Christmas / NYE 2013

The season of giving seemed to begin early this year, when on Friday 22nd my mother rang to tell she just won tickets to see 30 Seconds to Mars, and then within minutes, managed to get Dublin Zoo tickets for just 5 euro each for myself and Niamh. I some how was onto a roll, as I got nearly all my Christmas Presents bought that afternoon too. So the following day, both Niamh and myself were excited as finally after months of waiting, the 50th anniversary special of Doctor Who, the Day of the Doctor was being aired. We decided, we wanted to experience, the atmosphere of the audience in a cinema. So we got our tickets for the Savoy, the buzz around the special was great even with the movie screen. We both agreed it was the right choice to have seen it at the cinema.
On Monday, with tickets in our hands, we made our way to the O2, to go see 30 Seconds to Mars via Harry's Bar. The support act You Me at Six were very entertaining and got the audience fired up for the band. 30 Seconds to Mars lead singer Jared Leto is a real showman, and knew how to entertain the crowd and made the concert very enjoyable. We were very glad, we were able to be there.

 As we were going to the Zoo the following day, I stayed the night at hers. We both thoroughly enjoyed the day even despite the winter breeze. We finished our day with dinner in town, and lucky we managed to get home before the rain got too bad.

Later on that week, I booked my train home for the following weekend and to my surprise, Niamh told me she was able to go home that weekend too, so booked the same train. It was turning into a Christmas filled weekend, with most of presents now wrapped, food ordered for the house Christmas dinner and finally hearing the An Post Walking in the Air advert. To top it off, December 1st, we as a house, all started to decorate the Christmas tree which was fun. 

The week started to fly, to my journey home, which was helped by receiving my first Christmas card which actually was from a customer in work, to me watching various different Christmas Movies. I meet Niamh at the train station, on Saturday morning 7th, for our trip home, which was special, as it was only opportunity for either of us to get home for Christmas, as we both working it. We were greeted at the station by our father, who brought us to see our mother. Hugs and kisses all around, so after a quick shop, off home to relax for a while before that evening's fun. To our pleasant surprise, they had already put up the Christmas decorations and tree for us, which we were both delighted with. 

Our parents had every little details arranged for us, even down to the kitchen table and our favourite Christmas foods. When everyone was home, and settled that evening, we all sat down for the dinner, with Christmas music even playing in the background. Like years gone by, I went up for seconds and maybe even thirds of the stuffing, I always did love my mother bread and potato stuffing. After dinner, we all chilled watching tv, catching up over wine, especially since, we all hadn't been home together since August.   

 

So before desert, Niamh and me, gave our presents to our parents, the highlight being, the double family crest we had made especially for them, to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. They were delighted with it, which made our night. We enjoyed the rest of the night, and we all agreed, possible one the best Christmas's we had in years.  

 The following day, as per traditional, we made our way out to our Granny's for the night. It was great to see her again, we gave her, her birthday and Christmas presents along with her Christmas dinner. She was over the moon, to see both Niamh and me, which was great. Doesn't she look fantastic for 91.

Like most things, things have to come to an end, so the following morning, we got the train back to Dublin and reality. As the week went on, and to my surprise, during one of usual searches online, I managed to grab tickets for the sold out, For the Love of Mrs Brown, that had become available that morning, thank you ticket master, was all I could think of. It was a great mid week pick me up, and also was great, as originally both Niamh and me had tried to get tickets previous but had no luck. So by the time Saturday 14th had come around, shock shock, our mother had won another competition. This time, this prize was unreal, as it involved a hotel in a 5 star hotel, 2 tickets to see André Rieu and then meet him afterwards. I lucky enough had enough time, to meet Niamh and for us to make our way to Mrs Brown Boys after I finished work. The show was absolutely hilarious, the whole audience were in stitches. At one point, I was crying with laughter. After the standing ovations and such, the audience were surprised when a member of audience proposed to his girlfriend. Niamh had me laughing when she reminded me about the instance in the Gold Coast. This is becoming something of a habit.

On Tuesday 17th, our mother got the train up to Dublin, where Niamh meet her at the station, and I met them near Mayors Docks. We wanted to get rid of our bags, so we decided to leave them at the hotel, The Marker. To our pleasant surprise, our room was ready, and it was only 11.30 am. So we went to the room, which was exquisite, got somethings ready before heading into town to go shopping.

 On our return, our goodie bag which included the tickets and various CDs and DVDs. We then prepared for our night ahead, beginning with a dinner in The Brasserie in the hotel. We had a glass of wine before making our way to the O2, whereas Niamh made use of the hotel spa and pool facilities, which she told us were amazing.

We arrived with time to spare, so we went into the priority blueroom bar, which I had pre booked online. Then made our way to our seats, we had brilliant view of the stage and show. The Concert itself was out of this world, the whole production was brilliant, right down to the encore. After the concert, we were ushered back stage, where we met some of the soloists and finally got to met the man himself, André Rieu. Although he had a severely bad cold, he was an absolute gent and signed my scarf and posed for photos. It was surreal meeting him and we both agreed that it was a totally amazing show. 

The following morning, just after check out, I bought some Cronuts, which we had all heard some much about from tv shows and reading online, that we just had to try some. A Cronut is a croissant-doughnut pastry which was only invented this May in New York. I can understand the hype, as this pastry is just gastro-heaven. After leaving the hotel, we made our way to the docklands Christmas festival, where we had a festive mulled wine and enjoyed samba music from a local school. When the phone goes off, and mother gets informed she won a prize in The Loop competition, which was a pleasant surprise. After  we had dinner in town later that afternoon, we all said our goodbyes, and Niamh dropped our mother off at the Station on route home. It was great to see our mother, we all had a ball and must do it again soon.

On a recommendation of my mother, I entered a competition for the ballet, The Nutcracker, on in the Convention Centre. I got informed then Thursday afternoon, to my shock, I actually won tickets to it. It was my first time being in the Convention Centre, which is quite and impressive building. I was in the Stalls bout 6 rows from the stage and an amazing view. Monica Loughman's The Nutcraker had an elaborate stage production and costumes. The Nutcraker is a two act ballet with a score by Tchaikovsky. The second act music and ballet was just pure magic and so festive. The principle dancers of the cast were just amazing. It was a great production and cast, and really got one into the festive mood.

On Christmas Eve, both Niamh and me, met in town for a spot of food shopping and lunch. We enjoyed a carvey lunch in O'Neills on Suffolk street, whilst swapping our Christmas presents. After lunch Niamh got a nice surprise from work, had received annual leave for Christmas Day. We rounded our day off in town by enjoying a Christmas drink in No. 37 Dawson st before heading back to Niamh's to enjoy a relaxing Christmas. Somehow we managed to stay up till 4 am watching movies on TV and doing puzzles, who knew it could be so much fun, brought us back to our childhood. After a slight sleep in, we finally got up to prepare and cook Christmas dinner. We had a delicious dinner whilst watching Christmas movies on tv. We both ended up with food comas on the two couches and couldn't move. We just about recovered in time to watch the  Christmas  specials of Call the Midwife and Doctor Who, which was full of emotion and drama with the departure of Matt Smith as the Doctor. To round off this relaxing day, we watched the Mrs Brown Boys special before I had to get a taxi home, as both Niamh and me, were working St. Stephens day. 

By the time we next met up, on the following Sunday to organise and book our Belfast trip, I had won a pair of tickets for the NYE Dublin Festival at College Green through one of the sponsors Facebook pages. We managed to get a fantastic deal on a hotel for our Belfast trip, thanks to Hotels.com. The deal included 2 nights B&B at the Park Inn for 112 € instead of 224. 

NYE we decided to meet up for lunch and to make a day and night of it. So before we met up, I made my way to collect the tickets for the concert. We had lunch at Wagamama where the drinking shenanigans commenced. From here we walked to No.37 Dawson to continue our NYE fun. Niamh realised she might be freezing later, so we had to make a detour to H&M to buy a cardigan. After we made the short stroll to Dandelion to get our spot, to watch the Procession of Light which consisted of fire-breathers, slit walkers, dancers and a variety of other street entertainers which made its way down Grafton Street. The theme of the procession of light this year, was 'The light is on, come on in.' Once the procession had concluded, we made our way towards College Green to make our way into the concert area. We managed to get a great spot, just in time to see Seo Linn come on stage. As the night processed, and the remaining acts came on before Madness such as The Strypes, Ryan Sherdian, and MKS. Madness took to the stage in time for the countdown to 2014. Although the countdown itself was great craic, the concert on the whole and especially Madness, left something to be desired and definitely wouldn't be worth the money, if we had to pay for it ourselves. What made the night for us, were meeting strangers in the crowd and chatting with them. As was to be expected with a night like NYE, taxis were impossible to come by, we finally managed to get back to Niamh's about 3.40 am. Depsite the let down of the concert itself, the night was a great blast.

It was nice to welcome 2014 in a different way.  

Irish Government Buildings

To complete our Heritage and Culture tour of Dublin, we rounded off with political buildings. We commenced with Dublin Castle. The function which has changed through its history, from a defensive fortification, evolving into a royal residence and finally into of ceremony such as the inauguration of the President and hosting official State visits. The next political influenced stop and one of the historic buildings which has eluded us for years, was Farmleigh House and Estate, which is the official guest house of the Irish State for visiting heads of State and dignitaries. It formerly was one of the residences of the Guinness family.

Next stop on this political tour began with Bank of Ireland, College Green, the former home of the Irish Houses of Parliament, was the world's first purpose-built two-chamber parliament house. It served as the seat of both chambers, - the Lords and Commons of the Irish Parliament of the Kingdom Of Ireland for most of the 18th century until it was abolished by the Act of Union of 1800, when Ireland became part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1803, Bank of Ireland bought the building from the British Government for £40,000 for use as its headquarters. One proviso was stipulated; it was to be so adapted that it never could be used as a parliament again. Certain contents have remained within the building such as the original two tapestries depicting the Siege of Derry and Battle of the Boyne and the Mace of the Hose of Commons. The House of Lords is open to the public, free of charge during the opening hours of the bank. Seeing the tapestries and the elaborate plaster work on the walls and ceiling are worth a visit alone. 

After my visit at the old parliament, I walked to Leinster house for a visit to the public galleries of the Dáil and Seanad and meet my local senator Tony Mulcahy. I arrived in time to watch Taoiseach question time, and what I watched unfold, felt something like a circus. I got so enthralled with this, I missed my tour of Leinster House, therefore will have to return again for the tour. I met with the senator's intern who showed me where the Seanad and canteen where, before I met up with the senator. I met the senator at the Main entrance to Leinster House, who brought me to the infamous Dáil bar, where we chatted bought the workings of the Seanad and local Clare politics. I definitely will return for the tour at the weekend and maybe next time bring +Niamh with me to meet our senators and the Dáil bar. 

On Saturday morning, made my way toward the National Gallery, which was the meeting point for the tour of the Taoiseach office. The tour is free and leaves every Saturday morning from the gallery. We left the gallery, just before half ten, and walked around to the Merrion Square entrance of Government Buildings. Our tour guide gave us the history of the buildings. The foundation stone was laid in 1904 by King Edward VII and only the western half of the site was completed for the college inaugurated by King George V in 1911. The balancing north and south wings were not completed until 1922. The Executive Countil of the Irish Free State in 1922 along with several of its Government Departments, moved into the offices of the north wing because office space in the city was in short supply due to the destruction of buildings. The Royal College of Science which merged with UCD in the 1920's continued in the west wing until 1989 and its transfer to the Belfield campus. The OPW refurbished the west wing into offices for government departments. Inside the entrance hall, one of the first thing you notice is the luminous stained glass window entitled "My Four Green Field" by Evie Hone and dates from 1939 when it was commissioned for the New York World Trade Fair, and depicts the four provinces of Ireland. The Taoiseach Office is located on the first floor, where the walls are panelled with oak and has a Bossi fireplace. To finish off the tour, we visited the Cabinet Room, where a series of portrait drawings of Irish historical figures are hanging on the walls. The current Cabinet table which is made of Irish burr walnet, is the third one since the foundation of the State. The second table which was used from 1959 until 2004, is in the adjacent room to the Cabinet Room. The original table, Eamon de Valera took with him to Áras an Uachtarain, when he became president.

Therefore my next and final stop on the political buildings of Dublin was Áras an Uachtarain. I hopped off the bus near Ashtown Gate, and attempted to find my way towards the visitor centre in Phoenix Park. After getting somehow a tad lost, finally found the centre and got my ticket for the next available tour at 1.30 pm. As I had some time to spare, I went exploring the Castle and its grounds and the exhibition in the visitor centre. The tour is free and occurs every Saturday and leaves from the car park. To my surprise, there was 2 mini buses operating for my tour. The Áras was built in 1751 and is situated in 1,752 acres. Originally used by the Park Ranger, by 1782 it had being acquired by the British government for use by the Viceroys who oversaw British rule in Ireland. The house was the official residence for the Viceroys until 1922 when it became the residence of the Governors General, the Crown's representatives. In 1938, it became the Official Residence of the President. Over the years, there been improvements and additions to the house. In particular the establishment of formal gardens in the 1840's, addition of the East Wing in 1849 for the state visit of Queen Victoria and extension of the West Wing for the visit of George V in 1911. During the tour, the guide highlighted several interesting aspects of the house, such as the Dining Room, where the portraits of the past presidents are hung and the presence of the original Cabinet table. The plaster work on the ceilings and walls are just outstanding, with several depicting Greek Mythology or fable stories. The tour was quite interesting and worth a visit. 

On Tour

Continuing with my tour of famous buildings of Dublin on my days off, the next port of call was the An Post Museum situated in a corner of the GPO, which houses the Letters, Lives & Liberty exhibition. This exhibition explores the influence and role in the development of Irish society over the years. From stamps to An Post's copy of the 1916 Proclamation and the story of the staff who were in the GPO on Easter Monday. The GPO is not just the headquarters of the post office, it the birthplace of Irish communications. On Easter Monday 23 April 1916, it became a key positional point for the rebels during the Rising. The short film inside the museum tells the story of what happened in the telegraph room on the afternoon of its capture during the Rising. Admission fee is €2 and open Monday to Saturday 10-5.  

After my visit to An Post, I strolled towards Merrion Square walking through its park, to Number 29 Fitzwilliam Street Lower. This building is home to the ESB Georgian House Museum. The admission fee is usually 6 euro, but to by surprise and delight, the teller thought I was a student and charged me 3 euro, which made my day. The opening times are Tuesday to Saturday 10-5 and primarily on a self guided basis. The museum highlights life in Georgian Dublin in the period 1790 to 1820. The tour commenced from the basement to the attic, through rooms which have been furnished with original artefacts from the era. The house was first occupied in 1794 during time of change and expansion in Ireland. The first occupant, Mrs Olivia Beatty, provides a  pre-tour introduction through a short film about life in the house and Dublin at that period. The exhibition is a partnership between the ESB and the National Museum of Ireland since opening in 1991. 

 After my tour of the museum, I walked by the other side of Merrion Square Park, to Leinster house for my visit, passing the Oscar Wilde statue. The statue shows Oscar reclining on a huge granite stone seemingly without a care in the world,  sits at the corner of the park directly positioned and facing his old family home.

After my tour of the Áras, I decided to walk the 40ish minutes to the National War Memorial Gardens located in Islandbridge. The gardens are dedicated "to the memory of 49,400 Irish soldiers who gave their live in the the Great War, 1914-1918. The Memorial Gardens also commemorate all other Irish men and women who served and died in Irish regiments of the Allied armies. Although originally constructed in the 1930's, it wasn't until 1988, the now restored Gardens were formally dedicated by representatives of the 4 main churches in Ireland and opened to the public. The National Day of Commemoration which commemorates all Irish men and women who died in past wars or on service with the United Nations, occurs on the Sunday nearest to July 11th. The Gardens are opening every day and is free to enter. I found that the Gardens were peaceful and tranquil.

After Croker

After my experience in Croke Park, I strolled back towards town, deciding to go towards IFSC. Walking along the quays, I stopped to admire the Samuel Beckett bridge and the Jeanie Johnston which is a replica of a three masted barque that was originally built in Canada. The original was famous, despite the number of passengers and the long voyage from Ireland to North America, no crew or passenger lives were ever lost on board. Which was unheard of, especially during those famine voyages. The replica performs number of functions such as an ocean going sail training vessel and in port coverts into living history museum on 19th century emigration. I made my way along the quays crossing at the Custom House towards College Green, when it started to pour, so I dashed in for coffee to stay dry.

 Where I decided what to do with the rest of my day around town. So once the rain had eased up slightly, decided to make a visit to the Chester Beatty library. On route I got distracted by the Revenue Museum, located in the crypt of the Chapel Royal in Dublin Castle. In all my years, I never knew this particular museum existed. Admission is free and open weekdays. Among the exhibits are the first set of Exchequer Returns for Saorstát Éireann, a poitin still, stamp duty machine, and examples of counterfeit goods seized at ports and airports. The library is literally a minute walk from this museum. The library is the only museum in Ireland to win European Museum of the Year in 2002. The library houses rich collection of artistic treasures and religions of the world. In the library's diversity, the collection captures much of human creative expression from about 2700 BC to the present day. The admission is free and has a nice roof garden with a view of Dublin Castle in the background.

After my visit here, I made the short walk to City Hall, which is a civic building of Georgian architecture, built between 1769 and 1779 by the Royal Exchange. The circular entrance hall, or Rotunda with its spacious dome, is supported by 12 columns. The Rotunda is open to the public, free of charge, and showcases the Georgian architecture for which Dublin is renowned. 

After my visit, decided to revisit nearby buildings, starting with Christ Church. After Niamh and I doing the Ghost Bus tour and our visit to the crypt at Christ Church, thought it was time, to go explore the cathedral and its grounds. It's the elder of Dublin's two Medieval cathedrals, the other being St Patrick's Cathedral, which was my next port of call. Last Saturday when we visited St Patrick's for Dracula in the Cathedral as part of the Bram Stoker Festival, the nearby St Patrick's park was closed. The park was originally developed by Lord Iveagh 1897, and completed by 1904. He continued to maintain the park for number of year under a join arrangement with Dublin Corporation who took full responsibility in the 1920's. In 1988 a Literary Parade highlighting Irish writers such as Swift, Wilde, Joyce and Yeats and the Liberty Bell Sculpture were added to the park. 

After my calm and tranquil break in the park, I strolled towards Marsh's Library, which is adjacent to the cathedral and is Ireland oldest public library, built in 1701 to the order of Archbishop Narcissus Marsh who is buried just behind the library, in the grounds of the cathedral. The library has a collection of over 25,000 books and 300 manuscripts. The library is on the last 18th century buildings in Ireland still used for its original purpose. It's open to the public with 3 euro admission. 

With the day's activities catching up with me, my last excursion of the day was to the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, located on Whitefriar Street, to visit the relics of St. Valentine. Pope Gregory XVI in 1836 bestowed the relics as a token of esteem to an Irish Carmelite, John Spratt who was visiting Rome and was asked to preach at the famous Jesuit Church in the city, the Gesu. The shrine consists of a wooden casket, on top bears the papal coat of arms of Gregory XVI along with two large gold plates, between which is the inscription: This shrine contains the sacred body of Saint Valentinus the Martyr, together with a small vessel tinged with his blood. This shrine is located to the right side of the church and is visited throughout the year. 

 

Although after all the days excursions and activities, I was completely wrecked, it was still worth it. 

My Day at Croker

I decided to make most of my Tuesday off, so after an early rise, I got the 15b into town. I walked the 20 or so minute walk towards Croke Park and the museum entrance at the Cusack Stand. I collected my ticket for the 11 am stadium tour and booked my Skyline tour for 12.30. I managed to get the stadium tour for half price, 6 euro by booking online, as Croke Park had a special offer on for mid-term, also I had a discount code for the Skyline which gave me 20% off, costing me 20 instead of 25 euro. As I arrived a tad early, I had enough time to explore the Museum which was included in the cost of both tickets.

As you enter the museum on the ground floor, the first thing you observe is a visual backdrop depicting the games within the GAA. The museum itself traces the birth, growth and development of the GAA in Ireland and abroad and its role in the national movement and culture revival. The museum hosts temporary exhibitions, with the current one providing an overview of the history and development of the association overseas from 1884 to present day. The exhibition covers the GAA worldwide, focusing mainly its development in Britain and America. This exhibition includes artefacts from within GAA Archive and externally in particular clubs overseas. Since the completion of the museum refurbishment, the museum now houses Interactive zones, Hall of Fame, trophy display case and all new exhibition galleries.  

So just before 11 am, everyone gathered in the waiting area, and we were brought into watch a 20 minute short film, A Sunday in September. The film highlighted, the behind the scenes work that goes into getting the stadium ready, the morning of an All Ireland Final. The film was commissioned to celebrated the association 125 th anniversary in 2009. After the film was finished, we all embarked on the tour of the stadium. The tour  commences with a visit to the Players Lounge, which has a Waterford Crystal Chandelier composed of 35 Gaelic football shaped crystals which representing the 32 countries and 70 sliotar shaped ones which signifies the 70 minutes of a game. From here, we walked to a Senior players dressing room which on the walls had the jerseys of the 32 counties also the ones of London and New York. In particular position, were the 4 senior teams that won the All Ireland in Hurling (Clare), Gaelic Football (Dublin), Ladies Football (Cork) and Camogie (Galway).   

We exited the dressing room via the players tunnel with a roaring crowd playing on the loudspeaker, which I feel was a nice touch. Our tour guide, gave us a brief history of the stadium, how the stands got their names, the significance of Hill 16, she even joked about the substitutes and the seats they get. It seems their seats are of the same caliber of Formula 1 cars. We walked up the Hogan stand towards the podium, where the captain of the winning team collects the trophy, like Patrick Donnellan of Clare, did with the Liam McCarthy, just 4 weeks ago. We got to take a seat in the VIP area where the dignitaries seat during the game. It was here, our guide told us that with the capacity of 82,300, it makes Croke Park the 4th largest stadium in Europe. We strolled up to level 6 of the stadium, where the 87 corporate boxes are located. We were shown one, in our case, was the Opel box which holds 35 people. The average corporate box costs approximately a half million euro for ten years. Finally the tour concludes with a visit to the Michael O'Hehir Media Centre on the top tier of the stadium in the Hogan Stand. We made our way back to the Museum entrance in the Cusack stand, were I had to dashed for my next experience of the day, the Skyline.As the stadium tour overran, luckily enough, I had pre-arranged that 12.30 tour would wait for me.

                      

After a brief safety demonstration, we ascend to a walking 44 metres above the ground on the Hogan stand, which is approximately 17 storeys high. The skyline stops at 5 viewing platforms along the stadium's 0.6m rooftop walkway. Each stop gives panoramic views of Dublin and see key landmarks. The audio guides provided include historical information, and quirky anecdotes about Dublin's famous locations. The 5 platforms are located at key areas, such as the middle of the Hogan, Davin and Cusack stands and the corners of Hogan/Davin, and Davin/Cusack. While we were at the 3 viewing platform, we got the chance to walk onto a separate walkway, specially designed that's suspended above Croke Park Pitch. This view of Croke Park gives a bird's eye view of the field from a completely different angle. We made our way back to the Minor dressing room in the Cusack Stand, to collect our stuff. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience and day in Croke Park.