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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe reception was at a venue near Poulaphouca Falls, which figures into Ulysses as a place where Bloom masturbated when he was young. I think “Leopold Bloom Jerked Off Here” beats “George Washington Slept Here”, if it’s Ulysses tie-ins you’re after, but this was not mentioned in any of the handouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We had appetizers and some drinks \u2014 the Prosecco disappeared pretty quickly \u2014 while waiting for Samuel and Clare to arrive. They finally did, and we moved into the dining room where we were seated with several of Samuel\u2019s childhood friends. Samuel is a lawyer, and Clare is a journalist. Dave asked his friend seated next to him if he was also a lawyer, and he said \u201cworse \u2014 I\u2019m in politics\u201d. He\u2019s an analyst and aide to a Green officeholder. We talked about many of the woes of the world. The speeches were given primarily by the couple\u2019s fathers, and by the bride and groom themselves. The fathers had a few funny lines but overall it was very sweet. The food was all really good too, which is unusual for weddings. Instead of a wedding cake, they had a stack of different round cheeses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then the dance-a-thon began. We were a bit sleepy and had ideas of going back to town, but that didn\u2019t seem possible. So we just hung out. It was heartwarming watching this large group of people who have been friends with each other forever all dancing with each other. A band played for awhile, then there was a playlist of meaningful pop songs, with much singing along. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally we were able to ride the bus back to downtown Dublin. The singing along continued. If you put a scene into a movie with a bunch of drunk Irishmen singing “Molly Malone” on a bus at three o’clock Sunday morning, an anti-defamation cabal would hit you for ethnic stereotyping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There were many people staggering around on the street at 4am, and you had to be careful where you stepped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sunday, March 26<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
We slept in. Checkout time was at noon, so we donated our wedding clothes as a belated Daffodil Day contribution (they had been bought at a charity shop in Dublin to begin with) and left our packs thus lightened with the concierge. Went to the nearest coffee shop for coffee scone and tea. Then a walk to the tourist area of the square where we determined that H&M wouldn’t give Dave his money back for the zipper on his hoodie that broke not long after we had purchased it. The people said it was bought in Germany and it would have to be returned there. Globalization only goes so far. Orange juice also wasn’t possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the afternoon, we retrieved our packs and got to the airport. Everything went smoothly, as our carry-on was under everybody’s weight limit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A wedding in Dublin was the first of two scheduled events which spurred this trip. It resulted in having to pack not only clothes for cold weather as well as warm, but clothes one could wear to a wedding, as well as the casual clothes we wear almost all the time. Thursday, March 23 We … Continue reading Wedding Weekend<\/span>