We have been doing a round of "lasts" here in Dublin. Last Thursday night we met up with all the Microsoft people, plus spouses and friends, to have "last pints" at McSorley's in Ranelagh (closest little village to our house). We had a grand time and we will really miss the friends we have made here - thankfully several are transplants from the greater Seattle area so we hope they will move back in the future!
This week we have had the movers come and once again pack up all our worldly possessions. Our cute little Dublin "semi" is now an empty shell waiting for its next set of memories to impart on another family. Today we finished cleaning and tomorrow we will be handing our keys over to the landlord, the final step in our Dublin house adventure.
On Monday evening we met our Irish friend, Seamus, for some fun food and chat - we will miss his funny and witty banter!
Wednesday evening, we were graciously hosted for dinner by Ben & Chistiana - Reeves worked with Ben here in Dublin and since they are from the greater Redmond, we are looking to them for lots of great info on the place we are about to move.
Today, our last day in Dublin, we started the day with a latte and pastry at our local Cafe Inna, after which we met our landlord at the house to finalize all the details. We then went downtown to a wonderful last lunch at Elephant & Castle which has some of the best spicy wings we have ever eaten.
We then proceeded to do our last retail experience at Avoca, picking up a beautiful Irish woven throw and cookbook from their restaurant. Reeves then surprised me by stopping by a jewelry store and buying me a "History of Ireland" bracelet- it is a hand made line of jewelry which depicts, in little pict-o-grams, the major point of Irish history. We had seen these awhile ago and it is a fun reminder of our Irish adventure. We also picked up a "traditional cap" for Reeves which really makes him look like a little Irish man!
For the afternoon, we tried to keep ourselves awake, since we had both had a rough night's sleep worrying about all the final details. So, after spending 1 1/2 hours in the business center finalizing the last of our bills, we had some lovely cocktails in the sitting room. We have been staying at the Four Seasons here in Dublin which I have to say has been the best customer service experience in our 1 1/2 years living in Dublin. We have had a lovely stay and after relaxing in the suite and room service we are ready for our last night as residents of Dublin.
Here is to our new American adventure which starts tomorrow!