Ireland: Dublin at Night

We took walks in the evenings while we were in Dublin. The city was lovely; here is a view along the River Liffey, that runs right through the heart of the town.

A lone sentinel sculpture silhouette

I took this one for my friend Liz O'Shea! This merchant was located right across the street from the Brazen Head pub.

 Inside the Brazen Head, Ireland's oldest pub. We'd hoped to stay for the music, but it started at 9:30, and we were there by 8:00pm. Since we were walking and were a good mile and half from our hotel, we decided not to stay; Larry was tired and his knee, which had been not much trouble considering, was hurting and he wanted to head back to the hotel. No amount of persuasion could convince him, not even when I promised a cab ride back! Ah well, that's what age does to us, isn't it?

 The Brazen Head offered a dinner-and-storytelling night, and I briefly considered it, but  as tired as Larry was, I'm sure he would not have enjoyed it anyway.

 Busy, busy, Dublin, day and night. Many internet and software companies have their European headquarters here and the economy is beginning to recover from the slump of the past few years. The young population makes this city a vibrant place any time of day.

And back along the River Liffey. I like the way England and Ireland both put "river" before the name; it has a more poetic, pleasing sound, at least to my ear. The River Cam, the River Ouse, the River Poddle...nice.

We spent two evenings at Murray's Pub near our hotel. The sign advertised traditional music, but you'll note the electric guitar and the drumset in this photo. We did enjoy the music of this band, whose name I am ashamed to admit I cannot now recall (but I did buy their CD). They did some ballads in the unaccompanied traditional style, and there were plenty of songs for the audience to join in with, which was a lot of fun. The food here was excellent too.

Nice decor!

Our table on the second night. We weren't that special but we did ask if they'd hold it so we'd have a good spot to see the band. The night before we had people standing right in front of us, which was annoying, so we had this table held while we made a quick walk to the store.

 What did we go to the store for? That's a story in itself. My son Aaron asked us to buy a bottle of Jameson whiskey for him and we decided to go get it while we waited for the band. We walked to the local Tesco which is like a grocery store here. They sell hard liquor there, something I've not seen in my area. I paid for the two bottles (one for Aaron, one for us!) and gulped at the price. The girl shoved the bottle across the country and said, "There ya go."

I asked, "Don't you put it in a bag?"

"No," she said, "a bag will cost you 22 cents."

"Really! So, what do I do, walk down the street with a bottle of whiskey under each arm?"

"Yea," she said, "nuttin' wrong with that, is it?"

Now to my apparently conservative mind, yes, there was something wrong with a granny walking down the street with bottles of booze. So I bought the bag. Just an ordinary plastic grocery bag. But I could not do without it.

The prequel/sequel to this story: Aaron said he would put the money for his bottle in my Paypal account. I never looked before we left to see if he had because I knew he would if he said he would. But when I checked my account when we got home, he'd put about 20 times the cost of the Jameson's in there! What sons I have.

Our Home Sweet Home while we were in Dublin. A lovely place to stay, although they sure confused up our tour tickets and a few other billing things. All's well that ends well, though, and it all got straightened out. (And no, it really doesn't lean like that, and no, I had not been tippling the Jameson's when I took this. I was trying to snap and run because Larry was in a hurry to get back to the pub for the music! Yeah, I can blame him for my poor photos, right?)


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