h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I just took a weekend break in Dublin a few weeks ago, so here are some things that I thought were quite good.

First of all, however, I need to add a caution - I lived in Dublin for a few years, so I know the city fairly well already, and so I would not have been inclined to see the city as a newcomer tourist to the place. The most recent break was to visit some of the places I never really got to see when I was living there.

We stayed in the Westin hotel in central Dublin. It is a new hotel in College Green right in the centre of the city. I loved it. It has a very friendly atmosphere, the rooms are very clean and superbly comfortable, and it has a very nice bar. It is also very close to Temple Bar, Trinity College and Grafton Street, so it is probably one of the best locations in the city. Parking is a problem, but they have valet parking, and as I said, the staff are really helpful and friendly, so this minor irritation is easily overlooked.

We spent some time the first night at some of the places we used to go to when we lived in Dublin. We ate at Pasta Fresca's on Chatham Street, just off Grafton Street, and we spent an hour afterwards in Farrels Pub just across the same street. Both places were excellent - full of life and energy.

The following day we went to the newly renovated National Gallery off Merrion Square, which is one of the "must see" places in Dublin. It features many of the best works of Irish Artists dating back 4 centuries, plus it regularly holds international exhibitions. The building is a mixture of old and ultra-modern, so you might find yourself wondering at times if you are still in the same building! One of the centrepieces of the gallery is the haunting painting of the Betrayal of Christ by the Italian artist Carravaggio. It was found by accident a few years ago in a Jesuit monastery, and very kindly passed on to the state.

I then visited the nearby Natural History Museum, and to be frank, I was a bit disappointed. Nothing in the museum really conveyed the importance of the natural environment to our existence here on earth, so it is in bad need of a major overhaul. The only thing that really impressed me were the restored skeletons of the Giant Irish Deer (often mistakenly referred to as the Irish Elk), which lived in Ireland just after the last Ice Age. The antlers are 3 metres long. Other than that there are simply lots and lots of stuffed animals - a taxidermists dreamworld.

The real mecca for shopping in Dublin is the Stephen's Green Shopping centre, which is just at the top of Grafton Street. It is a large space, over 3 stories high, packed full of high-street shops and a few cafés, with plenty of nice vantage points if you just want to rest awhile, and look out at the world passing you by.

We also took a quick walk through Temple Bar that day. This part of the city has been renovated over the last decade, and is now the bohemian / artistic quarter in the city, although in reality it is also a haven for raucus bars, nightclubs and drunken stag parties! The nicer part of this area in my opinion, is towards Parliament Street, near Dublin Castle, where there are some nice pubs and restaurants.

Our evening on Saturday was mainly taken up by a visit to good friends of ours in Swords (near the airport), although I have to remark that if you are visiting Dublin in the near future, be prepared for long traffic delays. There is a huge amount of road construction taking place in the city as a road tunnel and a new light-rail network are simultaneously being built.

On Sunday, we visited the National Botanical Gardens in Glasnevin, on Dublin's northside. This is a pretty oasis of peace, with a lot to occupy the minds of anyone who has an interest in gardening or nature. Most spectacular in my view is a long colourful row of scented flowers, which would appeal to anyone except hay-fever sufferers!

Overall, the place is a great place to go for a weekend break. The centre of the city is small and manageable, and the centre of the city is relatively safe, with a lively, young atmosphere. In recent years it has become very cosmopolitan, with lots of different nationalities living side by side, so there is something for everyone there.

Woodpigeon

Have to agree with Woodpigeon - have now been to Dublin for a weekend break for the last three years. Apologies for the huge number of inaccuracies there's bound to be below - I have to say I was very drunk at the time(s).

Year One :
Trinity College and the Book of Kells.
Because you have to. Nice library too!
The Literary Pub Crawl
Early evening to not so early evening walk round the pubs and locations frequented by Dublin's literary sons - Joyce, Beckett, Wilde, etc. Taken round by a pair of actors and a musician, who intersperce the history with acting, readings and songs. Well worth it if you have an evening free.
The National Museum
Very interesting collection of all things Dublin and Ireland. Excellent for us history buffs. Lots of gold, stuff saved from the bogs, and Michael Collins' uniform, as well as a good deal more.
Drinking in Temple Bar.
'Cause you have to do that too.
And if it's your first time, the quick cheap way to see Dublin is by the open topped buses that do an hour and a half tour throughout the day - jump on and off whenever you want - ticket lasts for 24 hours.

Year 2
The Viking boat tour.
Stick on your horned helmet (ooh I say!) and do the tour in a WW2 ex-army land water thingy (excuse me - brain drain). Make gruff noises at passers by both on land and in the river.
Kilmainham Gaol
Ex-gaol, now a fascinating museum giving you an idea of the horrors debtors and petty thieves had to go through in Ireland in the 19th century.
The Guiness Factory
Another Dublin staple - though do make sure you find out the opening times or else they won't let you in. I didn't, and they didn't, so no idea if it's any good or not. But I don't like Guiness anyway, so not too worried.

Year 3
Dublin Zoo
Be surprised at how loud Irish children are! The only things louder than Irish children? Irish mothers! Not a bad zoo, but London and Jersey are better. Set in a HUGE park though, so worth a meander...
Irish Pubs.
Serves alcohol. Excellent atmosphere. Make sure you get a hotel that serves breakfast late...

I went to Dublin for a week a few weeks ago. Temple Bar is a very nice area... not exactly a traditional cuisine plug here, but it's well worth trying out the Mongolian Barbeque, for an insane stirfry experience...

The Castle's good (if you can work out which way to go to get to the tours. There were no signs that we could see, although we may have just been being dumb) and you can find out about all the evil things that Queen Victoria did to things like the black pool that gave Dublin (Dubh = black; linn = pool) its name... another plus is that if you're into that kind of thing, your allowed to take photos inside the building in all but one room...

The Guiness Museum is very cool, almost self consciously so. First you queue and queue to pay, and they give you a little perspex pebble with a tiny bit of guiness inside, as a souvenir. The process of making guiness is explained on the first three or so floors of the museum (you work your way up the building) and then content kind of fizzles out on the upper floors, so its just a dash to get to the top floor for the free pint of guiness (or a soft drink) that your perspex pebble entitles you to (don't worry - they scan it and give it back to you). I loathe guiness, but my boyfriend swore that after tasting guiness in all its glory there, he'd never be able to drink it in this country again. . This hasn't been the case, though, if last weekend is anything to go by...

As a Dubliner living abroad I'd have to say that you should avoid Temple Bar like the plague. If you want to see something more than English stag and hen parties. Everyone I've met here that has been to Dublin just went to Temple Bar and they're really missing most of what going on.

It's definitely a mistake to go solely to Temple Bar, but I wouldn't say avoid it entirely. There's a great market in the Meeting House Square on Saturday mornings (is it Saturday? not sure).

But the most important reason to venture into Temple Bar is the Elephant and Castle. Not sure what the rest of the cuisine is like, but the spicy chicken wings are absolutely celestial. A big basket of greasy, crusty chicken pieces with celery and a mayonaisse dip...

Excuse me while I go drool over a bucket.


I'm back. I'd also recommend Monty's of Kathmandu for great Nepalese food.

Forbidden Planet on the quays is the mecca for comics and TV show merchandise in Ireland. They have a Jesus Christ action figure that has to be seen to be believed.

The Chester Beatty Museum is well worth a visit. The man collected art and artifacts from all over the world, so the collection has Japanese samurai armour, Imperial Chinese furniture and Polynesian bead-maps, along with a large collection of medieval European manuscripts.

Go to Dublin Castle and follow the signs for the tribunals. If you hang around long enough, you're almost guaranteed to see a crooked politician. Actually, you probably won't have to wait too long.

I was in Dublin a few weeks ago. Something that struck me in my research before going was that, it appears that all Dubliners are poets. Let me explain:

There is a statue of a woman lying in some water, I'm not sure who she is, but she must be important. What do the Dubliners call her? "The Floozie in the Jacuzi".

Another statue is one of Molly Malone, they call that one, "The tart with the cart".

The most recent addition is the Millennium spire/spike, nicknamed, "The stilletto in the gheto".

Is this something the Dubliners can't help themselves with? Do they have to nickname everything? If so, good luck to them, I love it.

And there was the Time in the Slime, an ill-fated attempt to put a huge digital countdown to the millennium in the Liffey. unfortunately the water was too dirty to see the numbers.

Another one I heard for the spike was 'The Jab on the Slab'. I have a theory that these names are made up by a secret cell of taxi drivers who then call up the Gerry Ryan Show with them. Cause whenever I listen to it, it seems to be taxi drivers calling.

And the clock was also called the Chime in the Slime.

Mr Legion - I'm a poet and I'm not even aware of it.

I too have spent several interesting weekend breaks in Dublin over the last couple of years. The most relaxing one was this June which I spent at the Court Hotel in Kiliney.
Programme as follows:
Coffee and toast watching the England match. Followed by full Irish breakfast,freshly cooked - none of that leavit around in the hotplates stuff.
General pampering session. Catch wedding bus into Dublin. Take part in son's wedding. Back to hotel for champagne and Guinness on lawn.Bright sunshine overlooking the bay. Upstairs to reception, fall into bed about 2.30. Fall out of it for full Irish again. Go walking in the hills in the afternoon, followed by tea at bride's sister's.
Dinner at lebanese restaurant complete with belly dancer. At no time lift a finger to do anything. The trick with this, as every other weekend I've spent in Dublin, is to allow somone else to organise it all

Yes, the market opens on Saturday in Meeting house square. Meeting House Square hosts a market that is not largely known by the Dublin natives, but is a wonderful corner of Temple Bar to visit whether living in Dublin or merely visiting. Wonderful scents and flavours from the sweet to the savoury laden the stalls and mix with beautiful sounds of ethnic music from Irish to medievil to Spanish, depending on the performers of that week.

As for the rest of the week, Meeting house square is reasonably quiet but is still a nice spot to stop for a rest in the daylight hours and sometimes holds small, open air concerts.

Tonights dinner comes from that very market - fresh fish and a selection of organic veg. Nice.

Also - for food the "Cedar Tree" (Lebanese) is great, and if you want a real pint of Guinness try "Mulligans" on poolbeg street.

Other must dos: Walk off the beaten track in the Phoenix park and see the deer herds; have fish and chips from Wrights in Howth; the nature reserve near the Pigeoopn house power station; the view from Killiney hill.

For all the other cities in this article the country is mentioned, but Dublin must be special. Everyone knows and loves the Irish, obviously.

The woman in the water was 'Anna Life' (that e is pronounced): 'the Spirit of the Liffey'. I think she's gone now, but I may be wrong. (Though I live in the republic, I'm very rarely in the capital. (I'm probably in London almost as often as I'm in Dublin, and that's not often.))

TRiG.