ireland-day 2

Day 2
We had finally arrived! After months of thinking about it, reading in our books, wondering what would be different and if we would recognize anything. We made it! We got our first passport stamps – sweet! Our flight had landed at around 7:30am Ireland time and by the time that we sorted out getting our luggage, where to find the rental car, how to pay for the rental car, when I only have US dollars, and whether or not to get the collision insurance (by-the-way, get the insurance, trust me, Murphy’s law will apply – even in a Guinness town! Sorry bad beer joke.). It was 10:00am and I was desperate for a cup of coffee, I would easily have been on my fourth cup at work by now.

We found a small side café in Dublin airport, where everyone looked as haggard as we did after arriving from a multitude of other locations. It was here in this little café that it struck me that I did not bring nearly enough cash, because between my son and I, we got a bottle of water and a cup of coffee…and it cost $9.10. I had to ask her to repeat it because I could not believe it! I told my son to enjoy his water and not to throw out a single drop!

Once we were feeling somewhat alive we decided that we should go ahead and brave it and find our car and drive into Dublin.

For the novice European driver I highly recommend arriving in Dublin early on a Saturday morning, because most people are still sleeping which dramatically cuts down on the road traffic. A great help when I spent the first hour screaming in panic at every possible car, truck, stop light, speed posting, car passing, and even pedestrians! To say that I was disoriented would be a drastic misrepresentation! The up-side was that my son found it totally hilarious and sat in the passenger seat gurgling with laughter at seeing me loose my cool on several occasions. Everything is opposite and my entire equilibrium was thrown off, to the point where even trying to thank someone for having pity on me and letting me over became painful. (I mean that literally since every time I would wave, as I normally would with my right hand, I would slam into the window. Amusing after five or six times, much less so after 20!)

We were honked at no less that twelve times, drove up a wrong way street several times, circled Dublin six hundred fifty-eight times, parked (accidentally) in a guarda (police) ‘official use only’ spot where I finally broke down and asked for directions, after having a momentary crying fit in the car. At first the officer attempted to ignore that we were there, but I must have been looking particularly pathetic because he finally came over and gave us directions. All the while thinking ‘stupid american’, it was written all over his face, but he was willing to help and we were grateful. He called the hotel for us, because the global phone that I had leased wouldn’t work either (Murphy’s Law remember), and showed us on a new map that he gave us how to get there. For all you fellow travelers a bit of advice, the trick is – if you buy a map of Dublin, look for the arrows on the streets that show you which way to go on the street – MANY are one way and the way you NEED to go is seldom the way you will actually go to get somewhere. So now we are armed with four maps of Dublin; a fold-out city map that we bought in the states (big mistake, save your money), a tiny one printed in one of the guidebooks that we bought (just slightly more useful than previously mentioned foldout map), one from Hertz (absolutely useless), and finally one from the guarda. The one from the guarda was the only one that had arrows to show you which way the streets ran, and even with that it took us another 2 hours to find the hotel that was less than 10 miles away.

While we were circling, my son teetering on the verge of panicky hysteria, the scene of Chevy Chase’s hysterical laughter while being stuck in a roundabout in London saying “Look kids – Big Ben” kept playing my mind, only for us it was, “Oh look there is the Merriton Hotel!” The final hilarity was when we actually drove by our hotel, recognizing it too late and then not being able to find our way back to it for another twenty-five minutes! Awesome!

Once we arrived it was an absolute haven to us, I was so delighted that I had gone ahead and booked our hotel here, it is without a doubt one of the more expensive hotels, but worth EVERY penny to us as weary, lost travelers! It was a charming place tucked back in a small side street off of Leeson Street, famous for its Georgian style houses and the lovely brightly painted, elaborately carved doors. The hotel is called Number 31, 31 Leeson Close, Dublin 2, Ireland, info@number31.ie. The delightful lady that greeted us made us feel instantly at home and offered us tea and coffee, to which we responded with an enthusiastic, ‘yes – please’, since we had not eaten since the previous evening on the plane. My son and I sat in a sunken lounge area, with a peat brick fire going in the fireplace, sipping hot drinks and nibbling on cookies. It was here that we decided we really would like to live like this more often!

After our brief repast, we dropped our baggage in our rooms, resisted the pull of the plush looking beds and opted to take a walk through the city. Our affable hostess gave us another map of Dublin to use for our walking excursion. This one ended up being the one that we used the most, it had a cartoon style and was by far the easiest to understand, plus it clearly marked the location of our hotel, very clever! This brings our map count up to 5, surely there is no way for us to get lost now!

On our walk towards Grafton Street, the shopping district of Dublin, one of the first things that we noticed, and liked instantly was that the city was not full of skyscrapers and monstrous hotels. It had an intimate atmosphere to it similar to Old Towne Alexandria, only much older, like a comfortable pair of slippers that just feel right. It was grey from the rainstorm that was building, and crowds more savvy to the Irish weather were walking briskly to find shelter from the wet. We had not quite figured out that we were about to be soaked and took our time meandering and marveling at every tiny wonder that we saw. There were vine covered buildings, small book shops, flower sellers, street performers, ancient buildings, modern shimmering glass store fronts, street vendors, musicians, couples, families, lovers, and vagabonds. The flower sellers enchanted me, it was so unexpected. We were strolling down Grafton, after having had to duck inside a shop while the deluge of rain passed, and on the side street right where it joined Grafton was a wall of flowers. A tumble of colors, textures, and scents, all sparkling from the sun that shimmered on their rain drenched petals. It was magic and permanently etched into my mind as part of Dublin. We saw them all three days of our visit. I loved watching people walk away with their arms full of blossoms.

Our first meal in Dublin was at a small pub called “The Duke” on Duke Street, so we had to go there and try it. It was delicious, we had their Irish stew and it was easily the best I have ever eaten, then again it better be good as it is their signature meal, right? It was chocked full of carrots, potatoes, and lamb, with a rich and savory broth that makes my mouth water just remembering it. We were very tempted to lick our bowls clean but we weren’t sure that would enhance the reputation of American’s abroad, so we decided against it.

The meal made us so sleepy that it took a good deal of self discipline to not take a taxi back to our hotel. We wanted to see the much talked about St. Stephens Green, so just slightly jet-lagged and comfortably full we made our way to the park. It was worth the tired legs because it is a lovely park. It is nestled right down in the heart of Dublin, though it is a small the grounds are laid out in such a charming fashion that it feels much larger. There is a winding duck pond, quaint stone walking bridges, a wild rock and fern garden, fountains, rainbows of flowers, ancient oak and poplar trees, playgrounds, and artistic statues and monuments to those long gone. We were continuously awe struck by how green and lush everything was, but it is worth mentioning that it is because it had rained six times since we landed less than twelve hours ago, definitely bring a rain coat.
(what is the one thing that we forgot to pack…yep you guessed it – a raincoat!)