What with the crazy title, you ask? Sounds weird, but the one major thing I noticed this time around, was that EVERYONE was trying to rip you off in Dublin, Ireland. The decent restaurants - a 6 Euro ‘table surcharge’. The taxi - a 35 Euro (which = $50 fleecing) to get about 10 minutes to the Dublin airport. EVERYTHING came with a price…..like we were in New York city. I have been there 4 times now, and I am sad to say that this was the impression most prominent (which is why I am blogging about it).

It was great to see one of my lifelong best friends, Gavin, and his wife and new baby, Connor. But, what happened to the friendly **IRISH** faces, reasonable prices (used to be cheap 7 years ago!), nice sites (that were made even nicer by the cheap entry prices), and just the over all ‘goodness’ of the Emerald Island?? Tell me, where did it all go?? Now, magazines line the streets with tales of how 1 in 4 kids in their twenties are hooked on Cocaine or Heroin?!? Seriously….the CEltic Tiger is destroying the country. It’s no longer about ‘Leprechauns’, ‘Pots o’ Gold’ and Beer. It’s about gambling, money, Polish/Asian immigrants, and drugs. Ugggghh. 

I always held a special place for Ireland in my heart (since some of my ancestors came from there). It was always a fun loving, affordable, and captivating country. I guess we will have to stick to Luxemburg (where the other half are from). I’m sure my Dad will be happy to read that.

Bye, bye, green clovers, blue diamonds, and lucky charms. Here comes the ugliness of (far) western capitalism about to settle in.

P.S. I have a few pictures that I will post soon. This WordPress just makes it SO hard to post pics that it discourages me. It’s 1 photo upload at a time! Oh, and the ‘Potato Shooter’ is assembled and ready for takeoff! Pics of that will be coming soon….