Give Dublin a Chance To Be Sure, To Be Sure

This piece launches a new-for-me concept. Instead of a conventional travelogue I thought I’d add a new “Adventures With Rob” tab on the blog with short remarks designed to direct you to Facebook to see images the next day.

 

Dublin is the first post. We stopped in Dublin on our way to France because there are no direct flights to Bordeaux and we’d consider flying to Lapland if it meant avoiding the nightmare of changing planes at Heathrow. Travel tip: Never go to Heathrow unless London is your final destination.

 

Why Dublin?

 

1. Aer Lingus has a direct flight of about 5 ½ hours from Bradley Airport (Windsor Locks, CT). It lands at a stupid early time (around 4:30 am Irish time), but there are airport cafes where you can caffeinate. Some have comfy sofas where you can take turns catnapping.

 

2. I hadn’t been there in about 20 years and it has come up in the world.  

 

3. Its free archaeological museum is pure gold. Literally! It takes you from the days of slab dwellings and thatched huts to the present. There are stunning displays of gold jewelry and artifacts dug from bogs (mostly in the 20^th century). Although it’s not as rich, the National Art Museum is also free and has unique finds.

 

4. There’s plenty to entertain you in two days whilst you recover from jet lag and go on to your next destination.

 

5. Transport from and to the airport by bus is cheap and easy. Get off or on in the city center near Trinity College.

 

6. There is no need to spend a fortune on special tours or Hop On/Hop Off buses. Dublin is very walkable. If you cross the Ha’Penny Bridge over the Liffey River you can walk the whole way to the Calatrava Harp Bridge (officially the Samuel Beckett Bridge) in about 30 minutes. On your way you’ll see the Famine Memorial and a docked tall ship, the Jeanie Johnston.

 

7. Forget what tourist sites tell you, there are tons of pubs where you can catch “sessions” of traditional Irish music. By all means avoid places advertised as Irish “shows.” They are about as “Irish” as a stuffed leprechaun or a fiddler playing a hoedown.

 

Downsides?

 

1. Irish food still sucks with the exception of its excellent tea scones. Try Keough’s, which now surpasses Bewley’s. There are loads of ethnic restaurants in Dublin these days, so you won’t be forced to eat colcannon. Only barefoot, muddy peasants think creamed mashed potatoes and cabbage is dinner and, if you’re really unlucky, some places use kale instead of cabbage. That’s called adding insult to injury.

 

2. Don’t be suckered into drinking Guiness in a pub. It’s better than the swill imported to the States, but both are akin to having a glass of polluted water. Go to “free houses” not beholden to any single brand. Irish barkeeps are very friendly. Tell them what you like and ask for recommendations. You can also forego brewery factory tours. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.

 

3. Be careful in the Temple Bar area at night. You’ll be safe enough, but dodgy characters come out when the sun goes down. Pickpockets prey upon distracted rubberneckers. It’s a lively and crowded area, so be aware.

 

4. It costs 25 euros to see the Book of Kells, an outrageous sum given that most of the books have been taken from the library. The library is magnificent when its shelves are full, but even then you only see a few Book of Kells pages. Wait until you get home and buy a volume with crisp color plates of the entire Book of Kells. You can also see illuminated manuscripts in the archaeology museum for free.

 

5. Even devotees of Jameson’s Whiskey will tell you that if your travels are taking you to Scotland, that’s where the real whisky—the only one allowed to be spelled that way–should be sampled. I had a funny conversation with an Irish museum guard who practically cried when I told him I could buy Scottish Lagavulin in the States for well under the equivalent of 150 euros!

 

Wolk Pack: Discover the World of C. J. Box

 

 

 

Wolf Pack (2019)

By C. J. Box

G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 370 pages

★★★★

 

If, like me, you've burned through the back catalog of numerous mystery writers and are looking for a new addiction, C. J. Box might be your new rodeo. His Joe Pickett series has swollen to 20 titles. Pickett is not your typical detective; he's a game warden who hit the jackpot by marrying Marybeth and raising a stable of daughters. The youngest, Lucy, is about to leave the homestead for college. Life is good in Shoestring, Wyoming.

 

Wyoming game wardens do more than write tickets; they also have limited law enforcement powers. Joe has a solid circle of friends and colleagues, a good thing as game wardens are more tolerated than liked. It's safe to say that animal rights and game laws aren't popular in Big Sky regions.*

 

The Wolf Pack shows how small problems can become huge when the human body count begins to rival the number of deer jackings. Two small things set things in motion. Katelyn Hamm, a warden in an adjoining district, tells Joe that someone is using sophisticated drones to hunt wildlife. Secondly, Herman, a cranky rancher calls Joe to tell him wolves have been killing his livestock. Problem: Officially there aren't any wolves in this section of Wyoming. Herman begs to differ; he has a wolf in his stock trailer that he lassoed!

 

Things get stickier when the drone is traced to Tom Kinnison, who no one including Joe  knows. Joe's search leads him to Bill Hill, a recent arrival and recluse living in a gated compound. His son Justin happens to be dating Lucy. Who is Hill exactly? That’s also a local conundrum. Joe's attempt to hold a civil conversation with him comes to naught. Worse, a string of murders sounds alarms as they have all the earmarks of being both brutal and random. To top it off, four Hispanic individuals have been throwing their money and weight around. It's not unusual to see Hispanic visitors in Wyoming, but there's something about these four that unsettles Joe. Hill remains uncooperative but violence makes its way to his compound. Moreover, Joe cannot fathom why he has been ordered to cease his attempts to cite Hill for obvious game violations. He can't even figure out who issued such an order though he naturally suspects Hill is linked to local troubles. Who or why would anyone in authority ask Joe to stop investigating crimes. He is told that he has no need to know.

 

When, however, some of Joe's friends and associates are gunned down and he fears  that Lucy could be in jeopardy, Joe is prepared to ignore his instructions. If you read enough C.J. Box novels you will learn that Joe has a pattern of doing runarounds of higher authorities and that he is usually correct in doing so. But not even Joe or Marybeth, whose high-level job provides her with access to those who can tell her things she's not supposed to know, can enlighten them fully. Rumors fly that the  assassins were working for Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel, yet it’s difficult to imagine any of the victims would so connected.  

 

Wolf Pack is a fast-paced novel that is filled with uncertainties that will keep you turning the pages and holding your breath. Wyoming is not exactly the ends of the earth, but it is vast and far from the centers of federal control. One of the attractions of Box novels is that they often contain vestiges of the Wild West mythos. It helps to know that the Wild West never really existed as most people imagine in the first place, so why not yield to a novelistic convention that’s more Zane Gray than U.S. history? There are indeed legitimate questions of credibility, but they are analogous to Louise Penny novels that make you wonder how one small village can spawn so many murders!

 

Wolf Pack straddles the line between mystery and thriller, so perhaps it’s best to dust off grains of doubt and surrender to its heart-thumping dangers and action. It certainly has one of most vicious killers in recent fiction and leave us with a gruesome, yet satisfying denouement.

 

Rob Weir

 

* Technically, mine is a partial anachronism. Neighboring Montana officially bears the “Big Sky Country” nickname. Call it literary license!