D149 -- Sweaters, naan & pints

The last time we were in Ireland I got cheated out of a sweater. A family member had told us that we should buy them at the airport instead of in shops around Ireland because we would find the exact same selection there and cheaper prices. You can see where this is going... the sweaters at the airport turned out to be about three times as expensive as ones I'd seen elsewhere and the selection was very small, so I returned to the US sweaterless. I've pined away for an Irish sweater ever since. Thus instead of sightseeing we went sweater shopping for most of the day. I found a few options, but none as nice as the ones I remembered on the Aran Islands. My memory has probably been effected by two years of sweater longing.

We're staying in an apartment, so on the way home from shopping we went to pick up some groceries at Marks & Spencer department store, or as I now refer to it, Fantasy Island. They had an entire floor devoted to food, and it was almost all prepackaged meals. But these were no ordinary prepackaged foods. Apparently they are free of hydrogenated fats, artificial flavors & colors, and they looked DELICIOUS. Slow-roasted lamb shanks, beef bourguignon, wood fired oven pizza... all ready to heat and serve. We chose packaged Indian food complete with naan. It ended up tasting just like a restaurant meal. I am now ready to move to the UK.

We couldn't spend all our time in Dublin shopping (stores do close, after all). And what better way to experience the culture than by going to a pub. We chose McDaid's, a friendly, laid-back place for pints of Smithwick's, Heineken, and of course, Guinness. Slainte!

-Elva