"Severe Tea," and Bram Stoker's Dublin, and a Viking Splash

In chapter 8 of Dracula, Mina Murray writes in her diary, "We had a capital 'severe tea' at Robin Hood's Bay in a sweet little old-fashioned inn, with a bow window right over the seaweed-covered rocks of the strand. I believe we should have shocked the 'New Woman' with our appetites."

She must have eaten a great deal indeed, as the New Woman, with her progressive ideas regarding women's independence, sexuality, and right to vote, had a voracious appetite, symbolically (and perhaps literally) speaking.

No lettuce leaves and weak tea for her; her corset could be loosed to accommodate hearty, substantial food.

Still, Mina's "severe" tea sounds a bit punishing. I should like to think of food as a delight, for as Virginia Woolf has written, "One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, unless one has dined well."

I dined quite well this summer while spending eleven glorious days in Ireland, four of them in Dublin. After doing literary things with Mr. C, like visiting Yeats' tower home, Lady Gregory's estate, the Book of Kells and the extraordinary Long Room (library) at Trinity College, Dublin, we took a 90 degree turn and boarded a Viking Splash vehicle with our three children, which offered a tour of Dublin by land and sea (basin).

The Long Room; my photo.

Our tour was led by the knowledgeable and witty Viking Patrick, who pointed out various historic locations, including Bram Stoker's adult house.

Bram Stoker's house at 30 Kildare; not my photo.

Although we had not planned this outing to be a literary one, it turned out to be such, as our neighbors on the Splash Tour turned out to be memoirist Frank McCourt's family--his wife, daughter and grandchildren. They were in Dublin for the world premiere that evening of the musical adaptation of Angela's Ashes. Mr. C was sitting with Frank's wife, and as they were both New Yorkers, and he teaches Irish literature, they had a grand chat.

The sea part of the tour took us to a basin. where we saw U2's recording studio, as well as some modern sculpture that Patrick disapproved of.

After the tour ended, we were ready to sink our teeth into something (sorry), and found a lovely pub with beautiful painted tiles and leather banquettes. 

Here we had our tea, which could, I suppose, be termed "severe," but with our appetizers of wild Galway mussels, good beer, and hearty fish and chips, we felt quite luxurious, quite "New People" after our ride and dip.