Flight
This was a flight I was particularly looking forward to — my first time on Etihad Business Class, and having previously flown Qatar, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and KLM in business, I was curious to see how Etihad measured up. Unfortunately, it came in lower than all of them. The flight from Manila to Abu Dhabi carried no airline logo anywhere on the aircraft — completely white on the outside, and inside had some mentions of Turkish Airlines, looking very much like a plane being shared across airlines for less popular sectors. The business class was unlike anything I have seen before — the entertainment system did not work and they handed out poor Wi-Fi access on your phone with a webpage to stream content if you were desperate enough; a crew member would come around and hang blankets from the luggage compartments to create some privacy; and the seats were so cramped that even for someone as small as me, lying down was a tight fit. The only saving grace was the food.
The learning here is to take business class only on popular routes with reputable carriers. Thankfully the aircraft was much better on the other sectors, but I would still say it was only better than KLM and wasn’t as good as the others I have flown.
Dublin Airport
This was the first reminder of Dublin's resemblance to Rotterdam — a really tiny but remarkably efficient airport, much like Rotterdam The Hague. From flight touchdown to airport exit was about 10 minutes, and navigating to the Airport Coach just outside was completely straightforward.
The City
Dublin is divided by the river Liffey into north and south, so much like Rotterdam with the river Maas. The splash tours on the river, the bridges — one of which looks exactly like the Erasmus Swan Bridge — the sound the traffic lights make when they stop, even the way the trams look, are all eerily familiar. Dublin just lacks the quirky art and architecture of Rotterdam and compensates with loads of pubs instead — and speaking of which, Ireland is home to Sean's Bar in Athlone, certified by Guinness World Records as the oldest pub in the world, established in 900 AD, predating the creation of Irish whiskey, and Guinness itself.
The name Dublin means "black pool" in Irish, referring to the dark pool of sediments formed at the intersection of two rivers that once met here.
While Dublin and Ireland are part of the European Union, a small section of Northern Ireland remains part of the UK — something the locals are quite proud of managing, seeing it as a working example of a two-state solution.
To See
The Spire — 121 metres of stainless steel built to commemorate the new millennium, completed in 2003 though.
Temple Bar — the name refers to the neighbourhood, not any specific bar, though one bar has opened there calling itself The Temple Bar and has become the most photographed spot in Dublin through sheer marketing. It was named after a similar area in London where there is an actual temple.
George's Arcade — a covered farmers market with lots of interesting food joints worth wandering through at a leisurely pace.
Christ Church and Saint Patrick's Cathedral — two of the most famous cathedrals in Dublin, both built on sites where pagan churches once stood. Interestingly, Ireland's Protestant population is only 2%, yet both these cathedrals are Protestant, a legacy of British colonialism. Even more interesting is that both were funded by alcohol money — Christ Church by the Roe family, whose whiskey distillery was once the largest in Ireland and Saint Patrick's by the Guinness family.
Howth Summit — a half-hour bus ride from the city centre offering coastal trekking and great views of the Bailey Lighthouse. It was good to see the Bailey Lighthouse from here — a reminder that Ireland is home to Hook Head Lighthouse in County Wexford, widely regarded as the oldest intact operational lighthouse in the world, with its roots going back to the 5th century when a Welsh monk named St Dubhán kept a beacon burning to warn sailors, before a stone tower was built in the 13th century that still stands and functions to this day. Even Howth station itself, without going any further, offers beautiful sea views and plenty of restaurant options.
EPIC Immigration Museum — a genuinely great place to understand the story of Irish emigration. One section of politics starts by making the case that John F Kennedy has Irish roots, which makes sense with him name but then goes on to say that Obama and Joe Biden all have Irish ancestry! By the end of it, almost every famous person from the Beatles to Rihanna seems to have some Irish connection. But an interesting way of sharing the point that though Ireland has a population of 5m, there are nearly 70m people globally that recognize themselves as Irish origin.
Guinness Storehouse
The place I wanted to visit the most in Dublin and completely worth the time effort and money. What an amazing way to showcase the brand. Simple and memorable. A must visit, especially to try the freshly brewed Guinness beer and walk through the exact sets of the Netflix show as well.
Language and Literature
Only 2% of the population speaks Irish, though most streets carry Irish names alongside their English ones, and there has been a cultural revival in recent years driven in part by Irish rap bands. Dublin has punched well above its weight in literature — Ulysses and Gulliver's Travels were both written by authors from here, and Ireland has produced four Nobel Prize winners in Literature: W.B. Yeats (1923), George Bernard Shaw (1925), Samuel Beckett (1969), and Séamus Heaney (1995). Ulysses itself tells the story of a single day in the author James Joyce's life across 730 pages.
Phrases
"Daylight robbery" comes from Dublin — many buildings had their windows removed because the British government levied a tax based on the number of windows, so landlords bricked them up rather than pay. "So long" also originates here, from "slán", which means goodbye in Irish.
People
I was surprised to see a significant number of homeless people in Dublin, particularly given the prosperity the city has seen from large technology companies setting up their European headquarters here to benefit from Ireland's low corporate tax rate. I even witnessed people shoplifting food and a scuffle with a security guard while I was there — quite unsettling to see in a first world city.
What also surprised me was the number of Indians — grocery stores like Spar and hospitality roles like hotel receptionists were almost entirely staffed by Indians, and I even came across them working at the Guinness Storehouse. I have not noticed this concentration in any other European city I have visited.
Ireland has also produced more than its share of notorious figures — Machine Gun Kelly, Billy the Kid, and Ned Kelly were all of Irish descent. But the most fascinating story I heard was that of Mary Mallon, better known as Typhoid Mary, an Irish immigrant who spent 26 years in isolation after being identified as a healthy carrier of typhoid fever responsible for 51 outbreaks across the northeastern United States — all while working as a cook, completely unaware she was spreading a deadly disease.
Food
Irish stew made with lamb, potatoes, and root vegetables is the classic, and steak pie made with Guinness is another one worth trying. Both are exactly what you want after a walk along the Liffey on a cold evening.
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