When Irish eyes are smiling: Dublin (230309 - 240309)

Evening scene of the River Liffey


Dublin! What can I say?

It has it's lovely spots here and there as all destinations surely do if you look hard enough, but in general I was not impressed. Stone me for saying this, but as a short 2-day tourist destination, I seriously think Singapore would be more interesting.

Let's get the bad stuff out of the way so I don't dwell on it excessively and unnecessarily for the rest of the post. The weather was wintery in the thick of March. The city is horribly expensive (Normal cheese-and-ham sandwich for 4 euros. Minimum). There are some pretty buildings here and there, but the whole does not surpass its parts in general - unless you have an undying passion for bullet-ridden building facades. After oo-ing and aah-ing over the Millenium and Tyne Bridge in Newcastle, seeing the Liffey river and the ha'penny bridge was quite underwhelming. The main thoroughfare in Dublin, O'Connell Street, is nothing compared to its equivalents in Edinburgh, although I have to say the Millenium Spire was quite cool and worth a good long gape.

Sadly, the Dubliners whom I encountered on the streets were none too helpful, and were prone to push and shove, and ignore our questions regarding road directions. City-living perhaps; everyone looked like they were in a rush. Though thankfully the people who did matter, including the customs officer and tour guide, were friendly to the fault.

In terms of night-life, I suppose we picked a bad day going on a Monday/Tuesday but I did expect more people out and about after sunset, instead of the sparse crowds we encountered.

Now the good stuff. If you do go to Dublin, here's what I'd recommend you do, Jeanne-style!


1. Irish Dancing Night, Arlington Hotel

It's your own mini River Dance. I strongly recommend you head down to the Arlington Hotel at 10pm, whichever night you're in Dublin to catch the free Irish dancing. You can grab dinner here, or simply do what we did, which was to order a drink each and watch the show unfold.

I'm told by Felyna that the act isn't as professional as the original River Dance, but it should make an entertaining, half-hour slice of Irish culture :) Gotta give it up to the dancers - 30 solid minutes of feet-stomping, prancing, leaping and twirling! And all seemingly done without a sweat.

2. Chester Beatty Library, Dublin Castle


Entry into the Castle itself is 3.50 euros (student rate) - it's more of a stately house than a castle, and a very exquisitely funished one at that. However, the real gem within the grounds is the Chester Beatty library, named after a prolific (prolifically rich as well) book and manuscript collector who amassed an astounding amount of material. This collection includes the largest set of Qurans outside of the Middle East, fragments of the Pauline letters, and beautiful scrolls depicting scenes from Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji.

Chester Beatty's amazing collection is housed within the Library, and is on display for free - I might add this is rare in Dublin where you pay through your nose for most things. This cultural treasure trove is definitely worth a look.

3. Beauty Spots: Trinity College campus and St Patrick's Cathedral


I want to be a student at Trinity after viewing the campus! You enter the gates, into a seriously gorgeous oasis of calm right smack in the middle of town. There are neatly manicured lawns dotted with the most beautiful selection of trees ever and elegant buildings including the pretty structure you see in the picture above, built specially to give the campus 'a touch of class.' As if it didn't already have enough!



Sadly the lawns are off-limits to everyone and you could be thrown out by security if you're found on it. So beautiful. So inaccessible. But it makes a good photo-op. And sometimes that's all that matters...in a sad, ironic way.

Another really pretty place is St Patrick's Cathedral. Specifically the gardens outside of St Pat's which are exquisite especially since the flowers are now in bloom.




Didn't manage to go into the Cathedral because of limited time, but I imagine it would be fairly nice as well!

4. Pub Grub: Beef and Guinness Stew

Trust me that after a cold, wet day, nothing beats sitting down to a pipping hot bowl of stew; and this Irish beef stew which I had in the Temple Bar area was absolutely amazing and homely. They don't skimp on the beef, which is incidentally very tender and juicy. Mmm. Treat yourself a little for a meal like this - so worth it.

Looking happy!

So in all, I'm glad I went to Ireland, and that I can say I've been to Ireland (and again, sometimes that's all that matters in a sad-ironic way). Nevertheless, I won't go back again and I wouldn't recommend it in gushing tones. If you have a choice, come to Edinburgh.