10 things that surprised me about Dublin

10 Things that surprised me about Dublin and/or the Irish

1. Upon arrival at the airport signs are in two languages… English and Irish… who knew? Honestly did not expect it. Kind of backwards of me not to think about it… but alas… I apparently lead a very sheltered life that doesn’t know about other cultures and languages. (thank goodness I travel so as to enlighten me to such things)
2. All of the flight attendants were Irish or Scottish. Did not understand ONE word they were saying. Seriously… Not ONE word…  I feel quite proficient in English most of the time. Their slang is incomprehensible to me.
3. It took me 32 minutes (I timed it) to walk from the plane to the exit in the Dublin airport. Good exercise but a bit excessive. (didn’t expect the airport to be that big)

4. All of Dublin is getting married (or celebrating marriage) I have never seen so many hen/stag parties. These parties included obscene outfits and extremely high shoes. Most of them were located on Grafton street.

5. They drive on the left hand side… and to accommodate the massive amounts of tourists… they have made it easy to walk across the street and not die. Plus pedestrians do not follow the traffic lights at all. You cross when you can, not when the light turns. Silly me standing there like an idiot.

6. Very few people use umbrellas. After feeling the wind (and seeing garbage bins full of broken umbrellas) I understand why. Though it rained daily… the wind was what made the weather… ‘memorable’

7. LOADS of Polish people. On the streets you hear English and Polish. Almost equal measures of both.

8. The most dingy disgusting pub I’ve ever been to… is full of hipsters and obviously wealthy folk. I can pick out a ‘mock’ old sweater that you paid 100 Euros for anywhere… it’s a good thing you’re saving on buying ‘cheap’ drinks at this dive… oh wait… the beer costs more here as well

9. Even the Irish are bad a geography. After speaking to one entertaining fellow who explained to me that Cape Town was in Jamaica… I didn’t feel so bad about my own lack of geographical knowledge.

10. The Irish created a perfectly square bridge. Pretty awesome. I think it should be a main tourist attraction. How often do you see a perfectly square bridge?