might), you can smoke inside. Plus they seem to have a museum. I'll check back in soon to let you know whether that idea about the gas jet was a false memory or not.

 

[mluyckx]

Uber: Your time will come one day. Finish up school. Then take an apprentice culinary job somewhere abroad. France or Italy. Think Mario Batali or Anthony Bourdain. They put in their time working in kitchens out there as well.
And at my age, travel for business is highly overrated ;-) You go to work just like anywhere else, but you sleep in a foreign bed. You work all day, usually longer hours than when you're in your local office. Then you're tired, go eat something quick somewhere, go to bed. Next day, same story. It's rare that you have an opportunity to go visit around. Just my .02$ worth...

 

[zanthal]

You're lucky, how you make the most of it.

 

[deyro]

I was in Dublin in 2010. I went into the Peterson shop before I knew much about pipes. If I had it to do again, I would have sprung for a pipe there,even if it was one of their lower end ones, just to say I bought a Peterson from Peterson's shop, because I know the odds of me ever getting there again are slim and it would have been a once in a lifetime thing to do.

But I would advise against buying tobacco in Ireland unless you have to. Its godawful expensive because their tobacco taxes are ridonkulously high. Don't know if that's the case in England.
If you don't have time to make it very far out of Dublin, try to at least talk your mom into a trip to Trim. It's not a very long bus ride, and aside from the castle where they shot Braveheart, it has quite a few other cool old ruins. A little touristy, but nothing compared to Dublin.

Also, although it has nothing to do with pipes, there is a rundown shop on Market street run by a gentle old Irishman name Gregory Leonard who has an immense amount of hair growing out of his ears and, if he's still alive, he will gladly relate most of the history of Ireland to you. His prices were a bit high, but we thought his company was worth spending a couple extra euros there for souvenirs instead of at the chain stores around Dublin.
Have a good trip! Sounds like fun.