Dubliners

Floozy in the jacuzzi

Well, the past three months have rocketed by, so I think that a blog update is long overdue.

We rented a nice two-bedroom apartment in Temple Bar so we were certainly in the heart of party central.  I have mentioned this area in one of my previous blogs as being the main tourist area.  During the summer the streets and pubs are packed both day and night with young backpackers and tourists.  Buskers and bands play in the cobbled laneways and you can hear just about every language being spoken as you walk around.  It is fun to see the different groups of people and every weekend there are many bucks and hens parties staggering through the area.  It is amusing watching the intoxicated hens negotiate the cobblestones in their stilettos!  Unfortunately, all of this activity makes for noisy night times and I have had many an interrupted sleep as the revellers enjoy their loud conversations and sometimes burst into song in their native languages.  Michael seems able to sleep through anything.  It is gradually becoming a little quieter as the weather cools.

 

Michael and I quickly established a nice routine with evening walks along the Liffey River and through Grafton Street and smaller laneways, stopping to listen to various musicians along the way.  Saturday morning we usually breakfasted at a café called Tamarama, owned by an Australian.  I always have the vegemite on toast with avocado and tomato, a very nice if slightly unusual combination.  The owner is a friendly guy even if he is a Sydney Swans supporter.  (By the way, I can’t let this opportunity pass to acknowledge the mighty, fighting Hawks as back to back Premiers – woo hoo!)

 

We finally took the opportunity to spend an evening watching Irish dancing.  The music was very jolly and the girls were very disciplined with their movements.  All the usual Irish ballads were played, however I found it odd that the band finished the evening by playing Country Road.  Not exactly what I would call an Irish classic!

Nelson Spire move to Phoenix after being bombed

We had a little bit of bad luck with our hot water service in the apartment, which gave up the ghost.  The plumber was unable to fix it, as it was the weekend, so our agent arranged a hotel for two nights for us.  The hotel was directly opposite the apartment, so we decided to sleep in the apartment and go over to the hotel to shower.  I was feeling a little grumpy at the inconvenience of having to shower across the road until I had to pass the homeless person who was sleeping on some cardboard at the entrance to our building.  It is so easy to forget how lucky we are.  There are many homeless people sleeping on the streets of Dublin, many of them Romanian.  It is a problem that we have encountered in just about every major city we have visited.

Michael and I celebrated two years of travel in August.  I am starting to worry if I am losing my Australian accent, as I was asked by one shopkeeper, “would that be a Canadian accent I be hearing then”.  I don’t know what he was talking aboot, eh?

Michael has taken the opportunity to do some scuba diving.  He undertook an orientation dive and refreshed his Emergency First Responder Course.  Thereafter followed some weekend dives and several night dives.  Unfortunately, one of his night dives turned into a rather dramatic event.  He and his dive partner were swept away by a strong current from their dive boat.  There they were, in the middle of Dublin Harbour, at night, trying to attract the attention of the dive boat, which was too far away to swim to against such a strong current.  Eventually they were spotted but not before they had spent one and half hours treading water.  When they were pulled aboard their boat, they were told that the Coast Guard and the Lifeguards had been called and were on their way to search for them.  They were also told that the rescue chopper was about to be mobilised as well however, the boat managed to contact the chopper to advise that they had been picked up before it took to the skies.  It was lucky that the chopper was stopped, as they would have insisted on rescuing Michael and his partner as a training exercise.  Luckily, while all this drama was taking place, I was fast asleep in bed.  I didn’t find out about this caper until the following evening.  Michael is one lucky man.      

The Cliffs Of Mohr

 

 

Michael hired a car so that we could travel around more of the Irish countryside.  You only have to travel for 15 minutes outside of Dublin to see the beautiful, green hills and meadows and we have been so fortunate with the weather as the sunshine extended through the summer time and into a glorious autumn.  We drove along the dramatic coastline to the famous Cliffs of Mohr.  The cliffs themselves are spectacular and there were a number of tourist buses lining the car park as people took to the paths to climb up to the scenic lookouts.  It was all very beautiful.

 

Our next stop was the old spa town of Lisdoonvarna where we were booked to spend the night.  The town of Lisdoonvarna is famous for the Matchmaking Festival, which is held there every year and is now Europe’s largest single’s event.  It was such a quiet little town whilst we were there that it is hard to imagine it packed out with thousands of people in search of a good time.  We stayed at the Hydro Hotel, which was opened in 1875 and staffed by the friendliest people we have met in Ireland.  One barman thought that Michael was German so addressed Michael in German, which left him rather bewildered.

 

 

The next morning we headed to the Aillwee Cave, which is believed to be the last bear den in Ireland.  The cave was discovered in 1944 when a farmer followed his dog who was chasing a rabbit.  Michael explored the cave whilst I was quite happy sitting in the café.  He found it all rather interesting.

 

 

Lunch was in the country market town of Ennistymon.  We found a lovely restaurant and, as it was such a sunny day, we ate outside next to the river where we could see a waterfall.  Excellent food and it was one of those occasions to reflect on just how blessed we are.

 

Next, we drove along to the small fishing village of Quilty, as Michael wanted to check it out as a potential dive spot.  It is an absolutely stunning place with the most beautiful, crystal clear water.  We could see many fish swimming there and some of them were quite large.

 

Limerick You’re My Lady

There was a young lady from Riga

Who smiled as she rode on a tiger

They returned from the ride

With the lady inside

And the smile on the face of the tiger

You can’t go to Limerick without reciting a limerick.  That was one I learned when I was six years old.  Amazing, isn’t it – I can remember that but I have trouble remembering what I did yesterday!

Michael had a few days work in Shannon so we spent three nights at the Radisson Blu in Limerick, which was a very nice way to spend some time.  We dined one evening at Durty Nelly’s next door to Bunratty Castle.  The pub itself is almost 400 years old and we had a lovely meal surrounded by history with live, Irish music playing.  Wonderful.

Unfortunately, we didn’t actually have the opportunity to explore Limerick itself.  We will definitely go back if we are lucky enough to return to Ireland.  I have just finished reading Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt, which was set in Limerick, and I would like to walk the streets mentioned in the book.

Sunday Bloody Sunday

Yet another bank holiday afforded us the opportunity to travel to Northern Ireland for the long weekend.  Unfortunately, autumn arrived with a bang, and with it came the rain.  It didn’t bother us too much though as it just added a certain atmosphere to the drive.  Michael drove through the stunning Irish countryside, which seemed to change every few minutes.   There were glorious green meadows one moment, forests glowing with autumnal colours the next.  We then took the coast road to the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge.  This is the bridge that links the mainland to the tiny island of Carrickarede.  It is a narrow suspension bridge, which is 20 metres long and is 30 metres above the rocks below.  Needless to say, I was happy to wave to Michael as he bravely undertook the crossing.  I was perfectly fine standing on the cliff top watching him. 

 

Next stop was the Giant’s Causeway, which Michael was keen to see.  It is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, which were formed as the result of a volcanic eruption.  It is a very dramatic landscape and as we walked around the area, the wind picked up making the waves crash against the shore.  It was all very impressive.

 

 

We spent the night in Londonderry (Derry as it is known by the Irish).  The next morning we took a walk around the walled city, which has been extensively restored after the Troubles.  It is a very beautiful city with many lovely buildings however it is easy to imagine how harsh life was when checkpoints were set up and movement was restricted and how unsafe it used to be.  One legacy of those times is that every shop has steel shutters, which enforces the feeling that peace could be shattered at any given moment.

 

The Bogside Artists’ political murals of Northern Ireland are a sight to behold.  Just like Belfast, these huge murals have been painted to show the history of the area and its people.  They are powerful works of art and a testament to the brutality of the past.  I think the most moving mural showed a child, Annette McGavigan, who was killed by the crossfire between the IRA and the British Army.  The final mural is one of a dove, which gives hope of a lasting peace.

 

 

Another night in Londonderry was followed by a trip to the Bushmills Distillery.  Michael has become a connoisseur of Irish whiskey during his time in Ireland.  We were able to taste some very good whiskey and finished our time there with an Irish coffee, which was probably the best I have had since our arrival in Ireland.

More scenic driving which took us through Muff and out to Quigley’s Point.  We particularly wanted to see Quigley’s Point as we have both finished reading Trinity by Leon Uris, and this was where he set the fictitious town of Ballyutogue.  It is a pretty place full of small farms set on sloping fields, just like it was described in the book.

 

We called into the little town of Belleek, which is famous for one of the oldest working potteries in the world.  We had a look at the visitor centre and there were many beautiful pieces of pottery.  Michael pointed out that there was no point buying anything, as we couldn’t carry it with us.  How many times have I heard that over the past 2 years?

Upon our return to Dublin we discovered that the Bram Stoker festival was drawing to a close.  I have mentioned before that the Irish are very proud of their literary history and Bram Stoker is one of their favourites.  We were quietly reading at home when all at once there were banging drums and music playing.  We stood outside on our balcony and discovered that a large parade was taking place in our street complete with a giant mechanical horse.  Very impressive, if a little unexpected!

Yes a Stag Party dressed as smurfs

Our final night in Dublin was Halloween.  Halloween is huge in Ireland, in fact, I would say that it is celebrated more widely and extravagantly here than in Canada.  Most shops, restaurants and bars go to great lengths to decorate their buildings with pumpkins, bats, spiders, webs, rats and the like.  We walked through Temple Bar and the street was thronged with people dressed in all manner of costumes with realistic, gory makeup.  One of the best costumes I saw was a young man dressed as a pig, wearing a butcher’s apron smeared with blood, carrying a chainsaw.  We saw a number of people dressed as bananas (there must have been a banana costume sale), vampires, witches, monsters, werewolves and even a group of girls dressed as corpse Irish dancers!  The following morning we saw a young man staggering home dressed as a giant traffic cone which was rather amusing.

I am sad that our time in Ireland has drawn to a close.  I have really felt at home here and I find Dublin a lovely city to live in.  I really hope that we can return, as there is something about Ireland and the Irish that is very special. In fact 'tis grand.

Bram Stoker Festival outside our apartment. A flying horse