And I have no compass, and I have no map - U2

Sunday it was time to head to Dublin for our last few days.  On the way, we would take a small detour to Newgrange.  If you are unfamiliar with Newgrange, here’s a link.  I have really been looking forward to seeing this, it is older than Stonehenge and even older than the pyramids of Giza by about 1,200 years.  It was built in the Neolithic stone age.  This is before paper, before metal tools, before MATH.  It is astounding to me that we can walk into the chamber, and stand in a place that holds so much ancient memory.

Can you guess what I’m going to tell you next?  Are you going to say that it was closed when we got there?  Well, you’d be pretty on target.  It’s a good thing that I am writing this with some time to cool down, because my post would have been about one word long if I was blogging by iPhone or something, which I don’t have.  Use your imagination for that word.

The morning got off to a late start, because while Ken and I were out partying the last two nights, the kids turned the hotel rooms into a garbage pit.  I had great difficulty getting everything stuffed back into their suitcases and we didn’t leave until noon.  This was frustrating, but ok.  We’d had a good visit and a nice big breakfast.  The day still had promise.
 

Then Garmina revealed a little secret, that I think I was supposed to have known about, because Riley was aware, but somehow I missed it.  You see, Garmina took us on a wrong turn AGAIN because she didn’t have a major new highway in her system.  We got badly detoured by trying to get back to the main highway, and when we pulled over to look at a real map, I rolled down my window and a bee landed on my lap.  Other members of the family will tell you that I over-reacted, shouted in a manner that caused everyone else to shout in response, and jumped out of the car in a manner that caused Ken to have a tension headache.  What I am going to tell you is even worse.

Garmin has an updated version of the roads.  Our Garmina doesn’t have that version in her because my husband got annoyed at Garmin’s business model.  According to him, instead of the Apple experience, where you buy a product and enjoy it, you get a Microsoft experience where you buy a basic version and then have to pay for every single thing and time you want to upgrade.  In this case, you buy the European maps, and then you have to buy the upgrades to the European maps separately.  Granted, this is crap.  But um, seven weeks in Europe?  Maybe we should have had the upgrade?  I let that percolate down through my consciousness, feeling a little annoyed.   

Twenty minutes later we  were on the M1.  The day still had promise.

We pulled into the parking lot of the Bru na Boine visitor center at 2:30.  The place was open until 7pm with the last shuttle for Newgrange leaving at 5pm.  Access is strictly controlled and you have to be shuttled to and from Newgrange, but you can stay as long as you please.  Five minutes later we were at the counter when they made the announcement that all shuttles were sold out for the day.

Kidding, right?  No

I am working a royal burn now.  Not the Versailles kind of anger, just extreme disappointment in the "man does I feel sorry for myself" way.  Really?  Again?  First Glastonbury and now this?  I might have cried.  Could the day still hold promise - it didn't look good.

That's right

It will be hard for you to muster much pity for me as I explain that we then drove to the Four Seasons Dublin.  I can explain. 

You know she liked it if she let me take her picture

Dublin is really quite expensive and it is smaller than it’s equally un-child-friendly big cousin, London.  I tried to go to other hotels, but I had to book two rooms.  The Four Seasons was having a “3 for the price of 2” deal that made them the best-priced rooms I could get.  Don’t get me wrong.  They had the best beds of the entire 7 weeks, ahhh…  sweet, sweet beds.  But it’s like buying a mortgage that’s too big.  Just because you qualify for the mortgage doesn’t mean you can afford the upkeep.  Four Seasons is old people money.  Old people statues and décor  and china and room service.  There’s nothing wrong with it and the service they give you is sublime, and the people who are there for you are sincere, and turn-down service rocks.  Anyways, they weren’t my first choice, but you can be skeptical, and mock me while I was feeling pissy.  

Eventually we checked into the hotel and got out to Grafton Street, which is the main shopping area.  It wasn’t easy.  We were tired, bickering and hungry.  It was Sunday night, so everything but the pubs was shut down.  We got lost, we got found again and finally through some chance walked straight into the tourist info center.  Suddenly the day had promise again.

We had planned to go to a special dinner, but thought we were too late.  It is a dinner at the Brazen Head Pub – the oldest Inn in Dublin.  You are in a private room with about two-dozen people for dinner.  With each course, a storyteller explained a different part of Irish folk life.  It was called Food, Folklore and Fairies.  I asked the clerk – Did they still have room for 4 more?  She called.  They did. It was great.  I won’t give away any of the details incase you ever go to Dublin.  But there was one particular highlight that made it extra special.  

I wasn’t sure that Aidan was particularly interested, because he moves around a lot and often appears to be off in his own world.  But when he does that, it actually helps him listen.  He needs the movement.  This is difficult in school sometimes.  Anyway.  At the end the storyteller said that he had copies of the evening’s stories on a CD and Aidan asked if he could get one.  I was surprised, but gave him the ten Euro.  When the storyteller met Aidan, he gave him the CD as a gift.  It turns out that when I was pre-paying for the dinner, I had met the storyteller, thinking he was a waiter or a cashier.  He had asked me how I came to choose this night and I told him we were celebrating Aidan’s birthday with kid-friendly things in Dublin. 

Please, oh please, let this work...

Aidan was so happy that he was shaking.  He couldn’t believe the storyteller had given him an early birthday present.  He has been so worried that nobody would celebrate his birthday because we were in Dublin.  It made me teary just to watch him be so delighted in the moment.  The promise of each day.