Dublin

turns out not

should’ve got a spice bag

this didnt feel heavy heavy at the time but i am fierce glad i had set up a self-kindness day today

the verdict is that dublin is a good pub town iirc nb for obv reasons my ability to rc is vmiq

i felt extraordinarily tired all day. second visit to the really excellent chester beatty library and then watched leinster bamboozle a leaden-footed bath in the rugby, a game in which the weather turned from mild and wet into fucking freezing and wet.

now down in donabate with a dog, a cat and a fire, so pretty happy.

aviva is one of those structures that seema to amplify bad weather, the cold in particular imo

i thought you were kipping on the south coast!

on the coast south of dublin.

http://a65.tinypic.com/34zk47q.jpg

dunno if this will work but while watching a good programme on rte on the abovementioned chester beatty library they made mention of this scandal: search for "the caretaker"

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/doconone/

it’s an interesting documentary. several good anecdotal scenes - the quite congenial sounding interrogation at Dublin airport for instance.

that interview with the academic who sent the reference to the judge is bizarre. You know the people of Dublin might not be in a position to properly appreciate documents of that sort, right? best sell them on the private market where they can be better appreciated.

I would like to have known what the change in the culture of trust involves. As someone says, the position of cataloguing represents an enormous amount of trust. You get to say what does and doesn’t exist. I will ask a librarian friend how they manage it.

it would have been interesting to know more about the timeline of events and decisions James made but i guess without his participation that’s difficult.

good documentary strand generally that as well.

Me and my wife are planning of possibly visiting Dublin in the first week of July... Neither of us have ever been Dublin, so any tips on what's happening there in July, and what sites/places to visit in general, are welcome.

We haven't a book a hotel yet or anything, so I'd also appreciate recommendations on where to stay. We can afford a hotel but nothing too pricey or fancy.

will be back later with recs. might have to tease out yr idea of what pricey and fancy are!

Suggested itinerary:

Arrive in Dublin
Leave Dublin immediately

ah jaysus

ah no, it depends what you're into of course

All the obvious ones:

- Chester Beatty Library
- national art gallery
- the national museums
- get on the dart and go up the coast to somewhere like howth
- go to the gpo and other obvious places

I was going to recommend the Jackson court hotel where we stayed over ten years ago but fuck’s sake, it’s like €734 for four nights in a double room that week!

I've been there only once, but apart from all the things to do in the city, we had a really great day buying a cheap day pass on the DART train (like €10 for unlimited rides) that runs up and down the coast outside Dublin. We climbed the hill at Bray, visited the Martello Tower at Sandycove that's in the opening of Ulysses, and had great seafood at Howth (a village with an insane amount of seafood places).

I'd say Airbnb would be your best bet accommodation-wise tbh

hotels in Dublin are absurdly expensive

Isn’t air bnb in Dublin fucking tons of local people over though?

yeah, me included

but I use it in other cities so can't really complain...

On the food front, if you want to sample some Irish produce I'd recommend:

Klaw (oysters)

Fish Shop (fish!)

Forest & Marcy (modern takes on classic Irish dishes)

Delahunt (Beautiful old building with a nice cocktail bar upstairs)

Hatch & Sons (good spot for a simple lunch if you're around the city centre)

If you're splashing out:

The Greenhouse (Probably the best lunch in town. And it's got a Finnish chef)

Thanks for the recommendations. I'd definitely be up for taking the train and seeing the coast. I guess this Howth is worth a visit, since two people mentioned it already?

As for restaurants, I don't eat meat or fish, but my wife does, and she loves seafood. So we'll have to settle for places with at least one vegetarian option on the menu. How easy/difficult is Dublin in general for vegetarian? (I'm lacto-ovo, not vegan.)

hmmm, most of the fine dining-ish places are not very vegetarian-friendly....

let me have another think

Also, we're both into literature, visual arts, comics, stand-up, pop music, so anything along those lines would be of interest.

Well there's the World Science Fiction Convention in Dublin Aug 15-19th, if you want to delay your trip - I did look in to going, but for the same sort of outlay I could have had a week in New York - so sorry Dublin.

https://dublin2019.com/

id have said town is pretty good vegetarian option wise tbh

the usual hotel aggregators and Airbnb are the options for accommodation. i think we can note that without reference to the accommodation crisis like

Oh there are vegetarian options for sure, but a lot of the fancier places are still just stuck on one starter/one main

xp fairly sure that the usual options are obvious, but fuck airbnb

I don't think we would go to fancier places anyway, we're not that wealthy, and both of us are used to travelling on a budget.

I'm not the biggest fan of Airbnb either.. Do you have an idea what would be average price per night for 2 in a three star hotel, for example?

xp agreed agreed

but i mean like nn i use em too so shrugs whatta woild etc

i uh

look i mean sorry i wouldnt know about three star hotels sorry

booking.com are my go-to for hotels i dunno if im teaching granny to suck eggs here tuomas but they alow you to group by type, star rating, amenities, distance, budget and rating by different groups (eg young couples) so thatll give you agood indicator

gyac and eyeball kicks recs are a very good selection i second all that

Looking at the hotel prices for July, and I guess Number None is right, they are pretty steep, way more expensive than in Helsinki for example. So I guess we'll have to settle to for an Airbnb, if we wanna come. I found one that seems quite nice and with a decent price, it's located in the corner of Infirmary Rd. and Aberdeen St. Would that be a bad location for moving around town?

no, location wise. the town is very walkable, if walking is something you can bear. thats right at the phoenix park, two mins from heuston station for buses and the luas, probably about 25 mins walk directly to oconnell st.

i dont know anything much about that street tho ito would i stay there, others may advise

That's a grand part of town. You won't run into any bother

my 11-month-old daughter and i are gonna be killing some time in dublin for a couple of days from tomorrow - any suggestions of baby-friendly stuff we can do together other than go to the pub?

Go to a baby-friendly pub.

fuckin nailed it, cheers

Tom otm, although most pubs are baby friendly tbf...
https://youtu.be/GahWcnBvnSA

Is she too young for the zoo? I’m guessing so.

get the DART out to Killiney or Howth. Weather is going to be great so might as well spend it at the beach

also this place is meant to be good

http://www.imaginosity.ie/

although she might be a bit young

actually Howth wouldn't be so suitable

but Killiney, Portmarnock or Sandycove

what does she like to do usually

Go to the pub.

big fan of shitting herself at the mo

also mini babybels

beach and/or zoo sounds good, thx folks

northside pub forsure so xps

tuomas im not in town that weekend alas, otherwise i was goin to offer to be nicer to u in person than i am on the internet.

bg hmu if it appeals or time allows obv

little walk down dun laoghaire pier and trip out to dalkey is a lovely DART day out btw