"Great place - but not the real Ireland " a Dublin Travel Page by sourbugger

A story from the Sunday Times (31/8/03) I think neatly sums up the kind of affect that Dublin and its famous black liquid can have on people :

RED FACES OF THE WEEK :

Three Italian tourist enjoyed a tour of the Guiness storehouse in Dublin and a meal on the first day of their holiday in ireland - and then forgot where they were staying. The three men spent two days sleeping in their hire car and searching for their guest house, where they had left their luggage, airline tickets and passports, before going to the police for help. A spokesman for the Garda said: "All they knew was that the accommodation might have had a green door, was on a main road and beside a school".

Another story about Dublin you may like is made-up, but it does have a certain truth to it about "Rip-off Ireland"

There has been much concern over the last few years about the cost of living in Ireland, it is now one of the highest in Europe. This disparity has become even more apparant with the advent of the Euro - making comparisons far easier to do. Levels of customer service can also leave something to be desired at times. This is especialy true in areas such as groceries, restaurants and other parts of the tourist industry.

This little story (as told to me by my Sister in law) may help to put it into some kind of perspective.

Paddy goes on holiday in Europe and decides to purchase a Donner Kebab.

The Kebab man takes a pitta bread and loads it up with good quality meat, packs it brim full of salad and hand it to Paddy, "That will be 2 euro please"

"2 Euro ?" says Paddy "That is so much better than back home "

"You Irish ?" asks the Kebab man, and with that he swipes the Kebab back, scapes out most of the meat and salad, gobs in it, and hands it back to Paddy.

"8 Euro"