Bathrooms

Travel Log 4

6/8/12

Restrooms

            Since we’ve been in Ireland, I’ve noticed some peculiar differences in the bathrooms. I obviously did not have the pleasure of experiencing what the inside of the men’s room looked like, but the multiple ladies rooms I have used thus far have been an experience all their own.

            I’ll begin with the size of the stalls. Everyone here in Dublin seems to be very slender in size, yet their bathroom stalls are enormous in comparison to stalls in the States. For example, you can actually open the door ALL THE WAY, walk inside, and not have to jam your body between the wall/toilet and the door in order to close it. It seemed much more sanitary, not to mention reducing the stress of fitting your body inside a claustrophobic box to take care of business. The extra room in the stalls allowed for some leg room which made the bathroom experience somehow more relaxing.

            Then of course there were the dispensers. In America, us ladies use the restroom in a public establishment and find a giant vending machine plastered to the wall. Although typically rusted through and empty, they contain feminine sanitary products. Sometimes if we’re really lucky, they have cool stuff like chap-stick or gum, but even that’s a rarity these days.  In Ireland, however, not only do you get all that, but also with some added bonus gifts! We first noticed this at The Bleeding Horse on the first day when we saw a condom machine in the ladies room. This mystical condom dispenser is only something that I have heard of to exist in the depths of the men’s rooms in only the most upscale nightclubs. It was so mind-boggling that I had to take a picture.

            Now of course this was our first public bathroom experience in Ireland, leading to many more interesting dispensers, including one exclusive to sex toys.(soon to come: my blog on open sexuality in Ireland vs. the U.S.)