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Dublin Airport and Aer Lingus are having a laugh!

Written by Joerg Steegmueller
Dublin Airport and Aer Lingus are having a laugh!

Last Friday I flew to Germany with Aer Lingus. It was an early start with a departure time of 07:00, so most people are not too keen to go for a healthy walk or jog at around 06:00 when you are on your way to the boarding gate. But Aer Lingus is considering our health and must have assumed that I was indulging the night before, because they were determined to get me to walk the calories off.

You check in Terminal 2 and you already know that for a tiny island, the airport in Dublin forces you to walk mad distances, but when you find out that your plane is not at Terminal 2 at all, but instead is parked at the Terminal that Aer Lingus is allegedly NOT using anymore, i.e. Terminal 1, then you feel that someone is having a laugh.

So you check in at Terminal 2 and then walk alllllll the way to Terminal 1 to board your flight. :-O

If that is not odd then wait for the return flight story:

On Tuesday we flew back to Dublin and arrived around 22:00. Usually you can leave the plane through the front and back door, but we were told that we will only be able to leave through the front door and that a bus will bring us to the terminal. But when we got out, there was no bus. Instead we were directed to a (new) walk way that brought us to a building that I had never seen before. I thought this is an extension of Terminal 2, but not so fast! We entered the building through the door on the right and were told to queue at the door OUT of the building in the left. :-O What for? To wait for the bus!

So you walk from the plane to this isolated new building, enter the building just to queue again to get out. Then you take the bus and it brings you to Terminal 2 where you have another loooooong walk to passport control and exit.

Are Dublin Airport and Aer Lingus that incompetent? Have they ever seen any other airports where buses bring passengers to the terminals? The bus normally waits next to the plane and then brings you to the airport. Why do we have to walk to a terminal to enter a bus that will bring us to a terminal. The new isolated building is called “South Gates” as I found out later. It was opened in December 2017 after being built for EUR22 mio (!?) and is only used by Aer Lingus for flights to Britain and Europe. Connection to and from the terminal is only via bus.

Can anyone tell me why Terminal 2 was built? Are any flights departing from and arriving at Terminal 2? Or do we have a situation where Terminal 1 and (mostly empty) Terminal 2 are already not big enough anymore? If that is the case then the future is not looking good.

Dublin, Tourism, , ,

Phoenix Park is NOT the biggest City Park in Europe

Written by Joerg Steegmueller
Phoenix Park is NOT the biggest City Park in Europe

Have you ever heard someone saying that Phoenix Park is the biggest city park in Europe? I heard that a long time ago and for many years, I said it to every visitor who came to see me in Ireland. But one day I looked into it and found out that this is actually not true!

Phoenix Park has 707 hectares (1,750 acres) and the largest city Park in Europe is the Lee Valley Park in London with 4,046 hectares.
Then I read that it was the largest city park in a capital of Europe. But Lee Valley Park is in a capital and even if you don’t count that one, then Richmond Park in London with 955 hectares is still bigger.
I kept searching and found that Phoenix Park is allegedly the largest ENCLOSED park in Europe. But that is not true either, because Château de Chambord in the Loire Valley in France has 5,440 hectares and is therefore much larger than our little Phoenix Park.

So, what is the “trick”? …here it comes:
Phoenix Park is the largest ENCLOSED PUBLIC park in a CAPITAL city in Europe.

Isn’t this as if you said Dublin Airport is the biggest airport in the world … out of all the airports that are in a city that starts with D, uses Euro for currency and has a Spire.

Trickery!!

Dublin, Odd, Tourism, , , , ,

One more silly rule is gone: Alcohol on Good Friday

Written by Joerg Steegmueller
One more silly rule is gone: Alcohol on Good Friday

On Thursday the Dail approved a change to the Intoxicating Liquor Act, that will remove the ban that stopped pubs, restaurants and off licenses from selling alcohol on Good Friday. It was an outdated law from 1927, from a time when Ireland was still VERY catholic, but it is a clear example where the Catholic Church still had a bigger impact on the state than it should have. This is the one and only reason why – in my opinion – this law change is a good change.

We don’t need a nanny state that tells us what to do based on church rules! No, I am NOT suggesting that now you should have alcohol on Good Friday! You should drink or not drink based on YOUR preferences, not based on a state or church rule (but if you prefer not to drink because of a church rule that is important to you, that is also 100% fine!).

Yes, too much alcohol is consumed in the Irish society, but a ban on Good Friday will not solve that problem and picking on that one day doesn’t make sense. I am totally in favour of strategies that reduce the consummation of alcohol through education, but not through a nonsensical Good Friday ban.

There is now only one other day left when the selling of alcohol is forbidden and that is Christmas Day. Some think if the selling of alcohol was allowed on that day, then suddenly pubs and restaurants wouldn’t give their staff a day off anymore. But if that is the driver. then we should have a law that regulates if pubs, restaurants and off-licenses are allowed to open or not, not a regulation “through the backdoor” via an alcohol selling ban.

I will continue to stay away from alcohol on Good Friday (not for religious reasons, but just because I don’t drink much anyway), but I am 100% in favour of a lifting of the ban. Is it this time me who is odd!?!?! :-)

Irish, Odd, Politics, Society, Tourism, , , ,

Dublin’s only comprehensive Christmas Market Website

Written by Joerg Steegmueller
Dublin’s only comprehensive Christmas Market Website

Every year I compile a list of all Christmas Markets and publish it on www.DublinChristmasMarkets.com . You will find nearly all the Christmas Markets in Dublin on that list. And if a Christmas Market is not on it, then it is either not a proper Christmas Market ;-) OR the organisers should rapidly work on their marketing (and also send me an e-mail with the details so that I can add their market).

The list is long, but most of the markets are “Markets with a Christmas Theme” as again this year, there is no proper Christmas Market happening in Dublin. Parameters for “proper Christmas Market” in my book are: It has to be outdoors, at least 20 stalls with a mixture of a variety (!) of food stalls and Christmas related craft stalls and other goods. There has to be a Market atmosphere AND a Christmas atmosphere (a long row of stalls usually fails the “atmosphere” criteria).

But even if there is no proper Christmas Market, I still recomment the markets that we have. They are not awful, they are perfect in their own individual way, it is just that I really miss a PROPER Christmas Market and I still can’t believe that Dublin can’t hack it to have one and to keep it! Look at Waterford or Belfast or Galway and Cork and even Dun Laoghaire tried harder than Dublin does.

So, the list is at www.DublinChristmasMarkets.com and please feel free to tell your friends, colleagues and family about it.

Dublin, Events, Tourism

A Time House in Dublin? What is that?

Written by Joerg Steegmueller
A Time House in Dublin? What is that?

I seem to be one of the last people to find out about this or are you maybe also new to that concept? A Time House is a venue where you pay for the time you spend there and already for just about a year :-O there is a Time House in Dublin. My excuse is that it is not free, therefore I didn’t find about it earlier, but it is a really interesting concept and therefore I want to tell you about it today.

The Clockwork Door is Dublin’s first and only (as far as I know!) Time House. It is located at 51 Wellington Quay, which is very near to Ha’Penny Bridge, next to EaTokyo and they run lots of different events.

But how does it work? Well, it is intriguingly simple. You pay for every minute you are in the Time House (8 cent per minute in the first 2 hours, 6 cent per minute in the next 2 hours and 5 cent for the rest of the day). So if you stay there for 3 hours, it would cost you 9.60+3.60=13.20. For that you will get unlimited tea, coffee, biscuits, wi-fi, board games, video games and the use of 5 different rooms + kitchen. The max cost per day is EUR 20 but you can also go for the membership option where you pay EUR 60 for the whole month and you have unlimited access for that price.

Events don’t cost extra and – because the people running the place would love you to stay there for a looong time ;-) – there are always interesting events happening. (You can bring your own food, but alcohol is not allowed.)

The rooms are kitted out for working/studying, or for lounging or for playing (board and video games) etc. The website has pictures of the rooms and lots more information. Oddly the website doesn’t specify the opening hours, but I found elsewhere that the Time House is open from 10:00-22:00. I really like the idea and for a price of between EUR 3 and EUR 4.80 per hour with tea and biscuits and wi-fi included, it could be an interesting drop-in place for some, even during the day. Beats Starbucks any day! ;-) Find out more details here www.clockworkdoor.ie/the-clockwork-door/ the Facebook Page is here www.facebook.com/theclockworkdoor/

[They also have a separate “Escape Room” where you play games to find the key to get out again. It is called The Clockwork Key but is not included in the “Time House” concept, it is a separate operation and priced differently.]

Dublin, Events, Tourism,
 
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