Dublin, one more time

 Good morning!


 


We wake up to our last full day in Ireland. We're balancing a lot of desires: to see some more of Dublin, of course. To rest a little, especially since Snowdrop wakes up feverish once again. To make it fun for the kids, to give parents one last taste of Irish food and drink, to take in memories, but not to the point where we're overloaded and just plain tired.

Since the flat is small, we all are up when Sparrow wakes up -- in other words, way too early. We're watching Snowdrop to see if she bounces back or continues to slide into whatever bug grips her. Experience tells us it can go either way. So, it is an easy going morning.

I offer to go out and get breakfast foods. That's not hard at all: Voila, the cafe bakery is a two minute walk down the Mew. Perhaps you know that mews are back alleys, where the stables were once positioned. These days, they're gardens, or garages, or sometimes small commercial venues. Our stable house opens up to Fitzwilliam Mew.

(Stables on the bottom, flat on top.)





(Inside the old stables...)





By the way, Voila is not the only neighborhood cafe, not by a long shot. Across the street, I counted four more, just in a half a block.






I pick up breakfast essentials.






We gather around the kitchen table to eat this first light meal of the day. No high chair. Mommy's lap will do.












It's clear that Tylenol has done it's work. The girl is happy to go out with me in search of a playground while the parents put Sparrow down for his morning nap.

Before we get to our playground goal, I steer her to Merrion Square, a Georgian garden square that is as pretty today as it would have been back in the days when it was first laid out (in the 18th century). These days, the buildings here are used mostly for office space, but back in the days, the square was home to Oscar Wilde and Yeats. This, too, was where the British Embassy was once based -- until it was burned to the ground following the Bloody Sunday shootings in the 1970s.






The park at the center of the square was once private -- you could only enter it if you were a resident at the square and had a key, but it was opened to the public in the 1970s. It's a tranquil and lovely green space, for those seeking a respite from the chaos of the city...






... with plenty of flowers that add splendid summer colors.











I like it all, but as we walk through it, I muse about which parks I like even better. I tell Snowdrop -- I think the Luxembourg Gardens remain are my favorite city park. She responds -- my favorite is Bernie's Beach! (That's the tiny park and playground we so often go to after school! Loyal girl!)

From here, we turn to St. Stephen's Green. This is the park we came to on our first full day in Europe, now two weeks ago. Remember this flower border with the foxgloves?






How this girl and her brother have grown in our travels!






Snowdrop seems her perky self again and we play a spirited game of restaurant.






But as we slowly make our way back to the Mews, I can tell that the bug still has its grip on her. She grows tired.

At lunch (at the Goose on the Loose -- a crepe/pancake/blini place), she snuggles in her mommy's lap. (There are no high chairs: Sparrow is content munching mush and then crepes from the stroller seat.)






It's a little cooler now, but still, we have to be grateful for two weeks of beautiful weather. I never used rain gear. Remarkable!

We do a small walking tour of the major sights. The kids remain in the stroller: Snowdrop is worn out, Sparrow dangles his bare feet and looks on with interest. No use putting socks on him -- he just pulls them off.

(There are some sights in Dublin that seem a bit... contrived. Viking duck boats??)






(The city has its serious visuals too: man in a suit next to ivy covered building.)






Here's a classic: Dublin Castle (founded in the 13th century), as viewed from the gardens:






(True lilium in the garden remind me of flowers awaiting me back home. I can't tell what's blooming there now: when I ask Ed, he'll say -- the pink stuff. Which pink stuff??)


 



We return home. Sparrow attempts a nap and this time I stay with him...






... while the young parents take Snowdrop to listen to some Irish music. And finally, in the early evening, we head out for our last dinner of the trip -- at Lemon and Duke (I will miss these compound names of eateries here and in the U.K.!)






In the course of our travels, Sparrow has developed a love of sharing our dinner foods -- everything from oxtail to halibut -- and today he discovered the extra joy of having his sister feed him bits of her own dish (some form of chicken nuggets).
















We walk back past crowded pubs -- meeting places for women and men, but especially men.





The Irish have been good to us, and especially to the kids. There's always a smile waiting. A question, a word of praise (in the park, an older man tells Snowdrop how strong she is after she helps me lift and carry the stroller up the steps... there's always the acknowledgement of common humanity -- I have a wee granddaughter just her age...)

Night time, with light still pouring in through the windows. Time to sleep, but instead I just close my eyes and think how beautiful life can be.