Aa nice Paddy seated opposite me on the train todaay to Galway asked if I was comfortable, navigating Dublin on my own, when I told that I had walked the historicaal part of the city using a podcaast and a map.
The truth is, like anywhere else in the world, there are parts of the city (as with Cork and quite possily with Galway too) that one would be ill-advised to wander off into by themself, or even in a group.
I did my walking tour after 7 pm (but hey - it's now 10 past 11 and the sun's just gone down!). This meant that most of the shops would be closed and the pedestrian traffic having died down. Yet, I never got that feeling that I had to look over my shoulder or clutch the bag that wee bit tighter. And mind you, the trail I followed was on the North side of the river Liffey - which is not somewhere you'd want to hang out.
Maybe it was a sense of false safety that had lodge in my head, i.e. if most of the people I had crossed paths with are so genuinely friendly - how could there be any bad persons here?! Which is wrong, I know.
The cab driver who stopped the meter from running cos we were going in circles, finding a particular place, the kindly Pops who walked me down the Quays to make sure I got on the right bus to catch the train, the chap who offered to drive me frmo the station to the hotel - they could be unique individuals. And yes, there were kindly ladies as well - like the lady of the pub who gave me her recipe for Steak & Guinness stew or the B&B owner, Lucy who made me a warm salt bath for my aching feet.
Nonetheless, all the strangers I have sat next to, shared lifts with or even just waited for the bus with have all lived up to the proud reputation of Irish hospitality.
Malaysian Airlines should really take a leaf out of their books, if they want to maintain that MH = Malaysian Hospitality.
The truth is, like anywhere else in the world, there are parts of the city (as with Cork and quite possily with Galway too) that one would be ill-advised to wander off into by themself, or even in a group.
I did my walking tour after 7 pm (but hey - it's now 10 past 11 and the sun's just gone down!). This meant that most of the shops would be closed and the pedestrian traffic having died down. Yet, I never got that feeling that I had to look over my shoulder or clutch the bag that wee bit tighter. And mind you, the trail I followed was on the North side of the river Liffey - which is not somewhere you'd want to hang out.
Maybe it was a sense of false safety that had lodge in my head, i.e. if most of the people I had crossed paths with are so genuinely friendly - how could there be any bad persons here?! Which is wrong, I know.
The cab driver who stopped the meter from running cos we were going in circles, finding a particular place, the kindly Pops who walked me down the Quays to make sure I got on the right bus to catch the train, the chap who offered to drive me frmo the station to the hotel - they could be unique individuals. And yes, there were kindly ladies as well - like the lady of the pub who gave me her recipe for Steak & Guinness stew or the B&B owner, Lucy who made me a warm salt bath for my aching feet.
Nonetheless, all the strangers I have sat next to, shared lifts with or even just waited for the bus with have all lived up to the proud reputation of Irish hospitality.
Malaysian Airlines should really take a leaf out of their books, if they want to maintain that MH = Malaysian Hospitality.
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