(Arruebarrena) First Impressions

Before I came to Ireland, I found myself exploring the streets of Dublin on Google Maps Satellite View.  I noticed that like New Orleans, it was a dock city.  It is divided by the river.  Because of this, I assumed the city has to have a welcoming atmosphere and culture, due to all the visitors of the past that had to have arrived from Europe by water.  I really knew very little of Ireland's history, and I had a vague idea of the IRA.  All I really expected was that...

It rained a lot
It was considerably colder than New Orleans
And, of course, Guinness tastes much better

Immediately when I arrived on July 1st 2012, my first two expectations were confirmed.

The shuttle from the airport brought me right into the heart of Dublin into Trinity campus.  I was surprised to find out that the city operates like a machine.  Cars are always zooming by in the narrow streets, and the pedestrian light is a lot more useful in Dublin than New Orleans.  The tourists mostly dominate the downtown city center, including the landmark Trinity College of Dublin. 

Grafton street seem to be very much like a shopping street from New York.  It is filled with tourists and  shopping centers left and right.  The little pre-teens couples running around holding hands and wasting their money on fashion is not something that interests me.  I am looking for the accent, the people who show me what Ireland is truly like.  The four leaf clover and red bearded leprechaun are commercialized a good deal around the downtown city center, and I find it amusing.  Why people buy these sorts of things is beyond me, but it only makes sense why the tourist industry can capitalize on it.  However, the modernization of Dublin is not startling, but merely a reminder of the way we are evolving.  In many other ways Dublin has struck the perfect arpeggio in my heart.

Trinity is located right in the middle of the tourist turmoil, but the hectic life is beautiful.  There is a unique culture and life to Dublin.  The bars are plenty, and there are plenty of decent ones.  On the first day, Mrs. McCay showed the boys a good time.  She brought us out for a few drinks at the Joyce-famed Davey Byrne's pub located right off Grafton Street onto Duke Street.  The prices at this pub are, I've found, standard for Ireland, usually about 4-5 euros a drink.  The bartender, like most pubs in Ireland, is cheerful and courteous. 

The architecture and building layout of the place had me feeling really warm inside.  It was on this first day that I realized what Ireland had gotten right:  the pubs and the stout.  When I watched the man pour what was to be my first Irish Guinness, I marveled at the technique.  The taste was sweet and filling, and I immediately fell in love. 




My very limited expectations were correct, but I left a lot of room to form my opinion.  Now, I hate to be lumped into the tourist category with all the other shopping crazed foreigners of Ireland, but I know that by the end of this week I may be a regular at a local pub making fun of it all, and being merry.