A gracious invitation from the
Polaskys brought us to Dublin recently. Amy and Doug know the city and thus they became our competent tour guides and unofficial hosts. Dylan, Mackenzie, and I flew out a day earlier than Amy and Taylor. Our flight attendant knew Dylan by name, in part, because of his extended decision making process when choosing drink and treat. This new friend was one of the first on the scene when he fell and injured his foot at the bottom of an airport escalator. I regret encouraging Dylan to go ahead of me as I gathered
up
Kenzie and the stroller. Another moment in life I wish I could change. Dylan limped through the weekend, riding in the stroller much of the time...an honor usually reserved for Mackenzie, and coveted by Dylan, even with two good feet. For a day and a half Dylan enjoyed that he was the oldest, and he acted accordingly, never complaining about his foot. Looking back, I must say that Dylan and the Irish are a pretty good fit; both are passionate and humorous. Dylan is the only person I can think of that says "darn it" with a tone usually put to stronger language, and he's absolutely certain that he tells more jokes than me (by this I think he means he's rarely serious). If I were to ask Dylan if he knew where my car keys were, he'd most likely say, "on your head!"
We met Amy, Doug and Joey, booted through St. Stephens Green (Dublin's "Central Park' as Amy P. would say), and walked to Trinity College, only to discover that we couldn't get in the library to see the famous Book of
Kells. We ended up on Grafton St. as we would a few more times duri
ng the weekend. This is a "European-i
sh" pedestrian street, like the
Meer in Antwerp, except with a few more drunks. A good Irish lunch, a rare thing according to Amy and Doug, and it was
naptime. While I dozed, Dylan and Mackenzie watched TV...although it was supposed to be the other way around. Soon it was time for dinner...the
Polaskys began our 3 1/2 day tour of how to avoid Irish food while in Ireland...that night we ate at
TGI Fridays. Back in their hotel room we caught up. Joey, Dylan and Mackenzie became reacquainted, and mostly entertained themselves (they watched a lot of movies over the weekend, too). Joey, the good guy that he is, was nice enough to share his stroller with Dylan, which meant Doug had to carry Joey quite a bit. If you know Doug then you know that Joey probably had the best view in all of Dublin. Just before we left for our room that night, Mackenzie became sick...casualty number two. She went through a few sets of clothes and bedsheets but was finished by 1 am...plenty of time for some good sleep.
The next morning we continued at my vacation pace, which is the same as Amy's vacation pace if she were seven months pregnant. I know this from experience and, no, Amy is not pregnant. After sleeping in, watching cartoons, and grabbing a late bagel breakfast, we met up with our friends (jet lag had them sleeping odd hours). Bagels, not even near the top of my food
list, were exciting since they don't exist in Belgium. We snacked at Subway before visiting the Jam
eson Whiskey distillery. The tour was informative and followed with a free shot of Jameson 7 year. Doug didn't like his much and I don't think Amy tried it, but they noticed that I finished mine. Thus, those nice, sneaky people, bought me (and some of their friends back home) a personalized bottle of 12 year Jameson. A very nice gift. A visit to Google taught me that whiskey doesn't continue to age once it's been bottled, so I opened it (in Belgium). The 12 year is worth the wait! OK--it was time for another nap and soon Amy and Tay would arrive. To emphasize Amy and Doug's aversion to Irish food, we ordered Dominoes for dinner. By this time Joey had locked on to the fact that he and Dylan had the same pair of Target shoes. He decided that he was only going to wear those shoes for the weekend because of his friend, Dylan. The girls arrived and the crew was complete! Vomiting and foot injuries considered, I still had the better end of the deal that weekend. Amy wasn't able to watch cartoons until noon, or have a shot of whiskey! Worse yet, she had to work (not that parenting a 2 and 5 year old isn't work). Dylan returned to middle child status but was still "the man," to Joey.
The breakfast buffet the next morning had me wanting another bagel. The unusual smell didn't keep Mack
enzie and Taylor from finishing their eggs...and mine. For once I wasn't snacking on their leftovers. Maybe the Irish developed their famous sense of humor to cope with their cuisine. We hopped the city tour bus which would drop us at the Guinness brewery. First though, the tour brought us past Temple Bar, which is Dublin's cultural quarter, and Christ Church Cathedral, which was founded in 1038. This contains the tomb of "Strongbow, the Norman adventurer who conquered Dublin" (quoted straight from the tour bus guide). We left the bus at the Guinness Brewery and skipped to the front of the line because we had young children (not a bad perk). Mackenzie and I, slightly behind the group, were unfortunate enough to see a man in the same condition as she was two nights before--although for a different reason, I'm sure! If the Irish aren't famous for their food, at least they have a beer that drinks like a meal. We had, a self guided tour, a good lunch near the top (Irish food was good this time), and a great view of Dublin at the top, as we enjoyed the
"freshest Guinness" we'd ever have. I guess that means the brewing process had ended a moment or two before my beer was poured. By the way, this may sound like a party weekend...Jameson, Guinness, and so on...but the truth was more subdued. We stayed up late talking, only because midnight in Dublin was dinnertime in Wisconsin for the Polaskys...it was a pretty mellow weekend. Actually, I can't believe I went to Ireland and didn't go to a pub. Back on the bus, past Molly Malone, the fictional "tart with the cart," and the spire of Dublin...with a number of lewd nicknames. Then... sandwiches, movies for the kids, and bed.
Next day...last day in Ireland, for now. We walked to a viking ship that wasn't where it was supposed to be...maybe it was off to pillage elsewhere. Since the vikings established Dublin, conquered much of the English isles, and consistently defeated enemies in the coastal villages of Europe, you'd think they'd be able to put together a good football team. Not this year. We strolled through Temple Bar, with it's colorful pubs and restaurants, ate at another American style restaurant, and returned to the hotel to catch a taxi to the airport. As always, it was great to see Amy, Doug and Joey. Who knows where next year's Polasky/Browne reunion will be. Dublin will be hard to top.
Dinant is a small town in Belgium's Ardennes, about an hour and a half from Antwerp. It's two noteworthy tourist attractions are it's cathedral and the fortress, or citadel, that is perched on the cliff overlooking the town (both seen in the picture to the right). Mackenzie read the map on the drive and made some (pretend) cell phone calls to Amy..."Hi mom, yeah...OK, love you, bye-bye." It was nice to see hills, something not pre
sent in the flatlands of northern Belgium. Dinant is split by the river Meuse and seems to be squished up to the river by cliffs on one side and hills on the other. It's most famous denizen, Adolphe Sax, invented the saxophone. After all the statues of people I've seen in Europe, it was humorous to see a statue of a musical instrument i
n Dinant. My day trip with Mackenzie became more of a scouting mission after getting there only to discover that the Citadel was closed...poor planning by the tour director. The cathedral was impressive but Mackenzie wasn't in a quiet mood so it was a short visit. We skipped out of town and had lunch in Ciney--famous for one of Belgium's best beers--in my book at least. I hope to return to Dinant to see the Citadel...it would be a perfect tie in with some of the other great destinations in the Ardennes. Hopefully next summer.
