Dublin, Ireland - Day 2

Our day didn’t get started as early as we thought because WE SLEPT FOR 12+ HOURS !  Shortly after posting to the blog last night we turned in at roughly 9:30 PM – couldn’t believe it since we never sleep that long ! For our breakfast our host Fionaula brought us a carton of eggs (from happy Irish free-range chickens) and some fresh croissants. Unfortunately my coffee didn’t turn out as planned, as they have press coffee makers here in Ireland with which I’m not familiar – coffee turned out very weak and lukewarm.

So, off Tom and I went for what we were told was a typical Dublin day – raining and windy for the morning, then turning into a pleasant afternoon with temps in the mid-50’s, and finally turning over again into drizzle this evening. We just returned to our AirBnB lodging at 10:22 PM and it is still light outside. We were told that here in Dublin during the summer there is roughly 6½ hours of darkness and in winter it reverses to only 6½ hours of daylight. It was a good thing we brought our raincoats as they sure came in handy today, and I expect we’ll be using them regularly during our Irish holiday. Both of our raincoats are oiled wax cloth – Tom’s Barbour coat and my equestrian coat – which shed water amazingly, keeping us dry, and having plenty of pockets to carry/store everything.

We walked first to the old Viking/Norman section of Dublin just off the River Liffy where Christ Church Cathedral is located. Standing on high ground in the oldest part of the city this cathedral is one of Dublin’s finest historic buildings. It dates back to 1038 when Sitric, then the Danish king of Dublin, built the first wooden church here. In 1171 the original simple foundation was extended into a cruciform and rebuilt in stone by Strongbow (the then king), although the present structure dates mainly from 1871 to 1878 when a huge restoration was undertaken. Only the transepts, the crypt, and a few other portions date from medieval times. Highlights of the interior include magnificent stonework and graceful painted arches, with delicately detailed chiseled supporting columns. Strongbow himself is among the historic figures buried in the church.

Our next stop was St. Audoen’s Church. It, too is situated in the heart of the walled medieval city. It is the only remaining medieval parish church in Dublin, and dedicated to St. Ouen, the 7^th Century Bishop of Rouen and patron saint of Normandy. When we stepped inside the visitor’s center, we were treated to a private guided tour.

Our guide obviously had a love of history and archeology, and had to pass a stringent test in order to become a guide. She told us that numerous parishioners were buried in the floor of the main church, and had to be moved when the Priest complained that it was too distracting when people were tripping over the gravestones! There was a large stone in one of the rooms that had a cross carved into it – it had been stolen from a nearby fountain – and now sometimes when photos are taken of it, it either doesn’t show up at all, or has unexplained light around it. After the church fell into disrepair it was roof-less for more than 300 years and sustained damage to some of the stone carvings on the walls.

Next, we embarked upon what Tom referred to as a ‘pilgrimage’ to those beloved Irish institutions – Jameson Whiskey and Guinness. After walking what seemed to be almost 2 miles we arrived at the Jameson Distillery. After the fanfare that the place has on the worldwide stage, Tom found it to be a bit underwhelming – the walk to the Guinness brewery and Storehouse whetted both of our appetites for seeking ‘the black stuff’ – and neither of us were disappointed.

As we entered and went to the kiosk to retrieve our booked online tickets (which we had no problems doing and which entitled each of us to a free, freshly poured pint of Guinness at the conclusion of our tour), a Guinness employee servicing the ticket dispensers asked Tom if there was anything else he needed. Thinking he was being funny (I thought annoying), Tom said indeed there was – how about some ‘free extra tickets’ to get more Guinness pints after we finished the first two. I was shocked when the young guy gave Tom tickets for 2 more Guinness pints.

Following the 1½ hour tour of the facility we arrived on the top floor of the Storehouse  - the Gravity Bar – and got our first two Guinness pints. We quickly met a young woman who had just had her Guinness poured but didn’t want it – she left it for us – not a bad deal either ! Now, along came two recently minted electrical engineering graduates, Leon and Lindsey, with whom we spent over an hour and who were on a nine (9) week tour of Europe before starting their consulting careers. Finally, Tom cashed in the last two Guinness pints and we shared a portion of one with our two new buddies. It has been years and years since I’ve had over two pints – but, the Guinness sure was good.

Still hadn’t seen St. Patrick’s Cathedral so we started another hike to find it. Ireland’s largest church was founded beside a sacred well where St. Patrick is said to have baptized converts around 450 A.D. A stone slab bearing a Celtic cross and covering the well was un-earthed at the turn of the 20^th century. It is now preserved in the west end of the cathedral’s nave. The original building was just a wooden chapel and remained so until 1192 when Archbishop John Comyn rebuilt the cathedral in stone. Much of the present building dates back to 1270.

It was now approaching 8:00 pm, and our last quest of the day was to find the best fish and chips in Dublin. Fortunately, our tour guide from yesterday had told us that it wouldn’t be a mistake to try the fish and chips at O’Neill’s Pub – which just happened to be on the route back to our apartment. Great meal and a chance to rest our weary legs ! I know it is hard to believe, but I also shared Tom's pint of Southwick Red Ale - same recipe brewed since 1710 !

Tomorrow morning we pick up the rental car and journey south - it should be a real adventure now to drive on the left/wrong side of the road !

Dublin, Ireland

Made it to Dublin arriving at 5:06 AM – the sun was barely up, and Tom swore he was going to wake up the Irish roosters ! Bleary-eyed we made it off the plane, claimed our luggage, wobbled through immigration (Customs), and found our way to the Dublin public bus transportation system. It was disorienting dropping out of the terminal and seeing the cars, buses, and trucks all driving on the wrong side of the road . . . this is going to take some getting used to, and I’m so glad Tom will driving on the left when we rent the car two (2) days from now.

The temp was 50 degrees F (far different from what we left Boston) and we had to put on long sleeve shirts and pull out the jackets from our suitcases. We took the local bus (clean and efficient, double-decker) from the airport to the edge of Dublin City. Getting off the bus we still had a foot journey to complete the trek to our AirBnB lodging for the first two nights in Dublin – walked for 20 minutes, but seemed like 1½ hours when you’re carrying and pulling luggage over old-time city streets.

We found our house location and I proved myself a great navigator getting us there very effectively. We met Fionnuala, our hostess, and although the apartment wouldn’t be ready until later in the afternoon she let us drop off our luggage for the day.

She gave us great directions to Dublin City Centre suggesting we take the bus again, but Tom and I decided to walk it as it wasn’t yet 8 AM. We hadn’t had any breakfast and were still somewhat stiff from sitting for the 6+ hour flight across the Atlantic – so we began our quest for our first Irish Breakfast !

We had read about great breakfast baguettes available at local supermarkets – Subway-style French bread stuffed with your choice of sauces, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and hash brown potatoes. HUGE ! So, we each ordered one, picked up our coffees, and marched outside to sit on a planter box and eat on the nearest street corner – and it was still 50 degrees F and only 9 AM !

We strolled the streets heading into City Centre as we had pre-booked a free guided walking tour last week of the historic city for 11 AM. Discovered some stuff on our own that would later see on the tour, but the tour totally surpassed our expectations for what something free should be. Our tour guide was a Dublin native who has travelled the world and now gives these free tours just working for tips – 31 of us on this tour and most of us gave €10 per person for his 3 hours of work. He provided lots of historical perspective, political commentary, witty stories, and displayed charming Irish humor – much of it self-deprecating on the Irish populace itself.

The tour began at the Dublin Castle, went past Christ Church Cathedral, through the Temple Bar area, and ended at Trinity College. During the tour the clouds parted and the sun came out and we saw blue sky – I was even concerned about getting a sunburn as I hadn’t put on any sunscreen for the day. Our tour guide, Carl Jackson, invited us all to an evening Pub Crawl, but we can’t make it as we’re too tired – never thought I would hear Tom give something like that up so willingly ! Tom claims he is saving himself for the rest of our Irish journey.

Boston, MA

Writing this today is a little bit deceptive because Tom and I actually left South Carolina last night (Sunday 24 May) at 6:30 PM on our flight to Boston – layover in Baltimore for 2 hours before heading to Boston and arriving after midnight. We checked into the Marriott Residence Inn Seaport all on Marriott points and were treated to an upgraded suite because of Tom’s status with the Marriott program. The room and the entire Residence Inn were not your typical Marriott property as the building had recently been converted from an early 20^th century manufacturing facility into trendy industrial loft-style 1278 square foot suites complete with full kitchens. Too bad we were only staying one night as we would have loved to have been in this hotel for a much longer time.

We didn’t sleep in – up early for the substantial all-included breakfast – and then off to do the Freedom Trail. We walked and walked for the better part of 4 hours tracing the history of our Revolutionary War heroes.

The Old State House, the Boston Tea Party site, the grave of Samuel Adams, Paul Revere’s House, Faneuil Hall and the Quincy Market area, The Old North Church, and most notably the cemeteries were highlights for us.   

We had to get back to our hotel for a quick shower as we both needed it due to the high humidity and warm temps before heading back to Logan Airport to catch our flight to Dublin. During our time in Boston we used public transportation, but the arrival and departure were markedly different. No one was around at midnight when we arrived, but it seemed all of Boston decided to go to the airport for our departure – the buses were jammed packed with not a square inch to spare. Japanese subway pushers couldn’t have squeezed anyone else on board. But we made it in plenty of time for our check-in for our 6:45 PM flight to Dublin.

 This was our first time flying Aer Lingus (the national airline of Ireland) and although the food was good, the seats were way to close together with the people in front of us practically reclining in our laps !

More tomorrow from Dublin.