i leave tomorrow for home. i have many feelings concerning the last week and a half. Dublin is old and new. the city has so much history and is now entering a new era of change. much of the language one hears on the streets is not English or Irish but rather eastern european. while Guinness puts massive marketing funding behind Gaelic games like hurling, and Irish TV programming so often in Irish, immigration is at rate not seen since the Vikings invaded. most of the shop attendants that i spoke with were new to the island. the Brazen Head pub (Dublin’s oldest) was staffed with tall, thin, blonde women all dressed in black and sporting accents from everywhere around the world except here. there are a few editorials in the papers lamenting the changing population but most published comments link the growing economy (construction cranes are everywhere around the city) with the influx of new people.
everyone that i met and dealt with in shops, museums, taxis, buses, and on the streets were all very friendly. the other day i was standing on a busy street with my map out trying to orient myself and a man walking by stopped and set me right. often at the end of a museum visit the attendants would suggest the next place i should visit.
i have become comfortable moving around Dublin and i was able to take three short trips out of Dublin (north, west, and south), but there is much more beyond Dublin to see in Érie...
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