Patrick’s mom has been in Galway this weekend. So there was no Fearghal out on Sunday – but we managed the longest day ever.
We started with a nice lunch at our favorite Dun Laoghaire – the GastroPub. Then we were going to walk to Monkstown to see a skateboard and bike event. We walked for more than an hour and we never made it. We walked by a church (see photo below). The view of the sea was nice. It was actually a nice walk until we realized that we were no where near the Monktown gym/pool. So eventually we got a bus into town.
Once in town we visited the Hugh Lane Gallery. Lily showed us about the Francis Bacon exhibit – she had gone to see it with school. Patrick wanted to go to the wax museum around the corner – but it had moved. So my tip of the day is to NOT use a book when you’re making your plans for touring Dublin. They are nearly outdated as soon as their printed with all of the development in Dublin.
So we walked to the opposite end of town to have yummy treats at Bewley’s Café on Grafton Street. The girls got hot chocolate and treats, which was good because it gave them energy for our surprise task…
The Irish Film and TV Awards took place in Dublin tonight. We walked by the theater (The Gaiety) just in time to see the people lined up to see the stars. I am uploading the video of the stars now I will post it on the blog as soon as I can, which might be tomorrow as uploading is VERY slow from here.
Saturday during the day we met us with a friend of Elaine Walsh (Who lives in MN but is from Ireland). Pauline has 3 kids just about the same age as our kids. They live in a beautiful house in Killiney. The kids had a great time. It was nearly like being at home. They played and neighborhood kids stopped by to play too.
After a while we left to meet up with an old friend of Patrick – David Kelley. We met up with David and his wife Andrea a couple of weeks ago. They invited us over for dinner with their 5 year old, Alex. They live in Greystones.
Again it was a really nice time. I know that Patrick especially enjoyed just hanging out with an old friend. But we all had a good time.
We did end up taking a lot more public transportation than anyone else going from one suburban location to another. Mostly not having a car doesn’t bother me that much here – but today it did. I think it was the day of suburban life on the bus and train that got to me.
Filed under: Dublin
Again the girls were out of school. Patrick decided we should go to the Georgian House Museum. He has a great interest in Georgian Houses; the girls and I don’t. We got to the museum and Patrick had to leave to tutor a class. So, the girls and I went through the house. They don’t allow pictures but we did take one outside.
Here’s what we remember about the house:
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The house was built in 1794
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They had 3 servants and they couldn’t read or write
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The people sat in bed instead of lying down (as we do) because of the prevalence on asthma – also they were afraid that people would think they were dead.
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The governances were young – so often once they ages they would be stuck for work or a home. They built two homes for former governances in Dublin.
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The wives didn’t go downstairs in the morning; they spent most of their day upstairs in their own parlor.
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They had bells to ring for the servants – each room had a different tone.
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The boys wore dresses – to disguise themselves as girls and lessen the threat of being kidnapped.
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Near the fireplaces women put boards in front of their faces o keep their faces/makeup from melting.
So I guess we remembered more than I thought. After the Georgian House we went to the National Gallery for lunch. At the Gallery, we ran into two friends – Robert Tynan and Eunan O’Donnell from Excaliburprima, Dublin’s top event planners.
We got the great kids’ packs and toured some of the art. Eventually Patrick met up with us. He noticed that Gabriel Byrne was in the coffee shop so we went back and sat near him. He is as hot in person as he is on screen. We chickened out and didn’t get a picture of him. I’m still mad at us for not snapping us.
Eventually we went home and had a pretty quiet night in.
Filed under: Bray
The girls were off from school on Thursday and Friday. We didn’t have a very exciting day but we went to the library, the coffee shop and the park in Cabinteely.
The weather was pretty good and our timing seemed to be good all day. We arrived at the library just in time to drop off our books before they closed for lunch. (We pick up books on the way back home.) There was exactly one table left when we got to the coffee shop and it sat 4.
The park had a lot of kids. But we weren’t there too long as it was kind of cold and I was freezing!
We had dinner at Shelby’s in Bray. It was a romantic restaurant – especially on Valentine’s Day – but we promised to be quick so they fed us. It was a nice meal
Thursday afternoon we headed to the Mermaid Theater in Bray to see Lily’s friend Ailbhe (Alva) in a play – Gone with the Breeze. She was great. The play was very fun. It was created by kids for kids so it was not unusual to have someone answer the phone before it was done ringing or for someone to get a few offstage line prompts.
Ailshe won a bear after the show, which she very kindly delivered to Aine the next day as Aine had coveted it the night before.
