Rekindling the Trip Advisor topic from the other place
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Just back from another trip to the homeland (Ireland). Far too short, as usual. I thought i’d give some handy pointers for visitors.
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You probably dont need to use cash anywhere. Tap-to-pay is everywhere now. That may sound silly but it wasnt the case just a few years ago.
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If youre driving anywhere be prepared for an enormous hold to be placed on your credit card for insurance. You can get a letter showing coverage from your insurer. Some credit cards have coverage too, but have a printed letter.
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Busses are timely but coverage outside cities and towns is limited. Still a great way to get around.
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Speak. Quietly. Please.
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The locals have no responsibility to provide entertainment for you, or to put up with you frankly.
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Get a B&B. Talk to your hosts. You may make a friend for life.
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Don’t talk US politics. Irish people like to gently tease and may not get that their friendly poking about the political situation could be traumatizing to a US traveller.
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Bring a light rainjacket that doubles as a windbreaker. Especially on a sunny day. Layering is a must. Have comfortable waterproof walking shoes.
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National museums are free. Go to them.
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The locals probably don’t know your ancestors. But they might.
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If you want a taxi to pick you up at your hotel it is best to schedule it at the front desk. They will not arrive promptly if you don’t plan.
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Hotel bathrooms don’t have washcloths, so bring your own.
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If you have a CPAP and need distilled water it is not easy to find in stores.
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Its smart to bring a wall power adapter and bring a power strip for your various devices.
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Yes it really is that green.
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If driving (you fool!) plan for more time than you would think reasonable to get from A to B. Check to see what road Google is trying to send you down before you regret it. See below.
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Road types are arranged from largest to smallest as M = Motorway, N= National, R = Regional, L= local. If you’re on a L road the brambles will be hitting both sides of the car, there may be loose sheep on the road, a tractor coming towards you, and the speed limit is probably 80kph.
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If on an L road and you meet an oncoming car, courtesy is for one of you to pull into the closest available opening at the roadside, such as a driveway or hedge opening. Exchange a friendly wave as you pass. If you don’t wave you will be judged. JUDGED!
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If possible get out on the water and visit the islands. Book your ferry ticket online because the booking office probably won’t be open.
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Tipping is not expected. You may see a tip jar, but it is very unusual to see a line for s tip on your bill.
More to follow.
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So you know, on item #1: depends on the country. Germany is still weirdly very cash-based. And if you don’t have Chinese apps like Alipay, you literally can’t do anything in most parts of the country (barring the major Eastern cities). No cash, no cards.
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The list was specific to Ireland. Yes it is odd what countries still use cash so much. Japan was a big surprise to me given their reputation for being technology minded. They still do paper invoices in hotels (with carbon copy!) and use stamps for signoffs.
In Tokyo at least you can use your rail card as a credit card for buying groceries at the train station. Pretty wild.
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What? DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH?!?
Have relatives in Ireland, and I just couldn’t resist. 
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What about going the other way? Like, do most places still take cash, but have tap to pay option? Or is cash less likely to be accepted?
It really is, isn’t it? At least it was in the late 90s when we were there last.
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Cash is perfectly fine. One thing I should add is that at a bar you’ll pay for each round of drinks. Opening a tab isn’t common at all.
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My amusing anecdote about driving in Ireland:
Ms. Shiv and I were at the car rentals at Dublin airport, having just arrived (via a ridiculously spartan Ryan Air flight from Liverpool, another story). We were meeting an old friend of hers, who lived near Arklow. I’d never driven in left-hand traffic and was somewhat nervous about it.
We were supposed to follow the friend to some pub about an hour down the N11. The friend told me the name of the pub, but I instantly forgot it, foolishly assuming we’d just follow her there. Ms. Shiv hopped into her friend’s car and off they went, chattering gaily and oblivious to my growing panic as I lost them within seconds of leaving the car park.
As I cursed loudly while trying not to cause an accident, I somehow managed to locate the N11 and started southward. All I knew was the name of the road, that there was a pub somewhere on it, and that they were ahead of me and would presumably get there first. I had a phone, but my wife didn’t.
An hour goes by and although I’m feeling more confident about my driving abilities, no pubs are in sight and I’m really starting to worry.
Finally (& perhaps anticlimactically), a HUGE pub appears, immediately adjacent to the road, clearly a local landmark. They were inside. “What took you so long?”
I looked up the pub just now to confirm the details. It’s Jack White’s Inn at Cloghogue. It’s not as visible now from the newer motorway, but in those days it was right on the highway.
I still bring it up with Ms. Shiv on occasion.
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These are all secondhand from when my wife went on a girl’s trip to Ireland (so correct me if I’m wrong):
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If you happen to be visiting when a hurricane is blowing up (and yes they do go up there sometimes), do not pick that day to take a drive along the seaside cliffs. The winds get strong up there and there’s nothing to stop your car from being blown down into the ocean.
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There is a place where you can meet and fly owls. If your seaside cliff day gets spoiled by the hurricane, the birds of prey thing may be available for awhile. Once the wind really gets blowing, it may be cut short. But if you’ve ever wanted to fly owls in a hurricane, you can for a little bit anyway.
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When visiting the beaches, if the locals tell you “Do not go out there on those rocks / that sand.”, they really mean don’t go out there. The North Atlantic can be a little unpredictable and huge waves do just come up and wash people away from some of those beaches. They can be misleadingly calm and then whoom just in an instant.
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There are just random castles around. They are not all tourist attractions. Some of them are just in somebody’s yard, because they’ve always been there. While some people may be happy to show you their castle, other people really don’t like it if you just start roaming around on their property to look at it.
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Regarding castles, many are just Tower Houses from the 15th century. There arent a huge amount of true large castles with a keep and curtain wall. If you only follow the brown historical-site signs you won’t know what you’re driving up to.
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I first drove on the left in the dark…
in the rain…
in London 
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At dinner, I asked my Aunty Sue, “So, during the war they took down the street signs to confuse the Germans, right?” “Yes” she said. “Are they going to put them back up sometime?”
Driving in 
wasn’t so scary after that, positively Zen…
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When I was there I used to leave some money on the table or give it directly to the waiter. At least it was what local people told me to do.
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I always liked this one. It’s Terryland Castle, just north of the city center in Galway. It’s in the flood plain on the east bank of the River Corrib. It’s visible from the walkway along the N6 motorway where it crosses the river. There’s just nothing there. If you manage to work your way down to it, there’s a small plaque that tells you nothing about it. Someone has done some heavy-duty maintenance to keep it from falling down further, but that’s it. It’s protected by a spiky fence, though that’s easily overcome. When asked, the folks at my hotel had no idea, never even heard of it, despite it being half a kilometer away and several of them drive past it twice a day.
Note: This is approximately ten years ago.
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There was a tendency among land owners to remove the roof from unused buildings. That way they wouldn’t have to pay taxes on the buildings. Unfortunately in the Irish climate this caused a rapid deterioration of the structure.
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Probably going to the San Diego area for the last week of January. I’ll be a “travel chaperone” for Kiddo’s school-related trip, which means I’m only responsible for kids on the way there and and on the way back. I’ll have 5 days on my own, so where to stay within an hour or so of San Diego and what to do? Definitely not looking for nightlife. Would like to be close to the ocean, unless there’s reason not to be. Do I have to rent a car (hope not)?
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Any chance you have Marriott points? There is a relatively new Springhill Suites right along the harbor with great views and an easy walk to downtown and the Gaslight district.
It’s tough to find affordable accommodations otherwise in that area or along Mission Bay.
You could stay a bit further out but you’d need a car to get to interesting stuff.
You could find a AirBNB near Mission Bay. I’ve seen some affordable ones off the beach a ways.
Some non-touristy stuff I’d recommend are the Carrillo National Monument, the UCSD Campus, and heading out into some of the inland neighborhoods to check out Asian grocery stores. Even coming from Portland, some of those stores were mind-blowingly good.
If you like fishing, there is low-key excellent fishing in Mission Bay. You can rent a skiff at the Dana Landing Marina and catch spotted bay bass anywhere there is structure and current. They also rent fishing rods so you don’t need to bring your own unless you want to use familiar tackle.
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I like the Sheraton at the marina, right by the airport (You can walk). Rooms facing the marina and a 30 minute walk to the downtown attractions. Pretty close to Ballast Point brewery
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I would say, unless you’re in downtown or very near the trolley line, you’ll really want to have a car. SoCal is gonna SoCal, and San Diego is nearly as car-dependent as L.A.
Anyway, go to Balboa Park, my very favorite place on earth. Beautiful grounds, excellent museums, possibly the world’s best zoo, and the Old Globe Theatre.
Taken from up there:
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and @Wayward, we just got an email from them today. They’ve renovated the hotel and looking for bookings. We’ve also stayed in Little Italy at the Residence Inn (the trolley runs behind it) and also at the Courtyard at Liberty Station. That last area has a lot of stuff going on and a lot of parks for walking.
Agree with @Donald_Petersen with Balboa Park (love it, and you meet some interesting people there) and having some sort of transportation, if only for a couple of days.
Have fun!
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@DukeTrout @NukeML @Donald_Petersen @subextraordinaire and also @knoxblox
Thanks all for the advice and recommendations!
How viable is getting around using the trolley/bus system if I plan to stay south of I-8 and not go much further east than Balboa Park? Maybe supplement with Lyft?
I’m open to renting a car if I feel ambitious enough to go further afield, but that’s a really big if.
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