April 1 – 3

Joanna and I hit the substantial breakfast buffet the next morning (our travel partners typically don’t eat breakfast first thing) and soon gathered with the others to take off for a morning of walking and sightseeing.  One of the first things we spotted on O’Connell Street was the Spire, a large, stainless steel, pin-like monument 390 feet in height, located on the site of the former Nelson’s Pillar (and prior to that a statue of William Blakeney).  Following the bombing of Nelson’s Pillar by former IRA members in 1966, the site remained vacant for years until 2000 when construction of the Spire, or Spire of Light, which was chosen from many submissions in an international competition. 

We continued down O’Connell, crossing the Liffey on the bridge named after the street and wandered past the International Whiskey Museum (too early for a visit) in the direction of St. Stephen’s Green Park.  As we neared the park, hunger hit the other members of our party and so we ducked into Bruxelles where Joanna and I enjoyed a snack of apple pie and ice cream, along with an Irish Coffee (never too early for one of those). 

Hunger sated for the time being, we recommenced and soon found ourselves at Fusilier’s Arch (a granite memorial, erected in 1907 to commemorate the officers and men of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers who fought and died in the Second Boer War 1899–1902), the Grafton Street entrance to the park.  Around this time, it started to rain, an occurrence we would experience throughout the first two weeks of the trip.  Rarely was it heavy, or steady, often blowing out as quickly as it blew in with the ever-present winds that are a feature of this island.  It would be the only time we used the umbrella we brought with us, as so often by the time you got it up and operating, the rain would leave and you’d store it away.  More effective were our good quality rain jackets, hoods pulled tight to keep the wind from blowing them off one’s head. 

St. Stephen’s Green Park, at 22 acres the largest of the parks in Dublin’s main Georgian garden squares, its current landscape was designed by William Sheppard and officially opened to the public in 1880.  We entered the park and meandered through its landscaped grounds, pausing briefly to look at the Superintendents Lodge, and then at the lovely main section’s flower gardens.  Exiting we navigated south of the river, crossed at the Ha’penny bridge again (first time for the kids) where Gemma climbed around on the bronze statue there of two women officially titled Meeting Place.  Sculpted by Jackie McKenna and unveiled in 1988, it depicts two women taking a break from shopping with their bags at their feet.  Locals affectionately nicknamed it “the Hags with the Bags”.

As we began to work our way back to the hotel, we stopped to make a pilgrimage to the Gin Palace, where we all enjoyed a cocktail, but best of all Kris ordered the Hendricks Gin High Tea Party, gin of that name served in a unique gin tea pot with ice, tonic, cucumber pieces, cucumber puree, rose water, lemon juice and cracked black pepper.  Sounds a little odd but the sample I got was delicious, so much so that Joanna and I would return here at the end of our trip for one of our own. 

We split up after the drinks, each to pursue their own agenda, whether that be more drinks, some sightseeing, shopping, or just relaxing/napping back at the hotel.  When we all travel together, we rely on Jessica to suss out dining options and she always comes through with good options and tonight’s choice would be another winner, that is dinner at The Winding Stair.  It’s located on the north bank of the Liffey not far from the Meeting Place statue and upon arrival we climbed two flights of stairs to find our table wafting for us. 

We started with the marinated olives, two orders of the bread service, and one order of homemade crisps (potato chips), washed down by a quick bottle of Vinho Verde.  We would follow that wine with two bottles of Cotes du Rhone, a nice red able to compliment the wide range of entrees we would enjoy.  Kris and Kim each ordered the Mussels, a serving so large that it could easily have been split between three people.  Marty and Gemma split the 9 oz Black Angus Irish striploin, Joanna had the Wild Garlic Risotto (broad bean, green pea and pearl barley ‘risotto’ with crispy onion) while Jessica and I each demolished the Pigs on the Green (pork tenderloin, cider and mushroom sauce, whipped butter potato, pickled rhubarb, and arugula). 

For dessert we’d put away a dark chocolate fondant, orange and coconut cheesecake, Wexford vanilla Ice cream vanilla Ice cream, espresso and Killahora Apple Port, and one Wexford Sea salt ice-cream, espresso and Coole Swan (an Irish cream produced from a blend of a single-malt Irish whiskey, Belgian white chocolate, and fresh cream).  In addition to the drinks that accompanied those last two desserts, a Niepoort Tawny Reserve Port and two sauternes were consumed.  It would be by far just about the most we’ve spent as a group for a meal, and yet at about 85 Euros ($100) apiece, an entirely worthwhile expenditure.  While some of the others crossed back over to Temple Bar for some late-night fun, Joanna and I returned to the hotel for a good night’s sleep excited to begin the next leg of our journey, that is off to Limerick. 

Links

The Spire: https://www.visitdublin.com/the-spire

Bruxelles: https://bruxelles.ie/

Fusilier’s Arch: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusiliers%27_Arch

St. Stephen’s Green Park: https://www.ststephensgreenpark.ie/

The Gin Palace: https://ginpalace.ie/

The Winding Stair: https://www.winding-stair.com/