Temple Bar

Now this also maybe an obvious choice, but I’m not choosing Temple Bar for the reason you may think. Yes. I know that most tourists from all over come to Temple Bar to experience “authentic Irish pub life.” Unfortunately, this tourist marketing has made Temple Bar’s pub life pretty touristy and sloppy—especially on the weekends. Think of it as Ireland’s very own Bourbon Street. Yet, unlike Bourbon Street, Temple Bar has much more to offer than getting wasted and puking in a toilet on a Saturday night. If you go during the weekdays (or even the weeknights), you’ll experience the bohemian, funky flare well known to Temple Bar. I will say that I think shopping in Temple Bar is much more rewarding than shopping on Grafton Street. There are hordes of vintage (i.e. “hippie”) clothing stores, used book stores, comic book stores, record stores, tattoo shops, body piercing shops, etc., etc., etc. The Irish Film Institute is also here, so you can buy tickets/dvds of new and classic Irish arthouse films. There is also a flea market sort of thing during the weekends in Temple Bar Square. For those of you went to FSU, it’s kind of a condensed version of the one we had in the student union every weekend. Still, vendors sell all sorts of stuff: used CD’s, used books, incense, tarot card readings, Vote No/Yes to Lisbon stickers, etc. For me, it was shopping heaven. I had to stop coming here, so I wouldn’t spend anymore money.

PS—If any of you do make your way to Dublin, please, please go to Mojo Records. They have a great selection of Irish music: from The Pogues to The Dubliners. It also has a used bookstore upstairs and is only few blocks from this huge graphic novel store called Forbidden Planet.