Escape from Glenogeary

So, I get a phone call about midday on Saturday. FHWRDH and facty are inviting people over for an afternoon/evening of poker/pizza and general amusement at their newly rented home down Glenogeary.

Now when I say "down," I'm talking about six miles from city center. In Dublin, that's the boonies. Really beautiful boonies, but the boonies nonetheless. Since I didn't have much going on, and haven't gotten to explore much more than the city center area, I thought this sounded like a fine plan, and headed out.

I grabbed the the 46A bus and made my way to Dun Laoghaire (I'm still not sure of the proper spelling), where I then transferred to the DART rail line for two stops. A 10-minute walk up the hill and viola - Chez Henderson. Now, this short journey took about 75-minutes in total, which I guess isn't bad by Dublin standards. Considering that it would be about a 20-minute drive though, it's a little slow by my usual clock. I did, however, get to ride through Monkstown, which is just outside Dun Laoghaire, and which looks like the land time forgot. Incredibly tight streets, ancient looking brick apartment blocks crammed together shoulder to shoulder. I half expected to see James Joyce wandering down the middle of the street carrying a pint and a writing tablet.

Speaking of Joyce, whose writing I have never understood, the Henderson's backyard is one of the best features of their home. Looking out to the sea, the Joyce Tower figures prominently in the view, as does the top of Dalkey Castle, just a few miles south. It's pretty incredible.

Inside the house, the view was reminiscent of an old Murderer's Row game, with Henry, Sophia, Ephro, Wampler, Shyam, and Ernest all in attendance. We sat down and played a casual tourney that Ephro took down, and then spent the rest of evening hanging out, bullshitting, and inventing a new game... Chinese War, which is too complicated and too unfinished to even begin describing here.

Somewhere in the middle of the evening, facty decided that she needs a new project, and that my love life - or lack thereof - would be a fitting challenge. I'm more than happy to let her run with this, although I'm still a little confused as to why she's decided I need to be set up with a nice Polish girl. I don't argue with Kate though, so I guess I'll just go for the ride.

Around 12:30 am, we decided it was time to bring the festivities to an end, and that's when some of the real fun started. Things get mighty quiet in Glenogeary after 11 pm, even on a Saturday. We called a couple of cab companies and, when we told them where we were, they immediately hung up on us. Brilliant, as the locals say.

After a few minutes of debate, we decided walking toward civilization would be the best bet, so we set out enmasse. The only problem with this plan was, none of us quite knew where civilization lay. We hit the main drag and the group promptly split, with Henry, Rick, Sophia and others turning right toward where they thought Dun Laoghaire lay. Ernest and I, took the path untravelled, and went left, wandering off toward parts unknown and, hopefully, Leopardstown.

Now, one of the nice things about Dublin is that you feel pretty comfortable walking around at odd hours, even when you don't know where you are. Ernest and I made our way toward Sallynoggin (I love the names of some of these towns), where we finally found a cab. All in all, it was entertaining if a little frustrating, and the one overwhelming certainty that came out of the evening is that the next time we play cards at the Hendersons, we're inviting at least one person with a car.