Mile 32: Dubliners

Docking in Dublin (that should have been my title!) for four days was a wonderful treat after France.  The first day, I headed off with friends – Zoe, Richard, Alex, and Marc – to see the city’s sights. I put on a cute dress, thinking the weather wouldn’t be so cold because it was sunny out. We wandered through the city center towards the Archeological museum, which houses some of the rarest and oldest art in the world, especially gold. Some of the pottery and jewelry date back to 800 BC! As visitors wander through the halls and starred at thousands of centuries of history, one can’t help but feel the enormity of time. A few of the gold necklaces were shaped like large collars, similar to ones found in India; the gold was paper-thin with etched designs. A woman from 700 BC wore this piece? What was she like? What were her priorities in life? Who had given her such a beautiful gift?

Floored by the vastness of creativity on earth, we traipsed through Dublin to Trinity College. As a literature professor, this university was a “must” on my Dublin hit list. I knew I wanted to see the Book of Kells, having heard Prof. Marc talk about its intricacies in cultural pre-port two nights before. The Book of Kells is a manuscript of Four Gospels from the New Testament. Many of its pages are lined with intricate illustrations and ornamentation. The books dates back to 800 AD and its very well preserved; the pages are all intact and the minute detailed drawings (they must have used one single hair as a paintbrush!) are crystal clear. It really made me think though, so much had been preserved in history and yet so much had been destroyed too. How did this thing survive? After viewing one page in the book from multiple angles (only one page is on display), we walked to the famous long library at Trinity College. This room, smaller in width than I imagined, contained rows of ancient books in the alcoves along one corridor. It resembled my mental image of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but this collection of rare books seemed more like the “Restricted Section” of the library in the HP novels. The library’s curved wooden ceilings and encased old books were especially nice to see in person. By the time we left the library, the weather had not warmed up and it looked like rain was eminent. Why had I put on a dress??

Feeling hungry around 1pm, we left Trinity and walked to Stag’s Head Pub, a favorite of Zoe and Richard’s, and also James Joyce at one time. Off the normal beaten path, the pub had a basic exterior but the casually-lit inside was littered with stain-glass windows, rustic wooden tables and rows and rows of whiskey. We had a delectable meal of pumpkin soup and a roasted goat cheese salad. Of course these were washed down with some good ole Guinness beer! Full of veggie goodness and photos of whiskey, we moved on to visit two cathedrals – St. Patrick’s and Christ Church Cathedral. The floor in St. Peter’s Cathedral was especially nice because it had so many multi-colored inlaid designs. Both were very lovely (though we only saw one on the inside since they charge a lot for entrance fees) but to be honest, by this point, I had had my fill of churches and wasn’t very moved by either of them. I did enjoy Marc telling us about the exterior architecture though, especially the flying buttresses. =o)

The need for a sugar rush came on strongly in the afternoon (and reprieve from the cold!), so we headed to a Dublin favorite, the Queen of Tarts pastry shop. An iconic landmark in the city, this beautifully decorated shop boasted a variety of pastries, pies, cakes, teas, coffees and other treats. I settled on a few macaroons and a kettle of Earl Grey tea. Oh my. The raspberry macaroons were nice enough, though a bit sweet, but the tea was heavenly, the perfect brew of bergamot, milk and black tea (Yogita would have loved it!). So so good! Alex’s carrot cake and Richard’s lemon tart are also really good honorable mentions here. In short, when in Dublin, go see the Queen!

Our walk through the city continued to the more commercial part because Alex wanted to see “the pole” up close. We walked through O’Connell Street and I hopped into the post office to mail some postcards. Then, Zoe and I wandered into the Primark store (I so wanted to buy a pair of pants at this point! Still freezing!) for some clothes shopping and we ran into Lisa there. The boys hit up a bookstore and then we all walked up to the pole. Looking at it from its base, the Spire of Dublin, rising some 400ft in the air, seemed to have a falling-towards-you appearance and thus was very unnerving. But, it is quite an impressive piece of art, how did they get it up?

We walked through town to the edge of the commercial district and then meandered back slowly since our dinner reservation was quite late. We stepped into a nice pub call The Quay (pronounced key) for a pre-dinner drink and immediately applauded our choice. As we got our drinks, a two-man bad started playing Irish pub songs. I stepped out quickly to call mom and dad (hadn’t talked to them in a while) and then came back to hear the band’s ending sets. The pub was exactly the “Dublin” experience I wanted: loud Irish music, a good pint and some fun friends. Basically, I was in a “Cheers” episode. =o) That night, dinner at Brasserie 66 was spectacular, one of the best of the trip! The three-course dinner consisted of a lovely Mediterranean appetizer with hummus, pita and veggies, a pillowy tortillini filled with spinach and smothered with the spicy tomato and arugula sauce, Fancy cocktails (of course!) and a shared chocolate pie– so good!

 

Although I walked more than I had in a very long time, some 25k steps according to the pedometer, it was a really fun-filled and fulfilling day in Dublin. I liked this city of “chancers and cheats,” as Declan calls it in the movie Leap Year. It was a cold day and I would have enjoyed it more had I dressed appropriately, but I hardly remember the cold now. Instead, I remember the warmth of the orange cocktail I had at dinner and the silly photos I took with a statue of James Joyce.

On my final day in Dublin, I was on a mission to buy a nice bottle of whiskey for my brother Jag. He likes whiskey and although he prefers scotch, I thought a good bottle might be just the best Christmas present (shhh, don’t tell him). I had inquired about good local whiskeys shops from the Dublin tour operator and, on this last morning, I set out to bring one back before noon (all alcohol must be brought back onto the ship before noon on the last day in Port). We took a taxi into town, found the shop rather quickly and then Debra and I sampled a few (just a few!). I took the recommendation of the clerk and bought a nice local brand whiskey not found in the states. Then, I ran back to the ship by foot and just barely arrived before noon; phew, what a lot of effort! Hope Jag likes it!

Overall, Dublin’s historic alleyways and pub corners were a welcome change from the snootiness of France. The people were friendly, helpful and welcoming (their accents were very appealing too!) and I really enjoyed seeing so much history in one place. All of Europe is a historian’s dream but Dublin in particular seemed a high prize. My favorite spot has to be the library at Trinity College. The word that comes to mind in Dublin is “Friendly” – very walkable city, a smaller version of London, nice people and really good atmosphere in pubs and restaurants. Go to Dublin if you get the chance!