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 Part One - Coming Home, Friends, Irish Theatre and Lazy Day

It's taken me a while to start my holiday blog, life has been difficult recently, and for a while I could not put fingers to laptop. But now it feels best to keep occupied and remember the fabulous time I had in Dublin, and in time these great memories will over-shadow the sadness of recent days.

October 5th

Like the Queen, this year I had two 60th birthdays, a real one and an official one.  My real one had come and gone and the official one was set for October 9th, to be celebrated in style in the penthouse suite at the Clarence Hotel in Dublin. This fell in the middle of a week's holiday with friends in the city. Besides a brief weekend visit in June this year, we hadn't been to Dublin since May 2012 and were ready to spend some proper time there.

I met up with my friend  Debbi at Manchester Airport and we had delicious lunch in the Grain Loft there. It's always good to get together, we just pick up where we left off in that easy way close friends can.

The flight was smooth I was sandwiched between Debbi and a rather large man.  I noticed as we were getting up that he had a tee-shirt on that had U2 on it so I asked if he was a fan. He said that his name was Bobby and that he worked for Jay Z who was performing in Dublin on Sunday, on checking the Net it seems he is the Tour Manager. We said we were U2 fans and he said he'd met them a few times and that they were really nice guys, which of course we knew. Then as an after-thought he asked if we'd like tickets to see Jay Z, we said yes (anything for nothing!) and he gave us his email and said for us to contact him.  We did send an email, but we didn't hear anything back, which, to be honest, was almost a relief, as neither of us can stand Jay Z's music!

We got a taxi into the city, complete with very entertaining driver in the way only Irish drivers can be, warm, friendly and chatty. He was an educated man, trained teacher (no jobs for teachers), had taken courses in writing and written a screenplay, plus he was a natural comedian.  Wasted as a taxi driver, but he said he enjoyed meeting people from all over the world in his job. As I listened to the driver's lilting Irish accent and watched the familiar landmarks pass by it felt so good to be back in a place that feels like my second home.

Smithfield Tower, our home for the week

We were dropped off at Smithfield and met up with Pat, the owner of the duplex apartment at Smithfield Tower which we were renting for the week. He's another natural comedian, and if there was a human form of a leprechaun, it was Pat. Small, rotund, grey hair, rosy cheeks with a mischievous air about him. The apartment was wonderful, directly opposite the old Jameson Whiskey Distillery chimney, modern and spacious with everything we needed..

We'd barely made our cup of tea (well, we are English and you've got to have a cuppa when arriving at your destination!) when Dianne and Dan arrived. They had come over to Ireland from Canada a week earlier and had been touring the North and got the train from Belfast to Dublin.

We had a relaxing evening catching up, eating pizza and drinking wine. We ended up playing a game where we picked music we like that may not be so obvious and Deb would play it on her iPod for us all to hear. It gave an insight into the very diverse musical tastes we had - some of my choices were, The Slave's Chorus from Verdi's Nabucco, Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley and Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys.

I always love the first evening of a holiday, being with friends again and a whole week or two stretching out ahead full of good times, nothing beats it!

October 6th

A mean and moody Killiney Beach

We caught the Luas to Connolly Station and got the DART heading south to Killiney.  It was initially cloudy but as the day passed the sun came out and it was lovely. I love Killiney beach, which is a couple of minutes from the DART stop. Whatever the weather it is beautiful with the graceful sweep of a horseshoe bay with Dalkey Island to the north end and Bray Head to the south. We wandered along beach-combing, relaxing, enjoying the fresh sea air, sometimes the simple things in life are the most enjoyable.

After Killiney, we travelled one stop on the DART to Dalkey where we went to bustling Finnegan's Pub for a late lunch. I had the cottage pie and it was scrumptious!

Dan and Debbi in Dada

That evening we went to a Moroccan restaurant we had never been to before called Dada. I was a bit cautious about it as I can't eat hot spicy food, chili and curry are lethal to me! But I was assured that not all their food was hot and spicy. The restaurant was atmospheric, darkly lit (in fact we had difficulty reading the menus lol!) Lots of lanterns that cast beautiful patterns on the walls, it was a very relaxing place.

We shared dips and bread for starters and then I chose the lamb tagine with apricots, walnuts and cinnamon. It was to die for, the lamb was so tender and succulent and the subtle flavours of the spices made for a fabulous dish. Everyone else really enjoyed their meals too. Prices were reasonable and service good, I think we will be going back to Dada on future visits to Dublin!

October 7th

Every time we are in Dublin we go to Bewley's Cafe Theatre, it is cheap, intimate and, best of all, the plays are also always good. The theatre is a small room on the second floor of Bewley's Cafe. Set with tables and chairs and a small stage set in one corner and for a small fee you can get soup and soda bread if you want.

The play we saw was Fred and Alice by the Limerick county Writer John Sheehy.  It is about two special needs people who have different obsessions, Fred's is music, Alice's is numbers. They met in the mental care institution, Alice's effervescence brings out the shy Fred, and he is the calm shelter and support when she flies off too high, obsessed by her numbers. They compliment each other. The acting was amazing, and it's such a great experience to be so near the performers as you are at the Cafe Theatre, it draws you in, you get very involved in the play. The play moves forward to the couple living in their own home and the basic difficulties of independence, you really want them to succeed and their upbeat attitude wins out, they want to succeed in the real world and they will, in their own way.

In an interview with John Sheehy I found the following paragraph enlightening, it describes the essence of the play in a way I could not.

What was it about the issue that attracted you as a playwright?

I am interested in the idea of personal identity, where it comes from and how much it is affected by society and by those closest to you. By writing about characters whose brains are wired differently than what is considered "normal" I was able to look at the effects of labelling a person as an illness rather than an individual. Fred and Alice reject all labels and find their own unique way to live their lives.

We all loved the play, it covered a subject matter rarely looked at in such a positive way. As a ex-psychiatric nurse I would love to see Sheehy write a play about people with psychotic illnesses and show that people with mental health problems are just human beings trying to make their way in a difficult and unsympathetic world.

After the play we all walked the short distance to Cafe en Seine for our lunch. This place is a fabulous over-the-top  French belle epoque-style cafe. I had smoked salmon on soda bread with chips and it was absolutely delicious and very reasonably priced too. after their lunch Dianne and Dan left and Debbi and I embarked on our "lazy day". We started this last year in Nice, when we just drifted from place to place and had a drink, no particular plan, we just went into places we liked the look of. We enjoyed it so much that we decided it would be a feature of future holidays! So, our lazy day started in Cafe en Seine with cocktails, I had a Singapore Sling which was one of the best cocktails I'd ever had, absolutely delicious!

On leaving the Cafe en Seine we walked about twenty yards and went into Samsara and had cocktails there. we went for the good old Cosmopolitans. They were very strong and I had to water mine down with some lemonade (bit of a wuss I am lol!). Debbi managed hers without any watering down.  

A mirror in the glam toilets at Cafe en Seine

Next stop was a restaurant called Pasta Fresca. We saw a sign saying "prosecco bar" there so couldn't resit that invitation. We had our prosecco with some garlic bread which went down very well indeed.  It was so mild that we sat outside and it was not cold, amazing for October in Ireland!

Our next stop was just across the road, the Clarendon Bar, an Irish bar. We ordered prosecco again, and it came in a snipe (new for me, never knew those little bottles were called that) and bucket of ice! The server was so lovely and made us feel special.

We decided it was time to finish our lazy day after this, we'd sampled French belle epoque, ultra modern, Italian and Irish bars so had done pretty well! We headed back to our apartment at Smithfield. I was even sober enough to cook the evening meal of lasagne and salad which we all enjoyed. Afterwards we relaxed with some wine and chat. A lovely end to a great lazy day.

Dublin 2 - A Horse Fair, Dolphins and All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go!

May 6th

The Horse Market at Smithfield

I was woken up by the sounded of the clip-clopping of horseshoes, it turned out a horse fair was taking place at Smithfield.  The fair happens on the first Sunday of every month and has been doing so for around 400 years. The horse market is controversial due to accusations of cruelty and occasional violence between the traders and authorities have been trying to close or move it for a few years.  As we watched from our balcony we noticed there was a police presence and a large area was barricaded off where the traders looked at and tested out the horses and we saw nothing untoward whilst we watched.

Today we decided to do something we hadn't done for a few years, spend a few hours mooching around our favourite areas of South County Dublin.  We took the Luas to Connolly Station and then changed to the DART and headed out to Killiney.  The trip on the train is a wonderful journey as it runs along the scenic coast of Dublin and Killiney Bays.  I never tire of the view of Killiney Bay as the train emerges from the tunnel under Dalkey Hill, it is stunning.

Killiney Bay

It was a blustery, showery day as we walked the short distance from the station to the beach, but it is a fabulous place whatever the weather.  The tide was in, and we walked along the beach which only had a handful of other people on it.  Suddenly I noticed black fins in the water off-shore - it was a small school of dolphins frolicking in the sea.  I'd heard that dolphins now frequent this area but never expected to see them!

After our walk we got the DART and went one station north and got off at Dalkey. We went to The Queens pub for a late lunch.  It was very full, we found one table, but soon were surrounded by a horde of "merry" young men watching the football on the TV nearby (I seem to be getting plagued by loud alcohol-fuelled men on this trip!)  Luckily there was now space at the other end of the pub and we moved there.  We had a delicious lunch for a very reasonable price washed down with Irish red lemonade.

Declan and Me

We intended to have a browse in The Exchange Bookshop on the main street, but were sad to see it had closed just a month earlier.  What a shame, it was a great place to potter around in.  After this we headed back home.

That evening, our friend Declan came round to our apartment, we hadn't seen him for a while so there was a lot of catching up to do.  We had a lovely evening, I'm so pleased that we had managed to meet up with all our Dublin friends on this trip.

After he left Debbi and I had a few more bevvies, just for a change .

May 7th

At lunch time we went to Bewleys Cafe Theatre.  For E8 you get soup, soda bread and a drink and see a play lasting 50 minutes, excellent value.  We have been many times and have always really enjoyed the play. The Cafe Theatre is a medium sized room above the floors of the cafe,  filled with tables and chairs with the small stage set on a dais in one corner.  The huge windows are covered with thick, red velvet curtains.

We got our soup, soda bread and water and found a table from which we had a good view.  The play we were seeing was A Galway Girl by Geraldine Aron starring Joe Hanley and Clare Barrett. It depicts a marriage from the start to the death one one partner.  Beautifully acted, Maisie and Dermot saw their different dreams gradually drift away as the years passed by.  Ending up living separate lives of quiet desperation in the same house until death did them part.  Very moving and at times very funny,  so typically Irish.  I love the intimacy of this theatre, I've seen plays here for a very long time and have never been disappointed, if you are in Dublin go there, you won't be disappointed - lunch and theatre for E8 to E12 (depending on which day you go) that's what I call good value.

We went back to our apartment and later got dressed up for our meal out at one of our favourite restaurants The Town Bar and Grill.  It was a windy, very wet night and we took a taxi there, paid and were left on the pavement looking at a padlock on the door of the dark restaurant!  There we were, all dressed up and nowhere to go being buffeted by the wind and rain.  We had to find somewhere else to eat.  The nearest place was Buswell's Hotel, we stumbled in hungry and windswept, but their restaurant was closed too!  We checked out the menu in the very quiet bar but we wanted fine dining and a place with a bit more life.  Debbi  told the barman what had happened and asked if he could recommend another similar restaurant nearby and he suggested Marco Pierre White's Restaurant.  He was such a wonderful, helpful man that he even offered to ring the restaurant and book us a table, how lovely of him!  Then he took us to the door and showed us where to go and indeed, it was close by.

Us in Marco Pierre White's Restaurant

It was almost full and had a good atmosphere, the decor mainly brown and cream with a row of black and white photos of celebrities from all eras around the room.  The waiting staff were  pleasant and informal and the food was good.  We both had goats cheese and beetroot to start, it was a large portion and gorgeous.  I had ribeye steak which was very tender, accompanied by chips.  Deb had her favourite meat, lamb which she said was also very good.  I'm certainly not a fan of Marco Pierre White, but his restaurant in Dublin is excellent. So the night was saved for us by the barman at Buswell's Hotel, thank you!

I emailed the Town Bar and Grill and they apologised and said they had sent me an email saying they would be closed that night but I never received it, it must be floating up with the Northern Lights in cyberspace or something.  They offered free cocktails next time we visit Which made up a little for our inconvenience and disappointment.