"Stop Being a Sicky Bitch and Drink!" -- First Days in Dublin

En route to spending Christmas in Dublin, we'd have to connect in DC and then catch a flight to Ireland. However, for the first time ever, I was excited about a flight--because we were business class! Which meant getting greeted with a mimosa and a meal that came with real silverware on the first flight. (I did not eat the meal--it looked suspect. But it was southwest chicken and veggies. Taylor ate it with no ill effects.)

For the first time in a long time, both of our flights took off on time with no other issues--and Aer Lingus business class turned out to be a delight! We each had our own spacious seat with a cubby and a lay-flat seat. And of course, we were greeted with champagne and water while we waited for everyone else to board.

We also got a bag full of amenities, including lip balm, hand cream, socks, and an eye mask. Shortly after we took off, the flight attendant brought us some Italian garnacha and canapes (suspicious of fish on a plane, I did not eat them. Not that I eat fish anyway).

Look at me, laying almost flat and watching The Great British Baking Show with my fancy airline-provided noise-cancelling headphones!

For dinner, I had beef, zucchini, a roll, and a salad, followed by a Sandeman port and ice cream for dessert. 

The flight passed in a flash--partly because it was only six and a half hours long, and partly because I slept for two hours. We also got our bags in a flash, were the first people through customs (no line!), and were in a hotel with a friendly cab driver who gave us a tour of the city as he drove us to The Shelbourne, our hotel. And even though it was 7 a.m., the hotel got us in a room right away and I was asleep shortly thereafter. (I don't usually go to sleep right when I arrive, because that just ruins your sleep schedule for the trip, but I also don't usually have a cold courtesy of multiple coworkers coming in sick to work for a week straight. Because when you work somewhere with unlimited sicktime, why WOULDN'T you leave your comfortable home and fleecy pants and come suffer at your desk anyway??)

But back to the hotel--it's one of the nicest in the city, and everyone we met was duly impressed we're staying here ("oh, so it's posh you are!" --quote from a random Irish man). It's also a Christmas tradition for generations of families to come dine here and have a drink at the bar, so it has been very busy. It was built in 1824 and is located right across from St. Stephen's Green and steps away from all of the top tourist attractions. Grace Kelly stayed here every year, and it's hosted William Thackery, Clark Gable, Rock Hudson, the Kennedys, and Elizabeth Taylor. It's also the place where the Irish Constitution was signed.

It's very pretty inside with a Victorian feel--below is the gingerbread display in the lobby, the lobby itself, a very crooked shot of the hallway, and our room. 

 

 

After my long nap, we struck out into the city to walk around the main shopping district (Grafton Street). It was packed--elbow to elbow--but lovely, with Christmas lights and decorations everywhere. In fact, this is by far the most festive place I've ever been--the horses are wearing Santa hats, the dogs are wearing Christmas sweaters, and even the garbage trucks are strung round with lights. 

We eventually meandered our way to Fade St. Social, which Taylor found on the Dublin heat map, and it was also packed, but we did manage to get a table. I had a lovely berry and vanilla drink with coconut flakes and an open-faced mushroom ravioli, while Taylor had duck liver. We also had blackened cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and chunky chips with goat cheese. 

I wasn't very hungry, so we definitely ordered too much food, but scientifically there's always room for dessert. We had a bread and butter pudding with chicory and toasted peanut ice cream, and also macerated blueberries with almond cake and a blueberry sorbet. The sorbet was perfection--I've never had blueberry ice cream before, and I feel like it's definitely a gap in the dessert market. 

After dinner, we went to a pub our cab driver had recommended--a little place called O'Donoghue's that was only a block from the hotel. It was divey and very quiet--at least until a group of mid-20s Irishmen descended for their annual Christmastime get-together. They'd all gone to school together, all worked all over the world, and soon had adopted us and were chanting "USA." Cian--our first and best new friend--was appalled I didn't have a beer in front of me and demanded I "stop being a sicky bitch and drink," after which he supplied me with a hot whiskey with lemon and declared it medicinal. The whiskey kept coming, as did some Irish cream, until after several rounds of the "Guinness game" (which involves taking a gulp of beer big enough to get the level down between the harp and the word on the glass), Taylor hissed that we had to get out of there before they drank us to death. So we slipped out a side door and scurried back to the hotel without saying goodbye to our very friendly, possibly alcoholic new friends. I will admit the whiskey DID make me feel better, so perhaps Cian was right about that. 

The next day was more wandering around, being amused by all of the shops with names that seem straight out of Harry Potter, watching street musicians (there's music around every corner), and stopping into random pubs for more medicinal Irish whiskey. One of my favorite things walking around was seeing an old man walking by himself singing "I have nothing, I have nobody" but sounding beyond jolly about it.

We also had a delicious beef stew, and an open faced sandwich with blue cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and avocado.

I'm not sure which church this statue was in front of, but I feel confident the pope would NOT approve of the cleavage she's showing. 

We also stopped into Laduree, where I got some macarons and a rose-raspberry cake that was lovely. 

Near Dublin castle is a tiny little Christmas market, complete with carolers and lots of delicious treats. 

We also went to Queen of Tarts, which I'd heard great things about but which didn't have the impressive array of desserts I'd been expecting. I left without a treat, and was much more impressed with the metal-work Predator in a window nearby. 

All of this meandering was leading us toward Dublinia, a museum about Dublin's viking and medieval history. It's right beside Christ Church, which was founded in 1020 and was the heart of medieval Dublin. 

Am I the only person who didn't know the Vikings ruled Dublin? I certainly didn't learn that in school, but now I'm fascinated!

The first floor of the museum is all about how the Vikings lived and the Viking kings of Dublin. Did you know Vikings used moss as toilet paper? Thanks to one rather graphic display (complete with sound!), that's what stands out in my mind forever now. 

King Sigtrygg Silkbeard--kind of a silver Viking fox?

The second floor covers Dublin's medieval history, with a quayside scene, a marketplace, a merchant's house, and a black plague scene. One of the most interesting things about the museum is that they had actual craftsmen/actors in the displays, to tell you about the work and history of the period. The shoes below were actually overshoes, meant to keep your fancy shoes out of the mud. 

Thoroughly educated, we moved on to the Wild Duck, a pub outside of a theater nearby. What I like about bars in Ireland (and we all know I hate bars) is that they're for everyone--families, couples, people alone. They're not drunken and wild, but instead places to hang out and talk and relax. To be fair, perhaps they're drunken and wild at midnight, but I wasn't out that late, so I'll never know. 

Scenes from the Temple Bar area. 

We also stopped into the Irish Whiskey Museum, to try some different whiskeys. Our new friends from O'Donoghue's had recommended Midleton, so Taylor had a flight of that and learned about the different kinds of casks and how it influences whiskey flavor. I only like whiskey watered down and with lemon, so I didn't have anything, though I did buy some cookies shaped like sheep.

We also stopped into a huge bookstore--four stories--with this awesome Handmaid's Tale display. 

Since it was Sunday and everything closed early, we ended up at Gourmet Burger Kitchen for dinner. While it wouldn't have been my first choice, I ended up really liking it--primarily for the spread of flavored mayos to dip my skinny, deliciously crisp little fries into. 

On the way back to the hotel, we walked past Trinity College, which is beautifully lit for the season. It's also the site of the Book of Kells, a 9th century illuminated manuscript, and the Long Room, a library with 200,000 books. However, the Book of Kells wasn't on display as it's being restored, so I decided to save a visit to Trinity College for another trip to Dublin. It's so friendly and lively and also so full of literary history (covered in a future post!) that I already can't imagine not coming back. 

Next up, a day trip to County Wicklow, inspired by Taylor's realization that Hallmark movie I was watching was set there...