Dada Restaurant, Dublin

Tonight I met up with Jessica for dinner in city centre.  We hadn't hung out in a while and it was time to catch up on each others' holidays and possibly plan something for New Years.  When she suggested Moroccan food, I happily agreed!  I've not dined out a whole lot in Dublin, so I was anxious to try something new.

We went to Dada Restaurant, which is on South William Street, very close to campus.  Service was quick at first, slow toward end. The atmosphere was really nice, not overly done. Looked like a nice place for a group dinner.

We split 3 appetizers, which were nice. Salad with piquillo peppers and goat cheese was very good, although a bit oily. The aubergine was a small portion but quite yummy. The 4 moroccan dips were really good - the fave was the fig and date dip and the hummus. The olive tapenade was good but nothing special.

We split dessert:  rose water cheesecake with cardamom and cinnamon glaze and marinated plums on top. The cheesecake was nice and light, very very mild rose water flavor. Was good, but probably wouldn't order it again. Nothing else on the dessert menu looked all that exciting. 

When we left the waiter gave us a coupon for a complimentary glass of wine with our early bird meal, which actually seems like good value. We might be back.

Happy Christmas from Dublin!

Today is St. Stephen's Day, the day after Christmas.  Nearly everything is closed, including the train.  I know this because when Juliette dropped me off at the train station today, it was a ghost town.  Not wanting to pay for a cab, I walked the 5 miles home.  In the rain.  Well, it stopped raining halfway through my walk, but still.  Ggrrr.  There may or may not have been grumblings mumbled under my breath.

Anyway, moving on to the fun stuff!

On Christmas Eve, I walked to Christ Church Cathedral for 11pm mass.  It was beautiful.  The same chorus was there as from the Carol service I attended - they were phenomenal.  On my walk back home, I walked through Grafton Street and other parts of city centre to not only check out the beautiful lights, but also to experience a silent and empty Grafton Street!  This area is always so hustle-bustle, it was kinda neat to see it so quiet.  Here are pics:

Anne Street

Bank of Ireland, College Green

Fallon & Byrne

upscale market - like Oliver T's in Michigan, yet foolishly more expensive.

(expensive as in, 8 euro for a box of kellogg's cereal...seriously?)

nice selection of cheese though; also said to have a great bakery

Exchequer Street

Fallon & Byrne on left

Dunne's market on the forward right - this is where I do most of my grocery shopping

near top of Grafton Street

near bottom of Grafton Street

Brown Thomas ("BT") on left - upmarket department store.  Think Neiman Marcus.

During the daytime, they have "snow" machines that blow out onto the street every half hr or so - fun!

(you can see the snow machines just below the Ireland flags in this pic)

Wicklow Street

Check this out - this group of guys you see standing under the lights above just randomly began singing Christmas carols!  Hardly a soul on the street to hear them, but they seemed to be having fun.

So that was Christmas Eve.  I couldn't fall asleep until around 4am, so when the alarm went off at 7am, I snoozed it and ended up missing morning mass.  I had planned to walk to St. Patrick's Cathedral for Christmas morning mass, but that didn't happen.  I was satisfied with attending Christmas Eve mass.

I then had a refreshing Christmas morning run down to Blackrock - this is the first long run I've had since I moved here, and it felt great.  It was cold, but also a beautiful sunny morning.  Arriving at J's, I quickly got ready for the Christmas party at her friend's house, which was very nice.  From there, we went back to J's house, then later to her other friend Caitriona's (pronounced Katrina) house.  Caitriona's father had recently died, so this was their first Christmas without him.  She and her mom seemed to be in good spirits though.  It was nice to spend time with them.

We then walked back to J's house and opened her Christmas gifts from her family in the States.  Her sister sent her a SNUGGIE.  Yes, that's right - the snazzy "blanket with sleeves" wonder.  In leopard print, no less.  Hilarious.  We had so much fun with that damn thing and decided to put on an impromptu Snuggie Fashion Show, experimenting with all of the endless possibilities that only a Snuggie can bring.  Standby for pictures in a separate post!

I just now saw that they describe this as the "wild side" snuggie.  Genius marketing.

(Lexi, does "roarrrrr" come to mind?!)

The next day was St. Stephen's Day, as discussed above.  We had a lazy morning of watching TV, then Caitriona called in for a short visit, then it was high time for me to go back home.  Fast forward through the walking home 5 miles bit and I was soon home in my cozy dorm room. 

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas!  Thank you, Mommy, for the great Christmas gifts! 

Happy Christmas!

Smoking = Stinky Winky

I forgot to add the funniest part of my Kinsale trip!

On the train back from Cork to Dublin, I experienced the funniest thing.  I was blogging away when it happened, so here is what I wrote:

Smoking = Stinky Winky.
So I’m on the train now back from Cork; my seat is right next to the doorway. It’s a 3-hr (non-smoking) train ride as it stops at about 5 other locations to pick up other passengers. At each stop, the doors open for probably 30 seconds to pick up passengers – it’s not like it’s a delayed stop. The girl next to me probably got on the train about a half hour after I did and is also headed to Dublin. After being on this train for 1 hour, she told her brother that she needs a smoke, so at the next stop she made her getaway for a few puffs on the platform and was back seconds later. Ahhh, fresh smoky air now fills the train.


It’s common knowledge that nicotine is addicting, but seriously? You can’t last for two and a half hours without a puff? Ok, I will freely admit that in my former years I unfortunately fell victim to a few chosen nights that led to “social smoking” (Rachel, Rusty, Jessica – I specifically blame you for this.), but it’s gross. To all my smoker friends, it’s nothing personal, but in addition to being a tad unhealthy, smoking is stinky!


OMG. This story just got so much better. We are about 10 minutes from the Dublin station. The brother-sister duo are heading to see relatives for Christmas (tomorrow is Christmas Eve). Apparently, their family does not know they smoke (which to me seems shocking, given the number of people that smoke over here), so the brother just reached into his suitcase, pulled out air freshener and – I’m not kidding – sprayed his entire body with it. Mmmm, now the smell of smoke has been replaced with the smell of Glade. Can’t quite figure out the exact scent. Should I ask him why he did not spray sis? She could probably use a little freshen-up.

Just when I thought I'd nearly seen it all.  Too funny.  Oh, Glade.  You're so multipurpose.  Who knew?

Trip 5: Kinsale! (Gaelic - Ceann t-Saile) 22 Dec 2009

I needed a getaway.  Badly.  I also wanted to experience Christmas in another town outside Dublin.  I was *this close* to booking a night away to Sweden (RT flight was only $100) or Brussels (even less expensive), but then the fares skyrocketed after a couple hours while I searched for accommodations.  As this was a last minute getaway, I wasn't surprised.  I decided to go to Kinsale, in Southern Ireland.  It was fantastic.  Go there.  Here are some things I blogged about enroute. 

Hello from the train!

My first blog entry from my new “bebe” netbook! Weighing in at 2.9 lbs, I plan to make much use of this petite little gem while traveling and exploring as many parts of Ireland and Europe as possible. I can now combine school work and blogging while traveling, whereas this would not be so practical with my 2005 full-size laptop which is a bit, well, obese and slow.  (Christy, I'm referring to the same behemoth I had in NOLA - I remember you used to laugh at how heavy it was compared to your featherweight laptop:)

This morning began a little bit delayed, but now I’m onboard headed to Cork for the day, hopefully for the night. After doing my research online last night, comparing bus and train times/fares, I decided it was best to pay a few extra dollars for the train as it would save me 1.5 hours in commute time, thus giving me more time to enjoy Cork and Kinsale.

The plan:  8am train from Dublin Heuston Station to Cork Kent Station. Morning began as planned, waking up at 6:30am, out the door by 7:10, walked to Heuston and arrived at 7:40am, giving me what I thought was plenty of time to buy my ticket to Cork. Well, the 8am train wasn’t in the stars for me today. The fare on the internet was €20. Fare at ticket counter: €66! At current exchange rates, that is approx $30 versus $99. Translation: not wise for student budget. I asked if they could make an exception (!), but of course he said no. Doesn’t hurt to ask, right?  I asked if there was wifi, he said yes, but shockingly I could not connect and it would be too late by the time I finished.

Long story short, the train station has a few internet ports where you pay €1 for 10 minutes, and I booked the 10am train to Cork as the 9am was soldout. The 10am train was also only €10, plus €2 online booking fee, and arrives Cork around 12:45.

During my wait, I walked across the Liffey to take a walk and see unexplored parts of Dublin. Not too much to see in this area at this time of day. I did pass by a nice little park across the Liffey from Heuston:

I got back to the station around 9:20 and waited for the platform number to be called. Whew, it was chilly in the waiting area!

10 minutes later, Platform 5 was called and I was soon onboard in Car C, seat C14. Online booking allows you to book your seat, so I picked one with nobody next to me in hopes of having a little extra room. Yippee, nobody booked next to me! So now I have plenty of room to relax while I type away and enjoy the white – not green – scenery around me. Yes indeed, there is a bit of snow on the green pastures and trees. The many sheep are nearly blending in!


We are now almost at Limerick station, which I think is around the halfway point. As I’ve lost 2 hrs in my planned journey, when I arrive in Cork I will only have about 3 hrs of daylight, so I’m thinking of skipping out on Cork town centre in favor of a bus to Kinsale “straight away” as my friends would say. If all goes as planned, I will find a B&B in Kinsale, allowing me to enjoy Kinsale today and tomorrow morning, then do the Cork thing tomorrow afternoon. Crossing fingers! I’ve read a lot about Kinsale, the reported foodie haven and beautiful coastal town; I’m anxious to check it out and not be rushed at doing so.

pretty church in Cork along walk from train station to bus station (15 min walk)

Kinsale Pics:

(In the interest of saving space, I'm posting small size pics - you can click each photo to see full size)

  

bedroom at White House; bath towel warmers (heaven!); view of town centre from room.

I stayed at the White House B&B, right in town centre.  Cute place, very clean and modern. €50 per night, breakfast included.  As it was Christmas week, it was a bit quiet, so the guy let me pick my room, advising me of what rooms faced noisy areas, what rooms had better view, etc.


It was a beautiful sunny day, so I took a leisurely walk through town, stopping in various shops.  I came across Giles Norman Photography Galleries - this guy is very talented.  He specialises in black and white photography, with many photos from Ireland but also some from Paris, New York, Yosemite, Venice and Florence.  I'd love to have one of his prints someday.  He has a gallery shop in Dublin as well - who knew?

  

Kinsale harbour and a (hefty) feline friend

  

 crab and lobster cages in Kinsale harbour; Kinsale is sister city to Newport, RI and Mumbles, Wales; pretty sailboats in harbour

 

Dinner at Fishy Fishy restaurant, which I had read great reviews about. 

Best meal I've had in quite a while!

Seafood chowder with bread.  Love the hummus in a clam shell - nice presentation!

"warm chili salad" - delicious, with yummy dried mushrooms on top.  Sweet chili sauce was amazing.

Per usual, could have done well with just the soup and bread, but this was great food so I'm glad I tried the salad as well.

  

The Tap Tavern

Note the US license plates adorning the ceiling beams.

My, what a find in Kinsale!  After dinner I walked through town and decided to stop in here for a hot drink.  She didn't have hot chocolate (was hoping for hot chocolate with irish cream), so I had a glass of wine instead.

This place should have its photo under "small town pub" in the dictionary.  When I walked in, there were 4 people sitting by the fireplace - one of them was the owner, Mary O'Neill.  Gossip central!  In a mere 10 minutes I think I had caught up with 2 scandalous tales of some Kinsalers.  I sat down and wrote notecards and postcards to friend and family - it was quite relaxing and warm by the fire!

The 3rd photo is from the "Kinsale Ghost Tour" - I overheard a couple talking to Mary about this, so I bought a ticket as well.  Hadn't planned on doing anything cheesy touristy like this, but it was "good craic".  The guys who did the tour (Mary's son Brian and another guy, above) were pretty funny.  It got a tad old toward the end, but it was fun and educational.  You can read about the pub and the ghost tour here and here.

  

L to R:  The Lord Kingsale pub; Crackpots Restaurant & Wine Bar; Blue Haven Hotel bar

With an hour to spare before the ghost tour, I went back to my warm hotel room to relax.  Upon arriving back at the Tap for the 7.30 ghost tour, I quickly noted that this tour group was packed with hyperactive little ones.  Yeah, no.  I rebooked for the 9.30 tour, took a relaxing walk through town and ended up at Crackpots to enjoy a glass of red wine.  I chatted with the owner and the woman next to me, who was the owner's stepmother.  Both very nice women, very friendly.  I also learned that the stepmother's son is Giles Norman, the photographer whose gallery I stopped into earlier that day! 

After the ghost tour, I walked down to The Lord Kingsale for a glass of wine and live music.  Was also treated to live belching by the guy next to me - charming.  After that, I checked out Blue Haven, which I had read great reviews about.  By then it was getting rather cold out, so I warmed up with a hot whiskey, chatted with some locals and enjoyed the band (above), which was very good.

I slept like a baby, woke up early and quickly dismissed the idea of a morning jog.  I decided to be a slug in bed for another hour, then went downstairs for breakfast, which was plentiful to say the least!  Juice, yogurt, cereal, granola, muffins, plus your choice of coffee or tea to go with whatever menu selection you ordered.  I ordered the smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, which was very yummy and nice and light.

I relaxed a bit more, then took advantage of the hotel wifi (and my new bebe) to book my return train ticket home, having learned my lesson about online prices versus in-person prices.  The return ticket to Dublin was only €10!

 

Desmond Castle, built in the 1500s; interesting double "no left turn" signs, commented on during the ghost tour.  "You can't turn left here, and you certainly can't do it twice."  I guess it was funnier at the time...

Desmond Castle also houses the International Museum of Wine and was once a french prison.  I had read about this place in a great book of Irish travel essays (which is also how I learned of Kinsale in the first place).  Sadly, it was closed this week.  Check out www.winegeese.ie for interesting info on the wine trade in Kinsale dating back to the 1400s.

 

pretty view from my very rainy walk up to the Carmelite Friary.

On the way back to the bus stop, I stopped into Kinsale Crystal, which had some of the nicest crystal I've seen - many with beautiful deep cut designs.  Kinsale is a great little town.  Click here for a bit of its history.  It's also a Fair Trade town, giving it another gold star. If you're planning a visit to Ireland, put this place toward the top of your list.

I'd love to visit Kinsale again, as I'd like to check out James Fort, Charles Fort and the beautiful Sandycove.  There's also a regatta in the summer which I imagine is pretty cool.  Anyone want to join me in another visit?

6 hours in Cork city centre

I had been to Cork once before in 2006, but didn't really feel like I had really "seen" the city, as our time there was very brief.  This trip was brief as well, but I did a bit of exploring.  I had one main item on my to-visit list for this day:  The English Market, another place I had read about recently in the travel essay book I mentioned above.  Other than that, I just wanted to have a relaxing day and walk around.

 

The English Market was cool.  I think the book made it out to be more than it really is, but it was an experience.  They had a fabulous selection of international cheeses, including of course, tons of fresh Irish goat cheese, all different types.  One station had very tempting looking olives, peppers and other italian food.  Below are some of the more interesting photos. 

  

Collar joints, anyone?

mmm, mmm.  A vegetarian's delight.  (but wait, it gets better...)

Choices, choices. 

Kangaroo steaks

Wild Boar

Venison Haunch (seriously?)

Goose Fat

Duck Legs

eew.

How does one begin to choose from these delicious delicacies?  Ugh.  Even if I ate meat, I'm not so sure any of these would make it to my kitchen, let alone to my plate.  To each their own.  Have you ever tried any of these items? 

Holy huge eggs.  Wowsers.

So that was my English Market experience.  I then explored some vintage clothing shops adjacent to the Market (very cool stuff there), bought some fire roasted hazelnuts from a street vendor (meh), admired the Christmas street lights (each street was different), walked through a dodgy Christmas market (some people must be on crack to think people would actually buy their cheap crap) and chatted with a local vendor who thought she had created the world's greatest commodity - smoked brie.  However, she disclosed to me that she buys the el-cheapo large brie triangle that everyone knows you can get at Dunne's for €1 - and it's something like 30% brie, 70% "cheese product" ... but hey, it makes her happy and if she sells her cheese and paninis, fair play to her.

With 2 hours to spare before the train, I treated myself to steamed mussels and a glass of mulled wine at the Cornstore.  Food was great, service a bit slow to the point where I began to worry about rushing to make my train (I made it).

Goodbye Kinsale and Cork.  You were exactly what the doctor ordered - a quiet relaxing time alone and away from everything.  Thank you!

Christmas Season in Dublin

In the interest of saving time, I'm pasting an email that I sent to family back home, describing what I'm up to this holiday season.  Enjoy!

holiday lights at bottom of Grafton street, across from Trinity

Christmas in Ireland is very beautiful, from the glistening decorations on the streets (Grafton Street is especially sparkly) to the many chorus concerts at various churches. I've been to three chorus concerts so far, 2 at Trinity in our campus chapel and 1 in Christ Church Cathedral, just down the street about 1/2 mile or so. The Trinity chorus is very talented. My friend Erin, also from the U.S. (DC), is a chorus member. She has half-inspired me to join the chorus, but i'm sure they would think I must be delusional, so I doubt that will ever happen. Back in October, I had gone to Evensong one evening after class; it was beautiful, even though only about 20 people attended! The Christmas concerts are very well attended and sometimes sell out in advance.

The first Christmas event I attended (Dec. 14th) was called "A Service of Lessons and Carols in Advent" and was a combination of prayer service and songs, some of which I knew and some which were either new to me or sung quite differently than I knew them from the States! One song was sung completely in Latin, with some solo verses mixed in by a couple chorus members. It was quite lovely. The Chaplaincy hosted wine and mince pies afterward...yes, mince pies. Quite the big holiday tradition over here. You either like it or you don't - I grew up with them at every holiday as they are my dad's fave, so I'm not overly excited by the mass-produced mini mince pies here (nothing like mom's homemade goodies, right?), but they're not bad.

Mince pies

The third chorus event was also at Trinity on Dec 17th at 8pm. It worked out well as my friend Juliette (from LLM program) and I attended the 6pm "Christmas Commons", which is basically a formal-ish dinner served in the Dining Hall. I say "ish" because although it's considered a nice dinner, i spied many students in sweatshirts and jeans! Oh well, to each their own. Trinity's Dining Hall reminds me of the dining hall in Harry Potter. There were many students who brought their parents, who thought it was really neat to have a Commons dinner. We sat across from a girl who was explaining to her parents some of the formalities of Commons: each time the door is knocked (can't miss it), everyone must stand up; scholars sit at their own table together, and each time the group of scholars passes by, everyone must stand up.

(Pardon the quality of these photos - I forgot my camera and had to use my phone camera)

Christmas Commons table in Dining Hall

The Chapel Choir at Christmas Commons

Do you agree this room feels Harry Potter-esque?

The food was good - they even had a vegetarian option! While others had a plate full of stuffing, a huge slab each of turkey and ham, I had delicious zucchini with a crusted cheesy topping. Sides were mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, carrots and peas. Dessert? Nope, not minced pies, but another Irish biggie (although I think it started in England): Christmas pudding! If you're not familiar, think of it as fancified less-cakey fruitcake with lots of raisins, currants, cherries, apples, dates, figs, nutmeg, cinnamon, etc., usually served with brandy butter, which is exactly as it sounds. It's actually not bad, although very rich. It's worth trying once just to see. I wouldn't exactly run to the market to purchase one, but I'd recommend trying it if you are ever here or in the UK.

Christmas Pudding

So after Christmas Commons we went to the Trinity Singers Concert, again in the campus chapel. According to the booklet they handed out, almost 60 singers were part of this concert, and the group itself totals over 200 in members. They sang 19 songs, one of them with a second-year music student who played the accordion, which was beautiful. A couple of solos were mixed in with familiar and unfamiliar songs. The conductor chose a global range of music for this concert, representing many different styles of musical composition...English Renaissance carols to traditional Hungarian church music. Also an Ave Maria that is completely different than the traditional one that we all probably know.

The day before Christmas Commons, I attended "Carols at Christ Church" - this was absolutely beautiful and a lot of fun or, as they say here, "great craic" - which, as I've previously explained to Greg and Kathy, is pronounced "great crack"...! Juliette had recommended this to me and I almost didn't go, but I'm so glad I did now. I got there about 45 min early and got 3rd row seats, which was great. I sat next to an older gentleman whose daughter was in the Girls' Choir; it was really cute to see him so proud of his daughter. He told me during the intermission that the choir commitment is 5 days per week! 3 weekdays and Sat/Sun. He said she leaves school at 3pm to arrive at choir practice by 4pm.

Christ Church Cathedral Choir

Christ Church is a beautiful 11th C. medieval cathedral. It's said to be the oldest building in Dublin. There is so much history, great architecture as well as the crypt downstairs. I had been here in 2007 as a tourist, but now it was kinda neat to be back for a community event. The compère (what we would call the master of ceremonies) was really fun and got the audience involved in certain songs. The evening consisted of 2 choirs: The Cathedral Choir and the Cathedral Girls' Choir. I was truly in awe at their talents. The soloists gave me shivers. Their rendition of Silent Night, also with soloists mixed in, was splendid... I wanted them to sing it again! The first half closed with a soloist performing Oh Holy Night, one of my fave Christmas songs... the woman was absolutely amazing, I definitely had chills. The second half was much more lighthearted, starting with Good King Wenceslas (I always think of the funny scene in Love Actually when Hugh Grant's driver starts singing this song...), then We Three Kings, Jingle Bells, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas...and then ... Santa arrived! Santa (aka the compère) got the audience singing Happy Birthday to the Archbishop and the Dean, then explained to us how we would all participate in and sing the 12 Days of Christmas together. Certain program leaflets were marked with various #s or words, which meant you were a lucky recipient of various musical objects, such as a whistle, bells, rattle, french horn, etc. If you had an instrument, you were to sound it when your Day of Christmas came up in the song! The Five Golden Rings did not have an instrument, but instead we were to all stand up and turn in a circle each time. After that, one of the chorus directors read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, which also involved audience participation. It was a very unique way to end the carol service and was definitely "great craic!"

St. Patrick's Cathedral had some events as well, but I've missed most of them. However, I am planning to attend Christmas morning mass there, so I'm excited about that.  Will update with other Christmas photos soon. 
 
As the Irish say, Happy Christmas! In gaelic, Nollaig Shona Duit!