Dublin Down

For most of my adult life, there's been a few places in the world outside the United States that have roosted high atop the short list of locales I passionately wanted to visit - England, Ireland and Scotland forming the trinity atop said list.

With a couple of UK visits already under my belt, it was time to target the Emerald Isle and make a quasi-pilgrimage to the country from where both my and Jackie's ancestors hailed.

Side note - a few years back my family bought me a subscription to Ancestry, and it's a rabbit hole beneath the family tree that I can't stop burrowing into as I trace our lineage over the last 200+ years.    It's become a side passion/obsession, and gleaning any small nugget of information about a descendant triggers a victory dance.

In the days to come I'm going to post some blogs about the recent trip I was able to make to Ireland after years of aiming to do so.  Early warning - if travel blogs or history pieces aren't your thing, don't bother checking in on these pages for a bit.  While it won't be all-encompassing as far as the experience goes, I'm hoping to capture some of the highlights and let loyal readers in on the joy that is Ireland.

By my side, as always, for this unforgettable sojourn was my lovely wife, Jackie, and there's nobody I'd rather see the world side-by-side.  Pro tip: my beautiful bride is one of the easiest people on the face of the Earth to travel alongside.  She doesn't ask a lot, just loves being in the moment, and soaks in all of wonder of the the new images, locales, and locals that she encounters along the way.

We were also joined by longtime friends Scott and Sue Spence, who had also intended to tackle Ireland this year.  We had initially aimed for a larger group, of as many as ten E Streeters, but not surprisingly, the timing of when the trip could actually occur wasn't in alignment with the large numbers and everybody's respective schedules, and with a whopper of a summer work schedule on the horizon for me, Jack and I had to opt for a June trip when the window of opportunity was going to the most manageable.  Here's to the future trips to other locales we're able to make with any of our fellow travelers, whether they be family or friends proper.  There's a whole lot of world out there to explore - let's get to it!

Ireland Day One, after a six hour flight that didn't include a moment of sleep, and we were off to explore Dublin's Fair City.

Our first hotel of the trip, and we stayed about a block away from St. Stephens Green, in the heart of Dublin.

St Stephen's Green is a 22 acre garden square and public park located in the center of Dublin, officially opened to the public in 1880.  The square is adjacent to one of Dublin's main shopping streets, Grafton Street.

Speaking of which, we ventured onto Grafton Street and immediately, one of the first places we stumbled upon was a bar named Captain Americas.  Clearly, this was an immediate sign for this comic book lover.  (Fun fact: it was also a hangout for Dublin's wonder band, U2 in their fledgling days.)

And directly across the street from Captain Americas was Dublin's Disney store!  Again, a sign to these Disney-philes, and one that would bear further investigation.

Because yeah, no trip to Ireland would be complete without slinging webs with New York City's most famous wall-crawler.

Or, of course, some random strormtroopers

And perhaps Iron Man himself

Okay, enough fanboying - time to take a sample of what Dublin is renown for - its unparalleled pubs.

Most of you have probably heard of the Temple Bar.

Not just one location, Temple Bar is an area on the south bank of the River Liffe in the center of Dublin.  It's considered the center of Dublin's nightlife.

This particular pub was built somewhere around 1840.

Truth is, it doesn't matter which pub you decide to stop in for a Guinness or a cider.  You're welcomed equally in any of them, Just make sure you know what sports team the locals are rooting for if the game is playing on one of the public televisions overhead.

In what would prove to be the first in a series of daily imbibements, we lucked upon one of the local football games this first afternoon and sidled up to a corner booth to engage in a distinct function of the trip, one of many to come.

Slainte!