Dublin – The city of diversity

Ireland is an island in every sense of the word. It lies between Europe and the United States. It has managed to sustain more of American and European culture than neighboring Britain. Dublin Airport is surprisingly small for being the center of a developed economy. It is the American bridge to Europe and home to the largest budget airline in the old continent: “Ryanair”.

You will find the spirit of Ireland in the contrast of its cities. And Dublin is a city of contrasts: the contrast between the seventh financial center of Europe and the city of low buildings with brick facades in the style of the eighteenth century; between the surprisingly quiet center with its hiking areas and the huge traffic jams; between the carefree and carefree appearance of people on the street at a certain time of the day and the prices in establishments, which are close to the normal Bulgarian wage. At the crossroads of global business, Ireland has defined itself as the most globalized country in the world. I found that the romantic idea of ​​the Green Island still thrives intact among French and Australian wines, Polish and Chinese workers, American SUVs, Burger King, and plasma televisions.

I came here with the belief that Ireland is all about U2, dancing and bad weather. Since Bono apparently rarely passes through the country, Irish dancing is certainly not a popular activity in pubs, and I saw no rain, I was pleased to find out how much fun exploring Dublin was. From the window of my apartment in Dublin I saw several large posters inviting the William Yates exhibition. Walking past them, I thought of the justification for the Royal Swedish Academy, where the poet received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1926: for truly inspired poetry from him, essentially representing the spirit of an entire nation.

How do you really represent the spirit of a nation, which for half a century has had not one, but four literary Nobel Prize winners? Mathematically speaking, this means that for every million Irish people, there is at least one man who is a brilliant writer. Perhaps this is precisely what makes Dublin that little bit more special than any other city in the world. In the days I spent there, I passed two Oscar Wilde houses, a couple more of James Joyce (apparently, the number of his is infinite).

I also found a sculpture exhibition dedicated to Bernard Shaw. She was part of a literary festival under the name “Samuel Beckett”, covering a bill for Sinead O’Conner’s upcoming show at a local club. Add to that the Wellington Monument, the hero who defeated Napoleon.

The climate on the island is humid most of the time. It’s not too hard to figure out why there is one place in the city where most of the popular pubs can be found. In a nutshell, the true Irish pub obviously represents a small place with not enough seats, unlimited supply of beer, good background music and a TV with “sky sports”.

In Dublin, for example, there are more than 1,000 pubs. And the “Temple Bar” is one that is definitely worth visiting.

Dublin’s central area is made up almost entirely of bars and pubs, ready to welcome you at any time of the day. For example, there are 4 pubs next to my holiday apartment in Dublin. In addition to its obvious advantages – a place that has more beer tappers than visitors – Temple Bar is also close to Dublin’s pedestrianized shopping area. An area that is quite worthwhile, although the prices of souvenirs are sinfully high.

If your passion is not shopping, but education, history, and sightseeing, you definitely won’t be disappointed.

Here you will find the most famous university on the island: Trinity College. There are several cathedrals (in one of which the British military flags from the Crimean War are kept).

The garden behind the parliament houses the National Gallery, the National Museum and the Nature Museum. In fact, the latter is just a small, old building, with an impressive collection of animals inside. A huge whale skeleton hangs from the ceiling. You will also find all kinds of animals, from giraffes and rhinos to small African insects. The whole legacy of Irish zoologists, who traveled the world, is there.

On the corner of the same street, which I recognized from a U2 video, I found Oscar Wilde’s house. There was only a humble sign before. As I looked further into the garden, I came across a beautiful statue of Wilde himself, resting on a stone, smiling strangely at me.

I took my time to pay the honor in memory of one of the most famous writers in the world.