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Post by The Quito Diet on Oct 9, 2023 20:59:45 GMT
Oh and the zoo is one of the best we've done if you're into that, we only did it as it snowed heavily and we needed something to fill some time.
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Oct 26, 2023 21:14:44 GMT
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Post by The Quito Diet on Oct 26, 2023 21:14:44 GMT
Needed somewhere cheap to go next month for a few days, Dublin came up a few times but wasn't really feeling it so it's a long weekend in Barcelona instead.
Have done most things on previous visits so looking forward to seeking out some of the quieter spots. Also managing to squeeze in two games too.
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xabi
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Post by xabi on Oct 26, 2023 22:01:51 GMT
Avoid Dublin like the plague man, scandalous prices there atm.
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notpropaganda
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Post by notpropaganda on Oct 26, 2023 22:42:25 GMT
Needed somewhere cheap to go next month for a few days, Dublin came up a few times but wasn't really feeling it so it's a long weekend in Barcelona instead. Have done most things on previous visits so looking forward to seeking out some of the quieter spots. Also managing to squeeze in two games too. the flights might be cheap for you to Dublin but nothing else is unfortunately. I love the city and wanted to bring my gf down for a touristy weekend in November, she’s never seen the sights - cheapest hotel I could find was £450 for 2 nights.
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Oct 27, 2023 6:52:30 GMT
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Post by The Quito Diet on Oct 27, 2023 6:52:30 GMT
Yep, between hotels and a lack of decent gluten free options it was ruled out pretty quickly which is a shame.
How come it's so pricey? Just scarcity of options driving prices up?
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xabi
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Oct 27, 2023 7:47:07 GMT
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Post by xabi on Oct 27, 2023 7:47:07 GMT
Lack of options and hotels accommodating Ukrainians made it worse to find accom. Not saying that from a knuckle dragger perspective, more so we are in the middle of a housing crisis too and it’s a multitude of issues.
Try looking up accom for when Taylor swift lands next year 😂
To be honest it’s not just the accommodation, I lived in it pre pandemic and Dublin was expensive but manageable.
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notpropaganda
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Post by notpropaganda on Oct 27, 2023 8:37:31 GMT
Yep, between hotels and a lack of decent gluten free options it was ruled out pretty quickly which is a shame. How come it's so pricey? Just scarcity of options driving prices up? yeah as xabi says, the State have failed to provide both social housing (so we have a severe housing crisis) and had started to house Ukrainian refugees in tents in September because of a lack of accommodation options (https://www.thejournal.ie/electric-picnic-tents-house-ukraine-refugees-6158853-Sep2023/). Homeless people fill up hostels and hotels which is a nightmare in and of itself for those families, then the refugees are also filling up hotels because it's turned into a lucrative business - I know old houses/B&Bs/derelict hotels back home in Donegal that have suddenly gotten a cash injection and been done up, because they can get Ukrainian refugees in for a nice profit. You now have Varadkar in the news saying "No limit on the compassion of the Irish people ... there is a limit to our capacity". They've royally fucked up when it comes to housing and refugees. the irony is that Dublin has lost so many cultural spaces to hotels over the past decade or so. it's become a meme. In 2021 there was a massive campaign to save The Cobblestone pub from developers, it's like a trad music mecca in Ireland and they wanted to turn it into a hotel. Thankfully planning permission was refused for that one but there's been so many across the city that have been lost. I also think there's just price hikes when it suits like the Taylor Swift concert mentioned. When Bruce Springsteen came to Dublin last year, there was a fella on the radio that explained how it was cheaper for him to fly to Rome to see Springsteen and stay a couple nights there than it was to see him in Dublin and stay one night. It was a pricey spot anyway before the accommodation stuff but more like "capital city expensive", now it's a joke.
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xabi
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Oct 27, 2023 9:03:19 GMT
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Post by xabi on Oct 27, 2023 9:03:19 GMT
You should look up the travel man ep with Joe lycett in Dublin. He stays in a boutique hotel near the point/IFSC, I think the actual hotel price compared to the show was 3 or 4 times as much.
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Post by The Quito Diet on Nov 22, 2023 18:23:09 GMT
Barcelona was incredible. Had seen so much negativity online about pickpocketing, anti-tourism sentiment and just the general state of the place.
All a none-issue. Just a beautiful place - walking between places and just looking up at the buildings. And the food. My God the food.
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Paul
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Post by Paul on Jan 15, 2024 9:34:19 GMT
Going to New York this week as an early 30th thing and I’ve been checking the weather every couple of days for the last few weeks. It’s going to be so cold on Saturday that the weather app just has a thermometer on it
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Paul
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Jan 29, 2024 12:13:37 GMT
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Post by Paul on Jan 29, 2024 12:13:37 GMT
Got home on Friday morning from New York and I don’t think the post holiday blues have ever hit me so hard. That’s somewhere I could imagine myself living and I’ve never thought that about anywhere else before.
Going to the WTC and seeing the new buildings as well as the memorial pools was eery though like it was so quiet there, it didn’t feel like we were in the same city. We went into the museum and it’s harrowing listening to the news reports, phone calls and 911 dispatch recordings being played as you look around.
We don’t have any massive trips planned yet. A cheap one to Tenerife later this year and then planning a LatAm trip including Machu Picchu for next summer is the next big one but I hope a next time to NY isn’t too far away.
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notpropaganda
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Post by notpropaganda on Mar 18, 2024 22:36:39 GMT
In Lisbon at the minute, an absolutely cracking city, loving it
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Mar 18, 2024 23:29:40 GMT
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Post by The Quito Diet on Mar 18, 2024 23:29:40 GMT
Bit fucking hilly though ain't it?!
Don't bother queueing for that tram ride everyone raves about and the Belem tower is a waste of time and effort to get to.
Also best thing we did (other than the food) was jump on a bus across the bridge to the Christ statue, incredible views.
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notpropaganda
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Post by notpropaganda on Mar 19, 2024 8:45:19 GMT
Lol we’ve very different opinions - we loved the monastery and didn’t go in to the Belem Tower because of the queues and heat (was a sneaky 25degree day, very unprepared with zero suncream and no hat for my baldy head) but we’re heading back out there this morning to do it properly - get it as part of the Lisbon card anyways. It’s really not that much effort to get out there imo, just a tram ride
Gonna do the Maritime Museum while we’re out that way and try the pastel de natas across the road from the famous spot as a barman told us it’s better (he was hipster as fuck mind you), also gonna stop off in the LX Factory again on our way back. We thought about heading across the bridge but it’s our last day so wanting to be back around the centre in plenty of time just to chill
Enjoyed the 28 tram, we got it by accident yesterday on our way back from the Castle. We’d gotten a bus up to the castle from the cathedral (serious Gondor LotR vibes from that cathedral) and then wandered down the streets of Alfama a bit, grabbed a beer and hopped on the tram back to city centre. It was packed with tourists alright, but we saw a couple go by empty enough so maybe luck of the draw this time of year. May get on it today as we’re staying really close to the first stop at Martim Muniz square and wouldn’t mind avoiding the hills to see Graca and round to Chiado and that
Wasn’t fussed at all about Pink Street, not my sorta place but Time Out Market was a decent first day activity
Hilly as fuck alright but I love the pedestrianised streets and all the windy little bits, I could wander for hours easy. We’ll definitely be coming back and doing a day trip to Sintra and maybe a beach day out to Cascais, just didn’t have time this trip
Couldn’t live here because I’d turn into a pastel de nata mind
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Paul
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Post by Paul on Mar 19, 2024 9:17:04 GMT
I went in November and stayed in Bairro Alto, there were about 4 bakeries round the corner which is really dangerous for trying to not eat too many pasteis.
I also loved Lisbon, it is very hilly but it’s just a boss city. You’ve got a little bit of everything and there’s also a bar called Liverpool which is on Pink Street (or near it at least anyway if I remember right) so we had to check that out.
I love the Time Out Market there, it’s really well laid out. I went to the one in Brooklyn in January and it was chaos compared to Lisbon’s one. Think that was the first place I went to for a pastel de nata when we got there in fact.
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