The Dublin Community Blog

Further ‘recession buster’ deals to be taken advantage of in Dundrum these days. The Counter are offering a free Signature Burger to the first 100 people to visit from 12noon tomorrow. That gives you seven options in the ‘Signature Burger’ category. The Counter is located below Hamley’s toy store in Dundrum Town Centre.

Also, Milano are offering two pizzas for just €12 (except on Saturdays) through 4 October. CLICK HERE to fill in a form and receive a voucher to print out and take with you to any one of seven restaurants in Dublin.

The free Mind the Gap Operetta will be running again next Friday night, as will a few other public art exhibitions in conjunction with Fringe Fest. And yes, there will also be plenty of buskers and stag do/hen party folks around next weekend. Can’t guarantee that we’ll see another group of Austin Powers look-a-likes running around (anybody else see Elvis suddenly appear in that video?), but in Temple Bar, you just never know.

Two days on a limited budget and I’m a bit exhausted. But this may well have to do with the fact that I mostly used my legs as means of transport over the weekend. Before I sum it all up, here’s what I did yesterday:

Due to Saturdays experiences I hit Aldi today before getting hungry, and was able to purchase a nice lunch for only 4.36€ – but I’m not big fan of Aldi’s policy to only sell water in 4- or 6-packs. For comparison, in Lidl they have at least some single juices and waters to purchase at the cashier.

My first stop today was the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Kilmainham, where I was also able to enjoy my budget-lunch in the sun at the formal gardens of the museum. By far not as crowded as St. Stephen’s Green, and there are outdoor artworks on display – most of the time corresponding to the current exhibitions.

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Now I’m sitting here with some hastily scribbled notes, pictures and loads of tweets tagged 15Euros and will try to relate what it’s like to go around Dublin on a limited budget. First of all, it’s possible. I know that this is harsh reality for loads of people out there, but normally I do not have to worry about buying a water in Spar and not to have enough money left to buy dinner. So it was / is quite an interesting experience. And, with a little help of my (online) friends a quite entertaining one as well.

After filling myself on tea & toast, my starting point was as promised the Litton Lane Hostel from where I headed towards the Temple Bar Food Market, hoping to get some free samples. But as it was just 10.30AM I was only able to get a sliced apple due to most stalls not being open yet.

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This being the time of the recession, I thought it to be a good idea to try and find out what it feels like to be in Dublin on a limited budget. And maybe share my experiences and provide some hints and tips of how to entertain yourself without handing over 2,20 € for a breakfast roll and 6 Euros for a pint in Temple Bar. And as this blog is also read by (future) visitors to our dirty old town, I’ll pretend to be a backpacker on a shoestring. Especially as I am planning to do this on the next weekend and the next payday is far away.

And here’s the plan: On this Saturday & Sunday I’ll pretend to have stayed at the Litton Lane Hostel, because it is a) one of the most central ones, b) serves breakfast and c) the price for a dorm bed start at 12,50 €. Not that I am actually staying there (but did so when I came to Dublin for the first time though), but it is a good starting point. And from there on I’ll explore Dublin on foot with 15 Euros in my pocket, sharing my experiences on the go via the Dublinblog-Twitter-Account and my personal one as well.

And will need your help, dear reader: I have planned my days roughly until lunch, but from then on I need input of what to do and where to go FOR FREE (or as cheap as possible). And, pretending to be a tourist, will try to save enough money to finish the day with a (cheap) pint in the evening before writing a post about my experiences.

So please, keep on posting comments and have those tweets coming to avoid me being stranded and scratching at the St. James’ Gate with bloody fingers…

This weekend is the start of Heritage Week in Ireland, with free tours, exhibitions, and other events happening across the country, as well as in other countries across Europe.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “So they’re trying to get Irish people to come out and see all the things that they’ve never seen before that tourists from around the world travel thousands of miles to see? Sounds horribly dull, actually.”

Unfortunately, the website doesn’t help much. The stated purpose of Heritage Days is “to promote awareness of our built, natural, and cultural heritage and to promote Europe’s common cultural heritage.”

“Right,” you say, with the enthusiasm of a museum curator. “I think I’d rather gnaw on the leg of this pub table.”

But before you throw out the idea completely, I’ve done a bit of looking into the whole thing and can recommend that you at least consider the following “TOP 5 HERITAGE WEEK EVENTS IN CO. DUBLIN.” (And if you don’t like my list, have a go for yourself. CLICK HERE to see all 48 events in Co. Dublin or HERE for other counties across Ireland.)
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After the brilliant Street Performance Festival one week ago the next interesting festival in this year’s event calendar will start next week – the Temple Bar Circus Festival.

For four action-packed summer days Dublin’s Cultural Quarter will echo with peals of laughter and gasps of amazement as the streets and spaces spring to life, offering you the chance to experience a full and exciting spectrum of circus skills; from dazzling acrobatics and aerial shows, daring Chinese pole and contortion, to outdoor movies and musical mayhem!

An colourfull mixture of acrobatics, dance acts and even outdoor movies will be on display in Temple Bar from July 9th to July 12th – and the best thing about it is that’s everything for free! You will find the complete programme (PDF) here.

Rob Williams sends his greetings to the readers of Dublin Blog from the Street Performance World Championship in Merrion Square:

(For more video interviews with Rob and other performers in this year’s SPWC, CLICK HERE.)

Also, be sure to keep visiting the Dublin Blog Flickr group for pictures. I saw Dec there today with his massive camera, so we should see some nice pics going up soon! =) Tomorrow’s the last day of this year’s event, so get there while you still can!

Last weekend, the Dublin City Business Association launched a campaign to encourage families to discover (or re-discover?) Dublin this summer. Many of the highlights of the campaign are events or festivals that we’ve mentioned here on the Dublin Community Blog. However, there are a few others that are worth having a look at as well, especially for families. Here’s the press release from Conway Communications:
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Might be worth a look if you’re looking for something to do this weekend! Weather forecasts are looking good, and I’d love to have a poke around some of the tall ships along with the Le Aoife.

http://www.dublindocklands.ie/maritimefestival/

There’s an outdoor market, along with some street entertainment. Pat Liddy will be holding walking tours of the Docklands area over the weekend.