Weekend in Dublin
Roger Bouchard reports on his recent trip to Ireland
In 1916, Ireland fought and won its independence. In 2016, the country celebrates its centennial of freedom.
It's a good time to check it out. Visiting Ireland is easy: need a passport, some Euros and patience. Roger and Corinne reserved Destiny Limo to shuttle us from Woonsocket to Boston; driving to Logan Airport is too much punishment for Roger.
Thursday, February 11
Our 6:30 p.m. Aer Lingus (official airline of Ireland) departure, calls for a 2 p.m. pickup in Woonsocket, which leaves plenty of time to check in, pass security and spend a leisurely encounter at Vino Volo, a wine bar found at major airports. We pause for a midafternoon sandwich and a selection of USA-produced red wines. The wine is served in “flights” of three glasses, with one ounce from a different vineyard in each. We make believe we can taste the difference.
We board an Airbus 300 /330 — Europe's answer to American made Boeing aircraft. The jumbo jet carries 220 passengers on overnight flights to Dublin in five hours and 20 minutes; if you are keeping track of time, we are really arriving at midnight, not 5 a.m. Ireland time. That places passengers in a time warp that calls for some serious hotel sleeping to adjust one's internal mechanisms. Airborne, Corinne and I enjoy a full airline meal, a touch missing with U.S. airlines traveling a similar distance. Tonight's meal is Irish cottage pie with beef, potatoes, carrots and peas accompanied by a cabbage salad.
Friday, February 12
We land at Dublin Airport, a modern, busy terminal, and pickup our prepurchased "getaway bus pass," which can be used on the local bus system to get around. We board bus 16 to deliver us to the Regency Hotel about three miles from the airport. A local girl was nice enough to point out our hotel as otherwise we would have missed the stop. Once registered, grabbing some badly needed sleep was our only concern.
We used the remainder of Friday to figure out the city layout: restaurants, bus stops, train stations and attractions. High on the agenda was dining at a genuine Irish-owned pub. Madigan's Pub on North Earl Street, downtown Dublin, matched our expectations. Loaded with dated photographs, older decor and local patrons the menu reflected authentic Irish cuisine.
We started, of course, with a round of Guinness stout, followed by an Irish roast beef dinner with mashed potatoes, green beans and sliced tomatoes. Dinner for two was 20 Euros or $23. We jumped back on the uptown bus and went back to the Regency for some catch up sleep.
Saturday February 13
It was time to turn into real tourists and head back downtown, where we looked for another bona fide Irish eatery for breakfast. We discover O'Shea's at 19 Talcot St. O'Shea's is a tavern and hotel. We were seated next to a roaring fireplace taking the dampness off a very cold morning and adding a lot of atmosphere. O'Shea's took a page out of a 1930s movie setting. We ordered, of course, an Irish breakfast with sausage, Irish bacon (ham), fried egg, black and white pudding, mushrooms, baked beans, hash brown patty, toast and coffee. The price was 7.50 Euros or $8.75.
You might ask, as I did, what is white pudding? White pudding or oatmeal pudding is a meat dish popu- lar in Ireland. White pudding is similar to black pudding, but does not include blood; it consists of pork meat and fat, suet, bread and oatmeal formed into a large sausage as it contains black pepper, cumin, basil and garlic.
White pudding may be cooked whole or cut into slices and fried or grilled. It is an important feature of the traditional Irish breakfast. I can tell you this; it does not taste good. But generally, the breakfast was hearty and delicious. Satisfied beyond delight with the breakfast experience, we walked down to the Connally train station for a day trip to the countryside on the Irish Rail (our Amtrak).
That was a prepaid rail tour, which included round trip rail, Lyam, our guide, and Paul, our taxi driver. The $55 fee is of high value. The train takes passengers along the southern shore of Dublin Bay and the Irish Sea and then up into the mountains, offering some spectacular picture postcard scenes. We meet our driver in a small mountain village, and eight of us, six tourists, guide and driver, are off to travel the two-lane winding roads to the Avoca Valley. Our first stop is Ireland's first woolen weaving mill. Built in 1723, the factory still operates daily. The stop includes a weave shop tour, the factory store and an Irish cafe.
Next stop, deep in the countryside, is the setting of two strong-current rivers converging in a wooded setting; a photographer's heaven of nature opportunities. The natural beauty of the site inspired Irish poets, including Thomas Moore and songwriters, according to Lyam.
Though the weather in mid-February was cold and damp, some flowers were still in bloom, and if you expected to see green everywhere, you were no way disappointed. There was green grass, green trees and even green dressed flight attendants on the plane.
Deeper into the back country of Glendalough, we are brought to a monk monastery site dating back to 7th century, when Catholicism was evangelized throughout Ireland led by St. Kevin in his efforts to convert pagan Celtics. Today, the land is a national park with original ruins of church buildings dating back more than 1,000 years. Our guide leads us to a nearby pub for a Jameson whiskey before we head back to Dublin. A 40-minute drive down to the town of Bray and another 30-minute commuter train ride into the city completes our country outing.
Corinne and Roger jump aboard a local bus back to the Regency. We decide to dine at the hotel restaurant as it seems busy with local trade. We decide on the 6ounce prime Irish sirloin steak with sauté onions, mushrooms and Irish brown sauce. Potatoes accompany all means and French fries prevailed. We ordered the hotel special, Irish coffee with Powers gold label whiskey mixed with brown sugar and fresh whipped cream.
Sunday, February 14
As mentioned earlier, we pre-bought an all-inclusive bus pass for $30. It included the "hop on, hop off" city bus tour. We picked it up downtown and checked out the 22 points of interest, including world famous Trinity College, Guinness brewery, Jameson distillery, Temple Bar pub district, national buildings and historic churches. We doubled back to explore in detail the National Museum of Natural History, where we attempted to digest some of the complicated history of Ireland.
And then on to the National Cathedral for the Anglican Church of Ireland, St. Patrick's Cathedral Huge, powerful and imposing, the structure draws hundreds of faithful worshipers and curious visitors daily. It was built in 1192 in honor of Ireland's patron saint, yes, St. Patrick. Author and priest Jonathan Swift is also buried on the site.
Our timing was perfect as a Sunday service was about to begin. A choral evensong sung by the Cathedral boys' and men's voices took the congregation through the service. The sermon was delivered in song, too.
Full of Irish history and inspiration, we boarded our bus back to the hotel. We had a quiet and casual Valentine’s Day dinner of fish and chips and beef stew accompanied by Galway Hooker Irish Pale Ale, which had a "very complex and well-balanced finish" as we were told by the serving bar mistress at a nearby pub. That meal and brew finished off our brief but event-filled visit to Dublin. As is the case with so many vacations, there was so much more to see. We’ll have to make another visit.
After a leisurely Irish breakfast of coffee, eggs, ham, sausage, sliced tomatoes, beans and, of course, those "white and red puddings," not my favorite food by any means, we took our final bus ride back to the airport, ready to fly back to Boston and home.
Monday, February 15