Dublin Diary

6-7 April 2009

Dublin Diary

I have decided to revive my travel writings from my new adventure in Ireland! Ryan and I arrived in Dublin early Monday morning. We had quite a nice flight over where Ryan and I got a whole exit row to ourselves! However even with the bit of sleep I got on the plane, I was not feeling very rested. We took the AirLink bus to O’Connell St which is one of the main drags in Dublin. From there it was just a few blocks walk to our hotel. As luck would have it, the room was already available at that early hour. Ryan and I made the mistake of passing out for about 2 hours that morning in the room. Those jetlag naps are always nasty things to wake up from! When we finally came out of zombie state, we walked over to sort some things out at the hospital where Ryan would be working, the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital. We were able to enjoy some of the sights and sounds of Dublin on the way. The city was quite busy with pedestrians during the lunch hour. Dublin definitely has a small city feeling but is still quite vibrant! We stopped along the way for lunch at a beautiful French bistro that oddly enough was serving Irish food. With our stomachs full, we crossed St. Stephens Green and in a few more blocks were at the hospital.

The Eye and Ear Hospital is a beautiful old building. It certainly is picture worthy in itself! As we walked in the front doors, the security guard was already expecting us and in a few moments we were greeted by Frances, the administrative person for the Ophthalmology department. What we thought was going to be maybe a 20 minute visit, turned into almost a 2 hour stay! Frances was going overboard to try to help us settle in. She was concerned about where we would live, especially when she heard we made an appointment off of an internet ad. She said, “There is a myth that the Irish people are so friendly and helpful, and we are, but I don’t want you thinking that and getting taken advantage of!” She was calling all over trying to get us a spot in some of the Trinity College dorm housing, but in the end it didn’t work out. When it got close to the time of the appointment for the apartment, she took it upon herself to call our contact person and tell her we would be late! Then she got us tea! She and one of the residents even tried to help find me a spot in a different hospital so I wouldn’t have to commute to the suburbs! We were so impressed by how they just bent over backwards to help and accommodate us. Very kind people here!

We hopped the bus back to the northside of Dublin to meet Nathalie, a French woman who manages a bunch of apartments in the city. The first was one we saw was a studio apartment that was even smaller than any that I have seen in NYC—and for about $900/month. After that she drove us over to see another spot. Nathalie was very friendly and kind woman but my God, she had the worst body odor I have smelled in a long time. The whole ride in her car we felt that we had to hold our breath from the stench-Ryan was making faces at me in the side-view mirror! We settled on the last apartment she showed us, which was about 2 blocks from Connolly station, one of the main train stations. Now when I say apartment, what I really mean is room! The room is about 8x8 feet in size and part of that space is a small full bathroom. There is literally just enough room for a futon bed, a small fridge, and a tiny bedside table. No closet, no real storage! There is a shared full kitchen which surprisingly had a washer AND dryer! All over in good condition but wow, never thought I would end up in a room so small! We were happy to leave the apartment after securing it, and return to the hotel for one night in a king sized bed! Before drifting off to sleep, we took a stroll across the River Liffey to the Temple Bar area, a great nightlife spot, and ate Irish Boxty’s (like a potato crepe with meat filling) for dinner, chased down by a pint of Murphy’s stout! We could barely muster enough strength to walk back to the hotel!

The following day was our first day on the job! Ryan and I parted ways at O’Connell Street to take our respective buses. I was still a bit unsure of how I was getting to Connolly Hospital where I would be doing my Endocrinology rotation. Connolly Hospital is a smaller hospital affiliated with the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland. Since I planned this rotation at the last minute, this is the only place they could accommodate me. It is located in Blanchardstown about 7 miles from the center of Dublin. As I was walking down O’Connell Street with my breakfast in hand, I saw my bus approaching, tried to make a run for it, but missed it still. This was quite unfortunate as I had to wait almost 30 minutes for the next bus! At last it arrived, and I verified with the driver that I would in fact get to Connolly hospital. He said it would take about 45 minutes. It wasn’t long before the scenery changed from urban Dublin to suburban outskirts. There were cute brick houses, and fancy modern apartment buildings, we passed Bristol-Meyers-Squibb and some other large companies, and all of a sudden, the bus stopped and turned off! The driver informed me that we were in Tyrellstown at the terminus of the bus! I said, “Did you stop at the hospital?” He said, “Yes, I drove right up to it, were you sleeping?” I most definitely was not! He felt bad and tried to help me find the way back as he would now be running on a different route. He said the buses to the hospital don’t come often though so it could be another 30 minutes! I was not feeling so happy until I decided to call the bus’ customer service number. I was very relieved when the operator told me that the next bus back would arrive in 5 minutes! I literally just made it to the bus stop as it pulled up…phew! This time I hung near the driver and made sure he told me when to get off the bus!

Finally I arrived at John Connolly Memorial Hospital! It was a nice enough looking hospital, some what off in the middle of nowhere with lots of verdant grass around. I errantly wandered the campus until I was directed to the Academic Centre. I met Sandra, the very friendly secretary of Professor Seamus Sreenan. She was also very eager to help me find my way to the endocrinology team at the hospital. Sandra even walked me across the street to the hospital and up to the wards where the team was rounding! You don’t often get that kind of treatment at home! There is quite a large group working on the Endocrinology team: 5 residents (however the use the British terminology like registrar, SHO…), 4 RCSI students, and a consultant (aka. attending) named Dr. McDermott. Everyone was very friendly and I was quickly part of the group. Even though it was already late in the morning, I got to see a few patients on rounds…they all had names like Patrick, William, and Mary. I even got a free lunch provided by a pharmaceutical rep during a lecture.

I ended the day around 2pm, knowing that we still needed to get settled into our new “apartment.” I decided to venture back via the train this time and so I carefully made my way to the station in Castleknock which was about a 20 minute walk from the hospital. It was a tiny little station located at the edge of a canal with signs advertising for renting canal boats. Unfortunately it appeared the train wouldn’t be going back to Dublin for another 40 minutes so I aborted the plan and walked back to Blanchardstown to take the bus back to O’Connell Street.

In about 30 minutes I was back in the center of town…my new Irish SIM card died on the way which left me in a semi-state of panic without mobile connection to the world! I made my way to the Meteor phone shop for help and they told me it must be my Chinese phone not the SIM card! I gave up on the phone for the time being when I came across a store named Guiney’s which sells linens and house supplies at a cheap price. For about €32 I bought a duvet and a cover, pillows, pillow cases, and sheets. After that I waited for Ryan in the Days Inn lobby until he returned from work. We played around with our SIM cards and discovered that my Chinese SIM card was reliable after all and after a short trip back to the Meteor store, I was back in business!

Now it was time to schlep our 3 suitcases and new linen supplies to our new apartment. It was about a 15 minute walk (which turned into 30 when we got lost) down Talbot street, up Amiens street to our new place on Killarney street. We weren’t quite sure how we would fit all of our things into a room that was only 8x8 ft! In fact it was like solving a puzzle to find the right spots for our rectangular and bulky suitcases. When we unwrapped our new linens we learned that they were far from high thread count Egyptian cotton…and were more like plastic-y polyester! Nonetheless, I have to say it felt good to finally have a home in Dublin! We finished the night off with some bangers and mash and pints of Guinness in a pub down the street with a lively crowd watching a football match!