City Break - Dublin 2023

Dublin, Ireland. Friday/Sunday 10/12-November-2023. 

A return visit to one of our favourite cities for the first time in a while. A weekend break ostensibly to buy a couple of wine glasses from Gibney's of Malahide. We have acquired several over the years and we like them because 

1. They have a 175ml line which makes equitable pouring easy 
2. If I use a plain glass we know which wine glass is Mary's

Over the years breakages meant we were down to our last one so off to Dublin to restock. Feeble excuse I know! We were joined by Sandra and George for a weekend of Guinness, parkrun, Guinness, fine dining and more Guinness. We stayed in the Grand Hotel in Malahide which is, in fact, the only hotel in Malahide.

Malahide 11/11/2023 28:49 [182 / 311]

I have done Malahide before - literally my second ever parkrun. Now Mary parkwalks we are playing catch up, ticking off locations that she had missed first time round and we were joined by Sandra. It was the 11th birthday of Malahide parkrun on the 11th of the 11th on a near perfect day. Complete with song led by Eric, RD from Belfast:

🎵You are my parkrun, my only parkrun
You make me happy when skies are grey
And when you're not on
You do my head in
Please don't take my parkrun away🎵

Sandra volunteered as parkwalker in the blue tabard.

Mary, as often, volunteered as tail walker.

After parkrun we had a brief stroll round the grounds of the castle which is the setting for the parkrun.

There were a number of tree-trunk carvings around the park including this impressive stag.

After parkrun it was back to the hotel for a shower then a trip to Gibney's to buy the wine glasses. Lunch was in a local cafe.

Saturday evening we went for a meal at Bloom, our favourite Dublin brasserie. Checking their records Padraig could confirm that we had been there seven times since Valentine's Day 2016.

As the Sunday forecast was for rain we decided to head into Dublin for a tour of the Guinness Storehouse which we last visited nearly 20 years ago. Lots had changed in that time so was well worth a second visit. 

Every visit ends with a pint of Guiness in their top floor bar with 360° views over Dublin.

Sunday lunch was at the oldest pub in Dublin, The Brazen Head, where many years ago we were locked in for the holy hour and had to ask to be let out to catch our plane.

More Guinness with excellent beef stew and dumplings.

This year we had a later flight so it was a leisurely return back to Glasgow and an overnight stay with Sandra and George before driving home to Penrith.

Valentine’s Day in Dublin 2020

Dublin, Ireland. Friday 14-February-2020.

This year was our seventh Valentine’s Day trip to Dublin. It’s become something of a tradition and a very fine one too.

It started when Mary was working out in Dublin for three years on and off. One year (2004) Valentine’s Day fell on a Saturday so it seemed an opportune time for me to visit her. The client would pay for Mary’s return flight to the UK. Sometimes we’d flip the flight and I would go out and stay with Mary.

Then a couple of years later, when Mary was back in the UK, Ryanair offered a very cheap deal over the Valentine‘s weekend so off we went again and so a tradition was born. Now we are retired we are less constrained by it needing to be on the weekend and can do a mid-week visit.

Wednesday 13th.

This year we stayed in the Old School House hotel recommended by Mary’s sister, Sandra. Easy walking from central Dublin by the canal. Very pleasant: lovely old building, friendly staff, good food and a very popular bar.

And of course there was plenty of Guinness to be drunk (mandatory).

Thursday 14th.

By now we have done all the usual tourist sights in Dublin but we managed to find one not previously visited - Kilmainham Gaol. Absolutely fascinating and added to our understanding of Irish history.

Cells.

Religious graffiti in one of the cells.

IMMA, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, was right next to the gaol with an exhibition on Derek Jarman that sounded interesting. So we lunched in the prison cafe and then went round the exhibition.

An essential part of the Valentine’s weekend is dining at Bloom Brasserie which we discovered several years back and always book well in advance.

Saturday 15th.

Mary was on a mission to do her 50th Parkrun on the 29th February, the first leap day parkrun since it was inaugurated. That meant she was committed to doing a parkrun every Saturday without fail. Therefor we had to do a Dublin parkrun despite Storm Dennis. Poolbeg parkrun was our closest, down on Dublin Bay along the coast and horribly wet, cold and windy. But it had to be done!

The evening's entertainment was meeting up with our Irish friend Danielle for a drink, some comedy and then a meal at Rustic Stone.

Sunday 16th.

On the Sunday we went for a 13k walk round the bay. Partly on the parkrun course, we went out to the Lighthouse and back round. To say it was windy would be something of an understatement, Storm Dennis was definitely still in action.

The lighthouse.

Graffiti on the lighthouse.

And more.

In the afternoon we went for some live jazz: the Honor Heffernan Quartet at Lost Lane. Then off to the airport and home.

We are thinking that maybe next year we will try some other part of Ireland. We are assured that there is life beyond Dublin!

Valentine's Day in Dublin 2016

Dublin's Fair City 12-February-2016

This is our fourth Valentine's weekend in Dublin. Mary worked here on and off for three years and sometimes I would go out there for the weekend instead of her coming home. Last month RyanAir were doing cheap flights. Yes I know they are always cheap but some are cheaper than others. And sometimes they have been more expensive than scheduled airlines, believe it or not. Anyhoo we booked a long weekend.

Sometimes my posts seem like a concatenation of Mary's FaceBook check-in's so here we go...

Friday:
We stayed very central in the Harrington Hall Hotel - a lovely Georgian building within easy walking distance of the centre of Dublin and the restaurants we had booked for Saturday and Sunday.

First priority, after checking in to the hotel, was to go out and sample some Guinness:

• FaceBook: Mary Galashan was drinking Guinness with Mark McLellan at The Bleeding Horse Pub.
• FaceBook: Mary Galashan drinking Guinness with Mark McLellan at Cassidys Pub Camden Street.

For Friday evening's meal we went with the hotel's recommendation: Restaurant 1900 where we also got a discount as it is a sister hotel. A bit ho-hum but we saved some money.

Saturday:
Mary used to live in Malahide and we had a number of wine glasses from Gibney's Pub which had got broken over the years so it was time to go there, have a pub lunch, drink Guinness, watch the Rugby and stock up on glasses for her and her sister.

• FaceBook: Mary Galashan was watching France vs Ireland with Mark McLellan at Gibneys Malahide.

Back to the hotel for a quick snooze and then out for the next meal which was superb, so much so that Mary was moved to write a review on Trip Advisor.

• FaceBook: Mary Galashan with Mark McLellan at Bloom Brasserie.

"The food was excellent - a 4 course set meal for Valentine's weekend. A tasty crab tian starter was followed by scallops for me and duck for husband, then steaks for both of us; all cooked perfectly and scrumptious. [...] Excellent wine list with a range of prices and a good selection of wines by the glass. The service from all staff was first rate and it was a joy to watch the team working together. [...]" Full review...

Sunday:

Despite many trips to Dublin we had never done a historical walking tour so that was Sunday morning's outing sorted. A seriously educational history lesson enlivened with a dry wit and some bad jokes.

Then it was time for lunch.

• FaceBook: Mary Galashan added 2 new photos — with Mark McLellan at The Seafood Bar by Wrights of Howth.

Recommended by the man in the department store where I bought a jacket to replace the one I left at home. Well it was probably about time to refresh the wardrobe anyway.

The food was good and the decor very smart. They've not been open long so all very fresh.

The evening meal was meant to be in the restaurant where we had a very extravagant meal some years ago but it turned out that Mary had booked in to the Bistro rather than the main restaurant. No matter, it was fine.

• FaceBook: Mary Galashan eating dinner with Mark McLellan at Citron Restaurant, Fitzwilliam Hotel, Dublin.

Saturday and Sunday we went for a pre-dinner cocktails across the road from the hotel at The Dean where, apparently, the roof top Italian restaurant is excellent, and fully booked :-( One for the next visit to Dublin.

It was drink, eat, sleep, rinse and repeat - a kind of gastronomic Groundhog Day. Excellent.

Dublin March 2012

Air Lingus were doing a special offer on flights to Dublin and it seemed churlish to refuse. Mary picked the Six Nations weekend when Ireland were playing Scotland. Unfortunately her membership of the Irish Supporters Club had expired so we missed out on the ticket release. But, what the heck, we would just go to a sports bar and watch the match from there so that is what we did.

Friday we took the afternoon off so we got to Dublin in plenty of time to have an early supper at The Farm - a free meal courtesy of our Top Table rewards. After supper it was time for our first Guinness of the weekend at Carr & O'Connell - another freebie thanks to the accommodation.



Saturday we took the open top bus for a tour of the city. We only did one "hop on, hop off" for lunch at Ryans of Parkgate Street. Apparently it has been visited by Bill Clinton and Julia Roberts. It has lots of original Victorian features including a snug - a small booth at the end of the bar with room for four people, six at a squeeze, with a door you could close and its own serving hatch from behind the bar.



Then it was back on the bus to central Dublin to find ourselves a match-watching venue. Mary rejected the first because it was full of Scotsmen so we repaired to Lott's Bar, claiming to contain the smallest bar in Dublin.



Unfortunately Scotland lost but that is the way it goes sometimes. So to console ourselves we went out for very nice meal at The Exchange Restaurant and Cocktail Bar.

Sunday morning we went to Bewley's Cafe for a latte with some amazing stained glass windows.



Then it was off to Trinity College to see The Book of Kells. The last time we went to see it the curators had sent it off for conservation and left a photocopy behind. This time we got to see the real thing - the almost microscopic, intricate art work is quite astonishing. We arrived just in time for the 11 o'clock tour followed by the book and exit through the long room which looks like something out of Harry Potter.

Then, alas, off to the airport for lunch and the flight home but we'll be back!

Dublin's Statues

The Dublin locals are prone to giving their statues humorous, rhyming sobriquet. These are my three favourites.


Molly Malone - "The Tart with the Cart" aka "The Trollop with the Scallops"


Two Women - "The Hags with the Bags"


Anna Livia, The Spirit of the Liffey - "The Floozy in the Jacuzzi"

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statues_in_Dublin for more.

Valentine's Day Weekend in Dublin

We were booked into Tom Ilic's for our romantic candle-lit supper when Mary spotted Ryanair were doing a deal: Flights to Dublin for ten quid including taxes. So it a last minute body swerve to Dublin for the weekend and 40 quid. Even better we had some Natwest loyalty points left over from our recently cancelled NW Mastercard - enough to get us two free nights in a hotel. Result!

It was a seven o'clock flight - too late for Mary to eat when we got to Dublin so we dined early, airside at Gordon Ramsay's Plane Food restaurant. By the time we got to the hotel it was time for a nightcap of Guinness and bed.

BTW I have to put in a good word for T5. They may have cocked up the initial opening but we have been through there four times now and it a has been smooth sailing evey time. Non existant queues for boarding card check, short queues for the scanners and spacious facilities airside.

Saturday was a typical Mary style four-part day The morning was spent in Malahide down on the coast wandering round Mary's old haunts and a pub lunch with a pint of Guinness at Gibney's. Back into central Dublin for a matinée peformance of October by Fiona Looney at the Olympia Theatre - very entertaining. Supper was at the nearby Mermaid Cafe - excellent as always. Part four was into Temple Bar and The Auld Dubliner for some live music and a couple more pints of Guinness.

All in all a fine weekend.

Table for two?

Top marks to Chez Bruce for not cashing in on Valentine's day. We were in the upstairs room where they had resisted the temptation to squeeze in an extra table. With only five couples it was possible to have a relaxed meal without overhearing whatever romantic chit-chat was going on at the next table. Also they had on a full menu, not some limited choice Valentine's Special. And very tasty it was too.

It was nice to be in the same country at the same time for Valentine's Day. Unlike the caller on Sunday's Classic FM phone-in who, after 20 years of marriage, was having to spend his first Valentine's apart from his wife. For goodness sake are they joined at the hip? We normally only have that luxury if it falls on a weekend as it did last year.

Mary was in Dublin so I went over for the weekend and we went to Ely Wine Bar and Cafe, Mary's favourite "100+ wines by the glass" wine bar. When I rang to book the conversation (and surely it could only happen in Ireland) went like this:

Me: "Do you have any availability for Valentine's night?"
Ely's: "Yes, what time would you like?"
Me: "Excellent! Could you do 8 o'clock?"
Ely's: "Certainly, sir, and how many would that be for?"

In Dublin's fair city

Well actually Malahide where Mary rents a flat in the marina village.

Flew off to Dublin straight from work Friday. A quiet evening in on Friday then on Saturday it was off to see Ireland versus South Africa at Lansdowne Road. An excellent match even for someone like me who has only the most rudimentary grasp of the rules. We invested in a "Ref Radio" which was money well spent; overhearing the ref's rulings and instructions helped us to better grasp what was going on out on the pitch.

Sunday it was a walk along the coast to the Martello tower and back. Then preparation for a small dinner party with Orla and Megan. We did a proper Cajun gumbo followed by New Orleans bread pudding. Then an early night ready for the dawn raid on DUB and back to LHR.

Corridors like palindromes

Just returned from a Valentine's weekend in Dublin's fair city. The sun shone and we ate and drank and had a good time all in accord with the "Corporate Mission". The apartment block where Mary lives Monday to Friday has multiple doors, lobbies and lifts which makes it all very confusing - as you exit the lift to turn left or right? Mary complained, in a most felicitous turn of phrase, that the building had "Corridors like palindromes".