Syracuse in Dublin

Syracuse in Dublin 

          Not much happened in the first few months of school. We all basically put our heads down and worked for the first three months and then had exams at the end of March. We had two company projects during that time and a bunch of other internal projects, but no one wants to hear about school work. Roundup (now Change Donations) was having some good early success. We were finalists on the Dragons Den competition in early February, and were invited to pitch at Bank of Ireland for a spot on the Launchbox Summer Accelerator Program. The pitch was on March 5th and Lilly and her friends from Florence were in town as well. Roundup was just an idea at this stage, and all we had was a pitch deck, so I had some free time to show 

Lilly around Dublin.                                                     

            Lilly landed late Monday night and took the bus to my apartment. I didn’t have a working phone so it was tough to coordinate. A portly transvestite brought her off the street and out of the rain, but she ended up in the crack den apartments across the street from my apartment. We finally met up, and I took her to the Porterhouse to recover. I’m not the biggest fan of the porterhouse, but it hits most of the boxes for travelers and it doesn’t get too crowded. It’s a bit of a hipster bar, and to be completely honest, I’m sick of craft beers. I really don’t need to hear the whole backstory of how their method of brewing is revolutionary and how Guinness is for corporate sellouts. Guinness has been brewing beer for almost 300 years - their brewery is older than America - they have a team dedicated to the study of bubbles – I think they’re figured out how to make a good beer, and there’s no way these bearded hipsters will ever dethrone the boys in black. After Porterhouse we walked down the strip of temple bar and had a few more pints and some live music before packing it in. 

            The next day I sent the girls to Howth (above). and had them take the Guinness tour (Left). Howth is small coastal peninsula about 20 minutes north of Dublin – The Guinness tour is self explanatory. "Gary Guinness started the brewery in 1215 no relation to the Magna Carta. After the great fire of 1632  the city of Dublin gave the land to the Guinness family for a 10,000 year lease. In the 1800's there was a rift between two of the Guinness brothers around who should take control of the company, sadly the disagreement led to both brothers dying and the Guinness fortune passing to their sister Gwendolyn. To this day Guinness is still Ireland's largest export" - we all know the story. The town of Howth is quaint and simple. It’s the end of the line for the train so it has a fulfilling element about it that makes the town feel complete and solid rather than just another stop along the way.  There’s a gorgeous cliff walk that stretches about 6 kilometers, but the views change drastically throughout the walk. It stats just up the hill from the town, giving you a nice view of the harbor and the coastline. It then bends out so you’re looking into the infinite horizon knowing England lies on the other side. This view stretches the majority of the trail, and is sporadically broken up by a few lighthouses acting as trail markers. The last leg of the walk gives you a view looking back into Dublin city. 

          The shape of the peninsula puts Howth 3 miles out into the Irish Sea directly in line with the mouth of the Liffey so the view is entirely unobstructed. Dublin has no skyline, but the few buildings towering more than 7 stories serve as unimpressive landmarks. One of the lesser known facts about Howth is that it’s home to one of the most petty architects I’ve ever heard of. During the Celtic Tiger in the early 2000’s Ulster bank wanted to build a new skyline for Dublin and wanted their building to be the key feature. They architect they hired designed a pyramid, and Ulster bank said “No fucking way” – direct quote. The architect built this (right) which for everyone in Dublin isn’t a pyramid. However, because of the height and angle of each tower, the view from his house on Howth shows the building as a perfect pyramid. This picture (below) isn’t from Howth, but you get the idea. That blend of pettiness, irreverence, and spite is something that is distinctly Irish. I can only imagine how happy he feels when he sees that pyramid every day. 

            After their time in Howth they came to watch us pitch for a spot on the Launchbox program. It was a room full of banal bankers, some over eager tech enthusiasts and about 20 teams. Lilly and her friends strolled in fashionably late, and immediately stood out from the crowd. They waited to see us pitch and felt their presence was disruptive and headed to the pubs. After all of the pitches were done, and we were accepted into the incubator program, I went out to celebrate with Lilly and her friends. Tuesday isn’t enough of a reason for the locals to flood the bars, so we weren’t fighting the crowds to get into to the top bars. We bounced around a few stalwarts (the Quays, Oliver St. John Gogarty's, Temple Bar) and finally settled on the Auld Dubliner, a musty old pub in Temple Bar with live music and an uncharacteristically sassy bar tender. We had the place to ourselves and front row seats to live music.  The young musician was thrilled to have 6 American girls drooling over his Irish charm. He played to their heart-stings and sang whatever requests they threw at him. We pushed the musician to stay on until closing, and we drank the night away in true Dublin fashion. We were good and drunk by the end of the night and I have no idea how they made their flight in the morning. 

Song of the week: Benny and the Jets - Elton John

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5rQHoaQpTw