10 Questions About…

Aine wanted to send a message to her class back home:

The Temple Bar Trad Fest has been going on this week; it celebrates traditional music. We haven’t done too much – but we did make it to the parade today and the outdoor ceili. The parade wasn’t too long, but it was very good. It was a little cold so we had front row seats. We were even able to follow the parade for a while. (I took a quick video.)

The super score of the day was that kids ate for free at the Tea Room today. It’s a restaurant in the Clarence Hotel. I think U2 still owns the hotel. It’s very nice. Definitely not the kind of place you expect for kids to eat free on a Sunday. I suppose that’s a reflection on the recession as much as anything else. Anyways we got a much nicer lunch than planned so we’re not complaining.

After lunch we went to the outdoor ceili, which was fun. I took another quick video. It was a little chilly but there were plenty of people watching and dancing. Next we headed on to the North side.

I’ve added a couple pictures of local art – one if just a graffiti mural from Smithfield; the other is a statement with the walls covered with pages from the recent report on the Catholic Church in Ireland and child abuse. We’ll see how long that stays up. (Could be down by next week; could be up a long time.)

So it gets to a point where the kids feel like they’ve seen *everything* because they have seen an awful lot of Dublin. So I decided we would go to Clontarf, which is really just in North Dublin – but somewhere we wouldn’t normally go. This doesn’t really fit into our day – but Bram Stoker, author of Dracula is from Clontarf.

One fun thing about heading to the North – especially near Dublin Bay is that we spend so much time looking at the Bay from the Southside. It’s fun to see everything in reverse and to see Dun Laoghaire and Bray in the distance. We started our trip at the Clontarf Castel, which is now a hotel. We had lunch. We saw suit of armor. They’ve done a good job making the hotel and restaurant nice and retaining glimpses of the old castle.

After lunch we headed to St Anne’s Park. It’s huge! I bet it’s really beautiful in the spring but if we wait until spring to see everything we’ll be watching a lot of TV. There are a lot of sport fields in the park, a playground, rose garden and some fun animal statues. There’s a market near some stables too – but sadly we weren’t there early enough to check it out. So we’ll have to visit again.

We walked down the coast road on the way home, looking out over Bull’s Island, a long island not far from the coast. You can actually drive to it.

I have to mention that the girls are amazing walkers. I’m sure we walked a few miles today – and no complaints. Really we rarely get complaints when we’re out until we get on the bus home. And my the time we get on the bus home we’re all tired and cold and sometimes hungry. We will love our car when we get home.

We (Patrick and I) have been on a big kick for walks since Patrick was jealous of my walk to Dun Laoghaire. I don’t know that he could have actually made the walk but he was jealous anyways. So Friday we walked through the Killiney Golf Course (straight up hill) and down to the beach. I don’t think it was really all that far to walk – but it was honestly uphill both ways. Actually it was fun. But you have to know where you’re going or at least be a good guesser. The closer you get to the beach the closer you get to some really, really nice homes. In fact we crossed the Vico Road (where Bono, Enya and others live) going from catwalk to catwalk to get to the beach. Sadly we didn’t have a camera.

I did bring a camera the on Saturday. We walked through Cabinteely Park (well that was out of the way but for folks who have visited us that will at least give you a general direction), through Brennanstown to Foxrock to the house where Sam Beckett grew up. It is a fancy walk. We saw horses, stables, the house where they have a dolmen in the garden, several embassies and some amazing homes. This time I did bring a camera.

In fairness to Patrick – Beckett’s house is not marked. Patrick had looked it up in advance. I took a picture of Patrick in front of the house – although I’m the one who actually read Beckett’s Trilogy. (Just had to fit that in.)

One of the things that always amazes me is how much work they do on the parks here. They have been working on the park across the street forever. The last time we were here they put in benches and built up a new soccer/rugby pitch.

Since we’ve been gone they’ve really been working on the steam that runs through the park. It used to be overgrown with brambles and litter – but they’ve cleaned it all up. It’s really quite pretty.

Aine and I feed the ducks there sometimes. Well, we try to feed the ducks but the seagulls are a lot faster and scrappier. Let’s just say we feed our feathered friends.

There are times when I wish I was a better photographer because all around the park you can see the Wicklow and Dublin Mountains. We can see Bray Head, baby Sugar Loaf, big Sugar Loaf (aka Poop Loaf – and if you’ve ever climbed it you know why) and others. Patrick tries to get the girls to remember the names whenever we’re waiting for a bus on the other side of the park.

On Friday night Patrick and I ate our favorite French restaurant, L’Gueuleton. It was great. Then we had a drink at Grogan’s. Not much of a story to tell – but great food.

Saturday we went into town with Irish Grandma and went shopping. We got a ton of walking in. Patrick got some nice clothes. The girls and I checked out Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre. I had some great seafood chowder. Again – not a great story but a good day.

On Saturday the whole crew went to the RDS to see the Young Scientists show. It’s like a big high school science fair. I like what a big deal it is here. The winners are on the news and loads of local shows. In fact Aine recognized several of the exhibits because they had been on some TV program the night before. If it’s on TV, she knows it!

The winner created a smoke-free stove for use in third world countries. We also saw something on the science of playing the saw. We learned about microchips from the Intel booth. Aine learned about to perform some kind of CPR on a baby – so that’s helpful. We got to be in a clean room, which was fun because later in the week I had to do research on clean rooms for a client. Oh how science imitates life!

After the science fair we went into town. Due to colds and the cold the girls hadn’t been into Dublin yet. They were very happy to going into town. (We were not really born to suburban life.) We went to our favorite Market and had chocolate crepes. We saw some buskers as we raced through Temple Bar. We saw the Spire as we raced through the North side. The girls got jeggings (mix of jeans and leggings), which are a big trend here. I have to admit they looked better on than I thought they would.

We had lunch at Luigi’s Malones. I had heard that it was good for kids and it turns out that it is. They give American-size Diet Cokes. Also in their lower level you can see part of the original Dublin City Wall. The wall was part of a friary dating to 1260. Apparently two murders were committed in 1379 within the precincts of the Friary. We didn’t hear any ghosts, but we weren’t very quiet either.

Last Friday night we went to see The Seafarer at the Abbey. We were lucky to catch a bus quickly as we got there minutes before the show started *and* we got the last two seats in the house. So the seats weren’t great – but we got ‘em.

The show was great. I’m sometimes wary of shows at the Abbey. I’ve seen a couple of great shows (this and Roddy Doyle’s Playboy of the Western World) but I’ve also seen a number of pretty forgettable shows. I’m sure that Patrick could give you the names – I forgot them.

An extra treat – we ran into friends from the University of St Thomas at the show. Jim and FIntan were leading a group of students through Ireland and this was their last day in Dublin.

After being cancelled until Thursday, school was un-cancelled on Tuesday. I don’t really understand how they (the government) could do that but then I didn’t understand how they could call a snow day 5 days in advance. It’s kind of crazy!

Regardless, we were all thrilled to get started. Lily and Kate are both back in their old classes, which is nice. They know most of the classmates. For new readers, the girls go to Our Lady of Good Counsel National Girls School in Johnstown. It’s the national school, which is kind of akin to a public school back home – except that the national schools are run by the Church. So they wear uniforms, there are religious statues throughout the school and they get two weeks off at Easter.

Lily is in 5th class, Kate is in 4th and Aine is a senior infant, which is a little different than kindergarten in that it’s the second year of school for the girls in her class. I think she recognizes some girls from Montessori, but no one is worse with names than Aine so we can’t be sure. We’re trying to catch her up with some home use of sight word flash cards. Subsequently Aine and I may drive each other crazy. (How can you *not* read [and] after the 43rd time?) Patience isn’t my longest suit. Luckily Aine is very easy going and doesn’t really feel bad when I lose patience with her.

Here is a picture of the girls in front of the school on their first day. They start at 9 am; as you can see it’s still dark. Aine is done at 1:40. Lily and Kate are done at 2:40.

So in our first few weeks in Dublin we’ve met up with a few familiar friends. (That’s my new euphemism for old friends.)

First I met up with Karina in Dun Laoghaire. Karina and I worked together many years ago at a café. My timing was perfect and I dropped in on Karina just has she was taking a break from her job at the book shop. I’m hoping to join her book club there.

A few days later we met up with our old friend John Newcombe. John worked in Minnesota years ago. John is working in a halfway home these days. SO half o his time is in Dublin and half in Kildare.

Finally we met with Gary Murphy, who we hadn’t seen in years. Gary used to work in Minnesota too. He moved back to Ireland about 10 years ago. It was fun to hear about all of the theater work he has done since he’s been home. I think Patrick especially enjoyed it as he probably recognized more names. I’ll include a YouTube video of Gary’s latest ad for folks who know him back home.

One of the hard things about moving here last time was never seeing anyone we knew. So it’s been nice to see familiar friends. Also it’s fun when the people in the local shops and in the park remember us. It’s a small thing but it backs Dublin more of a home away from home.