2018 Tour Stop #3: Dublin, Ireland

Dia duit! Or, for those who don’t speak Irish, top o’ the mornin’ to you! Dublin was the Dins’ third stop on World Tour, and although we were only there for a mere 36 hours, it was a delightful place. The Dins have not been to Dublin in almost 20 years, so the stop seemed like a brand new one for us!

A fun, pub-filled street in Dublin with an even fun-er Music Director.

Photo by Sam Rosner #245

The Dins arrived on the afternoon of Tuesday, June 5th, to a somewhat confusing scenario regarding our Airbnb. Once the minor hurdle was sorted out, though, the Dins relaxed and rested for a while. Our previous stop in London was rather packed with daily excursions and gigs, so it was good for all of us to take a few hours and kick back.  All of us then headed into the city, soaking in the sights and working up an appetite by wandering around. After thoroughly exploring the main drag, we all went to get dinner at the oldest pub in Ireland, the Brazen Head. When the food came, it made sense why the pub had been thriving since the 1100s. The traditional Irish stew I had there was perhaps one of the top three meals I’ve had on tour so far.  Though I didn’t have, the others took the opportunity to get some Guinness, Ireland’s most Irish beer - though even that seems to sell it short, from what I was told. After the wonderful experience, the guys split up, some going back to the Airbnb to sleep early, others continuing on to explore.

A photo of the towering Dublin Castle.

Photo by Eli Troen #25o

The next morning was a late start for most. I got up earlier than everyone, hoping to attend a Catholic Mass in one of Dublin’s beautiful churches, and as I was getting ready to go, Sam got up and decided to join me. Together, we went into the city, and after the Mass, we explored for several hours. We walked through St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Christ Church, the latter of which was where the first performance of Handel’s Messiah took place. We also checked out Dublin Castle, strolled through St. Stephen’s Green, and explored the campus of Trinity College Dublin before heading back for our performance. Everyone got in their tails, after reconvening from various daytime expeditions through the city, and headed off to the gorgeous Trinity College Chapel.  

The Dins rehearsing for our Dublin performance in the stunning Trinity College Chapel.

Photo by Kevin Kearns #244

After a few warm-ups in the resonant space, we thought we would further promote our new stop’s gig by doing pop-up performances in the heart of the city. We strolled over in tails to the Temple Bar area, a major tourist hub, the Molly Malone statue, and finally the Trinity College Plaza, singing short sets in each to reel in interested people. The tactic was quite effective (a security guard even had to stop us!), and the pop-ups were one of my favorite memories of performing on tour so far. The gig at Trinity Chapel itself was a great deal of fun, too. There was something truly special about singing Danny Boy in Ireland. A high school friend of Sam’s was among the crowd at the gig, and she and one of her friends joined us for a late dinner at Davy Byrne’s, home of “the best pint of Guinness in Dublin”. It was a great final night out on the town, and shortly after, the Dins made it back to pack. We had a painfully early wake up call at 4:15am to leave for our flight to Zurich, but I couldn’t help but be thankful for a terrific stop. It was new for the group, new for almost all of us individually, and we only had a day and a half, but we managed to have a terrific time exploring and a successful gig! Who knows, maybe we’ll be able to spend even more time exploring the beautiful isle of Ireland next tour. Slán Go Fóill, or goodbye for now, and see you in Switzerland!

Cheers,

Kevin Kearns #244

2018 Tour Stop #1: Reykjavík, Iceland

Greetings, and welcome to the Din & Tonics’ 2018 tour blog! If you’re reading this, I’m sure you want to know what exactly it is that we’ve been doing since we left the United States. I am here to fill you in on our all-too-brief travels in Reykjavík, Iceland, our first tour stop. Iceland, a nation near the Arctic Circle that houses only about 350,000 people, is a country that belies its name in a few ways. Most obviously, it is not covered in ice, and due to the ocean currents, the temperature near the coast rarely dips too far below freezing in winter. What is perhaps less known, though, is the warmth of the place’s culture: the incredibly generous culture of the locals more than made up for its occasionally chilly weather.

We met up and departed Boston Logan International Airport on an Icelandair vessel at about 8pm EST on May 28th. We caught up with each other quickly after a four-week break, ate dinner, and then prepared for a 5 hour flight and a 4 hour time change. Most of us had barely slept a wink when we stepped out into the cold rain that awaited us at Keflavík International at 6 am. We rode the shuttle into Reykjavík, a colorful and vibrant little city, and killed a little time exploring before checking into our spacious but confusingly laid out Airbnb. A group dinner was arranged at a great noodle restaurant near the church Hallgrímskirkja. After, some of us went out to a rooftop bar to take in views of the city. 

A photo of Hallgrímskirkja, the large Lutheran church that dominates the Reykjavik skyline. 

Photo by Kevin Kearns '20

The next day was free and full of sightseeing: seven of us woke up early to go on a “Golden Circle” tour around protected geological areas in the southwest of Iceland. Our tour took us to Þingvellir national park, the site of the oldest continuously operational parliament in the world. It is famously located right on the fissure between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates! We also visited Geysir, a hot spring, and Gullfoss, a dramatic and beautiful waterfall. While we were out beyond the borders of the city, others stayed behind and explored downtown Reykjavík. Some of us regrouped and went for a run out to the peninsula of Seltjarnarnes. Following that, we changed into our very special Din tour T-shirts and traveled to our first performance of tour! It was a relatively low-key affair at Kex Hostel, an up-and-coming hostel located on the city’s coastline. Arnar, the event manager for the hostel, was very gracious to us and we had a great time debuting our sound to a European crowd. Some of us bar-hopped after the gig while others returned home to keep catching up on sleep. 

A brief aside: if you ever visit Iceland, make sure to bring a mask or use very good blinds! During the summer months, it always seems like the daytime, as the country is so far north. I kept needing to remind myself to go to sleep when I would return to our Airbnb at 2 am in broad daylight.

A gaggle of Dins visiting Geysir and the hot springs on our "Golden Circle" tour in Iceland.

Like all my previous stays in Iceland, the last day seemed to arrive far too soon. I woke up at 1 pm and went immediately for a traditional Icelandic lunch at Café Loki with a few others. We enjoyed the dark, sweet rye bread and sheep’s-head jelly more than we were expecting! That night, we had two back-to-back performances, the first at a miniature concert hall in Hannesarholt, the former home of the first prime minister of Iceland (now a restaurant!).This was an intimate affair in which we got to show our music to a small but very enthusiastic audience. Next, we had a more relaxed evening gig in a converted old cinema called Gamla bíó with the Icelandic all-male choir Bartónar. While we couldn’t understand a whole lot of what the group was saying on-stage, we found them to be an extremely affable group of people behind the scenes, with a killer sense of humor.

The thundering waterfall Gullfoss.

Photo by Eli Troen '20

Our last night after the final gig was spent hanging out with Bartónar and friends at Kaffibarinn, a bar that has long been host to Reykjavík’s artistic elites. We chatted with a number of interesting and colorful characters until long past an ideal bedtime, but the conversations were worth it. 

The next day, we woke up, headed back to the bus terminal, and went to the airport. If I had been awake enough to think in complete sentences, I probably would have had something sentimental to say about leaving so soon, but for the time being I could only look toward our next stop in London.

Many thanks are due to all of the wonderful people who made this tour stop possible (Þakka þér fyrir, guys)! Next time you hear back from us, we’ll be talking about our stop in London and Oxford. Until then, please stay tuned!

With fire and ice,

Ethan Craigo #237