Dublin 1

When speaking of the dirty, expensive and crowded city of Dublin, one naturally speaks of beer first and foremost. I realize that Ireland (home of the Guinness Brewery and Jameson Distillery) is trying to distance itself from the negative stereotype of surly alcoholism, but the fact remains that beer and whisky are both a large part of Ireland's culture. Just think about your last St. Patrick's Day celebration. Were you remembering the holy trinity through a shamrock or getting shit-faced on green beer?

Apart from a few advertisements similar to the Truth campaign going on in America, not much is going on to deter people from drinking in excess. These ads feature the worst part of alcohol - not those who are enjoying a night out, but those notenjoying a night out at all. There's the nurse at a hospital dealing with a drunken college girl and her passed-out friend, a shop-keep cleaning vomit from the side of his store, and a man peering out his window to witness some punks walk over his car, to name a few. "I've had enough," all those indirectly affected Irish people say. It's a good idea for Ireland to remove their stereotype, but it doesn't seem to be working very well yet.

This is what that ad campaign is competing with:
Not only is beer about five times cheaper than orange juice, but the smallest size avaliable is a 500 mL pint. It is a bit pricy when bought from a pub(lic house), but they have these wonderful stores that I still don't understand called 'Off-Licenses.' Here, you purchase beer not in the traditional six-pack, but in the whatever-the-hell size pack you want. You want five Guinnesses and one Carlsberg? You got it. How about two Coronas, one Smithwick's (pronounced 'Smittix'), three Beck's' and a Budweiser? Sure. Oh, and you can get any liquor you want at these places too.

Aside from the Off-License stores, you can get beer, wine and hard liquor at supermarkets and the Spar (similar to a Fast-track). There's a bar in the movie theatre. I haven't been to one of those traditional Irish McDonald's yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if you could get a pint of McLager there as well.

The most popular size of liquor is the small kind that fits well in your pocket. There are empty beer cans everywhere. There is more vomit and piss on the streets than I would care to discuss. I'm not saying that this is true everywhere in Dublin, just the streets I use on a daily basis. But the vomit and piss I can live with. I'm already looking out for broken glass and dog crap at almost every step, so it's no big deal.

Through all these negatives, there are some beautiful parts of the city. For example, St. Stephen's Green was so awe-inspiring that after feeding the ducks and enjoying the scenery, I asked my girlfriend to marry me. And while I wouldn't swim in the Liffy river (that divides the city), I still enjoy the view every time I cross the bridge. Ironically, another beautiful view of the city is atop the Guinness Brewery, which is responsible for making a mess of the city about 10 floors below.

So, I'm not saying Dublin is filthy, I'm just trying to discuss its alcohol problem. It's probably not much of a problem though; it can stop whenever it wants.