Our Irish Adventure

Driving in Dublin (or in Ireland in general)

There is a reason why the guidebook mentioned “don’t drive in Dublin.” Let's put it this way: we arrived at the Dublin airport around 12:15pm, claimed our bags and got our car rental and were on our way around 1:45pm. We did not walk into our hotel room until 5 pm and it was only a 10 mile drive from the airport!!! All the streets have names, but you can't ever find the street you are on because there are no markers for the majority of streets. Plus, if you find a marker for one street and drive a few blocks, you have probably driven on to another street even though you never turned off the original street. In other words, a street may be broken up into several different mini streets. Couple that with typical city streets that prevent you from turning right or left at any given time and I can now understand why the travel guide said that driving in Dublin was a nightmare! Listen to the travel guides!!!

My suggestion would be to rent the car and drive far away from Dublin towards the west or the south. But be warned: Traffic in Ireland is in every major city, including Cork. You may get in, but you will have a hell of a time trying to get out. We couldn’t wait to return our rental. If you go specifically to Dublin, take the Air Link bus from the airport which will drop you off in the city and then rely on public transportation. For the tourist sights, the Dublin Sightseeing Bus works well since you can hop on or off at over 20 different sites. And, by the way, driving on the left side of the road is not as difficult as it seems. As an added bonus, the Irish have markings on the street telling you to “look right or left” depending on where you are so. The hard part is having to consciously think about keeping left.

Ireland with Children

I love my kids. I think they are great little travelers and did well on our trip. However, if you can avoid traveling to Ireland with young children, I highly recommend it. Irish cities tend to be party towns and it is impossible to do a pub crawl with a toddler and a 4 year old (even with older ones). Even the Cat's embassy colleagues who have young children told him that it is very hard to live in Dublin with small children.

If you decide to travel with young children, here are some tips to help you along. Don’t get me wrong, the Irish were very friendly towards my children. The problem is that establishments don’t cater to families with small children unless the venue targets that demographic (i.e. The Dublin Zoo). The majority of restaurants do not have high chairs. It is not fun to juggle a human monkey who is trying to take your food while you are trying to eat. Many restaurants do not allow children under 12 after 6pm. It’s understandable. The Irish drink heavily. Alcoholism rates are high. Definitely not something you want to expose children to. We ran into quite a few drunks passed out on the street in middle of the morning and that was enough as far as trying to explain that to a 4 year old.

Baby care/changing tables or rooms are scarce. I had to change Thing 2 in the trunk of our rental car one time because we could not find a place to change her and car seats took up the entire backseat.

Babies won’t care about being in Ireland to begin with. Preschoolers like Thing 1 are different. The week prior was St. Patrick’s Day. At his preschool, they taught him about the holiday and symbols of Ireland like the shamrocks and leprechauns, etc. By the time we arrived in Dublin, he was very excited. They are very curious and inquisitive at this age. He asked about everythng and I tried to make my answers exciting for him.

At St. Patrick’s Cathedral, I told him about the man behind the legend. I told him about Jonathan Swift who was the dean of St. Patrick’s at one time and is buried there and about the popular Swift novel, Gulliver’s Travels. He was fascinated by the crypts in the churches, the statues and the stained glass windows. We also happened to go into St. Patrick’s while they were finishing morning mass. I took the opportunity to talk to him about the Catholic Church and the symbolism of the mass and the church, etc. He may not understand everything now, but it will come back to him at the appropriate time.

At the zoo, he would ask me to read all the animal information to him. He wanted to know what they ate, whether they were carnivores or herbivores or both, where the animals came from, etc. The Dublin Zoo was fantastic. I even got excited to see a lion right in front of my face (through the glass barrier). I had never seen one that close. Thing 2 loved the animals and the section with farm animals was popular with her as well.

Thing 1 enjoyed climbing up to the Blarney Castle, crawling through the dungeon, learning about the Druids, etc. He was fascinated by the tombs at NewGrange. The tombs were prehistoric. We got into a discussion about how they are called pre-historic because the people who lived at the time could not write/record their “stories.” Therefore, we really don’t know the true significance of the structures we were seeing. He learned that every year on the winter solstice, the sun lights the interior of the tomb for 17 minutes before it goes dark again. He was very entertained and easy to travel with.

Dublin also has many parks. St. Stephen’s Green, Merrion Square and Phoenix Park (home of the Dublin Zoo, the president of Ireland and the ambassador of the United States) are very well kept. Phoenix park is huge! Larger than Central Park in New York to give you an idea. We fed the birds and ducks at St. Stephen’s Green one afternoon and it was a very pleasant and relaxing experience.

As for child friendly restaurants, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Burger King are everywhere and some do provide high chairs for young children. Many had changing tables in their restrooms. There is a family restaurant called SuperMac’s that is like an Irish McDonald’s that serves fast food and caters to families. NewGrange had a tea room that served hot food and tea and coffee. They had high chairs and a baby care room. They also had the best baked potato I have ever had. Other than that, you have to look hard to find child friendly places.
An interesting side note...

The McDonald here had an added treat - it had a McCafe! No, I'm not kidding. That was even the name. They sold gourmet coffee, pastries and cakes. The interior of the McDonalds was somewhat upscale minimalist style that seems to be very popular in Europe. Think IKEA. We left the camera in the car, because if we had not I would have taken a picture. The place even had automatic doors! I've noticed that what we consider fast food is somewhat upscale dining here. Very odd to me!

Euro vs. USD

Ireland is part of the European Union and chose to convert over to the Euro. Right now, the Euro is valued a third above the dollar. So, 1 EUR is equivalent to 1.33 USD. Needless to say, it is a very expensive country albeit not as expensive as Great Britain where 1 pound is valued at nearly 2 USD. The Irish will nickel and dime you for everything (including grocery bags 15 cents and ketchup 20 cents). I’m surprised they didn’t charge you to use their bathrooms like they do in France.

Things seem to be overpriced too. For example, a mediocre (at best) meal at a Eddie Rockets, a family restaurant comparable to its American counterpart Johnny Rockets in the USA, will run you about 45 EUR which is about $60 USD. Now, have you ever spent $60 USD on burgers, fries and drinks for a family of 4 at a place like Johnny Rockets? You get my point.

The food in Ireland is mediocre at best. It will come at no surprise that the one thing they do well here (other than whiskey and beer) is potatoes. I have never had a better potato. I could have had one as a meal every day. If you go (anywhere in the EU) and make major purchases, ask about VAT forms wherever you make purchases with your receipt. All of Europe charges you this VAT (value added tax or sales tax) which varies (22% in Poland, 21% in Ireland) on the sum of your entire purchase. If you get VAT forms, you can turn them in at the Dublin airport and get that cash back before you leave. Other countries have different rules. If you reside outside the European Union, you are entitled to claim back the sales tax on any goods you buy in Ireland or any EU country.

Global Refund (http://www.globalrefund.com/default.asp?viewSiteId=1) provides refunds at the airport. They operate in other countries as well and their website helps you locate participating merchants.

Blarney: The City, the Castle and the Stone

Blarney is a small quaint town about 8 km north of Cork famous for its castle and stone. The Blarney stone legend is that he/she who kisses the stone will receive the gift of eloquent speech. Legend also has it that in the past people have urinated on this stone. Seeing that my speech is fairly eloquent, we chose not to kiss it. To kiss it, you literally have to lower yourself upside down while holding on to some bars. You can reach the stone by climbing ot the top of the castle along a spiral staircase. We were lucky that there was no rain (a rarity in Ireland) the entire time we were there because it would have been a slippery climb to the top. Once you finish seeing the castle, you can tour the rock close, witch’s kitchen and fairy garden. There are some great trees you can climb to sit and relax. While we were not able to go, the city of Cork is nearby and further south is Cobh.

Cobh used to be known as Queenstown and happens to be famous for two reasons: it was the last port of call for the Titanic before it embarked on it’s fateful voyage and soonafter, it received the survivors and dead from the sinking of the Lusitania by a German U-Boat during WWI. The Lusitania, a British passenger ship, was secretly carrying US weapons, a reason given by the Germans for torpedoing the ship.

For further information, please refer to:

http://www.blarneycastle.ie/
http://www.cobhheritage.com/
http://www.county-cork.com/

NewGrange: A Blast from the Past

The megalithic passage tombs at NewGrange built by neolithic communities 5000 years ago, pre date the pyramids at Giza and Stonehenge. There are several tombs located throughout the region at Knowth, Tara. They can only be reached through the Brú na Bóinne Visitor’s Center which is about a 45 -60 minute drive from Dublin. There are also tour buses from the Dublin. It is out in the middle of nowhere. Nothing but farmland! The facility however is modern. The Center includes an exhibit about the tombs, a short film and the Tea Room for a bite to eat pre or post tour, restrooms and a baby care room. A bus takes you to the site from the visitor centre.

A word of warning: If you are claustrophobic, don't go into the tomb. Only 10 people fit inside and it is a tight squeeze. My backpack got stuck in the passageway and I had to back up remove it and then continue on. It's a very confined space.

If you go between April-October and you have children with you, the Newgrange farm operates moments from the visitor centre. It is a working farm. Children get to pet the animals and are given a lamb to care for while they are there. There is a sheep "derby" at 3pm on Sundays weather permitting. We were ready to go, but were apparently a week early.

For more information:

http://www.knowth.com/newgrange.htm
http://www.newgrangefarm.com/

The Irish

For the most part, the Irish were very friendly people. Everyone we encountered were very kind and helpful. They love to chat and if you are pressed for time be careful what you ask.

Twice we had to ask for directions when we arrived. Both times, the people we spoke to engaged us in stories that we probably would have enjoyed if we weren’t so tired and wanting to get to our hotel.

About directions…all directions tend to be given in terms of how many traffic lights before you need to turn, bridges you need to cross, forks in roads or T-intersections. All this because streets are not marked. It worked though and we got to our destination at last.

Polish Immigrants in Ireland

Poland is still in its infancy as a country. Since joining the EU in 2004, they have been working towards integrating into the EU. Warsaw is not the most beautiful European capital, but you can already tell that there are projects on the way to change that. EU membership for the most part removes the need for a work visa in other EU countries. Like the states, EU citizens from one country can work in another without a permit. However, new member nations have transitional provision placed upon them by other member nations as to when they will be allowed to work in a particular country.

When Poland entered the EU, Great Britain and Ireland were two of the few countries to welcome the Poles to their workforce. The Poles for the most part have migrated in droves to both. Unemployment here is 14.9 %. Many young Poles attend university only to find no jobs available in their country. Therefore, this has become a good opportunity for them. Sadly, there are side effects to it as well. Many unemployed parents are choosing to migrate to these countries in order to make money that they can then send home to provide for their children. On our flight back, there were two children 11 and 9 years old who were being dropped off at the Dublin airport by their mother and were then claimed by a relative when they arrived in Poland. They were obviously visiting their parent(s) in Ireland. At this time, there are as many as 600,000 Poles living in the UK and Ireland. Several times, we were asked where we were living and when we let them know we lived in Warsaw, they had nothing but nice things to say about the Poles.

The Irish and Poles are very similar. For one, they love to drink whiskey and vodka respectively. Both nationalities are hard workers. That’s probably what I heard about the most – what hard workers they were. Both are predominantly Catholic. Both countries have histories seeded in the struggle to become an independent nation. Both are working class people and hard workers at that. The Poles have integrated well into British and Irish Society. I was surprised to see many Polish products available in Irish grocery stores. Many have learned to speak English.

Economically, this is great for both nations. The Irish are able to find workers for jobs most Irish won’t do or are not qualifies to do and the Poles take the money they earn, send some to their families who in turn spend it on Polish goods thereby helping the Polish economy. This is a good example of a successful immigration policy – so far.