Azamara Quest - Mediterranean Cities, October 28-November 4 2021

[Bimmer09]

Once installed on the 6th floor Carol set about Cloroxing while I went down to the street to survey the environs. The bedroom and the bathroom were up to par with the Majestic

 

 

 

[mchell810]

1 hour ago, Bimmer09 said:

"Pair of Knees"? but don't quote me.

 

🤣🤣🤣

[Bimmer09]

Back outside I was thinking that all the places I had researched to have dinner in were pubs in the Temple Bar area near the river, but with the rugby hysteria they were likely to be busy and noisy. That we didn't need so I thought we should eat closer to the hotel, or in it.

I was standing just outside St Stephens Green, a pleasant park opposite the hotel.

 

 

 

and I looked back to the Shelbourne where there was a bar that served food, called 27.

 

it was approaching rush hour in Dublin

[Bimmer09]

Back in the Shelbourne I took a look in "27" one of their bars. The joint was jumping and people were eating. I took a pic of the menu and found a few things that were drool-worthy.

 

The hostess asked if I wanted to make a booking for dinner but I couldn't commit without Carol agreeing. When the hostess asked if we were staying in the hotel and I said youbetcha she guaranteed me a table if I came later. Works for me. There was another restaurant a few yards away down the corridor-the Saddle Room and I strolled in. It was only 5  o'clock and they weren't serving yet but I talked to the chef-one of many getting ready. It was a fine dining room and we weren't really looking for fancy but it was an option I thought-just in case.

 

Up in the room Carol had been looking up nearby restaurants. I told her about the Grayson, having looked at their foodie menu. She liked the look of it when I walked her over. We went in and spoke to the hostess. "We're fully booked all evening"

Carol pulled up her list of alternatives nearby. We went to 4 places and got the same story "Fully booked all evening". One had no host, just a scrum of people waiting by the door. It was a pub which featured Irish music and when we saw through the scrum we could see a mass of people inside a courtyard, eating and drinking, but the courtyard with the sun going down wasn't a plus. Too cold, too raucous and that was before any fiddles and penny whistles were heard. We got out of line.

 

Eventually we returned to the hotel. Carol saw the Saddle Room when we entered. It was quieter than 27 so she said let's eat here. Ok. We approached the hostess stand and she said "We're fully booked all evening".

 

I went to the hostess at 27, big smile and she welcomed us in.

 

[Bimmer09]

From Google images 27

 

From our table

 

 We sat at a low table as we don't like those high pub tables with the tall stools. There was such a table in a corner to our left with some men talking excitedly about rugby but when one of them fell from his stool to the floor with a crash the manager came over and had a quiet word and that table soon departed. Now it's quieter which always gets a nod of approval from Carol.

 

I had scanned the draft beer taps upon sitting down

 

During a recent medical exam my doctor said "I've just got back your blood work and it appears you have a high level of Guinness. Guinness is good for you so keep those levels up!"

I ordered a pint of Guinness. It was half poured and left to rest on the counter ( I was watching every move) Then the pour was continued...

 

This was superlative. Textbook. It didn't have to travel far....

 

We last ate 12 hours ago in Barcelona and had been tramping from door to door for an hour in the evening cold. Now we were toasty and hungry. I was really hungry and so ordered an appetizer and an entree. Carol sipped on her Ginger Beer while I dived headfirst into this-my garlic shrimp. 21 Euros well spent. 

 

The shrimp were trapped in a bowl so there was no escape. This was worth the 12 hour wait!

 

We both had ordered the fish and chips. The fish was plaice from Kilmore Quay according to the menu.

Accompanied by some mushy garden peas and delicious crisp hot fries.

also 21 Euros

 

The service by a couple of young Dublin ladies working as a well oiled team was top notch. It's entirely possible that I was offered another Guinness and accepted. Now we were being asked if dessert was a requirement. What's your gateau of the day? (shown on menu)

It was this

 

The accents around me remind me that I am in Ireland and therefore asking for an Irish coffee, something I have ceased doing in the USA following disappointments, was not a faux pas.

 

That little brown disc on the top of the double cream is chocolate which slowly melted and sent my brain into orbit.

All in all, start to finish, my most memorable meal of our trip.

[Bimmer09]

Carol's notes say that we were asleep by 7.30 p.m that night and I'm not in a position to argue. As we had a room facing away from the street we were blessed with a quiet night and 10 hours of sleep. We were awake by 5.30 as we had a flight today and needed to leave for the airport by 8.30.

 

We had already decided that the Shelbourne would forever be our hotel in Dublin and I hope we do return for we saw little of it but liked what we saw and everyone we had spoken to was down to earth and pleasant, including the who turned us away from their restaurants. Maybe someday we will take an Azamara cruise starting in Dublin and ending up in Iceland. I have my eye on one such.

 

So we were at the Saddle Room restaurant for breakfast (for a fee). It wasn't the cornucopia of delights which we found in the Majestic but there was a hot buffet which I was able to make a good fried breakfast from. It included some real Black Pudding, not the joke pretend stuff on the Quest. It sits on the plate next to it's brother, white pudding. Both of these delicacies reside in my fridge currently. I buy from a Brit food importer in Pennsylvania and they ship to me.

 

Carol ordered French toast from the menu

 

This would fuel us for any airport ordeals. Carol had upgraded us to Aer Lingus Business Class which was a fantastic surprise so I knew we would get food and drink on our 7.5 hour flight which leaves at 11.30.

[Bimmer09]

A WALK AROUND ST STEPHEN'S GREEN

After a good breakfast it was time to step outside into that fresh morning air.

The park gates were locked-drat! A passing runner told us it doesn't open until 9.30 by which time we would be in the airport. So we walked around the square. Its 7.30 on a Sunday morning. A road crew is out repainting the traffic lines on the road. Apart from that there are a few runners. It's quiet. 

Clean street!

Georgian archiecture. 

 

Wow! Nice stately building

 

a church sandwich?

 

The blue sign high on the left says "Our Lady Seat of Wisdom"

 

Love these doors!

[Bimmer09]

We pass  a statue of Lord Ardliaun who gave the land for the park to the city.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Stephen's_Green

 

 

 

 

A tram! So European and a great way to get around

 

 

[Bimmer09]

 

We are walking up the last side of the square back to the hotel

 

I put the lens up to the gate bars to get this next shot. How I wish we could have gone in!!

 

Now we are back at the hotel

[Bimmer09]

Dublin was never in our original travel plans as we thought we would fly direct from Barcelona to Chicago on United Airlines but after a long night of glue-sniffing the United Operations group thought $2600 in Economy Class was a good price for a person to pay. When we looked around we came upon Aer Lingus at half that fare and so worked with them. 

 

I was already well disposed to the Irish airline as I subscribe to a site called Just Planes on Youtube and they feature the pilots of Aer Lingus a lot- they have 10% female pilots which is high in the industry. They fly Airbus planes which we hadn't been on-until later today. Stay tuned.

 

Having seen a tiny part of Dublin and interacted with a few of their citizens I want to see more and I believe Carol feels the same way.

 

I'm going to have to pick up my camera soon before we get a taxi to the airport so I'll show you some more pics of the hotel that will help you understand our happiness with Carol's choice. It is owned by Marriott and Carol is a member of that group. 

 

We enter the hotel through a door (always a good idea) and find ourselves in that lovely old-school hallway

 

I love that display in the hallway

 

on our right, opposite #27 Bar, is this room where they serve Afternoon Tea, something Carol was talking about for weeks but which didn't happen this time. This is called the Lord Mayor's Lounge

 

There were a couple of bars we didn't even pop into. The 1824 Bar which looks like an old library in a stately home and the Horseshoe Bar

 

from there we enter the main lobby where you check in and catch an elevator

 

and the check-in desk

 

I liked this piece of furniture on the way to our room

 

and lastly a detail from our room-the mirrored closet doors

 

 

[Bimmer09]

By 8.30 we are checked out and in the lobby. A bellman has called a taxi for us. He loads our hand luggage into the trunk except for my heavy camera bag. Our driver has the same last name as our previous one (Began) and is another good talker but a more honest driver when it comes to route maps.

 

We leave the Shelbourne behind

https://www.theshelbourne.com/our-hotel

 

and drive through a city that is not yet fully awake. We have all our paperwork including Covid testing results and the Verifly app says we are Ready to Fly.

 

[Bimmer09]

1 hour ago, singinalot said:

Ugh had to go into private mode on my browser so I could even like or comment on your posts.this is getting so annoying CC! Months of dealing with these glitches…

 

 

anyway, St Stephens Green is one of my fav places in Dublin! Along with Queen of Tarts counter.

 

photo from my Visit in 2014

Wow Crystal , a shop full of tasty treats! 

Today I will finish this review-22 days straight to write it and put the photos up. Could have been 20 days except for all the disappearing posts (write it, hit submit and its gone, re-write it, LOL) and trouble loading CC on my computer. Won't let you give a thumbs up-have to reload screen etc. The software for  CC is bug-ridden.

 

Stay tuned for our flight home...Aer Lingus knocks it out of the park.

Norris

[Baynanno1]

You mentioned Airbus . . . A380 perhaps?

Our favourite for the long haul from Australia to anywhere far away!

 

Your hotel choices look fabulous!

[takemewithyou]

Yes, @Bimmer09, you do have great taste in hotels!

Do you have a favorite for Lisbon, Portugal?

[Bimmer09]

Dublin Airport and we are Ready to Fly! Hooray! Here's the great thing about flying from Dublin to the USA- in Dublin they have an American Customs Lane so you pass through that and avoid going through customs in O'Hare (which is a beast of stanchions and shuffling along behind a long long line of everybody coming from an International Flight.) The only drawback is that once you pass through security in Dublin airport you have to pass through another security check for the U.S Flights.  Computer out, shoes off, belt off, pockets emptied of metal, cell phone off and then get dressed and pack it all up again-twice.

 

But by now-this is our 4th flight of our trip- we are used to this part of the process. Yes I said Ireland was a small country and the airport was compact but that's only in relation to Chicago and Barcelona. Our legs still got a work out and our gate was as far from civilization as it could be. None of my luggage that I was hand carrying had wheels (since rectified) so I had 18 lbs of cameras hanging from one shoulder and the same hanging from my hand (tripod, computer, and stuffed with barbells by the feel of it), so even though the Aer Lingus lounge (also good for United Passengers) was way down there on the horizon we made the effort once through an identity check. We arrived at the Aer Lingus Club, known as the "51st and Green" lounge (don't ask me why) as this photo will attest.

 

It was a circular lounge which was different but what really set it apart was that it was at runway level. Usually we are looking down at the planes. We sat in big high-backed armchairs -the sort favored by Bond film villains. Free wi-fi and charged our phones.

 

our plane sits yonder- an Airbus A330

 

an escalator rider was obviously in our future.

[Bimmer09]

36 minutes ago, takemewithyou said:

Yes, @Bimmer09, you do have great taste in hotels!

Do you have a favorite for Lisbon, Portugal?

No-but we'll find one when we plan to visit there!

We steer away from modern hotels and "trendy" is the kiss of death.

We like quiet elegance and history.

Norris

[Bimmer09]

Our flight left Dublin on time

 

Business class in the A330-300 is a 2-2-2 configuration. Free wi-fi is included.

 

Carol works her massage chair from her remote control

 

lunch menu comes around

 

watching  a movie on the 16 inch Panasonic screen plus good headphones

so much legroom-enough for a 6 ft 5in person

 

we watch the same movie and get our scenes in sync so there are no spoilers

 

Set in Ireland, a romantic comedy with Emily Blunt, Jamie Dornan (from N. Ireland) and Christopher Walken. Passed the time pleasantly

[Bimmer09]

Service was fantastic and the new yardstick for other airlines to match. The red wine kept coming. United Airlines note- no plastic wine glass!!

 

lunch would be coming soon and we'd have to pause our movie

 

the first course. Smoked chicken

those long white shreds next to the chicken are celeriac. Plus cornichons and tomato 

 

that was followed by our main course-filet of beef and potatoes au gratin

 

with another glass of red wine it was the perfect pairing. The gravy is rosemary jus and there are small amounts of green beans, broccoli, carrot and cauliflower. Yikes!

 

I am in a food coma but when my Irish cheese comes I welcome it. I could never wave cheese away when I have a glass of wine. Who does that??!

 

I think this next pic is Carol's dessert as she didn't order cheese. Her notes speak of "Profiterole cake"

 

Best meal I have ever eaten in an airplane

 

 

[silkismom]

Gee that beef looks great, we had beef on BA--gaggg. But their first class on 787 was nice.

[Bimmer09]

No American airline uses the Airbus planes. Boeing rules the roost here. This was the best designed plane I've ever been on- so roomy and after the Boeing 777 Business Class to Rome it was a revelation.The Polaris seats on the Boeing had to be slanted at an angle to fit more in. These Airbus seats faced straight forward and were quick and easy to get out of. Way more legroom too. 22 inches wide. Comfy and space for all the extra pillows, blankets and amenity kits.  In Polaris you have to dig your way into the seat as all that crap is sitting in it. Electric massaging seat?-yes Airbus! Reading light over your shoulder? -yep.

Very impressive aircraft.

Carol embarked on watching another movie. Tenet by the man who gave us, among others, Interstellar and the great Dunkirk. I had read reviews of Tenet on Rotten Tomatoes and ran screaming into the night. There was enough time for her to see all but 20 minutes of it. I occasionally stole a glance and was glad I hadn't committed. Instead I stood up and got my computer from the overhead bin and did almost 3 hours work on my photos from the early part of this saga. The red wine helped me concentrate.

oh look! There's snow in Greenland. Who knew?

 

An hour before we land they brought round tea/coffee and sandwiches but I must have forgot to take pics

 

Our plane-St Sillian at terminal 5 O'Hare

 

At the end of this most enjoyable and comfortable flight we landed smoothly at terminal 5 (new) in Chicago and began our long walk to baggage claim. No Customs thanks to Dublin airport and our Global Entry membership.  Our bags arrived with us! We walked out into the fresh air and got a taxi immediately. Our first time in a taxi in almost 2 years and he overshot our exit on the Kennedy Expressway as it passed through Chicago. He stopped his meter. Carol had to direct him from there with an assist from me. He had done well up until that point so got a 20% tip

 

And soon we were coming through the door.

 

For the first time in over 23 years there was no cat coming to greet us.

 

Dedicated to the memory of Snowy the cat 2003-2021

 

Norris- I said I'd give my opinions of Azamara and that will come soon. My thanks to all of you who have read along and especially to those who have commented. Keep the notification button alive so I can alert you to the next review. As currently planned that will be in May 2023. But who knows.....

 

 

 

 

Edited November 30, 2021 by Bimmer09
cut photo

[Fairgarth]

1 hour ago, Bimmer09 said:

No American airline uses the Airbus planes.

 

 

 

Sorry, m'lud, not true.  The JetBlue fleet is almost entirely Airbus except for a few Embraers.  Delta has a bunch of A330's, American has a huge fleet of A319, A320, and A321's. United has a fleet of A320's and, I believe, has ordered a load of A321's.  

[Bimmer09]

28 minutes ago, Fairgarth said:

 

 

Sorry, m'lud, not true.  The JetBlue fleet is almost entirely Airbus except for a few Embraers.  Delta has a bunch of A330's, American has a huge fleet of A319, A320, and A321's. United has a fleet of A320's and, I believe, has ordered a load of A321's.  

Sorry- I got my intel from a Youtube video called "Why no U.S airlines use Airbus planes". Thanks for the correction!

Norris

[Walt fan]

I have loved this review and will be here til the end. I apologize in advance, but I did cry at the picture of Snowy. I miss my Charlie, gone 1/8/2021. I get too attached.

I really want to go to Dublin one day. I earmarked the hotel on TA. Such a lovely hotel. Your pictures are incredible. 

Wow, your flight home. I am impressed. The room, the food, and on time!!

Looking forward to your Azamara tidbits!

[Westaussie]

Thank you for another enjoyable cruise with you (on our favourite cruise line).

 

When you're in Dublin next hope you can spend minimum of a week.  We stayed not far from your hotel, lovely area - one of our favourite cities!

 

Look forward to your next travels.

Vera

[PurpleTraveller]

Thank you Norris and Carol for another wonderful journey with you. As always, I loved your commentary and fabulous photos. I have enjoyed every moment (well, except for the lost luggage and first flight dramas) of your trip! Hope you have a wonderful time in Germany and I'll keep an eye out for your next review.

 

I have booked my first Celebrity cruise on Infinity for next June of the Adriatic and first cruise on Royal Caribbean on Vision of the Seas for the end of next June of the Western Mediterranean, with a two week land tour of Spain and Portugal in between the two cruises. I will be doing reviews of both cruises so keep a look out for them next July.

 

Once again, Thank you! Allison 😊

 

Edited November 30, 2021 by PurpleTraveller