Dublin

My grandmother is Irish, she’s from County Clare on the western coast. It’s not really relevant, but every time I touch down in Ireland I feel that somehow I belong to the place. My mate is from Dublin, my neighbors are from Dublin, and on a good night with a couple of drinks inside me I can do a half decent Dublin accent.

So here I am arriving in Dublin’s new terminal building late at night (cold and raining of course) and heading to an unfamiliar area around the convention center. http://www.theccd.ie/  I’m staying at the Malvern Hotel on Cardiff Lane (http://www.maldronhotelcardifflane.com/), its most distinguishing feature being that it’s right opposite the convention center and right by the river. The hotel was ok, nothing to write home about, but certainly adequate. The breakfasts were those awful buffet things where everything looks like it’s been sitting around for hours and hours. I risked it once and smothered the whole plate with brown sauce to take away the taste and cut through the grease. My Italian friend watched me in horror. When you’re used to cappuccinos and brioche, it can be off-putting, I guess.

I was in Dublin for the WYSTC conference (http://www.wystc.org /) and in between meetings and seminars I found the time to do a little sightseeing and get over to two great restaurants: Peploes (http://peploes.com/), just off of St. Stephen’s Green and Fade Street Social (http://www.fadestreetsocial.com/) where the grilled meats are cooked in a brick oven. Two great restaurants, two great areas and neither time did I have to go down to Temple Bar, thank goodness. Dublin is a happening place, new buildings are shooting up everywhere, restaurants are full and in spite of tales of woe and recession, I saw little evidence moving around the city. It’s a cool place. And the coolest thing of all, it’s actually a cosmopolitan city at last.