Sunday, August 26, 2007
Trouble with pics.
I uploaded all the pics for the past few months today only to discover that Picasa is having issues with posting them on the blog and for some reason they are not visible. So rather than spend another 8 hours doing this again...I am going to wait a week or so and see if they resolve the issue. So frustrating!!! Crossing my fingers that it wasn't a total waste of a day.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Kindness from the Locals
I walked into the local hardware store this evening to pick up a transformer for my new Vonage phone, which is a fabulous new toy since now I have an LA based phone number that calls me at my house in Ireland and I can call LA without having to pay international rates. While I was there, I met three of the nicest people at the store, the owner (who has owned the store for 20 years), his assistant (a sweet Romanian girl) and one of the owner's friends. The four of us stood and chatted for almost 2 hours.
While chatting about electronics and such, I remembered that I have needed an electric coffee grinder for about a year now. I have at least 5 bags of coffee beans to be grinded and hadn't found an electric grinder since living here...and trust me, I have looked. Not only to my complete amazement did they have exactly one electric coffee ginder, but one of the older gentlemen I was chatting with, bought it for me as a gift for giving him great advice on gadgety things to buy (I introduced him to Vonage and suggested he buy an external hard drive and back up his computer). WOW, there really is still true kindness and generosity in the world! Happy Days!
And now I'm off to go brew some fresh coffee:)
While chatting about electronics and such, I remembered that I have needed an electric coffee grinder for about a year now. I have at least 5 bags of coffee beans to be grinded and hadn't found an electric grinder since living here...and trust me, I have looked. Not only to my complete amazement did they have exactly one electric coffee ginder, but one of the older gentlemen I was chatting with, bought it for me as a gift for giving him great advice on gadgety things to buy (I introduced him to Vonage and suggested he buy an external hard drive and back up his computer). WOW, there really is still true kindness and generosity in the world! Happy Days!
And now I'm off to go brew some fresh coffee:)
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
A bit of craic!
So as I posted earlier, my car engine blew last weekend in the Ring of Kerry. I am officially in a holding pattern until next week to determine if it at all repairable as the one guy that I know who may be able to help it is "ON HOLIDAY". So this morning after literally running to the bus, I barely jumped on it in time to make it to work on time. I had "grand" plans to hit the gym this evening...foiled due to this breaking news:
14/8/2007 No DART services running south of Dun Laoighaire
There are no rail services operating south of Dun Laoghaire on the DART line due to a DART failure at Sandycove. Dublin Bus will honor tickets.
Of course I had already caught the shuttle to the DART in the POURING RAIN when I discovered this fabulous news. And there is no bus near the train station we were dropped at. So after waiting 30 more minutes in the POURING RAIN for the next shuttle to come back to the DART station, I was shuttled back at work just in time to run in the still pouring rain to catch the Dublin bus back home in rush hour backed-up traffic to arrive home two hours later. OH how I miss having a car and a 15 minute commute!!!
And in the middle of August here is the 5 weather forecast:
Tuesday RAIN 12 to 19 °C
Wednesday SHOWERS 10 to 17 °C
Thursday PARTLY SUNNY WITH SHOWERS 9 to 17 °C
Friday INTERMITTENT CLOUDS 9 to 17 °C
Saturday SHOWERS 10 to 18 °C
See a pattern here...the high for the week at 19* celsius translates to 64* fahrenheit. I have to find humour in all of this, it's become more amusing than annoying because it seems unbelievable to have more rain in the middle of summer than I typically see in a year:)
And finally, you know you are really WET when you have to change your jeans and your shoes when you get home, because the rain has crawled all the way up your pant leg to your knees. The one new thing I have learned since living here about why people wear their pants too high as if they are flooding....to avoid the floods:)
Happy DAYS!!!!!!!!
14/8/2007 No DART services running south of Dun Laoighaire
There are no rail services operating south of Dun Laoghaire on the DART line due to a DART failure at Sandycove. Dublin Bus will honor tickets.
Of course I had already caught the shuttle to the DART in the POURING RAIN when I discovered this fabulous news. And there is no bus near the train station we were dropped at. So after waiting 30 more minutes in the POURING RAIN for the next shuttle to come back to the DART station, I was shuttled back at work just in time to run in the still pouring rain to catch the Dublin bus back home in rush hour backed-up traffic to arrive home two hours later. OH how I miss having a car and a 15 minute commute!!!
And in the middle of August here is the 5 weather forecast:
Tuesday RAIN 12 to 19 °C
Wednesday SHOWERS 10 to 17 °C
Thursday PARTLY SUNNY WITH SHOWERS 9 to 17 °C
Friday INTERMITTENT CLOUDS 9 to 17 °C
Saturday SHOWERS 10 to 18 °C
See a pattern here...the high for the week at 19* celsius translates to 64* fahrenheit. I have to find humour in all of this, it's become more amusing than annoying because it seems unbelievable to have more rain in the middle of summer than I typically see in a year:)
And finally, you know you are really WET when you have to change your jeans and your shoes when you get home, because the rain has crawled all the way up your pant leg to your knees. The one new thing I have learned since living here about why people wear their pants too high as if they are flooding....to avoid the floods:)
Happy DAYS!!!!!!!!
Saturday, August 11, 2007
The Castle Tour of Ireland
Jude and Tara came to Europe for a three week tour of Sweden and Ireland. They first stopped in Dublin on a weeknight before heading to Copenhagen and then to Sweden for Vilda's Christening and a visit with Petra, Andreas and Hanna's family and friends. Since we only had one night before they continued to Sweden, we decided to head into Dublin City Centre and had a nice dinner at Peploes Wine Bistro which I would highly recommend for their ambience, selection of excellent cuisine and fabulous wine. After dinner, we walked around Dublin for a bit before heading back to Blackrock so they could taste a local pint of Guinness.
They returned to Dublin last Friday night and we decided to have a night of rest before beginning our tour around Ireland on Saturday morning. We started our castle tour by heading down to Kilkenny, where we had lunch followed by a tour of the Kilkenny Castle. We then did a bit of shoe shopping and headed back on the road to Waterford where we saw the Clock Tower, the Reginald's Tower and the Waterford Crystal Factory. The original plan was to also hit Wexford but I was told by several locals that it was too far for a one day trip so we skipped it. We then headed into Cork City for the night.
That night we had dinner at a local italian restaurant and stayed at the Imperial Hotel and walked around a bit in the rain. The next morning, the rain was a bit lighter so after an interesting breakfast experience at the hotel, we walked around a bit through the quays, Parliament Bridge, through the English Market which was unfortunately closed, and into the shopping district. We also got to see the Red Abbey and st. Mary's Dominican Church as we were searching for the car park where my car was hidden a few blocks from the hotel.
After finally finding the car, we hit the road and headed to The Blarney Castle where Jude and Tara kissed the Blarney Stone. Kissing the stone is said to bring the gift of magical eloquence or the "gift of gab". I declined as I have been told by several locals that the locals of Blarney actually pee on the stone. Yuck and no thank you...I already have the gift of gab and am eloquent enough without kissing it:) It was a beautiful castle to visit though.
We then headed toward the Ring of Kerry which is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. There are winding roads and exquisite views over the ocean and quaint villages. Unfortunately, just as we were heading out of the Ring and towards our next intended stop, which was dinner and a night's stay at Bunratty Castle, my car literally blew up. We were coming down a hill towards a cliff and as I went to make the turn, my car literally lost all power including steering and brakes. I am not quite sure how (divine intervention maybe) but I managed to turn the car as hard as I could to not head straight off the cliff while pulling on the hand brake to get the car to a stop. Thank God I had ordered AA (which is Ireland's version of AAA) the week before as it took an hour and a half to get a tow truck to come and get us and take us to the nearest city which was Killarney.
This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we never would have seen Killarney if my car had not died and it turned out to be one of our best evenings. Jude found the name of a hotel out of one of our travel books and I called and booked the room at the Killarney Park Hotel. This hotel had the best service I have ever encountered in my life. Not only did they give us their last room at a discounted rate because of how late we got there, but they helped with everything including finding us a rent-a-car the next morning. Killarney turned out to be my new favorite place in Ireland. We found a late dinner spot as we were all starving at this point and then found a cool spot playing fabulous live music called McSorley's. McSorley's also has a two story night club which we danced at after the live music ended at about 1am. It was a great night and of course not at all part of the plan.
I awoke the next morning at 8am to get the car situation sorted so we could get back on the road, we finally found a rent-a-car place at the Kerry Airport (with the help of the staff at the Killarney Park Hotel) and were back on the road by noon, a bit behind schedule. Now I was learning new skills as driving a car on the opposite side of the car on the opposite side of the road with a stick-shift around the roundabouts is quite a skill, I've decided.
We headed up the coast, through the town that hosts Kirby's, Jude's family name, to Bunratty Castle which I've visited before. Bunratty Castle also hosts the best apple pie I've had in years which we got to taste as the weather decided to take a turn for the worse and was downpouring. Finally, Jude and Tara were seeing the "real rain" of Ireland. We then high tailed it up the coast to Galway as I was supposed to catch the 6pm train that day from Galway to Dublin so that I could make it to work on Tuesday after the bank holiday weekend. We made it to Galway about 45 minutes too late though so we headed another hour up the coast to Jude and Tara's hotel for that evening at the Ashford Castle.
The Ashford Castle is unquestionably the most beautiful castle I have seen with an amazing golf course, although I didn't find the service there to be as nice as at the Killarney Park Hotel (Jude said the service was better the next day). We had a beautiful dinner and I did a tour of the castle as I wouldn't be there the next day to really explore it. I then woke the next morning at 5:30am, caught a cab to Galway, took a 3 hour train to Dublin and headed straight to work where I proudly arrived by 10:30am. Wow, what an adventure!
Jude and Tara continued to tour on Tuesday and saw the Cliffs of Moher, somehow got a flat tire in the rent-a-car(what was it with our bad luck with cars) and spent that night at the Drumoland Castle while I spent the evening getting some much needed sleep. They came back to Dublin on Wednesday night and toured the Hills of Tara and attempted unsuccessfully to tour Newgrange. They did see the Newgrange Museum but the actual tour of Newgrange had sold out by the time they got there. Apparently, you have to get there early or book through a tour due to it's popularity. So they returned to Dublin and we had our last night in Dublin at a great recommended restaurant Fire at The Mansion House. Tara was not feeling well at this point so we headed briefly into St. Stephen's Green, over to St. Patrick's Cathedral and then caught a taxi back to Blackrock and spent the rest of the evening packing for them to return to LA.
Other than my car exploding (I have since confirmed that the engine is blown and I will share that adventure in a later blog), it was a fabulous tour of Ireland. The castles were amazing, the memories will last a lifetime and it was so wonderful to have Jude and Tara visiting to share the experiences with. I was sad to see them go as it was so much fun to see so many things here that I may not have even attempted had they not been here. And we are already planning "The Comeback Tour" of Ireland to plan a trip back here to spend some quality time in the towns that we enjoyed the most. I already know I would like to spend more time in Kilkenny, Killarney and The Ring of Kerry.
Special Thanks: Thank you so much Jude for coming to visit, for all of your help and constant generousity with everything. I love you and will see you at the Barker Ranch for Thanksgiving dessert:) xoxo.
They returned to Dublin last Friday night and we decided to have a night of rest before beginning our tour around Ireland on Saturday morning. We started our castle tour by heading down to Kilkenny, where we had lunch followed by a tour of the Kilkenny Castle. We then did a bit of shoe shopping and headed back on the road to Waterford where we saw the Clock Tower, the Reginald's Tower and the Waterford Crystal Factory. The original plan was to also hit Wexford but I was told by several locals that it was too far for a one day trip so we skipped it. We then headed into Cork City for the night.
That night we had dinner at a local italian restaurant and stayed at the Imperial Hotel and walked around a bit in the rain. The next morning, the rain was a bit lighter so after an interesting breakfast experience at the hotel, we walked around a bit through the quays, Parliament Bridge, through the English Market which was unfortunately closed, and into the shopping district. We also got to see the Red Abbey and st. Mary's Dominican Church as we were searching for the car park where my car was hidden a few blocks from the hotel.
After finally finding the car, we hit the road and headed to The Blarney Castle where Jude and Tara kissed the Blarney Stone. Kissing the stone is said to bring the gift of magical eloquence or the "gift of gab". I declined as I have been told by several locals that the locals of Blarney actually pee on the stone. Yuck and no thank you...I already have the gift of gab and am eloquent enough without kissing it:) It was a beautiful castle to visit though.
We then headed toward the Ring of Kerry which is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. There are winding roads and exquisite views over the ocean and quaint villages. Unfortunately, just as we were heading out of the Ring and towards our next intended stop, which was dinner and a night's stay at Bunratty Castle, my car literally blew up. We were coming down a hill towards a cliff and as I went to make the turn, my car literally lost all power including steering and brakes. I am not quite sure how (divine intervention maybe) but I managed to turn the car as hard as I could to not head straight off the cliff while pulling on the hand brake to get the car to a stop. Thank God I had ordered AA (which is Ireland's version of AAA) the week before as it took an hour and a half to get a tow truck to come and get us and take us to the nearest city which was Killarney.
This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we never would have seen Killarney if my car had not died and it turned out to be one of our best evenings. Jude found the name of a hotel out of one of our travel books and I called and booked the room at the Killarney Park Hotel. This hotel had the best service I have ever encountered in my life. Not only did they give us their last room at a discounted rate because of how late we got there, but they helped with everything including finding us a rent-a-car the next morning. Killarney turned out to be my new favorite place in Ireland. We found a late dinner spot as we were all starving at this point and then found a cool spot playing fabulous live music called McSorley's. McSorley's also has a two story night club which we danced at after the live music ended at about 1am. It was a great night and of course not at all part of the plan.
I awoke the next morning at 8am to get the car situation sorted so we could get back on the road, we finally found a rent-a-car place at the Kerry Airport (with the help of the staff at the Killarney Park Hotel) and were back on the road by noon, a bit behind schedule. Now I was learning new skills as driving a car on the opposite side of the car on the opposite side of the road with a stick-shift around the roundabouts is quite a skill, I've decided.
We headed up the coast, through the town that hosts Kirby's, Jude's family name, to Bunratty Castle which I've visited before. Bunratty Castle also hosts the best apple pie I've had in years which we got to taste as the weather decided to take a turn for the worse and was downpouring. Finally, Jude and Tara were seeing the "real rain" of Ireland. We then high tailed it up the coast to Galway as I was supposed to catch the 6pm train that day from Galway to Dublin so that I could make it to work on Tuesday after the bank holiday weekend. We made it to Galway about 45 minutes too late though so we headed another hour up the coast to Jude and Tara's hotel for that evening at the Ashford Castle.
The Ashford Castle is unquestionably the most beautiful castle I have seen with an amazing golf course, although I didn't find the service there to be as nice as at the Killarney Park Hotel (Jude said the service was better the next day). We had a beautiful dinner and I did a tour of the castle as I wouldn't be there the next day to really explore it. I then woke the next morning at 5:30am, caught a cab to Galway, took a 3 hour train to Dublin and headed straight to work where I proudly arrived by 10:30am. Wow, what an adventure!
Jude and Tara continued to tour on Tuesday and saw the Cliffs of Moher, somehow got a flat tire in the rent-a-car(what was it with our bad luck with cars) and spent that night at the Drumoland Castle while I spent the evening getting some much needed sleep. They came back to Dublin on Wednesday night and toured the Hills of Tara and attempted unsuccessfully to tour Newgrange. They did see the Newgrange Museum but the actual tour of Newgrange had sold out by the time they got there. Apparently, you have to get there early or book through a tour due to it's popularity. So they returned to Dublin and we had our last night in Dublin at a great recommended restaurant Fire at The Mansion House. Tara was not feeling well at this point so we headed briefly into St. Stephen's Green, over to St. Patrick's Cathedral and then caught a taxi back to Blackrock and spent the rest of the evening packing for them to return to LA.
Other than my car exploding (I have since confirmed that the engine is blown and I will share that adventure in a later blog), it was a fabulous tour of Ireland. The castles were amazing, the memories will last a lifetime and it was so wonderful to have Jude and Tara visiting to share the experiences with. I was sad to see them go as it was so much fun to see so many things here that I may not have even attempted had they not been here. And we are already planning "The Comeback Tour" of Ireland to plan a trip back here to spend some quality time in the towns that we enjoyed the most. I already know I would like to spend more time in Kilkenny, Killarney and The Ring of Kerry.
Special Thanks: Thank you so much Jude for coming to visit, for all of your help and constant generousity with everything. I love you and will see you at the Barker Ranch for Thanksgiving dessert:) xoxo.
George Michael, Finally!
Last week before Tara and Jude arrived, I finally got to see George Michael in Concert. I attempted to see them in June but missed it as I was stuck in LA sick and ended up having to give the tickets away. So when he ended up cancelling the second day of that tour in relation to his pending drug charges when he was recently caught sleeping at the wheel in London, it was a blessing in disguise for me as I was able to buy tickets for the replacement show. Jo was an amazing trouper as I don't think she had the same love and passion for George that I did growing up but was open to the experience.
It was fabulous to see him in concert since I've followed his music since I was a child during his WHAM days and am an avid fan of turning up his Best Of George Michael CD while I clean the house on Saturday mornings. He played many of my favorite songs, including Freedom 90, FAITH (I bought the t-shirt, lol), Careless Whisper, and my new favorite Spinning the Wheel (I loved his live version). He also played a few of his new songs which I didn't even know and they were good as well.
I loved how he still dances like he did in the 80's, still looks suprisingly good in tight leather pants and still sounds amazing.
One thing I didn't know about George was his passionate political view points. So I was quite suprised when during his Freedom 90 song, a blow up doll emerged covering the stage of another George, George Bush, with the British Bulldog sucking his how shall we say "private parts". And then later on, another blow up doll emerged of a scary version of the statue of liberty with a plaque in her other hand that said "What is fuckin liberty". I had no clue he was using his concerts to boast his political viewpoints. Most interesting was that he didn't really receive a response from the crowd other than a slightly uncomfortable silence. OK then, back to the show.
I will say that the Irish had as great a love for George as I did and spent the entire time on their feet dancing, swaying and singing every word to every song, including a spontaneous outbreak of their own national anthem in between songs, so it was an exciting place to see the concert, one of my first in Dublin.
It was a great night and I am so glad that I finally got to see George...it only took 20 something years, buying 4 tickets, giving two away, and an hour and a half drive in traffic to the Point to finally see him perform live:)
Thanks JO for being a George fan for the night with me! I had a blast! Well worth the wait:)
It was fabulous to see him in concert since I've followed his music since I was a child during his WHAM days and am an avid fan of turning up his Best Of George Michael CD while I clean the house on Saturday mornings. He played many of my favorite songs, including Freedom 90, FAITH (I bought the t-shirt, lol), Careless Whisper, and my new favorite Spinning the Wheel (I loved his live version). He also played a few of his new songs which I didn't even know and they were good as well.
I loved how he still dances like he did in the 80's, still looks suprisingly good in tight leather pants and still sounds amazing.
One thing I didn't know about George was his passionate political view points. So I was quite suprised when during his Freedom 90 song, a blow up doll emerged covering the stage of another George, George Bush, with the British Bulldog sucking his how shall we say "private parts". And then later on, another blow up doll emerged of a scary version of the statue of liberty with a plaque in her other hand that said "What is fuckin liberty". I had no clue he was using his concerts to boast his political viewpoints. Most interesting was that he didn't really receive a response from the crowd other than a slightly uncomfortable silence. OK then, back to the show.
I will say that the Irish had as great a love for George as I did and spent the entire time on their feet dancing, swaying and singing every word to every song, including a spontaneous outbreak of their own national anthem in between songs, so it was an exciting place to see the concert, one of my first in Dublin.
It was a great night and I am so glad that I finally got to see George...it only took 20 something years, buying 4 tickets, giving two away, and an hour and a half drive in traffic to the Point to finally see him perform live:)
Thanks JO for being a George fan for the night with me! I had a blast! Well worth the wait:)
The Beauty of Dublin and Kilkenny
I am still very behind on my travel posts. It is a beautiful rainy Saturday morning so I figured after my 12 hour sleep last night that I'd take a moment and catch up on my travels.
When I arrived back in Dublin, two of my favorite rock star friends from LA were already here for an Irish vacation. For those of you who don't know, I met George and Marisa separately at the Cat Club in Hollywood as I used to watch George's amazing band "JAY" perform there and Marisa and I became friends when she was cocktail waitressing there several years ago. She is also a beautiful actress/model and most importantly, one of my best friends...and of course, my favorite make-up artist:) George and Marisa later met and began dating and I love that we have all remained such close friends over the years. I also think it's funny how The Cat Club has brought so many people together.
It was so nice to come back to some of my LA peeps already in town. It was a godsend to have them in Dublin upon my return as I was feeling a bit nervous to return due to my recent health scare and as I entered the door of my apartment, they had already stocked my fridge with food from the local Superquinn and even put pretty yellow daisies in the window sill. What a wonderful way to come back to Dublin:)
So I pretty much threw down my suitcases, didn't even unpack and let the adventure began. We spent the first day in Dublin doing fun touristy things that I hadn't even seen yet. We visited the Guinness Storehouse where at the end of the tour, every guest gets a free pint of Guinness. What I didn't know was how beautiful the view was from the top of the factory. The glass windows of the top of the circular building show quite an impressive view over the city. We then took a walk down to the Christ Church Cathedral and decided not to enter when we realized they were actually charging an entry fee to enter the church which neither I or Marisa had ever heard of. We eventually headed back to the Dart and into Blackrock for a night of R&R as I was still jet lagged from the long trip from LA.
The next day we decided to take a road trip to the quaint town of Kilkenny where we roamed the streets sight seeing and taking in the beauty of the town. We had lunch in a pub, took a tour of the Kilkenny Castle and learned of the history of the Butler family who owned the castle until the early 1900's. We also saw a nice modern art exhibition in the basement and had fun taking pictures Charlie's Angel style in the shadow of the visual exhibition. We then strolled through High Street and took a tour of the St. Canice's Cathedral (we decided it was worth paying to see this one) where not only were the stained glass windows breathtaking, but you can climb a tower and see views of the entire city. George and I then hit a local Kilkenny pub for a pint of Smithwick's and a chat with the locals while Marisa headed to the Black Abbey. We met a hilarious man wearing a bright green cowboy hat who was performing that evening who did a solo performance for us before heading back to Dublin.
Marisa and George did a tour of the Ring of Kerry on Friday while I worked and then after much debate over what we should plan for the weekend (Galway, Dublin and the Roscommon Festival were all possibilities), we decided to do a walking tour of Dublin on Saturday. We started with lunch, and then signed up for a walking tour where we toured Trinity College, learned about the Vikings invasion of Dublin in the late 8th century, visited the City Hall (originally built as the Royal Exchange) and the Bank of Ireland which was the first parliament house in Europe and then headed into Temple Bar lined with cobblestone streets which hosts a variety of pubs, shops and my favorite, the Irish Film Institute.
After all of the cultural stimulation of the walking tour, we decided to find some art and music in the city so we headed to 4 Dame Lane where they were hosting a painting exhibit for a pint. We then pub crawled down Aungier Street to find live music and eventually landed at the Crawdaddy in the Tripod for live rock and roll music mixed with DJ rooms for dancing. It was an all nighter and so much fun:)
Sunday we chilled and headed to Dun Laighoire for a traditional Irish lunch in a pub and took the train to Dalkey for a bit of site seeing. We then headed back to Blackrock for dessert at Sheehan's. Their chocolate cake is amazing!
Unfortunately, George and Marisa had to return to LA on Monday morning and after a crazy adventure of flights, rented cars, etc. finally made it back to LA about 30 hours later. Another reason that I love the direct Aer Lingus 10 hour flight from Dublin to LA.
It was a fabulous week and I was so happy to have them in town when I arrived back in Dublin to continue the adventure.
When I arrived back in Dublin, two of my favorite rock star friends from LA were already here for an Irish vacation. For those of you who don't know, I met George and Marisa separately at the Cat Club in Hollywood as I used to watch George's amazing band "JAY" perform there and Marisa and I became friends when she was cocktail waitressing there several years ago. She is also a beautiful actress/model and most importantly, one of my best friends...and of course, my favorite make-up artist:) George and Marisa later met and began dating and I love that we have all remained such close friends over the years. I also think it's funny how The Cat Club has brought so many people together.
It was so nice to come back to some of my LA peeps already in town. It was a godsend to have them in Dublin upon my return as I was feeling a bit nervous to return due to my recent health scare and as I entered the door of my apartment, they had already stocked my fridge with food from the local Superquinn and even put pretty yellow daisies in the window sill. What a wonderful way to come back to Dublin:)
So I pretty much threw down my suitcases, didn't even unpack and let the adventure began. We spent the first day in Dublin doing fun touristy things that I hadn't even seen yet. We visited the Guinness Storehouse where at the end of the tour, every guest gets a free pint of Guinness. What I didn't know was how beautiful the view was from the top of the factory. The glass windows of the top of the circular building show quite an impressive view over the city. We then took a walk down to the Christ Church Cathedral and decided not to enter when we realized they were actually charging an entry fee to enter the church which neither I or Marisa had ever heard of. We eventually headed back to the Dart and into Blackrock for a night of R&R as I was still jet lagged from the long trip from LA.
The next day we decided to take a road trip to the quaint town of Kilkenny where we roamed the streets sight seeing and taking in the beauty of the town. We had lunch in a pub, took a tour of the Kilkenny Castle and learned of the history of the Butler family who owned the castle until the early 1900's. We also saw a nice modern art exhibition in the basement and had fun taking pictures Charlie's Angel style in the shadow of the visual exhibition. We then strolled through High Street and took a tour of the St. Canice's Cathedral (we decided it was worth paying to see this one) where not only were the stained glass windows breathtaking, but you can climb a tower and see views of the entire city. George and I then hit a local Kilkenny pub for a pint of Smithwick's and a chat with the locals while Marisa headed to the Black Abbey. We met a hilarious man wearing a bright green cowboy hat who was performing that evening who did a solo performance for us before heading back to Dublin.
Marisa and George did a tour of the Ring of Kerry on Friday while I worked and then after much debate over what we should plan for the weekend (Galway, Dublin and the Roscommon Festival were all possibilities), we decided to do a walking tour of Dublin on Saturday. We started with lunch, and then signed up for a walking tour where we toured Trinity College, learned about the Vikings invasion of Dublin in the late 8th century, visited the City Hall (originally built as the Royal Exchange) and the Bank of Ireland which was the first parliament house in Europe and then headed into Temple Bar lined with cobblestone streets which hosts a variety of pubs, shops and my favorite, the Irish Film Institute.
After all of the cultural stimulation of the walking tour, we decided to find some art and music in the city so we headed to 4 Dame Lane where they were hosting a painting exhibit for a pint. We then pub crawled down Aungier Street to find live music and eventually landed at the Crawdaddy in the Tripod for live rock and roll music mixed with DJ rooms for dancing. It was an all nighter and so much fun:)
Sunday we chilled and headed to Dun Laighoire for a traditional Irish lunch in a pub and took the train to Dalkey for a bit of site seeing. We then headed back to Blackrock for dessert at Sheehan's. Their chocolate cake is amazing!
Unfortunately, George and Marisa had to return to LA on Monday morning and after a crazy adventure of flights, rented cars, etc. finally made it back to LA about 30 hours later. Another reason that I love the direct Aer Lingus 10 hour flight from Dublin to LA.
It was a fabulous week and I was so happy to have them in town when I arrived back in Dublin to continue the adventure.
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