Dublin - first days in Ireland

May 2024. My mother and I spent a couple weeks in Ireland and Scotland this spring, a long-planned and long-awaited trip together.

"Plenty of fresh air to be had in Ireland."
- our driver from the airport, in response to our commenting how nice fresh air felt after the long flight

Dublin highlights included...

• teapots at every occasion
• vegan afternoon tea
  
• beautiful parks full of holly trees and lush unfamiliar birdsong 
• especially St. Stephen's Green at 7 am, hardly anyone there but the birds and me, especially knowing its name from a Mary Chapin Carpenter song from childhood
  
• choosing a silver ring from a museum shop as my primary souvenir
  
• the charming pedestrian bridges across the River Liffey
  
• the history we learned on our excellent (and exhausting) walking tour
• the bookstores
• finding and buying two particularly interesting books on the Irish language
• the doors with doorknobs in the MIDDLE of them, hobbit-style
• vegan lunch at Cornucopia
  
• the Georgian architecture
• getting to see the Oscar Wilde memorial in Merrion Square

My feet were so tired. My mom and I were so jetlagged. It only rained a tiny bit.

 A few things I would have liked to see with a bit more time: Marsh's Library, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Phoenix Park, the Irish Emigration Museum, the Museum of Literature.

 "It's so multicultural now. It's just crazy how much it's changed. When I was growing up, there was nobody different. Now I get my hair cut by Mohammad and the guy I buy the paper from is called Raj."
- cabbie on our last morning, re: Dublin

I had really hoped to see the wondrous Long Room at Trinity College's library, but it was empty of books at the time, so we did not go.

"Is there any Irish connection?"
- literally every driver and guide we encountered - meaning, is there any Irish ancestry?