Dublin
The Irish have to be the most hospitable people in the world. Madlynn and I hit town two days ago, exhausted from traveling for 24 hours. All we wanted was a bed and nobody to tell us our flight was late or to take our shoes and belt off and stand in the device with our hands raised. But the sun was shining when our flight finally made it in an hour late. The cab driver from the airport beguiled us with his charming Irish ways. The hotel staff was warm and accommodating. And an hour later we found ourselves in the warm confines of a 100 year old pub having the best smoked chicken dinner either of us had ever enjoyed. What's not to love about that? We managed to stay awake until 9 and slept straight through till 6 a.m.
The next morning we were up for an early breakfast and hit the street to hike to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells, number one on our list of must do's. We joined a throng of students and office workers hiking through the morning Dublin sunshine. This place's weather looks so much like Portland, we have to keep reminding ourselves this isn't Oregon. When I say Oregon weather, I mean other than the smoky, hazy, LA style smog and heat that this summer has foisted upon us. I mean, sunshine, temps in the 60s, rain showers, and more sunshine. And just like Oregonians, the Irish don't even slow the pace when it rains. They just pull up the hood on their outdoor jacket and charge on. They'd fit right in as Portlanders. The photo is the Long Library with 200,000 books, most of them centuries old.
Irish food has gotten a bad rap, at least in Dublin. We've had really amazing food so far and haven't seen a chip or a deep fried fish or a lamb stew. Now we know that once we hit the countryside, we will see a lot of traditional Irish food...lamb, beef, chicken, cod, and potatoes, lots of potatoes. But for the moment the choices here are almost overwhelming. We've eaten contemporary Italian, Japanese, Spanish tapas, and Irish fusion, just to mention a few. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the beer. Have had the requisite Guinness, but also had a red ale, a local stout, a very non-bitter tasting, fruity IPA (I even liked that one). This town lives on kegs which are stacked everywhere. Tomorrow the real adventure begins. We pick up our car and head for the countryside. First stop, a 4 star hotel in Borris, a short distance out of Kilkenny.