are you hoping to avoid rookie tourist mistakes when exploring Ireland's capital city well then this video is for you the thing about Dublin is there's a lot of unspoken rules things that you wouldn't really know unless you were Irish so today I'm going to be breaking it down so that you can avoid making as many mistakes as possible and the first thing that I want to talk about is Dublin's bus service so you have Dublin bus and that is how you're going to navigate your way around the city if you are not walking but the thing is standing at the bus stop won't just cut it the bus is not going to automatically stop you have to physically tell the bus driver hey I'm here pop your hand out to the side and say please stop for me I want to get on otherwise it's going to keep on driving by and honestly every time I'm in Dublin City I see this happen to tourists and they just look incredibly confused same goes for when you're on the bus you have to press the stop button to tell the bus driver I want to get off here if you don't don't press that stop button they ain't stopping for you they're going to keep on driving and you might end up somewhere you don't want to be if you want to fit in with locals you need to do this you have to say thank you to the bus driver the rules changed a little bit during the pandemic because now on Dublin bus they let everybody out the back doors so everyone will literally shout out the bus saying thank you so if you want to fit in that's definitely something that you should adapt and similar to the buses is our taxi service we do not have Uber in Ireland you may see the Uber sticker on the taxis and that will confuse you but they are still regulated taxis and they still use a metered service it's not a ride share and taxis are incredibly expensive in Ireland if you do need to get one and you want to hail one off the street you need to pop your hand out similar to the bus and let the taxi driver know hey I want you to stop another thing to note about the taxis is if the light is off then that means that the taxi is in service they are either on the way to get someone or their is a passenger in the cab now we do have taxi ranks they're not as common anymore in the city center but they do exist if you go to a taxi rank you'll be able to just get into the next available taxi you don't need to flag that one down and all taxis now need to take card it's illegality next point this one really irks me when people do it but please do not allow swinging drawers in shopping centers to slam in the person behind you's face I didn't realize that this is very much a cultural thing I realized when I started traveling around Mainland Europe that most people do just allow the door to swing it's not something that's done in Ireland we do look back make sure there's no one behind us and if there's no one behind that door can swing all at once if there is someone behind you politely pass the door to them same goes for when someone holds the door for you you don't just pass through and let them continue holding the door you make sure you put your hand on it they're not there for door service not all questions need an answer let me explain this this is very much a cultural thing when an Irish person asks you oh how are you or what's the crack they're not really looking for an answer it's more of a way of saying hello um so don't be surprised if someone says Hi how are you and then like leaves the room okay and next point is about our traffic light system this is only for walking I am not talking about cars when we in cars we obey them and you should obey them or there's going to be accidents but jaywalking isn't really a big thing in Ireland you won't find an Irish person walking to the nearest pedestrian Crossing if there is no car coming they'll look left they'll look right and then they'll cross on the road they won't really like look for a safe place to cross probably not the best practice but it is something that we do that little red man when you're walking across it means nothing to Irish people if the road is free we will go and I'm not suggesting you do the same it's a bit of an Unwritten rule you know just cuz we do it doesn't mean you should do it too next Point don't be afraid to ask for help if you find yourself lost in the city and you're looking for directions ask a local they'll point you in the right way but the only problem with that is Irish people's concept of time is very different to the rest of the world more than likely they're going to say the phrase a sure it's only around the corner only around the corner can mean anywhere from a 2minute walk to like a 25-minute walk you just need to be as direct and as precise as possible say how long will it take me to walk there before before we dive into the next point I do want to mention that I've created a free Facebook Community for people who are planning a trip to Ireland and have questions and need answers it's a place where like-minded people can answer your questions whether they've been to Ireland themselves or they've been through that problem themselves and I will also be there answering as much things as I possibly can so if that sounds like something that you would like to join and discuss all things Ireland the QR code here will bring you to it or there's a link in the description kind of an Unwritten rule in Dublin and across Ross the country is that there are more public toilets than you might think so I only know one place in Ireland that you actually have to pay for the toilets and that is in Stevens screen Shopping Center in Dublin City Center this is common in Mainland Europe but in Ireland like I find it so bizarre asking people for money to use the toilet it is 25 C there but there's also a free public toilet outside on the street and then on the North side it is free to use the bathrooms in the shopping centers so if you're looking to go to the toilet the shopping center it's always a good shout to go have a look around then again if you're struggling to find a toilet you can go into like a local pub or perhaps like a small restaurant and use the facilities there of course it's polite to buy something I'm not advising you don't buy anything but it's not a necessity I've never been stopped if I'm like bursting to go to the toilet I will just pop into the local pub I will use the toilet odds are I have actually drank there I've page there before but again I don't think anyone's keeping track of this and if if you got to go you got to go I don't think anyone's going to be like uh uhuh you can't use that like burst you know Irish people are quite sound they're not really going to lecture you on using the facilities let's talk about weather weather in Ireland is a guideline this applies to Dublin as well you know we never really know what we're going to get and I see tourists all the time say oh God did you check the weather app I rarely check the weather app in Ireland honestly cuz you just it it's never right and if you check the apple one you check the Android one you check Google you check Aron which is our national weather forecast they all say different things and you just need to be prepared for everything the next point isn't exactly a rule but it is something that people don't realize and this includes Irish people there is more to Dublin than the city center a lot of people presume that Dublin is quite literally just the city and nothing else happens there's so much to see and do from our stunning coastal towns to the beautiful mountains that offer sweeping views of the area I have created detailed blog post on this I'm not going to dive into it in this video cuz it will quite literally take a whole other video to do but if you want to check out the blog post here is a QR code or there's a link in the description okay here is another unspoken rule that we should discuss locking eyes are making eye contact with people as you walk through the streets so in the rest of Ireland so excluding the cities it's quite common to acknowledge people as you walk by them you'll say Hi how are you have a little chat and then continue on your way but Dublin being a big city that it is obviously you do not acknowledge everyone as you're walking by however in saying that if you do lock eyes with someone it is common to kind of give them a little smile or a little nod some form of acknowledgement if you're in Ireland and you want to fit in with the locals don't be surprised if they give you a little smile and just give them a smile back and moving on one thing that we are known for is our alcohol whether that is a good stereotype or not it is something that we are known for but people are quite surprised that you cannot purchase alcohol after 10 p. m. in Ireland across the board so it's not just a Dublin thing unless you were in a licensed premises so Pub or a nightclub or a hotel bar so if you are looking to purchase alcohol from a shopping center or an off license I think they're called liquor stores in the US I'm not really sure what they're called elsewhere you have to be there before 1: p.
m. even if that Supermarket is closing at midnight the sale of alcohol will not be permitted after 10:00 p. m.
