Dublin!

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Dublin is an interesting city and it was great to be able to spend Sunday catching up with my university friend Conor who now lives there. We walked around the city splitting up jaunts with pints of Guiness at various pubs. Known as the European Tiger, Ireland’s economy and economic policy are models many other countries are striving to replicate. Much like anywhere, the real estate and construction boom is in full swing. I was shocked to learn that simple pre-sold(!) apartments are fetching upwards of €400-600,000! 35 year mortgages and 0% down are not uncommon. Last week, the CEB (Centreal European Bank) raised rates for the first time signaling the beginning of the end of cheap money. Not much green space or parkland in Dublin although there is a large pedestrian only area full of the usual shops. The people were friendly and the Irish accent is soft and easy enough to comprehend. I’ve spent the better part of the morning attempting to reduce the weight of my check in baggage to meet RyanAir’s 15kg allowable weight. My pockets are stuffed with books and other heavy materials. While I look like a dough boy I have managed to reduce weight by over 6 kilos! FYI: if you are ever over in Europe flying RyanAir, they charge €8/kg for extra weight… no wonder they are profitable charging as little as €0.01 per flight! Off to London to visit my friend Krystyna and then to Scotland on Thursday. Have a great week! JDV.

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