For better or for worse we started the process of refinancing our Minneapolis home before leaving here thinking it wouldn't be too difficult to finish the process while we were here... Alas. We had no idea that there was essentially one Notary Public in Ireland (and one in Northern Ireland).* We almost missed the deadline that would hold the rate when we snagged the only appointment available.
So anyway, we had to spend most of the morning dealing with the Embassy so that pretty much ruined any chance of heading to a museum or going on a walk along the coast.
We decided to head into Dublin for lunch to a restaurant that had been recommended to me by a couple of people and which I had heard about on Farmette called The Winding Stair.
This place had everything I could ever want: it was linked to a bookshop, excellent food and wine with an excellent view (see below) of the Ha'Penny Bridge, and excellent espresso.
Here's the window overlooking the Ha'Penny Bridge.
Check out the views from inside the restaurant. It was so lovely.
As you can see, we beat the crowds again... But they definitely showed up!
To get back to the DART we crossed the bridge and headed up the Liffey!
At the top of the bridge we noticed tons of locks attached all over the place. Apparently these are "love padlocks" (I saw some in Paris too but had no idea what they were. Check out my link showing pictures of places where people have affixed love padlocks.). According to Wikipedia:
"There are varied explanations for the origin of love padlocks. In Europe, love padlocks started appearing in the early 2000s. The reasons love padlocks started to appear vary between locations, and in many instances are unsourced. However, in Rome, the ritual of affixing love padlocks to the bridge Ponte Milvio can be attributed to the book I Want You by Italian author Federico Moccia.
Similarly, an attribution for the bridge Most Ljubavi (lit. the Bridge of Love—now named after the love padlocks) in Serbia exists, where they can be traced to even before WWII. A local schoolmistress named Nada, who was from Vrnjačka Banja, fell in love with a Servian officer named Relja. After they committed to each other Relja went to war in Greece where he fell in love with a local woman from Corfu. As a consequence, Relja and Nada broke off their engagement. Nada never recovered from that devastating blow, and after some time she died as a result of her unfortunate love. As young girls from Vrnjačka Banja wanted to protect their own loves, they started writing down their names, together with the names of their loved ones, on padlocks and affixing them to the railings of the bridge where Nada and Relja used to meet."
In 2012 the Dublin City Council cut off the existing locks on the Ha'Penny bridge... Clearly they were unsucessful!
Here's a view of the Liffey.
We met some new friend-of-friend-of-friends tonight. A gal that Sheila went to high school spent a year in Dublin with her husband while he was getting his MBA. They met "Ed" and later, his wife "Sue." They were great to have us over (strangers!) on a Friday night. It was a blast. They had four kids and we had great conversation for a few hours.
Now back at home. Johnny's asleep (he's been a bit sick lately) and Maggie and Sheila and I are watching a movie we got from the library -- Maggie's first time watching Breakfast at Tiffany's!**
Johnny's got his first hurling game tomorrow... I know that he is apprehensive and I'm not sure he'll play but we're heading up to see it in the morning in any case!
*ECON101 and note to self: When you are the only person who offers a service that people need... Even just a few people, you can charge fifty euro PER signature...
**There are benefits to having a teenage girl!!
No comments:
Post a Comment