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Debra's
Diary ~ July, 2008 After Dingle, we felt we were comfortable with Ireland,
but Dublin was vastly different. The Tourism Office is an old Anglican church, which was
unusual - possibly unique in the world. The CEO of
Dublin Tourism, Frank Magee, was a delight to meet and his
knowledge of his business was phenomenal - and he loves his
work, that much is certain, and comes across in his
interview. Another delightful person we met was Pat
Liddy, a well-known Irish historian and author and
accomplished artist, who also clearly puts his heart and soul
into informing anyone about his beloved Dublin. He also
conducts walking tours, which gave us a mutual interest right
from the start.
The weather was not really
with us; it spluttered with sunshine at intervals, but in
general, it was grey skies and often rain - which makes
filming hard. And it was too expensive to just while
away the afternoon in the pub, waiting for the weather to
break! Our
hotel was entirely staffed by foreigners - Dublin boasts of
being home to many nationals, but somehow I had hoped to hear
Irish voices - Eastern European I can get at home. It was the same
everywhere we went, the languages we heard being spoken all
around us were not Irish.
The good thing about Dublin
is it's a capital city but compact
enough to walk through most of it. There's a lot of traffic, and I don't
think I've ever seen so many municipal buses in a town
before. There were thousands of the blue and yellow
double-deckers; everywhere and every day. The River
Liffey runs through the town, but I didn't get the impression
that Dubliners were 'water' people - the river and the canals
aren't really celebrated. But the Irish sense of humour
is legendary, and no-where was it more apparent than with
their statues. Every one has an irreverent nickname,
with witty and often rude plays on words, and there are a lot
of them, all over the city. They laugh at themselves,
and will poke fun at the visitor, but it never seems
malicious.
I
was truly impressed with the relaxed attitude towards the
English in general. The self confidence of Dubliners
makes them appear perfectly comfortable with our 'shared
history', and they can talk openly about British occupation
perhaps because they don't have it anymore. I couldn't
help but compare this attitude with Estonia; there the
bitterness against the Russians was under the surface, never
far away - but then, they've only had 17 years of
freedom. I identified with them, and secretly wondered
how I would feel when I visited somewhere where the English
had been the occupiers.
But the Dubliners didn't seem to care, and I could breathe
easily immediately. Perhaps they are too busy looking to
the future to be looking back at the past; you certainly get
that impression. The city is booming; new development
everywhere and apparently a high standard of living for
everyone - and we are tourists, after all.
I
thoroughly enjoyed the WW2 amphibious vehicle (DUKW) tour - it was such fun, and
although my throat hurt at the end of it from make Viking
roars, it was worth it. Lynn 'The Red' was awesome and
witty and really made the tour fun with interesting tit-bits
and irreverent asides, and I liked being a Viking. (Does
this say something about me, I wonder?) I also enjoyed
our side-trips to Malahide, Howth and Dun Laohaire. It
was a very pleasant walk through parkland to the lovely pocket castle at
Malahide. This fortified house is packed with antiques
and artifacts of daily life and had been in the
Talbot family for 800 years. I loved the atmosphere of the
house, and the wooden panelling was spectacular - but then I
love dark wood, and you had the feeling it had darkened to
such a rich hue over the centuries from studious polishing
with beeswax perhaps. It made you want to touch it - an
impulse I have to strenuously control in museums and places
that are strictly hands-off. I also enjoyed the model railway - I have a
secret longing to have my own. The sea food at Howth was
unbelievably good, and any stroll along the promenade of a
seaside resort can always make me smile. It was all so
close, and I think we could have made a separate programme
about just Dublin Bay.
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