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Driving into Dublin from Carrick-on-Suir provided quite the culture shock for all of us. Not only were we a wee bit frantic about getting Eric to his flight to London on time but driving into a city of 1.3 million people when we had been use to 1.3 million sheep was a bit of a jolt. Eric was to drop us off at a house we rented through Craig's list and then return the car to the airport before his flight out. When we arrived at the resident address we found that we had been scammed and there was no such "period house with room for five"! We pulled up to a dumpy apartment in a sketchy part of town and knew we had been dupped. Enough of this tale....don't want to think about it! Needless to say we found a hotel despite the fact that Bon Jovi was doing a concert and every Irish and British music fanatic was attending which made selection of a hotel a wee bit limited.
Eric left.....missed his flight....got the next one... and made it to dinner with Philippa and her parents in London afterall!
So now we were four (and a half) and we began exploring the grown up city of Dublin.
Our first full day in the city brought us to Trinity College, a four hundred year old institution known throughout the world as a college where individual thought is highly regarded. Trinity is known for both teaching and research. It is a beautiful campus set in the city, reminding me of many east coast liberal arts colleges... seeped in tradition and serious learning. We had a wonderful newly graduated tour guide who provided a whimiscal, practical and honest presentation of past and current life at Trinity. Recounting facts, fiction and fantasy, this lad had us captivated in the first few minutes of narration. A cross between Harry Potter and Dave Barry, he was so endearing that any one of us would have invited him home to dinner.
We just felt smarter being on campus. The deep seated knowledge wedged in each cement building block leaked into our beings. We walked more confidently and spoke more eloquently as though we had just kissed the Blarney Stone....oh, that's right, some of us had! There were a couple of areas that prevented our entrance because Michelle Obama and her daughters were due the next day for a visit. Glad I wasn't their tour guide and had to explain how difficult the struggle was to get Trinity to accept women into the college!
Our visit included many of the sights like St. Steven's Green, a beautiful city park, St. Paul's Cathedral and pub after pub after pub......it was Ireland afterall!
Dublin has charm.... flower boxes intermingled with cement structures, brightly colored shop fronts and cobbled streets. The river runs throughout the city and you can just as easily stroll along its side as become emersed in the bustle of cabs and business folks.
The first night our "children" had made arrangements for Mike and I to dine at Patrick Guilbaud's, a two star Michelin rated restaurant. This extravagant anniversary gift was quite an experience for both of us. Taking a cab to avoid the rain and wind we soon found out that due to the concert it would take about two hours to get to the restaurant which was a mear 15 minute walk. So off we treked trying to keep from looking like we'd been doused with a bucket of water! We first popped into the Sheffield Hotel for a cocktail. This historic hotel is quite the place and the "bar" is huge and packed with what looked like locals of all ages. We learned later that Mrs. Obama and her daughters stayed in the hotel a couple of days later....think she's following us?!
Then on to dinner which was located in a rather unassuming building next to the five star Merrion Hotel. Patrick Guilbaud's has been the center for fine dining in Dublin for the past thirty years! It's known for its contemporary Irish food with "classical roots". All I know was it was beyond fabulous food. The dining room was sub street level and had clear story windows which provided a soft natural glow to the dining area. Waiters were everywhere, each with his own specific task, the most important of which was to make you feel welcome and well taken care of without being obtrusive. The wine list looked like a bible without the cross. Needless to say each course was a visual delight and provided a culinary experience unlike anything we ever had. I hate to bore with details but I feel compelled to write verbatim what we ate, so humor me. We started with---
Blue Lobster Ravioli with Free Range Egg Pasta coated in Coconut Scented Lobster Cream, Toasted Almonds, Split Curry Dressing...
Main courses: Saddle of Wicklow Lamb "Provencal", Roasted Garlic, Taggiasca Olive, Datterino Tomato
Caramelized Veal Sweetbreds, Rosemary, Smoked Potato, Roasting Juice
...and finished with...Grand Marnier Souffle and Contemporary Dark Chocolate Tart with Bourbon Vanilla Ice Cream
Oh my!
Our last day in Dublin we slowed down a bit and did some general sightseeing ending with a long walk through the beautiful park that sits in the middle of Dublin....much like Central Park in NY but not as large. There were many families enjoying picnics, watching the ducks and swans float in the lake and generally taking in the beauty of the flowers and colorful trees. Earlier we enjoyed lunch at a food mart nestled in an ally bewteen high rise buildings. With the wind whippng around we ate samples of international foods and watched people from different countries taste foods outside their comfort zones. After the park we stopped by O'Donoghue's Bar established in 1512 to rest our feet and drink a beer. We weren't the only ones with that idea as the place was jammed packed with locals and tourists but we wiggled ourselves into a corner and realized we were in the best spot to conclude our Dublin adventure. The musicians, pictured above, looked like they were born in their seats. Oblivious to everyone else they picked and strummed to their Irish hearts' content.
The next day Emily and David had to fly out in the wee hours of the morning to Santa Barbara and Mike and I followed a bit later and boarded our plane to London. Although we were all able to fly together in the beginning of our trip we had to leave separately but we will be forever united by a host of wonderful memories of special time together, in a special place, remembering special people.
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