slowly she turned

After breakfast on Tuesday, we were taken to the Westport train station, where most of us were leaving for Dublin that morning. I enjoyed watching the countryside of the center of Ireland, but I did not take photos. I just stayed in the moment of seeing.

Once we got to Dublin, many of us said our goodbyes at Heuston station, the hub for trains in the center of Dublin next to the River Liffey. I rolled my luggage across the bridge to the small hotel I was staying in, and as with most places I stayed, was allowed to check in early. The room I had was small but comfortable other than being too warm.

Once I considered my options, I walked down the street in search of a pint of Smithwick’s. I was tired and sweaty and didn’t feel up to doing a whole lot that afternoon. I stopped at Nancy Hinds, which was a well known traditional pub, but I was served a pint and soon forgotten in a room by myself.

So I went to another pub that was obviously less touristy called P. Duggins, where their kitchen was closed but the bartender and others around me were friendly. They pointed me toward a trad pub called the Cobblestone which was where they said that the locals went for trad music, and that they had a session every night. My hips were pretty much shot, so I walked back to the station and caught a tram to the nearest stop. HOWEVER, I got turned around and walked in the wrong direction, so I ended up walking as much as I would have anyway.

The Cobblestone was a lot of fun. I got there early enough (4 p.m. or so) to snag a stool at the bar close to the front where the music was. The only problem was that the guy two seats away was so obnoxious that everyone sitting between us ended up getting up and leaving. Then someone took the stool so I was next to him. He never shut up and only got louder when the music began. Finally the bartenders got him to quiet down. Honestly, he gave me an earache. I was tired, though, and in need of food to counterbalance the pints and half-pints I’d had, so I left after the first set.

I had never explored this side of the Liffey, so I walked around this more modern side of the city, down to the Liffey, past the “floozy in the jacuzzi” in the Croppies Acre Memorial Park where the revolutionaries from the 1798 rebellion were buried and honored. (see link for photo…I couldn’t get a good one.)

A very fancy place was open for business near my hotel: Ryan’s Victorian Pub. It had a sign about an award for best gastropub in Dublin, and there was a seat at a small table at the window, so I finally sat down for a real meal. Steak and Guinness pie…one of my favorite Irish meals!

When I got back to the hotel, I received a message that my flight home had been canceled because of expected weather, and I had been rebooked for the following day. There were no flights home available the next day. So I looked at Chicago’s weather, changed my flight to a better one with a longer connection, and rebooked my room for another night. I had an unexpected extra day in Dublin. But at this point, I was ready to go home.