A White New Year?

Check it out - the snowfall started at 11:30. Amazing and beautiful. It makes the cold worth it.

Jen-Pop

Oh my God. I'm frozen. I'm a popsicle.

Ha'penny Bridge

I took a stroll around Dublin today and finally took a daylight photo of the Ha'penny Bridge, one of the top sights in Dublin. Nice stroll, nice pretty day.

Ice Skating Owie

Entertainment at the Market

German Christmas Markets - 2009

I spent last weekend with friends in Cologne, Germany, to once again experience the magic of the Christmas markets. We had a blast, and drank mulled wine, and shopped till we dropped. In Cologne, the major (and nearly only) attraction is the Dom Cathedral when the Christmas markets aren't going. We had seven markets to choose from, and we made it to four of them. We made several trips to a couple of them. All of them were so pretty, and lots of fun, with shopping and culinary temptations a plenty. Unfortunately, we had some rainy weather for the first two out of our three days in Cologne. We pulled our hoods and hats on and got through it, though. Mulled wine helped lift our spirits. The highlights of the trip for me were 1) walking over the Hohenzollern bridge at night toward the beautiful cathedral, dramatically lit and looming larger and larger as we approached and 2) watching my buddies ice skating. I didn't even attempt, because I had the strangest feeling I'd end up in the hospital, stranded for Christmas. It was probably more fun watching, anyway. Here are some photos:

You know it's the holidays...

...when you eat a fried Mars Bar for dessert.

The Holiday Crunch

I forgot how busy December can be. I have a zillion things to do these days. It can be so nuts! I have already been in a couple of stores over the weekend and the lines are already crazy. Hopefully by the time I get back to Florida I'll be able to chill out. I'd love to not have to write down dates and times I'm supposed to be somewhere. I guess that's all a part of the holiday experience.

Back to Poland - In a Culinary Way

I had the privilege of dining with my friend Iwona (Ee-voh-nah) from Poland and her fiance on Friday night. The two of them were fabulous hosts. Chris cooked - from scratch - a traditional Polish meal. Iwona explained that it was the type of meal Polish families get together and eat on Sundays. First, there was a chicken broth soup with rice and finely chopped carrots and spices. Next, there were pork chops and some sort of turkey loaf thing that had pickles and onions and mushrooms and even egg! On the side were small potato dumpling type things (not pierogies) made from potato and flour. Over all of this was a delicious gravy. As if all that wasn't enough, we had home-baked strudel for dessert. The strudel was filled with raspberry and plum and vanilla pudding, was served warm with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. Holy. Cow. It was mouthwatering. And Chris served our every need while we ate. I have to tell you, it kind of made up for no Thanksgiving. I can only hope I will be invited back to their lovely home for another taste of Polish yumminess.

Windy City

I'm filing a petition to rename Dublin the Windy City - no more, Chicago! You lose the title. First I was almost taken off my feet on the walk from the bus to the building this morning at work. I was laughing because it was scary and a little fun. Almost like a roller coaster ride. Then, I think I saw two guys putting a door back onto a truck. Well, I know I saw it. I think they were doing it because the door had blown off in the wind! It was sheer insanity.

Budapest

I was in Budapest from Friday night to Monday afternoon, and I can tell you that I never saw the sun. Not to mention the fact that I began to feel that classic sniffly, tickly throat cold coming on Thursday night. However, despite these less than desirable conditions, I did love Budapest. I loaded up with Sudafed and Vicks First Defense at the airport on the way out, and the drugs helped me be a trooper. As for the foggy mist and occasional drizzle, my new warm raincoat (with hood - very important) helped me brave the nastiness and get out and about anyway!


I started Saturday by walking across the Chain Bridge to the Buda side and wandered the Castle District, stopping in the National Gallery for an hour or so. Next I saw my most favorite sight early in my trip - Fisherman's Bastion. It was beautiful and the view was nice too. Would have been better in clear skies and sun, but still breathtaking.







I finished the day by continuing my walk down the river, past an additional bridge, the Elizabeth Bridge and back over to the Pest side on the Liberty Bridge for a long stroll up Vaci Utca, the city's best known street according to my guide book. By the time I returned to my hotel, my legs felt like they might fall off. I kind of wanted them to, as badly as they hurt!

[Liberty Bridge]

The next morning, I went to Margaret Island after trying to get into the 10:00 English tour of the Parliament and failing. I made a reservation for the 2:00 tour and headed to Margaret Bridge. I had a lovely stroll around the island, enjoying the church ruins and water tower along the way. The peace and quiet on the island was a quite strange change of pace compared to the rest of the city. My feet were beginning to really hurt, after the miles of walking on Saturday and the walking I had already done on Sunday morning, so I decided to take a bus off the island and back to the city. Then I took the metro back down toward my hotel. It was about that time I decided to make lots more use of public transportation.






I got to the Parliament in time for my 2:00 tour after a quick bite to eat. The building is amazing on the outside and inside! I was expecting a two-hour tour but it was over in about 45 minutes. But that was probably good since I was wiped out. More than the fatigue in my legs and feet, I was exhausted from my cold more than anything. I made a quick trip across the river on the metro for a photo op and headed back to the hotel and had a rest.





Later I walked over to the Christmas Market and down to the river to see if the view had changed. Still foggy and misty, but pretty never the less. The Chain Bridge was lit, so that was nice.




On Sunday night I tried to plan Monday's sightseeing, but my plans were thwarted by the fact that nearly ALL museums (around the world, I believe) are closed on Mondays. Therefore, I made plans to just wander and look at stuff all day. So that's what I did. And had a nice huge Hungarian lunch at Bagolyvar ('Owl Castle'). I didn't eat for the rest of the day! It was delicious.





After that, I went home. Other than some confusion over the transport to the airport (which got resolved) and a very annoying incident with a baby who screamed - at the top of his lungs - for a full hour after boarding the plane, it was a smooth ride.

Getting Closer

I'm so happy it's the weekend. It's supposed to rain all weekend, so I have a great excuse to relax. Well, outside of the laundry I'll be doing.

I can't believe how fast the time is flying as I get closer to moving back to the US. Bittersweet thoughts float in my mind. So nice to get home, not so nice to move away from cheap European travel. I'm counting on the happiness of being home to win over the lack of once-a-month trips...

Reflections in Castleknock

Went to lunch in Castleknock today with friends, but the highlight was OUTSIDE - a gorgeous day resulted in mirror images in the river. I've included the upside down versions. Check it out:

Paris, Part Deux

My second trip to Paris was fast and furious, two days to see the sights I missed in February, when I hurt my knee and spent nearly a whole day in bed. My trip started with good luck at the bus stop – a taxi stopped and offered me the same fare as the bus. I think he was hoping to find more customers along the way, but apparently I was the earliest flier in town. At 4:30, this really wasn’t a surprise to me. Once in Paris, I started at the Place de la Concorde. It wasn’t very pretty because they had it set up for some event. But here’s what the view of Champs-Elysees looked like.


I walked the two miles to the Arc de Triomphe from Concorde and really enjoyed the second half of the stroll. The first half was boring. I should have taken the metro, as my book suggested, to the half-way point. Along my walk, I saw the Disney Store, Sephora, and other fine retailers. After I got to the Arc and marveled at the traffic around it, twelve different roads merging into the circle, I debated climbing it, but decided to spare my knees the 284 steps up and 284 steps down I’d have to do to get the view. I had a great view from Notre Dame last time, and was going to Sacre Coeur which was going to offer a great view as well. So I had a bite to eat and moved on.





Down to the Metro, I went to Ile St-Louis, where I took a stroll around the whole island. It was tiny, so it only took about half an hour. I got a view of Notre Dame I didn’t see last time and caught a guy drinking a bottle of wine on the quay. It was quiet on the island, which was a nice break from the rest of the city’s hustle and bustle.






Back on the mainland, I walked over the Pont des Arts toward the Musee d’Orsay, catching a great view of Cite along the way.



I really enjoyed my trip to the museum. There was an Art Nouveau exhibit and apparently I love Art Nouveau – who knew? Also, the building itself was amazing, being an old converted train station. The Impressionist paintings and sculptures were also a highlight.






After I left the museum, I went to Les Invalides to see the famous little man’s abode. Napoleon’s palace was enormous, not surprisingly.


I crossed Pont Alexander III, and decided to go to Centre Georges Pompidou, which was open late and would keep me from being stuck in my hotel room for too long. The Centre was filled with art, especially of the modern variety, and I enjoyed my three hours there.



I decided it was time to check in at my hotel, so I took a long walk to the Metro and got to my hotel. I couldn’t believe I remembered exactly how to get there. There was a sign on the door saying wait or call a phone number, so I went to dinner at a pizza place down the street, where I had a delicious chicken pizza and some red wine that wasn’t bad either. Full and exhausted, I checked in at my hotel and soon after turned in for the night.

The next morning, I checked out of the hotel and went to Sacre Coeur, where I had breakfast at a café across the street. I felt I deserved a croissant after climbing up a jillion stairs in the Metro. The Abbesses Metro stops at the core of the earth, I think. At the café, it was pretty surreal that just outside my window was a gorgeous view of the church. I thought about taking the funicular up the big hill, but instead opted to walk up the steps. I was glad I did, because I would have missed the ‘vendors’ quickly packing up their cheap goods into bags as they realized the cops were coming. It was so entertaining. The cops were strolling around keeping the peace (and preventing tourists from buying cheap crap souvenirs) the whole time I was up there. The basilica was beautiful, and it drizzled a bit while I was inside, but stopped as I got ready for my walk back to the Metro.




My next stop was Pere-Lachaise, the largest cemetery in Paris, and site of many celebrities’ graves. The man selling maps at the entrance asked me to pay in greenbacks (since I’m American, har-har). The cemetery is over 100 acres, and I was there at least an hour. I saw the graves of Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Amedeo Modigliani (an artist) and finally Oscar Wilde, amongst many thousands of others not so famous.






After the cemetery, I took the Metro back toward the city center, and it passed my stupid stop – closed for renovations. So I got off at the next stop and walked an extra mile to Jardin du Luxembourg. Even as the winter approaches, the palace and gardens were beautiful. It certainly helped that the sun had just come out after a bit of rain (just a bit, but enough to make you appreciate the sun).



After a bite to eat, I got back on the Metro and went to Palais de Chaillot, and as I walked to the palace, I turned the corner and saw the million dollar view of the Eiffel Tower.



I took a few photos, hopped back on the Metro and headed to the Bastille and Marais neighborhoods, to the Place des Vosges, touted as “one of the most perfectly designed and harmonious squares” by Frommer’s. It was, indeed, very pretty.




I walked around the square and popped into one of the cafes for a cup of coffee and to warm up a bit. Then I headed for my last stop, the Maison Europeene de la Photographie (house of European photography? I’m only guessing. My French sucks). After a pretty quick tour, I started making my way back to the airport. It was the longest train ride ever. It was loud and crowded, though the crowd thinned out as we hit the stops on the outskirts of Paris.

I had a great whirlwind trip to the City of Light. I’m really glad I went back for a second time. By the way, I stayed at the same hotel as my trip in February, and I even walked down the very same steps on which I hurt my knee. Brave, no?