Wherever you stay
in Dublin, or for that matter, anywhere in Ireland, count on a sumptuous breakfast. Almost everywhere you'll get two kinds of sausages, mushrooms, tomatoes, more breads and cereals than you can eat, fruits of all descriptions, and perhaps cheeses, spreads, toast, or maybe some eggs, and certainly coffee and tea and juices. If your lodgings do not furnish breakfast (perish the thought) just drop around the corner and a neighborhood restaurant or pub will help you out.

Speaking of pubs, there are a number of things about Irish pubs that differ from drinking establishments in most of America, with the possible exception of some East Coast cities which have a sizeable Irish population and contain a few Irish-style places.

The first is food. Food is not some afterthough, like in most American bars. A pub is where you go to eat lunch. Or dinner. Or breakfast. Some of the best, most hearty food in Dublin is in the many, many pubs that infuse the city with their atmosphere.

The second difference is light. There is usually a lot of light in Irish pubs. Although there are some darker and neon-lit cutting-edge and avant guarde clubs in Dublin, filling a demand created by the large class of monied younger people who live there now. But generally pubs give a person enough light to see what they're eating and who they're talking with.

Talking... that's the third thing. Much talking goes on in Irish pubs. They are filled with voices, even more so than music, in most places. However there are some which provide excelelnt entertainment with either modern or traditional music. Yes, in some pubs you still can hear standard Irish songs and pennywhistles and the like. You can even witness some real Irish dancing in a few, who usually advertise the fact in the little local magazines and flyers. One of the most consistent venues is at the Arlington Hotel at the center of Dublin alongside the river Liffey, near the O'Connell Street bridge. My wife and I have whiled away some time listening to Irish music there, and have enjoyed it very much.

Fourth. Pub life is the basic evening entertainment in Dublin. When you get to know the city better, you find that there is robust theater to attend and cultural activities of both ancient and modern flavors (see Project Dublin ) and evening church services to welcome visitors in a number of very alive churches, of many denominations. But it is easiest for tourists in Dublin to find the pub scene, because it is absolutely ubiquitous. Ireland city life, at night anyway, is pretty much as the stereotype has it, with hard drinking Irish people and visitors alike making merry until closing at "half eleven", eleven-thirty.

Temple Bar If you go south and mosly west from the old city center of O'Connell Street, you enter find the New Dublin. It is supposedly centered about The Temple Bar, a pub, but it does not seem to have much to do with that these days. This is where you will find very upscale restaurants like Fitzers, which has credibly continental entres, fine soups, and beautiful desserts. This is where you will find bars and nightclubs, rather than pubs. You will see young people in expensive clothes. You will see enterpreneurs being driven to dinner with their companions. You will see students from Trinity College.
... students... how on earth did they get there.

They are there because Trinity College is one of the borders of Temple Bar. The usual student mix blends with the cosmopolitan denizens of Temple Bar because they are part of that cosmo mix. Would Yeats, the poet, fit in here, I wonder. That is an interesting thought, but one I will leave to you. If you have been to Dublin before... that is, before all the money arrived... you will not recognize it. The old buildings have been given facelifts, and the streets are brand new. Bring a map.

The last photo above reminds me that the Irish tend to celebrate Christmas all during the month of December. It is quite a festive time, with much tradition.
It would be an excellent time of the year to visit and get perhaps a little
deeper feeling for the season.

Shopping
In Dublin city you can get practically every item made in the western world, if you know where to shop. My favorite places are the small shops that may be owned by the same family for generations... neighborhood groceries, pharmacies (O'Connor's in Ballsbrdige is a fine example), and all the professional and personal services.

But sometimes there is need for a big stick, and those larger stores can be found off of O'Connell Street on Henry St. and Talbot St.... stores like Arnotts
(quite a good one) and Dunnes Stores (very large chain across Ireland and some of Europe). And of course traditional Clerys on O'Connell Street itself, my favorite.
A Virgin megastore is just accross O'Connell Bridge.

Grafton Street is considered upper-class shopping, with many botique stores. There is an Arnotts branch there, as well as Brown Thomas and Marks & Spencer for designer clothing. Dawson Street between Nassau St. and Saint Stephen's Green is where you find bookstores, and of course all of Temple Bar area is filled with a rainbow of shopping opportunities.

And here is a Dublin company that you can find at 5 Temple View Way, Dublin 13, Ireland, or right here. They can provide you with Irish Family Crest Gifts, Claddagh Jewellery, Artwork and much more.

Now we are fully provisioned and ready for a visit to other parts of the Emerald Isle. Come along with us to Galway on the west coast of Ireland,
or go up north to Belfast.

Or if you would like to look into making travel plans to see Ireland for yourself,
Rail Europe has been serving the American market since 1934. They help more than 1 million American travelers a year spend 215,000,000.00 on their travel plans. Is it safe to book with them... I sure think so.

I can not recommend them highly enough. They are the best.

Visit our Europe Travel webstore featuring Love To Travel gear for your European Vacation, and while you are on the net, check out these other fine Europe websites
Euro-Rail.org    VacationInEurope.com    Europe-Train.org    Eurostar-TGV.com    AirfaresToEurope.com    TravelEurope.biz   

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