Small update

It was great being in Portugal for a couple of weeks with the family and sun that gets you warm... but all that is good comes to an end, and so, this week I had came back to Ireland. Back to work :(

Dublin has a great entertainment industry, or so they say :) I don't know, everything is expensive here. But Thursday I got a free ticket for Dara O'Briain on Vicar Street, who I had no idea who he was. He's a famous stand-up comedian and a for a reason :) It was a great show.

In a complete different issue, this week I had a puncture on my bicycle. When to Little Sport,where I had bough my bike and they replace it immediately. 10€, not bad. I went home, a couple of hours latter I looked at the bike and it was down again :( Back to the shop, it was a hidden little glass on the tire. They take it out, replace it, and I didn't had to pay anything else. Great service, nice people. Highly recommended :)

Holidays

Now I'm starting on a two weeks holidays. With just 7 days taken from my vacations.

24th and 25th of December are bank holidays. Since they are on the weekend, they move to Monday and Tuesday. Company also offers a day (the 26th), so with only 2 days people can have a week off.

Merry Xmas everyone, and a Happy New Year

I bought a TV and a Media Player

Christmas arrived a little earlier in Dublin. At least for me :D

I bought a TV and a Media Player! :) The TV was bought second hand on adverts.ie for 50€, It's not LCD, it's not Full HD but it's 32" and did I said 50€ :) The media player was bought on ebay.ie for around 40€. It doesn't have any storage, so I must connect a USB pen, but it can read everything!!!

It's good to have spare money (even if not much) for some little treats :)

I got a visit

This past weekend my wife came to visit me :) Of course, we had to go and make a visit to Guinness and drink a pint...

The weather was very cold and a bit rainy... but I think she liked Dublin, nevertheless. She just stayed for a few days, so not much time to see the city. We also went to Howth that is very nice but should be visited only in the summer. It was ice cold :\

I bought a bike

Today I've bought a bike :) Not a motorbike, yet... but it has 2 wheels :)

Like everything in Ireland, a new bicycle can be very expensive. For instance, in cyclesuperstore.ie the cheapest bike is 349€ all the way up to 2.345€!!!! In Ireland, they have Bike to Work, where you can get up to 51% of the bike and accessories value from your pay taxes. Even so, it's expensive. And at work they advice me to "don't buy a new bike, it will get stolen"! So, I started looking for second hand bikes.

I've searched online (buyandsell, gumtree) but there isn't much offer, with very few offers near 100€, more around 200€ to 400€! So, today I went to a bike shop near where I'm living (Little Sport). They were just finishing the check-up of a second hand bike to sell it by 130€. It was a bit expensive from what I've seen online, but hopefully buying from a shop means that the bike should have no problems. I also bought a security lock, as bikes tend to disappear in Dublin :( So, I spend a little more than expected it's done... I have a bike :)

Not everything is perfect :(

I know I live in a somewhat dodgy area, near to East Wall and North Strand. Searching online if those areas are safe, you can find advices like "As long as you don't stop the car ever and keep your doors locked you should be grand!" followed by "That Garda that was shot there last year, he died right???". And some times, there are some not so good news... Nevertheless, truth be told, I never had a problem. And wish that it keeps that way :)
But yesterday I saw that a motorcycle has been thrown to the river. Last week didn't rain, so the river is almost dry...

It's a mobile photo at night, so it has really bad quality, but you can see the motorcycle there :( Probably was stolen and throw away...

Edit: Took a photo this morning... Very bad quality, but with more light. In the afternoon when I return the river was full and the bike could no longer be seen...

Food

As everything in Ireland, eating is also expensive... At lunch time, I usually go at The Epicenter, inside East Point Business Park. A sambo or a wrap with chips (or salad) on the side is usually 6€ or 6,5€. A drink would be an extra 1€ but a glass of water is for free :) A hot meal on a plate is 9,90€ (daily special is 8€)... There's a lot of people that brings food from home and eats in the office but getting out and catch some air is also good.

At night, my chef qualities arise :) Rice and Pasta are very easy to cook. Then I just buy something pre-cooked, put in the oven for 15 to 20min and it's done.

Usually I shop at Centra, as is very near the house I'm staying and I can walk. But it's a bit expensive. To go to the center I must take the bus and pay 1.20€ for each side. But it has Lidl that is way cheaper...