Tales From The Crypt - Saturday 17th to Tuesday 20th December 2022

It's been a while.  Since I last published a blog and since a wrote a multi-day blog post.

I shall do my best to capture the essence of these four days, most of which were spent in Dublin.

Let's start on Saturday, which began like any normal Saturday at home, with a trip to the shops and bread stall. After that things changed.  Time to finish packing and drive to Q's house in Liverpool, for a brief stop before Q and I head to John Lennon International for a short hop (I Flatley deny it!) to Dublin.

Q's mum and daughter drove us to the airport and our break is really under way. Q and I grabbed some food at the airport as by the time we get to our hotel they'll probably have stopped taking food orders.

As we queue to board our plan, I'm starting get worried that it may be overloaded. The amount of botox and filler sported by a large bunch of Liverpool lasses who must be going away for the pre-Christmas craic may just tip the balance.  I think they may also be carrying a lot of unwrapped duty free.

Despite the undeclared extra baggage allowance, we land safely in Dubh Linn, and are soon in a taxi on our way to our hotel south of the Liffey.

In the dark, the outside of the hotel, a former school, looks good  - apparently it was the site of a battle in the Easter 1916 uprising and still contains many original features.  Not only that but the rooms on this floor are named after a mix of historical and literary figures:  we pass Oliver St. John Gogarty and Oscar Wilde on the way to our room, named Anne Devlin.

Sunday arrives after a restful night in our spacious and comfortable room. We're going to be doing a lot of walking, so we both opt for the full Irish breakfast, though after Q rejected a few items, I have the full cardiac arrest variant.

First stop today is EPIC The Irish Emigration museum, though as we walk there through the docks, surrounded by Google, KPMG, and variety of other tech/consulting offices, we stop at various James Joyce related sites near the route. (I may end up doing a separate 'Ulysses'/JJ-themed post.  Q found an excellent app that uses Google maps to track where you are relative to sites of interest, and I love it!)

Wow!  EPIC is as-named. It is the best museum I've visited, barring any related to the man himself, of course.  It's hard to find adequate words to say, but the stories, exhibits and interactive elements were very moving.  Many things stuck in my mind, but two facts will never leave me: during the Great Famine, over 1 million people died and another million emigrated; there are more people of Irish descent living outside Ireland than in it.  It's easy to see why the Irish hated (hate?) the English. As for Oliver Cromwell...  If you visit Dublin and visit only one cultural location, this is the one to go to.

Apparently I am in full geek/fanboy mode, but this is what Dublin does to me.  Place name of the day is 'Dún Laoghaire', Q has an amazing way of pronouncing it. Brilliant.

We walked so much that in the end we decided to eat at the hotel we are staying in. Great choice as it turns out. I had the most amazing John Dory, cooked to perfection.  Served on a bed of saffron rice.  I still think you can't beat sheets and a mattress.

Monday was spent exploring more of the city, in full JJ 'fanboy' mode (I am not a fanboy!!!), taking in the National Maternity Hospital (you know how it is), Oscar Wilde, and most notably Sweny's Pharmacy. Sweny's is fantastic.  I am so glad we found it. Great Joyce/'Ulysses' selection of books and other memorabilia, a couple of which I could not resist. When we arrived they were about to do a reading in Greek, which we declined, however, PJ, offered to sing us a song in Gaelic, accompanying himself on guitar, which he did. 

We ventured further to St. Stephen's Green, taking in the former site of UCD (now the MOLI) before a threatening sky drove us to a nearby Italian restaurant, which was an unexpected good find. Great food, with dash of wine.  Q's left knee's been playing up, which is not good, especially given the walking we've been doing. 

After lunch, we toured further, ending up at Trinity College, where we found ourselves in the 'Book of Kells' exhibition. We both thought it was a major let down after EPIC yesterday.  It was distinctly underwhelming, and I was hoping for something better, given its connection to 'Finnegans Wake', or vice versa, strictly. Oh,well.

We walked back to the hotel via a SPAR, planning to have a feast in our room after such a good lunch.  In the end we went to the hotel bar, bought a couple of drinks and some chips and took them back to Anne Devlin.

For the second day in a row, and our final day in Dublin, I had smoked salmon and scrambled eggs as the hot part of my breakfast. Hard to beat.  We're off to the James Joyce Cultural Centre north of the Liffey. We catch a bus ride, which turns out to be free (there's a lot to be said for being Australian), which is just as well as when get there it's shut until next year! So much for t'internet. Nevertheless this part of town is awash with JJ sites, though we head to Chapters bookshop and then for a coffee. Despite Q's knee, we walk to a café/restaurant by the Liffey, before getting a taxi back to the hotel, for one last drink before getting another taxi to the airport.  Our Dublin adventure is coming to an end.

There's so much to see, and so much left unseen. We'll be back!

The journey ended as it had begun, with Q's daughter picking us up and taking us home.

Jockstrap / 'Greatest Hits' / 'I Love You Jennifer B'

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