Today’s throw-back is one of my fondest.
A year ago this month I was sitting in a bar in Dublin, Ireland having my first Guinness in its natural habitat. Uh-Mazing. I was doing research for my Master’s thesis. I was also limited to two days on the Emerald Isle. All of which were spent in Dublin. And can I say – it was exactly like the movies!
Though I had had my option of staying at a hotel or a traditional B&B, I chose to stay above a pub called O’Donoghue’s. And that pub is where I had the best dinner EVER (other than maybe Ruth’s Chris or the Capital Grille), but the very NEXT best dinner EVER.
Let’s start at the beginning. I got off the bus from the airport at the city’s center. It was the middle of the windiest sleet storm I’d ever encountered. My lodging was a 15 minute walk against the wind. Oh how my face burned from the pounding icy rain! But I was in Dublin. I was in DUBLIN, people!!! Home to the beer that I love… So I braved the ridiculously stereotypical Irish weather and arrived at the pub that would house me for the next two nights.
My home away from home. The windows to my room are just above the sign.
I walked in and it was just like a movie! Silence. Every person in the pub looked straight at me … and then went back to their conversations. The barkeep asked if he could help me. I explained I had a room. He was the barkeep, reservation desk, concierge and bellboy. Just like in the movies. It was awesome.
He showed me to my room which was the single directly above the pub. The room reeked of cigarettes and I could hear everything from below. And even though I hate the smell of cigarettes and loud noises when I’m trying to sleep – it was perfect. Staying above an Irish pub was exactly what I’d always thought it would be. Just like the movies.
I put on some dry clothes and headed downstairs for my first pint of Guinness. The pub was already pretty packed. I grabbed the only seat left at the bar and watched, completely enthralled. Now there were two older gentlemen behind the bar. They were slinging drinks one after the other, talking to the locals and joking with each other. Just like the movies!
The epitome of Irish barkeeps being adorably Irish while slinging drinks.
I ordered my Guinness. It sat in front of me and my-oh-my was it a beautiful thing.
A beautiful thing.
I asked for a menu. They didn’t have one. They had only one thing that night – a ham and cheese sandwich (which was grilled on a little Irish version of a George Foreman in the back room that didn’t quite look like a kitchen to me – I think). So that’s what I ordered. When the sandwich arrived, it, too, was a beautiful thing (of course my eyes may have been deceived by the fact I hadn’t eaten all day).
That Irish George Foreman grilled ham and cheese was the best ham and cheese I’d ever consumed. That Guinness tasted like love.
Best ham and cheese EVER with a LOT of love.
When I went to bed, dreaming of little pints, I could hear the sound of live music playing below. They had fiddles. FIDDLES! It was JUST like the movies!
Words could never describe my first meal in Ireland, but it is forever embedded in my brain as one of the most memorable moments a girl could have. And staying above a pub in a strange land? I would do it again in a heartbeat.
