New Year Travels 2 - Dublin, Out into County Dublin and an Heroic Story

January 1st

Another lie-in and we then went out to The Big Brunch in Meeting House Square, Temple Bar. Well it was more like a damp squib! Advertised as part of the city's New Year celebrations it was described as having entertainment, food and stalls, well it had one stall, one food van and a stage with no one on it and a handful of people wandering aimlessly in and out of the square.  We soon gave up on it and went to find somewhere to eat. Normally I can't stand the tourist trap of Temple Bar with its heaving masses, but this day it was so different, a steady stream of people but not manic.

My Brunch at The Shack

Danielle spotted a place nearby called The Shack which we all liked the look of so went in for our brunch.  And a good choice it was too, I had delicious smoked salmon with scrambled egg and salad which was absolutely delicious! The others were more than happy with their meals too. The place too had a good ambiance and the service was very friendly and good.

We then went on a walk along the banks of the River Liffey,it was another mild, dry day so it was very pleasant taking a relaxing New Year's Day walk there.  We crossed the famous Ha'penny Bridge and I noticed there were hundreds of padlocks with
names written on them attached to it. I hadn't heard of them, but Dianne had, they are "love locks" which lovers sign and and attach to bridges throwing away they key, it is a symbol of their never-ending love. Apparently it is a worldwide phenomenon at the moment. Whereas the symbolism is sweet, I thought they didn't look good on this historic, graceful Ha'penny Bridge, and Dublin City Council doesn't like them either and regularly cuts them off, worried about the damage they could cause to the bridge.

Love Locks on the Ha'penny Bridge

After this we went home and relaxed for a while before getting a taxi to Dun Laoghaire.  Our friends Ken and Elizabeth had invited us for a New Year meal and we knew we were in for a treat!

As usual we got a warm welcome and it was good to see them both again.  This is another friendship borne from U2 fandom.  Don't get me wrong, they aren't fans, but we used to rent the house next door to Ken and Elizabeth (which they used to own and used as a holiday let) and so we became friends. They don't let out the house now, but we always see them when we visit Dublin.

Their home at Christmas time is like a Christmas grotto with lights, candles and animated Xmas scenes, it's amazing! Elizabeth had decorated the table beautifully and it was all very Chritmassy.  We sat down for the meal and Elizabeth said we'd have to pull the crackers before we started and put the hats on. Well, my friends, two from the US and one from Canada (who has lived most of her life in the US), looked a bit mystified, not sure what to do. Unknown to me and Ken and Elizabeth crackers are not a Christmas tradition in the US and Canada. So we told them that you get the person near you to pull the cracker until it cracks open and the person with the big side gets to keep the contents, a paper hat, a piece of paper with a joke on it and a little gift. Then you have to put on the hat for the meal and read out the always cheesy joke. They looked bemused at first but followed the tradition and ended up really having fun wearing the paper hats and laughing at the daft jokes as  per the Christmas tradition!

We had prawns, smoked salmon, toast and salad for starters. Then delicious fresh salmon, turkey and ham for the main with all the trimmings. For dessert we had mini eclairs and homemade mince pies with cream.  Again mince pies were new to our New World people, at first they thought - not surprisingly - that they were meat pies.  But once tasted they were given the thumbs up by all!

After the meal the neighbours, who we also knew (and who now live in the house we used to rent) Anna and Moni came round, along with their lovely dog Bobo. We commented on what a multi-country night it was, there were people from Ireland, England, Canada, US and India!  We then had a fun trivia quiz which was a great laugh, I won, but there was no prize boo hoo!

The evening flew by and before we knew it it was time to say our goodbyes and go back home, what a lovely night it was!

Beautiful Killiney Bay, I  never tired of this place

January 2nd

Our last full day in Dublin and we had it all planned out.  Luckily it was a sunny, blue sky day, perfect for our first stop, beautiful Killiney Beach.  We wandered along doing our usual beach-combing, though I am able to restrict my pebble collecting to one per visit nowadays lol!

We then took the DART to Dalkey with the intention of having brunch in Finnegan's, however, it was heaving with people waiting for tables, so we walked down the street to The Queens which had room for us and we had a delicious meal there.

Next and final stop Dun Laoghaire to see the Shackleton Endurance Exhibition at the Ferry Terminal.  For anyone who has heard the story of the failed Antarctic mission and the story of their fight for survival over the following months, you can't help but be full of admiration and awe.  For me it is the most amazing and heroic story, overcoming obstacle after seemingly insurmountable obstacle -  and all survived.

The exhibition is made up of  walls texts, diary excerpts and, most strikingly, photos by Australian Frank Hurley. It tells of the planning of the expedition, the Endurance getting caught in the grip of the pack ice and eventually succumbing to its power. After realising they would not be rescued, Shackleton started the fight for survival, first getting as far as Elephant Island, then he and a small crew went on in the tiny boat the James Caird and in treacherous sea actually managed to get to South Georgia. One last hurdle was that they had to cross a huge mountain range to get to the whaling station, they did the very last part of that trip by hurtling down a glacier sitting on rolls of rope, the only possible way to manage to get there as they were by now very weak. A rescue party was sent to Elephant Island to pick up the rest of the men, who miraculously had all survived too. The ship was called Endurance and that is what the whole story was about, human endurance, great leadership and faith in their leader Sir Ernest Shackleton.

There was a replica of the James Caird in the exhibition and it was unbelievably small. The photos were wonderful, hard to believe they were 100 years old as they were of such good quality. Lots of them very personal, playing with the dogs they had (and eventually had to eat), day to day activities like scrubbing the floors, larking about. Also photos of the death of the Endurance as the ice crushed it to pieces. There were stunning photos of the of the White Continent itself that showed its awesome beauty. One picture I especially remember was one taken on Elephant Island from inside a cave with a round entrance of sheer, daunting cliffs. Frank Hurley's photos really brought the expedition alive and still does, unfortunately photos were not allowed \at the exhibition but you can view some of them on them on the website link above.

A sad fact was that after the extraordinary story of survival was that nine of the expedition members were British army members and on their return were sent to fight in the First World War, within three weeks six of them were dead.

The exhibition lasts until November this year, it has a reasonable entrance fee and is well worth a visit.

We headed home after this, ate in and had an early night as we were setting off for Iceland at crack of dawn (well before crack of dawn actually!)  As ever Dublin was wonderful, I feel so at home there. Hopefully I'll be back there for some U2 gigs if they tour this year!

Dublin 1 - Luxury Apartment, Fab Dublin and Multi-National Dinner

May 4th

The train to Manchester Airport rolled into Carlisle station, but there was no coach A where my seat reservation was. I approached a member of staff and said my coach was not on the train and he looked at me and said.

"Yes it is, in the second half," smiling at my puzzled look he continued, "Half of the train comes from Glasgow and half from Edinburgh, the other half will be here in a few minutes."

Debbi Pointing out our Apartment Four
Windows Above her Finger!

Sure enough the second half soon arrived complete with coach A shortly afterwards.  In the coach there was a party of eight very drunk Scotsmen.  I moved as far away from them as I could, and though they were not nasty, they were very loud throughout the trip .... lovely, not!

I met up with Debbi at the airport, we were both very excited about the trip as it has been a few years since we've spent a whole week in Dublin.  The flight was smooth and we took a taxi to our apartment in Smithfield.  The landlord, Pat, met us there and if there was a human equivalent of a leprechaun he was one. Small and rotund, with a smiling face, bright, sparkly eyes and a pleasant and humourous demeanour, you couldn't help but like him.

We paid him got the keys and explored our home for the week.  It was a generously-sized two bedroomed luxury apartment, with good quality, modern decor, we were chuffed to each have our own bathroom!  There was a large balcony that looked out over Smithfield, (in Irish Margadh na Feirme, meaning "Farm Market.") It was originally set up as a market place in the 17th century.  In the late 1990's the area was renovated, which included relaying the original cobblestones and erecting 26 metre gas lamps and floodlights on the ground  that reflect in the huge shades on the lower portions of the masts.  I remember I found the flames and lights impressive when I was at Smithfield for U2's Freedom of the City ceremony in 2000.

Smithfield, Dublin from our Balcony

The chimney of the famous old Jamieson Distillery was almost opposite our apartment.  As we were on the fifth floor we had a wonderful view over the rooftops of Dublin, even in this day and age it was dominated by the spires and towers of many churches.  To the right were the spires of St Patrick's and Christchurch cathedrals , close by was the tower of St Michan's that has the fossilised bodies in it's crypt (well worth a visit). Plus lots of other churches I could not name.  Also, very close by, was the dome of the Four Courts.  Our side of Smithfield was mainly apartments whilst on the other side were court buildings and a hostel.  At the north end was a derelict area that encompassed the Cobblestone pub which Pat told us was the kind of place you wiped your feet coming out not going in! But he did say they have some good traditional music there some nights.

We went shopping at a supermarket at the top of Smithfield on our side.  I noticed that almost all the retail units underneath the apartments were closed, we saw lots of evidence that the Celtic Tiger has come to a shuddering halt in the recession during our stay.  Also I remember a few years ago there were so many cranes dominating the skyline, from our vantage point in the apartment we could now see only one.

That night we made our own meal and just relaxed over some wine, happy to be back in Dublin.

May 5th

Sand Sculpture on Grafton Street

We were greeted by sunshine this morning.  We walked the short distance to the River Liffey and crossed over a bridge and walked through Temple Bar, we were hoping to go to a food market, but it had turned into a book market!  We walked on to Grafton Street which was as eclectic as ever.  We passed an Irish harpist, a jazz group, someone making beautiful sand sculptures, another balancing glass spheres and numerous others.  We had coffee and cake in iconic Bewley's, it's ages since we went in the cafe there and it was as lively and snug as ever and has the best coffee in the city!

We walked back home via O'Connell Street and Henry Street, we passed a sign for the Leprechaun Museum, must have a look at it sometime, wonder if Pat hangs out there?

Beautiful Ironwork on the Fruit, Vegetable
And Flower Market Building, Dublin

We passed by the Fruit, Vegetable and Flower Market, an old building with beautiful carvings of various fruits and vegetables on the stonework. The whole area was a little derelict but had a real atmosphere and sense of age, people from Dublin's past would still recognise it I'm sure, I liked it, I always love a place that has a sense of history about it.

That evening we caught the Luas tram and then the DART train south to Dun Laoghaire to have a meal at our friends' house.
It turned out to be a multi-national dinner, there were the hosts Ken (English) and Elizabeth (Irish), Claudia, a yoga instructor from Argentina, Breda from Ireland, Fred, an animator for Windmill Lane and his partner Eve both from France and Debbi and I from England!  They were all lovely people and, with the exception of Deb and I, got to know each other at a dog walking club that meets in the local park.

As usual Ken and Elizabeth were fabulous hosts and we had a great meal and plenty of alcohol!  The conversation and company was good and we had lots of laughs.

Yesterdays newspapers

On our way back to the DART station we passed a newsagents that prided itself on selling yesterdays newspapers, for up to five or six days, mmm, only in Ireland.  We passed the Town Hall looking very pretty all lit up with multicoloured lights.  I love Dun Laoghaire, the seafront has changed a lot over the years, for the better I must say, but the main part is much the same as when I first visited well over twenty years ago - wow how time flies!

Once home we had a little more wine and relaxed and chatted until the early hours, good times!

Dun Laoghaire's Colourful Town Hall at Night

Cold Dream Colour

A dance homage to Louis le Brocquy

Cold Dream Colour celebrates the life and work of this masterful artist in an evening of dance inspired
by his paintings. Artistic Director, Morleigh Steinberg, brings together an international company of dancers
and choreographers, including Liz Roche and Oguri, to create this new production on the occasion of
le Brocquy’s birthday.

Original music by The Edge of U2 and Feltlike with Paul Chavez has been composed especially for the event.

(Taken from the Pavillion Theatre's event guide)

I would like to have been able to see this, sounds good.  Also, it's great to see a member of U2 being part of a tribute to a an Irish artist that is also performed in Ireland!

U2.com has an interview with Morleigh here

House-sitting In Ireland

Back to normal life after my sojourn in Ireland where I was house-sitting for friends in Dun Laoghaire, just south of Dublin. I had a wonderful time, the first two days I was by myself except for my friend's cat Max who I was looking after. For some reason cats seem to like me even though I am a dog person (though I don't dislike cats, just never owned one) and the first evening saw Max, who is very shy, sitting contentedly on my lap.

On Wednesday my friend Debbi joined me and that evening we walked to La Strada, a restaurant in Dun Laoghaire that we have been to many, many times for meals and , as usual, it was lovely.

Next day we did the U2 thing and went down to Hanover Quay to see if the band was around. At first we thought they might be and decided to wait for a while. It was typical changeable March weather, one minute we were basking in sunshine that, now it was officially Spring, had warmth in it. Then a squally shower would suddenly start accompanied by a strong wind that whipped around us in all directions causing havoc to our umbrellas! I said jokingly. "All we need is hail now!" I must be psychic because five minutes later we had a hail shower! That was enough even for us and we called it a day.

That evening we stayed in and got fish and chips which were the largest portions I have ever seen in my life!

Friday morning we got up very early as U2.com said the Wembley 2 tickets were going on sale at 8am. But when I logged on to Ticketmaster it said they were going on sale at 9am, we could have had an extra hour in bed, thanks a lot U2.com! Just before 9am the tickets went on sale but Ticketmaster was too busy, so I went to Ticketline and within a couple of minutes we had our tickets! So easy that we could hardly believe it.

We also decided to bid on the Red Zone auction. There is part of me that doesn't really like something like that - that if you've got the money you can pay to get a great view. But the other part of me really wants to be very close to the band for one show. This time we haven't got many standing tickets, mainly because we feel we can't cope with standing for hours in a queue then hours in the stadium anymore. We've done it numerous times over the years and it is gradually getting harder to do. So, the Red Zone is perfect for us, standing close to the band without the hardship. If we are successful with that we'll hopefully be able to sell our tickets to fans at cost price.

The highlight of our Friday was going for a meal at the Town Bar and Grill in central Dublin. We've been there a couple of times before and the food is wonderful there. It is an expensive place (though worth it) but we did this trip on a budget except for that evening, it was our treat to ourselves. Though we did have a bit of a panic about having enough money for the taxi home so decided to find a cashpoint and get some more money before our meal. We had to walk miles to find one, (well maybe that's an exaggeration but it was a long way, especially when you are really hungry!) but with the extra cash in our purses we knew we wouldn't end up walking the last few miles home later!

The meal was a delicious and well served as ever, the place has a lovely ambiance, low lighting, a piano playing in the background and, despite being expensive has been full every time we have been there.

That meal was a great way to end our trip to Dublin - our next visit will be in July when we are there for the U2 Croke Park! I'm so excited just thinking about it!

The nearest I got to U2 on my recent visit to Dublin!