Diskurswelt.de

Today is my last day at the ITT Dublin. I just redeemed my loyalty card for a free cappucino and have one more class in International Business to go. Tomorrow, I won’t be able to attend the one remaining lecture, because I’m going to Germany in order to attend my little sister’s confirmation. When I return to Ireland next week, there will be no more lectures, labs or classes. Just exams and a bit of paperwork.

Feels good.

Yesterday, Berta, Isa, Chris and me went to a very special lecture. The subject? Folk. The lecture hall? The O2. The lecturer? Robert Allen Zimmerman, better known as Bob Dylan.

He might be old, he might be mumbling and grumpy, but the concert was awesome anyway. Bob, whose hat had the biggest flap, played the organ and told his stories while his band, all dressed in black, stayed very much invisible in the background. Whenever he reached for the harmonica, the whole audience cheered in joy.
Here are some of the great songs he played: Diesen Beitrag weiterlesen »

Yesterday, there was a belated birthday party. Isa and Isa, Carmen and Julia, a friend of her from Valencia, Oscar and I went to in Berta’s flat in order to celebrate her birthday. Having a bit of pity with the only German in a room full of Spaniards, Oscar told me „Felix, you have to learn Spanish. You have one night!“
Anyway, it was great fun. Later on we went to The Mezz where we met Klaus, Stefan and Jeremy and danced to great rock songs (‚Killing in the Name‘ and the like) until they closed.

Klaus and Stefan from Austria, who both studied Computing at the ITT last semester, appeared out of a sudden along with other ex-Erasmus students (Claudia, Julia and Vera). Good to see you, guys.

Yesterday afternoon, the Luas Red Line only operated between Tallaght-Blackhorse and Heuston-Conolly. Instead of providing shuttle buses to bridge the gap, they just „apologize[d] for any inconvenience“. Any? Bullshit!

So, take the bus. This only works if you have a certain knowledge of the city, because the information provided in the bus shelter is little and almost useless and the next bus stop is not announced during the ride. Being in Dublin for quite some time, I fortunately have this required level of knowledge. If you don’t have it, you can at least make use of the plenty of time that you are waiting for the bus to guess. The timetables provided are almost obsolete. Depending on your location, the bus will be about 10 to 20 minutes late… if it arrives.
However, you also need money. Of course, you say. Well, you need to have the exact fare. In coins, no bank notes accepted. While every Luas stop has a ticket vending machine that accepts bank notes, you are just flat on your back if you are forced to take the bus and don’t happen to have coins.

During the night, you can only take the so-called Nitelink bus. It does not matter where you want to go, you have to pay a fiver. Although that is more than twice the cost of Tallaght-Dublin one way during the day, you don’t get any extra service, e.g. security. Moreover, the bus driver will likely not adhere to the regular route, so be extra attentive where you currently are and prepared to be later in bed than you wanted to be. Especially if you want to get off at Tramway Court or The Square.

Dublin wants to play with the big guys. But while cities like Berlin, Lodon, Hamburg or Madrid can, despite their size, provide acceptable means to get from A to B for citizens and tourists alike, public transport in Dublin is just broken in so many ways. Hell, even German small towns, such as Bamberg or Hilden, manage to run a proper bus system during the day.