A Day in Dublin

The first day of my 9-day tour of the Emerald Isle

After a four-hour delay sitting on a plane in the Chicago airport due to rain and lightning, my husband, three teen kids and I finally made it from Utah, U.S.A, to Dublin, Ireland. It was July 2, 2014.

Ironically, blue skies and sun greeted us in Dublin (contrary to what we expected based on what people say about Ireland). The breezy 70-degree weather felt perfect.

My sister picked us up at the airport from her home in Cavan, some two hours away. She had been living in Ireland for seven years, married to an Irishman she’d met online. They’ve been happily married since.

She impressed me with her ability to drive her little car on the left side of the road even though I kept panicking each time I saw a car coming. The sign, “Drive on left” made me chuckle. My husband Drew caught on impressively as he drove our rental car.

We were pretty loopy from jet lag, but we decided to go for a sightseeing blitz of Dublin before heading to Cavan.

Dublin is a charming city, with lovely old architecture and history, coupled with the zany modernness of colorful double-decker buses hawking a billboard of the latest sequel to The Transformers. And a Coke ad.

The first thing on my wish list was to see the famed doors of Dublin.

As we drove past some in bright enamel primary colors, I thought I had blown my only chance to see them, but they were pretty much all over the place. Red, yellow, pink, purple, cobalt, black. You name it, framed in brilliant white. They were the entries to residences and offices alike.

Little spots of happiness.

We bought lunches from a salad and Thai place, then picnicked at a nearby park. Many were out, eating, too, or strolling, chatting and sunning themselves. It was a fun place to people-watch.

We‘d read travel blogs warning to not wear shorts nor white sneakers so we didn’t stand out as Americans. Well, if that were the case, half the park visitors that day were Americans, but most likely they were from all over and wanted to just be comfortable. When my kids darted up some stone steps after lunch, giggling, I could relate to their happiness.

Omigosh, we are in Europe. Someone pinch me.

The next stop was the famous Grafton Street, a pedestrian-only section which is the happening place in Dublin. It had street performers and stores (lots of bookstores!).

Sensory overload especially for the jetlagged but it was fun. Hordes of people were coming and going, making me wonder where everyone was from. My sister guessed that many were European visitors here for their summer holiday.

After extending our parking meter (5 euros for 1.5 hours), we stopped at Trinity College which has the Book of Kells (an ancient bible version) on exhibit. We just walked around outside, but it was fun. I sat on sun-warmed cobblestones and soaked up the moment, looking at the old walls and beautiful architecture.

We got back on the road, having had our fill of Dublin (and more doors!). Along the way, we stopped at the rolling Hills of Tara which I’d known previously from Gone with the Wind.

I’m not sure who killed who in the associated legends, but there were kings involved from clear back in the 18th century. Now there are mystical legends associated with things like a tree called Fairy Tree where people leave personal trinkets like ribbons, I.D.s, notes and fabric.

As we approached an ancient chapel, I said it looked like it could be the setting for a romantic story. Drew amended that it would have been a gothic love story especially when you took into account the ravens and lichen-covered tombstones in the adjoining graveyard.

As late as 10, which was about when we arrived at my sister’s place in Cavan, it was still light. The house was a pretty two-story on extensive farmland, but we postponed the grand tour in favor of a delicious late dinner of slow-cooked Philippine stew called kaldereta.

More adventures awaited us in the Emerald Isle, but our day in Dublin certainly started it off with a bang.

Thank you for reading! This is a 9-day series through Ireland. Here is Day 2.

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