November trip..Dublin!

Ireland...the less wealthy sister to te UK...seemed in a few ways familiar to Romania...perhaps because of its spirit...of making fun of things...sort of like we do...not to mention the fact that they get their share of gypsies...sort like we do.

I decided to go to Dublin...home to U2, G.B Shaw I think and Oscar Wilde (I had no idea), but also to Joyce and other great writers. I was in the neighborhood (Belfast) which I got to see even less and I though I have to go to Dublin...it was only 2 hours away. And because my grandfather mentioned he did not like it when he went long time ago, I wanted to create my own impression.

Juliane was my companion in this adventure and we decided that since we are in town only for a day we might as well take the sightseeing bus to understand something of the city. And so we did and it was excellent that we did so because we saw more things, understood history better and the structure of the city...as well as from time to time listen to some very happy Irish music.

The trip started near this...tall monument that glows in the dark that is in the city center, near to their biggest shopping street. Please notice the weather similarities to London...

Our first encounter was with the statue of Molly Malone a symbol of Dublin. The statue is a celebration of the city's first milenium and was erected in 1987. Molly Malone is the name of a very popular song that has become the unofficial anthem of Dublin, sung by rugby fans. Molly was apparently a poor fish saleswoman who traded on the streets of Dublin, but died young of a fever. It is also known as ''The Tart with the Cart'' (and tart if I am not mistaken means an ''easy'' woman, as we would say it).

The bus took us by a few important state places...

By the Georgian part of town....
This door has a special story. If most doors are single on this street, because this one was double, pretty and white, they assume (or know) that it was built for royalty. One of the Georges came through here...which is why it's the most photographed door in Dublin.
Next came a bit more city center...

..and a beautiful shopping mall, with lots of flowers in the windows, where I tried a really sexy dress on. Unfortunately it was too expensive...:P

Then the old part of town caught our eye...with its celtic craftshops...

and very very beautiful ''Christ'' church.

And naturally because we are in Dublin...the Guiness factory is a must. Facts we heard from the bus driver, when our audio system broke:
- it produces around 2milion pints of beer, out of which 1m is exported and one stays in the country. According to him this is why the Irish drink so much...to get rid of this ridiculous amount of beer
- the land was rented from the state for 1000 years
- the worst pint of Guiness you can have in Dublin is at the very factory.

...we also found that a whole city/community was built around the factory for the workers...

...with blocks of flats and churches and schools and all.
Amongst the last things we saw from the bus was the U2- owned hotel (the more brown one). If you think ''oh..that's cool. maybe I can come to Dublin one day and stay there'' think again! Unless you are ready to cough out 1000 euros a night.

Getting off the bus was where the fun started and where the real spirit of Dublin started to reveal itself...with French-looking animators...

The artists...
...the dreamers...
...and the creatives.

So naturally I felt inspired...

Next stop was the beautiful St. George's castle...

...with it's beautiful surroundings.

But the best part of it all was the old part of town. I felt that's where the spitit and the creativity and the soul of the city lies.

lots of original pubs...

...shops...
...and places of worship...
..not to mention good atmosphere. So now if I think back at Dublin...

...I think about a place which is much more familiar than London, much warmer in terms of people and culture and much more creative. I like it for all the drinking, songs, clovers and sheep. I like it for the culture and subculture, for its past and present battles. It must be tough being so torn and so close to the former empire...next time I want to see the countryside as well!