Tuesday, May 5: I believe when we left off last time, I was sleeping DEEPLY in the hotel. After such a busy day (well, more than a day, considering I lost some hours on the transatlantic flight), it was nice and quiet in my room and the curtains kept the light out nicely. I got up slowly; the shower was terrific, then I ran down to have a pot of tea and a scone for breakfast in the hotel's coffee bar area. It was practically empty in there, so I had a nice peaceful morning. I again took advantage of the free hotel wifi to catch up on my social media obligations, then I went upstairs to finish packing and check out of the hotel by noon. I was very fortunate that my friends participating in the Dublin Gay Theatre Festival now had room for me in their apartment, so I had the front desk call me a cab so I could make the transfer.
The plan was that I would e-mail my friends before leaving the hotel so they would be waiting outside the apartment in case the cabbie got confused. I thought my e-mail went through via the hotel wifi, but actually, it didn't. And the cabbie DID get confused, though he promised I wouldn't owe him 'more than a tenner' as he drove around looking for the address. We arrived at what we thought was the right place, but I discovered my e-mail hadn't gone through. And no wifi to be found. Grrrrr. I went across the street to a big office building to see if they'd let me jump onto their wifi for a moment - no go. I kinda stood around for a few minutes and then a city bus went by. There was a stop right in front of the apartment and the bus stopped there for a layover. I ran over to the bus stop and quickly got onto the Dublin Bus Service free wifi - woo hoo! My friends finally knew I was out front and let me in to the cute gated apartment complex.
I don't know why I didn't get any pictures of the apartment; it was so cute. It was a little stone gatehouse with three bedrooms, at least three bathrooms, a nice kitchen and laundry facilities. And it was in an excellent location - much closer to the city center than my hotel had been. It was very easy to walk back and forth into town. After arriving at the apartment and trying again (to no avail) to use my phone service, I hopped onto the free wifi in the apartment to start tweeting my cell phone provider to try to figure out why my phone wasn't working, even though I had supposedly activated international service. Of course, I could only check the tweets when I was in a free wifi area, so...it was slow going.
After we all got our ducks in a row, a group of us went to the Number 29 Georgian House Museum, which is a townhouse restored in the late 1980s to its eighteenth century glory. You do a self-guided tour of the building, which is furnished with period or original furnishings of families who lived there. When you arrive, you watch a short film about the life of the first family who lived there, the Beattys. It was a nice piece of history and prepared us for the rooms and furnishings we would see as we toured the space. After the film, it was suggested we check our coats and bags to make it easier to walk throughout the house. So we did. I found it very warm in the house, so I was happy to be rid of my raincoat. I was disappointed that I couldn't take photos - I've borrowed a couple of photos from the Georgian House Museum website and will remove them if asked.
We had a grand time touring the house at our leisure - the signage was all fantastic and really helped set the scene in each room. The downstairs had the kitchen, pantry and the housekeeper's room, then up to the entry hall floor and the lovely dining room (where we learned disturbing things about what the gentlemen REALLY did after those big dinners and they made the ladies go 'retire upstairs.' Ew). Next was up to the 'first' floor, where the front and back drawing rooms were. The drawing rooms were where most of the families' public lives took place. The private quarters, with the master bedroom and the boudoir, were up on the next floor. We were a little surprised at how small and rather modest they were - one of the very helpful employees of the museum filled in some blanks for us about the bedrooms and how no guests really came upstairs in the city homes. On the top floor was the attic where the children's nursery was and the governess' room. We really found all of the period toys and nursery furnishings fascinating. Well, all of the decorations and artwork and furnishings were gorgeous and reading about their uses or history was really fun.
When we went back downstairs to retrieve our jackets, we talked to another museum employee and she gave us other delightful details about the house and the neighborhood. She also kindly offered to take our photo outside the front door! All in all, it was a fantastic morning. Afterwards, we were a little peckish, but we had missed the lunch hour at most of the nearby pubs. So we went back to the apartment to grab some warmer things (the weather when I was in Dublin was mostly rainy, but sometimes it was briefly warm and sunny, and sometimes it was cold and windy. It made sense to just carry a scarf and gloves at all times, just in case.) I actually decided to hold off on food until closer to showtime that night. You know me and the 'no food before a show' thing...
After picking up our things, a handsome gent and I went to Trinity College to check out the Book of Kells. We actually took a cab over since it was getting close to closing time - we got there maybe an hour before they closed, but that was plenty of time to see everything and it wasn't very crowded at all. I was again miffed that I couldn't take pictures in the display area before you see the actual Book of Kells, but oh well. I could at least take (non-flash) pictures in the library/Long Room upstairs, so I was mollified. :)
After you pay your admission fee, you go into an exhibit called Turning Darkness Into Light, which introduces the Book of Kells and other books that are on display (I think we only saw the Book of Kells, and maybe the Book of Armagh? I forget.). There are displays about what Ireland was like at the time the Book of Kells was written (around 800 A.D.), about how the paper was made, the ink was made, how the authors put together the text. There were mentions of what various symbols meant (they think there were copyediting symbols throughout the book! cool! though I think I found a typo in one of the displays, but thought better of making an editing mark on it...), and there were translations from the Latin of certain portions of the Book. The Book of Kells has been at Trinity College since the seventeenth century, so I'm sure a lot of eyes have seen it. After you look through the exhibit, you walk up into a darkened room to see the Book itself. There was a hush in the room and it was very moving to see this ancient book still receiving so much attention. It's amazing how vivid the ink still is and how something unfinished is so important. I loved seeing it.
After you see the Book of Kells, you walk upstairs to the old library or the Long Room. Oh my word, this is a glorious place! Photos don't do it justice! Seemingly miles and miles of books (there are over 200,000!) - the smell of the books is wonderful, and it's just an awe-inspiring experience when you first see it. They were also having an exhibition of children's literature throughout the room, but I was mainly taking in the incredible atmosphere of the room itself. I was happy to be able to take a few photos, even though my memories will be far more vivid. In the Long Room is also the oldest surviving harp in Ireland (from the fifteenth century) and some proclamations from the 1916 rebellion. There's so much to see and enjoy there, I'm ever so glad we went. And I'm glad we went in the afternoon, too. I've read that they get quite overcrowded in the mornings.
Another friend met us outside the library and she and I decided to go get a snack before the evening performance of her play. We ended up at KC Peaches, a deli and sandwich shop. They also have a nice looking salad bar and hot food bar, but I got a tasty sandwich that had streaky bacon and avocado on it. I mean, come on. How could that be bad?! And it wasn't. After our snack, we went to visit Mr. Simms Olde Sweet Shoppe. I can't remember where I heard it, but someone told me I should check it out. It was an adorable old-fashioned candy store, with so much to choose from, I had a hard time! I finally picked a candy that was chocolate and puffed rice, with something sweet in the middle. It wasn't marzipan, though it looked like marzipan. Oh well, doesn't matter, the candy was delicious!!! I also got a little souvenir for my nephew, who is a big candy connoisseur.
We decided to walk through the Temple Bar area and then by the River Liffey before heading back to Trinity College for the performance. My gal pal suddenly realized she had forgotten the shoes she wears in the play, so she hopped in a cab to go back to the apartment and I just slowly wandered over to the theater and took a ton of photos. The show was again terrific; we even stayed and watched another show after - it was also terrific! After two pieces of great theater, we went to another party celebrating the Festival. I had a tasty margarita (yes, I know, you're supposed to drink Guinness when you go to Dublin. I don't like it. Sue me.), but then we were all starving since we didn't have any dinner. A few of us wandered across the street to Zaytoon, a Persian restaurant that several people recommended. And I can see why - it was delicious! Since it was so late, I didn't want to eat too much, so I just got some hummus and tzatsiki. But it was SO GOOD! And the bread was, too. Soooooo yummy. After eating all that bread, though, I was glad to have a nice long walk back to the apartment. I got a HORRIBLE photo of the Oscar Wilde statue in the park on our way back, I just never had time to go and get a good photo. Next trip.
On the phone front, I was still tweeting with my cell phone provider, who kept telling me that they would make the phone work for me in Dublin. Since I only had one day left, I was starting to doubt them... next time, thoughts on Dublin Castle and a production at the Abbey Theatre!!
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