Saturday, March 23rd

Arriving in Dublin bright and early, we were met by our gracious hosts Karen, Sean and Kyle McKenna (how cool is it to be named Sean McKenna in Ireland?) who came out to the airport to make sure we made it safely to their home with the rental car. That also meant a narrated tour of Dublin and hearing about the McKennas' assimilation into their new life. Sean took a position with IBM in the fall with its Smart Cities initiative. Back to the tour: we learned that the housing in Ireland consists mainly of terrace, which is like our townhouses, and called mid-terrace or end-terrace, or semi-detached, equivalent to a duplex. We have yet to see a single family house. Everything is very charming.

Besides driving on the left side of the street in a car with a stick shift, the trip was a piece of cake. Once we met up at the McKennas' new home, we got a thorough tour of the place they are renting. It's a wonderful mix of new and old -- for example, the kitchen features original 1910 tile floors and a high end chef's stove with six gas burners. They have a nice collection of furniture and art from their years in Singapore and travels all over the world.

Our first outing was to Phoenix Park which is about a half mile walk from home. We explored a small area of a very large park and to go back for a daily run or walk.

After lunch we decided to take a nap, but limit it to two hours.  We weren't sure if that was such a great idea not knowing how it would affect our internal clock, but as it turned out, we were able to recharge our batteries and were ready to explore Dublin for a bit.

The house is a short walk to the bus stop. Karen had pre-purchased bus passes for us in anticipation of taking the bus when possible. All of the Dublin buses are double decker, so we climbed the stairs to the upper deck to better enjoy the views.  We got off the bus near the Archeological Museum.  It's located in a beautifully designed building described as an "accomplished exercise in Victorian Palladianism." The mosaic floors are a zodiac motif. Here is a picture of Karen next to her sign:

We spent a lot of our museum time learning about the many artifacts and bodies (mummified) that had been dug up in the numerous peat bogs in Ireland. They were part of ritual killings between 400 BC and 400 AD and some body parts were in amazingly good condition for all the years that have passed. Fingernails were still evident as an example.

Exiting the museum, we went to a nearby park where we were surprised to see tulips blooming in the cold. Speaking of cold, it is unusually cold here. We asked Sean if it was colder in January and February and he said no, so this is about as cold as it gets here. As Tyler said, "I'd rather be cold in Ireland than cold in Wisconsin." Temps are in the mid-30s but with the wind chill, it's more like the 20s!

We made our way to Grafton Street, famous for its shops, street musicians and tourists. We kept a steady pace into the headwind and didn't take much time to stop and duck into any shops. At this point, we went straight to dinner via bus.  The Pub, Mulligans' Grocer, was great  -- just like we imagined an Irish pub to be. The crowd was a bit sparse at this hour, 6 pm, so they were able to accommodate our group of eight pretty easily. We enjoyed fish, steak, blood sausage and Jenga Fries, named because of the way they are stacked. Karen and Sean had already had the waiter twice before, so they are considered regulars by now. We loved the friendly people and the food was amazing.

Once back at home, we watched a funny comedy routine about the dual immersion by an Irish-American who had visited here and couldn't believe the challenges just trying to take a hot shower. Funny because hot water heaters are small and expensive to use, so there's a lot of hubbub about planning ahead.  Fairly exhausted from our journey, we chatted long enough to make it up to 8 pm and hit the sack. It was a fun first day and we were ready for more!