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I'm a 22 year old male, studying literature in the US (Pittsburgh), trying to gather as much information about studying and living in Ireland (mostly Dublin) for the summer. I have never been to Europe before, much less Ireland so I'm trying to get an idea if there's anything I should know of before I go. I apologize for this being such a vague post, but any ideas,advice, or recommendations you can give will likely be of use. Thanks a bunch in advance.
Europeans have a stereotype on Americans for being overweight, dumb, and loud. I was all of the above when I went to France in high school and it got me a few dirty looks. So be quiet, read up, and hit the gym!
You'll be fine and will have a great experience. Just enjoy yourself. You will not likely encounter the experiences that the previous poster described. The Irish are pretty welcoming and unless you mention that you love George Bush or are very patriotic you will have no problems with discrimination or hostility. I'm sure you already know that it rains a lot! To save on costs, seek out the stores ALDI or LIDL. Food and toiletries are very expensive so only purchase what you absolutely need and conserve! Just bring a sense of humour and rain gear and you'll be set! Avoid certain areas after the pubs close (can't help you with bad parts of Dublin, however) and keep your wits about you as you would in any large city.
With regards as to what areas you should aviod, theres a few to list....
Coolock-Darndale-Belcamp
Ballymun
Dunsink lane area around Finglas
Dolphin's Barn
Pearse St. area
West Tallaght - Clondalkin
Sumerhill
various flat complexes ( ex. O'devaney gardens, St teresa's etc..)
Make sure you go to the races at the local courses, 5 within 30miles and all great sport. Secondly always remember Guiness is your friend and you won`t go too far wrong..
With regards as to what areas you should aviod, theres a few to list....
Coolock-Darndale-Belcamp
Ballymun
Dunsink lane area around Finglas
Dolphin's Barn
Pearse St. area
West Tallaght - Clondalkin
Sumerhill
various flat complexes ( ex. O'devaney gardens, St teresa's etc..)
just to name a few...
I'll keep these in mind. I know I'm staying at one of the college in...south dublin I believe? I'm not sure which or where.
Make sure you go to the races at the local courses, 5 within 30miles and all great sport. Secondly always remember Guiness is your friend and you won`t go too far wrong..
Guinness is a beautiful, beautiful beverage. I plan on touring the factory when I'm there.
not to dissapoint you, but the guinness brewery is a little overrated. it was a pain in the butt to even find the main entrance. there is no tour guide for it, you just basically walk around the stories of the building reading things. i was working out in ireland not too far from dublin and went to the brewery 3 times with coworkers. not because i wanted to go 3 times but different groups of workers came out and wanted to see the brewery. its 14 euro to take the tour and you get a free guinness at the top. i think it was 9 stories, you are away from the main part of the city, so the view isnt super, just mainly houses and things in the area. i didnt find the guinness at the brewery to be any better than what i had at the hotel i stayed at, in fact, i prefered the guinness at the hotel. i heard the jameson distillery is much better, i never got to see it . you better start saving up. things there are much more expensive than in the states, especially pa. you arent going to have the luxuries of late night restaurants, most places close a lot earlier because people tend to care more about their lives and living them than making money. if you are going out to eat plan on spending at least 20-30 euro a meal. people arent as big with tipping there either. if you eat salads dont expect a lot of dressings, youll get vinegarette. if you eat steak you usually get peppercorn sauce (amazing!) or a garlic butter sauce with it. they put a lot more vinegar in their ketchup, so its different, i personally liked it better. also, the guinness is so much better than the states, i used to love guinness in the states, after drinking it in ireland i have a harder time drinking it in the states. get used to economy sized things. cars and parking spots are much smaller than in the states. if you want to go to the waterford crystal factory, it is definitely worth the trip, the only problem is, waterford the city does not have much to do . if you are staying in dublin you will probably find yourself at temple bar (a touristy district with tons of bars and restaurants) or stephens green. dont plan on drinking much at the bars, beers there are more expensive than most of the states, a guinness is about 5 euro. oh, and the irish ladies tend to play that hard to get game, if you can deal with that you are golden . also, they have huge taxes over there, so make sure to get your tax exempt forms from places you purchase things at. you pay taxes up front (most places) but get reimbursed after turning in some forms. if you have a chance see cork too, go to blarney castle also. dont expect to the castles to be what movies make them out to be. they are magnitudes smaller than the impressions the movies give you. overall i loved ireland and will be going back when i can .
I'm a 22 year old male, studying literature in the US (Pittsburgh), trying to gather as much information about studying and living in Ireland (mostly Dublin) for the summer. I have never been to Europe before, much less Ireland so I'm trying to get an idea if there's anything I should know of before I go. I apologize for this being such a vague post, but any ideas,advice, or recommendations you can give will likely be of use. Thanks a bunch in advance.
Yeah. Change your teams. They hate the Steelers over there.
Not sure if you're kidding roc (I suspect that you are of course!), but the Irish couldn't care less about American football. Hurling, (A true Irish sport, not the vomiting kind!) Gaelic football, and Rugby are huge over there. Now those are REAL sports- none of that sissy padding and helmets. GO MUNSTER!!!
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. you better start saving up. things there are much more expensive than in the states, especially pa. you arent going to have the luxuries of late night restaurants, most places close a lot earlier because people tend to care more about their lives and living them than making money. if you are going out to eat plan on spending at least 20-30 euro a meal. people arent as big with tipping there either. if you eat salads dont expect a lot of dressings, youll get vinegarette. if you eat steak you usually get peppercorn sauce (amazing!) or a garlic butter sauce with it. they put a lot more vinegar in their ketchup, so its different, i personally liked it better. also, the guinness is so much better than the states, i used to love guinness in the states, after drinking it in ireland i have a harder time drinking it in the states. get used to economy sized things. cars and parking spots are much smaller than in the states. if you want to go to the waterford crystal factory, it is definitely worth the trip, the only problem is, waterford the city does not have much to do 
.
