A View of Glasnevin Cemetery, With O'Connell Tower
Nice Light Lunch: The Turkey and Ham Dinner
Belvedere College, Where James Joyce Went to School
Troy and I Enjoying A Quiet Dinner Together
Ha'Penny Bridge At NightIt felt like it was still the middle of the night when the telephone rang for the 7:00 a.m. wake-up call. What a difference since I was in Iceland and the sun never seemed to set! Troy got up and got ready for his last day of training, and I debated for a while whether I was going to get up too or whether I was going to keep sleeping. I had had ten hours' sleep, but it still didn't feel like it was enough. I was a bit slow getting ready. I watched "Sesame Street" for a while and decided that Elmo was equally annoying in Gaelic.
After showering and getting ready, I got to the breakfast buffet around 8:30 a.m. For brekkie this morning, I had a bowl of porridge, a croissant with strawberry jam, and then the traditional fry: fried eggs, scrambled eggs, Irish bacon, fried sausage, and two types of blood pudding, the black and the white. Breakfast was scrumptious. I felt adventurous tasting the blood pudding: the white reminded me of creton, or head cheese, which was one of my favourites as a child; the black blood pudding reminded me of mince meat. I figured I could have the blood pudding; after all, it could not possibly be worse than the hakarl (raw, putrified shark) I had had in Iceland.
After breakfast, I got my backpack from my room, as well as the map of Dublin my friend Geneviève Allard lent me (un grand merci!), and gradually made my way to the Glasnevin (Prospect) cemetery. The receptionist at the hotel suggested I take a bus there, but I really wanted to explore the city on foot instead. I arrived at the cemetery some time around 10:00 a.m.
The cemetery was huge! I immediately saw the towers built inside the cemetery walls, which were designed to allow guards to patrol the grounds to make sure that no one could rob the graves to bring corpses to the medical schools. One of the reasons I wanted to see this cemetery is that many famous Dubliners are buried there. But another important reason is that a chapter of Ulysses is set here. In fact, Leopold Bloom arrives at the cemetery around 11:00 a.m. for Paddy Dignam's funeral, and as 11:00 a.m. rolled around, I thought it was fittingly appropriate that I be there at that time.
The cemetery was huge, and without the benefit of a map, it was very difficult to locate the tombstones I planned to see. But I did find the tombstone of Michael Collins, Irish revolutionary, fairly quickly. It was amazing for me to note all the names in the cemetery that I see so frequently back home: Mullin (spelled "Mullen"), Nolan, Murphy, Hackett, Kennedy, Gaynor, etc. I was not having much luck finding the other tombstones I wanted to see, so when the museum opened at 11:00 a.m., I went in and inquired about them. And I also bought the Ulysses map of the cemetery. Armed with this knowledge, I located the tombs of poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, Amnesty International founder Sean MacBride, James Joyce's parents John Stanislaus and Mary Jane Joyce, and a few others. I left the cemetery on foot a little after noon and slowly made my way back to the city centre, without once consulting my map and without getting lost!
I was looking for a place to have lunch and found a quiet little pub closer to the city centre on Lower Dorset Street. For 16 Euros (around 21 dollars), I had a Smithwick's beer and the turkey and ham special. The latter dish consisted of a thick slice of double turkey breast laid on top of a thick slice of baked ham with stuffing in between the two, three scoops of potatoes, one scoop of turnips, julienne carrots and grated cabbage, as well as a deep fried ball of mashed potatoes, and tons of gravy. It was, as the Irish are fond of saying, fan-feckin-tastic. I definitely want to bring Troy here.
After lunch, I wanted to see Belvedere college, the place where Joyce went to school. I had seen the school on my tour yesterday but hadn't been able to take a picture of it. It was close to 1:30 p.m. by then, so I headed towards the hotel, where I had made plans to meet with Troy at 2:00 p.m.
I waited for him for what felt like an eternity. Troy was caught in Dublin traffic, and with no way of getting a hold of him, I started to worry and imagine the worst. I was sitting at the computer in the lobby when he arrived 40 minutes later. I was relieved to see him. But Troy informed me that he had accidently left his bag at IKEA, so we had to drive back. This wasn't so bad, because I got to experience driving in Ireland. Troy sat at the steering wheel on the right-hand side of the car and I on the left, as we started heading down the street on the left-hand side of the road. It was pretty damn unnerving. It felt like any moment an on-coming car might smash right into me! The IKEA is incredibly massive, as Troy had told me. He showed me around and I couldn't believe how busy it was, even more than the time I brought my friend Darren in on the Labour Day weekend! Troy was ecstatic to finally be on vacation.
We left IKEA and drove back to the hotel. Troy still has the car until tomorrow morning, but we parked it in the hotel parking lot and decided to venture out once again on foot. Troy was starting to feel hungry because he had skipped lunch, but I was still stuffed from my Christmas-like lunch. So he grabbed a bag of crisps as a snack.
The first place we went to was the James Joyce Centre again, because I wanted to buy some more souvenirs. I got a James Joyce finger puppet with a magnet inside, so that I can stick it on my fridge, and I also got four bookmarks. We left the centre around closing time at 5:00 p.m. and continued sight-seeing. Troy suggested we go south of the river Liffey, an area I had not yet been to. The area north of the river, where our hotel is located, is dodgier; south of the Liffey, the neighbourhoods are nicer and more affluent. It is also here that Trinity College is located. I got to see plenty of sights, including a plaque that marks the site of the old Newspaper Office where Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus meet in Ulysses.
We decided to stop for dinner at another pub south of the Liffey. It advertised traditional Irish food, so we decided to eat there. We shared a fish cake as an appetizer. I got an orange soda, and Troy got a Guinness. He then had a pint of half-Guinness, half-lager, which I think he called a black and tan. I tasted both and they were delicious. Troy had the beef and Guinness pie with mashed potatoes, and I had my first fish and chips here. The atmosphere was cosy in this pub that has been open since 1933 and we both enjoyed our meals.
It was after 8:00 p.m. by the time we left the pub, and we wandered the streets again, visiting the various shops and the many Carrolls stores through the city. I swear there is a Carrolls on almost every street corner, and they sell souvenirs. Plenty of interesting handicrafts here! I am sure I will buy plenty of stuff for family and friends.
We went back to the hotel so I could drop off my bag and we could decide on our next move. I really wanted to hear the traditional Irish music at the Cobblestone Pub, and Troy wanted to see the drag queen show at the George, the gay pub. I wasn't too sure, because I thought that was something we could easily do anywhere like home or Montreal or Toronto, whereas the traditional Irish music would be more authentic, I guess. In any event, I agreed to go to the George, because we were told that there was only one drag show a week. In the end, the performers were better than others I have seen, but it is still guys dressed up as girls, lip-synching pop and torch songs. The show ended at 11:00 p.m., and we only hung around long enough for me to finish my mojito and Troy his cider. We walked all the way back to the hotel, taking pictures of the lights under the bridges reflected in the Liffey. We stopped to hear street buskers playing traditional Irish music, mandolin included, and watched a small group of drunken, smoking lads dancing to the music. A very unique experience.
We got to the hotel close to midnight and while Troy read, I promptly fell asleep. It was a much needed rest after a very busy day!
M.
After showering and getting ready, I got to the breakfast buffet around 8:30 a.m. For brekkie this morning, I had a bowl of porridge, a croissant with strawberry jam, and then the traditional fry: fried eggs, scrambled eggs, Irish bacon, fried sausage, and two types of blood pudding, the black and the white. Breakfast was scrumptious. I felt adventurous tasting the blood pudding: the white reminded me of creton, or head cheese, which was one of my favourites as a child; the black blood pudding reminded me of mince meat. I figured I could have the blood pudding; after all, it could not possibly be worse than the hakarl (raw, putrified shark) I had had in Iceland.
After breakfast, I got my backpack from my room, as well as the map of Dublin my friend Geneviève Allard lent me (un grand merci!), and gradually made my way to the Glasnevin (Prospect) cemetery. The receptionist at the hotel suggested I take a bus there, but I really wanted to explore the city on foot instead. I arrived at the cemetery some time around 10:00 a.m.
The cemetery was huge! I immediately saw the towers built inside the cemetery walls, which were designed to allow guards to patrol the grounds to make sure that no one could rob the graves to bring corpses to the medical schools. One of the reasons I wanted to see this cemetery is that many famous Dubliners are buried there. But another important reason is that a chapter of Ulysses is set here. In fact, Leopold Bloom arrives at the cemetery around 11:00 a.m. for Paddy Dignam's funeral, and as 11:00 a.m. rolled around, I thought it was fittingly appropriate that I be there at that time.
The cemetery was huge, and without the benefit of a map, it was very difficult to locate the tombstones I planned to see. But I did find the tombstone of Michael Collins, Irish revolutionary, fairly quickly. It was amazing for me to note all the names in the cemetery that I see so frequently back home: Mullin (spelled "Mullen"), Nolan, Murphy, Hackett, Kennedy, Gaynor, etc. I was not having much luck finding the other tombstones I wanted to see, so when the museum opened at 11:00 a.m., I went in and inquired about them. And I also bought the Ulysses map of the cemetery. Armed with this knowledge, I located the tombs of poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, Amnesty International founder Sean MacBride, James Joyce's parents John Stanislaus and Mary Jane Joyce, and a few others. I left the cemetery on foot a little after noon and slowly made my way back to the city centre, without once consulting my map and without getting lost!
I was looking for a place to have lunch and found a quiet little pub closer to the city centre on Lower Dorset Street. For 16 Euros (around 21 dollars), I had a Smithwick's beer and the turkey and ham special. The latter dish consisted of a thick slice of double turkey breast laid on top of a thick slice of baked ham with stuffing in between the two, three scoops of potatoes, one scoop of turnips, julienne carrots and grated cabbage, as well as a deep fried ball of mashed potatoes, and tons of gravy. It was, as the Irish are fond of saying, fan-feckin-tastic. I definitely want to bring Troy here.
After lunch, I wanted to see Belvedere college, the place where Joyce went to school. I had seen the school on my tour yesterday but hadn't been able to take a picture of it. It was close to 1:30 p.m. by then, so I headed towards the hotel, where I had made plans to meet with Troy at 2:00 p.m.
I waited for him for what felt like an eternity. Troy was caught in Dublin traffic, and with no way of getting a hold of him, I started to worry and imagine the worst. I was sitting at the computer in the lobby when he arrived 40 minutes later. I was relieved to see him. But Troy informed me that he had accidently left his bag at IKEA, so we had to drive back. This wasn't so bad, because I got to experience driving in Ireland. Troy sat at the steering wheel on the right-hand side of the car and I on the left, as we started heading down the street on the left-hand side of the road. It was pretty damn unnerving. It felt like any moment an on-coming car might smash right into me! The IKEA is incredibly massive, as Troy had told me. He showed me around and I couldn't believe how busy it was, even more than the time I brought my friend Darren in on the Labour Day weekend! Troy was ecstatic to finally be on vacation.
We left IKEA and drove back to the hotel. Troy still has the car until tomorrow morning, but we parked it in the hotel parking lot and decided to venture out once again on foot. Troy was starting to feel hungry because he had skipped lunch, but I was still stuffed from my Christmas-like lunch. So he grabbed a bag of crisps as a snack.
The first place we went to was the James Joyce Centre again, because I wanted to buy some more souvenirs. I got a James Joyce finger puppet with a magnet inside, so that I can stick it on my fridge, and I also got four bookmarks. We left the centre around closing time at 5:00 p.m. and continued sight-seeing. Troy suggested we go south of the river Liffey, an area I had not yet been to. The area north of the river, where our hotel is located, is dodgier; south of the Liffey, the neighbourhoods are nicer and more affluent. It is also here that Trinity College is located. I got to see plenty of sights, including a plaque that marks the site of the old Newspaper Office where Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus meet in Ulysses.
We decided to stop for dinner at another pub south of the Liffey. It advertised traditional Irish food, so we decided to eat there. We shared a fish cake as an appetizer. I got an orange soda, and Troy got a Guinness. He then had a pint of half-Guinness, half-lager, which I think he called a black and tan. I tasted both and they were delicious. Troy had the beef and Guinness pie with mashed potatoes, and I had my first fish and chips here. The atmosphere was cosy in this pub that has been open since 1933 and we both enjoyed our meals.
It was after 8:00 p.m. by the time we left the pub, and we wandered the streets again, visiting the various shops and the many Carrolls stores through the city. I swear there is a Carrolls on almost every street corner, and they sell souvenirs. Plenty of interesting handicrafts here! I am sure I will buy plenty of stuff for family and friends.
We went back to the hotel so I could drop off my bag and we could decide on our next move. I really wanted to hear the traditional Irish music at the Cobblestone Pub, and Troy wanted to see the drag queen show at the George, the gay pub. I wasn't too sure, because I thought that was something we could easily do anywhere like home or Montreal or Toronto, whereas the traditional Irish music would be more authentic, I guess. In any event, I agreed to go to the George, because we were told that there was only one drag show a week. In the end, the performers were better than others I have seen, but it is still guys dressed up as girls, lip-synching pop and torch songs. The show ended at 11:00 p.m., and we only hung around long enough for me to finish my mojito and Troy his cider. We walked all the way back to the hotel, taking pictures of the lights under the bridges reflected in the Liffey. We stopped to hear street buskers playing traditional Irish music, mandolin included, and watched a small group of drunken, smoking lads dancing to the music. A very unique experience.
We got to the hotel close to midnight and while Troy read, I promptly fell asleep. It was a much needed rest after a very busy day!
M.
Ah yes. Eating light meals, I see. Truly a vacation diet that would make Doc Atkins proud.
ReplyDeleteSo I guess your take on drag queens seems to be: seen one, seen 'em all, regardless of where in the world. You guys have gots to go to Thailand!
-Nick