Harcourt Laundrette

The Harcourt Laundrette

A Tale of an Irish Laundry

We had reached critical mass - more dirty clothes than clean so it was out to find a laundromat armed with directions from the reliably unreliable desk clerk at the hotel. We trudged down the street towing our turquoise laundry bag emblazoned with the Corner Wash Adams Ave logo. Just as we both were ready to let go with a few more expletives regarding the desk clerk and his *#^+ing directions we found the Harcourt Laundrette.

We walked in and there were piles of laundry everywhere. The incredibly cheerful owner (Marius) popped out between the stacks of laundry and offered his services. He offered to take the laundry and deliver it to our hotel later. 

We took a look at the mess and knowing that most of our clothes were in the Corner Wash bag we counter offered to stay and do the wash ourselves. He was most agreeable showing us the machines that were actually working (many were broken). We loaded the machines and settled in.

Twenty mminutes or so later a young woman came in with two dresses to be dry cleaned. The ever cheerful Marius asked for her phone number, looked in his computer and then announced that it must be her first time to drop off clothes. She assured him she had been in before and directed his attention to one of the dresses. 

"Remember, you cleaned this one for me before and burned the sleeve. You had to take the sleeves off and retailor the dress." Marius responded that upon looking at the dress he did remember that. The woman then repeatedly assured him that she had had no cleaning done since that episode and she had not gone to another cleaners. 

Marius, beaming as always, thanked her for her business. He told her he'd have the dresses ready by Monday. She told him any day next week would be fine. Marius said Tuesday would work better for him. She agreed and cordial goodbyes were exchanged.

I was amazed  that 1) someone who had a dress burnt came back to the same place 2) made sure that the owner knew there had been no sneaking around to another cleaners 3) the customer offered more time to do the job than was asked for 4) the whole encounter had been unfailingly polite and cheerful and 5) they parted on the best of terms- both happy.

I guess I have a lot to learn.

Kate

Athlone to Galway

Middle Earth

Just a short note here to say that we arrived just at sunset last night in Athlone after a terrifying drive from Bru na Boinne (New Grange). The Budget car rental office on Drumcondra Rd. in Dublin sits right on the N1 motorway so the drive nortth to New Grange was not too bad. After fantastic tours of two of the three "passage graves" at New Grange we followed directions across country (on reasonable roads) through Navan - Trim - Longford - Kinnegad - Athlone. The trouble was left-side driving + not really knowing where we were going. But we made it and stayed at a very pleasant (and tiny) B&B on the west end of Athlone.

Today we'll explore Lough Ree for a bit and then head to Galway where we've booked 3 nights at the Balcony House B&B. We'll check in from there later.

Last Step Dance in Dublin

Rince Céim Last i mBaile Átha Cliath

(Last Step Dance in Dublin)

Today we walked a section of the quays (pron. 'keys) along the River Liffey which runs right through the heart of town. The Liffey is a "tidal river" which means that it's essentially an estuary off the Irish Sea and rises and falls with the tide. I most liked one building covered on all four sides with posters from Labor. The side nearest to us read, "Solidarity. The solidarity of workers saved thousands of families from starvation." Remember that James Connolly, one of the central leaders of the rebellion of 1916 and tied to a chair and shot for his participation, was before all a socialist and leader of the IGTWU (International General Transport Workers Union). I'll try to post that photo tomorrow.

After another sally through the excellent National Museum with its collection of gold and bronze ornaments, weapons, and other tools of daily life, Kate and I returned to our hotel to rest and then head out to get the laundry done. Kate's got a funny story to tell about that experience and I'll let her do that.

Tomorrow we pick up our hired car (an automatic we hope) and head north to New Grange, an ancient "passage tomb" of pre-Celtic times. Should be really interesting. After that we'll head west and south to Athlone, a midlands town on the upper reaches of the River Shannon. Not sure what we'll find but one friend from Qualcomm says that he was born there and it has "the oldest pub in Ireland" and is near a very old observatory that we ought to see. Maybe I'll be able to get a photo for the Astronomy folks at QC! From Athlone our current plans take us to Galway for 2 or 3 days and then south to the peninsulas of Dingle and Iveraugh (read "The Ring of Kerry").

All for now. It's time for my bath and beauty sleep.  ;^D

MM

A Few Shout-Outs

Tá mórán Shout-Outs chun Baile

(A Few Shout-Outs to Home)

Glen, I couldn't find any books in Trinity College's Long Library to suit. Sorry. I could only get photos of a dozen of old guys like this one. I guess you could say that my search was a bust.

Hi Daly! Here's a photo of the Irish President's residence in Phoenix Park. A light burns continuously in the left-most upper window under the portico (sadly not visible in this photo) for the purpose of friendship and reminder to the Irish diaspora that they are always welcome home. Thank you for introducing us to your friend here in Dublin. It's a meeting and friendship that we will treasure.

Hi Jon! Kate and I spotted this neat little pub from atop the Hop-On, Hop Off. Relatives?

Chuck, Guinness produces 33 million pints at their Dublin plant every month and they've got an even larger plant in Lagos, Nigeria. Here's a photo taken from the top of Guinness' "Gravity Bar" high above Dublin and just north of the River Liffey. Today was Arthur Guinness Day so lift a glass with me ... 'Slainte'.

For JJ and Carrie, genealogists supreme, here is the first of several (not too surprisingly similar) photos that we got today of Madge's home at 253 Clonliffe Road (the black door). We also learned that this particular area of Drumcondra may well have been involved in the Easter Rising of 1916 (and probably deeply affected by the murder of 13 spectators and one player at nearby Croke Stadium by British troops shortly after the suppression of the Rising.)

That's all for today folks. Even though we've purchased an Apple (European!) keyboard and very expensive wi-fi (good for the next ~40 hours), it's after midnight and we're heading to bed. Until tomorrow...

MM and Kate

Faces of Ireland

Aghaidheanna na hÉireann
(Faces of Ireland)

From our second story perch at a Starbucks on Grafton St. we had a window to the world below. As the throngs passed by we had a front row seat to many small dramas. On the right of the photo below you can see a hole in the pavement that was the first act of Faces of Ireland. Moments before the young man who is now approaching the hole a young mom with a stroller along with another child holding her hand swerved around the hole to avoid it. In just a split second the young girl with curly blond hair wearing a bright blue raincoat with gold and orange fishes swimming about on it broke away from her mother and jumped gleefully into the hole with both feet making a very satisfying splash. The look of sheer joy and contentment at this unexpected delightful treat that had been offered to her was priceless. The small, radiant face a lesson in remembering to savor all the small things that come our way.

As we decended from our aerie a young man with a fantastic voice was singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" we joined in singing along with this face of Ireland, a student, possibly from Italy or Spain, - an example of the extreme youth of this country (average age is 35) and the number of people from the EU making their homes here in the Republic. 

We next had the priviledge of meeting a charming, vibrant Dubliner for lunch whose family roots are deep in this historic city. Her family participated in the Easter Rising of 1916. The narrative of that time was fascinating. She was gracious enough to give us a tour of the Archaeological Museum after lunch. What a fabulous collection of artifacts. The three of us then went to a bookshop where Mike was able to purchase some material for his Irish language studies. This is yet another face of Ireland - the erudite and intellectual bent of a country, a small island, that has produced four Nobel Laureates in literature.

This full day ended in a multi-cultural experience - toasting Arthur Guinness on Arthur Day in O'Neils Pub then a delicious Italian dinner topped off by a sinfully good almond and polenta tart with lemon curd and cream.

All is more than well in our world tonight - Kate

Book of Kells, Kilmainham Jail

Bus Bhaile Átha Cliath - ní speicis i mbaol!
(Dublin City Bus - not an endangered species!)

After breakfast we walked down the 6-8 very long Dublin blocks to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells exhibit and the Long Library section of TC Library. Trinity is quite pretty inside its high walls with (chained off) areas of green lawn surmounted by old old stone buildings all around. The photo above is a TC gardener trimming one of the lawns with long clippers. Note the blue sign with information in both English and Irish. Ireland is officially a dual-language country and almost all signage that we've seen so far is in both languages. Excellent for me as I've been lightly studying Irish for the past 3-4 weeks.

Photos aren't allowed in the Book of Kells exhibit but we got some very nice pictures of the Long Library. You'll see where it gets its name.

On the subject of buses.... Dublin has a huge number of buses roaming its streets. Big ones! Big buses that turn very tight corners into very narrow lanes and manage to miss the thousands of pedestrians scurrying (and I do mean scurrying) in every direction at every street corner. The typical yellow and blue Dublin Bus is often found six or seven deep waiting at traffic signals, but those lines are augmented by bright green and bright red "Hop On, Hop Off" tour buses that circle the key city sights making 24 stops every 90 minutes or so. Now add the Airport buses and dozens and dozens of tour buses (really!) and for good measure mix in a heaping load of personal cars. Dublin is one BUSY city.

So, we caught the Green Dublin Bus (HOn-HOff) near Trinity and got off at Kilmainham Jail (with a brief stop at the Guinness Storehouse -- awful stuff). Built by the British in 1796 as a humane Victorian alternative to previous "just keep-em-off-the-streets" madhouses, Kilmainham was the latest in prison design. Prisoners were kept alone and silent in separate cells complete with fresh air windows (sadly, no glass or covers so the winters were a bit cold). After the 1916 'Easter Rising' Kilmainham housed (briefly) most of the leaders of the rebellion. It's a long long story (over 600 years long) but at the end the British executions of the 1916 rebel leaders, one by one in the prison yard, finally convinced the Irish people that they no longer needed the help of England to run their country. One war with England and a bloody civli war later, Irish Republic was founded in 1923.

Here's a picture of the prison's central area. Here it looks a bit neat and tidy but believe me the many outward-facing cells (not seen here) are gray, cold, and depressing. The "rug" in the photo foreground is a sort of 20' x 30' quilt made from bonnets, each representing a woman who was held in Kilmainham before deportation ("transportation") to a sentence of hard labor in Australia. 

MM

Irish Tacos of a Tuesday

Tá roinnt rudaí riamh athrú

(Some things never change)

Room key or lights? Room key or lights?  No key in the slot by your door means no lights, and in fact no electricity at all to your room. Want to charge your cellphone? You've got to leave a room key behind. 

Add to that, the only wi-fi connection this week has been/will be from the hotel's reception lobby. So here I am propped up on the lobby couch punching out a blog post. Maybe the hotel in Kinsale will have reliable wi-fi?

Johnny and April, here's one for you. We came across this taco cart last night just off Grafton Street near Trinity College. Taco Tuzday in Dublin Ireland! Who'da guessed. Uh, we had pasta for dinner.

Well, that was Tuesday. I'll prop up Wednesday's post in a minute too.

MM

Mayo and Molly Malone (Yesterday and today)

Inné agus Inniu

(Yesterday and today)

Co. Mayo appears out of the left side windows. The flight across from Galway to Dublin took about 20 minutes (of the 6.5 hour flight.)

"The Tart with the cart" aka Molly Malone. Statue on Grafton St. near Trinity College and the Temple Bar tourist area. Downtown Dublin is *incredibly* crowded. Tall old brick buildings, constant stream of buses and taxis and private cars, and thousands of peds crowding every sidewalk. 

We'll add more details later tonight. Now we're off to see the Guiness plant. And...Daly, we are in touch with Lucille who has been very helpful with our technical problems.

MM

Raging students - a brief note

Noise continues unabated outside so we will see what the rest of the night brings - much needed sleep so we don't have cottoncandy for brains or heading outside to shout and scream with the students.

Sending love and good wishes to all. Sleep well - get some for us. Slainte.
Kate

Erin's Green Shamrock Shore

bhruacha seamróige glas erin ar

Erin's Green Shamrock Shore

We had our first glimpse of the Irish shoreline about 9:15am from our airplane window (with any luck we'll be able to post photo tomorrow). This first look at Ireland was preceded by a technicolor sunrise in shades of orange, pink, and maroon. Spectacularly beautiful (ditto on this photo).

We are also spectacularly tired. It was a long and cramped flight even with the extra leg room and extremely fortunate bulkhead seats. A plus for leg room but a minus for not being able to recline our seats.

We have had a problematic start due technical issues. Mike's phone and the iPad headed south as we headed east. We have unraveled some of the problems but a trip to the Apple Store on Grafton St is in the plan for tomorrow.

Kate got her sim card for her phone but the shop ran out of minute credits(?????) so it's off to Vodaphone tomorrow to get some minutes. Between these two trips we might actually get to see some sites.

As we are sitting here in the hotel lobby typing this blog posting because wifi is out in all the rooms here (of course it would be out, is it technical?) there are several hundred boisterous Trinity College students in the street outside waiting to get into a club for cheap drinks. Our room is in the back of the hotel - hurrah for that!
Kate

3-2-1 Launch

Táimid ar ár mbealach

(We're on our way)

Travel Day is here. With a stop and brief layover at JFK (New York) the trip should take just over 13 hours. No meals on the first leg, but we do have a served meal on the JFK-Dublin leg. You've gotta love overseas travel. (The same pattern applies to the return with a meal on Dublin-JFK and crackers on JFK-SAN).

We've each got a pair of compression socks (recommended for any long sitting period, especially air travel.) So now our legs will be as compressed as our bodies in Delta's tin can.

Our friend Lucille in Dublin sent instructions for how to get our phones set up in Dublin. She says, "Get a local SIM card, probably best to get it at the airport, and phone the provider (O2's the biggest, then Vodafone; 3 and Meteor don't have good coverage so avoid them) to set up iMessage if you're using an iPhone. Be careful of data usage; you get a certain amount (250MB usually, but make sure you know) free per month, but if you go over that, for instance by using Skype, it's very, very, very, very, very dear." Thank you, Lucille!

And another thanks to Google Translate for providing the Irish equivalent of our post headlines. You didn't really think we'd learned Gaelge already, did you? And especially, a big Thank You to Mary and Eddy who've been there from the minute the idea for this trip appeared. It's armed with their love, books, and maps that we set forth on this adventure.

We want to thank all of you for your wishes for safe travel and a special thanks to Tamara for feeding the cats and to Roy & Suleka for limousine service this morning.

MM

Irish Music

Ceol na hÉireann

(Irish Music)

One of our favorite Irish bands, Teada has played several concerts in San Diego for the AMSD concert series. Band member Oisin Mac Diarmada is also the organizer of Irish Christmas in America, a touring band that has played the states at holiday time for the past two years and which will be back this year (and in San Diego again too!)

Compass Records is having an excellent Fall Cleaning Sale and it happens that most of the offerings ($6 per CD) are Celtic bands and musicians. Dala, Teada, Lunasa, The Poozies, Andy M. Stewart, Cherish the Ladies, dozens of others. If you like Irish music, don't miss this sale which ends Tuesday Sept. 24th. Compass Records - Fall Cleaning Sale page 1

Here is Compass Records' description of Teada:
Oisín Mac Diarmada (fiddle, vocals), John Blake (guitar, flute), Seán McElwain (banjo, bouzouki), Tristan Rosenstock (bodhrán), and Paul Finn (accordion) - together, they are a group whose age belies how fully seasoned they are as instrumental performers. Téada is a band that listens to tradition - now, go on, have a listen to Give Us A Penny and Let Us Be Gone!

Sunset, not in Dublin

Beautiful evening clouds and palm trees.

Learning Irish

Gaeilge Fhoghlaim

(Learning Irish)

Sure it's a terrible difficult tongue they have, the Irish. Only 18 letters plus a few more borrowed in order to spell some foreign and adopted words. And it seems they've lost a vowel somewhere. But consonants? Those can be slender as a gazelle's leg or broad as a trawler's beam end. And which is it to be, you might ask? Well 'en, that depends on who's the vowel nearby.

Just for reference here's the lot of them:  a b c d e f g h i l m n o p r s t u

And if you're looking for a "v" or a "w" just put a couple of consonants together and make the pair slender or broad. That seems to do the trick.

Irish Travels

 

Taisteal na hÉireann

        (Irish Travels)

Maps at the ready and International Driver's Permits in hand we begin the process of packing and making final trip plans. How much will it rain? Will an umbrella be useful? Should we stay in Cobh, Cork, or Kinsale?