Not sure how I want to approach this particular post. The last thing I want to do is insult the very country that we are now calling home. I don’t want to be a stereotypical American on their high horse acting as if our way is the right or only way. However I just need to vent about one thing in particular that has caused me more grief than anything else in the last week. So here it is. I am completely blown away by the lack of street signs, the constant street name changes, and bizarre numbering system.
Of course getting lost is typical when visiting any large city for the first time. I was fully expecting to be turned around a few times, but it seems to be an everyday occurrence especially when we are in search of a specific place.
Example: last week we needed to locate the main branch of a particular bank in order to open a new account. Before heading out we checked both Google maps as well as a traditional paper map. The bank is located on Dame street. This is a main street which cuts straight through the center of Dublin. Upon further inspection of the map however you will find that Dame street changes names not once, not twice, but seven times! I am not kidding. The same street from left to right on my little tourist map is named as follows: Thomas street, Cornmarket, High Street, Lord Edward Street, Dame Street, College Green, and Westmoreland Street.
Crazy right? And this is not the only street in Dublin that does that. Just about every street changes name every couple of blocks. It wouldn’t be such a bother if the streets were clearly marked. For those of you back in the states be thankful for square city blocks and street signs on every corner. Here in Dublin the street name is not located on a pole sticking up neatly at the corner. It is up on the side of whatever building happens to be situated on that corner. However, even that signage seems to be hit or miss. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve found ourselves standing on a street corner, and I’m not just talking about tiny little alleyways here, and there is not a single indication anywhere as to what street we might be on. It’s absolutely maddening! What good is a map!
Back to the bank example and this has to do with the numbering system. The bank was supposed to be located at number 96. In most of the U.S. odd numbers are on the left and even on the right. So 96 would be on one side of the street and 95 should be more or less across the street from it. Here in Dublin that of course is not the case. The street numbers on Thomas-cornmarket-high-lordedward-dame-college-green-westmoreland street didn’t seem to go in any particular order. At one point we were standing in front of a building with the number 8 on it and the next building over was listed as number 23? WTF!
We did eventually find the bank no thanks to the numbering system! We stopped in a store and asked. I guess there is no shame is looking like a lost tourist when it helps to get you where you’re going!
An additional note on the numbering system. Some places don't even have numbers. The perfect example is the address of Adam's office here in Dublin.
This is the address:
Irish Dairy Board Co-Operative,
Grattan House, Mount Street Lr., Dublin 2, Ireland
Notice that there is no building number. It's not 405 Mount Street. It's simply Grattan House. The name of the building seems to be taking place of the number. This seems so odd! It's not as if it is a great big building like The Hancock in Chicago, or The Empire State in New York. So this too has us scratching our heads. Maybe in time it will all start to make sense, but until then I'll fall back on the tried and true method of looking like a tourist and simply asking a friendly Irish citizen!
