hello again...
After a Friday that began in Dublin, a one hour bus ride to the airport, followed by a one hour delay in flight, then a two hour flight to Paris, resulting in a (okay, not a sprint) brisk walk through the maze of Charles De Gaulle Airport to an already boarding airplane, a seemingly (8 hour) interminable flight to Dulles, standing in various lines to have an indifferent civil servant inspect your papers (welcome to the US), gathering bags, yet another bus ride back to Lexington Park, we’re finally home. Saturday was spent in a daze unpacking the bags and trying to convince the mind and body that it should honor eastern daylight time. Sunday we watched the power boat races (fun for the first 20 minutes or so) and today maybe life begins to return to “normal”, although a remaining souvenir is a lingering nagging cough that was passed around the tour, dubbed the “reverse seasoning” (a historical joke).
So, now with a little time available (doing vs. writing) to reflect on the trip, we’ll begin by talking about the food we experienced in Ireland (hey - it's my job!)… Let me say that all of the food we had was of good quality. The only bad meal we had was of our own doing as we chose a luncheon place in a hurry and blew it. That was a singular instance however. Nobody has the time or patience to endure a meal by meal accounting (although I could do that), so we’ll generalize a bit by using categories which will probably take a few editions..
First Edition: Hotels/Hotel Food
The hotels in which we stayed were NOT the “modern” ones such as Hyatt and Hilton that are infiltrating the cities, but rather venerable local ones that have some time under their belt..
Near Athlone:
In Galway:
Our tour had several (evening) meals included as part of the package and we had a few of those dinners within the hotel, eating as a group of around 40 folks. In our country, this is often an invitation to a mediocre meal, served indifferently. Not so in Ireland. All of the meals we had in the hotels were quite tasty, and all were served from a menu. As we found to be very common, the menu consisted of a prix fixe (sometimes called the Table d’Hôte Menu) side as well as an al la carte option. There were usually a couple of choices for a starter (like soup/salad), maybe three for an entrée, and a couple of desserts. The menu usually offered fish, chicken and (not very often) beef, and more commonly a vegetarian option. For instance at the Hodson Bay, the choices were carrot/leek soup or Caesar salad, entrée choices were roast pork loin, chicken with mushroom sauce, poached salmon, or tortellini, which was served along with several “family style” dishes of potatoes (usually mashed), squash, turnips and carrots, and at Hodson Bay a fairly nice ratatouille.
In ALL the hotels there were also very comfortable bars in which you could get some sort of food and your pint of Guinness. Most were “modern” in that they had plush chairs and low tables sort of thing. Not “traditional”, but very comfy.. Due to the length of various long days of touring, we sometimes arrived back at our lodgings rather late (for us, 7:30 or so) and so MFO and I took our dinner there, usually composed of a pint or glass of wine and little bits.
In Dublin we stayed at the Brooks Hotel
All of our hotels were comfortable, serving good food (especially breakfasts) with only one exception which is another story for another time. Due to the size of our group we couldn’t try any of the B&B’s which appear everywhere, but the hotels we used were fine…
A general note regarding Service:
Everywhere we went, be it in a pub, hotel, restaurant, or at an exhibit, we found the Irish to be the most warm and friendly people we’ve encountered. This extended not only to the eating places, but just in general. As a friend of mine is wont to say, “They put the “S” back in service”. No lame “Hi I’m….” speeches, just a friendly “what can I get ya”, or a more formal “How may I be of service”?. A couple of examples (of many):
On the first night in Dublin, the whole lot of us headed out to find the restaurant “Fire” ( see next edition), and asked Marvin (sort of the concierge) for directions whereupon he said, “let’s go” and led us all a good 5 or 6 blocks to the place (a strange sight to be sure). Or the next day MFO and I asked Marvin (impeccably dressed) if he knew where an ATM was. Without a blink, he said “follow me” and was out the door, escorting us a block and a half and said “over there”, would you like me to wait? Think they do that at your Holiday Inn?
On our final afternoon in Ireland, after a trying last ditch shopping spree, we decided to have a drink and snack at the bar to wind down for our goodbye dinner (another edition)
We arrived about 4:30 or so and wanted to have a glass of wine and repeat an appetizer we especially enjoyed, a wedge of wonderful Gubbeen Cheese with sliced cured ham. After ordering our wine (a lovely One Tree Sauvignon Blanc) at the bar, it was brought to the table and we asked about the cheese. He said “I’m sorry that doesn’t come until 6 when the lunch menu changes”. Okay, we ordered a sandwich. A few minutes he re-appeared and said he’d asked chef and of course we could have our cheese. We did, and then we retired to
DFD
sigh, how nice
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