The Emerald Isle - Day Three - Dublin

We woke up on Tuesday, ready to see the sights that Dublin has to offer.  We began with breakfast at the Elephant and Castle on Fleet Street.

Our next adventure was exchanging currency (banks were closed for the first two days that we were in Ireland, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday).  There was a bit of Goldilocks to this adventures.  Baby bear (me) had simply gone to an ATM upon arrival.  Momma bear (Auntie Kate) was experienced with this process and proceeded straight to the currency desk at the Bank of Ireland.  Papa bear (ok, this metaphor is fading quickly....... my Mom) needed some prompting.  I told her "Mom, your line is "Good morning, I would like 200 Euro, how much will that be?"  I see my Mom get called to the counter and watch as the following unfolds: my mother takes out two 100 dollar bills, passes them to the bank teller and says "200 Euro please".  The teller kindly explains to her that the two 100 dollar bills is not sufficient.  My mother looks confused.  I look down and shake my head.  This was the beginning of my mother's not so lovely affair with what she termed "little people money" (don't ask).  Cash in hand, we were ready to head across the street to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells!

Our second adventure of the day involved photography.  Auntie Kate wanted to take a picture of mom and I in front of a bell tower or some other object on campus.  So we center ourselves in front of it and Kate snaps the picture.  Then Kate says "ok, let me get in a little closer".  She then proceeds to hold the camera steady in front of her as she physically walks closer to Mom and I.  My mother, admittedly technologically challenged, says "Kate, don't you have a zoom button".  Kate replies something in the neighborhood of "shut up Regina ;)"

Alright, enough.  Our first REAL adventure of the day was visiting the Book of Kells.  My heart sank a bit as a saw a huge group of school children heading inside the exhibit.  "No worries," Kate said "the kids will breeze right by it, and it will sadly be of no interest to them." Sure enough when it was time to get to the physical Book of Kells, the swarm of children had already departed.  I'm sure they were American.

The Book of Kells, including the exhibit preceding it which described the method of its production, the various symbols, etc. was fantastic.  I especially loved the explanation of the Chi Ro page.

A happy surprise at the end of the tour was stopping in the Long Room of the library at Trinity College.  It was one of the most magnificent rooms I had ever seen!  I felt like Belle in Beauty and the Beast, except that I wasn't allowed to touch anything, and I think singing and dancing about the room is discouraged.

After Trinity College we walked towards Christ Church passing the Dublin Castle along the way.  We then went to St. Patricks and toured the beautiful garden behind it with a field of amazingly vibrant tulips, some of which looked like peonies they had so many petals.

After walking in that area we headed towards Grafton Street to window shop before tea.

We had afternoon tea at the Westbury Hotel on Grafton Street.  It was really lovely.  It must be noted that my mom ordered coffee.  At some point during the tea, mom commented "This is so lovely - I haven't ever been to afternoon tea"  I remarked "you still haven't - you ordered coffee!"  The finger sandwiches were lovely as were the scones.  The desserts were the highlight though, including a beautiful painted chocolate egg.

That night we came back to the hotel and gussied ourselves up for dinner at Peploe's on St. Stephen's Green.  It was a charming restaurant in the basement of a Georgian row house lining the green.  The food was FANTASTIC.  We all shared a quail risotto to start.  I had a veal milanese, mom a suckling pig and Kate, fish I think.  We shared champagne and stories and had fun girl time catching up.

After dinner, we packed up as we prepared for a very early trip out of Dublin the next morning.  My mom made sure to take her "parting gifts" (i.e. the little shampoos and soaps) from the Westin :)

The Emerald Isle - Day Two - Wild Wicklow and Glendalough

Day two started with Starbucks. Beautiful, American Starbucks.

Properly caffeinated, we headed to meet our tour bus at the Dublin Tourism center, which of course was not open as it was Easter Monday, which is a public holiday in Ireland (and most of the rest of Europe). Note to self: move to Europe. Rather than being able to wait indoors in the tourism center, we had to stand out in the cold rain listening to a busker sing American songs, among which was "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life," a mistake on several levels, the highest of which was that it caused my mother to whistle that God forsaken song all day long...... and then some. I am not on the bright side at 9am after standing in the cold rain for 20 minutes.

We boarded the bus and met Stephen, our tour guide for the day. Stephen was a highly knowledgeable and entertaining tour guide, who grew up, as he claimed, the youngest of 10 siblings. This caused an attention complex in Stephen, who clearly became a tour guide to satisfy some not-so-repressed "no one listens to me" feelings from childhood. Stephen doesn't like children, or people who speak while he is speaking. Stephen may actually be an only child now, as it's entirely possible he killed his 9 older siblings simply to be heard. I digress. Stephen kept telling us to be quiet, and that we were being disrespectful. His response to a cell phone ringing was "Seriously, people. A cell phone?" If he hadn't given us entertaining insight on the origin of faeries, leprechauns and other Irish folklore.

We traveled first to Forty-Foot, which was a swimming area outside of Dublin where old-timers swam in the morning.

Next we traveled around Wicklow, which is absolutely breathtaking. We saw fields of sheep and baby lambs that had just been born, and infinite shades of green as far as the eye could see.

We all had lunch at a cute little pub. Mom met a Kieran!  One of the stated purposes of this vacation for my mother was meeting as many Rory's and Kieran's as she could.

We then made our way to Glendalough by way of a lake shaped like a glass of Guinness

(including a sandy area that illustrated the head of the beer). I couldn't get a good picture because I was too scared to climb close enough to the edge of the top of the cliff to get it. This will be a theme that comes up later in our trip.

Glendalough was absolutely breathtaking (this will also be a word that is overused in this recap). Everything about it was lovely. Mom and I walked to the second lake via the boardwalk. We heard a lamb in the distance. Mom was convinced the lamb was saying "maaaaaahm" and calling out for its mother. She desperately wanted to climb the fence and look for the lamb.

After returning to Dublin, we went for drinks at the Westin in the Vault Bar. The Westin Dublin is in an old bank - the bar is in the vault downstairs. We then headed to Ciao Bella Roma, an Italian restaurant in Temple Bar. We all shared a couple
 of pizzas.

The Emerald Isle - Day One

We arrived in Dublin at 6am. We got to the Westin. Predictably, our room was not ready, so we headed to three different Starbucks, to find all of them closed. At the third one, a little blonde employee opened the locked door and asked "I think we'll open in about a half our, is that ok?"As if we had a choice. Our choice, blondie, is for you to give us coffee in exchange for cash. C'est la vie. We went back to the Westin. I had a 15 EUR breakfast buffet from which I took a box of Special K and a banana. That's pure value.

Mom and I headed to Easter Sunday mass at St. Theresa's, a lovely little church on Clarendon Street. We walked a long a most empty Grafton Street on our way back to the hotel. The joys of arriving in a Catholic country on Easter Sunday.

After a very long nap, we walked down Fleet Street in the Temple Bar district of Dublin and came across the first of my mom's "this has been my favorite part!" moments during our week. Just past the Hard Rock Cafe was a little fish and tackle shop named.... Rory's. My mom has a certain affinity for the names Rory and Kieran. She reminds me each day that she'd like grandchildren named Rory and Kieran. I suppose that means I have to have two boys. I keep reminding her that she has two sons who can also give her a Rory and/or Kieran....... At any rate, one of the stated objectives of my mom's trip to Ireland was meeting Rorys and Kierans... easy to please, much? Anyways, the owner of the fish and tackle shop, Rory, came out and took a picture with my mom and gave her a little fish bumper sticker to take with her. I think my mom could have left Ireland that moment and have been happy. I will repeat that phrase several times in this recap.

We next went to Temple Bar and enjoyed a couple of pints while my mom danced to Irish folk music. My mom and Kate remembered the words to some of the songs the band sung and sang along with the rest of the crowd.

Afterwards, we walked along Fleet Street, finally settling on Quay's Restaurant, whose menu Kate and I judged satisfactory for my mom, despite her pleadings that she "could have found something to eat" at the first couple restaurants we passed. Mom had a terrific beef stew, Kate a salmon and myself a fantastic vegetable soup. All of us savored the excellent brown bread, the first of many pieces we each had over the course of the trip.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to rest up for the long day ahead. My mom snores, so she had purchased Kate and I ear plugs, as we were all in the same room. Those ear plugs would turn out to be a life saver.

The Emerald Isle - Preview

So some 6 years ago, I gave my mom an Ireland travel book with a note inside which read "Mom, I'm taking you to Ireland." (For the record, I just now realized, after spending a week in Ireland with the woman, that she did not bring said travel book on the trip.) Fast forward 6 years which included an engagement, a wedding, two cousins' graduations, another cousins' wedding, job changes, moves, and a strong desire to avoid the summer crowds, and my mom and I and my Auntie Kate were sitting at Vino Volo in Newark Airport waiting to board our flight to Dublin.

If you are ever looking for a restaurant with my mom, you'll hear the phrase "Don't worry about me! I can find something to eat anywhere." Ignore her. She cannot. My mom has an admittedly very bland palette. She thinks black pepper is too spicy. She doesn't eat fish. She thinks parmesan cheese "tastes like a cellar" (this might be the reason I love parmesan). She ordered mac and cheese at Vino Volo. It was laced with truffle oil. She is the only human being on God's green earth that thinks this is a bad surprise. Needless to say, she ended up with a styrofoam carton of chinese food instead ;) The foregoing also explains why I had few worries of her starving to death in Ireland, home of the potato and boiled meat and cabbage.

We boarded the plane, our tummies full to remove the necessity of trying to choke down airplane food. Thanks to my Uncle John, the gals had upwards of 30 free drink coupons. Needless to say, he has far fewer now. Seven hours later, the plane landed in Dublin, and we were on our way!