Blogs from Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland, Europe - page 89

Dear Diary, I was almost run over by two ten-year olds on a bike. Yesterday I was out for a run in my neighborhood Santry, which is just north of the city center in Dublin. The north side of the Liffey which divides the city in two has always been considered a little less posh, maybe a little more working class if you will, compared to the south side of the Liffey. It is still a safe place, but I've been told there are parts that get a little sketchy the further north and west you go in the city. Big heroin problems still in Dublin, think the movie "Trainspotting" only the Irish version. Now to the important part of my tale: The children in this town are generally terrible. Although I can't say that I've ... read more

Our experience in Dublin was about this quick... 1) Huge needle in the sky, we were told it was the Biggest building in Europe... but actually only in Dublin city center. 2) We saw Anna Freedman, which was awesome, eventhough she was our bartender. 3) Beer at noon. 4) On one hour of sleep and won't sleep til Paris. (about 30 hours from DC to Paris with 1 hour of sleep). 5) No leprecans.... read more

Yesterday I * walked around (mostly because museums and such were closed when I arrived) * for several minutes, chatted with a garbage man who - knew that Helsinki is the capital of Finland, but couldn't remember Stockholm - doesn't think he'd like having a lip ring - should consider opening a tourist information centre * couldn't understand how to get the key card system in hostel to work (locks seriously dislike me!), here's hoping I'll manage today * was really annoyed at one girl in the dorm who didn't whisper when people tried to sleep, and accordingly lost one of my earplugs, and realized my ears are too small for them anyway * took loads of photos of buildings. So pretty! * came across soooo many Finns (all of them probably took the same plane ... read more

‘So it’s your birthday on the weekend and I thought it’d be a good idea if we went away for it.’ ‘Wow, cool. So where are we going?’ ‘Ahh, it’s a surprise.’ ‘Really? Can I have a clue?’ ‘Uhh, OK. We’re catching the train after work on Friday. Make sure you finish on time.’ So, backpack equipped we arrive at the station in time to catch our five o’clock train. ‘You know how I said that we’re catching a train, well we’re actually catching the bus to the airport because we’re going to Dublin! Happy birthday! Did you bring your passport?’ (Worriedly) ‘No!’ ‘Don’t worry, I packed it for you!’ The flight is very short. We go up, and not long after, we’re going down. As we approach, even though it’s almost eight at night, the ... read more

That's right, a good craic. It's NOT a typo. The Irish use it to say "good time", and it's pronounced CRACK. Haha. This weekend was bank holiday weekend, which means no work for the people of Ireland on Monday! I can consider myself now a "resident of Ireland", at least temporarily. Even though I'm clearly a yank with my whiny midwest accent...I stick out badly. "Yeaaahh, can I get you some cawfee?" Oh well. Saturday I took a James Joyce tour around the city. It was the "Dubliners" tour, which means a guide walked us around to sites in Dublin that are significant in Joyce's book as well as sites that were significant in his lifetime. I thought it was interesting, I love Dubliners, it's basically the only book by Joyce that I can comprehend decently. ... read more