Dublin

Friday, August 31, 2012/Saturday, September 1, 2012

So, it was weird actually working the day we left for vacation, but it wasn't bad, since it was the day before a long holiday weekend. Got to the airport and through security relatively quickly. Thankfully we were able to book our bags all the way through, which meant that we wouldn't need to collect and deal with them during our layover in London. Our flight was phenomenal! We were able to upgrade with miles & money to business class. Now THAT is the way to travel, especially for long distances. Even the food was good. Mark and I both had the short rib entree and it was good and filling. The wine that was served (Cote d' Rhone) was even pretty good. But without a doubt, the best thing about it was the seat, which morphed into a lie flat bed. After a few drinks and the food, we played some of their trivia game before we slept. I woke up surprised to see that Mark was sitting up, turns out we were just 45 minutes out of London.

Because of Hurricane Isaac, we were actually early, by about 20 minutes. Because we flew business class, we got vouchers to go to the "fast track" immigration line. Well it turned out to be a little less fast, but we were still through immigration by the time we were scheduled to land. Thankfully we were able to book our luggage through to Dublin, so we had plenty of time to take the tube in, pick up our London Passes and get some food. The tube is rather easy and efficient, especially with the oyster card. The Picadilly line goes to and from the airport. Take it in the direction of Cockfosters. There's space for luggage at each entrance next to the end seat. The London Pass pickup is right in the West End, near Leicester Square, so we were able to find it easy enough. Being a Saturday, with the Paralympics on, it was quite busy, but not too overwhelming. After a minor detour, we found the restaurant we were looking for - Terriors. It's a wine bar with tapas style food. We ordered 4 different plates: Globe artichoke with aioli, Bayonne ham, lamb kofta and the duck salad (as suggested by our waitress). The artichoke was my least favorite. The ham was good, especially with the celeriac salad. The lamb kofta was excellent, juicy and flavorful. The duck salad was also really good. The entertainment during the lunch was watching people stop, stare, and take pictures of a white convertible. We couldn't see the make of the car, so it was pretty anti-climatic when they left and we saw it was only an Audi. While there we met two locals, Madeline and Frances. I'm pretty sure that Frances was feeling pretty good - she even gave us her contact info to call her when we're back in London, so she can take us around. We're probably not going to bother her, but they were fun to talk to.

We headed back to the airport around 4:00 PM for our 7:30 flight, a little worried after Frances and Madeline commented that it could take hours to get through security. The tube back took about 47 minutes and it took about 10 minutes through security, so we had over 2 hours to waste; time for the pub! I decided to try a Bulmers cider. Sue didn't realize it was a cider, thinking it was a lager she commented that it had some apple taste to it. I had to laugh and tell her it was probably because it was a cider. The flight to Dublin was pretty short, probably helped by our lack of sleep and alcohol consumption. We landed and found the bus to the hotel. The first night in Dublin most of the hotels were booked in downtown Dublin because there was a Norte Dame vs. Navy game that day (Norte Dame won 50-10) so we stayed near the airport at a Holiday Inn Express. It was a super small room with two single beds, but it did its job as all we needed was sleep.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

The next morning we had free breakfast supplied by the Holiday Inn, including eggs, sausage, beans and various cereals and pastries. Then we headed out to Dublin proper. Even though it was 'more expensive, we still decided to take a cab to the Conrad; It took about 15-20 minutes and cost 24 Euro - including tip.

The Conrad is a beautiful hotel, right near St. Stephen's Green. Even though we arrived before official check in, we were able to check in right away. We were given room 215 which was a lovely size and nicely furnished. After unpacking, we decided to do some walking. We walked through St. Stephen's Green, then over to Merrion Square to see the whimsical statue of Oscar Wilde. Then we walked past Trinity College and on to Grafton Street. By this time we were mighty hungry and thirsty, so we popped into Sinnott's Pub. Sue had the Fish & Chips and Mark had the Bangers and Champ, both of us had Guinness. Sue thought the Fish & Chips were decent but needed seasoning. Mark really enjoyed his Bangers and Champ, champ are potatoes. The sausage was pork and leeks. We ate while watching the Liverpool vs. Arsenal match and left at halftime. Arsenal ending up winning 2-0. After all that walking we decided to head back to the hotel and relax a bit. There was a small lobby bar, so we had a couple of Guinness while relaxing.

On the walk back to the Conrad we stopped and toured the National museum: archeology. There were some pretty neat old things, but after a while it was just one old thing after another, but it was free and the building itself had some cool architecture and was a good way to spend some time.

For dinner we tried to Pichet, but without a reservation they had no availability. We booked a table for Monday lunch, just to be sure. The hostess recommended two places similar to them, so we chose The Green Hen, because Sue had seen it when we were walking to Pichet. We lucked out there as they had a table available. When the waiter came over to take our order Sue looked at him quizzically. Sue then asked him if he was an actor, and he said he was. He plays Adam in a show from Canada we watch called Being Erica. His real name is also Adam, Adam Fergus. He was a little surprised to be recognized in Dublin, but was genuinely happy we did and obviously that we follow the show.

For dinner we ordered from the pre.theatre menu, which was a starter and main with an option to add dessert. For starters, Sue ordered pork belly with black puding and crispy hen egg, Mark ordered Smoked salmon and crab roll. We both enjoyed our starters and preferred the ones we ordered for ourselves the best. For our mains, Sue ordered the chicken with cassoulet, based on Adam's suggestion. Mark ordered the duck confit. Here Sue's meal was better, Mark's duck, while flavorful, was a little dry. We shared a bottle of 2011 Domaine de Mont-auriol les olivies Rose.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel, then decided we wanted a nightcap, so we went around the corner to Il Segreto - stopping there because they had some outdoor seating and it was a gorgeous evening. In typical fashion, Sue ordered the savory drinks and Mark ordered the sweeter ones. Sue's drink name wasn't recorded, but it contained muddled cucumber & fresh lemon juice, shaken with Hendrick's gin & St. Germaine elderflower liqueur, lengthened with soda. And boy was it tasty. For his first drink, Mark ordered blackberry Jack Rose, consisting of chateau de breil, calvados, shaken with lemon juice and a hint of creme de mure. It wasn't bad, but definitely on the sweet side. For his next drink, Mark ordered Balsa Berry, consisting of fresh strawberries with vodka and creme de frais served over crushed ice offset with homemade balsamic reduction. Again sweet, but not bad. By now, it was getting late and time to retire.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Today we did a bit of exploring and wound up stumbling on St. Patrick's Cathedral, then up to Christchurch, and circled around to find The Porterhouse Brewery, where we were meeting Cronan and Sinead for dinner and a pint. Then we headed to Pichet for lunch. The place is a little like the TARDIS, bigger inside than out. We were seated at a table at the window. We decided not to take advantage of the prix fixe menu as Mark really wanted the pork sampler platter, which consisted of pork belly, sausage, cheeks, pig head terrine and morcilla. Sue ordered the potato gnocchi with fresh mozzarella and zucchini. Both dishes were excellent, proving that Bib Gourmand restaurants truly earn that status for a reason. As usual, given the warmer than expected weather we had a bottle of rose. After Pichet, we did a little bar hopping to combat the unexpected sun and warmth. First stop was Foley's, a little hole in the wall pub where we just each ordered a pint, just to help cool us down. Mark thought the bar felt like a timewarp to the 50's, except with an all Asian staff. Next stop was Hugo's, just a few doors down. As this was a wine bar, we ordered a bottle of 2010 Domaine Didire Charavin with chips with garlic ailoli and chicken liver pate and just leisurely enjoyed the growing buzz. By this time it was after 3, so we decided to head back to the hotel for a quick nap before going out to meet Cronan & Sinead.

We headed out around 5:30, as we had to walk to Temple Bar and didn't want to get too sweaty. Although we took a roundabout way, we got there right at 6 and just before Cronan & Sinead. Sue was worried we wouldn't recognize them, but we did. We sat at the bar and had a pint before we headed upstairs for a table for food. Our service was lackluster at best and the food was mediocre, but probably typical. Mark ordered bangers and mash. Sue ordered a spicy burger with jalapenos and chorizo, it came out overdone and not very spicy. Mark thought the bangers and mash were okay, but nowhere as good as Sinnott's.

After dinner we decided to do some bar hopping, stopping first at The Old Storehouse, were a live duo was singing. We were able to get a table by the back door, which just encouraged Mark to try and play bouncer, with little success. The band that played was entertaining, but after a couple of pints we were ready to move on. We stumbled onto Olivier St. John Gogarty, which was really hopping. After a short while we spied a table on the other side of the bar and were able to sit down and enjoy the live music. As we were now onto our God only knows what round of pints of the night, we started having a lot of fun. Mark started randomly handing out coasters to unsuspecting fellow tourists - much to the amusement of the table of Italians next to us. A few songs sung and pints drunk later, Cronan and Mark started playing a card game with said coasters. Neither of them knowing what the heck was going on. It was great fun. But lo and behold it was now nearing 1:30 and poor Sinead, who had about 2 bottles of white wine by herself, had to work at 8am, so we agreed to call it a night. As we were walking down Temple Bar towards home we got the pleasure of seeing some random drunk kid, peeing on a building in the middle of the square. As if it didn't already have a Boubon Street-esque feel to it, that pretty much sealed it. At this point it had started misting, which made the stone streets quite slick, upon which Sue did take a stumble, crushing her sunglasses in her purse in the process. Oh well, it was still a really fun night.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Our first real day of vacation, since we had the weekend and Labor Day, also our last day in Dublin. We had made reservations for lunch at The Pig's Ear, which we were really looking forward to. After packing and checking out, the hotel held our luggage, while we headed to Grafton Street to find Sue a new, albeit cheap, pair of sunglasses, before heading to lunch. The Pig's ear is really small, but very delicious. We decided to do the prix fixe menu here. For starters we ordered: fried hens egg, with Clenakilty black pudding, fried bread, mustard greens, peas and broad beans and citrus cured Irish Salmon with buttermilk curd pickled cucumber and dill oil. For mains we ordered: lemon & thyme scented chicken breast with potato puree, young lettuce, sweet corn & pine nuts and slow cooked pork belly with Jane Russell's black pudding, watercress, mustard mash, mead sauce. We decided to take dessert here: 70% chocolate tart with caramel and salted butter ice cream and warm lemon rice pudding with apricot jam & blackberry sorbet. The entire meal was exquisite. One item of note is that they know have an offshoot business which offers a “surprise” 12 course tasting menu. It’s called Chef’s Counter and in 2012 was offered at 85 Euro/person

After we headed back to the hotel and subsequently to the airport, taking the taxi option again. We were early and actually had to wait about 20 minutes for the ticket agents to arrive, but at least the Dublin airport has free wifi. We hit a pub called Gate Clock, for a pint, but they didn't really have food except packaged sandwiches so we headed back to the center for another place to eat. Wow, was that a bad choice! Service was horrible and the food not much better we each got the cheeseburger and fries and both were overcooked and no ketchup or mustard served to us. Horrible!

Finally time to head over to London, the flight was relatively quick and now we were old hat at taking the tube to the city. This time we got off at Hyde Park Corner. By now it's dark and we have no idea which way to go, after a few false turns we finally get going right and over to the Hilton. For future reference, take the exit 1 stairs, then through the archway for the park, out to the street, then past the bus stop, to the underground pedestrian walkway, which takes you straight to the front of the Hilton. When we checked in they gave us a room on the 8th floor, not knowing any better we went up, unfortunately it was a smoking floor, so we went back down to check in to see if they had something more acceptable, thankfully they did. We got room 1115, while quite small, had a nice view of Hyde Park. After the long trip, we felt we deserved a drink. Unfortunately there weren't too many options in the hotel, so we settled on Trader Vic's, at first we both ordered frou frou drinks, but then we ordered a rose, which wasn't great, but it was better. We also ordered some nibbles - nothing really worth even mentioning. Then up to the room. Unfortunately, we only had a queen bed and one blanket, so sleep was a little fitful.