Ireland 2023 - epilogue

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Part one - Dublin on foot - Dublin seemed overwhelming at first, but going for a walk is a great way to get oriented to the neighborhood streets. You'll notice that e-bikes & e-scooters approach quickly, and silently, usually in the dedicated bike lanes next to the sidewalk. Typically they are wearing dark clothing and have no headlights. But they have the legal ROW, so you have to watch out for them, and not get hit.    

Bikes & e-scooters often run yellow and red pedestrian lights, or yellow & red traffic lights, and pedestrians jay-walk, where traffic volume is low. But locals know the streets and the rhythm of the traffic lights, while we visitors hardly have a clue.    

Visitors tend to stop & wait for the green walking man symbol, while locals on foot or wheels keep going even when the walking men were yellow or even red ? ....I never figured that one out. 

Many decades ago the City painted "look left" or "look right" on the ground, at every intersection, mainly for Americans, and while the letters are fading away, they are still helpful.

With 9 nights here I grew to be completely comfortable walking around and did learn the traffic rhythms or patterns.

Side note - asking a Cabbie for their opinion about e-bikes & scooters is a surefire way to strike up an entertaining conversation. On the way from Heuston Station to Camden Court the Nigerian Cabbie showed me his continuously operating videocam (very wide-angle) to use as Court evidence, because bike/cab collusions are so complicated. Other Cabbies told of seeing 3 or 4 kids on the same scooter going to work in the industrial district, all hours of the day. 

Part Two - Cultural notes

Dublin is the most international, multi-ethnic City I've ever visited, and there is a general atmosphere of positivity everywhere you go. When out walking people are polite and locals are unfailingly helpful. The variety of languages you hear just about anywhere is incredible.     

In my travels, I felt right at home with all of the Irish people I interacted with. I find Irish people very easy to talk with, and they appreciate stories and punch lines. In modern times no matter where you go in Ireland, even in the backwater towns, the multi-ethnic aspects are there, but so is the traditional Irish character (see day 14 at bottom, at the Carlingford Arms).  

Part Three - Final walking in Dublin comment - City aesthetics ?

Now that I know Dublin better, it can be a visually drab & old-looking City (modern buildings excepted) and green spaces are rare. On so many blocks you see long-ago abandoned/derelict buildings, never likely to be renovated, covered with mean grafiti or innovative street art or even impressive murals.  

Elegant neighborhoods aside, the vast majority of inner city Dublin looks this way, and, I purposely did not take photos of these run-down aspects.

In retrospect, I am glad we stayed where we did, bcs on Camden or Harcourt, there are three beautiful parks nearby, and most of the main destinations are easy to walk to.

This is a good place to mention that the pre-trip plan to tour Dublin mainly on foot, came to fruition. 

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