Wonderful Weekend in Ireland!

What a week! I had my first visitor in town for a few days. Julie arrived as I finished work last Wednesday. We had fish and chips for dinner and poor, tired Julie managed to keep from falling asleep as we ate. I had to work on Thursday, so she was on her own to explore the city centre a little bit. I called her at 2 and she was having a nice pub lunch. I was jealous. We met at my place after I left work and headed to the Leeson Lounge to meet up with our ‘Quiz Night’ team. We had a blast at the quiz, even though we didn’t come close to winning. At 11 or so, the quiz ended and we went home to get a good night’s sleep before our tour of Dublin on Friday.

Up to Steven’s Green on the LUAS, we rounded the corner of the park on foot and caught the Hop On Hop Off city tour bus as the rain fell. We decided to tour Kilmainham Gaol (jail) first, and we both enjoyed the tour very much. Back on the bus, next we were off to the Jameson Distillery. We had paninis at a little café across from the distillery and then wandered around the gift shop while we waited for the tour to start. The tour, again, was very informative, and we even got to taste the whiskey at the end. Finally, although we’d hoped to squeeze a few more tours in, we finished our day with a walk to Guinness for the self-guided tour through the Storehouse. And of course, we enjoyed a nice pint from the Gravity Bar at the top of the 8-story building as we admired the great views of the city.

We had a lovely bangers and mash dinner at the Quays restaurant, then met up with some friends in Temple Bar. We had a great evening of people watching, live music and good craic. Our pub tour landed us in several interesting places, including the Clarence, which is the hotel owned by Bono and the Edge from U2, a Russian bar called Pravda just on the north side of the river Liffey by the Ha’Penny Bridge and the Porterhouse, a 4-story pub which had a lively blues guitarist and singer performing. After getting some great video footage of some goof ball dancing to the music, we got in a taxi and headed home. On the way there, we encountered a road block where the Garda (cops) were stopping cars to make sure everyone was buckled in. It was scary, because the taxi driver was saying “hurry up and put your seat belts on!” so we struggled to find our seat belts and get them locked before it was our turn. We barely made it in time for the flashlights to find our buckled belts.

The next morning, we picked up our rental car and headed off to the west coast, making MANY stops in the Burren to take pictures of beautiful lakes, ruined castles and abbeys. We got a little lost a few times, but found our way with the help of the Burren Centre, where a nice lady told us exactly how to get to all the places we had missed so far, including the megalithic tombs and the Aillwee Cave. Our final stop was the Cliffs of Moher, which amazed us and nearly froze us to death. We left the Cliffs and made our way toward Galway, nearly running out of gas on the way. We stopped at I think three closed gas stations and even tried unsuccessfully to steal some at one very panicked moment. We pulled in to a very strange pub with Ireland’s strangest clientele and found out the nearest gas station was almost in Galway, and crossed our fingers we would make it. Much to our relief, we found the station and finally filled up the tank.

We found our way to the hotel in Galway at about ten, and went off in search of dinner. We found a Papa John’s pizza and brought it back to the hotel to eat it. Not very Irish, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

The next morning, we had our breakfast at the hotel, then tried to find the sights in Galway. We had no luck with the search and got on the road to Clifden in Connemara, where we would take a beautiful drive on the ‘Sky Road.’ The driving was quite precarious but the views were worth it. We even saw several sheep walking on the road, which both of us found extremely funny. We ended our tour of the Connemara region at the Kylemore Abbey, which is sitting at the bottom of a beautiful hill on a lake. It was gorgeous – fairy tale stuff. Just a bit up the hill, we saw a Gothic church that looked like a small cathedral. We got some sandwiches and started back toward Dublin. We had a long ride home, which seemed even longer since we were both exhausted from all we’d seen and done over the past few days. Fish and chips (again!) for dinner and then off to bed. I got Julie to the airport on time this morning and got to work on time, myself. What a great long weekend!

Greyfriars Bobby

In Scotland, I learned the story of this little dog, who was obviously a famous figure in Edinburgh history. I love the story and found it very telling of the loyalty a dog has to his owner. Saying a dog is man's best friend is an understatement. Wiki says this about him:

"Greyfriars Bobby (died January 14, 1872) was a Skye Terrier who became known in 19th-century Edinburgh, Scotland after reportedly spending 14 years guarding his owner's grave, until his own death in 1872.

A year after the dog died, the philanthropist Baroness Burdett Coutts had a statue and fountain erected to commemorate him. Several books and films have been based on Bobby's life, including Greyfriars Bobby by Eleanor Atkinson and the films Greyfriars Bobby: The True Story of a Dog and The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby (2006).

Bobby belonged to John Gray, who worked for the Edinburgh City Police as a night watchman, and the two were inseparable for approximately two years.[1] On 15 February 1858, Gray died of tuberculosis. He was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard, the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in the Old Town of Edinburgh. Bobby, who survived John Gray by 14 years, is said to have spent the rest of his life sitting on his master's grave. A more realistic account has it that he spent a great deal of time at Gray's grave, but that he left regularly for meals at a restaurant beside the graveyard, and may have spent colder winters in nearby houses.

In 1867, when it was pointed out that an ownerless dog should be destroyed, the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Sir William Chambers (who was also a director of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), paid for a renewal of Bobby's licence, making him the responsibility of the city council.

Bobby died in 1872 and could not be buried within the cemetery itself, since it was consecrated ground; instead he was buried just inside the gate of Greyfriars Kirkyard, not far from John Gray's grave."

Not So Peaceful Saturday

Did you ever have one of those days? I bet you think I’m going to tell you I had one of those days today. Not so much. I was sitting on the couch with my laptop, and a strange, unpleasant noise began that was like a ring and a beep at the same time. I ran to my security alarm and found that nothing was wrong with it. I ran upstairs, which is where the noise seemed to be emanating from. Nothing seemed to be amiss up there either. I walked out the front door and heard the next door neighbor growling and cursing, which is not unusual – I hear it a lot, along with his blaring music from time to time. So I figured it was his alarm, and walked back inside. Then I thought, since it wasn’t raining for once in the whole day, I’d walk up to the market. So I rounded up my raincoat and started to walk out the door, then had to run back in and turn off the music from my laptop. This whole time, the alarm noise had become worse, and was absolutely deafening. I was just about to turn around and head back to the door when I heard knocking on it. The mysterious next door neighbor, whom, until today I’d only ever heard, was asking me if I knew how to work the alarm. I walked over to his place and noticed that his alarm was different from mine. I asked if he knew the code and he yelled at me “I haven’t used this thing in a year! I have no idea what the code is! I even turned off the power and it’s not making any difference!!” Then he stomped off muttering “I can’t believe this! It doesn’t make any sense!” So I kept pressing buttons because I didn’t know what else to do. He came back over and told me he’d tried to call the number on the alarm pad several times and couldn’t get them to answer. I asked if maybe he could google the company name. “I’ll have to turn the power back on!” I said I was sorry, I didn’t think I could help anymore and slowly backed out of his place, into pouring rain – again. So I went back inside for a while to wait out the monsoon. This poor guy’s alarm was STILL wailing at this point. More growling curses, more slamming coming from the other side of the wall. I knew I’d be just as angry or worse if it was me. I saw the rain slack off and left for the store. When I returned, it was quiet. I witnessed at least half an hour of solid alarm ringing prior to my departure, and was never more relieved walking toward home in silence.

Wild Boar Pizza

Remember I told you I ate a wild boar pizza a few weeks ago? Well, here it is!

Edinburgh is Fantastic!

I have returned from Scotland, and I'm happy to report that my trip was wonderful! It went off without a hitch. The flights were fine, the b&b was the best ever (breakfast was GREAT and the hosts and environment even better), and I loved the city of Edinburgh. Best of all, I received no 'good luck' from any bird during my trip. Scottish birds must be kinder than Italian and Irish birds. I visited museums with art and museums with history, and even The Childhood Museum. I ate haggis, saw huge cathedrals, heard plenty of bagpipes, climbed a few hills for great views of the city, toured castles and a Georgian home. I even went on a ghost tour that took me UNDER the city and into the vaults! On the last day, I went on a tour of the Scottish Highlands, given by a Scot wearing a kilt - very authentic. I am working on getting all the photos captioned and loaded to share. In the meantime, enjoy a fine sample of the best.

Not again....

I had a terrific morning today. I was walking out the front door to head toward the bus stop when I was struck in the upper pants leg with BIRD CRAP!! 33 years I managed to avoid bird poop, and have been hit twice in one month all of a sudden. So I headed back in to correct the situation and decided that cleaning off the pants was a better option than changing outfits at that point. So I whipped the pants off, cleaned them with dish soap and water, then headed back upstairs to use the hair dryer to dry up the spot. I needed to do this because the spot was literally right beneath the crotch area, and I didn't want to appear as if I'd wet my pants. It's worth mentioning here that the placement of the bird poop was a miracle in itself. HOW DID IT GET THERE???? So in the midst of my pants drying efforts, the hair dryer died. Please believe I was cursing at this point. I cut my losses and left the house at a high rate of speed. I was now in serious danger of missing the bus. I power-walked faster than I may have ever walked in my life, and saw another girl that rides my bus run past me (confirming the fact that I was in serious danger of missing the bus). I literally stepped onto the sidewalk as the first folks were getting on the bus.

So I was off to work, feeling soooooo 'lucky' (I'm beginning to doubt the whole bird poop is lucky theory). I arrived and settled in, and found an e-mail in my inbox, pointing out a note I wrote in the highlights for the week, which are distributed to just short of everyone in ML, called "Department Abassador." Seriously??? When I checked my submitted highlights, I found it had been spelled correctly. Somehow during the editing process, the spelling had been changed, therefore making me look like a complete idiot. I am such a stickler for good spelling! Anyway, nothing I can do now. It's out there.

The day got better, despite its rocky start. It's all about laughing when you feel like crying.

Guns and Groceries

So, here's where I did my grocery shopping on Saturday.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0609/rathmines.html

Needless to say, I won't be back. I feel like I'm back in Jacksonville!

Weekend

Friday night I ate a wild boar pizza at Miller's on Baggot Street and drank a pint or two at The Waterloo - probably the nicest pub I've been to. It was beautiful inside with high ceilings, perfect lighting and not too much of a crowd. And... that was about the most exciting my weekend got. After battling the shower to get hot water for a few hours yesterday morning, I finally gave up and headed out. I found a shortcut to the grocery store I like on Rathmines Road, which runs parallel to Ranelagh Road. It's a good thing I found a shortcut, too, because my shoulders actually HURT today from carrying the load of groceries I bought there yesterday. I'm talking serious pain. After that I was exhausted, so I lounged around and did laundry the rest of the day.
Today was even less exciting. I went up to Grafton Street and bought some travel toiletries and a guidebook for Edinburgh. I had a headache brewing all morning and afternoon, so I went home and took two ibuprofens and a long nap. More laundry.
That's all folks!
This Friday I have tickets for the 'Taste of Dublin' festival. It should be fun, but I have to make sure I'm home early enough to get a good night's sleep before Edinburgh. I have to leave my house at 4:45 to be on time to the airport!!

The Battle Rages On

My effort to keep bad luck away continues. I relocated another spider today, as he was hiding out behind my recycling in the kitchen. Here's my latest POSW (prisoner of spider war):



Please do note the highly advanced and sophisticated equipment I have employed for this daily task. Patent pending.

Scotland, here I come!

I'm going to Edinburgh next weekend! I found a great deal on a flight and hotel and I'm looking so forward to it. This time I'm going to have my very own bathroom, and I'm pretty sure I'll be able to take a shower whenever I want! It's funny how much the little things mean when you've had the alternatives. I will be there from very early on a Saturday to very late on Monday. Here's a web link to the Lonely Planet info on Edinburgh: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/scotland/edinburgh/. Not quite as much time to plan this trip, but I don't think it will be a problem. I'm definitely going to do the hop on/hop off bus tour and maybe a sightseeing trip around the outer areas - maybe Loch Ness?
I consider this my third European trip, since I went to 1) Northern Ireland and 2) Rome. I have officially caught the 'travel bug!'

Tall Ships and Zen Hussies

GREAT day today. I went to the Maritime Festival in the docklands along the Liffey today. It was lots of fun... kind of like the Shrimp Festival in Fernandina. I walked along the arts and crafts booths, saw lots of flowers and plants, ate a yummy sausage dog that was too humongous, did some great people watching and heard a fantastic live band. They are called the Zen Hussies, and they are a jazz band. They're from Bristol in the UK, unfortunately, so I may never see them again. I love seeing real bands like that - they had a trumpet and a sax and the big bass and guitars and the singer was so goofy. It was fun. While I was walking across the bridge, I saw four kids jumping into the river. They were wearing wet suits and had drawn quite a crowd. I'd have to say the boys were around 12-14 years old? It was weird. I'd never heard of anyone swimming in the Liffey before. Here are some photos of the day: