Days 5 and 6

Day 5 ended late, around 3 am, so I decided to combine the events with todays' events. :)

Annastasia and I were on our own till around 5 yesterday as Dennis was working, so we ended up going into Dublin via taxi and walked around the shopping distict. We spent several hours walking and exploring, and probably covered 10 miles all together. We found a couple of cool shops and dresses but didn't end up buying anything, but we DID find a Subway, which made Anna very happy.

The highlight of the excursion, though, had to be the Trinity College and the Book of Kells. It was a beautiful work, and an amazing piece of history. The library was breath-taking. They didn't allow photographs, sadly, but I did pick up a postcard of a small alcove of the place.

The building was absolutely stunning. I felt dwarfed by the magnifigance of it all.

We got a taxi back to the house, and freshened up just in time to catch the Microsoft sponsored bus to a pub called Johnny Fox's. It was about 45 minutes travel time, high above Dublin. The city below was bright with lights, but ended very abruptly into blackness of the countryside. I was lamenting that our trip took place in the darkness, because I have feeling that the countryside view would have been amazing.

The pub... Wow. What can I say... It was built in the mid 1700's. It was exactly as one would imagine a real country Irish Pub, with all kinds of curiousities hanging on the walls, lit candle sticks on each table, and badly taxidermy, including a shadow box of two fox kits, who's eyes were grossly oversized for their little heads.

We were in the "Hooley" room, long plank tables with stools running each side, and our own bar. There was a fireplace with a stage in front of it, and Dennis was kind enough to snag our seats literally right next to the stage, as in my stool butted the stage. Dinner was fantastic, starting with a seafood chowder, followed up by a lamb Irish stew, followed up by whiskey bread cake stuff. It was hearty, filling, and delicious. Cider complimented dinner nicely, and Anna and I both had a couple of them.

After dinner dishes were cleared away by lovely ladies, we were treated to a rousing concert of traditional Irish music!!! They engaged the crowd, and everyone was soon worked up into a lively bunch, raising our glasses and swaying to and fro with the Dutch guys across the room from us. The band played for a good hour before having to take a break, when *someone* decided to invite me to take a shot of tequilla with him. 4 shots and an intermission later, the stage raised and we were treated to a very up close and personal preformance of Irish dancers!!! Lovely ladies, and handsome gents whirled and stomped and spun with such verocity it was difficult to sit still!!! Then it came to the time in the show where the dancers pick some of the audince members to engage them in the performace, by dragging them up to the stage to give it a 'whirl' as it were. The boys came into the crowd to pick partners, and in addition to one of the companions of the Dutch guys, Anna was swept up on to the stage to dance around. She did well, and as hard as I tried, I could not get a good photo of her spinning around. The boys' dance over, the girls came out and did the same thing, grabbing two guys from the crowd, and of course, Dennis went up on stage and danced around. It was pretty funny because he is such a showman, mimicking the dancers almost as if he knew what the hell he was doing. I am pretty sure that one of his co-workers took a video, and if I get a copy of that, it's going on facebook!!!!

What a great time. Dancing, singing, Dutch guys who were very animated and happy... I introduced myself after them and thanked them for being such a great addition to the evening, and they made sure to tell me how much they loved President Obama. :)

We ended up back at the house at around 1:30 or so, and back to the bar. A family was here celebrating someone's 40th birthday, and in very typical Irish hospitality, we were soon merged with the group, sharing songs and drinks.

The whole scene reminded me of The Hobbit, with songs followed by cheers and clapping. One of Dennis' co-workers who lives in Dublin explained to us the prestige of actually leading a sing along, how one must "pray attend the bard" during the preformance, as they have earned the right to sing by some right of passage that I don't quite understand. And as much an outsider that I am, I felt completely welcome and involved in the whole thing. It was very romantic and I was quite taken with the entire situation.

We finally came to bed after 3:30, and woke up next morning at 9. Breakfast was taken in the dining room, and we said good bye to all the folks who were leaving today.

After breakfast, we took a taxi back into town for some tattoo adventures. I ended up having to schedule an actual appointment, for Thursday. So we took the opportunity to walk another 10 miles (I'm sure that is an exaggeration but my feet don't think so) and visit the Dublin Historical Museum. It was great, and really shed some light on the 1916 uprising and the ensuing revolt that lasted till the mid 1920's and resulted in Ireland's independance from the British. It was very illuminating and educational, and I have a greater appriciation for the nationalism that these people have.

We stopped into a very small pastry shop that our nose found before our eyes did... and I had the most amazing epucurian experience that I have ever had. The place was tiny, as I mentioned, and the man behind the counter was kind of hard to understand with his thick accent. I asked for a pastry filled with mozerella cheese, spinich and olives, and was presented with the most beautiful golden puffed crescent of goodness I have ever seen. It was perfect in every way, from the flaky and chewy pastry, to the salty savory goodness inside. Each bite was honestly, pure heaven. As if that wasn't enough, I followed up with an almond biscuit dusted with powdered sugar, and a dopio espresso. Perfect consistancy and crunch, the biscuit was not too sweet and complimented the coffee with harmony that couldn't have been composed any better. The place was fabulous, and I will return before I leave this place.

We ended up walking round the city, stopping in shops from time to time. We stumbled upon a flea market, where Anna picked up a couple of cute dresses for herself and I found a cute little pin for Sophy. Live music was on almost each block, including a drum circle at the "Occupy" camp. I am assuming that's where all of the "alternative" kids hang out, since that's the only place I've seen any of that style dress!!!

Out of exhaustion, we decided to grab a taxi back to the house, and are going to go to dinner soon so Dennis can come back to the room and pass out. :)