Dublin, Part One

I just got my Wicklow Mountain pictures from Thursday downloaded. It was such a beautiful place, but the rain was unbelievable! Poor Eleanor’s feet were blistered from her shoes, so she found herself run around this very Lord of the Rings-like environment as a barefoot hobbit. Mom brought us to a field where she took her favorite picture on her honeymoon. In the picture (and what we saw) there is a large high cross sitting on a little mound of earth and one of its arms is missing. When Braveheart was filmed in this area, they actually put a fake arm on the broken high cross. Due to Eleanor’s hurt feet, Mom took the long walk back to the car and drove back to pick Eleanor and I up. While we waited for her, Eleanor and I sat by a food kiosk, ate a bag of greasy chips, sipped hot drinks, and watched a group of birds fly around and sit at our table with us.







Driving to Dublin was a little hectic, but not nearly as horrible as we had expected. Again, the rain didn’t help. We dropped off the rental car at the airport and took a taxi van to our Comfort Inn, right in the middle of the city.

Yesterday, we went to the National Museum Archeology and History; a place the Forton family would go nuts for. I couldn’t believe how many things were in that place. After more than two hours of walking around the museum, we decided we needed another night in Dublin. Next, we toured the Guinness Storehouse … for more learning. Yes, we learned how the Guinness Draught is made and ended our tour in the Gravity Bar with a free pint (and a free Fanta for Eleanor). This top-story, glass-incased pub has the best view of the whole city.




Leaving as the Storehouse closed, I had to hurry across the city to the Tripod Concert Venue for my long awaited Beirut concert! Mom was a bit worried about letting her twenty year-old daughter run around Dublin on her own, especially with a free pint of Guinness in her system, but we’ve learned this trip that I am a human GPS system and all was well. The only real problem I met was the breaking of my beloved yellow umbrella and the cruelly ironic downpour that followed.

The concert was great. To my luck, another lone American girl stood in line just in front of me and we enjoyed the concert together, talking about what we’ve seen so far (she’s been backpacking all around Ireland, to London, an Paris) and what music we listen to. It was quite obvious that Zach Condon (Mr. Beirut) was thoroughly smashed upon taking the stage, yet he still had the energy to play his trumpet flawlessly and drink another two pints. It was a great experience, going to a concert in Dublin. I felt no anti-American vibes (Zach Condon is from Santa Fe, New Mexico). A young Irish couple asked me and my new-found friend (whom I never got the name of…) if we came all the way to Dublin just for the concert. Everyone was nice, helpful if I had a question, and just there to enjoy the great music. There were two encores from Beirut. In the first he played a long, new song, not yet recorded. And then he came out by himself (without his ten-piece band) and sang Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” Thanks to his intoxication and the fact that he’d just learned the song the day before in Paris, Zach needed to pause every couple verses because he couldn’t remember the lyrics. As ridiculous as he was, it was an excellent concert and I’m so glad I could go.





When the concert got out it was about 10 at night and still light out. I walked back, safely, and in time for a bad American movie (Abandon, starring Katie Holmes and Zooey Deschanel (the one who should know better)) and some cheese, English mustard, and fresh bread for dinner.

Today we had to leave our room at the Comfort Inn and move a couple blocks over to the Best Western, because we did decide to stay another night and the Comfort Inn was fully booked. There’s so much still to see in this amazing city, so hopefully we’ll leave for England tomorrow feeling like we’ve done a thorough job.