Please excuse the title of this blog. I wanted something clever and that was all I could come up with!The first week of October brought my parent's to Dublin on holiday. The trip was a gift to themselves for their 30th wedding anniversary and could not have come at a better time. The first month has flown by and I yet to truly see Dublin through the eyes of a tourist. I have done much exploring in my free time but it is mostly to get accustomed to my new home (at least for 3+ months). Honestly, I have not done enough exploring; it seems there is never enough time to learn and take in all I would want to. When I was in Argentina August 2007, I left Buenos Aires after 1 month feeling like I only experienced a small part of the city, let alone the country. The weekend my parent's arrived, I was ready to see more the country of Ireland than the city and finally get out of my little world of Dublin (although it is a nice little world).
I will admit that when I parents arrived, I was unprepared to be a tour guide. I had asked a few people about short trips outside Dublin and my roommate Tim about restaurants but I was far from having anything set in stone. I had finished a big, time-consuming project the day before (and not a minute too early either) that had taken up most of my week so I hadn't really had time to pick places to go and things to do.
The first day was rainy and I was tired from a night out with some people from my class. My parent's were even more tired after traveling for so long (they landed at 7:30AM). I met them at the hotel and my Dad was asleep in the lobby while they waited for a room. The weather and jet lag meant our best option was something effortless. So we decided to get on one of the many hop-on-hop-off buses and start from there. It is the best way to see the most things in the city quickly (if that makes any sense). I also figured that it would give my parents a better idea of what they might want to take a closer look at. We had dinner at the The Bank, a very nicely done bar/restaurant inside an old bank. They actually had a few of the lockers, pieces and layout of the vault preserved in the basement where the bathrooms were! After that, my parents were exhausted so we called it a day.
The next morning we took a tour of the inside of Christchurch (seen in the picture at the top of the blog). The Church is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) building in the city, started in the 11th century! After that, we visited the Guiness Storehouse after the referral of the woman at Christchurch. Needless to say the Guiness I had there was the best I have ever tasted and the food at the restaurant was not half bad either. The highlight of the storehouse was the Gravity Bar, a new addition to the Storehouse that offers 360 degree views of Dublin city, where a pint is included with the admission ticket. Although it was crowded, you really can see everything from the bar and it made me realize how small of a city it is (OK, so 1 million isn't small but imagine trying to see all of Chicago from one place!)
In the evening, we decided to visit one of the places referred to me by a friend; Howth. Howth is a small peninsula just north of Dublin jutting out in the Irish Sea (see above picture). I had been told that they have great, fresh seafood restaurants in Howth and knowing my parents appreciate seafood I decided this would be a good place for dinner. I convinced my roommate to tag along and venture out of the (central) city for the first time.
Howth was wonderfully scenic and quiet, a nice change from the busy City Centre. We decided not to do the cliff walk and walked along the water in town and pier instead and looked back on the rocky peninsula and town which disappeared into the hills. There seemed to be more boats than homes. Beyond the pier was a few desolate islands, containing only the ruins of a monastery. Although it was extremely windy, the sea was calm and peaceful.
We were a little lost as far as finding a restaurant after deciding not to eat at the most famous of which (Aqua) at the end of the pier because it was VERY pricey. We wondered into an watercolor artist's studio/Howth visitor center and admired the work, mostly of the sea, islands and town. After chatting with him for a while, he recommended a restaurant called The Oar House so off we were.
The restaurant was cozy and quietly crowded when the town itself seemed empty. In my experience, this is a very good sign of a good restaurant. They had a wide variety of fish and preparations of fish and the "Daily Specials" menu caught all of our eyes. We started off with an appetizer sampler consisting of crab cakes, fish cakes, and a soft-shell crab, which was a first for me. For the main course, I had the wing of a manta ray in a buttery garlic sauce. I was told it was a "wild" fish (I thought most fish is wild) so I was expecting it to be very fishy. To my surprise, it was not too fish but quite tasty and tender. It was also a huge piece of fish! Eating around the bones was difficult but I enjoyed a new experience. My parents entree and my roommates entree were both equally satisfying, although I cannot remember what they had. All in all, it was a very full day and we topped it off with a delicious dessert! My roommate and I both went to bed early that night because we planned to accompany my parents at 8 AM on a train to Kilarney, in County Kerry in the south of Ireland the next day.
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