A Trip to Dublin

During in port visits to Belfast some members of the Michelson's navy detachment traveled south to Blarney Castle near Cork. There, one who got to kiss the Blarney Stone would thereafter be blessed with eloquent speech or "the gift of gab". On their return none appeared to be better spoken than before, but perhaps such verbal benefits accrued slowly.

I made it as far as Dublin. After consulting my travel advisor, the oceanographer who had been most everywhere, another navy guy and I took the train down to Dublin. This took less than three hours with minimal customs formalities despite crossing an international border. Things changed a few years later when "the troubles" erupted.

On the morning after our arrival we met our travel advisor civilian who accompanied us on a Dublin bus tour. We ventured off to Trinity College where we saw the Book of Kells, then to St. Patrick's cathedral. I got to see the spot where Jonathan Swift was buried, standing up. St. Pat's is the national cathedral for the Anglican Church of Ireland. The semi-legal Irish Sweepstakes was big back then. We saw hundreds of women sitting at desks in a huge room hand addressing envelopes of lottery tickets. Last stop was at the St. James Gate brewery where Guinness was made and bottled. My navy buddy visited a geneology center to learn about his Irish heritage.

A visit to Dublin would not be complete without a pub crawl. And there were many pubs to visit. Not caring much for Guinness I stuck to other kinder, gentler brews.

We stayed two nights at the Gresham Hotel on O'Connell Street. This was an elegant old fashioned hotel. The Palm Court dining room was a winter garden full of, yes, potted palms. Cuisine was an ersatz French "franglais" style. Afternoon tea was a treat. Today the Gresham is a four star luxury hotel regarded as "posh" by Dubliners.