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Published: January 23rd 2007
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Grafton Street
I know very little about Dublin, but even I've heard of Grafton Street. I spent the entry into 2007 as I meant to go on for later in the year, not in the UK. Geographically not very distant, I had a great time in Dublin with Erika’s family, with many things to see and do:
visitdublin.com, or
Dublin for Visitors, or
Discover Ireland. A bit of local knowledge, and some tourist-traps!
We started with a bit of an unashamed tourist tour, starting with Grafton Street (which even I have heard of, although my knowledge of Dublin is pretty limited, and I’d not had time to look up much about it before going!), then round various spots of ‘interest’, via Butlers Chocolate Café (
www.butlerschocolates.com), which was DELICIOUS, if a little crowded (but what else do you expect from tourist highlights - especially when the locals agree!). By the evening we’d made our way to Temple Bar, although we didn’t bother going in, heading on to look at the
Clarence Hotel, owned by Bono of U2 fame, for those of you who don’t already know…
New Year’s Eve we headed out for some fresh air in the infamously beautiful Irish countryside (it lives up to its reputation, even in the windy weather!), including
Glendalough in County Wicklow, which
Butler's Chocolate Cafe
Butler's Handmade Chocolates are famous, and their hot chocolate was delicious! was beautiful… and one of many places in which the battles between the Irish and the British is evident. ‘British-bashing’ seems to be a great sport, and Erika found it quite strange this time driving a British registered car, as other drivers treat you quite differently to her previous Dublin-registered cars! Was interested to see that cars are registered by year, county and then starts with No 1 (which goes to the Mayor, aside from 1998, when he took No. 1000 to celebrate 1000 years of Dublin - seen as far more significant than the Millennium!). There’s a lot of literary history to see, but we didn’t do a great deal of this, being more interested in the gastronomic delights of Ireland, including a visit to
Avoca.
We ended the day in the Gaiety Theatre at a party with one of Erika’s friends, which was great fun - bit of a dance, a few drinks (of course, and although I love Guiness advertising (managing to incorporate it into my PhD on Second World War Posters, and some of the Media Studies courses I taught), I don’t like Guiness so didn’t drink any!).
New Year’s Day involved more fresh
Temple Bar
World-famous bar, bit too full of English tourists for our tour... air, with some freshly made sandwiches from the corner-shop (Erika was horrified to discover packaged sandwiches in the UK, and I have to say I think I agree with her, freshly made so much better!), before a walk on Sandymount Strand (chilly, but lovely, covered in cockles), and onto a driven tour around
Dun Loaoghaire (as with the Welsh, road signs are “bi-lingual”).
On the evening of New Year’s Day, we joined up with Erika’s friend Jenny, who is a GREAT tourist guide for Dublin. We started with
Molly Malone ‘the tart with a heart’, then headed back down to
Temple Bar, across the
Halfpenny Bridge and round some of the back streets to get an impressive view of the
‘Millennium Spire’, which is known by less complimentary names by the locals! Round onto O'Connell Street, viewing the clocks where lovers meet, and - more violently - past the Irish General Post Office, which holds the Irish declaration of independence, and a bears a few bullet-scars from when the British fired (note the recurring theme - it recurred more times than I’ve mentioned!).
Being a cultural historian by trade, I was also on the lookout for cultural differences, and got inordinately excited by
Windy Weather
A trip out into the Irish countryside, a little on the cold/windy side! the green postboxes, pretty much identical to the famous red postboxes, but the metal casting of course is different, as is the colour! I think Dublin’s buses must be where the idea that there are no buses for half-an-hour then three at once, because that’s what truly happens (and if you’re planning on getting a bus as soon as you get to Dublin, ensure you buy a coffee or something first to ensure you have some coins, as exact fare only)! The swearing in Ireland seems to be as natural as breathing… as fabled! The generosity of the Irish is also more than as fabled!
Couple of interesting things that the UK could implement, answering concerns re: debt/recycling. These include a 40 Euro annual charge per credit card, discourages crazy debts, and there’s no Council Tax, but residents are charged for bin emptying, etc. (fixed charge for each collection, with extra charges per weight), whilst plastic bags are pretty much non-existent (and charged for)! I was also slightly confused by the UV light in the toilets at the airport... apparently that makes it impossible for you to see your veins, and therefore people can't "shoot up"... unusual (or maybe
Glendaloch
One of many sites where the Irish protected themselves from the British... not!).
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