The drive back to Dublin took a little longer than expected (due to unforeseen cultural discrepancies that will not be mentioned here), but we all made it back in one piece and in time for one last pub dinner together. The adventure party parted ways in the big city, as my parents had a date with an airplane or four (or more?) the next morning. I’ve gotten used to living far away from my family over the years, but saying goodbye to them after seldom and sudden bouts of togetherness never gets easier. Luckily a Friday night stroll around Dublin’s chillout hotspot provided plenty of distraction. Said stroll ended up in a pub not far from the hotel, where we sipped Guinness and Bulmers respectively while taking in some excellent live music and partly watching a World Cup game with the sound off. The whole evening came as somewhat of a shock after a week of screen-free country living, and I wasn’t sure I was quite ready to be back in “civilization” yet.
We still had a couple days to spare before flying back to Germany and decided to split the time between city and seaside. The city day came first and involved a lot of semi-targeted wandering and dinner with a fellow Smithie. The castle looked just as it had last December, though this time without the jackets and antler/santa-hat-wearing carollers. I learned that the floor in St. Pat’s Cathedral was just as splendid as that in Christ Church Cathedral, though the tacky fluorescent lights of the roll-out gift shop certainly detracted from its oldness and charm. Over at Trinity College, a well-to-do wedding party had reserved one of the main greens for croquet and champagne, looking utterly upper class. The pedestrian zones were packed with performers, shoppers and artists. T’was truly a summer Saturday in the citay.
On the last day, we hopped on a train to the little coastal town of Howth, which looked quite different from when I had visited it last December. Much greener, much more touristy, much more overrun by tourists. In spite of this, walking along the cliffs and picnicking with a glorious view of Dublin across the blue blue water was quite a treat.
Back in Dublin, we had dinner and wandered around until the sun set, then got to packing before catching the bus to the airport early the next morning.
And that was it -- gorgeous countryside, fresh air, scones and raincoats, family time and a change of scenery for all the senses. What luck indeed.
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