We landed at Dublin approximately on schedule (11 September at 11 a.m.), picked up our bags without any trouble — which surprised us a little because they, like us, had had to change planes several times and we had some trepidation that they might not have made that last switch in London — and headed off in search of the guy who was supposed to drive us to the hotel.* Not finding anyone holding a sign with our name on it in the crowd near the exit from the baggage claim, I made to go into a tourist information office to see if I could use their phone — and that's where I spotted him, leaning casually against the wall with a cup of coffee in one hand and a "Larkins" sign in the other.
The half-hour drive to our hotel was uneventful, but heavy traffic, riding on the wrong side of the road, and going the wrong direction at the many traffic circles made me wonder whether our plan to rent a car in a couple days was — what's the word? — stupid beyond belief.
We arrived at our hotel, DT (i.e.,DoubleTree) Dublin, around 1:00 — too early to get into our room, of course. The lobby was in the process of being renovated, and each workman's tool of choice appeared to be a jackhammer,** so we left our bags and walked up Leeson Street, crossing the Grand Canal (which, we didn't know at the time but have since learned, cuts the country in two), and then along the eastern edge of St.Stephen's Green and wound up at Foley's Pub on Merrion Row for lunch. We sat at the bar, shared an order of fish and chips and drank Guinness while enjoying the chatter and activity of the friendly, witty, busy bar man and the friendly, pretty, busy waitress. Then back to the hotel to check into our room and rest a bit. At suppertime, we asked Google to find some restaurants nearby and we wound up choosing The Lobster Pot, which had received a lot of good reviews and which was a very pleasant mile's walk from the hotel and, it turned out, just a couple blocks from the U.S. embassy. Good dinner (appetizers: mussels for me and soup for The Wonderful Wife; entrees: chicken in mustard and cream sauce for me, salmon with Bernaise for TWW).***
The half-hour drive to our hotel was uneventful, but heavy traffic, riding on the wrong side of the road, and going the wrong direction at the many traffic circles made me wonder whether our plan to rent a car in a couple days was — what's the word? — stupid beyond belief.
We arrived at our hotel, DT (i.e.,DoubleTree) Dublin, around 1:00 — too early to get into our room, of course. The lobby was in the process of being renovated, and each workman's tool of choice appeared to be a jackhammer,** so we left our bags and walked up Leeson Street, crossing the Grand Canal (which, we didn't know at the time but have since learned, cuts the country in two), and then along the eastern edge of St.Stephen's Green and wound up at Foley's Pub on Merrion Row for lunch. We sat at the bar, shared an order of fish and chips and drank Guinness while enjoying the chatter and activity of the friendly, witty, busy bar man and the friendly, pretty, busy waitress. Then back to the hotel to check into our room and rest a bit. At suppertime, we asked Google to find some restaurants nearby and we wound up choosing The Lobster Pot, which had received a lot of good reviews and which was a very pleasant mile's walk from the hotel and, it turned out, just a couple blocks from the U.S. embassy. Good dinner (appetizers: mussels for me and soup for The Wonderful Wife; entrees: chicken in mustard and cream sauce for me, salmon with Bernaise for TWW).***
The next day started — as all our days on this trip were to start — with a "full Irish breakfast," consisting of fruit,
cereal, yogurt, potatoes, sausage, bacon (more like Canadian bacon than Oscar Meyer, and very good), blood pudding, eggs, assorted breads, coffee, tea, several kinds of juice, and god only knows what all else. All the people over there should weigh 300 pounds! Afterwards, we walked
back up to St. Stephen's Green, actually going through it this time,
and then wandered up Grafton Street (buying some Butlers (no
apostrophe!) chocolate for gifts), made a half-hearted attempt to see
the Book of Kells at Trinity College Dublin, but the line was long,
so we walked over to the wonderful national museum of archaeology instead; highlights for me were the "bog bodies" — fabulously well-preserved remains of people who died before Christ was born — and an exhibit on the Viking settlements around Dublin.
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* Before our trip to Turkey, we had arranged for an "airport transfer" only once. After using the service a lot in Turkey, we'll always use it. What a convenience!
** Fortunately, the noise did not carry. We didn't hear a thing when we finally got to our room.
*** Most, maybe all, of the restaurants we ate in offered fixed-price, "early bird" dinner menus that include an appetizer and an entree for about the same price as the entree alone on the a la carte menu. Hours vary from restaurant to restaurant, but at The Lobster Pot, "early bird" dinner is from 6:00 to 7:30, just the time we normally eat. At Jackson's Restaurant in Galway, "early bird" runs until 8:30, if I remember correctly. Who the heck wants to eat any later than that?
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* Before our trip to Turkey, we had arranged for an "airport transfer" only once. After using the service a lot in Turkey, we'll always use it. What a convenience!
** Fortunately, the noise did not carry. We didn't hear a thing when we finally got to our room.
*** Most, maybe all, of the restaurants we ate in offered fixed-price, "early bird" dinner menus that include an appetizer and an entree for about the same price as the entree alone on the a la carte menu. Hours vary from restaurant to restaurant, but at The Lobster Pot, "early bird" dinner is from 6:00 to 7:30, just the time we normally eat. At Jackson's Restaurant in Galway, "early bird" runs until 8:30, if I remember correctly. Who the heck wants to eat any later than that?
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