I'm back for the long-awaited final Ireland trip entry. Let me assure you that it's not Greg who's amiss in his blog-writing duties, and that this really was supposed to be written sooner. Like a month ago sooner. At least in the interim Greg got a chance to finish up and write a quick review of The Demon's Lexicon, which is very relevant to this post!
When I travel, I like to get a couple of books. Not only does it give me something to read, but they make nice - yet practical - souvenirs. Going to bookstores in Dublin and Belfast was fun since I got to compare UK and US covers for various books, plus pick up the last entry in a series that was never released in the US. While I was meandering through the YA section in one of the stores in Dublin, I noticed The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan, which a friend had recommended in her blog. I'd considered picking it up at a bookstore back home, but decided to wait for the paperback edition. Well, the UK edition was a paperback, so I decided to go for it. I spent a good deal of the train travel from Belfast to Dublin and Dublin to Cork reading it, and finished up thereafter in Cork. (I read quite fast.)
I'd also been reading the author's blog and discovered that she'd be doing a signing in Dublin on the last night we'd be there. Hm, I thought. This seems really too good to pass up. So Greg and I did some planning and figured that yes, we could run all over Dublin to visit the places we'd missed, make the signing, and then catch dinner afterwards. With the battle plan set, that evening we headed for the Eason on O'Connell street.
The event, a joint signing and reading with Cassandra Clare (author of the Mortal Instruments series) was on the lower floor of the bookstore. Most of the audience was in their late teens, but I wasn't the only obviously-older-than-college-and-most-definitely-older-than-high-school-age person there. Both authors read chapters from their upcoming books and then there was a question and answer session. Fun fact - they're both big fans of the magician Howl, from Diana Wynne Jones' books. Then came the signing. After a small bit of line confusion, I was able to meet Sarah Rees Brennan, tell her a quick version of how I ended up there (which I hope was at least amusing), and get my book signed.
Afterwards Greg and I headed to Gallagher's Boxty House for dinner. We tried some of the boxty, which are potato pancakes with various fillings, along with lamb stew and some coddle (sausage and bacon with potatoes and herbs). It was tasty and hearty. We then spent the rest of the evening meandering around Temple Bar one last time.
The next morning we got up and took the bus back to the airport. The noteworthy thing is the huge departure/arrival board near the checkin counters, which you can see in the last of the photos.
That concludes our Ireland entries. We hope you enjoyed them! It's been fun looking back at the trip and especially all the photos. Greg will likely be making a subset of them into a slide show and posting a link here, like he did for his China trip. As for me, I'm looking forward to lots of future travels together, and hope to return to Ireland someday.
I may pop in from time to time for more guest posting. Thanks for reading!
~Kate
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