Interview with Marcel Krueger (Dublin Spotter)


Image by Carrie Davenport

Today an interview with Marcel Krueger Spotter for our Dublin cityblog. Also check out the nice book “Stop coming to my house” he wrote about his experiences in Dublin!

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m a 34-year old German, living in Dublin for five years. I work as a copywriter and also do some freelance writing for music and travel magazines and blogs, such as Spotted by Locals. I don’t like spiders.

How do you like being a Spotter?
I really like being a Spotter! Since I’ve started writing for the Dublin city-blog, I’ve become much more aware of the places I visit for the first time and take a shine to – I put them on the invisible Spotted by Locals-list in my head straight away, haha.

And the Dublin Spotters are a very diverse group of people with many different preferences and areas we write about, so I always discover new places in town through the eyes of my fellow Spotters.

A nice Spotter-story is probably that when I moved to Mountjoy Square in the city centre a year ago, I had to discover that most places I frequent had all been reviewed by Damian, haha.

Why Dublin?
The reason I moved to Dublin was a new job, simple as that. But I really love living here; it’s a very vibrant and compact city. We do have lots of rain and a drug problem and a crashed economy, but at the moment it’s a very good time to be in Dublin – big finance is gone, and instead of flashy cars you see more pop-up stores, DYI-shops and grassroots projects than ever before.

So you should visit places like the Dublin Flea Market, 3 Fade Street and Urban Picnic to get a taste of alternative Dublin. Stay clear of the pubs in Temple Bar and on Dawson Street, both cater only for tourists and the few bankers still in town.

Which prejudices about Dublin are true? Which ones are not?
Most people visit Dublin as part of a full itinerary of Ireland, so the moment they step out of the plane tourists only expect the stereotypes like fiddlers in the pub, merry Irishmen in tweed jackets and sheep on green fields. You’ll find merry Irishmen all around town after 10 p.m. on a Friday night, but Dublin is modern European capital with everything that comes with it – start-ups and many international internet companies like Facebook and Google have their European headquarters here, and we have one of the best music scenes in Europe. Without fiddles.

Dublin is dirty, that’s a true stereotype; and due to the compactness of the city centre some urban problem areas are very close to the touristic zones and sometimes petty crime can really become a nuisance.

What do you know about Dublin what no tourist will know?
That you can’t buy alcohol after 22:00 anywhere except the pub, haha. Mostly Germans are bothered by that fact.

Can you describe a perfect day in your city?
If I’m working from home or have a day off, I’d start my day with a nice breakfast at Lovinspoon, and then head over to the visit the Hugh Lane gallery to check out their latest exhibitions.

Lunchtime would normally find me at the Cobalt Café, and after that I’d do some book shopping at Chapters or the Gutter Bookshop in town, before dining at Yamamori Sushi.

If there are good shows on, I may end up in Crawdaddy or Tripod, or have one for the road at the Garage Bar.

Check out all Marcel Krueger’s articles and the other interviews with our Spotters.

Last Changed Date: 2016-05-19 11:45:13 +0200 (Thu, 19 May 2016)