About Dublin

So I did end up going to Dublin, Ireland for the weekend of Feb 25-28, and it was so much fun!!! In contrast w/ the rather distant ways of the Dutch, the Irish were friendly, fun and spontaneous! They were also young, playful and full of culture and patriotism. It's too bad we didn't get to go during the St. Patrick's Day celebrations, but we were still lucky in that on Feb 27 (Sunday) there was a Six Nations rugby match between Ireland and England.

Now if you don't already know, Ireland and England have beef with each other (read up on history if you're not aware of this) and so it was quite hyped. We didn't end up watching the game tho cuz we were running around town doing the Medieval museum (Dublinia), Guinness Storehouse (disappointment) and Kilmainham Gaol (pronounced J-A-I-L) among other touristy sites. I felt we had a really well-rounded trip, seeing both the glamourous side of old Dublin in the Castle apartments, as well as the dark side in the museum and jail.

On top of that, we also met a few Irishmen, one at Pravda, a Russian-themed bar and 2-3 at Charlie's, a surprisingly good chinese fast-food place in Temple Bar. All of the men were really friendly and seemed to just want to chat... well, sorta. Actually, we did meet one rather interesting boy on the main street (O'Connell St.) Ching-Yin was taking a picture of the General Post Office from the sidewalk of O'Connell when a freckly 20-something chubby Irish boy walks up to us and says,

Boy: Here, I'll take a picture for ya both,
Us: Um, no thanks...
Boy: Aw cmon, I'll help ya!
Us: Yaa... no thanks...we got it..
Boy: Yea? Well how about coming home to my place then? It's just over there... [slurring]
Us: Err.. riiiiiite. I don't think so.
Boy: Aw cmon, it's just over there!
Us: No.
Boy: What you don't like it up the ass or something?!? [more incoherent slurring]
Us: [RUNNING AWAY]

Hehe, those Irish! Anyway, the city was great with awesome shopping (read: Oasis!!!), great food, beautiful cheap clubs/pubs and rich in culture. Highly recommended!!