Monday, March 05, 2007
Five Unusual Things About Dublin
1. Long lines at ATMs. Either there aren't enough cash machines in the city, or way too many people rely on them. Sometimes I'd see 15 or 20 people lining up to use the ATM.
2. Bus Mirrors - All the coach buses in Ireland have these gigantic molded side-view mirrors that hang out in front of the bus in big sculpted curves.
3. No dogs - Really strange. I saw two dogs the whole weekend. You'd think a city like this, with lots of young people and lots of park space, would be a big dog town. Not so, apparently.
4. Guinness is losing popularity - hard to believe, but apparently all those young people that inhabit the city think Guinness is worse on the waistline than other beers. To combat its slowly shrinking sales, Guinness has introduced several limited-edition stouts. I tried the "North Star" stout several times. Highly recommended. It's definitely Guinness, but at the same time it's also different. Also surprising - Budweiser doesn't seem to be as popular as it was 15 years ago. I saw a lot fewer taps offering it.
5. Turf fires have vanished - the last time I was in Dublin in wintertime (many years ago) the air was filled with the unforgettable smell of burning peat. That's all gone. I have heard that Ireland's peat is quickly disappearing and, combined with Dublin's modernization, the change shouldn't be so surprising, I guess. And the buildings are a lot cleaner. But it's kind of sad to see it gone.
2. Bus Mirrors - All the coach buses in Ireland have these gigantic molded side-view mirrors that hang out in front of the bus in big sculpted curves.
3. No dogs - Really strange. I saw two dogs the whole weekend. You'd think a city like this, with lots of young people and lots of park space, would be a big dog town. Not so, apparently.
4. Guinness is losing popularity - hard to believe, but apparently all those young people that inhabit the city think Guinness is worse on the waistline than other beers. To combat its slowly shrinking sales, Guinness has introduced several limited-edition stouts. I tried the "North Star" stout several times. Highly recommended. It's definitely Guinness, but at the same time it's also different. Also surprising - Budweiser doesn't seem to be as popular as it was 15 years ago. I saw a lot fewer taps offering it.
5. Turf fires have vanished - the last time I was in Dublin in wintertime (many years ago) the air was filled with the unforgettable smell of burning peat. That's all gone. I have heard that Ireland's peat is quickly disappearing and, combined with Dublin's modernization, the change shouldn't be so surprising, I guess. And the buildings are a lot cleaner. But it's kind of sad to see it gone.
# posted by Jim O'C @ 3:13 PM 
