Dublin - Food, Wine and Friends

20th August

My trip started badly, first I got to the railway station and saw my train was cancelled, the next one was an hour later. luckily I always leave loads of time when travelling so I was still ok timewise for my flight. Met up with Debbi at the airport good to see her again, but our plane was an hour late in taking off so more waiting, patience is a virtue.

St Patrick's Cathedral from our living
room window

We landed in Dublin and as usual immediately felt at home, it's the first time we've been there in the summer for a while. We got a taxi to our accommodation, an apartment right opposite St Patrick's Cathedral, lovely to look out at. It was a lovely place, very clean and in a super location. We got our food and drink supplies in and then ordered a Chinese to be delivered. It was delicious, sweet and sour chicken and duck in plum sauce, we decided every first night in a place we will be doing this in the future.We stayed up late chatting, lots of catching up to do, it felt wonderful to be back again.

21st August

We had a lie in and then walked to Sophie's, a rooftop restaurant in the Dean Hotel for brunch. The restaurant has windows all around three sides which give you views over the city. I had eggs benedict which was good, but a bit rich for me early in the day. On the way out we just had to have a go on some swings that were hung opposite the lifts. A bit weird but it was fun reverting to our childhood for a while.

Our Tagines at Dada's

Afterwards we set off on a mission, I had forgotten my ipad lead and Deb her plug, with four devices between us we needed these things.  We trudged across to St Stephen's Green, then down Grafton Street, onto College Green, Dame Street popping in and out of phone shops along the way, the prices were high and we weren't willing to pay them. We headed towards our apartment via Aungier Street and found a little shop off the beaten track that had what we wanted at a good price, mission completed. That day we walked around five miles, and the irony was, that once home, I found my ipad lead and a second plug in an inside pocket of my handbag! Ahh well the walk was good for us.

That evening we went to Dada Restaurant. We'd been there a few years ago and loved it so decided to go back as we had loved it so much. We were not disappointed, I had the most delicious lamb tagine with apricots, nuts and cinnamon amongst other spices. I will write a full restaurant review about Dada's in a separate post at a later date.

August 22nd
After breakfast we headed out towards the Powercourt Theatre to see the play Buridan's Ass. This production is part of the famous Bewley's Cafe Theatre but as Bewley's is being renovated at the moment they are using the nearby Powerscourt theatre. We had the soup and soda bread as usual and sat at one of the small wooden tables right a front so had a brilliant view. I thoroughly enjoyed the play, which is a dark comedy set in a struggling taxidermy business with the boss, Mahone, last in line of the family ("a genetic cul-de-sac" and his keen apprentice, Ernest. Mahone pondering on his life and future and it had a good twist at the end. So even though headless dachshunds came into it (don't ask, as I wrote it is a dark comedy!) I thoroughly enjoyed it.

So today was our lazy day, we have one of these where we just drift from place to place having a drink so our first port of call after the theatre was Cafe en Seine the fabulous place celebrating Belle Epoque where I had one of their gorgeous Singapore Slings.

The Bar at Kehoe's

We then wandered round to South Anne Street to try out Kehoe's pub and I loved it! We went into the bar and I asked if they had any prosecco, the barman said "I don't know, I don't work here" Apparently he was just filling in for a couple of hours, he had a look and found little bottles of prosecco and seemed surprised at how much it was and that we'd pay that much for the drink! There was an amazing old-style till at the bar. We sat in the snug (an original one, this pub dates from 1803) and it was lovely. There was a lot of Irish banter between the bar staff and the place just felt comfortable place, a world away from bustling Grafton Street close by.  It reminded me a lot of Dockers pub which was a favourite  haunt of ours for years until it closed. Now all that's left is the frontage on the quayside, all the atmosphere and history swept away.

O'Neills Chips, the Best in Dublin

Next stop was O'Neills in Suffolk Street. This is a large pub with lots of nooks and crannies and a pleasant and friendly atmosphere. Debbi was happy to go there because it had her favourite beer which isn't available in many places. By then we were getting hungry so we ordered two portions of chips and they were the best chips I've had for years and years, real chips!

We ended our lazy day pub crawl there as we had to be home as our friend Declan was coming round. Lovely to see him again, he only had a knee operation a week previously, so it was so good we managed to meet up.

23rd August
Next day we got the DART train to Sandycove and Glasthule to see our friends Ken and Elizabeth who had invited us for an Irish brunch. As usual Elizabeth was very generous with the food and it was delicious, glad it included white pudding which I love! We had a good chat and caught up on each others news.

Debbi and Me at the Trocadero

That evening we went to the Trocadero, a large restaurant that has pictures of famous people on the walls, lots of mirrors and very comfortable seats. I had pate to start and chicken in tarragon sauce with pesto and chorizo. It was good, but , for me, not exceptional.

Next day it was home, it had been a short but wonderful holiday. It's always like coming home when I visit Dublin. We did all the touristy things decades ago and now we just enjoy the Dublin for itself, good food, drink, theatre and friends, the best things in life!

U2 ieTour Dublin 2 - The Finale

First of all sorry for the delay in finishing my blog about my experiences on the U2 ie tour, life got in the way of my writing for a few weeks. But now things have calmed down and I'll try to remember the last couple days of our time in Dublin!

24th November 2015

So-so Bono Photo

In the afternoon Debbi and I got the Luas to the 3Arena, we had decided to go for the meet and greet and joined the people waiting. It was still cold but not as bad as the day before. We hadn't been there long when a middle-aged American woman came along and asked if Bono had arrived yet. She then proceeded to say that Bono had a bionic arm after his bike accident a year previously (he had needed extensive surgery which included various rods to hold his bones together.) She said she had a bionic hip and then got out a photo of her hip xray which she said she was going to show Bono. Mmmm, we distanced ourselves from her as much as we could!

Bono eventually arrived and first went to the people on the other side from where we were. He took quite a while there with the result that he had less time for our side. As he got near us I heard his security man Brian say to him that they had to go. And Bono passed by us quickly, somehow Debbi
managed to get her copy of our book autographed by him (weirdly this gradually disappeared over time!!) It was all a whirl to me but I did get a so-so photo out of it.

Debbi and Me, Best Pals!

We needed food and warmth so headed to the Gibson Hotel and went into the Coda Restaurant for a meal. I had baked cod with mash and vegetables with bacon, it was absolutely delicious and just what we needed.

Later we met up with Paddy and picked up our tickets. As the previous night there was security, but not as much as I had expected seeing the terrible recent Paris terrorists attacks. Our seats were great, it is such a small arena all seats a close, so much better than the previous night. I could see the floor was very, very crowded, much more so than in London or Glasgow, I was glad I was in a seat. The end of the video screen was almost touching the balcony, they only just got it in. It was a wonderful show and it was good to be able to see it all.  During Beautiful Day Bono spoke to Dallas before going into Bad, later I heard that the setlist had I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For as the final song, so it seems Bono changed the ending and it was the right decision, Bad  performed in Dublin is electrifying, and yes, I cried again! This version wasn't as long as the Glasgow one, it also segued into 40 as in Glasgow and it too was shorter. Because of that, for me, it didn't equal the Glasgow version which was perfection. But it was still a good way to end our U2ie Tour.

We met up with Declan and Paddy, Declan had his son Owen with him, I'd last seen him as a toddler and here he was, a teenager, how time flies by. Paddy came back to our apartment for a few drinks and chat, it's always good to unwind with friends after a U2 show.

25th November 2015

Fire Restaurant

Debbi and I had a very lazy day, we needed to recover, nowadays we can't just bounce back when we are on tour! That evening we were booked into Fire Restaurant, somewhere we had talked about visiting for a long time. We met up with our friend from New York, Michelle, and first went into Cafe en Seine which is opposite Fire for a drink. Cafe en Seine is an amazing place which has a very interesting history, it also makes the best Singapore Slings ever!

After our drinks we went across to Fire and were shown to our table in the large, lofty Restaurant. The restaurant is part of the Mansion House which has been the official home of the Lord Mayor of Dublin since 1715.

Debbi and Paddy

Paddy joined us there and we had a wonderful meal, everything was perfect and it had a lovely atmosphere, none of us were disappointed in it.Unfortunately because of the passage of time I can't remember exactly what I had.

All in all it was a great way to end our stay in Dublin, good food and wine with good friends!

Michelle and Me

U2ie Tour, Dublin 1 - Catching Up with Friends and Another Show

November 21st

When we stepped out of Dublin airport into the breezy, cold late afternoon, it felt great to be back. It had been almost two years since I was last in this, my favourite, city and I had missed th place. W took a taxi to Smithfield and our lovely apartment. We had a quick turnaround after our arrival as we were both going out to different places. I decided to nip to the local shop for bread and butter so we could have breakfast next day. Well that was my intention. I ended up getting totally lost in the rabbit warren of corridors and the lift kept taking me to a dead end. After ten minutes I went back to the apartment, Debbi said that I'd been quick and I told her I hadn't even left the building! We both went to search for the way out, after another ten minutes we found a different lift and that took us to reception, finally sussed it. However, it was now too late to go to the shop, so we just got our coats on and went out. Debbi was meeting up with some friends and going to a Rush tribute band gig. I didn't really fancy that, it's not my kind of thing,  so I had made arrangements to visit Ken and Elizabeth, friends in Dun Laoghaire.

I took the Luas (tram) to Busaras and walked the short distance to Connolly Station to catch the Dart suburban train. I had a struggle getting tickets out of the machine so asked for help and found the most wonderful railway employee, very helpful and also very funny who went way beyond what he needed to to help me. When I got to the  platform and noticed the next train going my way wasn't due for 30 minutes! The platform was very open and a strong, freezing wind was blowing, I had to pace about to keep warm. When the Dart  came it was toasty warm and I gradually defrosted on the trip south to Sandycove station in Dun Laoghaire. Then I had a short walk to my friends' house.

As usual the welcome was warm. Elizabeth had prepared a lovely meal and we caught up on each others news as we ate and drank wine. Ken and Elizabeth are such genuine people and I've known them for 25 years now, how time flies by! I left just after 10pm and was back in our apartment by 11pm. Debbi was still out, I stayed up a while and then turned in. It felt wonderful to be back.

November 22nd

We had a lie in and caught up about each other's night, then got the shopping in. We had a leisurely afternoon, we have seen all the sights in Dublin over the many, many years we had been visiting, so nowadays we feel no need to do the "tourist" thing.  Later we got a taxi to The Green Hen Restaurant, a wonderful French restaurant we had discovered a couple of years ago. They have a very reasonable Early Eater menu that we took advantage of. We both had Goat's Cheese and Beetroot salad to start followed by Confit Duck, both delicious. I love this restaurant, it's lively without being too loud, great service and reasonable prices.

Afterwards we went home and had some wine and looked forward to the two U2 shows we had coming up.

November 23rd

Gig day! It was cold and windy when we got off the Luas behind the 3Arena. The area is known as The Point Village now and is mainly new (or as in the case of 3Arena a renovated old building) but nearby there are still some old buildings left from the days when this area was part of very busy docklands. We went into the new Gibson Hotel close by, I wanted to see the Bono and Edge painting in there by the Irish artist Fin Dac. We took escalators up to the hotel, the painting is on the first floor it is hug and very impressive, full of movement and energy.

The Fin Dac Mural in the Gibson Hotel

We met our friend Paddy in the hotel, he's originally from Dublin but has lived in the US for many years and had come over for the shows. However, he did not have any tickets! He said if we could get him tickets he would pay for ours for the second night (we already had the first.) I was bowled over, it was a very kind thing to do and he did not know me that well.  Debbi managed to score the tickets so w were now going to two concerts in Dublin.

We went into the Hemi Bar which served Asian food, Debbi and I shared a platter which was ok, but the sauce over the ribs was far too spicy for me. Also, the service wasn't the best, we sat for ages before being served, then there was a long wait for the food. However the place was lovely, it had a central outside courtyard that looked beautiful with all the Christmas lights, though the rain and wind whipping around it made it best just to look at that day! There was also a long outside balcony area that looked out over the arena. Again on a nice day it would be nice to sip a drink out there, but definitely not on a night like this!

We left the hotel and braved the weather as we had to go to the box office to pick up our tickets. For this gig we had Music Generation Zone tickets, it was all a bit chaotic and it took us a while to find the right queue for the box office. Eventually we got inside and it was lovely to be warm and out of that howling wind. We got our tickets and waited a while to get into the arena. When we got in were stunned at how small it was, it's unbelievable that a city like Dublin does not have a bigger arena than this. The place quickly filled up and as the Zone was not higher than the floor I soon realised that I would not be able to see much. And that turned out to be true, so I went to the other end of the area where I could see a bit of the e-stage and video screen. I enjoyed the show but must admit it turned out to be my least favourite and I think my feelings were coloured by my difficulty in getting to see anything, sometimes I wish I was six feet tall! I realised for sure that night that what people had said about the best place to be in these concerts is in a seat was true. It was rather disappointing as when we had these tickets last tour they gave us a great view.

Me, Declan and Debbi

After the show Debbi and I left and met up with our friend Declan and his wife Mary and had a catch up with them, we hadn't seen Mary for a long time. We waited for Paddy to come along and join us but after a while we left as it was freezing cold and that wind was still whipping in off the Irish Sea numbing us to the bone. Later he caught up with us and came to our apartment and we stayed up having a lovely night chatting, eating and drinking as we usually do post gig. I love the touring life!

Songs of Innocence - My Thoughts

Well I've finally made myself sit down and write about U2's latest album, just six months after it's release lol! Not sure why I haven't written properly about it until now - it's certainly not because I don't like it. I'm not going to do a song by song review, there's no point now and I will not be writing a deep analysis either. I'm just going to write about what the album means to me.

Firstly, Songs of Innocence was a long time coming, over five years, which, even for the slow working U2, was a record. I must admit, though I've been a fan for over thirty years I didn't hold out much hope for this album. The band's last few albums, though good, were nothing outstanding, nothing that excited or surprised me and I honestly thought, that's it, they're in their 50's now and they have had an amazing career but they have lost that spark, that creativity. I hated to admit it to myself, but after all these years of being a fan, I was drifting away and not over-excited at the thought of a new album, I needed a U2 injection, a boost to bring me back to the fold.

The first surprise was the way it was released, we knew that we would see an album soon, but there it was, at the launch of the iPhone 6, free in your Cloud waiting to be downloaded, Songs of Innocence! Of course there were a lot of people who were "outraged" at this intrusion of their phones, But people didn't have to download it did they? I got a new HTC not that long ago and in my music there were various songs I didn't put there, I just deleted them, no big deal. But of course, the U2/Bono haters had to jump up and down about it.

Now I'm not into the corporate side of U2 that's developed over the last fifteen or so years, in fact I really dislike that side of them. I admired them when they were not into all that.  But, like it or not U2 is a business as well as a great band, that's the reality and this PR stunt really got them and Songs of Innocence into the headlines, something they probably needed as they had been absent from the scene for so long. I think in some ways it may have backfired a little as many people were talking more about the so-called phone intrusion rather than the actual music on the album. But that aside U2 were back in the spotlight.

So this surprise release got me all excited, and, once I'd figured out how to download it, I listened to it. And I listened again. For me it wasn't instantly an amazing album, but, for the first time in many years, here was a U2 album where the music surprised and excited me, it was not safe or predictable, it was, different, very different and had me both questioning and feeling a buzz inside which is always a good sign!

I quickly realised this was the album I'd wanted U2 to make for a very long time, it's an album about their own roots and influences in Ireland. They've explored other influences in their career but never the things that from their early pre-fame days formed them in who they are as people and a band. I've always felt that, besides their talent, two things make U2 special, the fact that they the best of friends and that they are Irish (or in the case of Adam and Edge grew up in Ireland) being Irish is a big part of what makes this band great. So for me it was only natural that they would one day explore that in their music.

The albums looks at both musical influences The Miracle of Joey Ramone (The Ramones) and This is Where You Can Reach Me Now (The Clash)  and more personal songs such as Iris about Bono's mother who died when he was 14, and Cedarwood Road, the street where Bono grew up, and the beautiful, melodic Song for Someone about Bono's childhood sweetheart Ali who he is still married to now. Iris especially is heart-breakingly personal and incredibly moving. I have always admired artists are able to open their heart and soul to the audience like this.

The lyrics (credited to both Bono and Edge) are some of the most honest and soul-baring I've seen from U2 and are some of the best written for many years. I've always been a fan for whom the lyrics are as important as the music and over the last few releases I felt that the lyrics were often lacking, but with this album they are up to the best U2 standard once more.

As a fan of 32 years, I feel Songs of Innocence is very much an album for longtime fans like myself. We are of a similar age, and really understand where the songs are coming from, many of us have lived through similar experiences. And we used to buy our U2 albums as 12 inch LPs, (as per SOI cover) no Internet or downloads then! There is a tour starting in a couple of months and these songs will change and develop as always on tour, so looking forward to hearing them live.

Finally, there is a rumoured follow-up album called Songs of Experience which will be a look at their experiences later in their career. To me, and many others, it feels like these two albums are a lead up to the end of U2. It's telling their story in music, and, to me, it would be a good way to say goodbye. The band are in their mid-50's now and you have to be realistic about how much longer they can go on. They will have been together for 40 years next year, and still producing good music, what an achievement - and it also would be a good time to bow out. But who knows!

Is Songs of Innocence a great U2 album on a par with The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby? I don't think so, but it is a great creative, honest piece of music from a band that still has something to say. It is also the album that brought me back into the U2 fold, even now U2 can still surprise me!

Seamus Heaney RIP

Bono has paid tribute on U2.com to Irish poet Seamus Heaney, who died today at the age of 74. As usual Bono's tribute is very moving and true.  Here's what he said:

'Seamus was a great, great poet. I know people throw around this phrase a lot, but his poem From the Republic of Conscience, literally changed my life.  As an activist he was the quietest storm that ever blew into town. In fact, in so many things he was a gentle genius, whose words challenged us with the grit and beauty of life as much as they gave us solace.  He wrote with a brevity that strangely spilled to the brim. 

'We all envied how he made that most complicated of things, the balancing of work and family, appear so simple.  In Marie he found his other whole. And it is a joy to be around his kids... Michael, Chris and Catherine Ann.  They have all of his humility in their sharpness.

'I take his poems with me wherever I go.  I was in Liberia just a few days ago and I gave his collection 'Electric Light' to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, whose entire country is in darkness.  She knew exactly who he was and immediately started reading the poems while standing beside me.  A few days after that I gave another collection 'Seeing Things' to President John Mahama of Ghana, whose vision of his country is everything... 

'I am bewildered to think Seamus is no longer with us. Because his words will be around forever, it seemed so would he.'

You can also read an obituary Obituary: Seamus Heaney

Bono "Meaning of Life" RTE Interview with Gay Byrne, 25th June

Bono was interviewed by Gay Byrne for his Meaning of Life series of interviews which was shown on RTE One tonight.  It covered his childhood, his parents' inter-religious marriage, Lipton village, how he met Ali, his relationship with his father, tax affairs, his faith and activism. Nothing really new in the interview to the U2 fan. 

Photo: Irish Independent

When asked about some of the people he has had to talk with as part of the activism, Gay asked if it was sometimes like talking to the devil. Bono relied that he didn't want his activism seen just as the creation of the left and leave the right - and a lot of people - out, he wanted to have,

"A radical centre." 

He obviously still has the passion and drive for that work and said that 7256 less children die everyday because of changes over the last few years. At present he said they are working on transparency to defeat corruption.  You can't help but admire him for the time and dedication he puts into his activism.

He seemed a bit rattled when asked about the taxation issue, which Gay said he felt he had to ask about. Bono came across very much as the businessman and said that he was tough on that front, and that U2 were, 

"Tax sensible as every business is."  

Gay also asked if Bono thought he was now removed from ordinary people. Bono replied that he probably was,

 "I don't think myself removed, but I must be." 

Which really is inevitable for people in his position, fame does isolate "celebrities", though we fans know that Bono makes himself as accessible as is possible.

Nothing was mentioned at all about a new album, but the Irish Independent had an interesting snippet today from Gay Byrne that kind of confirms it's going to happen this autumn woo hoo!

Broadcaster Gay Byrne said that Bono was "very fussy" about when his episode of 'The Meaning Of Life' would be shown on RTE television. The U2 frontman was "adamant" that his recorded interview go out months ahead of when the full series broadcasts in the autumn, as it would overlap with publicity for his band's new album......"He's very fussy," Byrne said. "U2 have a lot going on later this year with musical activities, so he was adamant that this should not be part of that.

The Year Ahead

Nearly the end of February, after that this month is over it's all downhill into Spring!  When 2012 turned into 2013 I had NO trips on the horizon at all, I hate that.  I have a big financial outlay for my home this year and I was going to be "sensible" and only go away to celebrate a special birthday in Dublin in October. Well, my birthday is actually in September, but this year I'm like the Queen, having a real and an official birthday lol!  I will be celebrating it with a stay in the penthouse at The Clarence Hotel with friends and family, what better way to enter a new decade!

Then saw Bruce Springsteen was touring again and I regretted not seeing him live last year, so I just had to go to see him in 2013. So I have a short break in Glasgow in June for that!

My friend Dianne and I have always wanted to go to Iceland for New Year, and seeing it was so far off I said I would do it.  But when I looked into airfares they were very expensive over the New Year.  So we changed our plans and are now having a two centred trip, New Year in Dublin (which is always wonderful!) and then on to Iceland for Þrettándinn, 12th night (or more accurately 13th night in Iceland) on 6th January, a time when they have bonfires, fireworks and parades.  Maybe catch the northern lights again and I want to fulfil  my ambition to go dog-sledding then too.  

I have two visits from friends to look forward to as well. My school friend Marian who lives in the south of the country is coming for a few days next month. It's always good to see her, we just pick up where we left off last time we got together!  Then in May my good friend Debbi is coming up.  It's ages since she's visited here, because we saw each other so regularly on our trips away together there was no need. But this year our only trip together will be my birthday one so we couldn't go that long and not meet up!

So, this year is now nicely filled up with a combination of trips away and visits from friends, good to have all that to look forwards to! And maybe we will actually get a summer this year and I can relax in the sun in the garden eh?! Got to be optimistic......

Christmas Eve Busk Video

I'm a bit late putting this up, but I think you U2 peeps will enjoy this. It's a professional behind the scenes video of the 2012 Christmas Eve Busk on Grafton St, Dublin. It shows Bono rehearsing with the others earlier in the day and then singing Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) on at the busk. It also features a very chatty Sinead O' Connor singing Nothing Compares 2 U, plus songs from Liam O'Maonlai, Lisa Hannigan and Glen Hansard. It also has clips of Dublin and the ordinary people which just captures the feel of it all.

At the end Glen and some of the others are in Neary's having a pint and counting the money they got from the busk for the Simon Community. Shame Bono couldn't have joined them, I'm sure he would have loved to, but he was whisked off in a police car. Fame separates you. The video is about 15 minutes long and a lovely snapshot of the event.

Electric Burma

Aung San Suu Kyi was in Dublin yesterday to receive the most prestigious award that Amnesty International bestows,  Amnesty Ambassador of Conscience Award, Which was presented to her by Bono. For many, many years U2 has campaigned for her release from house arrest, yet Bono had not met Aung San Suu Kyi until Monday when she was in Norway to finally pick up her Nobel Peace Prize which was originally awarded in 1991, he accompanied her there and then on to Ireland. He admitted to being "starstruck" at meeting her.

You can watch her lovely acceptance speech for the Ambassador of Conscience here - I love her anecdote about the "Irish of the east". She is a amazing woman whose strength of mind and heart belies her small, petite stature. There aren't many "great" people around nowadays, who can truly inspire people, but she is one special lady. Also her English is soooo good, I know she was educated at Oxford, but her English barely has an accent.

She also received the Freedom of the City of Dublin while she was in the city. This was given to her in 2000 at the same time U2 received the same award.  My friends and I were there in Smithfield to witness this event and enjoy the accompanying concert, it was a great night. but there was also a bit of sadness as Aung Sang Suu Kyi was not able to be there as she was under house arrest in Burma. Her son accepted the award on her behalf.

There was a concert at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre in Dublin called Electric Burma after the award was given at which various artists such as Bono, Bob Geldof, Damien Rice, Declan O'Rourke, Riverdance amongst others performed.  Bono sang Walk On (along with a couple more songs) which was written specifically for Aung San Suu Kyi. It was an acoustic performance and it was simply fabulous! One of those tingly, thrilling moments that all you U2 fans will know about, beautiful, the words even more moving now that the bird in the cage was free and sitting there listening to those wonderful lyrics. It must have been amazing to be there live, I would have loved to have gone over but there was no way I could have at the moment. You can watch the video of this below.

And finally, Happy Birthday to Aung San Suu Kyi, 67 today, and despite her trials she certainly doesn't look it. She was in Oxford in the UK today where she studied and met and married her husband who has now passed away. When asked  about memories the city must have for her and her birthday she said "I feel a bit younger again." Touching, and let's hope there are many more birthdays for her as a free woman.

Bono on The Late Late Show 50th Anniversary Special

Bono appeared as a guest on the Late Late Show's 50th Anniversary Special on 1st June.  The host Ryan Turbridy asked about the new album to which Bono replied that they were writing at the moment and that:

"Edge is in denial of his genius, I'm a little too sure of mine....Larry is suspicious of both and Adam sees merit in both...... U2;s gotta do something very special to have a reason to exist right now ...... There won't be another U2 album unless there's something special  ...... The last three weeks in the studio have been the best since 1979."

Some of which is probably a typical Bono exaggeration and some of which is probably true LOL! He also talked about his admiration of Imelda May (who does a great performance on the show), U2's appearances on the Late Late Show over the years and the upcoming visit of Aung San Suu Kyi (who he calls "A lesson in grace") to Dublin later this month.


The programme finished with the former Miami Showband leader Dickie Rock, still popular with the older generation, singing a cheesy song and it was quite funny to see Bono clapping and singing along too.  But that kind of thing happens in Ireland, it is the one place where Bono is not idolised and can live a relatively normal life, and sing along with Dickie Rock if he wants to, and that's rather nice.  


Watch Bono on the Late Late Show on the RTE website here he appears at the two hour mark.

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

Bono Introduces Dierks Bentley at the 2012 Academy of Country Music Awards

Here's a video of Bono introducing Dierks Bentley at the 2012 Academy Country Music Awards on April 1st.  I have to admit I've never heard of this guy, but then again I can't stand country music so never listen to it.  Good to hear Bono is in Dublin, so maybe the rumours that the band is working on a new album there (at last!) are true....  Don't know what's happened to Bono's hair though, is he trying to cultivate a quiff??  My advice, (which I'm sure he wants LOL) get it cut!

Bono Busking on Grafton Street - Again

Bono,  in what now seems be a Christmas Eve tradition, once more joined Glen Hansard, Mundy, Liam O'Maonlai,  Declan O'Rourke and others to busk on Grafton street this evening. The event was in aid of the Simon Community and Peter McVerry Trust, both charities working to help the homeless.  I've not heard what songs were sung but lots of other photos can be found here.

U2 at HQ

Interesting little titbit in the Irish Independent today, seems U2 were at HQ yesterday.  I was surprised to hear this, Adam said they planned to be back in the studio in the New Year, so this was unexpected news!  I'm pleased to see that they are spending time in Dublin once more, it's the right place for them to chill, and, it seems, work. Nice pictures of the B-man, he's looking well, his post tour rest seems to have done him good.  Mmmmm makes me wish that we'd been a bit more motivated whilst in Dublin recently and checked out HQ, that'll teach us to be so lazy LOL!

By Edel O'Connell

Friday November 18 2011

U2 back in town with wall-to-wall support at studio

Bono at HQ

U2 were back in town yesterday to record part of the band's newest studio album at their Hanover Quay studio.

U2 frontman Bono was spotted signing autographs for fans outside the band's Dublin studio, where many of their best-selling albums were recorded after the band bought the studios in the early 1990s.

He even took time to pose next to some of the graffiti left on the studio walls by fans of the band.

Among the excited fans waiting outside the band's studio yesterday was Gary Paul from Parkwest, Co Dublin, who asked Bono to sign his miniature 'Achtung Baby' Trabant car, which had been earlier signed by The Edge.

Bono with his Niece Leah Hewson

He later attended the opening of an exhibition of art by his niece, Leah Hewson, at the KTcontemporary gallery in Donnybrook.

Leah graduated last year from Dun Laoghaire Institute of Design, Art, and Technology. Her new exhibition, 'What's behind the Magic Door?', uses multimedia to explore the importance of preserving imagination.

Chilling, Fine Dining, Champagne and Tracksuits

Saturday 12th November 2011

I got back from Dublin yesterday and it was as great as ever.  I was so ready for this trip, I find that after about three months at home I'm ready to go off somewhere else and it had been four months since my Canada trip in the summer.  Also, it had been 11 months since my last visit to Ireland, the longest I've not visited in well over twenty years! The long gap was U2's fault, their everlasting 360 Tour's last leg was in North America in the summer and, well, we just had to see some shows and have a holiday at the same time didn't we?  But it was expensive which meant this trip to Dublin had to be done fairly cheaply.

Debbi and I met up at Manchester airport and, as usual, we just picked up from where we left off last time we got together.  We got to the security area and had to get our little packs of liquids etc out of our cases (we only had hand luggage) and I discovered I'd brought the wrong keys for my case padlock!  They rang for someone to come down to cut off the lock.  Soon a man arrived with a huge bolt cutter which cut through the padlock like it was butter.  As he was walking away deb said.

"A man with a tool." And we both giggled, I was just going to add, "A very big tool!"  When he glanced back and we tried to be sensible LOL!

No more mishaps and after a 35 minute flight we landed in Dublin on a mild, bright day.  Our taxi took us to our Travelodge Hotel in Ballymun.  When I'd first seen rooms there I wondered whether to go for it as Ballymun was once a notorious area of the city.  But there had been a lot of regeneration and our friends in Dublin said it was not as it used to be.  So we booked our rooms for the grand total of 25 Euro per night, a snap!

Most of the area was new build with those odd empty areas and some roads leading to nowhere.  There were still a few of the old 60's flats and the shopping centre close to our hotel was a relic from the past, and very rundown and most of the shops were empty.  But we went there as it had a Tesco and we needed to get a few supplies in.  We noticed it was cheaper than other supermarkets we had been in which was a pleasant surprise.  We also noticed there were a lot of people in tracksuits around, often in lurid colours, the best we saw was powder orange with lime green stripes down the side.

We got a half price bottle of champagne, wine, nibbles (Tayto crisps yay!) and something for our breakfasts. There was a Macari's fish and chip shop right beside the hotel so that was dinner sorted.  I love how they make fish and chips in Ireland, they cook the fish when ordered and leave it to drain for a minute or two once cooked, so it is always lovely and crunchy, never soggy.  The big, fat chips too were yummy too.  We'd both been dieting for a while and it was such a treat to have a meal like this.  And the champagne went with it very well too.

The rest of the evening we just chatted and nibbled, finished the champagne and opened some wine.  All very relaxing, it was good to chill like that.

Sunday 13th November 2011

The Octagon Bar, Clarence Hotel

We tend to have very lazy winter holidays in Dublin and this one was no exception.  We've seen all the usual sights of the city as we've been going over for so long - though we did read about the new Fabulous Food Trails which sounds perfect for us and we've already made a note of it for our trip next year!  So, anyway, we had a lazy day and then got our glad rags on for our meal in The Tea Room Restaurant  at The Clarence Hotel in the city centre.

We first went into the Octagon Bar to have a cocktail as they were on special offer.  We each had a Cosmopolitan, our fave, and it was perfectly made.  At 8pm we went through to The Tea Room for our meal.  They have an Early Bird menu (which some days is valid all night) which is 25 Euro for two courses, 29 Euro for three courses, excellent value for such fine dining.

To start we had Duck Rillette which was slow cooked shredded duck made into a kind of pattie and placed on homemade rye bread.  It was accompanied by wild mushrooms, capers, beetroot leaves and dressing.  It was very good, though also very filling as the rillette was large.

For our main course we again both chose the same - slow cooked Irish loin of pork which was wrapped around pancetta flavoured with sage and parmesan, accompanied by sea asparagus, gnocchi, confit tomatoes and olive jus.  The meat just melted in your mouth, very tender and the tomatoes were so delicious we asked how they had been prepared. I'd never had sea asparagus before and it was delicious. To accompany the meal we had a lovely bottle of Chianti.

As usual the service was excellent from our two Eastern European servers, one, who was from Estonia, was especially attentive.  The atmosphere too, even though it was fairly quiet in the restaurant, was good, relaxed and comfortable.

We had no room for dessert (our stomachs must have shrunk with our diets LOL) so went through to The Study to finish off our wine, which was brought through for us by one of the waiters, and we just took our time finishing it.  It was a relaxing end to an excellent evening.  We've been going to The Tea Room for many, many years now and it has never disappointed.

Monday 14th November 2011

Deb in the Bridge Bar and Grill

Another lazy day and then another lovely night out!  This time we were trying out somewhere new, The Bridge Bar and Grill on Grand Canal Quay.  We've been to it's sister restaurant The Town Bar and Grill a few times and loved it, so we thought we'd try this place for a change - we have decided to try a new restaurant every time we visit Dublin.

The restaurant is built into the railway bridge on Grand Canal Quay in Dublin's Docklands, inside you can see one of the bridge's arches.  It is a bit out of the way and the part of the Quay it is situated on is not a through road, so not the best of locations, I thought it would be nearer all the other eating places further down the Quay.


We were seated in a booth at the window, though there was not a lot to see LOL!  The seating was comfortable, but, for me, the restaurant was too cold, though Debbi thought it was ok. Surprisingly, we did not hear the trains that passed over the bridge, very good soundproofing!

I had some Guinness bread while we were waiting, it was delicious, like a combination of soda bread, pumpernickel and, well, Guinness. For starters I had Katafi crab cake with roasted pepper and fennel compote, which was sooooo gorgeous, it looked fantastic too.  Deb had  roast butternut, chestnut and confit duck risotto, I tried a little and it was wonderful too, risotto cooked perfectly is so tasty.

Me and my halo in the Bridge bar and Grill

For the main course I had chicken supreme, garlic and chive mash, baby leeks and morel jus, delicious!  Deb had belly pork, butternut puree, spicy puy lentils and saffron aioli. I'm not keen on belly pork, but Deb loves it and said it was fabulous.

We had room for dessert tonight, our stomachs must be stretching LOL!I was in the mood for chocolate and had chocolate fondant with white chocolate centre and ice cream - it was to die for yum yum!  Deb had caramelised lemon tart with blackcurrant sorbet, it looked too good to eat, I've put a photo of it in this article (sorry the photos are a bit dark, the restaurant was dark and I was using my mobile to take the pictures.)

The food at The Bridge Bar and Grill was excellent.  But for me it lacking a little in atmosphere, it felt a bit cold, both  physically and psychologically. I prefer its sister establishment The Town Bar and Grill and of course, The Tea Room.

 Tuesday 15th November

Home time already.  We checked out and had a delicious, and very cheap breakfast in Macari's before heading to the airport.  Our flight back to Manchester was 30 minutes (we are so lucky to live so close to Dublin) and then we parted our ways, Deb to Stoke and me to Carlisle.  I had to change trains at Preston and the Glasgow train I needed to catch was literally pulling into Preston station as I was running over the bridge from the other platform, I sat down and the train left, that's how close it was.  That run was the most energy I expended in the last four days!  If I'd missed that train I would have been stranded in Preston for the night, I vowed then and there never to have to get the last train home again!  

It was a short but sweet visit.  Dublin is like a second home to me, from the first time I set foot in the city in 1989 I felt I belonged, "It's not where you are born, it's where you belong" some band said LOL. So true, and that has never changed for me over all those years.                                                                                  
ysicall

Ireland Bound!

Not long until I'm off to Dublin now.  This is my only trip there this year and I've missed the place so it'll be wonderful to be back.  These last few weeks have been very strange for me in some ways, and it'll be good to just chill in my favourite city.  Debbi and I have already got our meals out organised (well you have to get your priorities right.) The diet will be forgotten and my muscles will get a rest from the treadmill, swiss ball and weights for a few days, yay!

Restaurant Review - The Tea Room, Dublin

Location
In the Clarence Hotel, Wellington Quay, Dublin.

Cuisine
European.

Ambiance
The restaurant is situated in what was the ballroom in this hotel (where they maybe used to hold tea dances?)  It is a spacious room with high ceilings and large windows, and has a raised seating area at one end.  The tables are spread well apart so you have lots of privacy and due to the size room too much noise when it is isn't an issue here.  The decor is modern with muted colours.  It has a very relaxed atmosphere.

General
We always buy from the Market Menu which doesn't have a huge choice (which of course is usual with set menus), but what there is on it is excellent.  I had salmon fishcake with a wonderful mayo dressing.  The fishcake was large, moist and just melted in your mouth.  For my main course I had ribeye steak with horseradish sauce and chunky chips.  The steak was very tender and had some kind of marinade on it that was very tasty.  The chunky chips were light and slightly crispy, just as they should be.  My friend and I shared a portion of creamed spinach which was delicious.  For dessert I had chocolate fondant with banana ice cream with toffee sauce, very rich and very gorgeous!

Service
The staff are very friendly and attentive.  We have been regulars in The Tea Room and The Clarence Hotel for many years and when we had this meal we were given a complimentary bottle of wine in recognition of our patronage.  We were both surprised and delighted, that's what I call good customer service!

Price
A la carte is moderately expensive.  The Market Menu is 20 Euro for two courses, 25 for three, excellent value for this standard of food.  They also do reasonably priced lunches and brunches.

Northern Star Rating   *****


(Photo from Clarence Hotel website)

Restaurant Review - The Town Bar and Grill, Dublin

Location

Central location in Kildare Street, Dublin, Ireland.

Cuisine
European/Mediterranean

Ambience
The restaurant is a converted wine cellar and is long and narrow with low ceilings.  The decor is modern with muted colours, low lighting.  Some of the original brick wine cellar walls have been left bare which give it atmosphere. 

Large parties are put in the back section of the restaurant, due to the low ceilings this means it can be noisy there if such parties are present, we usually ask for a table at the front where it tends to be quieter.  Some evenings there is a piano player providing background music.

General
The food is excellent with decent sized portions and a good, varied choice is always on offer.  I had fxa goats cheese and beetroot starter which was delicious, the goats cheese was very light, almost like a mousse.  For my main I chose the ribeye steak which was charcoal grilled and as tender as can be.  For dessert I was torn, the tiramisu in this restaurant is the best I have ever had, gorgeous!  But they had a assiette of desserts on offer which was five tasters of all the main desserts on offer, including tiramisu, lemon rice, cheesecake, pecan pie.  Very good, and the tiramisu was the still the best!

Service
The staff are very pleasant and attentive and will also hail you a taxi after your meal.

Price
Expensive, but it is worth the money.  They do also have reasonable lunch and pre-theatre menus available.

Northern Star Rating  *****

New Year 2011 in Dublin

December 30th 2010

Happy New Year to you all.  I was in Dublin to see 2011 come in, no better place to be!  You can read about our short trip below.

Debbi and I met up in Manchester -  we were so lucky that the wintry weather had abated just days previously and we had no problems getting from our homes to Manchester.  Unfortunately though fog proved to be a problem, delaying the incoming flights from Dublin, including our plane.  However, we were only delayed about 40 minutes which wasn't too bad. 

We were chatting away as we were descending into Dublin when suddenly the plane made a very sudden, steep climb, I could hear the screech of the engines as they powered the sudden ascent.  Everyone went strangely quiet, knowing there was some kind of problem.  Shortly afterwards the pilot announced that the piece of machinery that aides an automatic landing in fog was not working and that's why they aborted the landing and that they had to do "a bit of work to do" on the flight deck.  The plane remained very quiet, I don't particularly like flying and this didn't help my now well controlled fear of flying!  But, 20 minutes later we landed safely - phew!

We got a bus to South Great Georges Street near Dublin Castle.  We were met there by Sean, the owner of the cottage we were renting for our few days in Dublin.  It took us ten minutes to get to the cottage off John Dillon Street in The Liberties.  The cottage was one of those small, one story homes that you see all over the city, this one was set in a small square of six cottages, with the old Dublin city wall running along one side.  Our cottage was so cute, with fabulous original window panes on the frontage.  It had a sitting room, two  bedrooms, a bathroom and kitchen - all small but well designed and it had everything we needed.  There was even a little yard with a seat at the back.  It was cosy and had a lovely feel about it, it was very homely - we loved our little cottage from the word go.

Our first job after unpacking was to go to the nearby shops for some provisions.  The area was mainly residential terrace houses set inbetween Dublin's two main cathedrals Christchurch and St Patricks. The area is known as The Liberties because being outside the city walls the areas had been self ruling to a point.

That evening we had been due to go to Dun Laoghaire for dinner with friends.  However, a family illness meant that had to be cancelled.  So, instead Debbi and I stayed in and had pizza and wine - lots of wine and talked for six hours solid!  You certainly know when you are with a good friend when you can just chill and chat like that.

31st December 2010



I had a bit of a bad head today!  LOL.  I went out for a walk around the local area to clear my head and took a few photos along the way.  This area is a stones throw from Temple Bar, yet is very quiet.  Near our square was the back entrance to a grand, derelict building called The Iveagh Market, that fronts onto nearby Francis Street.  It was built in 1902 to house market traders who previously sold their wares on the local streets.  

Also nearby was Mother Redcaps Tavern, built 1760, once one of Dublin's premier live entertainment pubs, now closed.  Both these building were earmarked for demolition to make way for apartments, offices, hotels, but since the recession has hit Ireland these buildings may actually be saved from destruction and the area will keep it's strong sense of history.  Too much of Dublin has been turned into characterless concrete, steel and glass.



Graffiti near our cottage

We took it easy that afternoon (this was to be a very taking it easy type of holiday ), then got ourselves spruced up and got a taxi to the Town Bar and Grill in Kildare Street for our evening meal. 

We always enjoy our meals there and this night was no exception.  We both chose the same courses.  Goats cheese and beetroot starter, ribeye steak main, and an assiette of desserts (small portions of all the desserts on offer) all of which were delicious.  We washed it down with a delicious Valpolicella, c'est la vie!  The serving staff pour your wine for you, but I wanted Deb to have more than me as, due to my hiatus hernia, I have to be careful about how much I drink (and I can only drink good red wine lol). So I tried to sneak more wine into her glass only to get caught by our waiter who said to Deb.  "I wish I had a friend who poured wine like that!"

We got a taxi home but, as is often the case in Dublin, the driver had no idea where our cottage was, or even the quite big street that the square led off from, and not being very familiar with that area we couldn't direct him.  "I'm not trying to cheat you" he kept saying, he seemed genuine and had no sat nav, so we asked him to drop us at Jury's Hotel at Christchurch as we could easily walk from there, otherwise we could have been going round The Liberties getting nowhere forever!  He took five Euro off the meter price too which was very fair.  Those Dublin taxi drivers should have to pass The Knowledge like London cabbies do!

We relaxed in our cosy cottage for a while before leaving at 11.40pm for the short walk to Christchurch Cathedral, the traditional place for Dubliners to gather to see in the New Year.  The cathedral looked beautiful all lit up in the night, the bells were ringing out as if calling the people and I was very aware of being part of something that had probably gone on for hundreds of years.  The bells stopped at around ten to twelve, by now there were hundreds of people there and the gardai had closed the road.  Then at twelve the bells chimed in 2011 and people cheered, hugged, drank champagne, set off sparklers and sky lanterns started appearing in the sky, it was a lovely atmosphere, happy and very good humoured.  

Soon the people started dispersing and we headed home. St Patricks, Dublin's other major cathedral, further down Nicholas Street also looked beautiful, its floodlit spire all lit up, it's bells ringing out too.  In five minutes we were home and we opened a bottle of Prosecco, we couldn't find a bottle of our usual celebration tipple, Veuve Clicquot, in the local shops so this was our second choice, and it was lovely.
We had kept our Christmas presents to open, strangely we bought each other similar presents!  We stayed up until 3am enjoying our Prosecco and chatting.

Christchurch Cathedral when the people were just starting to gather for the New Year bells

January 1st 2011

We had a very lazy morning, in fact we never saw the morning lol!  We find as we get older we can't just bounce back from late nights drinking a pleasant wine - we need time to recover.  Once up, dressed and awake I had another walk around the local area and bought a few things at the shop.

We had intended to walk to Grafton Street to see the lovely chandelier shaped Christmas lights we'd glimpsed from the taxi on the way to the Town Bar and Grill and to look at Brown Thomas's famous Christmas windows.  But it started raining really hard, and our little cottage was so snug and warm that we didn't need a lot of persuasion to stay in.  We have visited Dublin many, many times and seen all the sights so don't feel that we have missed out if we do this.

At 8pm we walked to The Tea Room Restaurant at The Clarence Hotel, just a ten minute stroll from our cottage, the rain had eased off by now.  We were given our usual table in the corner and ordered from the Market Menu which at E25 for three courses is very reasonable.  The waiter came to take our order then he said that a bottle of wine with our meal would be complimentary.  We thought we had heard wrong, but he repeated the same thing and asked if we had chosen a wine, we had and, still mystified, ordered a bottle of Chianti.

I had the salmon fishcake with a lovely mayo dressing for starters, then ribeye steak again for the main.  It was just as good as the one at the Town Bar and Grill, but different, as it had a delicous marinade on it.  It came with the most fabulous, crispy chunky chips.  For dessert I had chocolate fondant, with banana ice cream and toffee sauce.  Oddly, before we'd left our cottage I'd said I fancied fishcake for starters and chocolate fondant for dessert, how lucky was I?  The free wine was lovely, and we still don't know why we got it.  All I can think of is because we have stayed at the Clarence Hotel, including the penthouse, a few times and are regulars at The Tea Room.  It was a very nice gesture from the hotel and much appreciated.

After the meal we went through to The Study for cocktails and sat there for a while.  There was a pretty Christmas tree in the corner and it was very pleasant and relaxing in there.

We left the hotel at midnight and were soon home.  We didn't stay up too long as we had to be up early the next day as our short trip to Dublin was now over - though we did consider squatting in our little cottage as we loved it so much and didn't want to leave it!