Finally... Ireland!!!

Over the irish clouds

The dream of my life: Ireland. Readings, listening to magical stories, cheerful and melancholic films, sweet and funny...everything was leading me here, so much so that I couldn't hold back tears of joyful emotion when our plane began to fly over the Emerald Isle. Here truly everything is green, with a thousand different shades, shifting, cheerful, bright or dark with soft clouds racing quickly across the sky, changing, transforming continuously, giving life in turn to ravenous dragons or romantic maidens, galloping horses or gnomes with pointed hats. We land perfectly on time and in the time it takes us to get out - Dublin airport is really big! - our luggage is at our disposal.

Outside we find a jovial taxi driver who for the same price as the bus - 6 euros per person - drops us in ten minutes in front of the Arlington Hotel, in Bachelors Walk right on the bank of the Liffey! The hotel is delightful! Very irish! We have two separate rooms - the kids are now a good 13 years old! - and we really enjoy ourselves: in the room we even have a kettle to make ourselves tea and coffee! The first round is in the direction of Temple Bar crossing the O' Connell Bridge.

We make a stop at Trinity College, just to study a bit the procedures for visiting the Old Library with the Book of Kells and we find ourselves in a heavenly atmosphere of very green lawns, red brick buildings, wooden benches, complete with dedications: what dream! We wander toward Grafton Street, a pedestrian shopping street, and we come across Molly Malone, the statue of a fishmonger who lived in the 1700s and symbol of the proud Dublin people. The shops are beautiful, full of colors and characteristic things: I immediately choose to slip into a bookshop where I find a nice book on the history of Ireland and other interesting little things, including a nice cloth bag decorated with the names of famous writers - there isn't even one Italian, though...- Heading toward the greenest of greens of St.

Stephen's Green we fill our eyes with gracefully kept buildings, sparkling flowers and the famous colored doors. St. Stephen's park is lushly rich in plants of every kind, little lakes, complete with ducks, swans, seagulls and...pike, immersed in a dreamy emerald light. It is completely natural to relax and look around with a sense of peace! Our rounds continue alongside pubs and street musicians; there are strange hordes of Spanish fans around: tonight there are the round of 16 at the South African World Cup and Spain-Portugal is playing.

Here in Ireland, after the exclusion - highly contested - of the home team because of France, everyone has become electrified for Spain! We have dinner at Temple Bar in Fleet Street at the Thunder Road Café where there is a cheerful atmosphere: people watch the match and dine on fish and chips sipping the legendary Guinness! Truly delicious! Spain wins and celebrations run wild all around! At 22 it is practically full daylight: here in the North it gets dark later! Nice! Temple Bar is a really cute and very colorful area, it reminds one quite a bit of the Quartier Latin in Paris. Walking through it you realize that Dublin is a young and varied city: there are boys and girls from every part of the world and you breathe an air of fun and sharing...Of course the real Irish seem a bit scarce...

We return passing along the Liffey: there are delightful little wooden footbridges decorated with multicolored flowers and equipped with benches to rest, reflect and watch the people passing by! The Liffey bridges are really not bad, especially the pedestrian ones: we cross, illuminated by romantic little lamps - some equipped with a padlock (?) NOT HERE NO! - the Half Penny Bridge. It is called that because once you had to pay half a penny to cross it!

Blanket and pillow on the greener grass

First real Irish breakfast: sausages, mushrooms, tomatoes, new potatoes, eggs....After an initial moment of hesitation, we gladly adapted and put away a decent store of calories to face the adventures awaiting us. Outside it's a bit cool, the right temperature for our walks, and the sky is always shifting with its puffy tufts of clouds that let glimpses of blue and hope of sun show through. Our first destination is Trinity College: a true dream - note the oxymoron!- for those who love the world of study and university. Green lawns to lie on and read a little, shady avenues to stroll along, austere and fascinating buildings, warm red brick buildings to gather and be together in.

The Old Library is really beautiful and the exhibition that introduces the Book of Kells is also well made: thanks to my recent English course I can understand almost everything: these are satisfactions! The exhibition, through panels, original objects and illustrations, frames the historical period - the 9th century - explains the life of the monks in the Middle Ages, the materials used by scribes for copying books, even the tricks for correcting errors!. At the end of the route there it is: the famous Book of Kells, the oldest book in the world (?), of which a different page is displayed every month to prevent one page from deteriorating more than the others.

I must say that the book is indeed very beautiful, the decorations are particularly rich and bright, but to me it seems like something already seen who knows how many times, at the Vatican Library, in our historic libraries – Angelica, Casanatense…- or in the various abbeys back home...A penalty suffered by those who come from the Eternal City, that of finding it hard to be amazed! The Reading Room, which currently hosts an exhibition on Ireland-India relations, in the times of English colonization, has an enveloping charm for those who love books like me! After plundering the souvenir shop, where I buy a little book with romantic passages by Irish writers..., we head toward the more Georgian part of Dublin: Marion Square, with a beautiful park - where we meet kindergarten children in an orderly line (!) - and the statue of the great Oscar Wilde, who lived right nearby.

In reality many famous writers lived around here, like Yeats, and the warmth of the red brick buildings with their beautiful colored doors adds charm to charm. We decide to relax a bit and opt for a sober - after the pantagruelian breakfast of the morning...- picnic at St. Stephen's Green. Here some pretty girls are promoting a local radio station offering comfortable blankets and cushions to sit better on the grass: life is green! Looking around we realize that we were not the only ones who had the picnic idea: there are lots of people who have decided to take their break from work or study here. A bit of sun comes out too and when it comes out it's really warm! We set off again toward the - Protestant - cathedral of St. Patrick, dedicated to the patron saint of Ireland who explained the mystery of the Trinity using the shamrock, one of the symbols of the Emerald Isle.

The church is from the 12th century, majestically Gothic in its gray stone walls, with truly magnificent stained glass windows. At the entrance we are welcomed by a smiling young man who provides us with information material and cheerfully invites us to explore the place. The requested contribution, per family, is 15 euros.

Among the things written in the sheets given to us at the entrance, it says that the State does not subsidize places of worship in any way so churches must finance themselves independently: warm thanks to those who contribute with their visits! The interior appears a bit dark and dusty, but it feels good, especially on the little chairs with personalized cushions: they are all embroidered and no two are alike! So we read our guidebooks, look around and discover the tomb of Jonathan Swift, buried next to his beloved Stella, along with those of many figures important to Irish history and independence. We go out and a short distance away we find the other Protestant cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral.

Here too everyone is kind, eager to understand and to make themselves understood: we pay 26 euros with which we have the chance to visit the church and Dublinia, a reconstruction of the city through the centuries. We enter and immediately notice that here the atmosphere is much brighter than at St. Patrick's, but there is the same climate of serenity as well as immersion in past history. Interesting is the crypt, where the Cathedral treasury is also kept. Fun fact: there are also a mummified cat and mouse, which remained trapped in the ancient monumental organ during a chase (!) Dublinia is beautiful! It decidedly thrilled me, perhaps because there is a good dose of educational content, so I, as a good teacher, found myself at ease, in my natural environment, like a little fish in its pond.

It is the reconstruction of the history of Dublin, starting from the first prehistoric settlements, moving on to its founding by - nothing less than! - the Vikings, the various invasions, the transformations, the plagues, daily life… It is really well made with clear explanations, paintings, ad hoc reconstructions and also interactive parts with casts to use for personal creations, drawers with medieval foods to open, costumes to become real Vikings… The top floor is entirely dedicated to the work of the archaeologist, with many experiments to do! There is also a delightful little café to refresh a bit before resuming the walk: what a treat! Dinner is again at Temple Bar where I finally taste a very Irish dish: stew, a ham stew with cabbage, potatoes and onions VERY GOOD!!!! Outside there is Irish rain, light and steady.

I am happy that it's raining: one of the most characteristic things hadn't happened yet! People don't pay much attention to it and few open their umbrellas.

In viaggio verso il mare…Howth…

Today is our wedding anniversary and we decide to celebrate it by tasting the Irish countryside. We take the DART coastal train at Connolly Station, after a short walk among the Docks. Irish trains are green – obviously! – clean, bright, quiet. In 20 minutes we reach our destination, the typical Irish fishing village. I discovered that it was an important support point for the independence struggle! In front of Howth there is also a small island where many species of birds nest, including – it is said – the puffin. What is certain is that in the harbor there are…SEALS! Too cute! They wait for the little fish that tourists throw to them on the pier and then slap the water with their fins! The village is very irish, with uphill streets, pastel-colored houses and doors all different and colored.

There is also a medieval church without a roof with an adjoining cemetery! We stop to eat in a place that seems to come from another era, the Abbey Tavern: white façade, bright blue doors and windows, dark wood interiors and Celtic music in the background. It is beautiful to walk here and observe the rapid change of the weather, the running and transforming of the clouds, the flight of the seagulls, the fishing dive of the cormorants. A magical atmosphere, without leprechauns but magical. When the sun comes out it is full summer, but a change of wind is enough for the chill of the North to arrive. I sit near the pier, hooded in my sweatshirt, and find myself imprinting everything well in my mind and heart, to carry it with me forever.

There is a lot of movement of people: children wandering with grandparents, distinguished gentlemen with funny dogs, families of tourists in t-shirts and flip-flops. There is a strong smell of the sea, seasoned now and then with a whiff of fish and chips. We return with our green train, still wrapped in the sea wind, and think about getting ready for our last Dublin evening. We discovered that the Irish love italian style very much so we decide to treat ourselves to a dessert accompanied by Italian coffee: unsurpassable! For certain things we have no rivals! It is too nice to wander around and listen to live music: we stop to listen to the Mutefish, a group playing revisited traditional music whose CD I immediately grab! We return walking once again along the Liffey and crossing the Half Penny Bridge, tired and happy, with just a hint of melancholy.

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See you soon!

Our last day greets us with blinding sun, which accompanies us while we make the most of every minute before our afternoon flight to enjoy Molly Malone, Grafton Street, St. Stephen's Green once more… We say goodbye to Dublin with the desire to return and to get to know the true Irishness of the counties. See you soon, Ireland!