Wednesday, May 1, 2013

The Irish Coast, and Leadville, Colorado

We took the train to Bray, just a few dozen miles south of Dublin, and spent a bit of time on the Irish Sea. Picturesque, and definitely off season. There were a few cafes open, but not much else to see. Still, it was pleasant.

Later, we did the literary pub crawl, and traipsed through the Duke, the O'Neil, The Stand, and Davy Byrnes', all the while being regaled with tales of the great Irish Writers- Joyce, Wilde, Behan, etc. Very fun, and definitely worth it. Drank a lot of pints as well. Highlights include the story of Oscar Wilde lecturing to Silver Miners in Leadville Colorado, who was so well received by the miners they conspired to get him drunk and leave him at the bottom of the mine. After they had finished three bottles of whiskey, Wilde proclaimed that if you really wanted to get an Irishman drunk, you needed to bring 5 courses, not just three. The narrator was completely thrown by the fact that Judge Cambell, one of our traveling companions, was from Leadville.

Anyone here from Leadville, Colorado?

Yes.

Oh. Really?

Yes.

I see....

We get the sense he was just a bit more polite describing the miners than normal. Wilde's description of the miners was actually very complimentary.

A last bit of wisdom: How do you cross Dublin and not pass a single pub? Go into every one you encounter.

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

The Long View on the Irish Question

Monday was all about politics, history, and the Irish legal System. We began the day with a walking tour of the sites associated with the 1916 Easter Rising. For those of you who have seen the movie about Michael Collins' life, this is the rebellion that begins the movie. Shane, our guide, was a Phd in Irish History, and gave us a great overview of the history and politics that led to the rising. We then walked through the several days of the rising, across the urban battlegrounds of Dublin's streets. Bullet holes and all.

What was most interesting to me is the Rising failed, and it was generally unpopular at the time. Until the ringleaders were executed. Then the Irish got motivated to start pushing harder for the independence that the UK had voted on, granted, but then denies due to WWI. Americans are separated from our own revolution by more than 200 years. Seeing 97 year old bullet holes in statues that people sit at the base of and eat their lunch seems a bit more in your face. It makes me want to return to Morristown, and visit Concorde and Lexington and Valley Forge.

We spent the evening touring the Kings Inn in Dublin, learning about 400+ years of educating Irish lawyers, and then having dinner with the students and the "Benchers" or senior judges and attorneys. This is a tradition fraught exercise in which the students learn the law at the elbows of their betters. At least it used to be. Now it seems more a formality because the Benchers don't actually interact with the students at dinner. Apparently most of the apprenticeship activity takes place at the courts, where any Bencher is supposed to be able to help any student whenever a need arises. Very different from the classroom oriented education of lawyers in the US.

On the way home in the cab, the cabbie asked us what we had done and seen, and we mentioned the walking tour. He informed us that he was at heart an Irish Republican, and wanted to see re-unification, but he was grateful that the killing had stopped. He then gave us a bit of wisdom on the Irish question:

"We are all good Catholics in the south. And being the good Catholics we are, we'll out breed the loyalists." It sounds like the south takes the long view.


Went to the Auld Dubliner pub last night, and heard a fun mix of traditional and modern Irish music, and quite a few American and Canadian Artists also.

Even Jene thinks the Guinness tastes better.

Monday, April 29, 2013

JCA

Even I will admit that it's probably the accent, but one thing I noticed immediately is that an Irishman can swear with an elegance that is rarely achieved by an American. There is something viscerally genteel about a quiet "Jayzez Christ Ahhlmightee" uttered by a cab driver who has very quickly become exasperated with his American charges.

It began innocently enough, simply an attempt to make it easier for our traveling companions to get into the back of the van, but apparently folding down the middle seat was not the thing to do. What folds down in Dublin, stays down in Dublin. Never mind that the seat was obviously meant to fold down. Apparently being meant to return to its upright and locked position was not a slam dunk.

When it was clear that no handle, strap, button or random bit of metal would be pushed, pulled, prodded or turned to return this seat to its proper position, despite 10 minutes of trying to get it to cooperate accompanied by additional JCA's at a rate of about one every 30 seconds, we were told simply "Well, pop in then. I'll have to run home and get it fixed after. Where are ye going?" We climbed on top of the folded down seat and set off for our hotel. Commence uncomfortable silence.

We all finally got over this, and started chatting about the weather and what we should see on our trip. This conversation focused heavily on Guinness' and Jameson's, and for some reason, tombs at St. Michah's. Apparently you can touch dead vikings. JCA.


Spent the rest of the day getting oriented, taking a brief nap, and had a very fun dinner with our traveling companions from the Colorado Inns of Court. There will be law and history on tap for today, with dinner tonight at the King's Inn in Dublin.

The Whiskey for the day was Middleton's very rare. It had a green apple nose and a definite apple taste, with caramel back notes. You could taste the rare.

And yes Kevin, the Guinness does taste better here.

Saturday, April 27, 2013

its been a long time coming...and going

Its been a long time since our last post. Still in love. Still yuppie scum. In fact, probably more so given that Scott is a lawyer now. Which leads us to the latest wander. Ireland, to visit the King's Inn in Dublin.

You see, in England and Ireland they train their lawyers in institutions called Inns of Court. The US also has Inns of Court, but they are more mentorship and social organizations. Scott is a member of the Minoru Yasui Inn of Court, and he helped to organize a trip to visit the Inn in Dublin. All very proper and social, and a fabulous excuse to visit IRELAND!

I can't tell you how long we both have been looking forward to this. Originally it was supposed to be the passing the bar trip, but life got in the way. Thus it has been a long time coming that we are finally going.

Goals:
Learn some Irish history.
Learn about the Irish legal system.
Make a new friend or two.
Challenge the conventional wisdom that food in Ireland sucks.
See some very ancient sites.
Guinness.
Try a new Irish whiskey at every pub.
Guinness x 2
Have a great time together, of course.
Try to sleep on the plane (its always good to set an unattainable goal or two...)


Oh, and Dulles is not Dallas.