IRELAND. Part One of Many!

Let’s see. Where should I begin? I guess I should start at the beginning. A very good place to start...

Day 1 – which is really day 1 and 2, but we are just going to call it day 1 .The flight to Dublin was awful. None of us slept for more than 5 minutes. I sat next to an obviously troubled older woman with a jerky husband. He complained loudly that the light above him wouldn’t turn off. He kept complaining, even after they offered to move them to two seats elsewhere in the plane. But no, they stayed where they were. Mrs. JerkyMan divided her time between a) commenting on my knitting and saying – at least 100 times – that she only knit wash clothes and only knit them out of “crochet cotton”, as well as giving me a price history for the price of crochet cotton at Wallmart stores in Virginia over the last 10 years; b) leaning over he tray table and whimpering and/or sobbing; and c) twitching in her sleep – especially when her feet were touching mine. (She twitched so actively, if we’d wrapped her in copper we could have generated electricity.)

Our first day in Dublin was exciting, but exhausting. Our hotel – the Ballsbridge Towers, one of the D4 hotels -- was lovely, and our accommodations were definitely first class. Both Myfanwe and I have live in (several) apartments that were smaller! Our suite had a living room and a dining room! (That sat 8, no less!) And a kitchenette. And 3 – count ‘em – THREE flat-screen televisions! We even had a television in the master bath! We LOVED the bathrooms. Norbert had his own, and ours had a great shower and a spectacular soaking tub (with said television). I didn't think we'd use the tub at first, but you'd be surprised how many times we used it. (Our feet hurt a LOT over the week!) The pics don’t really do the hotel room justice, as we always seemed to explode crap all over the room the minute we walked in, but it we certainly couldn’t have asked for more or better or more comfortable. (Myfanwe loved the duvet so much, I think she will miss it most of all!)

Sunday night we were supposed to meet my friend Sinead and her partner, Malachy, for a pint a bite, but along about 4:00 I called and asked if we could reschedule for the next night. I only did this when Myfanwe and I had both fallen asleep at the National Museum of Decorative Arts. (An excellent museum, BTW. Norbert loved the arms and armor exhibit.) We both fell asleep so soundly that, when we woke up, neither of us had a good idea of how long we’d been asleep. Sinead was kind enough to reschedule, and we went home to the hotel where we had every intention of ordering a pizza from D4Pizza in the hotel. Instead, we all passed out. Norbert with his clothes on. End of Day 1.

Knitting. Let's see. This isn't limited to Day 1, but I'll cover my knitting stuff all at once. I took three projects, and I knit on all three. On the way there I mostly knit on the Koigu scarf I'm knitting for myself. Stockinette can be terribly boring, after a while. But I put about 2.5 feet behind me. I also got half a repeat or so knit on the Lace Dream shawl. And I -- drum roll please -- finished the Ishbel I was knitting for Myfanwe. (Only just barely. I finished casting off in the air somewhere east of Wawa, Ontario on the flight home.) I went to a lovely shop, This is Knit, while in Dublin. -- see the pic, above . I didn't purchase anything, but I had a lovely time looking and talking to the staff.

Places I knit: Dublin Castle, Malaheide Castle, Kilmainom Gaol, on the train, on the bus, at the Guiness Storehouse, a couple of museums, a cemetary, Trinity College, seaside at Dun Laoghaire and at Sandycove.