We awoke a little later than usual and finally left the hotel for breakfast just after 9am after packing most of our stuff up. We decided to go to Sodalicious for a raisin scone and two cinnamon swirls along with tea and milk for Michelle and coffee for myself. Hit the spot. Returned back to the hotel and finished packing, checking out around 10:30am or so.
We first headed to the ATM on the same block as the hotel and then to the Irish post office to pick up some stamps. Not cheap, each one was just over two euros! Finally we were ready to head to the station, this time by a new way that took us past new sights. One was really odd, a small doctor’s office with a sign that just said “SURGERY”. Felt very Batman (Burton, not Nolan) when Joker sees his new face and smashes the looking glass. Also passed a number of younger folk, teenage girls in long ankle-length skirt school uniforms and guys in what seems to be the ubiquitous young male outfit in Ireland — the tracksuit.
Once near the station we tried to find some stuff to eat but everything was still closed. So we ended up just picking up an egg salad sandwich for me and a ham and cheese panini for Michelle from the coffee shop in the station. As it was just past 11am and our train wasn’t until 12:55pm we had a bit of a wait and plenty of time to people watch. More and more women showed up in cowboy hats, boots, and shorts that were much too short. Oh yeah, Garth Brooks was in Dublin this weekend and lots of people were traveling to see him. It explained the note I received from Irish Rail yesterday about trains being packed.
After a bit of help from a very nice gentleman who assured us that the one minute layover at Limerick Junction would be more than sufficient (“we’re not going to leave anyone behind!”) we queued up and eventually boarded the train at about 12:45pm. We thankfully got forward-facing seats and enjoyed the uneventful ride to Limerick Junction.
True to his word there wasn’t an issue at Limerick Junction — we merely unloaded from the train on one side of the platform and took our assigned seats (our names actually in a display above!) across two older ladies in carriage D of the train on the other side. They were very nice and we talked for a bit. They lived near Dingle and were, you guessed it, going to both nights of Garth Brooks. One of them had even gone one of the three nights the previous weekend. They said that he had sold out five nights (three last weekend, two this weekend) at 80,000 people a night and that it was estimated that 1 in 15 Irish people were going to see him at least one night. He hadn’t played Ireland since 1997 and apparently they love him in Ireland so there was lots of pent up demand.
After a bit more conversation about life, weather, Ireland, and the US we bid our farewell as the train came to station. We were able to quickly hail a cab. The gentleman was very nice and the short ride was made even shorter by engaging conversation about the weather, music (and Garth, of course), and travel. At 3:30pm or so we checked into the Arlington Hotel on Bachelor’s Walk right on the River Liffey. A bit older than the George in Limerick and a bit pricier but given the room scarcity (thanks Garth!) we were grateful for it. Rested for a bit and finally headed out for a walk and dinner a little over 6pm.
Walked a few steps past the O’Connell monument at the north end of O’Connell Bridge and then took the bridge across the river and into Temple Bar, a district that feels part Bourbon Street and part Times Square. Mix in all of the people in town for Garth wearing cowboy hats and boots and it was just… weird. And very, very crowded, an unwelcome change from Limerick.
We ducked into a massive (three stories, including a pop-up store for Garth stuff!) gift store in search of a Leprechaun solar dancer to no avail. Then we walked a bit looking at stores, pubs, etc. We saw a store called Forbidden Planet, a massive comics / manga / RPG / toy store. It had some pretty neat things and some unsettling things (a very odd take on Kevin Smith!) but at the end of the day where would we put any of it?
We came to The Hungry Mexican restaurant and decided to try it out. We’ve always had terrible luck with Mexican food abroad but maybe it’d be different this time. Our waitress was actually from Mexico (and told us it was Mexican Independence Day) so that was a good start. Despite being a bit loud the food was actually quite good. We had nachos for a starter and I had picadillo and chorizo (though rather light on the latter) enchiladas and Michelle had a burrito.
It was approaching sunset when we walked a bit farther in Temple Bar, finally coming upon Temple Bar Square and the famous Temple Bar. Michelle got some Oreo gelato near there (it was “ok”). We decided to head back to the hotel and crossed the river via the 1800s pedestrian-only bridge Ha’penny Bridge. On the way we stopped and got some donuts from The Rolling Donut. Michelle got a cinnamon glaze which was “ok” and I had two “Coffee Lover” which may be the best donuts I’ve ever had — donut with coffee flavored icing, three or four espresso infused chocolate pieces shaped like coffee beans, and the best part — injected with a dark brown filling that was basically coffee in whipping form. Soooo good!
Got back to the hotel around 8:30pm or so and blogged while Michelle read on her Kindle.