Ocnmeg

Thank you all for your comments. To clear up the tomato question - they were broiled.
As far as my "culinary adventures" - I did post before we left asking for recommendations, and Thunder Road was highly recommended.
Lawchick - thanks for the advice about doing research before travelling. As you can see from other posts I did just that, on this board and others, as well as talk extensively to family and friends who had gone over. I am frankly amazed at the level of snobbery some people feel justified displaying simply becasue some poor soul dares to admit a glaring lack of international travel. That is why travel guides exist, and forums such as this, to share and enlighten, not put down and mock.
Again, thanks to all (well almost all

lucielou

Ocnmeg

I'm sorry you found Dublin a bit of disappointment, but I honestly feel some of you comments were a bit unfair.
You said.

Dublin is Filthy, All of Dublin is under construction. The buildings look like they havent been washed for years! Everyone smokes!

Firstly, i think its grossly unfair of you just make a general statement that Dublin is filthy, I agree some of streets are dirty, but others are spotlessly clean. Everyone DOES NOT smoke, infact the smoking ban has helped many people to give up. The buildings here are old and historical, you can't have every building spanking clean and boringly sanitary. Not all of Dublin is under construction, infact Meg, you only saw a tiny percentage of Dublin, Dublin does not consist of just a few streets in the city centre.

As someone who was born and reared in Dublin I found your report a bit hurtful, i think you made a sweeping generalisation,I respect that you are entitled to your opinion, but I think you have given a very bad opinion of Dublin, when in fact, you've only seen a tiny part of it, I hope you will come back again, and spend more time here, and see that Dublin does not start and end with the few streets you visited. best wishes in your future travels

Melissa5

tod, there isn't any third world. We are all living in the first human world, as far as I know, and who knows if there will be a second or even a third human world some day if we manage to destroy this one?

If you look back at my previous comments, you will notice that it wasn't I who referred to any third world. I was relating a story about trash, which has been discussed a lot on this thread.

Just so everyone will feel things are fair here, I have seen trash in the USA too.

lucielou, I can understand you would feel the need to defend your home-town. I would defend mine too! But Ocnmeg's report won't keep visitors from Dublin, it will just help add to their overall view, as they will also read other people's glowing reports. I'd love to hear from you about the great things about Dublin!

McShane

Ocnmeg,
Thanks for your frank report. It sounds like you had a nice/interesting time with your son.

We were in Dublin this August and liked it very much. It seemed just as dirty to me as any city (there's a reason urban dwellers wear black) and yes - it's confusing to navigate! Any place that starts out with footpaths ends up with streets that are confusing. It's the only city I've ever gotten lost in and I count as one of my great accomplishments navigating us out of Mexico City with a map and a compass! In Dublin every time I tried to find my way back to the hotel I'd be surprised to look up and see a street I wasn't expecting ("where'd that church come from?&quot

We found the Irish to be very, very friendly everywhere, but then I live in the Northwest and we don't talk to strangers here My outgoing adult daughter loved that she could talk to absolutely anyone and everyone and they would talk back and think it was normal!

Hopefully now that you've struck out internationally with your son you'll be able to do it again - great memories.

And Siobhan - a grilled tomato - that's the best.

mom929

Ocnmeg

Thank you thank you for your report. There are always going to be people who take offense when you express your own opinions and experience and they somehow differ from theirs. I appreciate your honesty.

I will be traveling to Ireland next summer with two boys, ages 7 and 10. I had to laugh at your descriptions of your son "the adventurous eater" That will be mine too! We are only spending one night in Dublin, and then off to castles and coasts. But I appreciate your warnings about the bus system.

MissPrism

lucielou

“Two men looked through prison bars, one saw mud, the other stars”

We all see what we want to.
For example, Venice can be a bit smelly when it's rubbish collection day. The buildings are crumbling and there's a fair bit of graffiti.
However, I've been returning there for years and am violently in love with it.
It's rather the same with London. I love literary London, historic London, theatrical London and the enormous variety of humanity you find there.
I notice that the OP didn't mention literary Dublin, historic Dublin or artistic Dublin. That's not to mention the Georgian architecture.
She didn't go and look at the Book of Kells or even marvel at the Floosie in the Jacuzzi ;-)
As somebody else said, if some people are put off, then all the more for the rest of us.

Danna

Thanks, Ocnmeg, for your report.

I enjoyed virtually traveling with your teenager. I had to laugh about his adventerous eating and the shhh he's using math asides. My daughter has lived on chicken and rice more than once whilst traveling. How cool he figured out that it wasn't worth the Euro to buy skateboarding stuff he could get at home. I hope he found something for a special rememberance.

Even though I love maps and have a great sense of direction. I got us WAY lost on in Dublin. Poor hubby, bum foot limping along as I said... "it's got to be just around the corner"! I have also spent many times running up to the bus and saying... do you go there? I'm actually pleased with my newfound bus-ability!

It's too bad you missed the National Museum. You wouldn't BELIEVE the gold stuff they find in the ground there. It's no wonder the view of a "pot of gold at the end of the rainbow" exists. Maybe next time.

I also enjoyed the mention of Murphy's. Now I love Guiness, but I can quaff a Murphy's happily as well!

Did you have any good bread with the breakfast and tomatoes? Aren't the full breakfasts lovely. I'm a full breakfast fan... be it English, Scots or Irish.

Many thanks for your report. I enjoyed it.

SiobhanP

Flanner - I must be privledged the tinned ones sound vile! Up until they closed you always got your Bewleys breakfast with a tomato if you wanted. Yum.

OK Now I myself was a picky eater as a kid and loved the TGI fridays type places but I have to say Thhunder Road is about number 3 on my top worst meals in Dublin. Your meal sounded much like one I had. I was there on a Hen night and it was inedible which is not the first time over the past 3 years i have said this. But...Kids like that stuff so you have to let them have a little once in a while. Boxty house is popular but I would have no interest eating here. Boxty can be like lead in the stomach and i can only eat in small doses every few years. You would get a better meal at Elephant and Castle 2 doors down but its not "traditional" Irish food.

Just some advice for other travellers on the bus.

1. If unsure of your stop tell the driver to let you know when he is at your stop and he will give a shout out to you.
2. Ocnmeg - I am pretty sure that lane/street up to Guinness was the local hostel/simon community. They are only allowed in at certain times and some will not allow them in if they have drink on them. Its a sadder part of dublin but it exists in every city and they provide some assistance to these unfortunate people. They will not hurt or rob you so don't worry. I have been pounced on in Paris by a homelwess drunk and was shocked as it would not happen in Dublin.

Overall Dublin is a capital city building to make it stay strong economically and house more people as many commute from outside dublin and they are encouraging people to come to the city and participate. We have the lowest unemployement now in Europe and must keep up to stay on top economically. The celtic tiger never died, it just slowed down and seems to be slowly rising again.

Enjoy Dublin!

lawchick

This post still annoys me. I wish it would go away. I know I'm keeping it alive also by responding!

The population in Ireland is very young - the median age is in fact 33.7 years - thats why no one older than that is on the street - and we maintain a high birth rate - after all the public fondling.

We have a much lower unemployment rate than the US and according to the Economist - it's the best place in the world to live. The Economist Intelligence Unit, which has devised a 2005 “quality of life” index for 111 countries. Result: Ireland comfortably tops the league. America, though the second-richest country (behind Luxembourg) in GDP per head, slips to 13th in quality of life.
http://www.economist.com/theworldin/...495&d=2005

mah1980

Reading your trip report I was amazed at your restaurant choices. Everyone is not a foodie, but a mall fried chicken place (and I can't even imagine how fried chicken in Ireland tastes when any fried chicken out of the American South tastes odd to me)? Maybe these less than ideal restaurant choices caused you to be unenthusiastic about Dublin.

BTilke

Thanks Oncmeg for posting an amusing and interesting trip report. A few years ago, one of my colleagues in Brussels went to Ireland for her vacation. She came back surprisingly quiet about the trip. I asked her what she thought and she said the countryside was lovely and the people in the countryside were friendly and helpful. She didn't have much to say about Dublin. I pressed her about it and finally she said she found Dublin interesting but incredibly dirty, that there was trash everywhere. Not that the buildings were grey or drab (we have plenty of those in Brussels), but that things were just plain dirty. And there were lots of little plastic white shopping bags everywhere (according to the New Yorker magazine, the Irish call these bags "witches' knickers&quot.
Ignore the people who take umbrage at any negative comments. It is a common (but regrettable) practice here that anyone with a negative opinion about a popular destination (London, Paris, Venice, etc.) will get slagged for it.

I liked your honest, refreshing report. You never pretended to be anything other than a first-time visitor and you DID do research beforehand.

SiobhanP

Plastic bags are now all charged for at 15cent a bag due to the amount of pollution/rubbish building up. Its's been a great success and may bring or recycle old bags now. The city does have dirt problems and i will agree. Part of the problem especially in shopping areas is that there are no back laneways to leave rubbish and most is left out at a certain time during the week. some of this end up being battered and on the street. Shame really. Also kids and adults are lazy and just thrown things on the ground which drive me crazy.

GreenDragon

Ocnmeg -- thanks for a great report, I really enjoyed reading it. I've been to Dublin twice, and liked it both times. I, however, braved renting a car both times, and did not regret it

Again, as others have said, ignore the negative comments. You gave a good, informative report that will help others.

Doing otherwise is like saying 'it's beautiful' to an artist looking for an honest critique. The artist wants to know the goods and bads so she can adjust, fix, etc. Just saying it's great is useless.

I do hope you go back to Ireland, and go somewhere other than Dublin. The parts you didn't care for (the dirtiness, the smoking, the litter, the bus confusion) is much less apparent or nonexistant in the lovely countryside, or even in the smaller towns. A trip to the southwest (where I'm going in June) or to Kilkenny will be much different

tower

Meg...first off, I love the Irish countryside and Dublin as well (based on four lengthy and quite extensive visits..on three of which I drove the entire perimeter)..but please pay little or no mind to some of the posters who seem to be always looking for a fight. And yes, there is unmistakable snobbery involved, I'm sorry to say.I simply can't understand it.
While not agreeing with everything you have written IMHO, I fully appreciate your remarks, and I hope this will be the beginning of a lifelong thirst for international travel for you. You are to be commended for sharing this adventure with Alex.
Happy travels wherever and whenever you go again!

Stu T.

sibby

Right, well truth be told, upset or not. I live in Dublin and have worked for an airline for 20 years and have seen most of the world and yes, Dublin is very dirty and scruffy in many areas. Customer service in shops/at information desks etc. is frequently stroppy and sullen and makes one feel embarassed. My personal bugbear - mens suits reek of beer and smoke. O.K - shoot me, but its true!!

Jinky

Well, I love Dublin. I never found it "filthy". My husband and I live in Los Angeles, and are being married in Dublin (Rathgar) and spending 2 weeks there for our honeymoon in Dec/Jan.

It's funny how some people think 2 days is "enough" to be in Dublin, for us 2 weeks is still not enough.

different strokes and all ...

Jinky

In regard to the above post - we're already married, (just this Saturday!), but are getting married again at a church in Dublin