ISLAND OF DREAMS

First of all, a disclaimer: I am half Irish (on my mother's side obviously, since my surname is definitely not Irish) and have always dreamed of visiting Ireland. One of my sadnesses is that my mother never made it there, even though she did visit Europe two times. My mother's great-grandparents came over in the late 1840s, as so many others did, during the potato famine. I have been unable to track them; they had common names, they were poor and they emigrated to Canada, then moved to North Dakota for free land. My mother didn't even know her grandparents' first names. After reading the classic book about the famine (THE GREAT HUNGER, by Cecil Woodham-Smith) I no longer was concerned about my particular ancestors; I was just obsessed with the tragic, dramatic story.

But the Ireland I saw is an ongoing 21st century drama. I was a bit taken aback by the poverty barely beneath the surface; I should have known, but I somehow thought the past ten years of the "Irish Miracle" would have erased all the past. It hasn't. I thought the city resembled photos I've seen of eastern Europe than England or France or Germany. And now that the miracle bubble has burst, it's hard to know what will happen next. I can say that prices are still astonishingly high. My son paid the equivalent of $6 for dental floss. Our youth hostel with few amenities was $40 per night per person. There's no doubt about it -- Dublin is a bit seedy.

Having said that, the people were the most friendly I've seen anywhere in Europe. When the cab driver calls me "sweetheart," it's clearly a thoughtful endearment, not a threatening experience. People stop to help you on the street when you pull out your map. St. Stephen's Park was a lovely spot in the middle of downtown brimming with flowers, swans and families.

We also made it to the coast, to the hills and lakes and to a beautiful stark abbey called Glendalough.

The second trip somewhere is always better. For mine, I will take a week-long coach tour around the island.

A word about the drinking: yes, it's everywhere. Signs were posted Good Friday apologizing for not serving alcohol, but then the pubs and bars opened at midnight and stayed open until 3 a.m. Odd logic, but it works for them!