Quiet Moments of Pleasure

Occasionally I experience these quiet moments of contentment and happiness - it happens when I'm warm, well-fed and usually on my own somewhere in public. I can relax and reflect, and realize how grateful I am for all that I have. I felt it yesterday when I had afternoon tea at the Shelbourne. And I had that moment today at Leon.


As I've mentioned, it's wet here in Dublin today. Really wet. I think I may have ruined my favorite Tod's mules from tromping around on cobblestones in the rain today. I entered Leon feeling like a bedraggled wet rat, trailing water from my umbrella in my wake. The bottom two inches of my pants were soaked through and clinging unpleasantly to my ankles.


I was shown to a little table next to a warm crackling fire - a real fire, not an artificial one. I started warming up and my wet feet were forgotten. I ordered some Earl Grey and a lemon meringue tart. I didn't take a photo before I attacked my pastry, but here's the post-frenzy carnage.



Here's a photo I took of the rest of the lemon meringues left in their display case.

Ah, thank goodness for those moments.

What's a Boxty?

I wandered around another pedestrian-only zone in Dublin, known as Temple Bar - it's an area full of pubs, cafes, restaurants, art galleries and (oddly) head shops. After dithering about where to have lunch, I finally picked Gallagher's Boxty House, which had traditional pub decor and was cosy inside. This was a relief as I was quite soaked from wandering around in the rain.

A Boxty is a traditional Irish potato pancake with a variety of fillings. I ordered the house speciality, the Gaelic Boxty, which came with Irish fillet medallions, marinated in whiskey and served in a creamy mushroom and pepper sauce. It was delicious!

I think the Temple Bar area was named after this bar.

Rainy and Wet

We awoke to a dreary, rainy day in Dublin. I had been trying to decide between taking a bus tour of the north coast (with a castle visit) and the south coast (with a visit to the famous Powerscourt Gardens). With the rain, I decided an indoor castle tour was preferable.

The tour was on a double decker bus and unfortunately, the rain and cold made the windows fog up quite a lot, so it was a little hard to see. All the occupants kept using their sleeves to clear off the windows. What little I could see of the countryside was quite beautiful.

We stopped at Malahide Castle and had a tour - the notable fact about this castle is that it was owned and occupied by the Talbot family for 8 centuries, until 1975, when they gave it to the local authorities because they could no longer afford the upkeep. Then we drove along the coast, through the really lovely town of Howth, which I would like to return to in the future.

Many, many more things to see and do - must plan to come back soon.

My Favorite Store in Ireland

OK, I know I've only been in Ireland for 2 days. And that I've only been to Dublin. But I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I've found my very favorite store in Ireland - Avoca.

The large one in Dublin (they have other locations) has multiple floors - and it's been around as a brand since the 18th century. Their specialty is hand-woven items and clothing that they've designed and manufactured in Ireland. However, the entire store is a well-edited and eclectic collection of merchandise that complements their home-grown items.








There's a small men's section - just enough to pick out the occasional present. And there's a huge children's floor with some clothing and lots of other toys, kid-related items and generally cute stuff. There is a section of women's clothing that's very similar to the style at Anthropologie (but it's really an indie, as opposed to Anthropologie, which tries to seem indie but is quite a large chain!) And a wide range of extremely well-arranged housewares - including items from Pylones, one of our favorite brands from France. The basement holds a food hall and there's a lovely cafe on the top floor. I couldn't plan a store better than this one!





But lest you think my enthusiasm seems exaggerated, please believe me when I say that I spent an inordinate amount of time in this store. I started by heading up to the cafe for lunch. I was hoping to get a nice bowl of soup but alas, the daily special was carrot and orange. Ugh - it sounded dangerously sweet (I like my savories savory, thank you). So I ordered an interesting dish of "organic baby meatballs in tomato sauce with manchego and rocket, served with couscous and Tuscan bread". This may sound weird, but it was actually quite good. The desserts also looked excellent but I managed to control myself. I had a cuppa tea to round off my meal.





After a nice lunch, I wandered down through the store. There was much I liked, especially in housewares, but all the items were too bulky to easily transport home. So after trying on countless cardigans and sweaters, I settled on this long-sleeved t pictured here. Trust me, it's cute.

I may have to go back tomorrow just to revel in the store of my dreams again.

P.S. As my friend noted this evening, even their shopping bag is cute!

Afternoon Tea - my favorite ritual

I love afternoon tea. I love the finger sandwiches, the little cakes but mostly the scones (plain, please) properly served with clotted cream and strawberry jam (I'm also partial to the occasional unorthodox addition of lemon curd). Real scones, not the weird stuff that Starbucks serves. I love having my tea properly brewed with tea leaves and poured for me through a silver strainer. And that milk and sugar are readily available, as opposed to having to ask for them.




When I read in my guidebook that afternoon tea at the Shelbourne Hotel was a popular stop after a day of shopping, I knew where I'd be headed.

The Shelbourne is a pretty Georgian hotel across from St. Stephen's Green (although my friend, who stayed there last time, thought the rooms at our Westin were much nicer). The tea room was actually quite empty (oh right, it's Monday AND there's a global financial crisis) - so I scored a little table right by the window.



I was still full from lunch so just ordered scones and tea (as opposed to the full three tier serving extravaganza). It was very nice and peaceful. I read today's Irish Times and learned that the first Obama fundraiser had been held in Dublin the night before and had been very well attended. I wrote a few postcards and eavesdropped on the interesting conversation at the next table (won't bore you with the details). All the while, a pianist was tinkling away in the background.

I was fully refreshed after my little break and only €14 poorer - what a deal.

My 4th new country this year

We flew from London to Dublin this morning - making Ireland my 4th new country for 2008 (after Egypt, Jordan and Turkey). This is a banner year!

We're staying at the Westin Dublin, which is in a prime location across from the Bank of Ireland and Trinity College. And has very nice bathrooms (see many prior posts on my hotel bathroom fixation).






The Bank of Ireland seemed quite quiet today - despite the financial implosion, there was no bank run that I could see.








I first went to see the Book of Kells at Trinity College - a beautiful illustrated manuscript of the 4 gospels dating from the 8th century.











Then I wandered around Grafton Street (the pedestrian only shopping zone) for a while. I attempted to go further but learned that the National Museum of Ireland and one of the Georgian museums that I wanted to go to were both closed on Mondays. Oh well.