Ireland Redux IX: Journey's End

Recently I went through some old journals, and one entry from 2001 detailed a trip to Nashville with my sister.  It turned out, with just miles from our destination, we got very lost.  I had written that I would never travel with her again because we argued hideously.  Well, obviously I had forgotten that resolution...

It was about noon when we left Wicklow for Dublin, which is a little over an hour away, if I remember correctly.  Once we got into the city, guess what?  We got lost again.  This really left me with a bad taste for Dublin, which isn't really fair at all to the city.  Anyway, by some miracle (and after I had to get out of the way of a tram headed straight towards us because I was stopped on the tracks) we found our last B&B.  Only, there was a problem.  The plumbing had failed, so we were sent a few doors down to another B&B owned by the same family.  We checked in and were directed just up the stairs.  Well, just up the stairs actually meant four flights.

 Huffing and puffing (my endurance should be much better than this), we opened the door to a room with a single bed when I expected a double room.  Sharing a bed for a night is no big deal; we're two years apart and shared a bed for years when we were little.  What was a problem, though, was the heat.  This room was a sauna, and there was no thermostat, nor any discernible way to open the window.  We couldn't stay inside for long and went down to the pub on the corner for a pint, which extended into lunch, of which I had a very nice lamb stew.

Afterward, we walked around the block, which we had gotten a glimpse of after parking the car in a garage two blocks off from the B&B.  My sister got the impression that we were in a questionable part of town, but it was for one night.  Besides, not long had we been walking before we arrived at what had to be one of the main thoroughfares.

It was teeming with people, shops, movie theaters, and restaurants.  We had dinner here before returning to the pub for one last drink.  Then it was bedtime, and it would have been very difficult to sleep if we hadn't just soaked some towels and draped them over our faces.

We got a great start the next day.  We were on time and headed in the right direction for the airport.  But you know what?  We got to the airport, but I wanted to fill up the tank so I wouldn't get charged for fuel.  We passed the only gas station near the airport on a one way road and I was in the lane that led back onto the M50, but the wrong way, and it took a half hour or more to get going the right way.  My sister was in tears by this time because she was convinced we were never getting out of Ireland.

But, we did.  The flight was uneventful with the exception of my feeling ill after a margarita on board which made the rest of the journey (JFK to Detroit) home miserable.  It was good to be back, though.  I even unpacked before falling flat on my face into bed.  

It was back to work the next day and life as usual.  Why is it that I always expect life to be just a little bit altered when I return from vacation?  

Oh, and my sister and I decided that we're never traveling together again.  We mean it this time.

Ireland Redux Part IV: Dublin Town

The Guinness Storehouse had so far made our first full day in Dublin a success.  Next on my list to do was to visit Trinity College and see the Book of Kells.  An old family friend had moved to Dublin years ago and worked as a counselor at Trinity, and there was hope he would be able to get us into the Old Library for free.  I called him from outside the Storehouse and we made tentative plans to meet during a very short window of time just before the dinner hour, a short enough window that I knew he wouldn't be able to give us a tour, just say hello.  I hung up, thinking how he had really adopted the Irish tongue, and my sister and I started walking.

We had a handy tourist map of the city and made our way towards the Trinity College area.  We had a couple of hours before we were to meet up with our old friend, so we decided to visit the Old Library and then the Temple Bar area.  We walked for about a half hour and by the time we reached the university, the sidewalks were just teeming with people.  It was a busy spot in the city (I think everywhere is likely busy, though), and in the midst of the traffic, the noise, and mankind stood this old stone edifice. 

We went in through the front instead of finding an entrance closer to the Old Library, and I'm glad we did, because as a result we got to see more of the campus than we might have otherwise.  We snapped some photos then followed the sign to the Book of Kells.  I paid our way (Guinness is more my sister's cup of tea; the history and academia is more mine) and bummed that we couldn't take photos in the exhibit, or the Old Library, we entered the display room.

I admit that I don't know a lot about the Book of Kells, or of illuminated manuscripts in general, but they are things to behold.  The colors, the calligraphy, the age of these are remarkable.  There were videos playing in the exhibit, as well, and one documented book-making, which caught my attention.  What was more interesting, however, was the preservation room we passed on the way to the Old Library.  It was open so that visitors could see the work the staff does in repairing and conserving the rare books at the library.  This is what I would love to do, and imagine doing it at Trinity College!

Afterward, we scoured the offerings in the gift shop, I bought a coffee mug with the Old Library on it, and we went outside to see if we could contact our friend to meet up.  Unfortunately, he didn't answer the call and after about a half hour, we left campus.

Temple Bar is considered a trendy neighborhood full of shops and good food.  My sister and I aren't necessarily the trendy type, but we enjoyed a stop at a wine cafe where I had my second Irish coffee of the trip.  Then it was time to start the trek back to our hotel.  

The walk back took a while.  Some parts of the walk weren't exactly brimming with beautiful touristy sights, such as two teenage boys who broke a bottle over an old drunk man's head and blood dripped into his eyes as he stumbled away in an alley we passed.  Even the alleys and neighborhoods we had walked through on the way to Guinness seemed a little unsavory on the walk back in the dusk and light misting rain.  But, we made it back safely and rested before we decided to cross the street to dinner at an Italian restaurant upstairs of a pub, which we visited after dinner.

We returned to the hotel later that night in good stout spirits.  And an hour later, in our PJs, my sister decided she wanted another pint, so at midnight we went downstairs to ask the porter for a Guinness.

Happy that the second day in Ireland was better than the first, we prepared to leave the city the following day.