Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Ireland 2012- Dublin




Dublin 5/6/12

Landed early in the morning. Time traveling above the clouds & brought down to a waking dream landscape of unfamiliar ways and voices. After a sleepless night on a grand airplane with fantastic food (that’s right), we were ready to hop the airbus to the Trinity College area of Dublin. As the bus rolled along we past what seemed like ancient residences and unusual stores and markets under a non existent skyline…which was a welcomed sign. The bus left us off in an area that looked like something out of history books yet extremely massive and real. Cars and buses hurriedly rushing past as we trudged down the bumpy cobblestone street with suitcases in tow. The Trinity Capital Hotel was a sight to behold with it's exotic Victorian "world traveler" type theme. I didn't know if we were in Dublin or Morocco...seriously. Extremely large couches and chairs filled rooms of antique suitcases, rich colors, and a fusion of Eastern music in the background. Walking down the hallway to our room seemed like a mix of a fun-house of dark reds and blues and some sort of an abstract art museum with complimentary colorful themes every step down the hall. There was a fire station right out side our window several floors below. An occasional beep, honk, or page was heard but nothing major. Once "settled" and sorted out with Euros, we took a walk down to the Long Stone. This was an ancient looking pub with a sort of druidic Victorian China closet feel. The fish and chips were outstanding and the discovery of HP & brown sauce fascinating and delicious! The Asian waitress working in the Irish pub seemed strange as she was more interested in carrying on a conversation with another Asian fellow than pouring a nice pint for the other patrons... oh well, I'm in Dublin! We took a cab ride from an interesting and knowledgeable taxi driver shortly after. He gave us a bit of a history tour on the way to the Guinness storehouse. The cobblestone streets of the St. James Gate Brewery were singing a song of older days, sweat, and lore. The brewery location itself had become a grand museum with a 360 degree lounge atop. The lounge served as a tasting room (crowded one at that) and a great place to observe Dublin as a whole. A short walk down to the Brazen Head proved to be a great follow up. It's medieval structure retained an energy of spirits past and "spirits" present. The warm and cozy inside pub was filled with people jamming out to a traditional set of folk tunes. The outside open air bar proved to be a great place for people watching. Many would step out for a puff and break into song, and some just to grab a quick bite before the next set. We continued down the road moving through an interesting area that seemed as if it was out of the movie "The Butcher Boy". Two gangs of kids were pointing squirt guns at each other from across the street yelling and actually throwing rocks. They were throwing rocks at girls passing by and yelling, "Hit the hippie" at a college student walking by with a bit of an afro. We seemed to be spared as the main little ringleader looked at us and shouted, " Your fyne, your fyne!" as he held the other kids back. Still a few rocks whistled by as the little devil continued to scold a cohort in this weird cease fire in the rock war incident. It felt more like Belfast than Dublin. We traveled along the river Liffey to The Clarence, which is owned by Bono and the Edge. We stopped into the Octagon Bar inside The Clarence for a pint and to check this place out. Pretty pricey, as most things are in Dublin, but cool pub. I struck up a conversation with an older man from Cork. He gave me a good bit of advice on what to see, tipping, and whiskey. Very interesting all around...and yes, we heard that the Edge was there. The word is that Bono and the Edge sometimes make appearances in the pub. Apparently the Edge was taking a break from the family for a bit as we overheard on of the bartenders say that "Edgey was coming at 6". Down the road again we past through sort of a circus environment with pubs, restaurants, and loads of people called Temple Bar.This place was nuts and not for the "gentle folks" as our friend from the Clarence said. We had supper back at the Trinity Capital. It was very good but not traditional fare. Our very friendly waiter, John, talked to us for quite a while and planned on meeting us out at Temple Bar later in the night. We were beat on this first day but ventured out anyway. The pubs were massively insanely crowded and the streets felt like a big fraternity party as the next day was a "bankers holiday". Tired and dazed from an adventurous full day, it was time to finally sleep.
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