Slàinte Dublin

I'm still catching up on stories and am now only three months behind!

Anyway, I made a lot of trips to Dublin over the last year-plus. This story's about my last weekend there when Diana came with me to play tourist.

Our first stop was at the Kilmainham Gaol, which is infamous for holding all sorts of political prisoners over the years.

The old prison is located a handful of tram stops away from central Dublin. It's made up of stone buildings that are startlingly cold and damp. I can imagine it wasn't pleasant (for a variety of reasons) as we had trouble staying warm during our brief visit even on a rare spring-like day.

Having spent a bunch of time in Dublin, I became familiar with many of the street and place names although it wasn't until going to Kilmainham that I was able to attach a story to those names. Like Independence Hall and areas around Philadelphia with the American revolution, the stories provide a who's who of the (modern) Irish independence movement.

The guided tour lasts about 45 minutes and takes you through various buildings although the highlight of the tour (I'm told), the Victorian-styled wing, was closed for renovations.

The view through a guard's peep hole into a cell, which the guide say could hold (at least?) four prisoners.

It was an effective tour. I learned a lot of Irish history AND was reminded to stay out of prison!

Diana and I in the front courtyard of Kilmainham. (By the way, our smiles are not meant to be disrespectful and I recognize that it isn't a very happy place for many.)

Our next stop was Trinity College, which I had been past probably 100 times but never went in. We took a guided tour that was led by a former student who did an awesome job telling us about the history of the school, showing us around, and sharing what life's like living in the middle of a tourist attraction (like we don't already know!).

The highlight of the tour is a visit to Trinity College's library to see the book of Kells and walk around the "Long Room", which looks a lot like something you'd see in a Harry Potter movie. It helped that our guide wore some kind of strange jacket that made him look right out of the movie.

There were two different things at the library that caught my attention. The first was in a display that held like three or four open books. One was a book of Hawaiian myths and legends intended for kids. It was written by an Irishman at the request of the Hawaiian legislature. How random to find a book about Hawaii at Dublin's Trinity College library?

The other thing that surprised me was coming across the Brian Boru harp. The harp dates from the 15th century and is the inspiration for the symbol widely used today to represent Ireland. Familiar with the Guinness logo? Yep. How about Ryanair? That one too. Or perhaps a one-euro coin from Ireland? Ahh, yep, that too and more. By the way, like 95% of the folks I saw didn't even notice it!

Our last day playing tourist took us to nearby Malahide, which is a village located along the coast about 30 minutes via metro north of the city center. Other than being kinda' artsy, it's probably best known for the Malahide Castle.

Random thought, if you're going to build a custom home, you really should consider putting turrets at the corners. You never know who might attack.

Again, we opted for the guided tour of the ~900 year-old estate and ~800 year-old castle. Like the Kilmainham Gaol, there's a ton of history and the guide mentioned a whole bunch of other folks whose names you can find on street signs and squares throughout the area.

The tour was very good but probably the thing I'll most remember is how our guide systematically touched pretty much every single item on display!

So ended my extended time in Dublin. I met and got to know a bunch of great folks and had fun being a part-time resident. Thanks Ireland for the adventure and all those yummy meals! See you soon and a big ole' slàinte to everyone!

Diana and I in front of the Liffy not too far from the convention center and Samuel Beckett bridge (hey, there's that harp shape again!).

Belfast And Northern Ireland

Belfast is one of those places that's always been a bit mysterious for me. I didn't really know what to expect when Diana and I arrived at the central bus station after our ride up from Dublin. Would it be just another town? Would there be bombed-out buildings? Would it be like London or like Dublin? I had no idea but I was looking forward to seeing it all firsthand and to learn more about "The Troubles".

A friend of mine from Dublin recommended that we take a Black-Cab Tour where you get driven around Belfast while the driver gives you a political history lesson as well as lots of social commentary.

Our extremely-knowledgeable driver took us to various neighborhoods, both Catholic and Protestant, and showed us a bunch of political murals that are painted on houses, businesses, and walls all around the city. Some of the murals are still highly-charged, like the one above, showing one side or the other but many now feature unification/peace themes.

He did a great job patiently explaining The Troubles, the fighting between the loyalists and independents, and the Protestant versus Catholic factions. What was, or even still is at times, a civil-war-type fight between neighbor and neighbor seems to be fading according to our driver. But, he said, some of the large gates between parts of the city still get closed each night...just in case...

There were a bunch of things that I found interesting (and unexpected) during our visit. It seems that many Belfast folks, regardless of which side they come from, want to move on. Our driver must have said ten times how "that was the past" and that they didn't want to dwell on it. Even though he gives tours to out-of-town folks, even our driver and others we talked to were still somewhat amazed that so many people want to come to Belfast. Oh, and one other thing, the locals may or may not like each other, but they still like tourists!

Diana and I in front of one section of the "Peace Wall":

We again used airbnb to find accommodations and were super lucky to get to stay with a local family complete with mom, dad, two kids, and a dog. When we arrived at the house our first afternoon, the family had just found out their rabbit, who they thought was male, recently had babies and had just brought them into the house for the first time. Mom made a pot of tea and we hung out for the next two hours drinking tea, eating biscuits, and talking about all sorts of topics, including traveling, The Troubles, the family's experience living in Northern Ireland, and, of course, bunnies! What a great experience!

On day two of our visit, we walked the length of the city staring out in the city's central market where, we were told, people, regardless of background, worked and interacted. Yes, the people in Belfast are still acutely aware of divisions but they also seem motivated to continue moving towards the future. From the market, we walked up to the university area and stopped at the city's botanical gardens before heading back towards the center of town.

Belfast seems to be developing a tourist infrastructure with things like the Black-Cab tours and their newly built Titanic Experience center, which is the silver, angular building in the photo below:

Yes, the story without end got its start in the Belfast shipyards where the Titanic was built. We didn't take the almost-thirty-dollar-per-person (!!!) tour but we did hang out in the visitors' center, got some afternoon tea, and checked out the gift shop.

The building's design is based on four, full-sized Titanic bows with the museum in the center. The ship was built out behind where the building is now. The dry dock has been filled in but there are lines where the ship was positioned as it was built. They've even shown where the lifeboats were...

Diana couldn't resist having a Kate Winslet moment:

Diana and I wanted to go up to Giant's Causeway and maybe stop on the way at the nearby Bushmills distillery. (You know I can't resist a factory visit!) I wasn't dying to drive on the wrong other side so we signed for a tour I happened to find that went to those exact places.

The first stop was a quick 30-minute side trip to the Bushmills' whiskey factory in the town of Bushmills.

There wasn't enough time to do the full tour but we did get to wander around a bit and even got a free tasting.

The next stop was two hours at the Giant's Causeway, which is waaaay up on the northern coast of Ireland. The bus drops you off at the parking lot up top and you need to either take the shuttle bus or walk down the hill. We chose to walk and, when we came around the bend, we could see what seemed like a thousand brightly-colored spiders moving around on a large rock formation that stretched out into the sea.

The (not-so) Giant's Causeway is an unusual formation made up of millions (?) of hexagon-shaped rocks. The story goes that a giant named Finn McCool, who used to live up in these parts, built a bridge so he could walk (without getting his feet wet) to Scotland to fight another giant. The story is actually even more complex than that if you can believe it. Whatever, the rocks were cool and the place and accompanying legend had a sort-of Lord-Of-The-Rings feel to them.

Giant's Causeway yoga in effect:

On the way back down to Belfast, we stopped at the original Irish tax dodge, the Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge. Fishermen (or maybe some tax lawyers?) built this rope bridge from the mainland out to an island because fish brought ashore on the mainland were taxed but fish carried from an island were not. The views down to the water and to the surrounding cliffs from this loophole were quite spectacular.

But, the highlight of our visit to Northern Ireland wasn't the cool history lessons, staying with an awesome family, eating great Irish food, walking on McCool's causeway, or even learning about Irish tax law, nope, it was passing by this Irish giant-panda farm:

I'm sorry for that one but I couldn't resist. Anyway, I have a much better understanding of the history of Belfast and we both really enjoyed our visit. Another great, extremely-lucky-to-have, experience!

The Eagles In Dublin

Being in the right place at the right time and trying to say yes to as many opportunities as possible has lead me to some exceptional experiences.

About a month ago on one of my trips to Dublin, someone I know there asked if I liked the Eagles. Normally, I'd think of the Philadelphia-variety of Eagles but, in this case, I knew that the music group the Eagles was playing a few nights at the nearby O2 arena.

Sure, I said, while thoughts of concerts flashed in my head. Sure enough, she had a ticket she wasn't going to use for that evening's show. And with that, off I went to check out the Eagles in concert in Ireland! Woohoo!

Now, I'm definitely not a huge fan of the Eagles. I don't even have any of their music saved on my phone. But, the chance to see them live - for FREE even - was too good to say no. Most of my exposure comes from my dad when he would listen to the radio or records on the weekend. Some of that music included bands like Boston and the Beatles, which, to this day, are familiar to me. So, on some level I knew of their music but probably couldn't name more than a few songs.

Well, damn. They've got some pretty amazing stuff. Crowd favorites like Hotel California, Take It Easy, and Life In The Fast Lane got big responses but I ended up pleasantly surprised by how many of their songs where I knew the words. The show lasted about three hours and was very entertaining as it was presented like a history of the band, which included videos, interviews, and story telling by different band members.

I've definitely got a new respect for Don Henley, Glenn Frey, and the rest of the Eagles. What a great surprise and fun way to spend an evening. How crazy is this thing called life?

Jameson Whiskey Dublin Distillery Tour

I first went to Ireland about ten years ago and, while there, I had the chance to visit the working Jameson whiskey factory in Midleton down near Cork. Here's a pre-whereisdarrennow photo from that trip back in 2005:

Even though it was a while ago, I remember it being a fairly interesting and cool tour and, since running back and forth from Barcelona to Dublin, I've been waiting for a chance to visit the Dublin version. Well, the opportunity came up a few weeks ago so I headed over to Dublin's Smithfield neighborhood and the Jameson's visitor center, which is craftily hidden behind the arched entrance of this somewhat modern apartment building:

John Jameson first started making his whiskey in Dublin way back in 1780 but this location hasn't been a working factory since sometime in the 1960s.

The Dublin factory's pretty much just a museum, restaurant, and gift shop now. Not really what I was hoping for but knowing this in advance wouldn't have kept me from going over to check it out. Would you like to meet me for a drink here some time?

I enjoy whiskey quite a bit but I'm a much bigger fan of Paddy's, which is another Jameson whiskey brand also made down in the Cork factory. I first had it during that first visit and have been enjoying it ever since.

The Dublin tour takes about 45 minutes where they explain how whiskey used to be made. It might have been because it was the last tour of the day but my guide just didn't seem that into it. Regardless, it was an interesting visit.

One of the tour highlights is, maybe not surprisingly, the stuffed cat in the lower, left-hand side of the photo below. It was, we were told by the guide, a real cat that used catch mice in the grain house.

Oh, and they include a small Jameson sample at the end of the tour, which was nice. All in all, a nice way to spend 12 euros ($16 U.S.) and an hour before a dinner appointment.

So, how have I aged in the last ten years???

Dublin

This past Friday marks the end of four straight weeks being in Ireland. Checking out the house in Barcelona's center during a flight (the black circle in the large open area is Plaza Catalunya):

It was very cool to be in Dublin. Most things are closed at around 5pm or so except for Thursday evenings when all the shops in town stay open until 9pm. A view up Dublin's river Liffey a little after sunset one evening:

I found the people exceptionally nice and enjoyed the opportunity to be in Ireland again. Around 2005, I was in the area around Cork and Dingle, or what I'd call the south of Ireland, but what I later found out is called the west since the whole north-south thing is a sensitive topic!

Dublin's much smaller and grubbier than I had imagined. Not that it was bad, just more industrial and port-centered than I had expected. The downtown area is classic European with small streets, lots of shops, and scenic views. But, it's also incredibly dangerous with it's wrong-way traffic! Make sure you look right!!! A couple of double-deck buses not too far from Trinity College:

The exceptionally cool, harp-shaped and rotating-when-a-ship-passes Samuel Beckett bridge (note the mandatory Irish pub with the Power's whiskey sign on the corner):

Dublin's not blessed with the best weather in the world, actually it seemed to rain every day, but it more than makes up for it with it's warm people and flowing alcohol! One of the things that most sticks out now when thinking about the city is the roving Guinness tanker trucks that pass by every 15 minutes or so. It reminds me of when we were living in Stuttgart and the Mercedes train would go by the metro station loaded with hundreds of brand new cars. Actually, I bet my brother'd rather have one of these than some Mercedes:

Well, until next time Dublin, thanks for your hospitality. I look forward to seeing you again and to experience more of what you have to offer!