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Dublin in General
by Hot Doggy I live in Dublin. It's a great place to be! Having lived most of my life in the daunting massiveness of London's hectic city, my family decided to move to Dublin. Dublin is a pleasant oasis of charm and peacefulness. A walk down any Dublin city street is enough to give you cultural indigestion! From Buskers to painters, poets to ... pantominists, Dublin's street life is a whole world excitement and tradition. It is an extremley popular destination for travellers all over the world of all ages. Dublin has something to offer everyone. Dublin's historical buildings and parks are breath-taking. Trinity College, of which I am a student, is one of the most beautiful buildings in the country. The General Post Office of O'Connell street hides a whole world of history; struggles, triumphs and revolution. O'Connell Street itself is something to marvel at with shops occupying the streets restored beauty of the street with the statue of Daniel O'Connell, a famous Irish Revolutionary watching over as life drifts by. The River Liffey runs through the centre of Dublin City dividing the 'North Side' from the 'South Side' joined by our prized 'Ha'penny Bridge'. For those of us who enjoy shopping and social excitement, Grafton Street and the newly redisigned Temple Bar area offers shops, designer outlets, bars, cafés and restaurants galore in this trendy location. Nightlife in Temple Bar is undescribable, streets come alive with performances from musical and circus acts and bars open their custom to Temple Bar square allowing spectators to soak up the atmosphere while enjoying a pint of "The Black Stuff" (this is the name we give to our most famous alcoholic drink; Guinness) For the hard-core clubber, the night life in Dublin is quite simply incredable. Bars are open all night and clubs which live up to even the biggest clubs in London pump out various selections of every genre of music under the sun. Dublin is not all about city life obviously. There are frequent buses and trains visiting Dublins mountains and lakes and other areas of natural beauty. One such area which I recommend is Glendalough. It is a nature centre where one can partake in walks through the Dublin/Wicklow mountains and learn about the history of St. Kevin in an historical monastry. Afterwards there is a selection of bars and restaurants in Glendaloughs quaint village. If you get bored there, The Powerscourt gardens and waterfalls are just minutes down the road. If you want somewhere where you can relax, shop, party, sight-see and just have a good time, Dublin is the place to be. See you soon! Read the complete review |
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Killarney in general
by For stop four of our grand tour of Ireland last year my hubby and I spent three nights in Killarney, but I really wish we had stayed just a little longer. Of all the places I have visited in Ireland this is definitely my favourite, and I will certainly make a point of spending some more time there soon. I think the best way to ... go about this opinion is just to give you a run down of what we done and then try to add in any additional info that I can think of, so here goes! The first thing that caught my eye as we approached Killarney on the N22 from Cork was the way that the road corridor had been developed. Driving on dual carriageways is never my idea of fun, but the placement of many weird and wonderful sculptures along the route certainly added a bit of interest. More than anything else, this gave me the impression that the local authorities were really trying to make an effort, and gave me confidence that my visit to Killarney would be worthwhile. My next observation, however, was not so positive - gridlock!! Like just about every town I have ever visited in Ireland gridlock is a big problem in Killarney. Don't be surprised if you spend at least an hour travelling from one end of the town to the other at peak times. If you do hit Killarney at peak time then I would heartily advise that you know exactly where you are going by studying a map first - believe me when I say you do not want to be going round in circles here! So after fighting our way through traffic hell we eventually got to our B&B. If this opinion does anything I hope it is to convince anyone who is visiting Killarney to stay in the Northwood House B&B. This was without doubt the best B&B I have ever stayed in. The whole place was immaculate, the breakfast was excellent and our room had a balcony with spectacular views over the lakes and mountains of the Killarney National Park. You can have a look at http://www.northwoodhouse.com/ but the site doesn't real ly do the B&B the justice it deserves. For our first night we decided to go and see a show in the famous Gleneagle Hotel, one of the most popular cabaret venues outside of Dublin. We looked up the local "what's on" brochure and seen that Brendan Grace was appearing that night. Excellent, he is one of my favourite comedians! Not wanting to trail around looking for somewhere to eat we decided to splash out and have dinner in the hotel restaurant. Well, we thought it would be splashing out, but it turned out to be very reasonably priced and a really excellent meal. The night was only dampened by the fact that Johnny McEvoy was the support act (if you have ever heard Johnny McEvoy you will know how torturous that was!!). A great night out and a great start to our time in Killarney. Next morning we were up bright and early to drive round the 'Ring of Kerry'. The Ring of Kerry can truly boast scenery to match anything I have ever seen before. I will write a full opinion on the Ring of Kerry in due course, so I will just give a basic run down here. 'The Ring of Kerry' is the term used to describe the route round the Killarney National Park, around the coast of County Kerry, and back into Killarney Town. My tip is to get up early and start off well before the coach trips do! The best way to drive is in an anti-clockwise direction because a) the best views are that way, and b) the roads are quite narrow and driving in the opposite direction from the bulk of the traffic is not recommended!! If you don't stop, the drive will take three to four hours - but you will stop frequently so give yourself lots of time. When we eventually got back to Killarney we didn't have a lot of time to get shifted and out again - we had decided to go back to the Gleneagle to see 'The Wolfe Tones'. On our way to the Gleneagle we stopped in for dinner at the Whitegates Hotel (Muckross Road). If you are in Killarney and looking for a bite to eat you really should go here! The meals are fabulous and far more food is served that you could possibly eat (a bit of a waste, but excellent value). Added to great food in abundance and at a reasonable (cheap) price is the fact that there is always a live act on. When we visited the group was belting out some Irish ballads and they were very good indeed. That night seeing the Wolfe Tones at the Gleneagle was one of the best nights out that I have ever had (well, it was his turn to drive next day so I had more than my fair share of the black beer!). Next day we took a drive round the Dingle Peninsula in the morning. Had the weather been better we would have spent more time doing the Dingle thing, but as it happened it was rather overcast and a bit foggy in places so we decided to head back and explore Killarney Town in the afternoon. The town itself is a wonderful place and well worth taking the time to explore. If you have read my opinion on Ennis, Co Clare, you will know that I love the narrow cobbled lanes there, and similar are to be found in Killarney Town. Numerous unusual shops can be found dotted around the town, and as much as I dislike shopping I have to say I did enjoy wandering in and out of them. In the lanes in particular you will find little craft shops and artists studios, small pubs and eateries. Did I mention pubs? Stop, rewind, yes pubs - there are loads of them! They range from modern bars like you would find in any town, through to traditional pubs. One peculiarity of this area of Ireland is that snugs can often be found at the rear of shops, which actually makes shopping more enjoyable since you can have a swift half while you are waiting on your purchases being bagged! As well as many pubs there are also loads of restaurants and cafes which cater for every taste and budget. As for attractions in Killarney itself there isn't really anything of great note. We did take a walk u p to the Cathedral where there is a massive tree which marks a mass grave of children who died during the great famine. While I say there isn't anything of note, the town itself, and in particular the architecture could well be described of being of note. Some of the buildings date back a couple of centuries and the whole town really has an 'olden days' feel to it. I think that is really about all I can say about Killarney town (we stayed in the town all evening but to be honest some of my memories are rather sketchy - I wonder why that would be!!). The real beauty of staying in Killarney is that it makes an excellent base for visiting the surrounding areas. If you are the outdoor type I would seriously recommend Killarney as being unmissable. There are many activities on offer including fishing, walking, boating, cycling and a few nearby golf courses. Me, I will be returning to stay in Killarney as a base for a hillwalking holiday at some point. The MacGillycuddy's Reeks are among the highest peaks in Ireland (one of the mountains, Carrauntuohil, is actually *the* highest in Ireland) and after viewing them from our balcony for a few days I just have to get out there and clamber up them at some point. Even if you aren't the outdoor type it is definitely a place which is well worth a visit - I can heartily recommend it. [Footnote: I have posted a few scenic photographs from our trip on the site which is listed on my profile as my homepage. There are a few pics from the Ring of Kerry in there in case you fancy having a look!] Read the complete review |
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Cork (city) in General
by genny symbio Our first thought as my husband and I arrived in Cork was "Oh my god, we're back in Dublin!" Having slept most of the stretch from Cahir to Cork we were worried for a minute that we'd hopped on the wrong bus - the river running through the town centre complete with periodic bridges, the 'Centra Quick Stop' on ... every second corner and the slightly crumbly stone houses did seem almost uncannily familiar. But no - we were in the right place after all. As the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland, Cork is quite a buzzing place, full of old buildings, churches, shopping centres, pubs and, of course, tourists. On arrival, we hefted our backpacks and began to follow my hastily scribbled directions for the 'Sheila's of Cork' hostel. Only about 10 minutes walk from the bus stop (depending on quality of directions and size of backpack), it was a bit of a struggle up a hill but still quite convenient to the town centre. At only IR £10/night (UK£8) for a dorm bed Sheila's wasn't bad at all, including a well-stocked kitchen (complete with recycling bins), a video room with fairly recent videos for hire, a pleasant common room and even a sauna (IR£1.50/person). The bedrooms were fairly small - only 4 beds in ours (meaning less snoring roommates). My only gripe is that my mattress was lumpy and the bed above it too low (I lost count of the number of times I bumped my head!). The staff were mostly Australian and generally quite helpful. [Note to any other Aussies out there: Sheila's also stocks Tim-Tams, Cherry Ripes, Milo and Vegemite!] Oh, and if you stay for three nights you also get a free pass to the City Gaol (Jail) and Radio Museum (normally worth IR£3.50). As it was pretty late in the evening, we just dumped our bags in our room and freshened up a little before heading out to find some dinner. McCurtain Street, we were informed, was our best bet. The entire street seemed to consist mainl y of pubs, restaurants and cheap eateries. Being rather tired we decided to get takeaways: I opted for a Tandoori Special Kebab (less than UK£3 and totally delicious and filling) while Dave had a large pepperoni pizza (around UK£4 for 12 inches). Than back to the hostel to rest up for the next day's sight-seeing?. We woke up bright and early (well? okay around 10am). First we headed across the river into the city centre, stopping to browse at a few shops on the way to the Tourist Office (on the corner of Grand Parade and South Mall). After picking up some info and browsing through souvenirs we couldn't possibly afford, we headed out towards the City Gaol. On the way we passed by the Coal Quay Markets, which weren't really that exciting - just a few stalls with cheap clothing and so on (though it was drizzling a little and there were also road works on that street - perhaps it's usually more interesting). We also stopped at the Cork Vision Centre, which is a smallish gallery that has a different exhibit every month or so. At the time we were there a mixture of surreal and impressionist paintings/collages/sculptures were on display, presumably by local artists. The works weren't exactly outstanding, but there were still quite a few interesting pieces and hey, it was free. Cork City Gaol was a fair walk from the city centre (and across the river again), but worth it when we got there. Included in the admission price (IR£3.50, but as mentioned before we got free passes) was an audio tour of the gaol, which was quite informative. It covers the history of individual inmates of the gaol as well as general history. At the end of the tour there is also an audio-visual presentation which was slightly corny but still entertaining, and worth it just to hear the Irish in the audience join in with the song at the end (though I'm afraid I can't remember what it was called!). We then headed across the river once mo re to Fitzgerald Park, which houses the Cork Public Museum. Along with a lot of interesting artefacts and information relating to Irish history, what I found most interesting was a selection of personal letters between Michael Collins and his lover, Kate Kearney. (Apparently the entire collection has been divided up and the various selections are periodically rotated around the major museums in Ireland.) The museum is also free, and I definitely recommend a visit. The park is quite nice as a spot to relax for a while (we spent a good twenty minutes or so just sitting and watching the ducks). We continued on, passing the University and the Greyhound Racing Track along the way to St. Fin Barre's Cathedral. Though it perhaps wasn't as grand as I was expecting, the cathedral was still quite attractive and worth a photo or two. From here we went on to the Red Abbey, which turned out to actually be the fairly unimpressive ruins of an old monastery. By this time it was becoming rather late, so we walked on past the City Hall, stopped at a Quick Stop to get some supplies for dinner and headed back to the hostel. After dinner we headed out to check out the Cork nightlife. Unfortunately being a Friday night most places seemed a little too crowded for our tastes. I was hoping for somewhere with traditional or otherwise live music, but by the time we went out most places with bands playing (not counting those with abominable cover charge) seemed to have finished and moved on to playing techno or chart music. We finally settled on a pub on the corner of McCurtain and Bridge streets , which was alright as somewhere to stop for a pint but nothing special. (We left after the music degenerated from Texas to the Jackson Five.) The following day we spent some time browsing about the town centre (Oliver Plunkett Street in particular has some interesting and cheap shops). We then headed for the bus station and took a bus out to Blarney (IR£3 return) . Only a half hour or so out of Cork, Blarney is quite a pleasant little town, though obviously the main attraction is Blarney Castle. Entrance is IR£3.50, which includes kissing the Blarney Stone. The grounds are massive and include a lot of points of interest such as the Witches Kitchen, a Sacrificial Altar and a Druids Worshipping Ground. The Castle itself is fairly bare of the usual furnishings and so forth but is still interesting. If you can brave the narrow spiral staircases, the Blarney Stone as at the top of the Castle. A man is up there to help you lean back over a somewhat dizzying drop to kiss the stone (well worn by thousands of tourist lips). I'd advise you to get a friend to take a photo of you - though the official photographer occupies the best vantage point, the snaps cost between IR£7-£22 (depending on size). You can also get an 'official' certificate (IR£1) verifying that you have kissed the stone from the gift shop down below (though even we decided that was just too tacky!). I don't know whether we actually gained the elusive 'gift of the gab'... only time will tell! So I'm afraid that more or less concludes our trip to Cork - after a little more time wandering the city and so on we set off for Killarney the next morning. Though perhaps not the most exciting of cities, it was still a pleasant place to visit and contained enough attractions to keep us busy! I would definitely recommend Cork as a stopover for anyone touring the 'Emerald Isle'. For more information on Sheila's Hostel go to www.sheilashostel.ie For bus information and timetables go to www.buseireann.ie For tourist information on Cork go to www.cork-guide.ie or www.ireland.travel.ie Stay tuned for more Ireland ops! Read the complete review |
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