Dublin Part Three - More Food - A Green Hen and a Town

10th October

Deb and I nearly getting blown off the penthouse balcony!

We got up at about 9am and pottered about until our breakfast arrived in the room and was laid out for us in the dining room.  It was lovely, and though morning are the times I don't usually have much of an appetite I wolfed it all down! It was sad to pack up our things to leave the penthouse, I doubt we'll ever be back. I went upstairs for one last look, and onto the balcony for a windy photo with Deb, the unseasonally mild weather had definitely given way to a more autumnal chill.. It also meant the end of my birthday celebrations, what a fab time I have had over these last few weeks, I wish I turned 60 every year.

We caught a taxi back to our apartment at Smithfield. Marian was out exploring, she was soon back, it's amazing how many things she managed to see in such a short time, she definitely made the most of her short time in Dublin! Unfortunately she had to return home and we saw her off to the airport later in the afternoon. Afterwards we all went to bed to try and get some sleep as the late night was catching up with us!  I rested, but could not sleep though I really wanted to.

Dianne in The Green Hen

That evening it was our girls night out, and Deb and Dianne were treating me as a last birthday gift, so kind of them as they had already been so generous to me bless them! For our Dublin trip we all chose a new restaurant to go to, tonight was my choice, The Green Hen in Exchequer Street, a French restaurant, can't go wrong with French food with me!  We got a taxi and almost immediately were stuck in a horrendous traffic jam.  The driver told us there was some big event happening in the city that night. We ended up being 20 minutes late for our table though the staff were completely unconcerned at that, I love that Irish laissez faire!

The restaurant was full, posters from old French films on the walls, the atmosphere lively but not too much so that you can't hear each other talk.  I had goats cheese salad with beetroot, walnuts and figs to start and it was scrumptious. Then duck confit with fondant potato, cherries and baby vegetables was equally fabulous it was the most succulent duck I've had! Portions were generous and none of us was able to find room for a dessert, we just had a cappuccino. Also, amazingly we had no wine at all! We all felt it was a very good idea to detox that night lol!

The Duck Confit Main

We had the Early Bird menu which was 19.50 Euros for two courses or 22 Euro for three, excellent value. Service was friendly and attentive, I felt sorry for the servers as they had to run down stairs to bring the food and also up another flight to tables upstairs, they must be fit!

We caught a taxi back to the apartment (no traffic jam this time). Dan had  had a pizza from the restaurant beneath the apartment block which he said was very good, he was pleased to hear we had enjoyed our meal so much. We didn't stay up very late, we desperately needed to catch up on our sleep!

October 11th

A sign in the Docklands

Too soon it was our last full day in Dublin we had vague plans but nothing definite. While in the city it had not escaped our attention that Bono was in town! A mutual love of U2 brought us all together over 20 years ago and because we get along as people and not just as fans, real friendships were borne form this. We did not expect the band to be in Dublin, as far as we knew they were in New York, but no, they were home. So we decided to go to the Docklands and check out their studio there, though we were aware that it looked like they had a new studio in County Wicklow, but we had to check :). We caught the Luas to Mayor's Square in the north Docklands, I can't believe how that area has changed, gone are the derelict buildings and now it's full of apartments and shops and cafes.

We walked over the graceful new Samuel Beckett Bridge and into the South Docklands and into the familiar territory of Hanover Quay. As we expected it was all quiet at the studio, though there was some pretty amazing non-U2 graffiti on the surrounding walls.

We had a leisurely lunch at the nearby Spar and enjoyed what was now a lovely sunny day.  After years of constant change during the age of the Celtic Tiger things were now static, there had been no changes since we had last been there in May 2012. The southern end of the quay still had areas untouched by the bulldozer, and the old, natural stone buildings still looked out over Grand Canal Dock as they have done for many, many decades. Where the concrete works used to be opposite the studio was now just a vacant lot within it's walls. Kind of nice that the concrete, steel and glass structure haven't taken over all of the Docklands.

The Beautiful Samuel Beckett Bridge
and where the big concrete works had been now was just a vacant plot.

We headed back to the Luas stop and then all did our own thing for a while, Deb went back to the apartment, Dianne and Dan went to The Writer's Museum and I went shopping. Later we all met up again at the apartment.

That night it was Dianne's choice of restaurant. It was not actually new to us, but had changed hands and was now called The Town rather than the Town Bar and Restaurant. Inside it had changed very little, it was a bit brighter, but still had the same relaxing ambiance. To start I had warm beetroot and goats cheese salad (for a change!) followed by a very tender beef fillet, cep puree, roasted onion, madeira sauce and colcannon. Again I couldn't manage a dessert, but Debbi and Dan managed to find some room, Deb finds it hard to resist creme brulee! Everyone enjoyed everything they had and though it is quite an expensive restaurant it is top quality. It was so nice to spend the last evening enjoying good food and wine with great friends, some of the best things in life.

We caught a taxi home and Dan got chatting to the driver who was from Nigeria. He said it was hard to learn to find his way round the city because: 1. the names of the street change - you can go down a straight road and at some point it will start to be called something else. I'd never really thought about that before, the same is true in the UK. 2. People often don't know the name of a road that a certain pub or restaurant is on, so he had to learn where all these places were. He also told us that there were 1,200 restaurants in Dublin, so it's some feat to learn where they all are.  Also, it means that there are plenty more new ones for us to try in the future!

October 12th

Dianne and Dan left at 9.30 on their way back to Canada via Heathrow, sad to see them go, but I knew that I would be seeing them again in December, so the parting wasn't as hard as it might have been. Not long afterwards Deb and I vacated the apartment and left our bags with the concierge before heading to The Clarence Hotel for a last drink.  Then it was the usual taxi to the airport, have a meal, mooch round the shops before flying - in a tiny Aer Arann propeller plane - back to Manchester. Sad goodbyes to Debbi, unfortunately she is not coming on the holiday at New Year, so it could be a while before we meet up again, but we still keep in touch a lot online.

So that was it, a fabulous week in Dublin. I want to say thanks to my all my wonderful friends for coming (and a special thanks to Deb for her organising!) it was special to share my official 60th with you all. Can I be 60 again next year??

Dublin Part Two - More Theatre and My Offical Birthday

October 8th

Had a much needed lie-in after our lazy (boozy) day. But when I got up I felt surprisingly ok, still got some stamina it seems lol! We stayed in as my friend Marian  from the UK was joining us for a couple of days and was arriving around 2pm.  It was good to see her again, we have known each other since we became friends at school when we were 12, and though we live at opposite ends of the country now always have stayed in touch.

At 4pm we headed to the nearby Third Space cafe for our tea. I had quiche lorraine and salad and soda bread which was lovely. We then got the Luas to Abbey Street and went into The Peacock Theatre where we were going to see Maeve's House. It was a 75 minute long one-man play both written and performed by Eamon Morrissey based on the life and writings of the Irish writer based in New York, Maeve Brennan. Apparently Morrisey's family lived in the the same house in Cherryfield Avenue, Ranelagh, Dublin as Brennan's had 20 years earlier before that family moved to New York.

I must admit that I had never heard of Maeve Brennan before, but that was not so surprising as she was a staff writer under the pseudonym of The Long Winded Lady  for The New Yorker magazine for much of her life and two anthologies of some of her work were not published either in the UK or Ireland.

The play revolves around the house which coincidentally was home to both of them and the setting for many of Brennan's stories. This play features extracts from Maeve Brennan’s writing and presents a moving portrait of two people in conversation across generations. Morrissey talks of some of the common links the house has, such as the creaking banister, and it must have been strange for Morrissey to read of such a familiar place in Brennan's writing. But what struck me most was Brennan's stories of the dark side of the human condition, loneliness within a marriage where love had long disappeared, people trapped, lives wasted, dreams long evaporated. Though Brennan was thousands of miles from Dublin it seems her past still had a strong hold on her, it is hard to escape one's early influences. And some of her writings seemed to echo her own tragic life story.

The set was simple, there was a background of a skyscraper skyline that seems to have been made up of golden words that glinted in the lights, sound effects were subtle but effective, contrasting the bustle of Manhattan with the secretive quietness of suburban Dublin..

There was an intimacy about the play that drew me in, and I was full of admiration for Eamon Morrissey who performed for a full 75 minutes, no mean feat for a 70 year old!

After the play there was a discussion about Maeve and the play with Eamon and Amanda Bourke (who wrote a biography called Maeve Brennan: Homesick at The New Yorker) which was very interesting and enlightening. There were a couple of people in the audience who also lived in Cherryfield Avenue, Dublin is such a small town city! And it seems that Eamon's mother was called Maeve and the present owner of the house is also a Maeve, seems the name is synonymous with that house.

Us Girls in the Cobblestone!

Afterwards we caught the Luas back to Smithfield and went to the Cobblestone Pub at the north end of the square, in a terrace of old buildings still standing, such is the mix of architecture at Smithfield, old and new side by side.

This was a real Dublin pub. Basic, friendly and with good Guinness! It reminded me of good old Dockers, the pub we visited regularly years ago in the Docklands where we had such wonderful times.  It was a mixture of tourists and locals but not pretending to be anything more than what it was, in other words it wasn't at all toursity.  Some guys were playing traditional music at the front of the bar but there were no seats there so we went to the back and found somewhere to sit. We spent about an hour there enjoying the drink and chat and atmosphere before taking the two minute walk back to our apartment.

October 9th

Afternoon Tea at the Clarence Hotel

The Big Day, my Official 60th Birthday! We got a taxi to The Clarence Hotel at midday and met up with our friends Ken and Elizabeth from Dun Laoghaire in The Study.  We were going to have afternoon tea there. It struck me as rather strange that such an English institution is alive and well in Ireland! But then it is a wonderful thing that I am not really surprised the Irish enjoy it too!

Ken and Elizabeth had brought me a present, a gorgeous Kilkenny marble clock, and also something for everyone else, they are such kind people! We had a delicious tea of sandwiches, cream scones, cake and tea, all very scrumptious!

At 2pm we were able to go up to the penthouse suite and though Ken and Elizabeth and Marian were not actually staying there they were keen to see it! It was much as it had been last time we stayed there in 2008, except for a new suite in the sitting room and some new carpeting. There were two bottles of Prosecco and some chocolates waiting for me there which was a lovely surprise!  For some reason there was also two small bottles of milk beside the Prosecco, why, we never figured out.

The Gallery

We showed our guests around and they marvelled at the two levels of the suite and the fantastic view over the city and Liffey from the balcony. After a while Ken and Elizabeth left, but we'll see them again soon when we return to Dublin at New Year. Marian also left at this time, it was her first visit to the city and she wanted to do some exploring before coming back later for our meal at Cleaver East.

Debbi, Dianne, Dan and I settled down in the upstairs gallery and drank the Prosecco which was a very good vintage indeed.  We relaxed and chatted, played music and chilled. We'd waited a long time for this and were going to enjoy every minute!

The View From the Balcony

At 7pm we started getting ready for our evening meal, Marian had returned and we all went down to the new restaurant in the hotel called Cleaver East, which had now replaced our much loved Tea Room. I must admit I was a bit dubious about this restaurant as it served "tasting plates" and I wasn't sure whether it would be for me. I needn't have worried, the food was wonderful. The restaurant had rows of cleavers hanging at the windows, distressed wood on some of the walls and equally distressed mirrors on the ceiling. The servers were friendly and helpful, food portions generous and delicious and the price reasonable. My friends gave me their birthday presents which were all wonderful, I am blessed to have such fab friends!

As we were finishing the meal our friend Declan texted, he was arriving at the hotel. Debbi and I went outside to meet him. It was good to see him again. After finishing up the meal we all went back up to the penthouse, Declan was well impressed with it lol!  We had a good chat, there was lots to catch up on, including the latest U2 gossip.  At one point I was fascinated to hear Declan (an Irishman) explain what cricket is all about to Dan (an American), most English people have no idea what it is about but here's an Irishman well up on it! Apparently that's because Declan's son is an avid cricket player :)

Declan left at 1am and gave Marian a lift back to the apartment at Smithfield. The rest of us chilled in the penthouse enjoying every minute of it. I stayed up until 4am when tiredness caught up with me. I hate to miss any time when I am there but I had to give in and get some sleep.

All in all it was an amazing 60th birthday, great company, good food and drink in luxury in my favourite city, I couldn't have asked for a better day!

All of us in Cleaver East

Another Decade and Things To Do

September has flown by and I've neglected my blog, I've been busy with all kinds and the weeks just slip away. I celebrated my 60th birthday on the 20th and had a fantastic day, I was thoroughly spoiled. For a while I wasn't looking forward to becoming 60, (after all not that long ago I would have started receiving my State Pension at that age). But as the date approached I changed my view and embraced it, each year is to be treasured and lived to the full and I've got lots of things to do on my bucket list.

I certainly don't feel 60 inside, sometimes my body does tell me I'm not as youthful as I was, but my spirit is still young, the essence of you doesn't change with the years.  And besides the wisdom you gain by living life, there are also are other benefits - I can now get 1/3 off rail fares, free eye tests and my B & Q Diamond Card to get 10 per cent off every Wednesday LOL!

Mind you, my 60 celebrations are not over yet, I've had my real birthday, but I'm having my official birthday (who says only the Queen can have two birthdays?) in Dublin with a party in the penthouse of The Clarence Hotel on October 9th - as well as a long overdue weeks holiday in the city. Soooo looking forward to that.

So here's to a new decade, and also a Happy Birthday to Bruce Springsteen, 64 today and still rockin', what better role model for over 60's people can there be than him?

A Night For Christy and Dublin

I felt like kissing the ground when we got off the plane in Dublin, it had been 14 months since we'd been here, the longest time I've gone without visiting since I first started going there in 1989 (yikes!!) It was great to be back, like coming home.

Debbi and I stopped off at the Avoca Cafe in Suffolk Street on our way to the hotel and had some welcome tea and I had a gorgeous mixed berry scone, which I can honestly say is the nicest scone I've ever had, the biggest too! We passed by The Olympia Theatre and popped into the box office to pick up our tickets for the A Night for Christy benefit concert for Christy Dignam singer with Aslan who is fighting cancer, that evening. The fellow in the office said the upper circle - the gods - was unreserved seating and we would need to be there early to queue to get the best seats.

We got to The Clarence Hotel at 11am and luckily our room was available. It was a large twin room with a a small seating and office area that over-looked the Liffey.  We had lunch in The Study which was being used as a temporary restaurant as The Tea Room is now closed and being stripped out to be re-opened as Cleaver East next month.  The food was good, but not to the standard of The Tea Room, they were cooking it in the function room on the first floor!

We did some shopping for wine and nibbles and then got ready for the gig. The Olympia Theatre was less than five minutes walk from the hotel. We passed a load of youngsters excitedly waiting at the stage door - probably for Jedward, yes, we were going to have the joy of Jedward this evening, never thought I'd see the day lol! We went past the theatre and down a small lane and waited at the entrance for the upper circle, there were two other women ahead of us in the queue, we were three and four.

The doors were opened a little before 7pm and we climbed flight after flight after flight of red carpeted stairs until we breathlessly reached upper circle. We got seats right at the centre front of the circle. We certainly were certainly close to the gods, it was very steep and I could almost touch one of the three huge glass chandeliers that hung from the ceiling that was painted red and decorated with white stucco. The Olympia was know as'The Star of Erin' music hall when it opened in 1879 and was then renamed Dan Lowerys Music Hall in 1881. It was finally given the name of The Olympia Theatre in 1923. It. is a wonderful old Victorian theatre, red velvety seats, brass rails, main colours red, white and gold, boxes to each side, you can feel it's history, it's ingrained in the walls.

Deb and I have only seen Aslan play live once in Vicar Street quite a few years ago, unfortunately our visits to Dublin have since not coincided with them playing. It was an amazing raucous show, and Christy performed like I've never seen anyone perform before, we just couldn't take our eyes of him, he was mesmerising.

Ryan Sheridan

While we were waiting they screened a new documentary called Please Don't Stop about Aslan's 30 year career, made last year before Christy was diagnosed with cancer.

The show proper started around 8.30pm,  compered  by none other than Guggi, who did a really good job. It consisted of various artists performing mainly Aslan songs with the other four members of the group. There was a myriad of Irish artists, new and old, some of the younger ones I didn't know.  Others such as Tom Dunne (Something Happens),The Horslips, Steve Wall (The Stunning) brought back many memories of my early days visiting Dublin and the fantastic bands around then that showed so much promise, most fizzled away, U2 were already megastars, Aslan never hit those heights, but not because of any lack of talent, but after 30 years they are still delighting audiences.

Gavin Friday

Gavin Friday performed a very theatrical version of Bowie's Five Years. Jedward, hair kind of coiled on top of their heads lol, did a muted performance - for them, no cartwheels across the stage. With their relatively normal looking hair I noticed for the first time that they are good looking young men. They got a massive reception from the young girls!

I had never heard of Ryan Sheridan, but his performance really impressed me. He reminded me a bit of Bono in his performance and how he engaged the crowd, he certainly has stage presence, plus a good voice.

U2 performed This Is via video link from New York. It was a powerful version of a fabulous song, they really did the song justice. There had been rumours that Bono was going to appear in person but he didn't.

All the bands came on stage to perform This Time with Christy's daughter Keira. Finally for Aslan's most famous song, Crazy World, Christy himself came on stage, the whole place erupted, there was such a out-pouring of love towards him that it was incredibly moving. He looked frail and thin, but was buoyed up by the crowd. I noticed Keira wiping away tears as she stood behind her father and at times she had to help him out with the singing. I think it was very hard for him to perform but I'm sure the love he received from the crowd gave him a boost.  For around five minutes after he left the stage the crowd kept singing.

I thought that I'd be really disappointed if Bono didn't perform in person, but when it came to it I realised it didn't matter at all. This evening, this gig was for Christy and that's what it was all about and it was a brilliant gig. Let's hope one day when he is better we will be able to see him perform live once more.

Christy Performing Crazy World

Set List  -  First Half

Paul Walsh – Gotta Make It

Riptide Movement – Lucy Jones pt1

Gavin James – Chains

Jedward – She’s So Beautiful

Steve Wall – Pretty Thing

Danny O’Reilly – Hurt Sometimes

Original Rudeboys – Lucy Jones pt2

Bressie – Angie

Jerry Fish – Rock’n’Roll Suicide

Ryan Sheridan - Wish You Were Here

Gavin Friday – Five Years

Adrian Kennedy

Dublin Gospel – Down on Me

Second Half6

Horslips – Different Man

Damien Dempsey – Bullets and Diamonds (From a Studio in London)

Paul Brady - We Did

Mary Black & Don Mescall - Too Late for Hallelujah

Mark Feehily – Where’s the Sun

Kiera Dignam - Catch Your Fall

Tony Fenton (speaking)

Tom Dunne – Rainman

U2 – This Is (Live from Electric Lady Studios NY)

Kiera Dignam with all other acts –This Time

Aslan - Crazy World

After the show we went back to the hotel and had a drink in the bar, Gavin Friday came in with a few friends. There was a group of loud drunk men near us some of who ended up getting chucked out of the hotel!

We went to our room ordered room service meals, opened a bottle of wine and chatted until it was light outside! I love holidays!

June 22nd. Needless to say we had a long lie in.  We had breakfast served in our room (they serve it until 11am, very civilised in my opinion LOL!) We saw a guy sitting in the middle of the busy road outside the hotel shouting "Do me a favour!" to a group of lads who were in the car he sat in front of. Think he knew them as he just picked on their car, he eventually got up unscathed.

We had a really lazy day, wandered down to the bar for a drink or too and had our dinner in The Study. There was a tableful of very loud, very drunk men there (drunks seemed to be following us on this trip!) They really got on our nerves and spoiled the atmosphere a bit. Had a few drinks in the bar before heading back to our room.

It was a very short trip, but lovely to be back once more. Roll on October when we will be back for a whole week!

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......

Bah Humbug Christmas, 2013 and All That

Well the mad Christmas season is over and I'm glad, I'm a bit "bah humbug" at Christmas. I was maybe a bit more bah humbug this year than usual as I had two event over the festive season. One was that my dog Max went a bit barmy, got really crotchety and bit me! I've never been bitten by any dog I've had and it was a shock. He was generally extremely bad tempered for no apparent reason. Now, my Max has always been a bit of a grump but this was extreme and I knew there must be a physical reason for his behaviour.  So after the holidays I took him to the vet and she diagnosed arthritis in his thoracic vertebrae. I had been worried that maybe he had the dreaded dachshund curse, slipped/herniated discs due tot heir long spine, so I was actually relieved it was something less serious. She gave him a pain-killing jab on the spot and gave me some to give him each day. And I'm pleased to say he is much better, just a bit grumpy occasionally, but not aggressive, poor fellow, he must have been in a lot of pain.

My other Xmas event was sewage coming up through a grate in my garden! Luckily it was only slowly oozing out, but still, not very pleasant! I rang United Utilities and they said what I already knew, if it was a pipe from the apartment it was my responsibility to sort, if it was a main sewer it was theirs, they said they would send someone out to check it out.  After phoning I went to a friend's for a meal and three hours later when I got home all the sewage was gone! Luckily the blockage must have been in the main pipe and they sorted it in record time, thanks United Utilities!

So now it's 2013. I always get quite sentimental at New Year, thinking of the times past and those to come.  It loved ones not with you anymore, and now, especially as I get older, how fast time is passing by.  This year will be a BIG birthday for me and I'm celebrating it in Dublin with a week's stay in Dublin with a small party one night in the gorgeous penthouse of The Clarence Hotel, so looking forward to that!

Another plan for 2013 is to spend New Year in Iceland with my good friend Dianne and her daughter Danielle. It all depends on funds on my part, but I hope to be able to do it, New Year in Iceland seems amazing and I've always wanted to visit that stunning country in mid-winter - very good chance of seeing northern lights too! Besides those two trip I haven't anything else planned but I'm sure things will come about as the year progresses.

But really, what matters is to be happy and healthy, that's my main wish.  Something I've learned through life experiences is to take every opportunity that presents itself, life passes so quickly and once you get into middle age you really don't know what's around the corner, so make the most of every day and, if possible grab every experience life throws at you.  So I hope 2013 will be good for you, and thank you for reading my musings on this blog :)

Dublin 3 - More Theatre, Champagne and The Fabulous Tea Room

May 8th

Samuel Beckett Bridge Under a Moody Sky

One of those blustery days with that fine rain that wets you more than you realise.  We got the Luas to Mayor Square - once we got past the Busaras stop I was astounded by the new buildings both residential and retail that had replaced the previously run-down area.  We walked over the elegant and rather beautiful harp-shaped Samuel Beckett Bridge and down the road to Hanover Quay.  The quay was not much different from last time we were there a couple of years ago, partly full of new buildings, partly undeveloped, there were a lot of "To Let" signs around even on the most derelict buildings. Previously each time we visited there were vast changes but the eastern end is barely developed and there's just a big hole where the now cancelled U2 Tower was going to be built. It felt strange, the Celtic Tiger had come to a stop here, literally butting up against the sturdy stone buildings from the past.

Nothing was going on at Hanover Quay so we got some tea in the Spar shop and sat on the seats beside Grand Canal Dock and ate the sandwiches we had brought with us. The rain had eased and it wasn't cold so it was quite pleasant sitting there watching the seagulls taking their afternoon bath in the water.

The Gaiety Theatre 

We went home and made a meal for ourselves before heading out again - this time to the Gaiety Theatre to see a play called Greener by Fiona Looney.  I love this theatre, built in 1871 it is  gloriously old-fashioned with a stucco embellished Victorian  auditorium in gold, turquoise and white with a huge central ceiling rose from which hung a fabulous candelabra.  We were in the front row of the dress circle, which you reach by a lovely wide wooden staircase.  On the landing there is a fake grass settee which was quite funny and totally out of place! Our seats were excellent, around the back of the dress circle were boxes and "The Gods" tier was above us.  It isn't a large theatre and it has a snug cosiness and a sense of the past about it.

The play was good, it starred Pauline McLynn (Mrs Doyle from Father Ted) as the unhappy Noirin and is about two couples, a lottery win and secrets, it is played out on a set of their dual kitchens. Above are two screens where every now and then text messages appear, from the start you realise something is going because of the nature of the texts but it is not until well into the play you realise two of the characters are having an affair.  The play was funny, with some serious stuff, though I feel that the characters could have had more depth to them. The lottery win brings the chance of freedom, both financial and personal for Noirin, but the grass is not greener on the other side and happiness does not necessarily come with what you think you want.

The theme of marital discontentment ran through both plays we saw in Dublin, I feel that A Galway Girl was the better of the two, it was more emotive and the characters beautifully formed both in word and the acting.

We walked down Grafton Street towards the Luas, some people were still performing there.  Once home we opened a bottle of wine and got out the cheese and snacks - a perfect way to end the day!

May 9th

A really shite day weather-wise, as we have been busy since we came to Dublin we decided to have one of our mega-lazy days.  So we chilled out watching TV and chatting and I strained myself and had a wander to the local shops.  That evening we ate in having lovely tortellini and later popped the cork on our bottle of vintage Veuve Clicquot and savoured every drop!

May 10th

Our last day in Dublin, how fast the week has gone by!  We had a bit of a lie in as we had a late night and then went into the city for a while.

That evening we headed out quite early to The Clarence Hotel as we had a table booked in The Tea Room later and wanted to go to the bar first. When we arrived the General Manager Clinton Attwell greeted us and went into the Octagon Bar with us where we were given the choice of a cocktail on the house, how nice! We went for our mutual favourite, a cosmopolitan. The barman added the burnt orange peel and explained the rationale behind it as he did so.  After a short chat Clinton left us and we relaxed and enjoyed our cocktail, trying to sip it slowly as it is so moreish but also very strong!

At 8pm we went into The Tea Room which, amazingly, wasn't very busy, I don't know why because it is now very reasonable in price and serves fantastic food.  We sat down and a waiter came across with two glasses of champagne for us - on the house!  Debbi had told them in an email that it was the five year anniversary of the time we had stayed in the penthouse and Bono had bought us champagne and that had given us the taste for champers.  So it was so lovely that they did this for us, the service and attentiveness at the Clarence is second to none. The champagne glass had a strawberry on the rim and each time we took a sip we also caught the gorgeous summer aroma of the strawberry.

Champagne Slainte!

We had duck spring rolls to start and they were wonderful four large, succulent!  We both had the ribeye steak for the main, this was accompanied by fries and we asked for an extra portion of mash as we both love it.  The waiter asked if we wanted the mash instead of one of the portions of fries but we said we wanted it in addition to them.  When the main came we saw why, the portions of fries were enormous, and they were so lovely and crisp, I'm not the biggest fan of fries (I prefer proper chunky chips) as they usually end up soggy but these were delish.  The steak was very, very tender and I must say, though the one I had a Marco Pierre White's restaurant was good this one was better.

We had to have a break for a while before dessert but eventually Deb ordered a crème brulee (her fave) and I got a lemon tart with chocolate ice cream - had to have my chocolate fix. Again it was delicious, the lemon tart melted in the mouth and the chocolate ice cream was, well, very lusciously chocolatey!

We got our bill and noticed that the desserts were not on it, Debbi called over the waiter who said that the desserts were on the house also, my we were being spoiled, how lovely of them!  It all made it a very special evening for us, thank you Clinton and the Clarence!

May 11th

All packed and ready to go.  Pat came to the apartment at 10am and we swapped the keys for our security deposit and went to a cafe called The Third Space directly under the apartment complex for our breakfast before heading to the airport.  It turned out to be a very good choice, we had two Irish breakfasts of egg (tasty free range), sausage, bacon, tomato, black pudding, white pudding (which consists of pork meat and fat, suet, bread and oatmeal, it tastes nicer than it sounds and is a bit like haggis) with toast and two teas for E10, a bargain.

It was wonderful to spend a whole week in Dublin, we had time to do everything we wanted and immerse ourselves in the city once more. Next destination, Nice later this year!

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