I Packed My Oyster Knife--Day 1

 Exhale. We're back, finally. After our first study abroad experience in 2018, Tim and I knew it wouldn't (couldn't!) be our last. It's been five years--2+ of them pandemic filled, but Dublin is still her same charming self. This trip was over a year in the making and the planning has paid off. I'm currently sitting at a dining room table in Ringsend drinking a cup of Barry's Gold Leaf and feeling, well, content. 

Not unexpectedly, getting here was uncomfortable--flight delays have just become de rigueur for travel. So much waiting, so much not knowing. And yet, somehow, we still get places. In my limited experience, flights to Dublin from the U.S. tend to leave the U.S. late and arrive in Dublin early, which makes check-in a bit of a nightmare (where can you hangout for 5-8 hours with your luggage?). Tim brilliantly found a hotel that allows for day bookings, so we met him there to kill some time before we could check into our Airbnb. After washing a thin layer of travel grime off, we headed out to get some lunch at Gourmet Food Parlour. I'm not entirely sure how gourmet it was, but we had our first cups of tea while sitting outside in the brisk May weather. 

Peyton enjoying his first cuppa.

Rejuvenated by the magic of tea and vittles, we walked back to the hotel, got our stuff together, and grabbed a cab to head to our Airbnb. Reflecting on it this morning, it's nothing short of amazing that things just work out. We fly, we find, we meet. It all happens. Peyton and I always dread traveling--the preparation and the cleaning and the arranging until we get settled--and then we can't imagine why we don't do it more. That is until we have to find our way home! 

After a short cab ride, our driver leaves us at our new home for the next month. It's a lovely 3 bedroom apartment in a charming neighborhood. We all have our own floors and bathrooms, which feels positively luxurious! I love all the windows and the noise from the street. We always marvel that there are no screens in the windows--at least not that we've ever seen. Is it possible that in addition to no snakes, there are no bugs in Ireland? Peyton worries about birds flying in--ditto bats. To be fair, there was that time in Lisdoonvarna when a cat came in through an open window...

My giant head in our lovely apartment.

Showered and settled, our first order of business was to find pints and groceries. Fortunately, both are only two blocks away. However, we had no sooner walked out the door when I heard barking in the front yard next door. I quickly spy a feather duster masquerading as a dog who is immensely displeased that there are folks next door. We don't make friends with the pup (we were warned not to stick our fingers over the fence unless we were "keen on losing them." Noted.). But we did make friends with the women next door. Why are the Irish so friendly? If we had an Airbnb next door, I would be endlessly grouchy about it, but they seemed delighted to meet the Americans next door. They asked us where we were from and I said, "Country? State? City?" She said, "Yes." So, we covered the basics. Generally, if anyone knows anything about Wisconsin they might comment that it's near Chicago or something about dairy or maybe even football. Not this woman. She locks eyes with me and says, "The only thing I know about Wisconsin is Ed Gein." There was much rejoicing and bragging about how Wisconsin is known for it's surplus of serial killers. A friendship was immediately established. Tim and I discussed what we were teaching and how long we'd be here. Tim is already planning on having them over for diner. 

Once we could pry ourselves away, we walked down to Slattery's of Beggars Bush. It's not really the sort of old man pub we usually settle into, but it was plenty charming and the pints were fresh and plentiful! 

Peyton taking a selfie with his pint.

We downed two rounds in rapid succession and then went in search of supplies. There are THREE small grocery stores on the block: Lott's & Co., Tesco, and Eurospar. The Eurospar is Peyton's not-so-secret love and the source of many a chicken and stuffing sandwiches. He quickly crossed the street to make sure they had a deli. They did.

Peyton charging across the street to the Eurospar.

In sharp contrast to the Eurospar, Lott's & Co. is a gourmet grocery store chockfull of all sorts of delectables--imported pasta, tiny jars of mustard, fresh crusty loaves of bread, etc. Moments in the door I spotted fresh oysters. FRESH OYSTERS! I asked the guy behind the counter about them and he said they were brought in this morning and were a Euro apiece. Good thing I packed my oyster knife! I bought six and was thrilled at the prospect diving into them when we got home. Moving on, we hit up the Tesco for our basic supplies: Brennans bread, black currant jelly, enormous eggs, and gin. 

We hauled our bounty home and I immediately tucked into the oysters while the guys figured out dinner (delivery from our beloved Spice and Rice). We ate it so quickly that we didn't grab a photo, but I did manage to grab one of the oysters before they were all consumed. Tim teased me that he was a little surprised that I stood at the kitchen counter and ate them right away. Peyton said, "No ice?" Nope! And I plan on doing this again as soon as possible.

Still life of a freshly shucked oyster with a gin and tonic and a half loaf of Brennans in the background. 

Today we'll meet our students for a 1916 tour and then dinner. It's bound to be nothing but full days from this point forward!