Backpacking through Europe in 1994
Day 3 • September 9, 1994
Dublin, Ireland
Thirty years ago today I discovered one of my most revered locations on the planet: Windmill Lane, in Dublin, Ireland, home to the Irish rock band U2’s Windmill Lane Studio, where they recorded many of their albums.
For me this was as close to a religious experience as I had ever had, I imagine like a devout Catholic going to the Vatican or a devout Jew going to the Western Wall.
I couldn’t believe I was standing there, taking pictures of this spot where U2 made the music that I had listened to since I was 14, when I watched them for the first time on MTV in 1985!
The same music that had been with me and kept me company when I was an Exchange Student in Australia in 1988-1989!
The same music that had been with me and kept me company in college at Arizona State University in 1990-1992!
ASU was also where I got to see the band perform live in concert for the first time, in the Spring of 1992.
I also saw U2 perform in Ames, Iowa, in the Summer of 1992 and in Denver, Colorado, in the Fall of 1992, both of these concerts with my Dome Crew Brother Tim Skrastins.
And today, on September 9, 1994, 30 years ago, I was standing on Windmill Lane, Dublin, my holy ground, seeing it with my own eyes and taking pictures to prove I was there!
This was one of the greatest days of my life - but it started off as one of the worst!
Windmill Lane, Dublin, Ireland, home to the Irish rock band U2’s Windmill Lane Studio, where they recorded many albums.
My Photographs from today in Dublin
Day 3 – Dublin, Ireland 9-9-94
This has been a most bizarre day. I had the worst thing happen and most possibly the best thing happened.
Let me start at the beginning. I woke up at 9:30, and had the free breakfast - bread, jam, cheese, juice and coffee. I was a little tired though. Make that a lot tired, because I went back to sleep until after 2:00.
This really threw off my plans for the day - I was hoping to wake up before noon. Anyway, I had to hustle to make it to the Guinness brewery for their last tour at 3:30.
Some lady gave me the wrong bus numbers and a 20-minute trip took an hour and a half. I was really mad and anxious because I really wanted to see the brewery, and this was my last chance.
The bus made it there at 3:29.
I hopped off, ran up to the window as they were getting ready to close but I made it. I took my ticket and stepped inside and that's when it hit me - I left my camera backpack on the bus.
My backpack with over $2,000 of camera equipment in it.
The backpack that contained my whole existence, and the primary reason for doing this trip. All I had was the Canon EOS 630 camera on my neck.
As soon as I could, I ran from the tour back outside, found a payphone and called the bus company. But because it was a Friday afternoon, they wouldn't have it in lost and found until Monday morning.
The trouble is, I'm going to be in France Monday morning.
So I flagged down the next bus driver and asked him how long it took a bus to complete a whole circuit. He said about an hour to an hour and a half.
Then I sat at the stop, in the rain, checking each bus that came by (every 8 minutes). After an hour and 45 minutes, I was getting very nauseous end dizzy.
The next bus, however, was my salvation.
The driver started waving at me as he pulled up. He noticed that I had left my camera bag right away, and he had kept it beside him the whole time. I thanked him profusely - about a million or so times - and haven't let go of it since.
I didn't want to take another bus for a while, so I walked back to check on times for the trip to Tours, France. (Olivier and his family lived in Tours).
It looks like I will be spending a day in London, but more on that later.
So much for the bad shit - here's where the day got good. I walked over to Windmill Lane Studio, U2’s recording studio. It was on a tiny little side street that I would have never found had it not been for John at The Garage Bar giving me directions last night. As I approached, my pulse quickened, and when I saw the street sign for Windmill Lane, my heart skipped a beat.
But as I turned the corner and saw what lay before me, my heart stopped altogether.
It was a shrine, a temple, a holy place made by fans from the world over. The whole block, about 50 yards long, was covered in spray painted tribute to the band and its individual members.
“BONO, YOU’RE GOD”
“LARRY, I WANT YOU IN ME”
“I was a sailor, I was lost at sea, I was under the waves until U2 rescued me.”
“Bono, I can live with you, but never without you”
“U2 RULES THE WORLD
“FUCK THE REVOLUTION!”
“ROCK AND ROLL STOPS THE TRAFFIC”
“U2 IS THROWING THEIR ARMS AROUND THE WORLD”
“Bono, remember wet kisses in Berlin during ‘Throwing Your Arms Around The World?’ I do!”
“Bono, thanks for dancing with me in Sydney!”
“I’ve found a new religion called Bonoism”
“Bono, all I want is you!”
“U2, DON’T FLY AWAY”
“I’m Going To Run To You, Run To You”
“U2, YOU’VE SAVED ME!”
Someone had painted the whole lyrics to the song “One” on the sidewalk. It took up about 50 feet. Someone else painted Mr. McPhisto (Bono’s alter-ego) on the sidewalk.
And the names. Layers and layers and layers of names.
And now there is one more name, mine, and one more message: “U2, You’ll Never Know What You Inspired Me To Do!”
(This was it! I found what I was looking for! No matter what happened the rest of this adventure through Europe - or this adventure through life - I could claim for the rest of my life I had been to Windmill Lane.)
After spending about an hour reading other people's messages and taking pictures, I continued walking, and before I knew it had stumbled upon a place where a scene from U2’s concert movie “Rattle and Hum” had been filmed - the docks of Dublin. (I had seen this movie countless times and to be standing here gave me goosebumps).
It began raining, so I turned to go home. But I couldn't resist walking along Windmill Lane one last time. It ranks up there as one of the most fascinating things I've ever laid eyes on.
I made it back to the hostel thoroughly wet. I showered, changed, and called Olivier. When I told him I was arriving in Tours at 7:15 AM, he asked me if I could drink champagne that early. I told him not to worry.
I guess I'm not too out of touch with America, because when I went into the TV room in the hostel, the 1994 MTV Music Video Awards show was on. I watched that, rolled some film from my bulk loader into empty canisters so I’d be ready to take pictures tomorrow, wrote a postcard to Bob and now I’m going to bed.
Although I missed the Guinness brewery tour, I did get a visitor’s guide.