Dublin

I suppose you went for all the hackneyed locations. I dunno why Barcode doesn't do well, it could set itself up in Cara as the anti-Johnny Foxs.

it does amazingly well, or it did when i lived in bac.

didn't get up to all that much exciting tbh

was delayed 10hrs by ryanair on our flight out so lost a day. had some americans in tow so did a lot of touristy stuff: merrion sq, national gallery, the guinness storehouse. pints & the dublin game at the duke off dawson st., food at elephant & castle in temple bar was OK.

will say dublin is very pretty in places; the georgian townhouses are gorgeous

That is rough re. Ryanair. A pity that you lost so much time. Still, looks like you made the touristy best of what time you had.

Not sure if this is the best place to post this but:

I live in Northern California (flying out of SF, Sacramento or Oakland) and have traveled to Europe twice in the last 2 years, planning a third and no matter how widely I search, going on 3 years, flying into Dublin is the cheapest in western Europe by a margin of about $300. I never really hear anyone else mention this, though, irl or online...I feel like most transatlantic travelers don't share my experience in finding Dublin flights so cheap? I love Dublin, but would love to see a new city en route to my ultimate destination, Valencia, Spain. Any tips, other places to search, insights into this huge price gap would be greatly appreciated.

Long haul taxes are low out of Dublin and there's lots of competition between airlines. Frankfurt and Amsterdam might be worth checking though.

i got propositioned tonight walking up behind the mespil (i think?)

jaysus i didnt think that happened. dublin, eh? its not like back at home at all at all.

in Dublin Airport for a short-ish layover today & unlike my last flight on Aer Lingus a few years back, the flight staff spoke no Irish today/last night. but I notice lots of signs in both English and Irish. is this just for tourists or is there a substantial community of people here who prefer to read Irish? is there a real move toward bilingualism here?

Irish is the official language. All official documentation/signage is in both languages.

fair q

the answer will depend on who you ask

I'm from a Gaeltacht myself but haven't got great Irish. we had a few houses that the mandated inspector knew to visit to be able to stamp the forms to allow the nod/wink of culture claim and cash flow to the area from the approving Dublin middle class, who speak Irish (having the resources to teach it and send their kids off to the strange and foreign west to learn it each summer). where I'm from, we were much more worried about getting practical subjects so we could hopefully get jobs or bring jobs locally someday.

that never came about, obv. we'd have been better learning our gaeilge, how to weave baskets and act as if life out west hasn't changed since our grandfathers' time. that's p much the only industry coming to the gaeltachts any time soon, aping past poverty for tourists and hobbying dubs.

ito the language, there's a huge scam driven by a range of cabals attempting to sell the pretends of Irish as a living tongue, using a gamed census form and spin to radically overstate the extent to which people use or can use it in everyday life. throwing it on signs, insisting on tramlnslation of all forms/services, EU docs, legislation, making it compulsory to study it until leaving school, the whole thing is a cod and a farce driven by a tiny group of actual gaeilgeoirs from the Gaeltacht (most of whom speak better English), hobby gaeilgeoirs from elsewhere that have a fetish for a famines west, and a few literary scholars who need to drum up work.

I don't have a chip on my shoulder about this at all btw

huh, interesting. I wonder if there are other nations with an official language that isn't dominant in the communication of most of that nation's people. the examples that I'd consider would all be former European colonies where the official language is a European language but most people speak an indigenous language. but that's not the case in Ireland.

French in Canada is an obvious one

-- Do you understand what he says? Stephen asked her.

-- Is it French you are talking, sir? the old woman said to Haines.

Haines spoke to her again a longer speech, confidently.

-- Irish, Buck Mulligan said. Is there Gaelic on you?

-- I thought it was Irish, she said, by the sound of it. Are you from west, sir?

-- I am an Englishman, Haines answered.

-- He's English, Buck Mulligan said, and he thinks we ought to speak Irish in Ireland.

-- Sure we ought to, the old woman said, and I'm ashamed I don't speak the language myself. I'm told it's a grand language by them that knows.

I just saw a guy in a kilt while sitting here in the airport Burger King; now all my stay in Ireland needs for full ~~~~authenticness~~~~ is for me to scarf down a bag of Taytos

not all, but urgent certainly

In Dublin for a couple of nights next week - are there any nice guides for events in the centre of town? Any arthouse cinemas etc.

lighthouse in Smithfield or the ifi in temple bar are yr bets.

I hesitate to propose a fap but fap?

LOL Darragh ifi are playing Orson Welles' Chimes at Midnight but its at 4pm so I can't go that ;-)

Why hesitate - want to suggest a pub? Staying around Smithfield but I can go somewhere off that for a drink in a better place etc. Thurs is best for me.

hesitation only out of acknowledgement of my not being everyones cup of tea bytimes. also I dont read too many books!

but I get along ok with ppl in person mostly.

I'll check Thursday out but sounds preliminarily good

Cool.

myusername @ gmail.com FYI

yup, be in touch sometime.

Have fun you two. You are both a good cuppa tea.

tx jed - might be making my way to Edinburgh for a few weeks after (during weekdays) for this piece etc. Hope to get sometime for Glasgow. Revive the appropriate thread if so.

facot

Good to hear Julio, I'll come and see you. I was obviously feeling quite sentimental last night although I dunno if Darraghmac just called me a faggot or what!?

fancy a cuppa

ha sorry I didnt check the phonetics there my bad

In the big smoke. "Vote for gay marriage, vote for anti-austerity"

Sorry for the delay, emailed you D.

well at least we have two things to fight over hey

casting call for dub ilxors in general?

shameful to note ive never met any but eh I dont blame em or anything

oh hey this was great BTW more ilxors should meet me in dublin

I should be up in Dublin 17-19th June

oh, awkward. I meant glamorous foreigners.

http://img1.nymag.com/imgs/daily/vulture/2012/04/10/10_vanderbeek-cryface.w215.h143.2x.jpg

I'll be accompanied by glamorous foreigners if that's any consolation

drop me a fb but it shouldn't be beyond bounds of possibility to have a quick pint surely

did we ever clear that up with jed?

I will be visiting with my sister in June. Any recs for hotels, bars, record stores, etc?

Looks like most of the record shops I knew are gone now. Tower is now in the old Waterstones premises and above Easons on O'Connell st.
There's still a record shop in George's St arcade.
I don't remember seeing any of the others still around. Except HMV on Henry St. Had been 5 years gap before my last visit a couple months back though. So maybe there are new places I don't know about?

I, a 35 year old married man in a decent state of career, am now looking into the option of us renting a room in a share in order to actually save money for a deposit while also managing to live in Dublin

I realise this will not be news to new yorkers or Londoners but lookit we're only little old Ireland lads hasn't this all gotten a bit #notions

Oof sorry to hear that, deems. Cork is getting ridiculous regarding rent/accom too

I was in Dublin for a few days last summer and thought it seemed even a bit pricier than London.

I'd happily stay miles away from the buying option tbh but the way renting is gone.....eesh

If you would like to commute in from Offaly I can sort you out with a decent 'buy two houses, get one free' deal.

Ah, sorry to hear that, man - I know the prices fell off a ridiculous high in early 2006 (as the fear of going home and buying is what kept me over here) - it looks like they hit the bottom in 2012 from a minute's Googling, is it back to the mad old times?

Rent wise certainly, the buying market actually appears to be slowing very slightly as a result of the lending strictions.

We'll survive. In tallaght.

Dammit tho it's a great town to live in tbf.

You'll have the decency not to mention I said any such thing obv

Damnit D, that sucks. (I loved your house, it's prob twice as big as mine too!)

The integrity of your ethnic identity is safe with me.

Tyvm