Once again we got up on the early side, this time to arrive in time for an appointment for entry to the Trinity University’s Library. Long ago I had seen a photo of the “long room” in the old university library, and it looked beautiful. I was hoping to see it for myself. We ate a quick breakfast of coffee and a blueberry muffin served to us by a couple of chatty middle-aged ladies working at a café. It was surprising to see all the commuters walking to work today. Yesterday was a public holiday and so the streets had seemed empty, but today we were walking around during the morning rush. I noticed that there was a very heterogeneous mix of races in Dublin, even more so than what I remember from big cities in the USA.
The university campus is active and open to visitors, so we spent a little time walking around and seeing the sights. It felt a little like going back to school, except that no actual university students would be up this early. There was already a tour group waiting in line outside the library when we arrived, and the tour conductor was telling story after story to his captive audience. His tour group seemed hesitant to ask questions, and I could tell the tour conductor was starting to sweat as he ran out things to talk about. Right after we lined up behind that tour group another tour group lined up behind us, so we were sandwiched between tourists. Once the doors opened up, the advantage was ours as the tour guides wanted to show all the preliminary exhibits to build up to the old library, but we could head there straightaway. The “Long Room” of the University Library was impressive, indeed. We had the room to ourselves for just a little while, and I tried to make the most of the silence. The bookshelves stretched a long distance, decorated by marble busts of famous university graduates. In the center of the room some particular documents were showcased in glass. We also got to see Brian Boru’s Harp, an historical harp that apparently wasn’t actually Brian Boru’s, however the legend kind of followed the harp until it was generally considered true.
We left via the gift shop, and had some good laughs looking at the photos of the fashion models wearing each piece of Trinity U. apparel. One particular model was featured prominently, wearing an afro and a smile (both huge) in each picture – we loved that he looked nothing like a fashion model and was clearly enjoying his job.
For one more traditional Irish dish we had to go get a full Irish breakfast at Gallagher’s Boxty, a breakfast café located at the heart of the cobblestone streets of the Temple Bar area. I ordered a pint of beer to make the breakfast even more hearty. The full Irish breakfast was similar to the full English breakfast we had eaten during previous trips. There was bacon, eggs, sausage, white and black pudding, a roasted tomato, and (the reason that we had come here) boxty – a kind of potato pancake. Kuniko had a lighter meal of avocado toast, but we were damn full by the end of our brunch. While we ate I had a nice view of a pub across the way, and a guy sleeping under some cardboard boxes in the alley next door. The pub owner came into work, saw the sleeping guy, and a few minutes later a policewoman appeared and rousted the (hungover? homeless?) guy onto his feet and had him moving down the way. We did see quite a few beggars/homeless around Dublin during our short stay.
The rest of the afternoon we did a little shopping around town. Kuniko bought some warmer clothes for Iceland at H&M, and we also bought some cheese at Sheridan’s cheese shop which had been closed the previous day. The cheese shop was located in a fairly nice part of town – lots of expensive shops and hotels around. The cheese wasn’t that expensive at all – I bought some Irish creamy blue cheese and it was only 2 euros for 100 grams. I would have to pay ten times that in Japan for high quality cheese. While we were out we also walked through a nice park, Saint Stephen’s Green, to get a little nature into our day. The weather was threatening a bit so we went back to our hotel but again found our room uncleaned as of yet. Once again we went down to the bar to spend a little time. I drank an apple cider (since I don’t get many chances to drink cider in Japan) from a company called Orchard Thieves, and Kuniko had another Roe & Red. By the time we wrapped up at the bar our room was cleaned so we had a little cheese picnic in the room and then took a nap. Peaceful days like this are why we call it a vacation!
In the evening we decided to walk around and look for a place for dinner. To start, we walked in a completely new direction, and I kept my map in my pocket. In this new area, north of the Dublin Spire, we found lots of churches, and many grungy-looking apartments. All over Dublin we found graffiti, especially some we liked featuring a little masked-man luchador. Just like any big city there are some bad parts of town, and we had found one that day. It didn’t feel dangerous, just a little run down.
And then suddenly, a big crowded area of brand shops and shopping malls opened up in front of us. It wasn’t the usual kind of place we like to hang out in our travels, but it was fun to look at what a shopping mall is like in a different country. The mall was pretty crowded, so I guess economically things are going well. In the supermarkets we found abnormally large areas selling freshly baked cakes and sweets, and I noticed that pork was especially cheap in Dublin. The cheese selection at the average shop was much bigger than we’d see in Japan, so another reason to be jealous. As we left the shopping area a surprisingly talented older man was doing a street performance of old show tunes while dancing around. He had a good-sized crowd admiring his performance as we passed by.
For dinner we decided on a place called The Winding Stair. It is located above a bookshop (owned by the same people) and looks out over the River Liffey and Ha’penny Bridge. We arrived too late for lunch and too early for dinner, but the guy said he didn’t mind giving us a table as long as we ordered a couple of dishes to go with our wine. The atmosphere of the place was light and airy, full of distressed old dark wood, with an extensive bar in the corner. We were the only customers at that time – some people tried to come in for just drinks but our staff turned them away because they needed serve food (legally, I guess). We ordered some wine by the glass, and then three appetizers (that were the size of main dishes in Japan). The first was local crab with butter made into a spread and served with Irish soda bread and a green salad. The second appetizer was a creamy seafood chowder, with generous chunks of salmon, scallop, bacon, and some mussels floating around inside. And the third dish was duck leg meat pressed cold into blocks with cherries, pistachios, capers and pickles. All three dishes were excellent, and thanks to the size and variety of dishes it was the best meal of the trip so far.
Eventually we finished up our meal and headed back to the hotel, only stopping once at a small (low budget?) market called “Iceland” to buy some rhubarb yogurt and snacks. There was a security guard standing in the front watching everyone going in and out, and helping the cashiers now and then when they needed something. Once again we had lots of steps – this time 20,229.
