Last summer I visited Dublin with my wife. The visit to Baile Atha Cliath was such an immersive experience, that only now I am ready to write about it.
The Wonder: 30 years ago Dublin was a regressive city. Now Dublin is rated as one of those top creative cities in the world, at least by Richard Florida.
Where does this power come from? My observations:
- Folk music heritage. I and my wife visited the Jameson Distillery and had a fantastic evening full of Irish music and dance. Nothing cheap for 'bloody tourists', instead, the performers (singers, players and dancers were all first class. Darn, I forgot the name of the band, can anyone recognise them in the picture? I would like to buy their album.
... I am a bit envious here. In my home country, folk music and dances are something extraordinary, they are not practised or 'consumed' by majority. Ireland truly seems to be a creative nation with strong folk art tradition.
- Lively music scene. Bars and restaurants are full of talented singers and musicians. Not to mention enthusiastic audience.
- Trinity College. One of the most beautiful campuses I have seen. As a football coach, I liked that students and staff played football between lessons! Our IADIS Mobile Learning conference was held in Trinity college. The most interesting presentation: Irish music tuner, TunePal, by Bryan Duggan. Let's hope that there will be a Symbian /S60 ver 3. available soon, so that everyone can tune themselves to Irish music :-)
- Technology. The manufacturing and exports of computer hardware and software have recently become a major business of Dublin. Many companies have their support and call centers there. Still, it may get too nerdy for some visitors to meet so many techies ;-)
- Parks. Although they are really small compared to other cities like London, they are places of rest. Really! People were sleeping on lawn during their lunch break. Unfortunately, in many European cities only drunkards sleep in parks. In that sense Dublin was a positive surprise. (I like to take a nap, as you may guess ;-)
So, was Dublin perfect? Not at all! Minus points:
- Hotel prices and the level of hotels. My recommendation: check TripAdvisor reviews, before you book a hotel.
- Traffic. Street were really narrow and crowded. In that sense, get a hotel (apartment) close to railway or monorail stop.
- No children or elderly people anywhere (not at least in July). Really odd! Maybe this is a feature of so called 'creative cities'?! Let's hope that is not the case.
Still, Dublin is definitely a place to see!
Ryan Air flies directly from
many cities (like Tampere) to Dublin. I will be there soon again, now heading perhaps to Wicklow mountains!
I forgot the name of the band too, did you remember?
Posted by: Ines | July 16, 2009 at 11:26 AM