Travelogue

In the morning, a bunch of the Dublin programme students played a 2-hour game of American football—no soccer today! After a tireing game, we relaxed for a few hours (went to class), and dressed up for Thanksgiving Mass downtown.

After Mass, the evening got started. Our host for the night was Martin Naughton, a member of the Notre Dame Board of Trustees. He took us to The Cellar, a fancy bar with complimentary champagne. A few glasses later (several glasses for many), we walked next door to The Merrion Hotel.

Naughton owns the Merrion, which is ranked as one of the top 35 hotels in Europe. The dinner was wonderful, about 5 courses long spread out over the course of 2 hours. It was my first dinner at a 5-star hotel. As the Irish would said, it was great craïc. Craïc, meaning people, conversation, drinks, and an overall good time.

Towards the end of the meal, as the pecan pie was being served, one of the Irish priests who said Mass broke out a guitar and started a sing along. The tunes varied widely. In classic American style, we drove the Chevy to the levy and took me home, country roads. We also sang "Whiskey in the Jar," one of my favorite Irish pub songs, and one of our programme directors sang a ballad about Ireland.

Finally, at about midnight, we called it an evening. Some went out. Instead, I took my sore throat and tired, but thankful, body home to bed.