Ah, Dawson, how I love thee

This is part one of a series on the streets of Dublin. Not like 'on the streets' (aka in da hood), but the streets or areas I frequently find myself in. Each area has a crazily different feel, no matter how close they really are, and this is my attempt to show you my favorite spots in the city.

Those of you who read my entry about Hodges Figgis, as well as the short blurb about Lemon a few posts back, are already familiar with my two very favorite things about Dawson. But there is soooo much more, so much more in fact that I've decided this street deserves its own post.

Dawson is the street directly across from the side Nassau Street entrance of Trinity's campus. Nassau itself has certain connotations (mostly involving tourists, Germans, and various sexual acts performed against Trinity's hallowed walls) that Dawson is inherently free from. For me, when I turn onto Dawson, it's like reaching a safe haven -- the Comfort Object of Dublin city life, if you will.

First, there are trees on this street. Amazing. Though they're bare now, being the middle of January, they are going to be beautiful come spring. Combined with the relative quiet of Dawson--since it's surrounded by Nassau and Grafton, it naturally seems almost peaceful--and the fancy lampoles I seem to recall, it's eay to see why this is my favorite street to walk down.

But it's a fun street to hang out, too. Dawson is home to a branch of Cafe Sol (the ubiquitous Irish coffee and sandwich place) and Lemon, home of the amazing magic crepes. The second Starbucks is here, too, only blocks away from its more-crowded and harder-to-find predecessor on Grafton. A duck down a side street takes you to Davy Byrne's, a famous pub that I think is mentioned in Ulysses, and on the corner stands Carluccio's, where you can find amazing soup, bread, lattes and Italian-accented waiters.

As for bookstores, Dawson has been hailed as the book-buying center of Dublin, because of its proximity to Trinity and relative proximity to UCD. Hodges Figgis is by far the best, filled with bargain tables in addition to a bargain basement, pretty fair prices, and amazingly friendly staff who will not laugh at you when you ask them who the author of Beowulf is.

I go in here so often that Jillian asked if there is a sex camp of some sort hidden in the basement. There's not, but I really don't think I could go more often even if there was. The company is also amazingly old (18th century -- older than our country, kids), and I believe it is still Ireland's largest independent bookstore (sources differ on this point).

There is also Waterstone's across the street. I have only been in there once, partly out of loyalty, but I hear there is a cafe upstairs that I think I am going to have to try someday soon. Murder, Ink is another fun bookstore, with a specialty in murder mysteries, mysteries, and detective fiction.

I have two other favorite shops in this area. The first is Farrell and Brown, which I have only been in once, but the building is so beautiful that I feel happy everytime I walk past its greystone exterior. It's kind of like an Irish Abercrombie, with similarly outrageous prices, snooty sales people, and loud rock music. Still, they have nice scarves and I'd rather shop there for a sweater than at one of the tourist traps on Nassau.

The second is the WONDERFUL toy store whose name I don't remember. (Edit: It's just called The Toy Store.) You know those stores where you walk in and feel like a kid again, surrounded by Playmobil and Klutz and various other toys you would have possibly killed for as a child? This is it. There were books on how to make friendship bracelets. There were plastic knights and dragons. There was a turtle in a knit hat and a Long John Silver puppet. Does life get better?

Of course, after shopping and reading and coffee-drinking, you can always walk straight down Dawson to St. Stephen's Green and walk off that venti caramel macchiato with extra caramel. That's where I saw the horse and cart rentals on a Sunday morning a few months ago, and this is a much more pleasant walk down to the Green than trying to fight your way down Grafton. Dawson is pretty much the best possible place to start a day from -- grab a coffee, read a book, and head off to one of the other awesome places nearby. Perfect.

NB: Can't find any pictures not under copyright. Will try to take some in the near future and post them as I get them...sorry! Also, map courtesy of Ordance Survey Ireland.

Forget elections, BOOKS are my porn

Just wanted to let you all know that I am, in fact, not suicidal. In retrospect, it was probably a bad idea to post that in my tired/jetlagged/homesick state.

Today, in an effort to get over myself and enjoy life again, I wore my favorite sweater and went to Hodges Figgis, my favorite bookstore in Dublin. It's not the cheapest, but it's the easiest to find things in, they cater to Trinity students, and the service people are always so helpful.

It's amazing the effect bookstores have on me. Seriously, it's a little scary. First thing this morning, I thought to myself, "I'm going to Hodges Figgis. Full stop. I need a bookstore." I even got up early to make sure to miss the crowds.

And miss the crowds I did. It was basically just me, my latte (oh, I forgot how good they are here) and the entire fiction section. For I while I just wandered and stared at the covers, picking up books at random and flipping through.

Then I pulled out my list. Big mistake. Apparently the book list for my Tolkien class is not so much a list of books as a list of topics we will be discussing. My panicked look and my sheet of paper drew a very concerned salesman, who asked me if I needed help in a way that suggested perhaps I might need someone to take me back to the place with the padded walls and the white jackets.

But eventually, after about ten or fifteen minutes of going through the list topic by topic, we sorted out what was what, and I was promised they would order my books and call ASAP. I then tripped lightly through the rest of the store, grabbing Tolkein, Cecila Ahern, Nora Roberts, chick lit for Thursday's class, and even a treat for myself -- Phillip Pullman's The Subtle Knife.

A stop at Lemon (the crepe place from two posts ago) for a BLT made my morning complete. And while I still have to get groceries and read Nora Robert's Hidden Riches for my class tonight, I think, overall, today will be a pretty decent day. It's amazing what a good bookstore will do for one's state of mind.

Want to go to [fill in the blank]?

My friend Corey wrote a blog entry a while ago about central meeting places; you know, those places in the sitcoms where everyone just kind of goes when they're not doing something else, like Central Perk on Friends. Corey was saying that generally, we really envy how the characters on these shows have a place where they can go where everyone knows their name, but sometimes we're actually doing the same thing, just we don't realize it.

This got me to thinking. Where would my central meeting places be in Dublin? There's not just one, I knew that, but the more I thought about it, I was able to pick out three of our most-loved haunts that just might qualify.

The Ginger Man: This is a pub just north of Merrion Square, about a block away from our apartment building. Jillian was the one to first discover it a few years ago on a previous trip to Dublin, and she was so eager to return to it this time around that we figured it must be be kind of special. The G-Man, as it is affectionately known, has been the site of many class-related bitch fests, several 'bombscares' and more than one petty theft (generally these coincided with the bombscares). Every night at the G-Man is worth a blog entry in and of itself, but suffice to say, there have been some good times there. Also, the drink is much cheaper than it is at Lombard's (across the street from us).

Lemon: Oh my god, Lemon. Lemon is a crepe place on Dawson Street, right outside the Nassau Street entrance to Trinity. Usually this is where we find ourselves the night after the Ginger Man or some other hangover-inducing night out, scarfing down a Vegetarian Power Plus (with Chicken), French Toast, or whatever else happens to look good that day. There's lots of rehashing the night before, talking about how much work we have to do that day, and just a general gathering of our collective energy and motivation before facing another day spent inside the Postgrad Reading Room. Also, they give you little squares of chocolate with your coffee, and many of the male members of the staff have Aussie accents. Yum.

The Italian Place: This is not its real name. We just never call it by its insanely long and Italian name (which is Il Caffe di Napoli or something like that). This is actually the sandwich place that guy in the laundrette recommended to me, and it makes the best and cheapest cup of coffee in the entire city, which is pretty impressive because there are several Starbucks(es?) around. This is generally where we go when we need a quick pick-me-up, are too lazy to make lunch and don't feel like another frozen pizza from Centra, or just need to get out of the freaking apartment already.

This place is adorable in every single way, especially when decorated for Christmas as it was when I left, and I am beginning to believe the coffee has actual magical powers. With Italian women baristas who look like they could kick your ass in a heartbeat, and killer ciabattas, this place's only flaw is that the main seating is outside. Ew.

There are other places we go, of course, but I would say these are the three best and also most-frequented. There should be another entry sometime on the best places to go if you're visiting Dublin, but that's going to have to be another post for another time.

Happy Christmas, everyone, and have a great New Year!

Ginger Man Pub photo courtesy of Amy.