Joel in Dublin, part two: Malahide!

I feel a little silly writing this, since Joel already wrote it up quite well, and since it's weird now to post about my adventures without adding photos. I'll probably edit this later to put in some of his photos (I have none from the last couple days of the trip), but before I get too far ahead in other posts, here's Malahide:

On Sunday, we took the DART up north to Malahide, which consists of a tiny village, a lot of suburban-style (but Irish) sprawl, and a castle. (Yes, a castle. It's fantastic.) We got off the DART into a train station that looked like a run-down Victorian train depot. There was a sort-of map of the village and castle demesne on the wall, which was utterly confusing; I tried to trust my sense of direction instead, which was a total failure. We ended up wandering Malahide for a while, which was fine as it got us introduced to the town. It's small and cute and takes about five minutes to cross it; mostly it consists of pubs and restaurants and a few other stores, plus a Starbucks near the water. (Everywhere I go...) We asked for directions to the castle, which we found by walking out the other way; once we'd walked around two sides of the castle grounds and had no idea where the B&B was, I called the proprietor to ask how to get there. "Oh, you just go to the Grand Hotel and I'll meet you there," she says, all friendly, on the phone. "Where's the Grand Hotel?" I ask. "It's in Malahide," she tells me, "It's big. It's got a fountain in the front. ...everyone knows it!" (This, ladies and gentlemen, is the art of giving directions in Ireland: you must end them always with either "everyone knows it" or "you can't miss it.")

So we walk all the way back to the village, and find the Grand Hotel: it is indeed big, and does have a fountain. I call Olive again, and she comes to pick us up, driving back through the houses outside Malahide and chatting away about Chicago and about Malahide and numerous other things. She was very sweet, in the most honest use of the word, and very friendly; she kept making offers that would get rescinded in favor of our comfort: "Do you want tea? Or coffee? There's instant but I can make a pot, no trouble--oh, nevermind, don't answer yet, you're just in the door!" Or, "I'll draw you a map to the village, and how to get through the castle--oh, but not now, you'll want to rest awhile." And so forth.

We did get the map, and set off through the castle grounds toward the village. Malahide Demesne has huge perfectly kept lawns, blindingly green and very vast. (Games of Capture the Flag were discussed with enthusiasm.) We explored around the outside of the castle, but bypassed the tour inside in favor of the best playground I have ever seen in my life, all kinds of swings and things to climb on and kids everywhere.

We found our way through the grounds to the village again, where we walked along the water and investigated dinner menus. We ended up eating at a lovely little cafe which I can't remember the name of: bruchetta with the smoothest pesto I've ever eaten, salmon & lamb all flaky and delicious, and berry cheesecake with a nutty crust and cream. (I still think about that cheesecake. Guh.) I had to spent about twenty minutes just lying down & doing nothing after we got back, I was so full. It was really good.

Monday morning we ate breakfast at the B&B, and found our way back to the train to Dublin, and then to the bus stop on O'Connell, where we waited for the bus to the airport. All I'll say is that I was very proud of myself for not pretending to get lost to keep him in the country (although I know that missing airplanes wouldn't be practical, not really). All told we got a good deal of things into a few days in Ireland, and it was amazingly fun. And that really doesn't do it justice, but nothing will...so I'll stop here, and go make dinner. Over and out, ladies and gentlemen.