We woke up in Paris on Wednesday morning around 6 o'clock and started what we both described as the longest day of our lives. Time seemed to crawl, as we arrived in Dublin around 11 am, and it felt like dinner time.
I think we pooped ourselves out with the anticipation of staying in Temple Bar, a neighborhood known for its night life. We bummed around and got a feel for the city, popped in and out of some shops (I bought an ankle brace to prevent further damage), and had our first "Irish" meal: Guinness and curry.
After resting a little, we decided to go check out the Guinness Brewery, an enormous multimedia center in a building the shape of a pint glass. At the top, the Gravity Bar, you can enjoy a pint and 360 degree views of the city. It was beautiful. We even got to learn the secrets to pour our own pints, certificates included.
Later on, we found a cute little Italian restaurant and ended up having great conversation and dinner for the better part of four hours. At the end, we started chatting to the couple next to us about anything and everything. They bought us flaming shots of Sambuca and our night continued in good spirits.
Thursday was spent for the most part on our own, as Laura had a tour of the Vet school at University College Dublin. I took advantage of this time and indulged my love of museums, by myself!
First stop: The Irish National Library, where there was a (free!) exhibit on the life and works of William Butler Yeats. I lost myself in in for a few hours, striking up a conversation with a history professor from Trinity, who proceeded to educate me more than the exhibit had. I found the original poem that is quoted on my father's epitaph. I felt, for a moment, that I was in Dublin with my dad.
Afterwards, I went to Dublin Castle, which was swarmed with Irish Catholic schools girls, and so I turned the other way to the Chester Beatty Library. The exhibits there were "Arts of the Book," and "Sacred Traditions." Beautiful illuminated texts in Arabic, Latin, and Chinese, as well as ancient copies of the Qur'an, Bible and Buddhist texts.
That night, we were a little tired from travel and found our selves at a pub and bored. So, I blurted out "Dublin is boring," and swoop! Five Irish lads begged to differ and offered to prove us wrong. They were out on an annual guys night and invited us along to their pub crawl. Pints, pints, and more pints, along with some dancing to good old American pop music, brought us back to our hotel room around 4am.
Of course the next day was shot as a result, and we took turns napping and feeling crabby, and preparing for our departure. We went to a super cool sushi restaurant for dinner - the kind with the conveyor belt of food going by right in front of your face. We returned to our hotel for an early night, and then music started.
Apparently our hotel room is directly above a stage, and on Saturday nights there is live music. We toughed it out for a while, but then I just had to go listen to it in person. I left Laura in bed and got dress and went on an adventure by myself. After a few drinks at what I discovered later to be the gay bar, I jumped back out onto the street into the sea of people and found, much to my surprise Laura and the bar with the music. We listened for a while (great cover band), and then tried a few other places...
Three am arrived and the band stopped. Good night Dublin.
As much as I love traveling and fall in love with the cities I visit, I am always happy to come back to the country, my little town in the heart of France. It is sunny and beautiful in the valley today, I have clean sheets and love letters from my siblings. Life is good.
A mosaic in Dublin, across the street from Trinity College
The Perfect Pint.
My Goodness, My Guinness!
More scenes from the Guinness Brewery
Cheers!
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