Kala and I flew to Ireland/Dublin on miles through DFW ~ we left early from COS to avoid PM t-storms; thanks for the ride Peg! We had a great lunch at Papadeaux in DFW and boarded our pond-hopper about 8pm. The flight was simple and sleep-filled; customs in Dublin was perfunctory.
Once we landed we simply took a cab to the Hotel 7 to check in; where we also mapped the plan to visit Windmill Lane recording studio that afternoon. We walked to the studio through Dublin along the Liffey River; very cool.
Windmill is a higher end studio with 3 primary rooms (#3 for orchestra & #2 for bands). We did a guided tour through the studio where many great artists have recorded albums or tracks and saw the rooms and mixing boards "where the magic happens." Evidence of Grammy winning & platinum albums abound ~ U2, Rolling Stones, Kate Bush, the 1st 3 Cranberries' albums, Elvis Costello, The Chieftans, and many others; Springsteen was there 3 weeks ago. Even some great movies like The Commitments were recorded and mixed there. We played with and listened to the monitoring systems which were awesome and described well by our guide and recording artist Maria. You know me about good sound and music so this was my choice for sure and Kala arranged a great tour ~ the main control room monitoring sound from the big Genelec speakers was spectacular... but super expensive; Kala is a little concerned.
On the way home we passed Murphy's Tavern and noted it was decked out in the colors of the two teams playing in the national championship of hurling tomorrow: black & gold of Kilkenny and green & white of Limerick. Ireland has some of the coolest sports leagues and organizations on the planet. For both hurling and gaelic football (and maybe others) teams are built exclusively from talent born within each county in the country... you play for the team from whence you came. Players are not paid and leagues and national championships are thus constructed. Additionally, the sports themselves are quite unique and tough. Hurling is not unlike lacrosse and I was interested in the championship game (more tomorrow).
We ultimately met up with our travelmates Karla & Kevin and headed down to Murphy's for fish & chips, Irish stew, and a pint, and then a nightcap back at the Hotel 7. I mostly had black & tans (50/50 mix of Guiness & pale ale), which I first learned should not be used as a name but half & half instead, due to Irish commandants working for the English being previously called that (they were hated for the allegiances)... later a bartender said "you want a black & tan" and we traded stories over the naming, the denial of which he thought nonsense. Hmmm.
It was a great first day and we were pretty tired, but awake, at the end.
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