Dirty, dreary, expensive, nothing to do

meeeeh · 23-11-2019 7:05pm

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

That’s the way in most cities, you’ve to do a bit of searching off the main thoroughfares to find good places to eat.

No it's not. Not every country allows their city centres to be littered by fast food restaurants and burger chains. I'm not talking about Michelin star food, just decent good quality food. Italians especially are very strict.

I know Kilkenny is a lot smaller but in my opinion miles better at creating a lot more upmarket experience of Ireland than something that predominantly caters to people who are drunk 90% of time.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnn.com/travel/amp/mcdonalds-rome-ruins-scli-intl/index.html

Seamai · 23-11-2019 7:11pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Mind you I'll tell you a city that could do with a good powerwash more than Dublin and that is Rome.

Spent a week in Naples is September, it's fair to say it's filthy but I really liked the place and would go back there in a heart beat. A big plus was the lack of tourists.
Dublin is certainly not as dirty (though parts are in need of powerhosing and paint job), it's the skangers that put me off the city, Naples has bad reputation but I felt safer there than I do in places like Dublin, Barcelona or Amsterdam.

Seamai · 23-11-2019 7:17pm

Elemonator wrote: »

I would take Dublin over most British cities anyday, with the exception of London.

Have you ever been to Birmingham? Have no ever noticed once it is dark that nobody walks anywhere and they all drive? Tells you everything you need to know about how dangerous it is. A dangerous place it is too.

Birmingham is a **ithole, as are the majority of British cities, the only city there that I have any time for is Edinburgh which to be fair has a pretty gritty edge to it away from the city centre and sadly it's pretty much sold out to tourism.

Thelonious Monk · 23-11-2019 7:28pm

Birmingham isnt pushed as a tourist city though, everyone knows its a kip

ChikiChiki · 23-11-2019 7:36pm

MrAbyss wrote: »

Nail in the end right there. The reason streets pedestrianized is UNDERGROUND RAIL SYSTEM. The underground rail plan for Dublin was first approved in 1973 and still not a shovel in the ground yet, while traffic gets worse as another generation of inbred kunts exclaim 'buses are enough' while they sit in 3 hours of traffic everyday.

Just think of the millions of tourists who spend an hour in the bus in the pissing rain from the airport to the city centre as their gloom builds and sets the tone for the entire trip. Everywhere in Europe, even in cities much smaller than Dublin you get a metro at the airport and are at your hotel in 15 mins. If it is raining it's a minor issue as you are not trapped into it as you trundle through Whitehall stopping at every traffic light and wondering what the **** you let yourself in for as the bus arrives in Dorset Street.

Na Fianna holding metro north up. Plough through it to fook. They'll get pitches elsewhere.

Local political pandering is a blight on this countries development.

MrAbyss · 23-11-2019 7:50pm

ChikiChiki wrote: »

Na Fianna holding metro north up. Plough through it to fook. They'll get pitches elsewhere.

Local political pandering is a blight on this countries development.

Home Farm FC got the station instead are are looking at millions and millions in compensation. When the NaFianna knuckle-scraping morons realized they lost so much money because of the histrionics of a few lunatics and Z list 'celebs'

they were pissed off. FOOK EM.

MrAbyss · 23-11-2019 7:53pm

Seamai wrote: »

Birmingham is a **ithole, as are the majority of British cities, the only city there that I have any time for is Edinburgh which to be fair has a pretty gritty edge to it away from the city centre and sadly it's pretty much sold out to tourism.

Liverpool has come on in spades in recent years. Loads of smaller UK cities like Bath, Colechester etc are very nice. It's not all 'football weekend' dumps overthere.

23-11-2019 7:55pm

What about the tracksuit clad riff raff. What can be done about them?

IAMAMORON · 23-11-2019 7:58pm

Deleted User wrote: »

What about the tracksuit clad riff raff. What can be done about them?

March them to the cliffs of Moher at gunpoint and demand that they jump over. If they "survive the dive " they should be shot for insubordination and witchery.

Day Lewin · 23-11-2019 8:05pm

The OP wrote that Dublin is not much different than a drab town in the north of England.

I guess they must have never lived in Crewe, or Washington or Darlington....

Dublin is livelier than most cities, (I've travelled extensively) and there's only a small handful of VERY large cities that are more interesting. Obviously we aren't competing with London, Paris or New York, but on the smaller scale...there is no possible comparison with Bucharest.
That may be the OP's hometown, of course, which would account for an increased sensitivity to dreariness and dirt.
You find what you look for, OP.

Try the streets of Lancaster or Peterborough on a Saturday night. Enjoy!

murpho999 · 23-11-2019 8:15pm

Rubberchikken wrote: »

visited a european city last week.
coffee excellent and a lot cheaper than here. food much the same price but nicer.
hotel very reasonably priced incl breakfast and all excellent.
things to see and do.

dublin - overpriced, nothing to see or do, tired, dirty and vastly overrated by its upstanding citizens.

So why can't you name this "city"? Wasn't in Eastern Europe or another place were the locals earn €5 an hour?

I have Dutch family and they come here regularly and they absolutely love Dublin.
They like the pubs and shops, the Guinness, loved the music.They loved the food that has come on leaps and bounds in recent years.

They thought the Dart journey along the coast from Bray to Dublin was spectacular. Loved places like Howth and Greystones.

They admired Dublin's architecture. Loved having free museums and galleries (You don't get that in Holland) and found Irish people very friendly.

Prices are also comparable to Amsterdam.

Bashing of Dublin by people is unwarranted in my opinion and some people just like to criticize all things Irish for the sake of it.

Church on Tuesday · 23-11-2019 8:20pm

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

They get the water from the Canals.

Dublin is great but could be SO much better for everyone including tourists. As a pp said, where are the indoor markets with cafes and restaurants? The Fruit and Veg place off Capel Street will probably take forever to become reality like so many other proposals.

I would agree that apart from museums and other cultural places there are far too few places to get out of the rain and mooch around. London has Borough Market, Barcelona has La Boqueria, in fact most cities have an indoor market, but Dublin has Moore Street. Enough said!

There really is nothing North of O'Connell Bridge that is worth it both for interest or your own safety now. Nicest places are around Sth William Street, Camden Street, the Green, Merrion Square. I am sure I have forgotten some!

Failte Ireland should really take note of the mummys, they possibly reflect a lot of views of the entire UK. Instead of going on the defensive, Failte Ireland together with the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, the Gardai and DCC should go on the attack and see it from the eyes of visitors and a residents and try and sort it out.

They don't. They sit in their fancy offices and produce great booklets and advertising but do not have a clue what's going on on the ground.

Dublin has great potential but it is not invested in. The traffic is awful, public transport has its limits, crime is visible everywhere and nothing is done, the streets ARE dirty, with cracked pavements and infills with dirty tarmac.

I better stop for the moment, because I lose my rag sometimes to see a lovely city being run down like this.

Myself and my Brother nearly got mugged outside Bank of Ireland College Green two days ago sure.

And no, I'm not knocking Dublin.

murpho999 · 23-11-2019 8:23pm

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Never been, doesn't interest me. The only way I'll visit Rome is to do the Path of Illumination tour, just so I can see the places and statues from the book. Other than that, I've no interest in the place.

Same with most capitals tbh. I'd rather go to a quieter town outside of the typical norms, as I find you experience a lot more without the crowd.

You should visit Rome, you're missing out. It's got history on every corner.

You're not allowed say that. Shur don't you know it has museums, and churches, and buildings, and... and... museums!

So what do you think tourists do in cities? They go to museums and view architecture.

They don't just shop and eat all the time.

IAMAMORON · 23-11-2019 8:24pm

Church on Tuesday wrote: »

Myself and my Brother nearly got mugged outside Bank of Ireland College Green two days ago sure.

And no, I'm not knocking Dublin.

That is unlucky and I hope you are ok.

In fairness Rome, Barcelona, Madrid and Lisbon all have infamous reputations for pick-pocketing and other petty crimes. It never stops people going there however.

Mezzotint · 23-11-2019 8:25pm

I must have been very, very bored but I googled and read the thread on the forum where it was posted and it's being completely overblown. A few people didn't like Dublin, and many of them seemed to be posting with distinctively Irish flair, which leads me to the impression that a large % of the commentators were, most likely, Irish.

If you take a browse through Trip Advisor, you'll always notice that the comments about Irish destinations posted by actual tourists tend to be pretty positive and then the locals all chime in pointing out all sorts of minutiae and generally slagging off everything about pretty much any destination in Ireland.

Also the commentary about the weather: It's not the Costa del Sol. You should be expecting rain if you're visiting Ireland, Britain, Western Scandinavia, Benelux, Northern France etc and the observations about it being a small city, that's just fact. It's not huge. I'd make similar observations about a lot of the Benelux and Northern European capitals and major cities. There are only a few megapoles in Europe i.e. London, Paris, Madrid etc. In reality, most European cities are rather small to middling size.

I'd agree with some of the commentary on it being drab and run down. If you have a walk from say Smithfield through to Capel Street, that's entirely accurate. Or, go for a wander around Parnell Street, Dorset Street or something like that, but there are plenty of nice parts too and no city is free of that kind of stuff. A lot of parts of London look run down, parts of Paris are absolute dumps, same applies to Brussels. However, it just implies they're living cities, not Disneyland.

Dublin's not perfect and has issues and you can certainly get a bad impression of it if you end up in the wrong parts e.g. book a hotel in a rough part of the north inner city or something like that, but you can equally get a terrible impression of most cities by doing similar, but to cut a long story short, we're over reacting a tad to a thread on a forum that's about as relevant as something on After Hours.

wakka12 · 23-11-2019 8:26pm

badabing106 wrote: »

If that is the answer, what is the question?

Wow check out this post by a poster called louis on broadsheet, LMDGA!

Let’s knock off the B.S. and try and be a bit honest here. Dublin as a capital is still a bit of a dump (not as bad as it was in the 80’s, but still a dump) Yes the nightlife is good, but strip that back and think about it objectively and critically, and pretty soon you realise that it’s not much better than Bucharest.

The problem with the city is that there’s a serious absence of civic pride, and I blame that on three parties (1) Central Government for lack of investment (2) City Council for lack of taste and intelligence (3) Locals who have this romanticised version of the “Dirty Old Town” and row against any suggested improvement (if there are any?)

There are lots that can and should be done to improve the place, the problem being that the likes of Failte Ireland are still flogging the same old horse they were flogging thirty years ago (the Book of Kells and the Ardagh chalice)

I’m sorry to have to say this, but Dublin is no better than a drab town in the north of England.

So let me make a few observations as a foreigner who’s lived here for a long-time.

(1) No one outside of Ireland gives two sh1ts about Easter 1916 or anything related to it as a tourist attraction.
(2) Viewing The Book of Kells is Boring waste of time.
(3) Templebar is a dive, and not even the locals bother with it.
(4) The Guinness Store House is limited to people who like a drink and not for families. It’s also set in a fairly rough part of town, as was recently demonstrated.
(5) The Poolbeg Chimney’s are not and never will be an attraction for a tourist, particularly for anyone who grew up in an industrial city, where stacks like that were a dime a dozen.
(6) Leaving genuine homelessness aside, there’s a small battalion of professional beggars on the streets of the capital.
(7) Placing an injection room facility near a “tourist attraction” is the most stupid thing I’ve ever heard. Please note I’m all for harm reduction.
(8) The paving of the Grafton Street Quarter is nearly taking as long as the building of Berlin’s new airport!
(9) One Luke Kelly statue was enough, two is overkill considering few people under fifty knows who he was, especially foreign tourists.
(10) A city should be safe for tourists, yet the cops are strangely absent on the ground, particularly in the core tourist areas

So what do tourists want?

(1) Put simply they want interesting, entertaining things to do and see that are affordable. Dublin’s free museums are quite good, but could be so much better.

(2) Hire “Meow Wolf” and ask them to build a world class attraction like they created in Santa Fe. If you don’t know it or never been to it, check it out.

(3) Where’s the huge statue of Gulliver? Something so obviously missing from the city, it beggars belief? Build one, and put a miniature Lilliput around it…..and do it tastefully!

(4) And having dealt with one famous writer’s contribution to world literature, how about getting rid of that giant hypodermic needle on O’Connell street and rebuild the pillar with the viewing platform (yes it actually paid for itself) and put Oscar Wilde’s “Happy Prince” on it. If you don’t know the story, read it. And if the usual hard-leftie republicans kick-up ask them if they ever read a bedtime story to their little princesses (or taken them to see Frozen!)

(5) Refurbish the Rutland Fountain, its a disgrace that it’s left in its current condition. And if some half-witted architect graduate from UCD shouts “Pastiche” ….cover him in fox scent and send him to Shelbourne Dog Track on a wet Thursday in November :-)

(6) Demolish those eyesores on the Poolbeg peninsula and use the space for something truly breathtaking that could become a real symbol of the city.

(7) Make Halloween a true city-wide festival and market the hell out of it abroad…. the Bram Stoker festival is drab, characterless and boring.

(8) Build an opera house. It may not be my cup of tea, but seeing the opera lovers pile into your local omniplex and spending good money, means there’s a market. If anything it will add to the city.

(9) Same for ballet, there’s a market. If you build a ballet hall, they will come.

(10) Encourage people to live in the city, including the one’s with money. There are magnificent houses on Merrion Square, Fitzwilliam Square an even Mountjoy that are subdivided into small offices. Seriously, what an utter waste?

Halloween even originated in Ireland did'nt it? Surely that should be celebrated!
When I started reading this post I thought it seemed like just another boring dublin bashing thread but nice to see some suggestions on how it could improve for once!

Church on Tuesday · 23-11-2019 8:27pm

IAMAMORON wrote: »

That is unlucky and I hope you are ok.

In fairness Rome, Barcelona, Madrid and Lisbon all have infamous reputations for pick-pocketing and other petty crimes. It never stops people going there however.

We're both grand thanks.

Comes with any city.

JohnnyFlash · 23-11-2019 8:28pm

I always get this image that most of the moaners on threads like these are bachelors in their late 30’s from truly depressing towns like Tipperary or Longford. Don’t know why.

wakka12 · 23-11-2019 8:33pm

Elemonator wrote: »

I would take Dublin over most British cities anyday, with the exception of London.

Have you ever been to Birmingham? Have no ever noticed once it is dark that nobody walks anywhere and they all drive? Tells you everything you need to know about how dangerous it is. A dangerous place it is too.

Would tend to agree with that, though there are a couple of other nice ones like Bristol, Norwich, Brighton. The rest were and probably still are pretty awful places to both live and visit but theyre certainly coming along, Manchester could be a cool city in a few years. Liverpool is a lot nicer now too, big regeneration schemes like Liverpool one going on

Mezzotint · 23-11-2019 8:35pm

Dublin's tourism offerings could definitely be improved, but there's also an element of needing to explore and try when you visit a city or town. They are not tourism set-pieces like Disneyland or some place that is entirely dependent on tourism. You are walking into a real living, working place and things are not necessarily going to just jump out and entertain you - you sometimes have to make an effort.

Mezzotint · 23-11-2019 8:38pm

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

I always get this image that most of the moaners on threads like these are bachelors in their late 30’s from truly depressing towns like Tipperary or Longford. Don’t know why.

They also tend to invariably have their targets set on Dublin or Cork cities I've noticed. Sometimes Limerick, but it's very much a chip on shoulder about urban areas thing in Ireland that I really notice more than I do in some other parts of Europe and I think that's reflect in the way that the cities are let flounder to some degree too.

AlekSmart · 23-11-2019 8:39pm

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

SNIP/
Dublin is great but could be SO much better for everyone including tourists. As a pp said, where are the indoor markets with cafes and restaurants? The Fruit and Veg place off Capel Street will probably take forever to become reality like so many other proposals.

I would agree that apart from museums and other cultural places there are far too few places to get out of the rain and mooch around. London has Borough Market, Barcelona has La Boqueria, in fact most cities have an indoor market, but Dublin has Moore Street. Enough said!

SNIP/

Failte Ireland should really take note of the mummys, they possibly reflect a lot of views of the entire UK. Instead of going on the defensive, Failte Ireland together with the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, the Gardai and DCC should go on the attack and see it from the eyes of visitors and a residents and try and sort it out.

SNIP/

I better stop for the moment, because I lose my rag sometimes to see a lovely city being run down like this.

The Iveagh Market Meath Street.
The Fruit Market
The Fish Market

Three ideal locations, which any half aware Local Authority would have long ago made something out of,but which languish in a Limbo of PPP's and associated "Planning" issues

Losing one's rag is all we have left to us really......:(:(:(

Mezzotint · 23-11-2019 8:42pm

If you want good urban governance and planning in Dublin, Cork and other cities in Ireland you need to actually devolve more power to them. It's the same with towns lacking any kind of councils, mayors or autonomy. If they were in most of Europe or North America their councils would have power over transit, local policing, control of funds for carrying out major public works, in some cases control of educational facilities and so on.

In Ireland, the cities councils have been stripped of almost all ability to do anything as we centralise absolutely everything into various state bodies and government departments. Then we scratch our heads wondering why the cities and towns don't operate like continental ones.

Also don't confuse Dublin physically hosting the national government and institutions with Dublin actually having any autonomy or power at a local level. It doesn't. Nor does Cork, nor does Limerick, Galway or Waterford. The whole mayoral plebiscite thing was a complete con as it didn't actually offer any more devolved powers, just a vague promise of an executive mayor with no defined powers - in reality just taking powers from the council and putting them into a single elected reps hands.

We're horrendous at local government and we don't even see it because this is how thing are here and we don't compare.

wakka12 · 23-11-2019 8:44pm

Richard Hillman wrote: »

To be fair, it's a bit crap. Not much history, rubbish architecture, non unique food, very expensive hotels, ****e weather. All we have are pubs and our nanny State governments want rid of those for Vegan and Coffee places.

If the architecture was rubbish,Dublin's georgian areas wouldnt be considered for UNESCO status. Perhaps it's more of a case of it not being to your taste. And I dont know what'not much history' means, Dublin has existed for many hundreds of years,that is history, every city has a history of some length dependingon when it was founded, Dublin's is more extensive than most in the world in that regard. Maybe you mean again, history that doesnt personally interest you?

Anyway as another poster said, cities don't(or at least they shouldnt) exist as palces to entertain visitors. You go to a new place to experience the culture of how the people live there, their culture shouldnt change to accomodate you and impress you.

Mezzotint · 23-11-2019 8:49pm

I'd actually rate the food here as pretty decent by comparison to a lot of places at the moment. It's not dramatically different from the UK and neither countries have a defined cuisine like France or Italy, but they have extremely good food and they're not afraid of bringing in new ideas (which some European countries most definitely are). I'd say if anything our cuisine is defined by the fact that it's a melting pot and willing to borrow ideas from all over the place. It's diverse, creative, casual and doesn't take itself too seriously. I think that applies to the US, Canada, Australia and NZ too. They all willing to try stuff and have relatively open ideas about food culture.

If you compare that to France, Italy or even Spain etc, cuisine is often very much part of national, regional and local culture and can be extremely locked in and conservative. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but it's totally different to the experience in any of the anglophone countries.

I've just seen a few food snobs bemoaning the lack of a fixed cuisine here and in England and it just grates on my nerves after a while.

For an average British person visiting here though, it's going to look extremely familiar and there's not much we can do about that really - the two places are very close together and similar in many respects because of that.

Blueshoe · 23-11-2019 9:01pm

murpho999 wrote: »

So why can't you name this "city"? Wasn't in Eastern Europe or another place were the locals earn €5 an hour?

I have Dutch family and they come here regularly and they absolutely love Dublin.
They like the pubs and shops, the Guinness, loved the music.They loved the food that has come on leaps and bounds in recent years.

They thought the Dart journey along the coast from Bray to Dublin was spectacular. Loved places like Howth and Greystones.

They admired Dublin's architecture. Loved having free museums and galleries (You don't get that in Holland) and found Irish people very friendly.

Prices are also comparable to Amsterdam.

Bashing of Dublin by people is unwarranted in my opinion and some people just like to criticize all things Irish for the sake of it.

He is telling lies and you are telling lies.
He didn't go anywhere outside the front door and you don't have a Dutch family.
I was in Abuja (Nigeria) with my Spanish family last week. So much better than Dublin. The weather, the food and the cappuccinos are fab.

IAMAMORON · 23-11-2019 9:04pm

Blueshoe wrote: »

He is telling lies and you are telling lies.
He didn't go anywhere outside the front door and you don't have a Dutch family.
I was in Abuja (Nigeria) with my Spanish family last week. So much better than Dublin. The weather, the food and the cappuccinos are fab.

How was the Ebola, Dengue and Malaria ?

Church on Tuesday · 23-11-2019 9:07pm

wakka12 wrote: »

Would tend to agree with that, though there are a couple of other nice ones like Bristol, Norwich, Brighton. The rest were and probably still are pretty awful places to both live and visit but theyre certainly coming along, Manchester could be a cool city in a few years. Liverpool is a lot nicer now too, big regeneration schemes like Liverpool one going on

Yup, agree with you there, real up and coming place; very vibrant.

Chester's really nice to visit I found.

Blueshoe · 23-11-2019 9:09pm

IAMAMORON wrote: »

How was the Ebola, Denga and Malaria ?

The ebola was lovely ! I was surprised as it didn't look great. Not too spicy. On the second day my uncle had malaria . He's had it before and said it was the really traditional type that's hard to find back home.
Didn't see any Denga unfortunately but il definitely be back and it's first on the list.
Fab spot.

Del.Monte · 23-11-2019 9:33pm

Fritzbox wrote: »

There's lots to do in Dublin - bars restaurants galleries, museums, churches, castles and old houses, parks etc. Tell me, what is there to do in the other small capital cities in Europe, what is there to see and do in Bratislava, Oslo, Helsinki, Copenhagen etc.? Is the weather any better in any of these places? I read recently that the rainfall is greater in Amsterdam is heavier than in Dublin, could be true?

You need to travel outside Ireland more.

Dirty, dreary, expensive, nothing to do

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