Here Comes the Rain Again

After returning from Switzerland, Germany and Croatia, we were looking forward to once again, soaking up the music of Dublin. It was a fantastic weekend with a touch of culture and lots of music. Just what we wanted!

We learnt one thing on our return to Dublin ... when catching a bus you need to indicate! We were waiting for the 29a to the city.  As we moved to the curb, the bus driver just waved his finger at us and kept going! At least a taxi stopped when we needed him! We had booked to see the Smock Alley Theatre's matinee performance of "The Importance of Being Earnest".  Prior to the play, we once again headed to the Queen of Tarts to make sure the carrot cake lived up to expectations from our previous visit.  Lunch was lovely and the carrot cake hit the mark! We were not disappointed.

We were however a little disappointed with the production of "The Importance of Being Earnest". The woman who played Cecily was so completely over the top that I found her very irritating. Nonetheless, the theatre was interesting and the play by Oscar Wilde is always entertaining regardless of the performance.

After the show, we headed off to The Cobblestone for some traditional Irish music. We had been there numerous times before and always enjoyed the music. Dermot, David's colleague from DCU, was playing the fiddle and we spent a couple of hours soaking up the atmosphere of this traditional Irish music session.

After dinner at Oscars, a restaurant close by to the Cobblestone, we headed off to the Celt. We had read about this pub and its traditional music and food. The taxi driver who took us into the city earlier in the day suggested that the Celt was full of riffraff. We stuck our head in the door and found it packed with people (including a man dressed as a condom) and although the music had not started we will head there again another night to check out if it lives up to its reputation.

We headed back into town on Sunday armed with umbrellas and raincoats. The rain had been falling steadily most of the night. After traversing the puddles we made our way to Mass at St Therese's. Our plan for the day was to attend mass and then head to Dublin Castle for the "sand sculpture" exhibition and Chester Beatty Library. We were not sure what happened to the sand sculptures, as although there were descriptions about many, only 3 were on display. 

With the rain continuing, it was off to the library. This library hosts one of the world's best collection of manuscripts, artworks, rare books and paintings from different cultures and religions from all over the world.  Chester Beatty, a wealthy American mine owner, who came to live in Dublin, collected these treasures throughout his life. He bequeathed this personal collection to Dublin, where it is now housed for everyone to enjoy.

Along our way through the day, we had collected some travel booklets and a pair of shoes (its always good to find a bargain when you least expect it). With much of the afternoon still ahead of us, we decided to catch the DART to Dun Laoghaire (pronounced Done Leery!) where the Ukulele Hooley festival was on. We needed to go home prior to heading out and leave our accumulated shoes and brochures. Unfortunately the paper bag we had the items in could not withstand the continual rain and dissolved into a mess on the pavement. So now, carrying wet and soggy brochures and shoes, we made it to the bus and home before setting off to Killester station for the 30 minute ride to Dun Laoghaire.

We arrived to a rain soaked festival in time to hear the last 3 songs. The weather had forced an early end to Ukulele Hooley! 

As we were in Dun Laoghaire, we were determined to find some music. After a drink and dinner and David searching the internet for some entertainment, we headed off through the town to Frank McKenna's, a hotel popular with the locals and not a normal tourist haunt (we were definitely outsiders!). The music was great, with the band of two (who get paid in pints), playing an eclectic mix of music such as Status Quo, Johnny Cash and Rock and Roll. 

While there we discovered a man's bracelet on the floor. Upon picking it up the owner came forward thanking us for finding it and persuading us to accept a drink. We now had new best friends as the husband and wife asked us to come back again in the coming weeks. 

We enjoyed the music  and our evening in Dun Laoghaire. We headed back to the DART for our trip back to Clontarf and a week where we look forward to Kath and Mick Cleary coming to stay.