A Week in Dublin

bevclyde45
Dec 9, 2025
7 min read

08-12-2025

I'm currently sitting at my son’s dining room table, writing this blog. While I'm delighted to be back in the USA, I find myself missing Ireland. I had a fun and busy final week in Dublin.

On Sunday, I missed attending Marantha Community Church, but I did go to St. Mark's

Church, an evangelical congregation that was kicking off its Advent services. The theme for their Advent was "Adore," and if the first service is any indication, they are in for a joyful December.

The following morning, I attended my last class at Trinity College. My return to college was both interesting and enjoyable, and I hope I can do it again sometime—though perhaps with shorter bus rides!

On Monday night, my granddaughter Rachel reached out to me about meeting for dinner. We went to a charming little French-themed café, Café en Seine. With its beautiful Christmas decorations, it felt just like being in a Parisian café. The meal was wonderful, and I must admit, I'm a bit envious of Rachel, who will be returning to Ireland after Christmas.

Tuesday, I took a tour to the Wicklow Mountains, south of Dublin, and visited the ruins of a monastery, Glendalough. The Wicklow Mountains are reminiscent of the lower Appalachian Mountains, so the hike was not strenuous, and the ruins were fascinating. It was a pleasant day spent in nature.

I enjoyed watching a European Robin while strolling around Glendalough. Unlike its American counterpart, which is well-known

in North America, the European Robin is smaller and rounder. This little bird is both cute and friendly. In fact, this particular robin could have easily been on the welcoming committee for Glendalough. He perched on the sidewalk, unbothered, as people walked by. Just as the Cardinal is a favorite on many Christmas cards in the US, the European Robin is often featured on festive cards across the pond.

I still needed to pick up a few Christmas presents. I knew where to find them in Galway, but I wasn't sure about Dublin. I caught the early morning train to Galway, purchased my Christmas gifts along with a few extras, and headed back home. It was a good thing I didn’t have more time in Galway; I was spending money like a drunken lottery winner!

While traveling back to Dublin, Rachel contacted me, and we agreed to meet for dinner. The ride home was slow, as the train kept stopping for reasons unknown to me. Rachel was also having trouble getting into Dublin from her school due to taxi drivers staging a slow-down protest, which was causing significant traffic delays. Eventually, Rachel and I managed to meet up and decided to go to a tapas restaurant. It was Rachel's first experience at a tapas place, and she thoroughly enjoyed it!

While at dinner, Rachel mentioned an Irish Christmas tradition that she and some friends were participating in the next day – the "12 Pubs of Christmas." The idea is to visit 12 different pubs and have a pint at each one. I pointed out that 12 pints of beer is quite a lot, to which Rachel explained that you can substitute a pint of water for beer. When I saw her again on Friday, she told me they only managed to visit six pubs, not twelve. Her lineup included: a pint of beer, another pint of beer, a pint of water, a pint of beer, another pint of beer, and finally a pint of water. So, that still amounts to four pints of beer, which is a significant amount for someone who hadn’t been drinking much before coming to Ireland. If you’re looking for a new Christmas tradition, this might be one to consider—but good luck finding 12 pubs in most American communities!

Wednesday had been tough for me with the trip to Galway and dinner out. I was quite tired and decided to take it easy on Thursday. I took care of a few business items in Dublin and returned to the hotel to handle some tasks back home. However, I did manage to walk a couple of miles through downtown Dublin, which is a lovely city.

Friday found me packing up and picking up the last few items I needed. That night, Rachel and I were headed out to the theater to see a pantomime (or "panto"). This uniquely British and Irish form of entertainment is prevalent during the Christmas season, and we felt it was a must-see for a true cultural experience. Pantos typically feature slapstick comedy with plenty of audience participation and often tell well-known stories with a humorous twist. We watched “Tittles, Beauty and the Beast,” and it turned out to be a hilarious and enjoyable evening.

When I returned to the hotel, I watched another cherished Irish tradition: 0ne of the kickoffs to the Christmas season known as the Late, Late Toy Show. On weeknights, there’s the Late, Late Show, which airs around 10:00 or 11:00 PM. Once a year, this show transforms into the Late, Late Toy Show, where children showcase their favorite toys and are surprised by special guests. It was surprisingly delightful and entertaining to watch. The next day, I overheard people discussing some of the kids I had seen on the show, which added to the charm of the experience.

On Saturday, I spent the day repacking and sorting through my belongings, as I had accumulated quite a bit during my trip. Thankfully, most of my purchases had already been shipped to my son’s home. Late in the day, I decided to venture out for one last taste of Ireland. I'd read about a restaurant on Grafton St., Dublin’s pedestrian shopping street, and made my way there. The place turned out to be a large tearoom. While it wasn't exactly what I had imagined, they did serve a few pasta dishes and sandwiches, so I decided to stay and eat.

As I enjoyed my sandwich, I overheard two men sitting next to me discussing Texas. Intrigued, I started eavesdropping and realized they had about half of their facts right. I chimed in a couple of times with names they were struggling to remember. Eventually, they asked if I was from the States, and I replied, "Yes, I'm from Texas, and about half of your facts about it are correct." This sparked a lively discussion about the US. One of the men was originally from South Africa but had lived in Ireland for 13 years, while the other was from California and had just arrived from London. I suspected he was on a business trip since he mentioned flying back to California early the following week. We engaged in a fascinating conversation, finding both common ground and differences in our views—always in a pleasant manner. The restaurant closed at 6:00 PM, and we left around 6:30 PM, having thoroughly enjoyed my time at Bewley's Oriental Café.

On Sunday morning, Fergus picked up Rachel and me to drive us to the airport. I had realized that Rachel was also heading home for Christmas the same weekend I was returning home, so I changed my reservations to match hers so we could fly together. The flight itself was uneventful, which is always a good thing. One interesting aspect of flying out of Dublin is that you clear US Immigration and Customs there, making your arrival in the US feel like a domestic flight.

Upon arriving in Dallas, Rachel had a connecting flight to Austin, but unfortunately, it was substantially delayed. After numerous phone calls to American Airlines and to her parents, it was decided that Rachel should spend the night with her Uncle Chris, my son. The next morning, Chris and his wife, Melissa, were heading to Austin to pick up their daughter, Sonia, from the University of Texas at Austin for Christmas break. Rachel would ride with them to Austin, where her parents would pick her up. It was nice to have a little extra time with Rachel, and soon I will be spending time with another granddaughter, Sonia.

My Irish adventure began as I found myself a lonely widow, feeling sorry for myself. I realized that this wasn’t the life I wanted to live, so I decided to make a change. I’m so glad I went to Ireland and took the opportunity to meet new people and try new things. Sure, there were moments of loneliness and times when I longed to be back home, but I pushed through, and I’m truly grateful I did. In fact, I’m already considering moving to the UK next summer and returning to Ireland for a couple of weeks, if not more. If nothing else, I can regale others for hours about my time in Ireland.

I strongly recommend that if you find yourself in a similar situation, take the time to decide what you’d like to do and go for it. It may not be the same adventure I had, but it will be your own, and you'll emerge stronger for taking the chance. This will be my last "Travels with BJ" entry until I head to Hungary next June — and who knows where I'll go after that? Ireland will always be one of the places dear to my heart. I have truly enjoyed writing these blogs, and I hope you have enjoyed reading them as well.

Go dtí an chéad uair eile / / Until Next Time

Here’s weather from Dublin and Dallas

Dublin: Rainy and Windy

High 55 F (13 C) Low 52 F (11 C)

Sunrise: 8:28 Sunset: 4:06 (16:06 IST)

Hours of Daylight: 7 hours and 40 minutes

Dallas: Clear and Chilly

High 54 F (12 C), Low 36 F (2 C)

Sunrise: 7:18 Sunset: 5:21 (17:21 CST)

Hours of Daylight: 10 hours and 2 minutes