Dublin, I Love You

What's not to like about Dublin? It's that kind of charming city that you never get sick of. The streets, the atmosphere, the people... I love it. The kind of city where I could come back over and over again.

Neither too big nor too small, it's perfect. It has everything and everything within reach. If you live close to the city center you can go practically everywhere by foot, something that I love. I'm not really excited with the idea of living in a huge city, where you have to take the subway every time you wanna do something or in a city so small that there is nothing to do during the week. Dublin has the perfect balance.

If you go sightseeing there are places you must visit, like for example the Trinity College, Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Molly Malone or Oscar Wilde statues, parks like Saint Stephen's Green or Phoenix, the National Wax Museum is fun too, and well, there are many mythical places. Maybe the one that I just didn't love was the Guinness Storehouse. I expected it to be more like a factory, so to speak. I actually expected to see people preparing the beer or a bottling line or something like that, I don't know. My mistake because even though we call it popularly “Guinness Factory”, nowadays the place is not working as a fermentation plant anymore. I didn't know it back then and hence my disappointment. It's mostly a museum of this beer. Anyhow I found it very interesting but not much interactive and the ticket is quite expensive. Nevertheless, the Guinness that the tour offers you in the Gravity Bar, with 360º view over the city, is priceless. Just for that it's totally worth it.

But apart from all these, what I call,“Foto-Facebook” places; there are corners one has to enjoy. To walk though the city center and to be carried along by the people, the music and the atmosphere from one street to another almost without noticing.

Obviously you are going to cross O' Connell, a very big and wide street where the famous “Spire” is. This is the main street, full of restaurants. Here you can also find the first of many “Penneys”, the famous Irish chain of stores, known as “Primark” in the rest of the countries. From O' Connell comes Henry Street as well, one of the principal shopping streets. You can find here very interesting things, apart from the typical clothing stores. My favorite was an electronics shop where I used to buy original DVDs for 3 or 4 euros. Before I knew it, I got a whole collection of movies.

Another area you will find walking in the center is Temple Bar, the official “go out” neighborhood. There are many restaurants and bars in here too, where it's almost mandatory to drink a pint and enjoy the live music act. Some of my favorites are The Oliver St. John Grogarty or The Temple Bar, sharing the name with the street. Besides, this zone is ideal for walking, with the river really close, full of bridges like the famous Ha' Penny Bridge. The lighting is really beautiful at night.

Deserves special mention a pub in which I spent most Tuesday nights, the famous Dicey's Garden, in Harcourt Street. Famous because it's always full of young people from all over the world and Tuesdays because that day pints cost 2 euros (nowadays on Mondays), a laughable price keeping in mind that normally a pint in Dublin ranges between 4.50 and 6 euros. For me it was like an Erasmus pub; perfect to practice languages, to know new people and to have a good time.

I love each and every one of these places, buuuuuuut, without a doubt whatsoever, my favorite part is Grafton Street. Full of shops and restaurants too, but very cozy and with a special air. It's life. Always full of street musicians playing folk style music normally, a bit like Tracy Chapman, which it creates me the necessity of stopping myself and listening. This is the street that makes me smile myself. This street is magic.

The Dubliners - Molly Malone

My stay in Dublin was completely a before and an after for me. It was not the first time I was living away from Spain, but it was the first time I was going abroad on my own, neither involving the university nor having an established plan nor nothing, just like that, and it was an amazing experience. Counting the days to come back.

Although, no matter what happens, I can't help wondering: What the hell were they thinking when they decided to call the famous chain of stores “Penneys”?

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