Columnist Ratha Tep has been living in the Irish capital since August.
We may give out about living in Dublin from time to time, but we’re still happy to see this glowing review of the city in the run up to Christmas from the New York Times.
Ratha Tep, who has been living in Ireland since August, describes spending time in the likes of Bewley’s, The Winding Stair, on Grafton Street and in St. Stephen’s Green.
“I started at St. Stephen’s Green, which covers 22 acres in the heart of the city with immaculately manicured lawns and flower beds, a meandering duck pond and a William Butler Yeats Garden,” she writes.
“This season, the park is hosting its first Christmas market, with 60 vendors in wooden chalets installed along its northern edge. On a visit a few weeks ago, throngs of revelers sipped warm brandy-spiked punch out of plastic flutes (4 euros, about $4.84 at $1.21 to the euro) and feasted on soft baps (bread rolls) filled with tender roast suckling pork, stuffing and sweet apple sauce (6.95 euros), while Louis Armstrong’s gravelly voice bellowed from outdoor speakers.
“From there, I could spot the dazzling rows of white chandelier-style Christmas lights of Grafton Street, a pedestrianized shopping avenue set over newly installed granite slabs quarried from the nearby Dublin and Wicklow Mountains.
“Come Christmas Eve, that energy might be positively electric as the crowd awaits the most recognizable busker of all, the hometown rock star Bono. The U2 lead singer has given a free performance near Fusilier’s Arch each year since 2009 — though it is still anyone’s guess whether the streak will continue, particularly given his recent biking accident in New York.”
To read the rest of Ratha’s piece, click here.
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