Thursday, July 23, 2015

Dublin: The Good vs. The Bad

This week brings an end to my time in Dublin before heading off to London this Friday. While I am super stoked and anticipate my liking for London to be greater than Dublin, there are some good parts of this city that I will miss. So with that, I bring you the good vs. the bad of Dublin, Ireland.

Lets start with the bad:

Where is the fashion? | When I tell you that Dubliner's are the least fashionable, I am not joking. The reason this is so confusing is that there are plenty of shopping centers with cool stores. However there is a distinct and obvious difference between tourists, usually stylish, and the not so stylish Dublin natives.

Why are the sidewalks so tiny? | Dublin is said to be a walking city. I asked a cab driver to drive me what is about a 30 minute walk away and was basically laughed at. They walk everywhere. However, the sidewalks are about 1/4 of the size of Philly's or even New York's sidewalks making it basically impossible to walk courteously never mind walking with an umbrella. Also, can they give more than 30 seconds to cross the street?!

Where is the green? | Now I know I am not the hugest nature lover and prefer the city over anything else, but Dublin would just be better if there were hills and greenery. When you think of Ireland, you think green....which is not Dublin.

Now, lets end with the good:

Pubs pubs pubs...and food | As I mentioned before, the food here is unbelievably delicious. There are literally pubs at every corner serving traditional Irish foods as well as typical bar food. You really can't go wrong. Not only are there pubs everywhere but they have so many other ethnic foods from Middle Eastern to Italian to Japanese. I had had the best bento box yesterday!

The better weather | Dublin see's better weather compared to other areas in Ireland and this summer has been particularly dry. While it can rain at any given second, regardless of the forecast, it's similar to Florida in that it won't rain for too long. Not so similar to Florida is that the warmest it will get is around 65 degrees. However, I'd prefer Dublin's dry weather over Ireland's rain any day.

The experience | How many people can say they've lived in Dublin for 5 weeks? Not many, as its not one of the more popular places to visit yet alone live. These 5 weeks were nothing like I had expected and I would not exchange it for anything else in the world. The experiences I have had on this trip are unlike anything I will experience again, and for that I am so grateful.



So long Dublin, and London I will see you soon!



1 comment:

  1. I'm studying in London right now and it's the complete opposite of Dublin! Because it's a fashion capital (also probably cause I'm studying at London College of Fashion) I see stylish people everywhere. Everyone has such a unique sense of style too. Here, everyone also tends to walk everywhere, but we've taken Ubers to places nearby when we go out at night and there was never a problem. Also, the greenery in London was one of the main things that attracted me to it so much. There're so many huge parks with beautiful grass and flowers, and so many buildings are decorated with cute flower pots and baskets. You're gonna love it!

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