NOVEMBER 2012
www.celtic-connection.com
Page 25
'Dublin is buzzing with its young population, its arts and literature scene...and music everywhere'
ANCOUVER - My recent three weeks in Dublin left me with fresh and new impressions of this very old and interesting city.
Of course everyone in the whole world has heard about the Celtic tiger and similarly everyone has heard about the property meltdown and the awful bank fiascos.
With that in mind, I was expecting a rather downtrodden and depressing Dublin.
Not at all, Dublin was buzzing with its young population, its arts and literature scene and, of course, music - music everywhere.
More interestingly for me was the food
- I predict Ireland is going to eat its way out of this recession.
The restaurant and cafe scene was amazing and new restaurants are popping up in every corner of Dublin.
Everyone is keenly interested in home baking and local ingredients; generally there is an avid interest in locally made and sourced food.
High-end food emporiums are available, my favorite is Avoca. Ethnic foods are flourishing which reflects the growing foreign influence in the city.
I was looking around the regular food department of Dunnes stores -known for its bargains and basic staples - the shelves were stocked with gourmet ingredients, including several varieties of mustards, vinegars, pastas and noodles etc. and twin jar packs of duck fat.
Now we all know in Vancouver duck fat is hard to source - but in Dublin very easy, and maybe that is why everyone makes the most scrumptious roast potatoes - the secret is duck fat.
I had soup all over the city - wonderful nutritious, varied and very tasty - made with proper ingredients - and it always came with two big slices of brown bread.
The iconic brown bread is even better than I remember, embellished with nuts and seeds and different flours, it is delicious and nutritious.
To keep myself going, I also stopped for scones and tea. It doesn't hurt that along with lovely j am, there was alway s a little pot of thick cream. It must be the flour because I cannot make scones nearly as good here in Vancouver.
Most of the well-known restaurants required reservations. Where is the recession I asked people. I was told by everyone, people are suffering and families have less to spend.
Young people are emigrating for jobs, and the sad reality of negative equity is affecting young families. The affluent and pricy golf clubs, yacht clubs and five star hotels are suffering too.
NAMA is a name that keeps popping up - everyone refers to hotels and businesses being in NAMA - Ireland's state-run National Asset Management Agency.
Walking tours are widely available and whatever variety one chooses, they are always entertaining and very informative. I enjoyed two of these tours
- a pub literary tour and a morning walking tour.
I learned a lot, the tour guides know
By
MARIE
BRUCE L
"More interestingly for me was the food-I predict Ireland is going to eat its way out of this recession. "
their Dublin and their authors. Lines from Plunket, Joyce, Behan, Beckett, Shaw, Yeats, Wilde, even Bram Stoker were quoted. It was entertaining and great fun.
The Italians have their Renaissance art treasure and Ireland has its literary legacy - tourists flock to Dublin, the city where these legends were born and some of them lived.
Another day, I did the hop on and off narrated bus tours - no long waits -the buses appear every five minutes and they are wonderful value for money. It is a great way to get around the city and get one's bearings.
I was struck by how well signed and busy all the tourist sites were. I had so much on my "to see" list, including a tour of Glasnevin Cemetery and a return visit to Kilmainham.
Kilmainham Goal was closed in 1924 and the refurbished prison now houses an excellent museum on the history of Ireland - the guided tours are well worth doing.
The National Gallery in Kildare Street is free to all and a must see for art lovers. I dropped in a few times to the Hugh Lane gallery -1 loved the space, the light and, of course, the art - the book shop and cafe were worthwhile too. The list goes on.
Dublin is a very old city with narrow twisting streets, tight lanes and byways allow for quick access to another street or road.
No matter how narrow the lane, it would be impossible not to come across a pub, in fact there are over 400 pubs in the city. Apparently now greatly reduced from the heyday of pub culture in the Seventies.
Pubs, like a lot of Dublin businesses, have reinvented themselves and besides offering the excellent Guinness and ambience, they now have good reasonable food, music evenings, literary talks, competitions etc., the list goes on.
Temple Bar is the entertainment zone for young people and tourists.
Even during the day Temple Bar is hopping and buzzing with coffee bars, restaurants and pubs, art studios and theatres. I was amazed at the vibe and en-
DUBLIN illuminated at night along the River Liffey.
DUBLIN is a literary city and the local tour guides know their authors and quote liberally.
ergy and throngs of people enjoying themselves.
I did the trad music pub tour from Oliver St. John Gogarty's Pub. Ithappens every night, people gather in the upstairs of the pub for the craic and music. These tours continue throughout the year.
The transport system in Dublin is fantastic, one can Dart (rail) along the coast or travel to outlying regions on the Luas or the train and, of course, the big double decker buses ply the streets.
Taxis are readily available and reasonable - the recommended way to travel in the late evening.
Pints of Guinness taste better in the city where Arthur Guinness brewed the first pint in 1798.
High up on the list of places to visit is the Guinness Brewery - easy to reach on the hop on/hop off bus tour. In fact, all the must-see sites are on the tour, including St. Patrick's Cathedral and Christ Church Cathedral.
I did mention that Dublin is a very ancient city but it has a very modern outlook - the population has embraced technology in a huge way, communication is the name of the game.
There is hardly an ear in Dublin without some device for music or phone. News travels fast and most Irish people are very loyal to their radio and greatly influenced by their favorite chat show hosts.
Politics and religion are discussed and argued about with everyone having an interest and an opinion.
This recession has created a whole new topic of conversation and the personalities and events are discussed daily -there cannot be a person in the whole of Ireland that doesn't have an opinion about the Anglo Irish and Bank of Ireland's affairs.
Newspapers are still read daily in coffee shops and pubs, so there is no chance of the news not spreading.
Ireland publishes a huge range of magazines covering a variety of topics from country life, cooking, fashion, social and personal, farming and the topics go on.
In fact, it says something about the population and their respect for the
written word that this small country can support such a wide variety of print, despite the availability on Internet, etc.
I have no doubt that Ireland will rise again, I think it has already, but its young well-educated population requires good jobs and emigration is now a sad reality.
Ireland is no stranger to emigration -1 emigrated myself with absolutely no regrets, but for some people it is very hard and very sad, and families are torn apart.
The upside is with Internet and communication so available, they can all be in close touch without the restraints of the weekly letter home and the expensive telephone call once a year.
I loved my time in Dublin, I enj oy ed very decent autumn weather. I know Dublin has a lot to offer any visitor, in fact I only covered half of what I wanted to see, but I will come back and complete my list very soon again.
•
Good places for soup:
Avoca - Wicklow street; Kilkenny Design - College Green; Dublin Castle, all the art galleries, Powerscourt shopping off Grafton Street.
Dinner out:
Mulligans Brew Pub - Stoneybatter; Cafe en Seine - Dawson Street; The Leopardstown Inn for a special evening on the town - Stillorgan.
Hotels:
Brooks Hotel, Drury Street - very central - excellent breakfast and a nice pleasant bar for a drink with friends.
Dublin Tourist Centre:
Wicklow street - situated in historic church.
Kelowna man returns from Irish trip in search of mystery woman
KELOWNA - Sandy Crocker of Kelowna certainly was not expecting media attention when he took a trip to Ireland in September.
The 34-year-old dentist had first gone to Ireland last year and met a woman who had a profound effect on him.
"You know when you meet people in life. They're just the genuine, real, true, honest, caring, compassionate person and you're immediately just drawn to them," Crocker tells CHBC News in his first Canadian television appearance.
I Ie admits their encounter was brief and short on details.
"It was for less than five minutes. We talked for a bit. I just asked directions to places and we talked about the weather," he said.
But she apparently made an impact. So when Crocker made plans to go back to Ireland for another vacation, he decided that while he was there, he would try his best to find her.
"I thought, hey that would be a fun part of the trip that would take a couple hours. See if you can find this person. Maybe you do, maybe you don't," Crocker said.
He say s he is a romantic but adds there is another reason he took action.
"I think what really compelled me personally is this is one of the few times in life where I haven't acted on something."
Crocker reached out to the local paper in that town for help in finding the woman. He was shocked when other media around the world picked up on his story. But he says his experience isn't anything special.
"This kind of thing happens every day. Someone walks through a mall, sees someone, thinks.. .maybe I'll go back the same route and see if that person is there," he said.
So when he went back to that small town, Crocker ate a sandwich and had lunch at the same cafe but did not find the mystery woman.
Though his search turned up empty, he says he has no regrets. "I think it was a fun adventure.. .but it's not a lifelong quest," he said. Most importantly, Crocker hopes his story inspires others to live boldly.
"In North America, we hear a lot of bad news and we think everything is bad and we have to protect ourselves. But really, you just have to open the door and step out and live life to the fullest. At least you took the look, at least you tried."