Tourist Information, Dublin

Favorite thing: Most of the 'official' attractions lie on the south side of the river Liffey, but there's quite a few interesting things in the northside too. So let's start with the northside: first of all there's the largest road, O'Connell St with plenty of expensive shop, and nearby little Talbot St with inexpensive shops. More shops can be found along Henry St (which changes name about 5 times while you walk along it). Still along O'Connell St there's a great building: the GPO, where the 1916 Easter Rising started.

Another interesting place to visit is the Dublin Writer's Museum in Parnell Sq. There's several interesting statues scattered around: James Joyce at the intersection of talbot St and O'Connel St, and some funny ladies's statues outside the Dublin Woollen Mills before the Ha'Penny Bridge. Parkwise there's the famous Phoenix Park (and the ugly zoo is in that area too) and Croke Park.

What else? There are two interesting buildings along the quays: one is the Custom Hall (near the dart line) - there's a good theatre in the area (but i fail to recollect the name) - and further north along Arran Quay there's the Four Courts building. A few minutes walk from there you can find Saint Michan's Church, with some mummifies bodies and the organ on which Handel performed the Messiah for the first time.

Fondest memory: Clubbing there regularily - and trying to walk through Summerhill at night and see how long it would be till I got mugged (answer: never!)

The second fondest memory is the vist the the Jameson whiskey distillery, where you can find out why irish whiskey is actually better (in my opinion) and smoother (in everyone's opinion) than Scottish and American whiskys.

Favorite thing: A brilliant live view of Dublin is provided by a webcam at the busy O'Connell Bridge.

The photo on the left was taken by this webcam on the 12th July 1997 at 20:58 h GMT when a friend of mine stood on the pavement near the traffic lights. He is the boy with the white shirt in the middle of the lower photoborder.

Please have a look at::

http://www.ireland.com/weather/cam.htm

Favorite thing: If your brave enough to hire a car in this country l take my hat off to you. Most drivers are crazy.. they don't obey the traffic lights, and always crash on amber and red..Most drivers are rude and impatient, if your in the wrong lane you will be waiting a long time for someone to let you out. Of course l can't tar all drivers but l am talking about the majority especailly in the cities. As for motorbikes, they never learned the rules of the road.. so be careful when you see one coming towards you on your side of the road... they think thats ok...Country people are a lot more polite and laid back.. We drive on the left side of the road over here..The speed limit is generally 70 miles an hour on the motorways and lower limits on small roads. If you exceed these limits the penalities are stiff and you might have to pay an on the spot fine. But don't let me put you off....why not have a hair raising experience whilst your here.. because if your waiting for a bus or a taxi you could be in the "Q" for hours...thats of course if either one turns up... Try the following sites for car rentals.. go on l dare you....Never leave anything in your car thats visible, if you do you will be paying a visit to the police station and probably have to pay that little extra for the insurance on the car. Ireland is well know for car break ins so always leave your car in a car park or on a well lit street.
Avis 353 1 -8745844
Budget 353 1 8379611

Favorite thing: Irish people eat early and go out early. Not like our Europeans neighbours. We dine between 6 and 8 and head out to the pubs or clubs early. Only those over the age of 18 can be served in pubs. Pubs open around 11am and close around 12pm or if they have a food licence they will stay open till around 2.30pm. Some clubs have a licence until 4am.

Favorite thing: AT&T direct service is the easy way to call the USA while travelling overseas.

It's simple....
Here's how:

* dial the AT&T DIRECT access number of the country you are in

* At voice prompt: to call the US dial area code + number

to call other countries dial 01 + country code+city code+number

* At tone: enter your AT&T calling Card of credit card number - they now cost the same...

If you are calling collect (US only) hold for the AT&T Operator.

Fondest memory: How very necessary it is to go to the Tourist Office and/or your hotel immediately after arrival: they will be able to give you a little folder with all you have to know about calling!

CUSTOMER CARE:
From USA: 1 - 800 - 222 - 0300
From overseas: ask AT&T operator for Customer Care

Dialing tips and special features:
* from hotels get an outside line; from pay phones a deposit may be required for dial tone
* to place additional calls, don't hang on, just press #
* to correct a mistake while dialing, press*
* calling US 800 numbers, may be toll-free or AT&T direct charges
* to set up conference calls, dial 800 232 1234 (one conferee must be in the US)
* to leave a message if busy or no answer, dial 1 or dial AT&T messaging at 800 562 6275
* european pay-phones with the 3C symbol connect to the AT&T direct service. Just dial *60 (in France dial M60
* UK and German pay phones with the New World symbol connect to the AT&T direct service. Just press the AT&T button.

Favorite thing: THE BANK OF IRELAND can give you a Passport to Cash...

Of course you can get this passport also at the Tourist Information Office or at your hotel.

It is not bigger dan a credit card but opened it happens to be a little map with dots all over it showing the places in Dublin centre and all over Ireland where you can get Cash...

Always nice to know where a cash-machine is.......have a look here.......

www.boi.ie.365cash/locator

this will make things clear to you!

Fondest memory: One of my fondest memories???

Being there to meet friends, to have a meeting and do all kind of pleasant things together.....having lunch and dinner, visit a museum, a cathedral, I love being shown around!

Favorite thing: Unlike many other cities Dublin doesn't really have a distinctive skyline. They take pride in not having any high-rise buildings but personally I think they lack a distinctive skyline.

The Chimney Stacks near the harbour would be one of the landmarks in Dublin though. You can see them from many places in Dublin which kind of helps with orientation.

Here is my attempt at an arty picture of them. The picture was taken from Clontarf with the Wooden Bridge in the foreground.

Favorite thing: Many people use Dublin as a centre from which to launch themselves on day excursions around the vicinity, and for even more Dublin is simply their first port of call on an Irish holiday. Either way, I would advise the visitor to give priority to visiting the Tourist Information Centre on Suffolk Street (if only to admire the whimsical architecture of the former St Andrews church!). Even though I live here, I have found myself a client of this establishment on many occasions as their assistance in finding accommodation around the country, as well as their help in suggesting places to visit has been of immense assistance, even to this humble son of the soil!

A smaller office exists on O'Connell Street and brochure type info also abounds in hotels and guesthouses around the city. However, for local info there is still no better (or funnier) option than to ask a local themselves. The answers you receive may be a little contradictory (depending on the humour of the advisor, the prevailing weather conditions and whether there is an "r" in the month) but they will at least be entertaining, and Dublin is still a city where the locals are generally all too happy to help their guests - even if they succeed only in confusing them further!

Favorite thing: When in Dublin, you should experience:

+ Guinness Brewery - After touring the brewery, you get 2 free glasses of Guinness straight from the source.

+ Trinity College & the Book of Kells - visit while school is in session to get a feel of the buzz of the place.

+ O'Connell Street - this area is lined with touristy stores and businesses. Photo op at the O'Connell Bridge and Liffey River.

+ Grafton Street - Dublin's main shopping area full of specialty stores. This is mainly a pedestrian area so parking is very limited.

+ Temple Bar area - the heart of Dublin's pub crawling nightlife. Filled with pubs, trendy shops, restaurants, and other cultural activities. Check out the Bad Ass Cafe.

+ St Stephen's Green - great park to relax, meet people, read, etc.

+ St Stephen's Green Centre - Dublin's largest shopping mall. Resembles a giant greenhouse with Victorian style ironworks.

Favorite thing: General tip? Get straight on a bus or train and escape. No just kidding, there are still quite a few places around Dublin worth a visit. Besides the usual sights within the city centre (most of which can be viewed quite comfortably from atop a doubledecker tour bus - quite a few tour operators in this field these days), a relatively cheap DART ride (electric train) will bring you out to Howth, a lovely fishing village just ten miles north of the city and festooned with great restaurants, lovely walks around Howth Hill and a lively pub scene.


As Dublin city centre is quite compact a good historical or literary walking tour can be more rewarding than you might imagine - just be wary of those 'guides' who may have rewritten history somewhat to ensure that they can incorporate as many pubs as possible, and despite what you may be told it's not every pub has a literary past. In fact most of the city centre pubs nowadays don't have a past that extends beyond the big development boom of the early 90s! If you're into the Irish music and don't like being sucked into tourist traps try Hughes pub behind the Four Courts any night of the week - it's where musicians go to swap tunes and there's a session every evening (sometimes very good ones too!).



Anyway back to the plot. You could do worse than spend a quiet hour or so people-watching in Bewley's Coffee House on Westmoreland Street, or try this - take a number 3 bus out to Ringsend (10mins) and locate the start of the South Wall, a three mile long stone jetty that defines the southern approach into Dublin harbour. You'd be brave to do this in a gale force wind, but on a calm day you will pass one nature reserve, three lovely beaches, a swimming area and eventually arrive at a lighthouse, from which you will have a unique view of the city. (I won't mention the power station and sewage treatment plant you also pass at the start).



Fondest memory: The ready, witty, unthreatening, impulsive conversationalists that prop up nearly every bar in the town. It pays to brush up on your philosophy, social history, archaeology, mythology, sport and whatever you had for breakfast as you'll meet an expert on all these subjects (and more) no matter where you go (and often the same person!).

PS - the photo up above is of the Rotunda Ballroom (aka the Ambassador Cinema and now a nightclub), famous for many reasons - but important to me as it's where I came into the world. Not in the ballroom I hasten to add, but in the adjoining Rotunda Maternity Hospital!