In Dublin's Fair City

In Dublin's fair city,
Where girls are so pretty,
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone,
As she pushed her wheelbarrow
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh"!

Now she was a fishmonger,
And sure twas no wonder,
For so were her mother and father before,
And they each wheeled their barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh"!

She died of a fever,
And no one could save her,
And that was the end of sweet Molly Malone.
Now her ghost wheels her barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh"!

Thus goes the Irish folk song, one which Grandma PingPong loved to sing throughout our trip. We passed by the famous statue of Molly Malone wheeling her barrow (too quickly to get a picture) and I can't say for sure that we ever saw her ghost but you never know...

One of the streets that Molly may haunt is the one our hotel, the Davenport, was located-- Merrion Square. Its long line of linked Georgian houses was quite picturesque, each house differentiated by doors of unique color and archways of varying design.

Even the light poles were photo-worthy, their elegant curlicues and national shamrock gracefully overlooking Merrion Square like a loving mother observing her sleeping child.

We arrived in Dublin at 8:30 a.m. and wanted nothing more than to rest for a while. Because of this and the fact that it was Sunday, we weren't able to see much of Dublin at all except for the wonderful President's Pub downstairs in the hotel. There I had the first frothy Guinness of my trip. The foamy head really tastes like fresh cream and the bittersweet bite of the stout is unlike any other drink on earth.

When I went downstairs to find the toilets, I was a bit confused. Yes, I was tired and this was another country, but I wasn't quite sure whether this door was the one I should pass through:

It turned out just fine.

The floors at this hotel were very pretty, and every level seemed to have a different design. I was enchanted by how wonderfully the deep orange and blue (a complementary color scheme) combined in these patterns.

After a nice pub meal at Foley's Bar down the street, another Guinness and a good night's sleep, we were ready to meet our trusty driver and get on the road.

One of the nicest things about Irish people is their genuine love of the tourists, their outstanding pride in their lovely country and their eagerness to show it to you. Everywhere you go you see the Irish phrase Cead Mile Failte (pronounced Kade Meal-ah Fault-ay) which means not one, but "One Hundred Thousand Welcomes". I certainly felt welcome a hundred thousand times over!

You can see the phrase here on our 24-seater coach (2 seats for each of The Eleven!), along with the Three Nephews, Alex, Kevin and Leon, all ready to travel on to Glendalough.

Posted by Sheila at July 27, 2005 07:30 AM Posted to Ireland | TrackBack