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| Looks like a nice place to sit around and discuss books, no? A salon? |
Where I Was
We just got back from two weeks in Ireland. The room above is from Kilkenny Castle.
Of course I had to visit the Trinity College Library:
You can't tell from that photo, but they're taking all the books off the shelf for the mother of all dusting projects. (Well, there may be a little more going on than that):
The weather was splendid in ways they say never happens in Ireland. Sunny and cool, but not too cold. Looking at the Atlantic:
I reread Joyce's Dubliners while I was there. We walked up Baggot Street in Dublin from our hotel near the canal: "So we went for a walk round by the canal and she told me she was a slavey at a house in Baggot Street." (from "Two Gallants")
We passed Oughterard just as I was reading "The Dead", where Gretta Conroy came from and where the tubercular Michael Furey went out in the rain to plead with her not to leave. "So she had had that romance in her life: a man had died for her sake."
We met friends there and toured around together. It was a great trip.Back Home
Our souvenir from Ireland, however, turned out to be Covid. (Well, maybe a sweater or two as well.) Bleah.
Fortunately it didn't happen until the very end of the trip and I've only been laid out since I got back. It's not the worst cold I've ever had, but it *is* a doozy, and, I assume, without those earlier jabs, it would have been worse. The weather in Toronto this weekend is grey and rainy, like we were threatened with in Ireland. A good day to quarantine at home & do laundry.
New to the Stack
I couldn't go to Ireland and not buy books, could I? But I was pretty restrained...
I've been wanting to read a Gurnah, but the library hold list is still miles long, and bookstores have been out of stock. My other Brian Dillon volumes are Fitzcarraldo Editions--he's with New York Review Books over here--so I'm keeping up the matched set.
How was your week?
Covid came back with me last year from a trip to Iceland: no fun! I hope you recover fast and fully. Reading a locally situated book is always fun on a trip. I did it with Margaret Atwood and Toronto once, and a little with Joyce in Galway (where Norah came from).
ReplyDeletebest, mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Thanks! You can't not do things, but Covid does add an unpleasant twist to travel these days...
DeleteThe Robber Bride was the first Atwood I read, just after I moved to Toronto. A good Toronto book.
Ireland! I’ve heard it’s absolutely beautiful! And that library! Wow! What a way to enhance your trip -with literature! 😊
ReplyDeleteI’m so sorry you have COVID! Yes, one of my much-loved family members is not vaccinated and the two times they had COVID were terrible.
Yes, when we fly to San Diego vs. drive, I am also very restrained in my support of indie bookstores!
I hope you feel better soon!
It is absolutely beautiful! One of my professors said the only place she thought could compete with Greece for beauty was Ireland & I've been meaning to go ever since (40 years on...)
DeleteI'm so sorry that you've had Covid, but at least you've been enjoying your trip. It must've been exciting to read and journey the book setting at the same time!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely the good thing was that Covid didn't interfere with the trip. If one feels lazy, it's much nicer to be at home!
DeleteI had Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man & Ulysses on my eReader as well, but I didn't get to them...But it is always fun to read a book set in a place you're going to.
Sorry to hear you're not feeling well, and I hope that the rest of your recovery period turns out to be as mild as possible. At least you'll have some good vacation memories to mull over as you're convalescing. Take care.
ReplyDeleteThanks! And I can sort out the vast number of photos I took...
DeleteIreland, of course, is so important in English-language literature--I've wanted to go for a while. Even with Covid, I wouldn't have missed it.
I hope it is a mild case and I'm glad it didn't wreck your trip. Have you read Dervla McTiernan's books? I think they are very well done. I saw the Book of Kells on a 24-hour layover in Dublin but would like to go back with a traveling companion willing to do the driving.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm actually feeling better this morning, and Saturday was the worst, so I hope I'm on the mend.
DeleteThat was the beauty of this trip. One of the friends we met does actually like to drive. If I have to drive, it's work and not vacation.
Oh, and I haven't read Dervla McTiernan--I hadn't even heard of her. She looks interesting and would have been great for this trip.
DeleteMy son and daughter-in-law compared and contrasted their experiences with Covid, post-vaccine, to my dil's parents, who contracted it before the release of the vaccine...such a radically better experience for my son and dil in terms of symptoms and length of sickness. I keep expecting to get Covid every time I'm out among a crowd---at the library conference, at the Alley Theater, at an author reading. I'm sure it will hit me one of these days.
ReplyDeleteIreland! My mom and dad took one of those a-country-in-two-days tours of Europe long ago, visiting ten countries, and it was Ireland that won my mom's heart. So green, she kept saying.
And I especially like how you read something set in Ireland while you were there.
More photos and text are welcomed.
I'm glad to hear your sense that the vaccine does help. Of course one gets it just to be a good citizen and protect others, but I do feel badly enough, it's nice to know I could have felt worse...
DeleteIreland was pretty spectacular and green. If the weather was grey all the time, though, my sense might have been different...
I saw an earlier comment about Dervla McTiernan and I like her work as well. Have been to Ireland twice and the amount of books I brought back was backbreaking! Have not been overseas since the covid issues. Love that you had such a great trip!
ReplyDeleteThat's two votes for Dervla McTiernan, and my library has her! Any book in particular? Though I'm likely to start at the beginning.
DeleteI am no longer allowed to buy as many books as I used to... ;-)
What perfect spot to reread Dubliners! It sounds like an amazing trip, but I am sorry you brought covid home with you. Your book-buying restraint is commendable... I alway bring home way too many books!
ReplyDeleteIt was a great trip & Dubliners just added to it.
DeleteMy mother's family is from Ireland so I've always wanted to take a vacation there. My son and his wife are going in September for a belated anniversary. I have some friends there that post photos everyday and it looks beautiful. So sorry you came back with Covid, hope it ends soon!
ReplyDeleteDo go if you can. It is beautiful and the people were so nice.
DeleteI do feel like the Covid is beginning to go away, which is a relief.
I hope you feel better soon! Your trip sounds awesome. Ireland is high on my list of places I want to visit.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Getting so much better all the time! (As somebody famous once sang... ;-) )
DeleteIreland is definitely a cool one to visit.
Your trip to Ireland sounds amazing! I'm glad you had such a good time, and am only sorry that you brought Covid home with you. Hope you feel better soon!
ReplyDeleteAlmost recovered, thanks!
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