October 5, 2008 @ 12:55 am
Live at Vicar Street
A couple of weeks back I booked a pair of tickets to see Luka Bloom at Vicar Street. I had heard of the venue and catching a big name there seemed like a fine idea. Then I saw in my email from ticketmaster that Art Garfunkel was playing
the local venue. Wow! Art Garfunkel live. Checking ticket prices I found they were double normal rates and a bit steep so was reticent about booking. Last night a sweet angel confirmed that seeing Art Garfunkel would be an amazing experience. We figured we’d see how it seemed in the morning and go from there. Unfortunately, although there had been tables and seat available yesterday morning all available today was standing room. €70 for a place to stand seemed a bit steep and was not sure of the venue. Then to complicate matters, my office was broken into last night, so when I arrived today to do a little work I found a lot of glass and bits of pieces of wood, and no laptops. That was troubling enough in itself, determining how to actually proceed in such a situation in a foreign land was an additional challenge. No one from the building was available, then couldn’t reach anyone from my own organisation. So…managed to contact the local police and arranged for a constable to visit. On the upside, we got some good prints and no one was actually injured or the like. So…the distraction of the B&E was a little off putting. It means about 3 months of work down the tubes for me, but now its just a matter of focusing on how to get past it. So, I tried again to get tickets for Mr. Garfunkel. Alas only standing room, despite going to the online site, phoning ticketmaster and the venue itself. As my lovely companion was reticent about standing through the show I was disappointed, but she resolved that we should go for it…and she could not have been more right! I made a couple lamb chops and some sides and after wolfing them down we jumped in a taxi for the venue. Our luck held and sure enough there had been cancelations and we got absolutely awesome table seats on the floor. Vicar Street is an amazing venue. Amazingly intimate. Art Garfunkel gave an stunningly romantic show and spending it with someone special makes the world seem right. A perfect night.
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The day dawned bright in Dublin and with contingency set to continue my cultural tour of the north side of the Liffey, I set off early. The day was fresh, but stunningly bright. Lovely, lyrically so, and if I have learned anything from the past few week…when you have the chance, seize it. So at 8am I trundled off on the old (new really, but I use the term endearingly) Trek Urban rider. Destination: 









Was up to the border this morning via train. A soggy beginning, but the sun won out in the end. We set off south passing through Slane and appreciating the main square where four identical Georgian houses are places octagonally on the main intersection. Very stately.
a very pleasant surround. The neighborhood is a busy one, but largely of pedestrians and of tourists. Over the past few weeks we have all been commenting on how many tourist photos we must now be appearing as they let off busloads to marvel at the colourful doors and ornate doorways. There is a large green area in the centre of the square with dense trees surrounding it and charming grassed areas in side. The Georgian terraces are quite impressive and give real sense of a Dublin of days past. 

















