December 20th, 2009
Dublin, Ireland
Somehow, someway, through the divinity of our merciful Lord, I ended up having to spend two nights in Dublin on my route home to the U.S. for the Holidays. Okay, that’s what my Irish heritage probably wishes were my feelings about it all. Alas, I was cursing Aer Lingus and the crummy weather in Europe and New York as passionately as I could.
Despite little (no) snow on the ground we were grounded
After we de-boarded our flight we were told that the next possible day we could get back to the States was Tuesday, two days later than we had planned. The ground staff then directed us to an airport hotel where they put us up with meals (albeit restricted ones) included. Normally, airlines assume no responsibility when weather is to blame yet somehow they did. That lead me to believe that something was up. Rather than argue my way around the logic, I took my meal ticket and slopped some shephards pie on my tray and watched with envy as my husband was able to enjoy a Guinness on tap. After one night in the airport hotel, which incidentally had NO HEAT, I bucked up and decided to make the most of our blessed final 24-hours in Dublin. I got on the ‘book, as my friend Trevor calls it – Facebook, that is, and emailed my second cousin Geoff to see if he was available to play tour guide. Then I went in hunt of a good rate at a better hotel in the city from which to explore the sites.
A government building and the sunshine that kept us stranded in Dublin
With an American Express rate in hand, we hopped a cab and left the frigid airport digs in favor of the illustrious Merrion Hotel.
The front door of the Merrion decorated for the Holidays
The Georgian, brick facade of the hotel is warm and welcoming, particularly at the holidays. The government building pictured above is actually directly across from the entrance. Blessed (again) with crisp sunny weather, my husband and I headed off to explore the easily walkable downtown area of Dublin.
First we hit the Merrion Park and came upon a rather compelling statue of Oscar Wilde up on a rock. I felt the need to join him, despite my deteriorating agility.
After that we walked up towards Dublin’s prettiest park, St. Stephen’s Green (pictured below).
As you can see, the weather was hardly formidable
A nice stroll through the park let us out at the very top of Grafton Street, Dubin’s most populated shopping street. As you can imagine, the street was humming with people and storefronts screaming holiday bargains. We allowed ourselves to get swept away by the stream of the crowd, content to aimlessly gaze around with little purpose.
Imagine 600 more people in this photo and that's what our day looked like. So much so I didn't even bother to take my own photo
We stopped for lunch at a great spot, found randomly (although it is embarrassingly, right across the street from the Tourist office) called O’Neills. Although it looks small from the outside, it’s actually quite enormous inside with two different types of meals offered – hot and cold. I opted for a make-your-own sandwich and was delighted by the result. We sat at a table that had its own tap and monitored your beer intake. That, of course, was the biggest hit. Again, I watched wtih envy as my husband took down another two pints of Guinness.
A definite tourist spot yet surprisingly good and charming inside
After lunch my wonderful cousin Geoff rang and arranged to meet us at one of his favorite pubs, Davy Byrnes, located on the other side of Grafton Street. We headed inside to quite an upscale establishment – well, relative to where we had just been.
The pub is one of Dublin’s most famous on account of its multiple references in Joyce’s Ulysses. Geoff told us that even though it can be a bit of a ‘tourist-trap’, it’s quite popular among Dubliners and he and ‘his mates’ meet there often. After another pint, this the bartender poured me my own mini-version which, is known locally as a French Guinness because the French can’t often handle a full pint. So, with my dignity a bit bruised, we pushed onto Temple Bar area, Dublin’s famous pub-crawl hotspot and favorite among Hen and Stag Parties.
The Elephant and Castle restaurant in Temple Bar - sister to a personal fave on W. 11th and Bleecker in NYC
After strolling past all the eateries (so many!), headshops and bars, Geoff steered us to the area’s iconic bar, the Temple Bar Pub.
Me and cuz Geoff - a great tour guide and even better guy
More than 160 years old, the pub is quite the gathering place with live music and multiple spots to sit, eat and of course, drink. That night there was a solo act on stage, strumming his guitar and belting tunes into the mike. I can’t say I recognized any of them but his talent was easily notable. It appears the pub has won the Irish Music Pub of the Year award for the last seven years in a row. As our cabdriver later explained, you can’t have a few pints of Guinness without a proper singsong.
After my husband’s fifth Guinness, Geoff took us on a fabulously detailed tour of Trinity College, his Alma-mater. Unfortunately a few of the buildings were closed, namely the dining hall which is purported to look like Hogwarts from Harry Potter, but having Geoff’s narrative of his happy years as a student run throughout the tour far made up for any locked doors.
Apologies for the cribbed photo - it was dark when we walked around. It does look nice in the spring thought doesn't it.
Geoff’s tales and the stunning architecture of the college made me chide myself for having not studied a semester at Trinity. The college’s unique location, tucked within the center of the city, is a source of estimable pride and is truly unique. Sure, my university was in a city too but we were somewhat ensconced in our own western enclave with nary a metro to access downtown DC. Here the gated walls protect the inner sanctum of the College allowing it to thrive as a peaceful and quiet environment, sheltering the students so they may study. Or play rugby, host massive parties on the green and do whatever else students find themselves doing.
Leaving the quietude of Trinity we emerged smack back in the center of the city with only a few blocks to stroll to Geoff’s next pub of choice. The pub (whose name I’m totally forgetting), is named after the man who used to live upstairs, is an old-school establishment and highly popular with young Dubliners. Geoff ran into a few mates quite easily and so we left him there happily reminiscing with old pals.
We headed back to the Merrion and our delightful garden room. The bed was nice and plush and the bathroom was bedecked in marble, complete with a sunken tub.
English style at the Merrion
After showering we had a simple dinner down the street and walked back to our hotel in the chilly night air. It began to rain and we were happy to have stayed close to home for our meal. I was a bit remiss that we didn’t go downstairs in the hotel’s restaurant, The Vault, for our meal but the prices were a bit over our head and frankly, I wasn’t up for getting gussied up. Nevertheless, we fell asleep happy to have had a chance to see such a special, small city in good weather and shown around by a charming native. We also enjoyed the Merrion and the hospitality there immensely. Here’s a pic that the kindly doorman insisted on taking of me when I was photographing the hotel, saying a pretty lass like myself must also be in the photos.
Ahhh, the Irish.
