Irish football, castle ruins, getting lost on the back roads and singing at the dinner table... Mullingar was home away from home. My good friend and colleague from work, Alie, invited me for a weekend away to visit her parents in a more "rural" part of Ireland. I was glad to accept, always happy to meet new people and explore new places.
Mullingar is only an hour or so outside of Dublin, so it didn't take us long to get there. Alie was accompanied by her boyfriend Greg, and their two dogs, Henry and Bo. The street Alie grew up on was well maintained, filled with the homes of couples whose children had long since left to grow their own families. When we arrived, Alie's parents were out in front of the house, waiting to greet us with boisterous hellos! Well, Mick was boisterous anyway. He was Alie's father, a larger-than-life gentleman in every way shape and form. Alie's mom, Marge, was petite, soft spoken and incredibly warm. We were all introduced, I received a round of hugs and handshakes, and then we were escorted into the house.
As soon as I walked through the front door, the smell of a very familiar time and place washed over me. It reminded me of visiting my Great Aunt Frannie back in Reno during summer vacations. It was a place that immediately felt comfortable and homey, and that was a wonderful feeling for someone who had been away from home for so long. The house was older, but very well kept. The carpets were original from the looks of things, at least 40-50 years old, and very vibrant in pattern and color. I swear the green carpet on the stairs was exactly like the carpet Aunt Frannie used to have. There were family pictures on the walls, adding to the warm and inviting decor. There were wonderful smells coming from the kitchen, which was the first place we were led to. The cheerful sounds of family interaction reverberated off the walls, and it was a special kind of music to hear. Everyone made me feel right at home, as if I'd been part of the family for years.
A lunch of homemade soup and sandwiches was served. Afterwards, I unloaded the goodies I'd brought- banana bread and white chocolate raspberry bars. The desserts were received with amazement and smiles. Greg moaned when he tasted the banana bread and Alie gave him a quizzical look. Clearly he liked it. Mick wouldn't give up the raspberry bars, and Marge, very slowly, ate two of them, which you could tell was not customary for her. I was delighted everyone was happy. Conversation was so easy-flowing, and Mick very proudly announced the menu for dinner, which would be a starter of salad with salmon, followed by roasted lamb with mashed peas and fingerling potatoes, followed by a dessert or tiramisu. I approved with words and smiles.
After lunch, Alie and Greg whisked me off for a tour of the countryside. We visited beautiful lakes and ancient castle ruins. We stopped at a very old church with beautiful stained glass windows, and a huge garden area that had life-sized statues portraying the Stations of the Cross. It was creepy, NOT a place you'd want to be out and about in at nights...or even dusk for that matter. Yes, I'm a guilty ex-Catholic, what can i say!
Winding our way through the backgrounds, topics of conversation varied from family stories to work stories to local stories of Alie's growing up in the area. It was fabulous! The back roads of Mullingar were not well signed, lets just say, and after a while we found ourselves completely lost. I think we circled the same sign post at least four times before getting back onto a main road. GPS and cell phones were useless out in the boonies, but that was fine with me. The scenery was beautiful and the company entertaining. Cows and sheep in the fields watched as we wound our way around, probably amused as well.
When we finally made our way back to the house some time later, we checked in on Mick and Marge, who were busy preparing dinner, gin and tonics in hand. We had a bit of time before it would be ready, so Alie, Greg and I wandered off to the neighborhood pub for a couple rounds of drinks to start us off. We bought a couple packs of scampi-flavored crisps to munch on. Crisps are chips, and yes, I said scampi flavored. They were disgusting! We got back to the house an hour or so later, and while dinner was ready, the Irish football game was heating up,
so Mick and Marge took it upon themselves to sit me down and teach me about Irish football. We were all a couple drinks in at that point and it was good fun. I can't say I understood much of what was happening, but it was fun to see everyone getting excited none-the-less.
When we sat down to dinner, the table was perfectly prepared for a three-course meal. Every seat had a dinner roll, wine, and the salad with salmon course laid out. It looked beautiful, and I felt like a queen! We talked about the day's trip, and all manner of other topics. I felt like I did a lot of the talking, and Alie told me later she had never seen someone best her dad for keeping up a conversation. It was just such an inviting, wonderful group that it was easy to talk. The main course of lamb, peas and potatoes was just amazing. SOOOO tasty, and I never eat lamb! We washed that down with another glass of wine, or two, and the conversations just got better and better. By the time we were clearing the table, we got onto the topic of singing, and I said how much I loved to sing. Mick insisted that sing a song for them. I was petrified. I never sang acapella in front of people. But somehow, I felt so at home with everyone that I burst out into my favorite traveling song, one that I was pretty sure I could pull off, "Cups" - "I got my ticket for the long way round, two bottle whiskey for the way..." It didn't sound half bad...maybe it was the wine, but everyone seemed to be enjoying it. Alie knew the song and chimed in from the kitchen, and by verse two, the whole family was singing with me, and we were having a grand ole time!
The night finished off with tiramisu and a proper Irish coffee. We were there at the table gabbing away until nearly midnight, at which point we were all ready to fall into bed. What a fantastic day!
The next morning, Alie and I got up early to clean the kitchen, and as everyone wandered down to the dining room, eggs, toast, and oatmeal came out for breakfast. Mick wanted a proper Irish Fry, complete with bacon, sausages, blood pudding, fried eggs...but he was alone in that, so we kept it simple.
It was Sunday, and the whole town was getting dressed up to attend mass. Alie, Greg and I, being the Philistines that we are, decided to go for a walk by the lake instead. It was a beautiful, sunny morning, and I found myself drifting in and out of happy thoughts and daydreams as we walked along the path. Upon our return, we all enjoyed a cup of tea, banana bread and raspberry bars. Then it was time to say goodbye. It was a prolonged goodbye with tons of hugging, some family picture taking (yes, I was in the pictures) and plenty of invitation to return as I pleased at a moment's notice. They are a wonderful family, and I had fantastic weekend of food, drink, conversation, and Irish Football!
If you do venture in, the place is dripping with crystals, all reflecting prisms of light, and it really, really makes you wish you had a limitless credit card.
