Dublin - The Good, The Bad and The Strange

I’ve been in Dublin for over four months and these are my observations

THE GOOD
Historical
Dublin is over 1,000 years old and there are many historical buildings to be seen. The university (Trinity College), which is in the heart of the city centre, was founded in 1591 and famous people like Oscar Wilde and Jonathan Swift went there.
Guinness
Yes, everyone raves about the Guinness in Ireland, and it is very tasty. The Guinness brewery is in the city centre and was established in 1759.
Countdown Timers at Pedestrian Crossings
So those impatient people can see that there are only 10 seconds more to wait (only at a few lights in the city centre so far).

Spin Roller Discos
Not that I’ll ever go, but for a girl of the 80’s, who loved her roller skates, this sounds great!
Watching Airplanes at the Airport
Like in PE, you can park your car along the airport and watch the planes come and go. The airport is quite busy too – and it seems like it’s a popular pastime by the number of cars that are always parked there.
Paying for shopping bags.
I suppose this is good because it saves the environment, but it’s bad because I still forget to take mine and they charge 22c a bag.

THE BAD
The Water
You can’t drink the tap water. I have tried and it’s BAD! On doing some research on the internet I saw that some areas even tested positive for ‘ecoli’ in their drinking water. If you want to be drinking your 2 litres a day, it can work out quite costly and not to mention how many plastic bottles you can accumulate (at least you can recycle these).
Driving in the City Centre
It is quite frustrating and nearly impossible. There are lots of ‘bus only’ lanes and loads of ‘no left turn’ and ‘no right turn’ signs -and sometimes you really can’t fathom out why you shouldn’t be allowed to turn left, especially when not turning left means circling the entire city centre - again!

Once we were on a road in the city centre which turned into a 'bus only' lane - and there was nowhere else to go but continue on it. It doesn't make sense! Combine this with all the one-way only streets and you can be circling the city centre for hours trying to get to a certain place. And don’t forget about the rude taxi drivers who think they own the roads – just because they know where they’re going.
Traffic Lights
You never know what’s going to happen at the traffic lights. Once we were all stopped at red lights and then they all changed to green and everyone got to go at once. There are also crazy double traffic lights to direct traffic that’s turning separately from traffic going straight (not just a nice green arrow). It gets very confusing because when I see green, I tend to just want to go.

And sometimes you can wait forever to go and sometimes the light is green for 10 seconds (honestly) and by the time the person in the first car has engaged brain and gear, its red again.
The Little Green Man – as in SA, it doesn’t mean you can safely cross the road. Well it should, but due to the confusion of the split light above, sometimes cars will just go.
Roundabouts
Well, the world over I do not think roundabouts are a very good idea. It seems motorists believe they have to go really fast around them – so that other cars will never get the chance to go. The build-up of traffic at roundabouts leads me to believe it really isn’t a good idea.
Supermarket Specials
We have now been ripped off at 4 different supermarkets on 6 occasions. The price on the shelf is not what comes up at the till. And usually I only notice when we’re in the car or at home! Once – a bit annoying, twice – come on already – but 6 times – in 4 months!
** and it just happened again. Went to the local supermarket and spent ages picking a tub of cream (there is a lot of choice). Settled on one for 1.59, but when we checked out, it came up as 1.99! Not worth arguing about, but ripped off again!
Dublin is Expensive
It’s right up there with London. Parking in the city centre will set you back around 3 euros an hour – that is if you can find your way into the city centre and then find a parking. A pint of beer / Guinness will cost around €5 – which at the current exchange rate is £4.50 (R51!) You pay around £3 – £3.50 in the UK (R34). A burger & chips will set you back around €14 (R144). And then there are the toll roads and tunnels getting to the city centre, the tunnel costing €10 during the week. Groceries cost 2 – 3 times more than in the UK. Public transport is expensive – and not that available. And if you wanted to buy a little 2 bed flat, you would spend around €250,000 - €300,000 (around R2,500,000!).
Dublin is Busy
Just like London, it is a major tourist destination and the city centre is always packed.

THE STRANGE
Pricing
One day we were looking at DVDs to buy and the prices for the same DVD would vary, like one was 10.99 and the other 14.99 – for the exact same DVD!
Another day I was looking to buy some soap and this is what I found - 1 bar = 0.69, and a 2 bar pack = 1.69. Clearly buying the 2 bar pack was not a better offer. A couple weeks later, I checked the pricing again and this time, the 2 bar pack was on special for 1.41 – still not a bargain!
ATMs
Normally you would go to the ATM and expect to withdraw amounts of 20, 50, 100 etc. Well, not in Dublin. Here you get to choose from 30, 50, 70, 110 -and well, its not easy when you’re trying to figure out how much that is in pounds and the machine threatens to shut down and swallow your card if you don’t stop standing there looking confused and do something
Renting DVDs
We went to go rent some DVDs. Basically, you can rent 1 DVD for €4 for 1 night or there is a special where you get 2 DVDs for €6 for 2 nights. So we decided to get the 2 DVD special for €6. Went to the counter and were told it would €8. When we looked confused, the shop assistant said ‘oh you want the special?’. Well, we would be pretty stupid to not want the special seen as we are getting 2 DVDs?
Women in Pyjamas
Women have taken to going out in their PJ’s. I see it all the time – am I the only one who thinks this is strange? On looking at this on the internet, I see it’s not just Ireland, but the UK too and it has hit the headlines because a major supermarket has banned people from wearing nightwear when shopping – ha ha ha ha!