Old Dublin Town

Once again we are back in the swing of things in Dublin.  This year, we were both lucky enough to be here for St Patrick’s Day.  Michael was here for St Patrick’s Day last year however I was in London at the time with Christine.  The celebration took place over 4 days with something for everyone.  In the evening, all of the principal buildings were lit by green lights, including the Spire (charmingly referred to by Dubliners as the Stiletto in the Ghetto) and it was lovely to walk around and admire the city.  There was a big children’s fair set up with rides and games and there were a number of exhibitions and displays set up around the town.  One of the buildings opened free to the public, was Marsh’s Library.  This wonderful old library was built in 1701 and it was a joy to wander around and look at the beautiful dark oak bookcases and see the cages that students were locked into to study.

The highlight of St Patrick’s Day was naturally the parade.  Thousands of people thronged the route as everyone jostled to get the best view.  It was the first parade I have attended where people brought their ladders to stand on!  There were many marching bands and floats and everyone seemed to have a jolly time.  When the parade had finished, Michael and I headed out to watch the hurling. 




This was our first hurling match and it was exciting to watch the speed at which the players run at the ball (sliotar) and whack it with their sticks (hurleys).  I won’t pretend that I understood much of what was happening but I do know that I would never have allowed James & Tim to play the game.  Arming those two boys with hurleys would have been just asking for trouble!  The hurling was followed by a game of Gaelic football, which was an exciting match as well.  At least I could pretty much follow what was happening.  It was good to see what a family celebration St Patrick’s Day is.  We didn’t see any intoxicated people like we see in Australia.  Mind you, we deliberately avoided Temple Bar as we knew that all of the tourists who had descended on Dublin would be out is force celebrating.

 





The past two months have seen several of Michael’s former work colleagues come over to Dublin and it is always nice catching up with them for a meal.  Tim’s son, Christopher, was touring Ireland with his choir and we caught a performance at St Patrick’s Cathedral.  It had been a while since Michael and I had been to a choir performance and it was very peaceful sitting in the magnificent church and the performance was very good. St Patrick’s is the largest cathedral in Ireland and has been on the site for over 800 years. 

We experienced our second Easter in Ireland and once more I was amazed at the number of shops open on Good Friday, especially the butchers.  I have subsequently discovered that the reason for this is that Good Friday is not a gazetted public holiday.  It is classified as a bank holiday, which means that not all businesses are required to close.  In fact, the only businesses required to close on Good Friday are the pubs.  Another quirky liquor law that we have discovered by chance, is that you are not allowed to purchase alcohol before 10.30am on any day and only after 12.00pm on Sundays.  We had picked up a bottle of wine to have with our dinner at the supermarket and were informed that we would have to wait 10 minutes before we could purchase the bottle (it was 10.20am Saturday).  The scanners at the registers are physically locked to ensure that no alcohol is sold before the correct time. 

Easter Saturday, we decided to have a sporting day.  First we took in a rugby game of Leinster v Bath.  It was a packed stadium and some of the Bath supporters went to the trouble of dressing as Roman centurions.  They started off very vocal, challenging all comers and waving their swords (plastic) in the air.  They soon quietened down when Leinster overtook them on the scoreboard.  We followed the rugby with a trip to the greyhound stadium to watch the dish lickers.  Michael and I had a surprisingly good meal in the restaurant overlooking the racetrack and we had great fun using our highly scientific method to bet on the winner (if we liked the name, we bet on it).  The lady who looked after the placing of our bets was impressed serving such high rollers as us- 4 Euro between us per race ($6).  One of Michael’s dogs refused to parade past the punters and his poor embarrassed owner had to carry him to the starting box.  Amazingly, he actually won the race!  We enjoyed ourselves so much that we took Tim with us last week.  He seemed to enjoy himself and he actually won a few races, possibly because he actually studied the form guide for the dogs instead of just fancying their names!

Easter Sunday we headed to the Easter Uprising service marking 99 years since the uprising.  The service was held out the front of the main post office, which of course was where the main events happened all those years ago.  The roads were blocked off by the police and security was tight.  Bags were checked at the one entrance and there was a sizable crowd there.  The service was conducted in Gaelic, however we understood the gist of it.  There were displays in the street detailing the history of the uprising.  I hope that we are lucky enough to be here next year for the centenary celebrations.

The Galway Girl

Michael wanted to do some diving so we hired a car and drove to county Galway to the tiny town of Tully Cross.  It took us 6 hours to drive there as it was pouring rain and the last part of the drive was hair raising trying to navigate extremely narrow lanes in the pitch dark.  At last we found our accommodation, Maol Reidh Hotel and we settled in for the night.  Michael spent the Saturday diving whilst I spent a leisurely day reading in the lobby, as it was much too cold outside for me.  Every time I looked out of the window I discovered the weather had changed – one moment there was sunshine, next came the rain, which was then followed by hail. 


The cycle then went onto repeat in a never-ending loop.  Michael returned shivering, having completed a shore dive and a boat dive.  He enjoyed himself but was too cold to want to repeat the performance on Sunday.  The town of Tully Cross consists of 2 pubs, the hotel we stayed in and a few scattered houses.  That was it – no general store or anything else.  We amused ourselves with a pub- crawl of the 3 establishments.

We awoke the next day to the view of mountains covered in snow, which explained why we had been feeling so cold.  After breakfast, we took a lovely drive through the countryside, stopping at Roundstone for a coffee.  We had been there before and remembered what a relaxing town it was.  The café overlooked the water and it was peaceful sitting sipping our coffees and watching the world drift by.  Then we drove through the wilds of Connemara to Limerick where we spent the night.

The next day, Michael had work to do in Shannon so I had the day to myself to explore the town.  The last time we were in Limerick the weather was cold and raining, however, this time, it was glorious sunshine.  The city looked completely different and it was interesting to see just how beautiful the city is with lovely buildings and gardens and of course the castle along the River Shannon.  I spent the day checking out the places of interest along with the shops.  Michael says that I have turned into his father, as I can’t go past an op shop without checking out the books for sale.  There are many op shops in Limerick, which, whilst good for me, is a sad reflection of the times.  We dined in Limerick before driving back to Dublin and I was able to try a Knickerbocker Glory, which I had tried to track down in England with no luck.  It was wonderful!

Michael and I attended the dawn service on Anzac Day at the Grangegorman Military Cemetery.  The crowd was considerably larger than last year and the service was very moving.  Unfortunately we had a rather embarrassing moment when Michael’s phone alarm went off at full volume during the prayer.  Michael panicked and pushed every button on the phone but still it rang on.  He eventually managed to remove the battery just as I was getting ready to stomp on the thing!  It could have been worse though, it could have happened during the two minutes’ silence.  

Since we were up and about so early, we decided to wait until the zoo opened.  Unfortunately, just as we entered the zoo, the heavens opened and the rain set in for the rest of the day.  We spent the morning wandering the exhibits soaked to the skin whilst the animals did the smart thing and stayed in their shelters.  It is a nice zoo with a good range of animals and we will definitely return when the weather is kinder.

The Boys of the County Cork

It was the Labour Day weekend so Michael and I hired a car and headed to Cork for the weekend.  It poured with rain for most of the drive however the weather cheered up by the time we arrived.  We had lunch at the English Market, which is the main food market in the centre of Cork.  There has been a market on this site since 1788 with the present buildings dating back to the mid 19^th century.  It was very pleasant wandering around looking at all the fresh produce and it was the best market we have seen in Ireland.  Cork is a beautiful, old city and we spent the afternoon exploring the streets and shops before checking into the Ambassador Hotel.  When we arrived, we assumed that there was a wedding reception taking place, as we could see a huge number of formally dressed guests.  Imagine our surprise when we looked in and saw that the “bride” was in fact a 7 year old girl celebrating her first communion!  The hotel receptionist told us that every Friday and Saturday evening for the next two months has been booked for communion functions.  Apparently the trend is for the child to arrive by chauffeured limousine and if the child is a girl, then a spray tan is a must!  It is all much grander than when our boys took their first communion.

The next day was our wedding anniversary (how the years fly by) and we drove to Kinsale for breakfast.  One of the more challenging things in Ireland is to find somewhere that opens at a reasonable hour for breakfast.  It is nearly impossible to find somewhere even in Dublin with many cafes advertising breakfast but not opening until 11.00am or even midday.  It is certainly not like Melbourne. 

Kinsale would have to be the most picture perfect town that we have seen since arriving in Dublin.  The narrow, winding streets are filled with lovely, restored houses and shops and I would definitely like to spend a weekend in the town.  We spent the afternoon driving around the countryside, which is mainly beautiful, lush green farmland.  










 We also saw the monument for the people who perished during the sinking of the Lusitania at the Old Head.  It was 100 years ago today (at time of writing) that the Lusitania sank in 91 metres of water just off the Cork coast.

 









Since we were in Cork, it was only right that we should make the pilgrimage to Blarney Castle.  We arrived nice and early in order to beat the tourist buses and we dutifully climbed to the top of the castle keep to see the Blarney Stone.  We did not kiss the stone, as I was worried that if I lay down to kiss it, I would not be able to get back up again!  The view from the tower was impressive and it worth the climb just to see that.  We then walked the grounds, which were enormous and we hoped that we would see some red squirrels however they were all hiding that day. 












 








A short drive took us to the Jameson Distillery where we lunched and had a good look around.  It was then time to slowly wend our way back to Dublin.   

The Rush to London

Our son, James, was flying into London for a four-day course for work and so Michael and I decided to pop over to see him for the weekend.  I will never get used to the fact that people can just go to England or just about anywhere in Europe for a weekend from Ireland.  There are so many countries close by and it is easy to decide on a whim to travel abroad, especially as no visa is required.  We caught the plane from Dublin airport, which in itself was a novelty as we hadn’t flown in 14 months and yet in that time we had visited 6 countries, all by ship or train.  I have never enjoyed flying, so when the captain announced that it was clear night and that we would be treated to a wonderful view as we flew into London, I grudgingly looked out of the window.  There before me was the glorious sight of London by night – all twinkling fairy lights with the Thames clearly visible and the London Eye shining bright red in the night.  Perfect.

We landed at Heathrow and made our way with our luggage to the exit with our passports in hand ready for examination – and just walked through!  There was no one to even glance at them or stamp them - so much for the high terror alert and heightened security measures.  We had the same experience when we have taken the boat from Dublin to Holyhead, however I really thought that things would be different at Heathrow. We caught the train from Heathrow to St Pancras International and from there it was a short walk to the Ibis at Euston where we were staying.

Michael and I were so excited to see James looking so well and happy, if a little tired, as he had spent the previous week in Saudi Arabia with his work.  We walked him to his hotel, The Hoxton, in Holborn and then breakfasted at Freestate Coffee.  James filled us in on his adventures over breakfast and then we set off to explore as much of the city as possible.

The weather was glorious – 16 degrees and sunshine.  James found it a little chilly however it was the warmest Michael and I had been for the last 5 months. Michael had mapped out a walk that would take in many of the sights of London.  The walk went something like this:

We started at Hyde Park Corner to view the Australian War Memorial then wandered through to Buckingham Palace, then off to Horse Guards Parade and through to Westminster via Downing Street, then across Westminster Bridge to the London Eye, past Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and the Golden Hind.  We stopped for coffee at the Borough Market and then it was across London Bridge to the Leadenhall Market, past St Paul’s Cathedral through Fleet Street and then up the Strand.  We lunched at the Crypt in St Martin-in-the-Fields.  Then it was off to Trafalgar Square to see the smallest police station (for his Grandmother) and the marker for the centre of London (for his Grandfather)

Centre of London

followed by a stop at Jermyn Street so that James could purchase some business shirts.  Naturally we called into Prestat for some more of the Queen Mother’s favourite chocolates followed by a walk through of Fortnum & Mason.  This was followed by a visit to Hamleys, then Carnaby Street and finally Saville Row.  We walked 28 kilometres in all and felt that we had well and truly earned our dinner at Hawksmoor, a steak restaurant at Seven Dials.  I think James enjoyed his tour as his father and I took turns in passing on all of the useless information that we have stored, although he did comment at one point, when I was showing him the first clock in London with a double-sides face (at St Dunstan’s Church), “how do you even know all this?”  We even showed James where a man was killed by a phallus falling from a statue above Zimbabwe House. 

We met a slightly weary James on Sunday morning – a combination of jet lag, sore throat and possible exhaustion from the walk the day before.  Michael had planned a slightly easier day and we started with breakfast at the Columbia Road Flower Market so that James could hear some authentic East End accents.  We then strolled through Shoreditch to the Brick Lane market and to view the street art in the area.  This was followed by a visit to the Old Spitalfields Market.  We then took a bus to the Tower of London and walked along the forecourt there.  Lunch was at the Punch Tavern where we dined on a Sunday roast of pork belly.  James was much revived after lunch so we continued on to explore the Seven Dials and Covent Garden.  Michael decided that since we had walked nearly 24 kilometres, we had earned a drink so we found a bar, which had been recommended by one of James’ friends, Gordon’s Wine Bar which is near the Thames at Embankment.  The bar was packed and we sat outside and had a sherry tasting.  At one stage, a young lady got up and played the bagpipes.  Whilst we were at Covent Garden, James had spotted Shake Shack, and so we decided to have dinner there.  James of course had dined at the one in New York and now he can say that he has been to the London one as well.  We took James for a walk around Leicester Square so that he could see the theatre district by night and also walked him through Chinatown. 

It was very sad to say goodbye to James and I hope that he enjoyed his time with us.  At least he experienced a comprehensive overview of London and I hope that he will return one day.

Michael and I spent our final morning strolling around Fitzrovia and all too soon it was time to catch the train to Heathrow.  Michael and I both managed to set off the alarms at security at the airport and so dutifully removed our shoes so that they could be x-rayed.  Then we both had to be patted down and searched and then stand with one leg propped on a chair (like a bride having her garter removed) whilst the magic wand was waved around us, all in view of the queue of passengers.  Seriously, do we look like middle-aged terrorists?  An uneventful flight took us to Dublin where we actually had to pass through customs and had our passports stamped with the incorrect date.  Welcome to Dublin!

The Dublin Rambler

Once again it was time to say goodbye to wonderful London to retrace our journey back to Ireland.  It was fitting that snow was falling lightly as we made our way to the station.  We caught the boat train from Euston and it was a relaxing journey through the countryside, which was covered in snow in places.  Then it was onto the ferry from Holyhead where the captain greeted us with the news that gales were expected so we were in for a rough crossing.  In actual fact, there were only a couple of hair-raising moments as the waves crashed over the bow and then it was a relatively smooth journey.  A short taxi ride from the Dublin dock took us to our apartment at Spencer Dock.  It is a lovely modern, two-bedroom apartment right by the Grand Canal and well away from party central at Temple Bar.  I think we shall be very comfortable here.

It is lovely being back in Dublin and there is a real feeling of “coming home”.  I will always love London with its myriad of places to see but Dublin is a chance to settle back into a more relaxed way of life.  The weather is still quite cold and when the wind blows it fairly slices through you but there is something invigorating about wandering the streets that are so familiar and yet discovering something that you hadn’t noticed before.  It is a very pretty city filled with music and we feel lucky to be here.

One of the nice things about being back is visiting our favourite café, Tamarama, for breakfast on a Saturday.  It is good to hear a few Australian accents served with the Vegemite. Speaking of accents, Michael has been asked several times where he is from, and when he says Australia, people are commenting that he doesn’t have a strong accent!  He sounds the same to me but perhaps he is starting to lose the hard edge. 

We have managed to catch a couple of exhibitions in Dublin commemorating the First World War.  The first one was Pals: The Irish at Gallipoli at the National Museum of Ireland.  The museum is in the old Collins army barracks so it was a fitting setting for this interesting exhibition of rare photographs.  It was also a good reminder that the Gallipoli campaign was not just about the Australians and New Zealanders, a fact which sometimes gets overlooked when we just focus on our involvement and losses during the war.  The second exhibition was WW1 Ireland: Exploring the Irish Experience.  This was an even better exhibition showing the Irish war experience through letters, diaries, recruiting posters, newspaper reports and cartoons and the impact that the war had on the Irish people.

‘Tis of Limerick We Sing

There was a young man of Nepal

Who went to a fancy dress ball

He thought he would risk it

And go as a biscuit

But a dog ate him up in the hall

I couldn’t resist – this was another limerick I remember from my childhood (still can’t remember what I did yesterday.)

Michael had some work to do up in Shannon, so we thought that we would spend the weekend up in Limerick, as we never actually got to explore the town when we were last there.

We hired a car and set off for a very pleasant drive through the Irish countryside stopping along the way for a coffee and to explore the ruins of an ancient Abbey.  There are many ruins dotting the countryside – old churches, homes and the occasional castle. There is always something to look at.

Michael organised for us to participate in the Angela’s Ashes walking tour.  I have mentioned before that we have both recently read the book and the tour promised to retrace some of the streets and places of interest mentioned in the book.  We met our tour guide, Declan, and discovered that we were the only two that would be taking the tour that day.  We had a lovely 2 hour walk with Declan not only showing us places relevant to the book but also pointing out the beautiful Georgian homes whilst relating the history of the area.  It was a terrific way to see the city as he pointed out many features that we would not have discovered on our own.  One of the highlights was the Mount Saint Alphonsus Redemptorist church.  The church was built in 1854 and has the most stunningly beautiful mosaics that I have seen.  In fact, I would rate it as highly as some of the amazing churches we saw in Russia and throughout Europe.  You could just imagine the young Frank McCourt, bedraggled and freezing sitting in the pews, trying to get warm and shelter from the rain, gazing on the extravagant gilt mosaics.   It seems almost unbelievable that there could be such ostentatious wealth amidst such crippling poverty.

 




King John’s Castle was the next on our list of places to visit.  This imposing castle was built over 800 years ago and houses fascinating interactive exhibits detailing early Gaelic society, the Normans, the Reformation and the various sieges that befell the castle and Limerick.  We had a lovely time wandering around the various rooms and we had the entire castle to ourselves as there was not a single other visitor.  I even climbed to the very top to see the spectacular view over Limerick and the surrounding countryside.

We also visited the Hunt Museum and the Limerick City Gallery of Art.  The Hunt Museum is housed in the old Custom House, a beautiful building dating back to 1769.  There are over 2,000 original works of art dating from the Stone Age through to the 20^th century.  One of the more interesting items is the Leonardo Horse, a bronze statue of a horse which was once thought to have been made by Leonardo da Vinci but was subsequently found to have been made at a much later date.  The horse itself is still a beautiful piece regardless of its antiquity.  There were also sketches by Henry Moore and one by Picasso.  The art gallery was a little too modern for my taste however there were some very good German theatre posters on display.

On the Monday, when Michael had to work, I took myself off to the Frank McCourt Museum.  If you have read the book, you will remember that the constant rain is a backdrop to the story.  Well, I certainly had the right atmosphere for my visit, as during my walk there I was first drenched with rain then smacked by hail followed by being snowed on and then finally blown around by ferocious winds.  Unbelievably the sun then came out, albeit for a short time before the exact same weather pattern repeated itself! The museum itself is housed in Frank’s former school – Leamy House.  Once again I was the only one there so was treated to a guided tour by one of the museum guides, a lovely, elderly gentleman who regaled me with stories about Frank’s childhood.  Two rooms are set up to recreate one of the houses that Frank lived in and was a sobering experience to look at the meagre possessions and the harsh reality of living in such squalor.  The main part of the museum is set up in the old school classroom and there were display cases filled with old photographs, school books and other memorabilia. There was a photo of Frank meeting President Clinton, which was remarkable, considering Frank’s humble beginnings.  It was a great way to spend a few hours and has inspired me to read the sequel to Angela’s Ashes, ‘Tis, which picks up the story from Frank’s arrival in New York.

To Cut a Long Story Short

We returned to Dublin in time for an event that I have been looking forward to for a number of weeks.  On Valentine’s Day, Michael surprised me with tickets to see Spandau Ballet, my all time favourite band of the ‘80’s!  In fact, Michael and I went to one of their concerts in Sydney 30 years ago so it was going to be a real blast from the past.  We arrived early and joined the queue waiting to gain entrance and had a bit of a giggle looking at the other people in the crowd.  To say there was more than a smattering of grey hair was an understatement!  Michael and I checked out the memorabilia on sale and noticed the skinny t-shirts for sale.  Looking at all the paunches on the men and the middle-aged spread on the women we couldn’t help wondering who they were being marketed to.  Anyway, we found our seats and discovered that we were in the very back row.  I was sitting there, kicking myself for forgetting the binoculars, when the usher approached us and asked if we would like to move to better seats.  Of course, we said yes, and he led us down to the premium seating area only 15 rows from the front and directly in front of the stage.  I was over the moon!  The usher then returned and gave us VIP passes to allow us access to the VIP bar upstairs!  There we sat, VIP lanyards around our necks feeling very important indeed.  The concert was wonderful and the years just melted away as the crowd roared when they played all their hits from the past.  It was a fabulous night, which we finished with a drink in the very swish VIP bar.  In fact, I would say that the night was just Gold!