10 Questions About…

It really feels like we’re in Dublin now that we’ve done two of our favorite and most regular things. We walked down Dun Laoghaire pier and gone to visit with the Fitzgerald’s.

We took the DART out to Dun Laoghaire and walked down the pier as we have done about a hundred times before. Although Aine was the only one who wanted a 99 (ice cream cone) so I knew something was different. We didn’t see any seals, which was a great disappointment to me but Lily and I did see a porpoise (or dolphin – hard to tell when all we really saw was the dorsal fin). The pier was busy. It was super sunny for part of the walk, then a big rain and wind storm blew through, then sunny. So pretty much the same as usual.

And that we popped into the People’s Park where they were having a Ukulele Hooley, which was fun. People playing music and lots of market-type stuff going on. Every third person was carrying a ukulele so it must have been a big deal.

Then Barney picked us up and we headed to the Fitzgerald’s. They had kindly invited us with almost no advance warning but Ailbhe is heading out of town today so it was a now or never sort of deal. Barney drove the girls to see their old school, Cabinteely village and their Irish grandma’s house. Although the house has been completely redone – in fact it looks like it may have been entirely rebuilt.

It was great to catch up. I haven’t seen the girls laugh that much in a while. We ended the night with s’mores. It was a super fun day but also I imagine a little hard for the girls.

We didn’t really bring any good weather with us this year – at least not so far. It has rained pretty much every day. One day I sat in the kitchen inches away from the heater all day because I was freezing. But I guess you don’t some to Ireland for the weather. Although you’d hope that you wouldn’t be sad about leaving your mittens at home!

That being said, we’re tough and we’ve been talking lots of walks. We walk around the parks in Cabinteely. We walk down the pier in Dun Laoghaire. In fact (and I know this is meaningless to most readers) we walked from Dun Laoghaire to Cabinteely one day. And we’ve walked in town. And I’ve taken pictures are we’ve trekked.

So our first full day Patrick and I headed to Taste of Dublin – it’s a fun event in the Iveagh Gardens where lots of restaurants sell (and sometimes give) samples of their best dishes. We have a few years in the past. SO this was the worst weather we’ve experienced – but it did seem as if there were more free tiny tastes of food and drink. Especially tiny tastes of wine, which is fun. Also we connected with old friends – Karina and Bernie. I haven’t seen Bernie in almost 20 years. I worked for her at a cafeteria at Mother Redcap’s Market. It was fun to talk to her; I have always been amazed at how smart Bernie is especially in terms of current events. We spoke a lot of time talking about fracking.

On the way out of the event we got free drink tickets for some pub – so we got a bonus free sample in a pub that Bernie mentioned did not allow anyone over 25 in when they first opened. Apparently we were looking good or they have become less fussy.

Then Patrick and headed to Glasthule to catch the tail end of a Bloomsday Party. It was fun to walk around and see the James Joyce fans.

We have been to the Dun Laoghaire Regatta twice now. Last time we were pretty excited and weren’t sure what we were going to see. Our expectations were more tempered this year. We weren’t expecting much so it was a lot better. Really Lily, Aine and I were just looking for something fun and easy – so we walked up the East Pier – but we walked up the rough part of the tame pier. Our timing was good – most of the sailboats were just heading out. It is kind of fun to see the harbor full of sailboats.

A couple of days later Patrick and I headed to the Abbey Theatre with our buddy Gary to see Brian Friel’s Translations. Brian Friel is an Irish playwright who spent some formative months at the Guthrie Theater; he shows up in Patrick’s dissertation. The best part of the night was meeting up with one of the lead actors, Dennis Conway. Gary knows Dennis which is how that happened. We ended up spending a very late night at a pub in Kilmainham – the night got so late I got to turn out the lights in the pub. That’s the lights on the outside – we weren’t (thankfully) the last people in the actual pub. Sorry – no pictures of the late night!

Last week was the big production of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory by Johnstown Girl School’s fourth grade – featuring Kate O’Donnell as Oompa Looompa…

That night we celebrated the big performance with a walk down Dun Laoghaire Pier. They have opened the area near the lighthouse – so that was kind of a thrill!

So here’s a little quiz. Where was Handel’s Messiah first played? If you said Dublin, you’re right. If you knew it happened in 1742, you get bonus points. For the anniversary there are activities all around Temple Bar in Dublin. We went to hear music at St Audeon’s, which was kind of fun. I won’t pretend that any of us are classical music buffs – or even classical/traditional Irish music buffs but it was nice. The biggest treat through was going into the St Audeon’s visitor center.

I used to live behind St Audeon’s, which is near Christ Church is a very old part of Dublin, but I had never been in the old or new church. So it was kind of cool.

The other pictures were taken either from a day we spent in Dun Laoghaire or a day in town on Thomas Street (that’s the picture with the modern art heads).

So we had sort of a rough week. Lily miscalculated a party. Patrick and I ended up at a lecture that was longer than we anticipated one day and missing a lecture by a friend the next. Patrick’s mom has had several friends with house break-ins. Subsequently both Patrick and I have set off the alarm here. We just kind of hit the end of winter blahs.

But we did get a tour of City Hall during the Festival of the Book.  We saw a rowing race on the Liffey (maybe UCD vs Trinity). Lily and I trekked around Stephen’s Green while Aine and Kate played in the park. We took some pictures there and we did sneak an afternoon in Dun Laoghaire – and we took some pictures there.

And as you’ll see in upcoming posts, which I’ll try to do today or tonight, things are looking up!