Quick Trip to Dublin, day one

So I've already told you how this trip to Dublin came to pass (frequent flyer miles, friend in play, within budget), yes?  Let's just get to the fun stuff!!  Forgive my blahbity blah, please...

Sunday, May 3/Monday, May 4:  I started off in the early afternoon of Sunday, May 3.  Because I was using frequent flyer miles, I got stuck with a connecting flight and a LONG layover on the leg to Ireland.  I took a flight to Philly, which was one of the worst flights of my life.  We were in a small commuter plane and it rode really low and really bumpy the whole way there.  Nearly everyone on the flight got out their vomit bag from the seat back in front of them at some point during the flight.  It was unfun in the extreme.  Thankfully, the flight was only an hour.  And then I had a SIX HOUR LAYOVER.  Which actually wasn't so bad, considering it took me a couple of hours to put my stomach back where it belonged.  I wandered around the airport and called my cell phone provider so they could activate my international cell phone service.  Which they said they did.  This will come into play later in my trip.

Once I finally got on the plane to go to Dublin, the trip was pretty smooth.  I had an aisle seat, which was nice.  After my sister's blood clot adventure last year, I'm very paranoid now about not being able to walk around a plane.  The plane was very nice and had movie screens at each seat.  I watched Dreamgirls and On the Town, had a couple of so-so meals and dozed a bit.  All in all, a pleasant flight.

When I landed in Dublin (now it's the morning of Monday, May 4), I turned my phone off 'airplane mode' so I could text my mom that the plane landed.  But my phone said 'no service.'  How could that be?  The guy I talked to the night before said it was all set!  Grrrrrrr.  You can't use your phones in the Dublin airport during the customs and passport stuff, but once I was downstairs, I was getting annoyed that I couldn't let my family know I arrived safely.  Finally, I saw a pay phone and made a very expensive call to my mom.  At least that was out of the way.  I also purchased a LEAP visitor transit card, which meant I could take unlimited bus and train rides for three days.  Sounded like a deal to me.

I hopped on an airport shuttle bus to my hotel, the Bewley's Hotel in Ballsbridge.  I chose this hotel because I saw it on a travel show once - it's inexpensive and it used to be a Masonic Home for Girls.  My father is a Mason, so I figured he'd get a kick out of my staying there.  The hotel is actually lovely; an old Victorian building with lots of light and space.  The front desk clerk was quite handsome and noticed I was looking a little rough around the edges.  He said my king room wasn't available, but would I like a double room which was available right away?  I took that and went upstairs.

I had wifi in my room, so I could send e-mails, thankfully.  I sent an e-mail to my friend, who was rehearsing her play in Dublin.  Then I tried to have a nap because I was beat.  But I couldn't really fall asleep, I guess I was too excited to be there.  So I got up and decided it would be better to walk around and see stuff rather than lie around and wait to sleep.  I got up to turn on the lights and...couldn't figure it out.  Nothing would turn on!  I was very confused.  Finally, I went into the hallway and found a hotel employee who explained the keycard/power in room thing.  You'd think the front desk would explain that, but I guess he could've and I missed it because I was so tired.  After I got the lights turned on, then I tried to plug in the adapter I brought so I could charge my phone for a few minutes.  Sigh.  Nope.  The adapter wouldn't work.  I felt like a total hotel room failure, so I got out of there.

I asked the gent at the front desk about which bus to take into town; happily, there was a stop right in front of the hotel that would take me right in.  It was very easy and I was happy to have my LEAP card so I wouldn't always have to try to find exact change.  Digging around looking for two pound coins can be annoying.  The bus I was on dropped me off right in front of the National Gallery - I knew it had free admittance, so I figured what the heck? 

It's a lovely space and arranged very nicely.  I went through the exhibit on paintings of Baroque saints, through their masterpiece collection, and also took a look at an exhibit on the museum itself.  I didn't know that George Bernard Shaw left the museum a bequest of one third of his royalties; apparently, Shaw loved the gallery and felt his education was greatly enhanced there, so he wanted to pay them back.  I'm sure that's been a sizable bequest over the years.  I found the gallery lovely and was happy to see a couple of women artists represented there.  Especially after seeing The Heidi Chronicles recently, I'm always on the lookout for more representation.

I looked at my pocket map and saw that the National Gallery was near the Grand Lodge of Ireland, another spot that would please my dad if I got photos.  I found it easily, but discovered that because it was a bank holiday, the lodge was closed.  Darn it.  Off I went to look at Marsh's Library, near St. Patrick's Cathedral.  Of course it didn't cross my mind that the library would also be closed for the bank holiday.  Which it was.  Darn it.  But at least I had a nice walk throughout a lot of Dublin, stopped and got a delicious scone, picked up a converter that would work with my cell phone plug (oh, and throughout the entire day, my phone always said 'no service'), then toured the gorgeous St. Patrick's Cathedral.  But after seeing the cathedral, I had walked a lot and was exhausted, so I took a cab back to the hotel for a little liedown before my friends' play.  I fell asleep for maybe 45 minutes and woke up with a start, afraid I'd missed the play!  Whew!  I didn't.

I took the bus again, back to the city center, and walked to Trinity College, where the play was being performed.  Trinity is a gorgeous campus and I took many photos.  It took awhile to find the Players Theatre, the signage could've been a little better.  But I finally found it and settled in the lobby area, where lots of college kids were hanging out.  I wish all those kids would go to the show.  This was my first trip to the Dublin International Gay Theatre Festival and I was a little surprised about the turn out for the shows.  I expected the houses to be packed and they weren't.  I heard from some locals that because of the upcoming referendum on marriage equality, a lot of people who normally would be busking for the festival are instead concentrating on getting out the vote.  It's too bad, the shows I saw were quite good and I wish they could've gotten a larger audience.

After the show, I went with the cast and director to dinner at The Larder, which was a lovely restaurant.  Seeing that I hadn't really eaten since sometime the day before (time and space started to blur for me during the entire trip; I still kinda don't know what day or time it is right now), I was STARVING.  We got some appetizers for the table: some tiger prawns sautéed in a delicious butter/white wine sauce, and jambalaya balls in dirty gravy.  Oh my, they were delicious!  They were rather like risotto balls, deep fried and meaty with a super yummy gravy.  We also got a couple of bottles of wine for the table - I drank the primitivo, which was terrific.  For my main course, I got the roasted butternut squash tagine, which was incredible.  It was served with a little hummus and pita bread, and some couscous.  Really a terrific dish, very warm and comforting with just a little hint of heat.  I loved it.  The table got a couple of desserts to share, but I was pretty full, so I passed.  They did look tasty though.

After dinner, we went to a party for the theater festival and said hi to other performers and writers in the festival.  Then a couple of us took a cab back to Ballsbridge - I went to my hotel and my friends went to their apartment (which I would be moving to the next day).  I took advantage of the hotel wifi for a few minutes to send some e-mails and fulfill my social media obligations, but my phone still didn't work.  Oh well.  Maybe another day.  I slept like a rock for many hours and only got up in enough time to have a little breakfast before hotel check-out time.  I'll save Tuesday's excursions for the next post.  Hope you enjoyed!