happyNZ was extremely thoughtful when I stumbled (literally, since I had felt obliged to wear evil high-heeled shoes for the occasion) out of the interview: having relieved me of my overnight bag, she took me straight to a delightful icecream parlour. So by the time we headed on to an Irish pub, I was feeling much revived. I have to admit I was disappointed to find Dublin itself scattered with tacky tourist-ish "Irish pubs", but NZ is a local and knows how to find the real thing that these travesties attempt to imitate. I learnt that Ireland has just passed a new law banning smoking in enclosed workplaces; I couldn't help feeling that the pleasant atmosphere of the pub was much improved by not being smoky!
Then we headed back to NZ's halls so she could run a rehearsal. She decided that Dublin was lacking any equivalent of OULES, so she established one. It was a very fun rehearsal, and NZ's friends are lovely people. They were missing one of the cast so got me to read in for a character who turned out to be an IP law geek, a rôle I felt able to cope with despite my lack of acting ability! Finally back to NZ's flat where she fed me supper and we continued chatting and catching up.
I slept rather late in the morning, so we didn't have time to do much more than walk into town and then for NZ to put me on a bus to the airport. It must be said that NZ, as well as being a generally lovely person, is a particularly useful guide, given that she is doing a PhD in contemporary Irish history and therefore knows lots and lots about everything a visitor could possibly want to know! The prettiness I remembered from my previous visit to Dublin is rather spoiled at the moment by the fact that the whole city is being dug up to build a tram system, but when that is in place I think the city will feel even more elegantly European. I was also endeared by the bilingual signage and that sort of thing!
To round off an excellent, if rushed, trip, I dropped by
pseudomonas on the way back, since my flight got into Edinburgh at teatime. He was lovely and fed me tea and political discussion and stuff. And people who haven't seen him recently will be pleased to know that he's got rid of the ugly facial hair. Yay! 