Gunternation

My parents are bound for Chicago by now. They left for the airport around 8:00 this morning with enough Euros for cab fare and a phone call (should they need it). I’m sure they’re ready to be home after a month away. We were so pleased to have them here and hope their tales will encourage more visitors. Here’s a rundown of their last days in Ireland:

Friday
The travelers were fairly non-stop in England and Scotland, so Friday we were pretty relaxed. Also, we were going to a Hooley that night and needed to conserve our energy. Hooley means “party,” and the Hooley at Johnnie Fox’s pub in Glencullen is supposed to be the Hooliest. We arrived for dinner at 7:30. The Hooley guests sat at long tables and enjoyed a three-course meal. The music and dancing started at 9:00. It was a little like being at a wedding reception with a great band that got everyone singing along and clapping, even if you didn’t know the songs or anyone else at the party.

Even though it’s impossible to sit still to Irish music, the real dancing was left to the professionals. However, just watching Irish dancing can wear you out. The festivities lasted until midnight. We expected a slight traffic jam upon leaving, but most of the participants were in no hurry to go. We had an hour drive back to the North side of Dublin, so with regret we piled into the Polo and headed out into the cold night.

Everybody gets funky at the Hooley!

Saturday
After sleeping off the Hooley, we drove North of Dublin to Drogheda. One of the oldest towns in Ireland, Drogheda sits on the River Boyne. Although the town is steeped in history, we were primarily interested in finding lunch before heading to Monasterboice. So we joined the throng of Saturday shoppers wandering the streets and found some Irish sustenance. I ordered lasagna, and when asked if I wanted chips with that, I was so struck by the ludicrous question, I just said, “Sure.” “And cole slaw?” “Of course!”

I know it’s no worse than garlic bread and pasta, but it seems worse. You really have to shake off any latent adkins aversions to the simple starch to dine without horror in Ireland. By the way, lasagna with chips–delicious!
(Looks like I could have been at Ryan’s.)

Monasterboice is the site of some of the best examples of Celtic (or High) Crosses in Irleand. The site of a 6th century Catholic monastary, Monasterboice has crosses and a round tower from the 10th century, and some other ruins from the 13th. The High Crosses at Monasterboice are carved with biblical scenes and were used to teach scripture in the absence of written texts.

Adoration by the Magi

The Incredulity of Thomas

Round towers protected the church valuables and the community from the Norse raids of the 10th and 11th century. Part watchtower, part vault, these tapering towers were typically over 100 feet tall, with a door 15-20 feet from the ground accessed with a movable ladder. The tower at Monasterboice was constructed around 968. Bill and I visited Monasterboice on our trip last Fall. Visiting again, I was particularly amazed by this tower, the perfect construction that has stood against every affront for 1000 years.

Oh, and it just happened to be my parents 46th Anniversary on November 24. Dad gave mom a necklace with an image from the Book of Kells made by the jeweler we met at the food market.

Sunday
Sunday morning we set off for the West Coast. We took a taxi to Heuston station in Dublin, and a train to Ballinasloe, where due to railway works, we boarded a bus for the remaining hour to Galway. The scenery on the way to Galway is as green and sheep-filled as one has come to expect. In Galway we had a nice lunch, looked across the Atlantic and thought of home, and again, wandered city streets full of shoppers and fellow wanderers. We saw the Spanish Arch, which I learned later was part of a bastion built to protect the docks from the Spanish in the 1580s when England feared a Spanish invasion of Ireland.

Our departing train was the first full Inter-City train I’ve been on. The last train to Dublin on Sunday is full of students, and a few card sharks. Or one at least. Dad beat us all at hearts after claiming to have not played for 40 years.

Monday
Monday Mom, Dad and I headed into Dublin for a last bit of shopping. Bill met us for dinner, so finally, Mom and Dad had their visit to the Chipper. This was Bill and my first visit to this location of Leo Burdock’s. It’s not quite the same eating off of plates instead of out a paper bag while walking, but neater and more comfortable, and still quite tasty!

Tuesday
We took a stroll to Raheny Centre for breakfast and to buy chili makings. We thought we should start acclimating Mom and Dad’s American palate. The chili was gloriously accompanied by CORN MUFFINS!!! Gastronomes take note, Irish cheddar goes quite well with buttermilk cornbread.

Wednesday
Mom and Dad should be back in Arkansas by 5PM CST.

We’ll miss you!

Mom and Dad’s 11-hour trip from Edinburgh to Dublin included several trains, a ferry, bus, and car. We had heard the ferry from Holyhead to Dublin was choppy, and Mom and Dad will attest to that. Even ferry regulars said Thursday evening’s crossing was quite rough. Mom is in no hurry for another ferry ride.

El Dorado woman disembarks from unpleasant ferry ride

Cork is known as a culinary city, and we did enjoy some nice meals there. In particular, our dinner at Augustine’s Saturday night was quite lovely. I truly enjoyed my carpaccio with truffle oil, and Bill’s breaded goat cheese was delicious as well. I had an extremely happy moment there–eating succulent beef, drinking a silky shiraz, being with some of my favorite people, knowing the money from our house sale was already in our account. Ahhhh.

Dad also had carpaccio for starters and Mom had pumpkin soup. The three Lambs (hey, I’m still a Lamb!) had duck, whilst Bill had venison. Our duck confit portion was so large as to be almost burdensome, but it was delicious. Bill’s venison was good, but a bit mono-flavored, I believe he said. I had an ice cream trio for dessert, M & D shared a creme brûlée. Bill had…a lemon something? Can’t recall. As is often the case, the appetizer was my favorite part.

Carpaccio with truffle oil, parmesan shavings and red onion/rocket salad

Breaded Irish goat cheese on a portobello mushroom, topped with pesto, microgreens and red onion pickle

On Monday, Bill and I ate lunch at Cork’s English Market. Bill had a South African sausage sandwich and some spicy tomato soup. I had a roast beef and horseradish sandwich. All was yummy. For dessert, a fruit custard tart. The market is much more enjoyable on a weekday. We walked through on Saturday and it was a madhouse.

What else? Bill’s recent creations include a lentil, sausage, potato and spinach soup, and we’ve had pasta and grilled chicken salad. We also ate a frozen pizza and McDonald’s. I thought it would take about six months for me to darken the door, but in the absence of Wendy’s, Whataburger, Sonic, DQ, and even Shortstop, a trip through the drive-thru on a rainy Sunday evening seemed like a good idea.

The drive-thru process involves three windows. Window 1: place your order with a person. Window 2: pay a person and get napkins and ketsup. Ask about change and be told to drive to the next window. Window 3: receive food from a person. Ask about change and be told change is given at previous window. Beg to differ and manager in standard short sleeve shirt/tie combo brings change. The Big Tasty burgers were okay, but we threw the fries away. And it’s not because we’ve forgotten what Freedom Fries taste like, people. These were yucked.

Sunday for lunch Bill and I visited the carvery at our local pub. I had a very tasty cottage pie. (Much better than the shepherd’s pie* we had in Kilkenny, Mom.) Perfect for a rainy, cold day when you need energy to spend the afternoon reading in bed. Bill had bacon-wrapped chicken.

We’ve enjoyed some baked goods from the SuperValu–a Bramley apple tart and a mincemeat pie. Mincemeat is showing up everywhere for the holidays.

We’ve also grown quite fond of bourbon biscuits, and are apparently not the only ones.

*Shepherd’s pie is traditionally lamb, whilst cottage pie is beef

Our intrepid travelers, Charles and Celia, depart from London today bound for Edinburgh. Highlights of the past week include Tower of London, Trafalgar Square, Windsor Castle and the Victoria and Albert Museum. We expect them back in Dublin on Thursday.

Charles at Windsor Castle

Celia admires Henry VIII armor

View from the Eye

The Good

Electric Kettle–By the time you’ve collected your cup, tea bag and spoon, the water is boiling. Also, makes quick work of cooking pasta when you start with two kettles full of hot water.

Convection/Traditional Oven combo–So far Bill likes the convection features of our oven (after he downloaded the user manual to decipher to buttons). He hasn’t done any baking yet–he’ll have to translate into Centigrade temps, but I’m sure he’ll be fine. I haven’t touched it of course, but I do like the huge red switch on the wall that shuts off power to the whole stove/oven.

The Bad

Clothes washer/dryer combo–As a washer, it works great. It holds only six shirts, but those shirts will get clean. The spin cycle makes you think the apartment is about to take flight. As a dryer, this thing sucks. The combo is a nice idea. You can set a load to wash and dry, then forget it. But an average wash/dry on cold wash takes about four hours and produces incredibly wrinkly clothes. The dryer doesn’t vent to the outside, so it dries by the condensation method, which best I can tell, is the basic principle that water left to its own devices will eventually evaporate. Supposedly, air heated in the drum is blown through the tumbling clothes and absorbs moisture. The wet air then passes through a heat exchanger to re-condense the water. The heat exchanger uses cold water from the cistern, which means the cistern pump turns on for 5 seconds every 15 seconds or so. Sometimes the pump likes to emit a little squeak each time it turns off. The cistern room is adjacent to our bedroom, so the pump sounds make it undesirable to run the dryer at night. (The pump provides great water pressure for the showers, so props to the pump.) Drying clothes while I sleep was one of my key life efficiencies. Also, to minimize wrinkles, I’ve taken to drying half a load at a time. Another downside, the dryer produces wet lint. Wet lint is gross. So, a noisy, time-consuming wrinkler. Not cool. When I get a job we’ll seriously consider a laundry service. Although, I do feel European draping clothes over the radiator.

The Normal

Microwave–totally normal.

Dishwasher–totally normal, except it has a compartment which you fill with rock salt. Perhaps it has an ice cream freezer feature we have yet to discover.

Fridge–small, but keeps drinks America-level cold (and will freeze the yogurt if you’re not careful).