End of the Year Fun (part 3)

The last part of our holiday adventure involved a short flight (at a ridiculously early hour) from Leeds to Dublin. The Leeds airport is tiny but was amazingly busy for the Saturday after Christmas. We were on a prop plane, so we had a chilly walk out on to the tarmac. BRRR! (see pic below)

When we got into town, we were given keys to a cute little apartment I found on Vrbo that was actually attached to the Qualtrics offices in Dublin. Six apartments facing a central (open) patio... when you get off the elevator, the offices are to the left and the flats are to the right. We figured maybe they have those flats available for their executives? Not that week - it was mostly New Years' vacationers like us. 

It was cold and gray most of the week. We found the basement supermarket in the Dunne's department store across the street (like Corte Ingles) and picked up coffee, breakfast items, hot cocoa (Cadbury's, of course), and some snacks. As is our tradition on the first night in a new place, we found a burger place for dinner. Handsome burger was right up the street, and it was quite tasty. It was an early night for us, since we'd already been up since 5am! 

Sunday, I booked us a food tour from Secret Tours. (Never tried this company before, but it was great - I'll look for them in other cities - maybe even try it in Barcelona.) It was COLD, but we really enjoyed it. Our guide gave a great tour of the city, including lots of history (and she wasn't shy about her opinion of the English!), and suggestions for places to eat and visit. First, we ventured across O'Connell bridge and started with Irish coffees (and hot chocolate for me) at Vice.  Then back across Ha'Penny bridge and through Temple Bar square for sausage rolls (YUM). Then we sat down at another coffee shop/bakery for Irish cheese and crackers. 

Along the way, we walked into the Dublin Castle area, where they were setting up for NYE festivities. One of the security guys alerted our guide that they were about to open the Chapel Royal to the public -- which is apparently rare? -- so we waited the three or so minutes and popped our heads in for some photos. It was a beautiful little chapel with angels hanging from the beams. 

Then it was off to the next stop, where we sat in the basement of an ancient pub and had Irish stew with fresh brown bread. After that we went to the Seafood Cafe for oysters, which only a few of our dozen tour-takers ate... and ate quickly, because we were standing outside! BRRR! Speaking of cold, our last stop was over near our apartment for ice cream at Murphy's. Their raspberry sorbet was delicious. We walked past the "Temple Bar" which is a famous stop for tourists, but the guide made sure to tell us *not* to go there, unless we wanted to pay double price for a pint of Guinness. But we stopped for a group photo. 

When we were out with the guide we walked past one of Jamie Oliver's restaurants, and I decided that would be a great place to spend New Year's Eve. Of course, I was a little late in trying to make a reservation, but I got us in for bar seating at 17:30.  

After all of that walking in the cold, we went back to the apartment to warm up and nap. For dinner, we went to an Italian place - Pacino's - that got good reviews for its gluten-free menu items. So naturally, I had to have pizza! I tried the Quattro staggioni (four seasons) with salami, ham, artichokes, and mushrooms. Really good, and plenty to take home for lunch the next day. 

Monday, we decided to walk all the way around St Stephen's Green, a big park right near our apartment. I can see how it would be a lovely place to eat lunch or spend a Sunday sitting on a bench... if it was more than 4 degrees (C) outside! On the north side of the park, we visited the Little Museum of Dublin, and got a guided tour. The tour guide was excellent, and the memorabilia in the museum made it well worth the visit. They had an interesting section about "Little Jerusalem" - the Jewish section of Dublin. Between the 1880s and the 1940s, a wave of Jews came from Eastern Europe, until there were more than 5,000 in Dublin. But the city refused to take refugee children during WWII, and there's always been a tinge of antisemitism. Not at lot of us left in Ireland, apparently (around 2000). 

The one thing that everyone goes to see in Dublin is the Guinness Storehouse. (see pic at top) We had tickets for Monday afternoon at 4:30. It's a self-guided tour, but they take you in groups of 50-ish.  I thought we'd be able to get dinner there, but the in-house restaurants and bars all closed at 5pm (except for the top floor, where you get your free pint). Oops. John had been to Guinness ~25 years ago, but it's changed a lot - it's much more "Disney-fied", and was also decorated for the holidays. It's a very well-run experience, including tasting (and aroma) lessons, a section on their advertising campaigns, and a gigantic shop at the exit. Up at the roof bar, with views of the whole city, we enjoyed our pints (I had the 0,0 alcohol-free brew), and then we bought some souvenirs and headed back across town to find dinner. 

The cabbie was a hoot -- I'm not sure I understood everything he was telling us, but he recommended the Irish stew at O'Neill's pub, so that's where we went for dinner. Of course, they were sold out of the (gluten free) cottage pie, but the shepherd's pie (see pic) and the Guinness beef stew were just as delicious. This is the kind of Irish pub you hear about - lots of little nooks and crannies for seating, and lots of different languages being spoken. We heard almost as much Spanish in Dublin as we did English! The ladies sitting next to us at the pub were from Spain - we offered to watch their stuff when they went off to the bar to order food. On the way back to the apartment we stopped by the statue of Molly Malone (from the famous song). Apparently people used to rub the statue's boobs for luck? They've tried to put an end to that. 

Tuesday, we went over to the National Museum of Ireland - the Archaeology museum, in Kildare Street. It's a beautiful old building with carved doorways and a giant rotunda, and it's full of artifacts from the
Vikings up through modern times. In the center of the main space was a display of all of the various gold trinkets, jewelry, and such that have been found around Ireland over time. There were also some amazingly intricate carved pieces from the Viking age. We were surprised to find a room upstairs devoted to Egyptian artifacts, but those were donated over time by Irish travelers. (My first question was, what were the Egyptians doing in Ireland?) 

On our way back we stopped at Butler's Chocolates to get some hot cocoa (and other provisions). Turns out you get a free truffle with your beverage, too! I don't even remember what flavor we got but it was delicious! We might just be chocoholics -- I had to giggle when I out all of our recent purchases (and gifts) on the table together. 

We decided it would be funny to try Mexican food for dinner, from another place just up the street from our Vrbo - Pablo Picante. It's a local chain. The barbacoa was delicious, but the salsa was a little too sweet for our taste. And yet again, enough food that I could have leftovers for lunch the next day.  

And then it was Wednesday, New Year's Eve. We hiked over to EPIC, the Irish Immigration museum. If you have relatives who left Ireland and moved to the US (or wherever), you can request help from their archivists to find your roots (you need an appointment and there's a fee). It's a really fun and interactive museum. They give you a 'passport' that you get stamped in each room of the museum, after you've learned about the hardships (and successes) of Irish people as they spread across the globe. The museum 'claims' everyone from Che Guevara to Barack "O'Bama" as Irish. :)  And of course, the McCalpin clan came through here as well.

At some point I realized that 17:30 for dinner wasn't 7:30pm, it was 5:30pm, so we went out a little earlier than I had intended. But we were not the only ones who had reservations to sit at the bar at that hour. We ordered the prawn cocktail appetizer, and then I had monk fish, and John had tortellini with braised beef. If I'd been paying attention, we would've skipped the prawns in favor of the chocolate mousse for dessert, but we were too full by then. All I could do was gaze at the mousse as they served it to the guy next to me. Sigh. But we also had Magnum bars back at the apartment. Everything was delicious. (It was probably also the most expensive meal we've had since we moved to Europe!) 

Back at the apartment, we had our dessert and shared a tiny bottle of prosecco, and got ready for bed. (We watched a holiday movie - was it "The Holiday"? or "Love Actually"? I don't remember). We were just falling asleep when we started hearing the fireworks going off -- REALLY close to us. When I looked out, I could see fireworks displays all around town. It was beautiful. (and it got quiet again within 15 minutes!) 

Thursday morning we cleaned up and packed, and took a taxi out to the airport. We had a few hours to kill, so we relaxed in the Aer Lingus lounge while we waited for our flight. Somehow, even though the flight was pretty full, John and I each had a row to ourselves (we took the aisle seats across from each other). Everything went smoothly until we landed in Barcelona and made it to the passport line... which we waited in for an hour. I guess even border protection people get to have a day off once in a while? We chatted with a lovely couple behind us in line - he's Irish, and she's Venezuelan. (OY, that poor girl, a few hours later!) We'll get together with them in Barcelona for drinks soon.  

We love traveling, but once again, this trip showed us that two weeks is about our limit. We were SO happy to be home!  

Here are the rest of the Dublin Photos