Easter Ireland

Bret and I have just returned from a fabulous trip to Ireland. Even though we’ve already been to Dublin, we decided to go back because our friend Tom was going to be there with his rugby team. So we booked ourselves a cheap flight and a cheap hotel, and headed out.

We had great plans in store- party with Tom, hit the Irish pubs, go to the zoo, and shop. However, our plans went slightly awry. First, Tom’s rugby schedule changed- we originally planned on meeting in Dublin, but Tom’s team was actually scheduled to play in Limerick- on the other side of the country. So instead of partying with Tom in Dublin, we decided to take a 2.5 hour train ride to Limerick and have some drinks with him there. Though not heavy drinkers, Bret and I especially appreciated these drinks because the night before was Good Friday, and it is, as we learned, the one and only day out the year when the Irish do not drink. All the pubs were closed because it is, in fact, illegal to sell alcohol on Good Friday. So on this holy of holy days, we simply had a meal at a cafe, bought some roasted broad beans at a posh food store and watched Runaway Jury on the tele.

After a womderful night’s rest, we woke up to the crisp, sunny skies of Dublin. The hotel itself, the Camden De Luxe, was absolutely atrocious on the outside. It had these bars in the front, a dark little side entrance, and an old smokey lobby. Surprisingly however, the rooms were quite nice. Very simple (and surely the top comforter came from a charity shop, as it was covered in cigarette holes), but fairly clean and very comfortable. Best of all, it was right in the centre of town, just a 5 minute walk to Temple Bar- the hot area in Dublin. Dublin is a very vibrant city. There are lots of cool cafes, coffee shops, and international restaurants. In fact, for breakfast, we went to a Hungarian café- though funnily enough, we had full Irish breakfasts there. After our tasty morning meals, we hit Grafton Street for some quality Irish shopping. Bret bought some jeans at Dunnes Stores and I got a pair of super cute red shoes at Korky’s. After our hard work of spending, we replenished ourselves with fresh-made juice from a vegetarian café, and hit the train station to get to Limerick.

Limerick is not a cool town. It’s on a river, and there are a few nice shops, but it lacks the color and diversity that are so prevalent in Dublin and Galway. However, catching up with Tom was fun. We had our Easter Saturday drinks, and then went ate dinner at Rosie O’Grady’s. I had a very low-fat meal of traditional bacon and cabbage with mash and bechamel sauce, Bret had some funny-named Irish chicken, and Tom had duck. Feeling like we had had enough of ‘Stab City’ (as Limerick is so affectionately called by the Dubs to the East) we headed back to Dublin for a night out on the town.

Temple Bar was absolutely manic! The bars were so full, people had to congregate out on the cobble streets. Each pub has a different color façade, and they are all very well-lit. There are street performers, live bands, and wonderful food smells in the air. Bret and I were trying to find a comedy club, but we settled for Kiwi ice cream and hot chocolates instead.

On Easter Sunday, we reluctantly headed back to England. But we have lots of travel plans coming up:
1. Edinburgh in April
2. Amsterdam in June
3. London/Cambridge in July
4. Austria/Germany in October
5. Miami/Iowa/California for the holidays