This category was ideal for tying up the loose ends of our lovely short break in Dublin.
There were several categories in Ciao for Dublin but I did not think that I could do justice to any of the categories with a decent opinion. Regular readers of my opinions will know that I like to write quite lengthy opinions. Once I have written an opinion my head feels much lighter as if my mind has been unburdened. So Ciao has been therapeutic for me.
This opinion just deals with the places in Dublin we roamed and the places we ate in.
Prior to the holiday I spent a few hours reading about Dublin. But in reality only 5% of what I read proved relevant.
MAIN AREAS
The main areas we roamed were O’Connell Street, O’Connell Bridge, Trinity College and Grafton Street. These were all walking distance from our hotel.
Daniel O’Connell was an Irish freedom fighter whose efforts made Ireland independent from the British. So his name was given to the main street and bridge.
O’Connell Street is the widest street in Europe. Some people will argue that the Champs Elyseein Paris is wider but it is an avenue instead of a street.
There was a pavement, which ran along the middle of O’Connell Street lengthways. There were statues of famous Irish nationalists throughout the pavement. There were plenty of benches and the Christmas decorations were first class.
Seeing these statues really inspired me. Their presence simply highlighted what heroes they were to the Irish people. I can now understand the animosity which some of the Irish feel towards the British.
It would be nice if something similar was done in an English city. It would be great seeing statues of Winston Churchill, Nelson, Queen Victoria etc next to each other instead of being scattered around various places in London.
I had my photo taken with a statue of the Irish writer James Joyce who wrote ‘Ulysses’.
O’Connell Street was like any other UK High Street. There were banks, plenty of shops, a tourist office, loads of eateries, a cinema etc.
In early December there were plenty of Christmas shoppers so walking was a bit of a chore.
The heart of Dublin is said to be at O’Connell Bridge. This bridge is wider than it is long.
The pelican crossings had red, amber and green lights. Some even had a timer, which told you how many seconds are left before it is safe to cross. I wish this system was introduced here.
Trinity College was at the end of Westmoreland Street. My wife and I went inside the university one night and seeing all the students brought back memories of my own student days at Liverpool University.
In 1980 I actually won a place at Trinity College to read medicine. But my A level grades were not good enough. What might have been…?
Grafton Street is the shopping area for posh shoppers. Nearby is the statue of Molly Malone who is cruelly known by the nickname ‘the Tart with the Cart’.
Grafton Street was beautifully lit up for Christmas. The poshest store was Brown Thomas.
SHOPPING
Regular readers of my opinions will know that I love to indulge in retail therapy. We carried on the retail therapy on holiday. It gave us a better flavour of the place and allowed us to mix more with the local folk.
I remember going on holiday with my parents and all we did was take sightseeing tours. The only people we mixed with were fellow tourists.
Here were a few of the shops we visited:
Penneys: Situated on O’Connell Street. Primark owns this store. We regularly visit the Primark store in Hammersmith. The clothes are really cheap here. The Dublin store had 3 floors. In addition to clothes, household items like lipsticks, hair bands, bathroom accessories etc were also sold here. I found that the Irish people traversed the store differently to the British.
Korkys: Situated on Henry Street. I read in a Dublin guidebook that Korkys was a shoe shop where the Irish pop singer Ronan Keating worked at the age of 16. The shop itself was quite small.
The Ilac Centre: Situated on Henry Street. This was a nice little shopping mall. It was nice for the tourist to roam around but not buy anything. There were a few benches, which helped rest those tired feet.
Clerys: Situated on O’Connell Street. This was quite an upmarket store in the same vein as John Lewis. But the inside resembled French departmental stores such as Galeries La Fayette. Prices were quite expensive so my wife only bought some make-up.
Poundworld: Situated off O’Connell Street: We loved exploring the side streets of Dublin. We found this lovely shop where most items cost 1 pound. But the aisles were quite narrow and I nearly knocked some stuff onto the floor. Some brilliant bargains were had here.
Carrolls Irish Gift Store: Situated on Temple Bar, Westmoreland Street and O’Connell Street. These stores were ideal for the tourist. Every single type of souvenir was sold here. In the background traditional Irish songs were being played. I just wish the staff smiled a bit more. Nearly all the shoppers were tourists so it helped to be extra nice to them. Prices were very reasonable here.
EATING
We wanted to eat at least one meal in a restaurant to sample some proper Irish food. But all the restaurants we looked at were too expensive. One restaurant on Westmoreland Street had a chicken main course costing 22 Irish pounds.
But we filled ourselves with junk food at the following eateries:
Abrakebabra: Situated on Westmoreland Street. This was a lovely small shop selling mostly kebabs with chips and soft drinks. The portions were huge and prices reasonable. We ate here every evening.
Burger King: Situated on O’Connell Street. This was similar to the UK outlets. The only difference was that the service was lightning fast. I received the food within 30 seconds of ordering it.
Supermacs: Situated on O’Connell Street. This store was similar to KFC but it also sold pizzas. Again the food was plentiful and cheap. It was ideal for tourists like us.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Well this is the final instalment of our lovely trip to Dublin.
I have previously covered the HotelMorgan, Dublin Airport, and the Guinness Storehouse in other Ciao articles. I will not be paid a single penny for these opinions but it gave me an opportunity to share the holiday experience with you.
The funny thing was that I have travelled to far off countries like America, India etc but have never been to Ireland before.
As Arnie said in ‘The Terminator’ movie “I’ll be back”.
I have always wanted to go to ireland and like you i have travelled all over including australia but not yet been to ireland,its funny how it works.
Love Rachael xxx
tange 31.12.2001 13:04
You describe it really well and I'm SO jealous. I really want to visit Dublin.
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Advantages: brilliant city to visit, loads of pubs, clubs, historic sites and the guiness museum. Halfpenny Bridge is well worth a look. Disadvantages: May be busy to drive around at peak times
anjib 13.03.2001 ·
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Review of Dublin in general
Dec 29th, 2001
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