A Great City to Visit - Dublin Exceeded Our Expectations

We have had an enjoyable and great experience in Dublin. During our week long stay in this city, we have learned a great deal about the Irish history, people and climate. Irish climate, as we experienced personally, has been depicted humourously in this poster in Dublin.

Of all the things we have learned about Ireland, the events and stories of the Great Famine hit us in our faces in Dublin. The Great Famine left an indelible mark on Ireland and its people. Ireland lost about one million of its population due to death caused by the famine and famine related diseases and a further one million Irish emigrated to other parts of the world which meant the country losing a quarter of its population during these famine years. .

Wherever we went in Dublin, we saw exhibits, displays, artwork, tours and events reminding its people and visitors alike about this horrific part of the Irish history. Besides seeing the sculptures of starving skeleton like Irish men and women erected in parks, public spaces,

we also read about the detail descriptions of the effects of this famine had on the people and Ireland in museums, library, billbaords and even in bars and restaurants where we ordered a pint or food to re-energize ourselves.

We could see and feel the economic prosperity in Dublin. While walking each day back and forth from our place to downtown, we admired those beautifully newly constructed business buildings along the both sides of the river. Housed within these numerous brand new office buildings are big international businesses and hi tech corporations strategically located their business in this city bringing with them many high tech and high paying jobs for the local people. Consequently, this particular waterfront area of Dublin has been dubed ' The new Silicon Valley".

Dublin exceeded our expectations in terms of: 1. Interesting food the city could offer - we tasted delicious food not limited to Irish food alone. While in Dublin we were able to try different kinds of food from various ethnic origins.

2 A walkable city steep in culture and history - many museums and famous sites are not too far from each other making visits to these famous sites easy and accessible. 3. Ancient and modern buildings with spectacular architecture coexisiting side by side other making Dublin one of the most interesting cities in the world.

3. Good public transportation system - direct public transportation from the airport to downtown and going to other places within the city 4. A reasonable safe city - Being seniors, we didn't do any late night bar crawls but we did walk around a couple of times after dark and we were not harassed or felt unsafe. 5. Polite services and assistance given when dealing with everyday sales and retail staff members Dublin is more than what we have expected and we thoroughly enjoyed out time while vacationing there! Thank you, Dublin! R.T. Dublin, Ireland 062024