Dublin Saturday 22 March 2014

After enjoying a good night’s sleep I then enjoy a good breakfast. The breakfast is a buffet with something for everyone and I don’t know what to choose.

In the end I plump for some muesli followed by a delicious homemade scone. A big scone as well! I know it is not your usual breakfast but I couldn’t resist and had to have one! All washed down with a couple of cups of the finest decaf coffee.

We have a guided tour of Dublin this morning starting at 10:00 from the hotel.

Just after nine I stroll over to the coach to clean the inside but it is spotless with only one newspaper to throw away!

I drive to the hotel and manage to pull onto the forecourt as the passengers slowly make their way out. Our guide, Margaret, is waiting there and we have a quick chat about the mornings agenda.

At ten we are off on an entertaining tour of this fair city and Margaret is excellent, both funny and informative, and also in possession of a delightful singing voice as she serenades us with a rendition of Molly Malone, the Tart with the Cart!

The traffic is very light and we manage to navigate this small city with no problems apart from the showers of rain that seem to appear every time Margaret wants to stop and take the group for a walk.

Because of this the tour finishes in the centre, in Kildare Street, where we let the passengers loose on Dublin! I have said I will be back at 16:30 if anybody wants a lift to the hotel which is only a 15 minute walk away.

Mike Haycocks and some of his group have booked a tour of the Jameson’s Whisky Distillery and I have offered to take them there. I ask Margaret about directions and she offers to come with us and show the way. When we arrive I am pleased about this as it is a bit out of the way and the roads around the distillery are narrow and I probably wouldn’t have gone down them if on my own.

Once Mike and his gang have disappeared I give Margaret a lift back to the hotel, where she has left her car, and manage to park in the space next to the hotel.

Chelsea are playing Arsenal this lunchtime and I would like to see it if possible. There is a pub around the corner that is a possible location so will try there first. As I’m walking there (in the sunshine no less) I listen to the commentary on my phone. Chelsea are two up and the game is only ten minutes old!

Walking into the William Searson the first thing I can hear is the footie! Fantastic. As you walk in the bar is very narrow and dark but walk a little further and you enter a massive, brightly lit pub with various big screen televisions on the wall! I very happily sit at a table to watch the game and at the same time enjoy a delicious seafood chowder washed down with soda water. I know how to live!

And so do Chelsea as they win 6 – 0 against the hapless Gooners! Now that is fantastic.

It is still sunny when I come out of the pub but not nearly as sunny as it is in Chelsea!

I then go for a little drive around the block to sort out various ways to and from the hotel as the roads are either one way or you can’t turn left/right at traffic lights and always the way you want is not allowed.

The hotel is located south of the River Liffey in the Georgian area of the city and a very nice area it is too. Some of the houses close to the hotel are magnificent and I learn that Sky Television have their Irish headquarters here as do some of the big banks. I like the location as it is a nice area close enough to the centre with ample coach parking.

Once I have done my recce I drive back to the centre to wait for any passengers who want a lift back.

The coach parking area is in Nassau Street but as it was this morning there are no spaces so I turn right into Kildare Street to wait. Margaret said I shouldn’t have any problems here even though I’m on double yellows as it is a very wide road and is used as an overspill of Nassau Street. The only thing is I will have to stay with the vehicle. That is no problem as I have an hour to kill so can sit here doing some work while watching the world go by. And a lot does go by in this very busy city.

It is sunny one minute, raining the next and at one point we had a hailstorm and I’m sure some sleet as well.

I leave here at 16:30 with only a few passengers and once again back at the hotel manage to park in the space right outside.

I can relax for a couple of hours before venturing out this evening.

Before I go out I pop to reception to see if I can have an early breakfast on Monday as our ferry departs at 08:45 and I want to leave by 07:30. Breakfast doesn’t start until 07:00 so would appreciate an earlier one. This proves a lot more difficult than I thought it would as there are five large groups who all want a similar time for their breakfast. I explain the young lady in charge of the restaurant that I can’t be very flexible as we are tied to our ferry time. She explains that the other groups have booked in advance and that is what I should have done. I didn’t know that and tell her that a hotel of this size, with this many groups, should be able to cater for them all.

In the end we agree to compromise and have breakfast at 06:30 and I will ask if they can be quick as the restaurant want us out by 07:00! I say I will ask but cannot promise as I don’t think it is enough time for elderly folk to eat a breakfast. We shall see!

I am going to walk up the road, close to St Stephens Green, where there are numerous old Irish pubs just waiting to serve me a Guinness! I have only walked for ten minutes when I have reached my first port of call Doheny & Nesbitt, one of Dublin’s most famous pubs. And it doesn’t disappoint! You walk in and there are little snugs as well as partitions along the bar allowing for a quiet drink. It all seems a bit small until I walk through to the next part of the bar and it opens up into a lovely room with another bar at the far end. The atmosphere is great and exactly what you would expect in a good pub like this. There are also places upstairs but I don’t venture that far as I am too comfortable where I am!

You don’t even have to move to get another pint as there are girls walking around all the time clearing tables and asking if you want more to drink!

From here I cross the road to another famous old pub, O’Donogues, for one last Guinness before going for something to eat. It is lively in here as well with two parts of the pub split by a courtyard full of folk having fun. Another pub with great atmosphere but I preferred Doheny & Nesbitt.

A few doors down I spotted an Indian, or rather a Bangladeshi, restaurant that looks good for my dinner.

As I walk in there are only two other couple there and it feels like I have stepped back in time twenty years! The decor and music are from times past. Am not sure about this now!

Oh well here goes!

I order from a laminated menu that looks like it was printed twenty years ago at the same time the decorators were in!

I place my order for food and for a small bottle of red wine.

Some poppadoms turn up followed by a small bottle of white wine! Wrong!

My white is replaced with red as my starter of prawns in batter appears. The prawns are quite tasty but the slice of lemon in the silver lemon squeezer is the smallest slice I have seen! You press the two sides of the squeezer together and they hit each other without touching the lemon!

The main course was supposed to be a hot dish of chicken curry but is so mild it is more like a stew!

I had to use the loo during my meal and that was an experience as well! There is only one sit down toilet for the boys and the last person hadn’t flushed it (I thought the staff may check) and the hand drier on the wall is not working so they have wedged a box of tissues alongside it to dry your hands on. Not nice!

This really is like stepping back in time and I feel I have wasted my evening!