This year I decided to go to the Dublin Theatre Festival again with the Irish Repertory Theater. There was a lot of things that I did not see on my first trip to Dublin. In particular I wanted to see more of the sights connected to the poet William Butler Yeats. Having read the massive two volume biography of Yeats by Robert Fitzroy Foster I was well prepared for appreciating his place in Irish culture. I also read the book “The Theatre of Tom Murphy: Playwright Adventurer” by Nicholas Grene. I actually bought that book at Hodges Figgis on my first trip, as well as Crossings by Deirdre Kinahan. On this trip we got to see one of Tom Murphy’s plays and I actually met Deirdre Kinahan. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
I drove down Route 15 to the Harrisburg International Airport for a flight to the Chicago O’Hare International Airport. My flight to Dublin departed from Chicago. I’m glad I did not have to go through Heathrow Airport in London again after my miserable experience being stuck there for a long overlay. It was fortunate I left for the airport early because I got stuck in a massive traffic jam just before I reached Selinsgrove. I don’t know what caused this traffic jam but it took me an entire hour to crawl past Selinsgrove to get onto Route 15 proper. This caused me some anxiety but fortunately I made it to the airport on time. I didn’t make any driving mistakes. It is extremely easy to take the wrong exit on the interchanges around the Harrisburg International Airport. I wrote down my section in the Long Term Parking Lot, C7, because it can be difficult to find your car after a long trip. Going through security was easy because there was only one other person going through security. I really like the Harrisburg International Airport because it is small but fully equipped. You cannot get lost in that place or fail to find your gate. It does only have two restaurants in the A Concourse, a Subways and Phillips Seafood. I had a sandwich from Subways but it was terrible and the dining area was closed. At O’Hare International Airport I found a food court with several vendors and ordered a grilled chicken sandwich at Billy Goat Taven near Gate C21. While waiting for my flight I managed to finish reading Frankenstein Unbound by Brian Adiss on my Kindle. I found this book to be better than the film and a bit more serious than I expected. Frankenstein’s creation of the Bride of the Monster was pretty creepy. However, the reason I read this horror novel was because Percy Bysshe Shelley appears as a minor character. Although Shelley is one of the great poets he frequently appears in horror novels and works derivative of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. This creates an amusing clash between high and low culture. But Frankenstein Unbound was surprisingly respectful towards Shelley and even quoted some lines I am not familiar with. I will need to look into that.
I arrived at Dublin airport at 11:00 a.m. Although I could not fall asleep on the plane I did doze off fitfully. During the flight I watched an extremely goofy Japanese movie, Fly Me To The Saitama: From Biwa Lake With Love. I had never heard of this movie but it was extremely strange. After I got off the plane I found a bathroom because I simply cannot use a plane’s bathroom. The movement of the plane makes me completely unable to go. On an long international flight this can be a problem! I went through immigration and then picked up my bag. At baggage claim I found an ATM and was able to withdraw some Euros. Then I got a taxi to hotel. Fortunately I made it there before 1:30 a.m. for the walking tour with Clare O’Malley. I had enough time to walk to St. Stephen’s Green where I eventually found the WB Yeats Memorial Garden with Henry Moore’s W.B. Yeats Statue. This was surprisingly hard to find even though I had the exact location marked on the Google Map in my notes.
The walking tour with Clare O’Malley was a bit exhausting due to the arthritis in my right knee. I was rather surprised by how much walking I was able to do on this trip. I did try to do my exercises before this trip but only for the week before. The walking tour consisted mostly of this actress pointing out statues in Merrion Square (the park). We stopped the see the Éire statue which is the figure of a women representing Ireland with a harp. She also pointed out the bust of Michael Collins. The tour ended at the Oscar Wilde Memorial Sculpture although I recalled that she even took us to the National Library of Ireland without going in.
After the tour was over I was able to check in at the hotel but they still made me wait until 3:00 p.m. on the dot. I got a little sleep and did not shower. The next activity was dinner together at The Green Hen. I walked with the group to the restaurant. I had the pressed ham, Atlantic cod, and crème brûlée. Anna asked everyone to introduce themselves and state their favorite play. I gave the same answer as last time. My favorite play is Hamlet. Seriously I don’t see how you can rate anything higher than Hamlet. I could have mentioned Long Day’s Journey Into Night which I’ve seen in major productions on Broadway and the West End. Emilia Smart-Denson showed up even though she is now attending Trinity College. I left after dessert because I was very tired and nobody was talking to me.
