We arrived from NYC in Dublin here yesterday a bit travel weary but not to worn from it all. Most of you that read this know we are Home Exchangers and this trip we are in a home in a seaside suburb of Dublin.
After a cab ride from the airport we were met by a family friend who showed us around the house. There is always some adjusting to be done when you come into someone's home. Where is this/that? Internet? How does the shower work? And so today we continue with that learning curve as well as some time/sleep adjustments. We find that the time adjustments are more significant for us now than they were 17 years ago when we were on our honeymoon. Hmmmm....puzzling.
Some first impressions over 24 hours.....cold....very friendly people.....cold.....surprisingly tall people (not the stereo type we may expect).....a bit cold....quaint....beautiful although a bit cool. Although the cold I'm describing is not 'that' cold with a high of 67 and low in the 40s....it is actually colder in the old brick home than outdoors or at least it feels that way. Very little sunshine at this point but expected no less.
And so our first day after a very leisurely morning was a walk into the village, Sandy Cove County Dublin. From here some highlights of the experience.....of course like most European towns/villages/areas we have travelled there are little shops selling unique goods such as a meat market, bakery, fruits and vegetable No less enjoyable and unique to us.
Along the walk we dropped into a very tiny fruit and vegetable shop, The Punnet, and met the proprietor, Anna. I inquired about the potatoes she had advertised as 'new potatoes from Wickland'. Puzzled by the early season I wondered if they were fresh from this year. I, having raised potatoes many years in Minnesota was never used to harvesting even the newest until at least August. She said they were and they were delicious but we should wait until next week when the very best, the Queens, will arrive. We promised our return. I asked if they just boil and serve with a little butter.....she laughed and said "Oh no, with a LOT of butter" At that point a hunched over little old lady chuckled and said...."Yes and a lot of salt!". We later were introduced to this sweet little lady, Celia who is 86 years old. She was so happy to meet us and it was mutual for sure.
At this limited point we are struck with how friendly people are and we can't help but contrast it to our last trip to France. The French people were not rude in our experience but indifferent may be the best term, I tried to no avail to make eye contact and not a hello. It just didn't work.
Today, as I sat in a tiny sidewalk café with a glass of wine people were crossing the street and smiling with a nod. Actually a motor bike passed and the young woman on the back smiled and said "Hallo luv...." Then there was a tiny little dog, 'Otis'. Just kind of makes you chuckle thinking about it.
I mentioned sitting having a' glass of wine....this was while John was in the 'Gents Hairdresser' getting a haircut. It seems his 'Hairdresser' was quite the talker. He was a man of his late 60's
who told the story of standing as a child in this very shop watching his father cut gentlemen's hair. Although he thought to give another profession a go, fishing didn't work out for him and he found his way back home and has been here ever since, some 40+ years. His son is now manning a little shop across the street prepared to take up when Dad retires.
I was next door with my glass of wine sounding surprised that my waiter knew I was from the states. When I asked him how he knew he replied "Your accent of course." I found myself thinking, "Wait you have the accent." How ethnocentric of me! I guess my waiter worried about me sitting alone so he brought me a paper with "You may wish to take a look at the paper.....very depressing that it is" They are now dealing with fresh news about bank fraud here and have not begun to recover from the 2008 crash.
Final story for the night.....from a café where we had dinner. John ordered Duck Liver Pate and commented he couldn't get that in California. Our waiter, although well aware of the law, disgustedly responded "A bunch of pussies.....after all we can decide what we want to order or not....pussies, that's all there is to it and we are talking about America after all!" Well, with that we simply nodded and agreed, he seemed to feel very strongly about it.
It seems to be dark her so it is time for me to call it a night because the dark only lasts a very few hours. We have some pictures that will follow perhaps tomorrow.
John & Carol
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