One Year in Europe

Adventure #33: Germany

2008-08-29T03:40:00.000-07:00

I couldn't leave Europe without a last-minute trip to Germany, where one of my cousins is living. Damon had to stay and work, sadly.

I stayed one night in the village of Baden-Baden, in the western foothills of the Black Forest. Baden means "bath" in German, and the village is known for its springs and bath houses. The Romans enjoyed the baths of Baden centuries ago. Baden-Baden is a very cute town with pedestrianized streets in the city centre. I had dinner in a German tavern and a communal table with some locals, and they told me that Baden-Baden is a very popular vacation destination for Germans as well. Eating traditional spatzle in Germany was quite an experience. Luckily a few people spoke English and could help me with the menu.

Friedrichsbad is the most well-known of the baths, housed in a beautiful, Romanesque building in downtown, so I spent a few hours there on Wednesday morning. This spa truly demonstrated to me how thorough and rigorous Germans are about following rules, having an organized plan. There are 17 stations in the spa, each numbered with four different languages explaining exactly what to do and how long to do it. Taking a shower was amongst the 17 steps about four times -- two minutes per shower. It was military without the enforcement. Very funny.

Around lunchtime, I took a train to Ansbach, near where Troy and his family live. The Baden-Baden train station is located in Oos, outside the village about 15-20 minutes; taxi ride ran me 15 euros. (City buses are available though, and the 205 bus route includes the airport, train station and downtown Baden-Baden. Train travel in Germany, DB Bahn, is just as comfortable and convenient as in France. As previously mentioned, Germans are very organized, so even though you don't speak the language, the train numbers, times, tracks, cars, seats are all clearly displayed and easy to navigate.

I spent two half-days and one full day in Ansbach, located in the region of Bavaria, with Troy's wife, Rachel, and their three daughters: Emmalie, Isabella and Helen. Unfortunately, Troy had to work on Thursday, so all the girls went on a road trip. We stopped first at Langenburg, where we had lunch on the terrace of a cafe (including schnitzel), then walked around the grounds of the castle, where the family of Hohenlohe-Langenburg live today.

Our afternoon was spent in the well-preserved medieval village Rothenburg.
It is a walled city; the architecture was quaint, yet stunning. We took a horse-drawn carriage ride around the cobblestone streets before walking back to the car along a path that runs around the top of the ancient wall of the city.

Before returning to the train station on Friday, I had the chance to watch Emmalie and Isabella perform with their summer theatre group. They'd been working on Greek mythology plays days before I arrived. I then tagged along to the back-to-school barbecue for a few hours, helping Troy running plates of grilled burgers and hotdogs to the buffet table. (He's a chef by trade and volunteered to do all the cooking at the picnic too. He cooked us some great meals each night too.)

The travel Gods sent a strong message on my return day to Ireland: NO MORE TRAVEL. GO HOME. During a hectic train change in Germany, I lost my iPod. My flight was delayed 45 minutes in Karlsruhe-Baden. The security team had a woman with a scale weighing every carry-on bag -- including purses and gift bags -- many people, including me, got turned back for going over the 10 kilo maximum on Ryanair for carry-on baggage. I'd always thought that only included the bag -- not my purse. I should have known the Germans would be following the rules. The flight had the most turbulance I've ever experienced. It lasted at least 45 minutes. My hands and feet were shaking. Luckily, a nice French couple from Alsace were seated next to me, and we talked (some French, some English) to take our mind off the situation. In the end, I actually made my bus -- the last one of the night -- with 10 minutes to spare, even though Ryanair forced me to check my bag (I'd bought a couple heavy gifts.)

It is definitely time to stop traveling and go back to California. :)

Amusing Things We Learned

2008-08-27T01:50:00.001-07:00

Here's a list of amusing things we learned during our travels. All useless information to carry around in your head.

- The Mojito is the cocktail of choice in Prague, Czech Republic.

- Eva Longoria is the spokesperson for Magnum chocolates and ice cream in Europe. We saw her face on every ice cream cart we saw in at least five cities. Here's a link to some of her Europeans advertisements too.

- American celebrities lend their high-profile faces to other products where advertisements are only shown overseas, so not to effect their images in the United States. I know I saw George Clooney's face on a billboard in some city, and I was surprised. But I can't remember the product. Have his Nespresso ads aired in America?

- Swedish women (at least those in Stockholm) have great tans, even though they live in the Nordic. I cannot find any information to explain this online, but a friend told me he'd heard they have sun tanning bed-like lamps in their homes because there is so little sun in their area -- and it rains a lot in the summer.

- San Pellegrino is a village north of Bergamo and Milano. And there is actually a San Pellegrino factory there. We passed it on our way to the ski resorts.

- McDonald's in Portugal features a substantial soup menu. We noticed this in Lisbon. According to the Portuguese McDonald's web site, it looks like there might be six soups available. You have to search the tool bar because the site is in Flash.

- Kissing the Blarney Stone can be an unsanitary experience. I did it last spring, but Damon did not. He has issues with other peoples' germs. One of his co-workers recently kissed the Blarney Stone, then got cold sores on her lips the next day. Coincidence?

- There are weight scales on almost every corner in Gran Canaria. We have no idea why. We googled everywhere. Maybe they are simply a weight-conscious island?

- Some Stockholm museums have folding chairs available near the entrances. Patrons sometimes carry these chairs through the exhibits, then use them to sit down when they are tired or would like to rest while admiring a specific exhibit. We saw Swedes walking around the Royal Palace with the black chairs tucked under their arms.

- Baby strollers (or buggies as they call them here) have different covers to address weather conditions, based on the country. In Ireland, the buggies are constantly draped in plastic due to the daily rains. We call them "bubble babies." In Stockholm, we saw baby strollers with socks or sleeves made of thin wind-breaker or tent fabric, which slipped over the seat and had just a small hole for the baby to peek out of.

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Karlsruhe-Baden airport tips

2008-08-26T05:09:00.000-07:00

I recently flew out of Karlsruhe-Baden airport for the first time and have a few tips to share.

While living in Europe for one year, I've flown Ryanair nine times. I've never experienced such strict adherence to Ryanair policies as I did in Karlsruhe-Baden, so BE CAREFUL. This was my first trip to Germany, so I learned that Germans are very organized and thorough people; I should have known they'd be following rules with great precision.

Carry-on luggage:
Know your airline's policy on weight restrictions. Please note: that means NOT ONLY your carry-on bag, but also your PURSE or any GIFT BAG you try to carry on. The airport has stationed a woman with a scale at the security entrance. (You might think you're in the clear when your bags don't get weighed at the ticket counter, but they have this sneak-attack approach.) She weighs every carry-on bag TOGETHER -- including purses and gift bags -- to see if customers were going over the 10-kilo maximum on Ryanair for carry-on baggage. Many people, including me, got turned back. To make matters worse, 10 kilo is the max. Period. They won't let you pay to take the few extra kilos into the cabin. I tried to stuff my pockets, but with my purse, I was still three kilos over (due to two beer steins I bought and tried to carry on with my purse). I'd always thought the carry-on allowance included ONLY the bag -- not my purse. I've never had a Ryanair worker or security attendant in Ireland, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain or Czech Republic try to include my purse as part of my carry-on weight allowance.

Checked luggage:
If you think you are going to purchase gifts and be over on your allowance and you didn't pay for a checked bag, go ahead and check a bag online. Don't try to risk it at this airport. I was forced to check my carry-on bag (due to the weight of my purse and gift bag), and it cost me 20 euros -- because I didn't pay online in advance -- THAT IS DOUBLE THE PRICE FOR ONLINE!! Basically, I paid 20 euros to check a bag with six kilos of weight, when the allowance for a checked bag is 15 kilos. A waste.

Based on my experience, this isn't an airport with which budget travelers should try to bend the rules. They even charged me for accidentally booking online check-in. (In Dubin, the check-in attendant didn't even notice.)

Tips for a night on the town

2008-08-25T12:24:00.000-07:00

If you're new to Ireland (and to Galway), here are some suggestions for a night on the town.

Clothing:
Traditionally, Irish women dress up when they go out; men dress more casually. It's quite common to see girls in shiny designer tops, black skirts and high heels, while the guys are wearing baggy jeans, sneakers and hoodies. It's the same for the nightclubs or the pubs, in our experience. I'm not sure why, but these guys don't need to dress to impress the way we do in many cities in America. The streets in city centre are mostly cobblestones, so it can be tricky with the heels, girls.

Pubs:
Pubs typically serve beer and spirits. Spirits are measured from dispensers on the walls, typically. Coke, cranberry juice or other accompaniments for a mixed drink are served in small bottles on the side. Fancy mixed drinks or drink menus are rare. We've yet to find a place that serves them. Order the Guinness or Blumer's. They're good. You can get a good margarita at Cactus Jack's but you have to eat dinner to be served a drink. (But the margarita is small and runs 8 euros.)

Nightclubs:
Nightclubs will run you 10-15 euros per person to enter. Drinks are typically 5 euros per (beer, wine). Halo is a smaller version of the types of clubs you find in Las Vegas and New York. Very hip vibe. The music was a little disappointing at Halo; it's a mix of hip-hop, eighties, pop -- and everything in between. (Once again, women dressed to the nines; men dressed like gang members.) There is a coat check at this nightclub. If you have particular music interests, it's best to ask around and find out which DJs are playing where. The DJs have different styles. DJs vary week to week at the following well-known clubs: such as Cuba and De Burgo's.

Lounges:
We really like the Living Room, although we had trouble getting them to serve us mixed drinks from their menu after 9 p.m. because they were "too busy" and only wanted to serve beer and wine. Hello, service? We returned a few days ago and asked to see the drink menu again. The bartender told us it had been canceled because no one ever ordered off the drink menu.

Transportation:
The last public buses leave Eyre Square around 11 p.m. on weekends. Taxi stands are located on Eyre Square near the Supermac's and Dunnes clothing store (and near the Hostel by Merrick Hotel), as well as at the end of Quay Street near Jury's Inn.

Tipping:
They say you don't need to tip at the pubs in Ireland, but that seems strange. We still leave a little bit (10-15 percent), although they don't come by and pick it up right away. I've been told it's proper to offer to buy the bartender a pint before you leave to show appreciation.

Best of Galway

2008-08-25T12:02:00.000-07:00

As our year in Galway comes to an end, we'd like to share our own "best of" list:

Best Pubs:
Tig Cóilí is one of my favorites for socializing and listening to authentic, live music. It's across from the Kings Head in city centre. It's always packed: a good sign.

Tigh Neachtain’s (Naughtons), located across the street from the Quays, is another favorite. The blue and yellow building is easy to spot. If you like privacy, this is a fun pace to enjoy a pint. There are weathered, wooden alcoves located throughout the interior. Lots of tables for people watching outside too, but those are typically full.

Our local-local favorite -- the one that's walking distance from our apartment -- is O'Connor's of Salthill. The decor can only be described as flea market meets taxidermy store meets antique shop. It's so funky cool. The music has been more blues/rock than Irish folk when we're been there, but it's always good. We love sitting at the sewing machine and drinking a pint. The church pew seats aren't that comfortable, but they've got character. A real charming place.

Best Restaurants:

This is a tough one. We've been very disappointed with the restaurants in Galway. But we've had some great meals.

The new Asian Tea House is excellent. Great ambiance, prices and quality: a rare trifecta in Galway. Hip vibe. Take a date there to impress.

The Thai Garden near the Spanish Arch is pretty good.

For a slurge, drive 15 minutes out to Barna and visit O'Grady's on the Pier. Probably our best Irish-style meal on the West Coast, but we paid around 100 euros for two.

Best Groceries:
If you're American and looking for many of the same ingredients you enjoy back home, Tesco is the best bet, in my opinion. I boiled bouillon cubes to make chicken stock for months when I shopped at Dunnes.

The farmers' market in Galway in the city centre on Saturdays and Sundays is also nice.

Don't forget to bring your canvas bags to the store whenever you shop anywhere in Ireland.

Best Pizza:
We're going to go with Milano here. Others might argue for Da'Roberta in Salthill, but frankly, I've eaten pizza at Da'Roberta twice, and it was burned both times. Milano's crust is more thin and crispy; Da'Roberta's is thin and soft, more like a traditional pizza from southern Italy.

Best Hike:
At low tide and in good weather, it's nice to walk along the path from Blackrock (just west of the diving board in Salthill) out to a medium-sized cliff. It takes about 30-40 minutes to walk, and you need to go at low tide to get across. Lots of seashells to be found along the way.

Adventure #32: Stockholm

2008-08-15T08:52:00.001-07:00

Our fascination with Stockholm stems from the fact that the city is comprised of 14 islands and roughly 50 bridges. There are actually 24,000 islands and inlets in the entire Stockholm archipelago, which extends from the city about 60 kilometers east. When Damon told me this last fall, we decided to book our August bank holiday getaway to Sweden.

We assumed that August would be the best time to go, considering the country's Nordic location. What we didn't know is that Stockholm receives most of its rainfall during summer.

Flying to Stockholm direct from Dublin on Ryanair (arrival at Skavsta airport, about 100 km from Stockholm) actually took longer than we expected (about 2 hours, 45 minutes). Most flights to anywhere in we've been in Europe are around 2 hours. Sweden is really far north. :)

The bus service from Skavsta to the main train/bus station in downtown Stockholm is very convenient, like most buses that operate their schedules in conjunction with Ryanair schedules. We got a great deal through Hotels.com (third night free) at the Mornington Hotel, located in the Ostermalm district. This hotel was about a 25-minute walk from the main bus terminal and only 10 minutes walk down to the water. We were very pleased with the location, service and complimentary breakfast.

Stockholm is an easy city to navigate. We walked everywhere. One piece of advice on transportation in Stockholm: taxis are VERY expensive. During a very rainy Saturday, we decided to take a taxi 3 km (about 5 minutes) -- it cost us about $30. So, walk or bus or metro are highly recommended. Although it did rain during our trip some days, it was quite warm in early August. We wore shorts our first day and were very comfortable (and thrilled considering the Irish weather). There were lots of tourists in town due to EuroPride 2008 -- what fun to explore the city during Europe's biggest gay festival. Lots of great people-watching.

Some of the highlights of our trip included:

Day 1:
- Walking down to Skeppsholmen island and Gamla Stan island (the Old Town district)
- Having drinks at an outdoor cafe near Berzelii Park

Day 2:
- Touring the Vasa Museum to see the 64-gun warship Vasa that sank on her maiden voyage in 1628

- Walking around the island of Djurgarden

- Taking the Hop-On Hop-Off ferry through the city

- Touring the National Museum, which had a very cool clock exhibit and houses Sweden's largest art collection, including some great French Impressionist pieces

- Visiting the Noble Museum in Gamla Stan, then enjoying a great Italian lunch al fresco on the Stortorget square

- Strolling along the Strandvagen boardwalk and buying Swedish lakrits from street vendors (the word translates as "liquorice," but it is sugary-sweet, stringy and tastes -- and looks -- like gummy worms)

- Playing games and watching a Swedish band perform at Grona Lund amusement park

- Having drinks at the Radisson hotel lounge (sadly the Sky Lounge at the Radisson Viking was closed when we went -- but it's highly recommended for the views)

Day 3:
- Walking about 50 minutes outside the city to the Kaknas Tower to see the views (not recommended -- the views at the top are obstructed by fence wire and views inside the cafe just below the top are obstructed by a wooden railing that surrounds the 360-degree windowed room)

- Walking through Kungstradgarden, Gamla Stan again (we loved the Old Town)

- Touring the Stockholm Palace, neighboring church and watching the changing of the guard

- Climbing to the top of the Stockholm City Hall tower, where we enjoyed great, unobstructed views and even caught a rainbow on film (lines are long for the tower because they limit the number of people; be prepared but the views are great)

- Dining at Marten Trotzigs restaurant next to the famously skinny Marten Trotzigs street where we ate some local cuisine (such as lingonberries, reindeer and Swedish elk meatballs)

It was a very relaxing vacation. Stockholm isn't great for budget travelers -- it's an extremely expensive city, on par with cities we visited in Switzerland. We knew that going in. Swedish women fit the stereotype: almost all women we passed on the street were tall, blonde, thin and chesty. Lots of model types! They were also extremely tan, which we found bizarre. Overall, it was another enlightening destination. We probably wouldn't come back, but we're glad we can say we've seen Stockholm.

New Bus Station in Galway

2008-08-14T11:43:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month, a new bus station opened in Galway. It's sleek and modern; we were very impressed when NestorLink called the night before our flight to Stockholm to let us know that our bus from Galway to Dublin had changed locations.

I'm seeing lots of bulletin board posts online with confusion about the new location. I can't believe I google and can't find a story with pictures and directions to this bus station.

Anyway, it's very to easy to find. It's one block northeast of Eyre Square on the corner of Forster Street and Frenchville Lane/Fairgreen Road. (I've seen maps with this road listed under both names. Scary, but typical.) It sits behind the Radisson Hotel, across the road from the main tourism office in Galway, which has also been expanded and redesigned. The old coach station is directly across from the Radisson; you can see the new bus station from the old one. It's a large, shiny, tinted-glass-windowed building. It was designed my McNamara Construction. Their web site describes the mixed-use building. The picture below taken from the McNamara web site is an accurate depiction of the building. There is seating inside the station, and all of the buses are parked in a covered garage -- much nicer than the old parking lot set-up, where travelers had to stand in the rain waiting for their buses.

One stickling point for us: The new coach station requires you to pay to use the toilet. I think that is total crap (pardon the pun). It's like paying to use the toilet at a freaking airport. I can't believe they got so cheap to try to pay for this beautiful, new building.

View Larger Map

The Name Game

2008-08-14T11:22:00.001-07:00

Twice this week, we've stumbled across news stories where either the media or community leaders in Ireland and the United Kingdom have confused a city or country somewhere in the world with a city and state of the same name in America.

As Americans living in Europe, this really drives home the reality of how "top of mind" the United States is worldwide -- we even get publicity by error. A double shot of media coverage this week in Europe for the state of Alabama: Roll Tide!!!

Birmingham, England, vs. Birmingham, Alabama story: click here.

The screw up by RTE of Ireland where they posted a Georgia, Ala., picture to accompany a story about the war in Georgia, the country, is included below.

Calling it quits?

2008-08-14T04:44:00.000-07:00

I received a nice comment today from someone in Detroit who's been enjoying my blog during our year abroad. Ironically, I've been thinking about whether I should continue blogging when we return to the States in three weeks. Part of me wants to keep sharing our new experiences as ex-pats readjusting back to life in America from the standpoint of someone who's been living in a small country overseas for 12 months. Part of me wonders if anyone out there gives a shit and reads this. :)

But my friend from Detroit encouraged me to press on with our posts when we return.

I'd like to hear from others out there reading this blog. Would you like to see it grow, spread its wings and glide into another chapter of our traveling lives? Or should we call it quits?

More adventures are coming

2008-08-14T04:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry we haven't posted any new adventures in a while. I'm busy working on completing the final chapters of my first book entitled "Boyfriends in Stereo." We're also trying to pack: We only have three weeks left in Ireland!

Over the last month, we did go to the Aran Islands again, and took our first trips to both Northern Ireland and Sweden.

Before we return home, I will make some time to post the highlights.

Expedia has jumped the shark

2008-08-14T02:48:00.000-07:00

I got an e-mail blast today from Expedia with the following subject line:
Fares to Kansas City have dropped. Book today!

(I have MCI airport on my watch list for deals on trips to fly home and see my family.)

My eyes widened when I saw this headline in my inbox. Dropping fares. Christmas is coming; I haven't been home in one year. I took the bait, of course. Click.

You can imagine my dismay when the nicely designed e-flyer pops up on my screen and I see this headline: Hurry! Go to Kansas City for this new, low price of $559.

You've got to be kidding me. The price of $559 is now considered low? I'm flying to Germany next Tuesday from Dublin for €90 round-trip; that flight is only slightly shorter than San Francisco to Kansas City.

Wait, it gets better. Half-way down the screen there's a "personalized" letter to me with recent fare analysis and savings:

Your old price $590
Your new price $559
Your savings $31

My savings is circled with artwork resembling a blue crayon. Gee, thanks Expedia. A whopping $31? That won't even cover the tank of gas it will take me to get to -- and from -- the airport.

Yes, I realize the airline industry is suffering in the United States. Less people are traveling with the state of the economy. With gas prices soaring, the fares had to jump some time too. But Expedia shouldn't resort to bottom feeding in its marketing campaigns. Thirty bucks isn't enough of a chunk out of 500 bucks for me -- or anyone else -- to bite. (At least I don't think so.)

Even though Expedia is not a television program, I'd like to bestow it an honor created by one of my favorite web sites:

Expedia has officially Jumped the Shark.

Adventure #31: Northern Ireland

2008-08-13T08:09:00.000-07:00

We'd been postponing our first trip to Northern Ireland all year long, waiting for nice weather. We found a short break in the clouds that coincided with a free weekend in late July and headed north.

Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, a separate country from the Republic of Ireland. The currency is the pound, like England, another reason we kept postponing the trip, hoping that maybe the dollar would get stronger. If you'd like to read up on the history of how and why Northern Ireland is separate from the Republic, this Wikipedia overview on what is referred to historically as "The Troubles" is a good place to start.

The drive from Galway to County Antrim is about 5
We stayed two nights at a charming B&B out in the country about 45 minutes south of the coast called Drumenagh Brae. The owners, a young couple, built their dream house and made it a B&B. It's a working farm too. Very quaint, quiet but with contemporary rooms -- modern and as nice as high-end boutique hotel chains. Their hospitality was fabulous too; the best we've experienced in Europe.

We spent our first day driving along the Antrim Coast Highway, touring all the top sights:

- Dunluce Castle
- Bushmills village and Old Bushmills Distillery
- Giant's Causeway, an UNESCO Heritage Site -- probably the most incredible geological formation we've ever seen in our lives
- Ballintoy village
- Kinbane Castle ruins
- Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge (we both crossed -- not nearly as scary as the rope bridge we crossed in the Swiss Alps)

Coast Road Trip Photos:

We spent our second day in Belfast; the city experienced much conflict and destruction during The Troubles. Rebuilding is still in full force: cranes dot the Belfast skyline. It's quite a sleepy city on Sundays (pretty much nothing was open), but we still tried to see the sights:

- A walk along the Belfast Lough
- Albert Memorial Clock and Queen's Square
- A walk through The Entries (tiny alleyways of businesses)
- Parliament Building
- A ride on the Belfast Wheel
- Crown Liquor Saloon
- St. Anne's Cathedral
- A walk down the famous Shankill Road to see all the painted murals by Ulster loyalists -- seeing all this paintings depicting bloody political/religious conflicts that occurred not many years ago was fascinating

It was really fascinating to see how different this separate country can be, even though it's connected to Ireland and was once part of Ireland. The Northern Irish really make a point of it to show their loyalty to the Queen and the United Kingdom. Monuments to Queen Victoria were everywhere in Belfast. Flags fly on homes, lightposts and street intersections.

Belfast City Photos:

Ice Cream Dreams

2008-08-13T03:56:00.000-07:00

Here's a random thought of the day:

I would hate to be an ice cream man in Ireland. Somewhere in this country, there is boy with a dream: Someday, he wants to drive a colorful truck with a camper chock-full of treats, as whimsical music trails from speakers next to his windows and children scurry behind him. He wants to watch vanilla ooze run down the fingers of smiling kids while they lick a fast-melting mound of milk and sugar on the top of a crispy cone.

But this poor boy is born on an island nation along the west coast, where the weather rarely gets above 60 degrees in the summer -- and it rains most days. Let's face it, folks: this isn't ice cream-eatin' weather. If he follows his dream, he'll never make any money. He'll be happy, but he'll be poor.

Ireland is a really shit place to live if you want to be the ice cream man.

These thoughts cross my mind every time I see Mr. Whippy's truck parked on the bayfront Promenade in Salthill. We live on the Prom; I've only seen his brightly painted blue truck two or three times this year. Those were the token sunny days we've had. Is Mr. Whippy a happy man? Did he follow his dream? Does he wish he lived in Spain?

Someday, I'd love to meet him and ask him these questions. But it's always raining, so the ice cream man is rarely outside my apartment, doing what he does best.

I have baggage, and it's in my carry-on

2008-08-12T04:12:00.000-07:00

Every time I fly, I'm worried about my carry-on baggage -- specifically, what's inside it. All these over-the-top precautions on what can -- and can't be -- taken on the plane have gotten to me, especially because we fly Ryanair, and if you check a bag, you pay €10 to check it (limit of 15kg). We almost always fly with carry-ons only.

This year, we've had several close calls with security. Damon packed a Swiss Army Knife gift in his carry-on -- in his carry-on!!! -- on our way back from Switzerland. This wasn't too long after he'd packed my gigantic bottles of hairspray and mousse in Greece in ... his carry-on. The rule is no knives and no toiletries over 100ml -- stick with me here, honey! After much maneuvering and playing dumb, we actually got through security both times without coughing up our goods. (I keep on forgetting to remind him about the restrictions when we're standing in line at check-in.) I did, however, have to give up 150ml-tube of hair gel, which was only half-full, in Italy. Security didn't care if I was carrying only 75ml of gel; the container was 150ml in size. Whatever.

Disposable razors are my latest obsession. Ryanair's web site says that "...disposable razors with blades enclosed in cartridge..." are allowed. But is my cartridge too small or too big, just like my hair gel tube? I keep hiding the razor behind metal objects, such as my hairbrush, before I pass through security. The last thing I want is to lose my Personal Touch razor at the Dublin airport and spend an entire vacation with hairy legs. (Buying a new razor would be out of the question -- don't even let me get started on the price of razors in Ireland. Just look at my post on buying contact lenses solution.)

If my razor gets confiscated, I might go off the deep end. The only two women in the world who could high jack an airplane with a Personal Touch clutched in hand would be Lara Croft Tomb Raider and maybe Trinity from "The Matrix."

August Weather: Big Bucks, No Whammies

2008-08-12T03:08:00.000-07:00

Weather was a big gamble in the grand scheme of things when we decided to move here for one year. We both love sunshine. California is the place for us. We enjoy running in December on our lunch breaks without wearing a stocking cap, gloves and winter jacket. We both grew up in the Midwest; we escaped the world of long winters years ago. Ireland's reputation as a very rainy (hence beautifully green) country is known worldwide.

During our research last summer, however, lots of web sites and colleagues living in Ireland said that June, July, August and September were the best months for weather. Best in our world is 90 degrees and sunny: all day long. Sure, we knew we wouldn't get weather like that, but we at least thought summer in Ireland could be similiar to a California spring: cold mornings and evenings; warm afternoons; sunny most days; rainy days here and there. This country had a really rainy summer in 2007; when deciding to move here, this seemed promising to us. "Maybe a rainy summer last year means they'll have a mild summer in 2008 while we're living there!" I'd declared to Damon.

So, we rolled the dice. We knew we could make it through a rainy winter and spring because we always had summer to look forward to.

All summer, we've been acting like contestants on that old game show "Press Your Luck." We wanted "Big Bucks." Great weather. "No Whammies." No rain. Hell, we'd be happy with less rain and a sunny day once or twice a week.

When it rained most days in June, we told ourselves this: July will be better. Then a crappy July came and went; we said: it least we have August. Whammy, Whammy, Whammy. I swear that pint-sized red villain with the cape and big grin has body-snatched Mother Nature just to screw with our vitamin D- and vitamin K-deprived minds!

Now it's mid-August, and we spent all weekend surfing the Internet and packing for our return because there were gale-force winds and sheets of rain falling. No more Whammies, please. We can't take anymore rain. We have only three weeks before we go home. "Come on, Big Bucks!"

Getting personal: content of my blog, my motivations

2008-08-05T22:58:00.000-07:00

I received an interesting blog comment today from someone who works in Communications, offering a bit of advice on my content, specifically grammatical and spelling errors. The comment was both embarrassing as well as enlightening, because it underscored the fact that even though I created this blog to share our experience with family and friends, other people in the world are reading it -- and expecting it -- to carry quality consistent with professional journalism.

The blog has actually been an escape from work for me, and I often flew through my posts quickly without regard for quality -- which is totally unlike me, especially at work. I really didn't care if there were any typos or not because...THIS IS MY PERSONAL BLOG. Even the style of writing isn't on par with what my job demands. I have simply been capturing thoughts (almost verbatim) and experiences without thinking about sentence structure or word choice. That type of energy is best left dedicated to the book I've been writing and the few work projects I've tackled while living abroad.

At work, accuracy is my paramount concern. I detest mistakes. Now I wonder why my detail-oriented beast didn't rear its head whenever I worked on a personal blog post? I guess I figured my family and friends wouldn't care about the typos, nor would they judge the quality of my PROFESSIONAL work based on them.

Now I can't help but wonder what kind of person, a complete stranger, would take the time to collect 14 different typos in various posts in my blog, copy and paste them into one comment, and send me an anonymous post? Doesn't that seem like a whole lot of effort? I guess it's thoughtful, but who has got that kind of time on their hands or motivation?

Depleting and purging after living abroad

2008-08-05T01:12:00.000-07:00

The movers will be arriving at our apartment in three weeks. The container size allowance we were given has the same dimensions as the one which carried all our stuff over to Ireland 11 months ago. But over the course of a year, we've bought a ton of gifts, travel guides and even some furniture. We don't have room to ship this stuff back to the States, nor do we want to.

If you find yourself in the same situation, I've found that the Ireland Boards web site is pretty good for selling off stuff. There is no fee to post an ad. I posted an ad for two computer desks and had two offers within a week (including pictures is recommended). Boards.ie is partnered with Ireland Adverts; figuring out how to post a free ad wasn't that easy, but once I realized that my free Boards subscription included Adverts, and I needed to go to the Adverts link inside the Boards web site to post an ad, it all worked out.

Charlie Byrne's Bookshop in Galway city centre also purchases used books. I'm going to be taking several of my once-used travel guides there before we leave.

Another great way to shed yourself of books -- in the spiriting of sharing and giving -- is Book Crossing. I have received books from other Book Crossing members in Europe, and I've also sent books to Americans who requested them. Members can even leave books in cafes, airports, bus stations, etc. (called a "Wild Release"), to see what stranger picks up your book, logs onto the web site and records the book's current location. (Members number every book with a BCID code inside.) I've released four books into the "wild" in Dublin, but haven't received any notifications that they have been "caught" yet.

Going to the Races

2008-07-30T08:17:00.000-07:00

The hottest ticket in town come August is the Galway Races. This year's horse racing event is held July 28-August 3. Because we're going to Stockholm this weekend, we decided to go the races on a rainy Tuesday evening. We will miss all the special themed nights -- Ladies Day (Best Dressed) and Mad Hatters Day, for example -- but that's okay. The rain didn't keep the Galway ladies from stepping out in high fashion last night either. I can't imagine running around a race track in the pouring race in a cocktail dress and three-inch heels, but Galway women love an excuse to dress up.

The Irish love to bet too. I've never mentioned that we have betting companies with stores at several locations around town (including two Salthill alone). Ladbrokes is one of the big companies and had its own VIP tent yesterday. After about 30 minutes, we figured out the system for getting race cards and betting. We put 50€ on Mountain Snow to win; out of more than 20 horses, Mountain Snow finished...2nd!!!! And by only a few feet. We would have won 25€ if we'd bet on him to place. It was pretty exciting for my first horse race. Then we went home to get out of the rain.

Galway Arts Festival

2008-07-24T08:05:00.000-07:00

Every July in Galway, a big event comes to town. Over its 30 year history, the Galway Arts Festival has become a "showcase for Irish arts and international arts and is now firmly established as Ireland’s leading arts festival." About 100,000 people attend each year. While we couldn't attend every event, we picked a few of the highlights.

Lisa watched the Rebels street performers down in city center one afternoon. Here's a video of the Rebels someone posted on YouTube:

We attended the Circa, the opening show at the "big top" blue tent placed on a sprawling lawn next to the cathedral here in Galway. Circa was four Australian gymnasts/acrobats/tumblers. They contorted their bodies, did lots of flips and even brought out one trapeze and one suspended rope. It was a little slow for us, but I think we are jaded by Cirque du Soleil.

We also stayed up late and went to city center on a Sunday to watch Apocolopolis, the Street Parade. I also forgot to take my camera to this event, but found a video on YouTube:

Hair stylist recommendation

2008-07-24T01:09:00.000-07:00

If you're looking for a great hair stylist in Galway, I recommend the following:

Barry - haircut
Tamicka - color/tinting

They both work at Momento; I was really impressed with their services, definitely on par with what I've received in San Francisco's Bay Area.

Momento Hairdressing
18 High Street, Galway
091-565569

Finally: really good food in Galway

2008-07-24T00:02:00.001-07:00

We finally found a GREAT restaurant in Galway. It opened three months ago. But before I get to that, let me tell you why I'm rejoicing.

In our opinion, Ireland has lived up to its reputation as mediocre when it comes to culinary arts, great food. Sure, they have these cows and sheep, so butter and cheeses are excellent here. And those potatoes. Produce is fresh and usually flavorful.

But dining at restaurants has always been a let down for us. To date, the best meal we had the entire year -- as far as Irish cuisine is concerned -- was at The Winding Stair in Dublin. And I've read several stories about Ireland's fine dining scene coming to life.

But we've been on a budget, so splurging at the best spots wasn't in the cards for us. Our only big splurge of the year was for Valentine's Day at O'Grady's on the Pier, located about 15 minutes from our apartment and rated the Georgina Campbell Seafood Restaurant of the Year in Ireland in 2008. The weathered wood table by the old fireplace was cozy and romantic. The food was quite good, almost as good as The Winding Stair. But we felt it lacked something -- I can't put my finger on it, maybe integration of flavors -- and for €105, we definitely recalled many better meals we've had in San Francisco and Napa Valley with a $150 tab. We also dined at Itsa4 in the Dublin suburbs for my birthday. The food and wine were great, but €18 for a hamburger?!?

After several "just okay" meals in Galway -- then the ridiculously expensive and disappointing one at the Huntsmann which cost us €48 for some fish and chips, a burger, one Coke and a glass of New Zealand Pinot Noir -- we gave up on going out to dinner here. For the first time in my life, I actually preferred the value-quality from my home cooking over well-regarded local restaurants.

Then our friends Mike and SuAnn who moved here one month before us from Minnesota for a one-year assignment with Medtronic invited us out for a farewell dinner. They return home in one week. I suggested the Thai restaurant in town, which is decent; then SuAnn called back and asked if we'd like to try a new place called the Asian Tea House on Mary Street in Galway city centre. We're always up for something new, so we said we'd "give it a go" as they say here.

This place was outstanding. The chef is Malaysian. They consider their menu a blend of Asia, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and China. SuAnn is from Malaysian, and she praised the quality and authenticity of the food. All ingredients were fresh and cooked to perfection. The ambiance is great too. The floor tiles in the restaurant came from Cambodia. Asian Tea House rivals The Slanted Door in San Francisco from a food standpoint, though it's on a much smaller scale.

We may actually have to go back there before we leave the city!

Sure, it's not Irish cuisine, but it's high-quality cooking, and this country needs high-quality cooking from many different countries to converge here for the culinary scene to continue to mature and thrive.

Adventure #30: Aran Islands encore

2008-07-20T08:08:00.000-07:00

We couldn't leave Ireland without another trip to Inishmore, the largest of the three Aran Islands. Last fall, we didn't get to see half the island because we decided to walk versus rent bikes or take a guided tour by van. Inishmore was our first adventure last September not long after we arrived in Galway.

In July, we spent a full Saturday on the island, riding bikes to all the top sights. The sun shined down on us all day -- it was brilliant! This is such a great way to see the island; we highly recommend it. I also recommend stopping off Joe Watty's pub about 10 minutes from town to listen to local music, if the weather is good. Joe Mac's Pub next to the hostel and SuperMac's in Kilronan, right near the docks where all the ferries land, is also a great place for socializing.

You can find a list of all the top attractions here.

Adventure #29: Switzerland

2008-07-18T08:45:00.000-07:00

Our tourism book said that pictures can’t do the surreal beauty of Switzerland’s landscape justice.

But we decided to give it our best shot (pardon the pun).

Every time we turned our heads, another gorgeous lake, mountain, valley, forest, Alpine-style building or cow appeared as if to taunt us. I’m not sure we really ever put down our cameras the entire trip…except to eat or sleep.

Photographically speaking, Damon met his match in Switzerland...or at least his camera did. In just four days, he burned through 10 MB of memory and two batteries. On our last night in the country, my memory chip declared itself full right before my last battery died.

One of the greatest parts of traveling in Switzerland is its compact size. It’s bordered by five countries: Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein. This makes travel (by train or car) quite easy, but it also gives Switzerland its fascinating cultural diversity. There is really no Swiss language; cultural traditions, lifestyle and language are influenced by the borders. While German is the most prevalent language, 20 percent of the population near the France border count French as their official language. Close to that many do the same on the Italian border.

One of the bummers about Switzerland is cost of living. Switzerland is very expensive for everyone – food, drink, hotel, train tickets, gondolas, you name it. The only thing we found that was not more expensive than Ireland was gasoline, surprisingly. But in all honestly, with restaurants perched on river banks and cliffs with great food and service, you can’t blame them for charging what they do. The views alone are worth the price.

We flew Ryanair from Dublin to Basel direct. It was the first time we’d ever been to an airport where the exit signs directed us to two different countries: Switzerland or France. Then we drove north to the German border, which took all of maybe 15 minutes. We walked around the town of Freiburg in the southwest corner of Germany, and visited its cathedral and ate an authentic Bratwurst before driving through the Black Forest. The winding roads and forested hills reminded us of our commute back home.

Germany Photos:

We crossed over into Switzerland and stopped at Rheinfall, the largest plain waterfalls in Europe. We ate dinner on the terrace of a riverfront restaurant in Stein am Rhein, a town famous for its Hans Christian Andersen-style architecture. The restaurant specializes in fish from the river, so we had perch and bass. We watched kids jump off the bridge into the chilly waters below while we ate. Little did we know that a Swiss game show with card players was broadcasting live from the center of Stein am Rhein. We watched the game show host parading around the streets, as residents sat at dozens of picnic tables drinking beer. As part of a competition, a young couple sawed a log. It was truly a step back in time. On the first night, we stayed at the cute Seegaertli B&B in Berlingen, a town on the shores of Untersee, part of Lake Konstanz. Our room had a balcony and views of the lake. The owners had a private beach and patio area across the road for guests to enjoy, but we didn’t have time to enjoy it.

Lake Konstanz was our first destination the next morning. The northeast border of Germany and Switzerland rests just outside the center of Konstanz, the village. We strolled through the village’s old town, saw its cathedral, then walked across the big bridge over the lake before starting our drive to Interlaken.

Rheinfall, Steim am Rhein, Berlingen and Konstanz Photos:

We drove through Zurich, Switzerland's largest city, and the beautiful regions south of Zurich with many lakes (Lucerne, Zugger, Alpnacher, Sarner, Lungerer).

Interlaken is an alpine village near the center of the country, within the region known as Bernese Oberland. Interlaken is flanked by two lakes, and is a great base for the best peaks in the Swiss Alps. Damon had been talking about taking the Jungfraujoch train to the highest train station in Europe to see Jungfrau since last fall. He wanted to photograph the Alps from over 11,000 feet. We arrived into town mid-afternoon under blue skies. It was too late to go to Jungfrau, so the owner of Rugenpark B&B where we stayed recommended Schilthorn. He said the views of all the highest peaks (Jungfrau, Mönch, Eiger) were actually better from Schilthorn. We could even see Thun and Lake Thun.

We rode three separate gondolas to reach Schilthorn. All I can say is, “Holy Schilt.” Schilthorn is a mountain located at about 10,000 feet. The views were breathtaking. We hiked out to a ridge and took some funny photos with a caution sign featuring a high-heeled shoe (???). On the way down from Schilthorn, we got off the gondola at Murren, a pedestrian-only traffic city (supposedly, but we found a couple transport vehicles). Murren was really charming. The mountain views were gorgeous, the architecture cute. We ate fondue and Swiss beer outside on the terrace of a restaurant overlooking a steep valley.

The weather didn’t cooperate the next day. This happens in Switzerland, we’re told. We couldn’t go to Jungfrau--who would want to pay $200 per person to take a train up the mountain to only see a wall of fog--so we ventured out into the rain to go see Trummelbach Falls. This amazing waterfall is a series of 10 glacier-fed waterfalls flowing through one cave, the only one of its kind in Europe open to the public, we were told. The snow-pack run-off from Eiger, Monk and Jungfrau shoots down through this cave. Watching the insane water pressure was quite an experience.(Trummelbach is a UNESCO Heritage Site.)

Next we drove to Grindelwald village and did some shopping in the rain, then ate sandwiches in the park. Once it stopped raining, we took a bus to the stop just below Upper Glacier. (Our bus drive said “hello” in German, “thank you” in French and “good bye” in Italian. If that doesn’t sum up Switzerland’s diversity, I don’t know what does.)

We hiked into the entrance of Upper Glacier, then climbed up all 887 log steps (Damon counted) to the rocky, flat tops of the cliff to see the glacier. The glacier wasn’t really visible (it’s been receeding for a few decades, sadly), but the climb up and the walk across the suspended bridge made the trip worthwhile. I snapped a photo of the traditional Swiss drummers (gigantic cowbells for drums!) in the town of Lauterbrunnen. We celebrated (or negated) our climb with a banana split at the restaurant located near the base of the mountain. That evening, we took a walking tour of Interlaken (in the rain), bought some Swiss chocolates from the famous Schuh shop and restaurant, then grabbed a casual dinner at Brasserie 17 in the bar-cum-restaurant-cum hostel.

Time to move along. We packed up our things the next morning and drove to Thun, a town on the Thunersee (Lake Thun) west of Interlaken. We toured Thun castle, then walked through town and over its bridges before continuing on through the Berne canton, the more scenic drive to Lake Geneva. We stumbled upon a beautiful waterfall along the way, which flows into the Jaunbach stream, and stopped at Jaun to photograph it. We also took pictures of the cows and the gigantic bells around their necks. (Chiming cow bells were within ear shot at two out of three places we stayed.) Check out this video we filmed with my cell phone:

Interlaken, Thun (Bernese Oberland) Photos:

The road signs soon changed from German to French. We stopped in the town of Gruyeres in the Fribourg canton, famous for its cheese, and visited the cheese center (more of a tourist trap than anything). But the cheese aging room was cool to look at, and we were able to say we tasted Gruyeres in Gruyer...what more could you ask for?

We arrived in Corseaux, one of the many villages on the border of Lake Geneva, in the late afternoon. (Lake Geneva is shared with France, where it's known as Lake Leman.) Our B&B (and its pool) overlooked the lake and mountains. We toured Chateau de Chillon just outside of Montreux, then walked along the Montreux boardwalk and ate a nice Italian dinner at Restaurant au Parc. The next morning, we took a train up to Les Pleiades, an area in the mountains overlooking Lake Geneva, but it was too rainy and foggy to see anything. We then drove through the Lavaux wine region and photographed its stony terraces, built by monks 800 years ago. These vineyards and their terraces are a UNESCO Heritage Site. The views of the steep vineyards, lake and mountains were absolutely stunning. If I hadn’t fallen in love with Switzerland yet, I did right then. We stopped at a few wine villages before driving over to Lausanne, located across the lake from France's Evian (yes, that Evian). Lausanne’s cathedral sits at the top of a hill. We climbed to the top, toured the church, then climbed up into its tower. The tower bells rang while we were still at the top…very cool. We decided to buy some wine and local products (ham, cheeses, nuts, chocolates) and return to Lavaux for a picnic. The sun finally broke from the clouds while we ate at a arbor-covered picnic area next to the vineyards. That night we listened to jazz at the world-famous Montreux Jazz Festival, held there since 1967, and took another stroll down the Montreux promenade. We witnessed the most gorgeous sunset, but we’d both already ran out of memory on our cameras.

Montreux, Lavaux and Lausanne Photos:

Top 10 Things We Will Miss

2008-07-09T00:47:00.000-07:00

We've been talking about all the things we'll miss when we return back to the States. Here's a short list of our Top 10:

10. Tesco Buffala Mozzarella di Campania for €2.76 per ball.

9. Diplo wall heaters

8. Bus stop steps from our door for public transportation

7. Gym with a sauna (!!!) only a 5-minute walk from the apartment

6. All the lakes and islands of Ireland

5. Castle ruins everywhere

4. Evening walks on the Prom (weather permitting)

3. Sea views from our living room windows

2. Galway's energy and entertainment scene (the hussle and bustle of a college town with tons of pubs, cafes and live music)

1. Visiting any country in Europe in about two hours or less on a plane

Top 15 Things We Will NOT Miss

2008-07-09T00:36:00.001-07:00

Here's the list of things we won't be missing when we leave Galway in September:

15. Dog poop everywhere on the sidewalks

14. Lack of organization and forward planning

13. No electricial outlets in bathrooms

12. Double beds (and two twins pushed together qualifying as a double)

11. Electric showers (and showers with only half a door)

10. Bathroom faucets with separate hot and cold taps (how fun it's been to fill the sink with hot and cold water every night in order to wash my face in warm water)

9. Clothes dryers without ventilation (no more emptying the bladder of my dryer every four loads)

8. Cost of living, in general (bottles of contact solutions costing 16€, drinks for 6€ a pop)

7. Mediocre food at a pub/restaurants

6. Lack of garbage disposals

5. Separating food trash from paper trash (because we have no garbage disposal)

4. Radiator heating

3. Paying our bills at the the Post Office

2. Timid Irish drivers (causing unneccessary traffic)

1. The weather (rainy, cool days all year long)

Dodgy Construction: The Ride of Your Life

2008-07-09T00:16:00.000-07:00

Last fall, we were intrigued by a rollercoaster located next to our local gym called The Wild Mouse. The name cracked us up, as did the fact that a gymnasium here also offered water slides, miniature golf, and amusement park games and rides.

Before we could take a picture, The Wild Mouse was disassembled.

The good news is that she's back. The bad news is that we got to watch The Wild Mouse -- and several other rides -- being constructed this summer, constructed on gravel slopes, sidewalks and old parking lots.

Dodgy is the word commonly used in the U.K. and Ireland to describe anything broken, unreliable, not good. If this isn't dodgy construction, I don't know what is. How could any parent be comfortable letting their children ride on a rollercoaster that's being balanced by some blocks of wood? Maybe we Americans are just too cautious about these types of things. But honestly, there's no way I could get on The Wild Mouse after walking past the visible foundation under which this ride was built.

Ride, as a word, doesn't have the same connotation over here. Ride is bad, very bad. Drunk men say it to girls they want to shag, if you catch my drift. Because I still don't know the word the Irish use for amusement park rides, I guess I'll leave that vernacular as is, and probably insult all the parents in Galway by calling a rollercoaster their children enjoy a "ride."

Ninjaphobia: Don't Fear the Ninja

2008-07-08T12:09:00.000-07:00

Damon learned the other day that before the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles could be launched in eight countries in Europe, the censorship board/laws made them change their name to Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles. Obviously, they found a negative connation/association with ninjas they didn't want children exposed to. According to Wikipedia, consequently, everything related to the Turtles had to be renamed before being released in these nations (comic books, video games, toys, etc.) The lyrics were also changed, such as changing "Splinter taught them to be ninja teens" to the "Splinter taught them to be fighting teens."

This continued until 2003.

This begs the question: What about the naked lady lingerie advertisements in the newspapers? Or the use of the word "fuck" on prime time TV?

I guess in this corner of the world, that's far more conservative than a cartoon turtle welding a toy knife.

Irish weather karma

2008-07-05T11:53:00.001-07:00

As soon as I blogged about how bad the summer weather is in Western Ireland, Galway enjoyed its sunniest day this year -- a beautiful Thursday filled with sunshine, rarely a cloud in the sky, and temperatures around 18-20 degrees (about 70). My cousin and I sat outside at The Quays in Galway, drinking Guinness and basking in the sun.

Then the rain returned on Friday. And Saturday.

My Travel Map

2008-07-05T11:48:00.000-07:00

Damon and I updated our Trip Advisor travel maps today. It's really cool to get this perspective of all the places I've visited back in the States, as well as in Europe. But when we looked at an atlas of the entire globe, it reminded us of this: We have so many more continents to visit. Hopefully in the next couple of years, we can see Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and South America.

Paris, France

Rome, Italy

Lisbon, Portugal

Las Vegas, NV, USA

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Galway, Ireland

San Francisco, CA, USA

Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA

View my profile

Create your own travel map or travel blog

Visit TripAdvisor.com

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The Final Tourist To Do List

2008-07-05T05:54:00.001-07:00

The clock is ticking. We have less than two months left before we return to California and tons of places in Ireland still left to discover.

Here's our list of must-see places we've yet to visit (in order of priority):

1) Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland
2) Skellig Michael, County Kerry
3) Slieve League Cliffs, Carrick, County Donegal
4) Aran Islands (again -- first time wasn't enough)
5) Connemara National Park hike up one of the Twelve Bens
6) Galway Irish Crystal Heritage Centre

We've decided to scrap plans to visit Waterford, Wicklow or Wexford on the east coast. Simply not enough time left. I was hoping to watch a horse racing event in Tipperary or Galway, but Damon's not keen on it, nor does he fancy taking a cruise on the Lough Corrib. If we can squeeze in another island trip near County Galway, maybe we'll go to Inishbofin or Clare islands.

Adventure #28: Cousin Bruce visits Ireland

2008-07-04T02:53:00.000-07:00

My cousin Bruce from Kansas visited us this past week. While Damon worked, Bruce and I spent our days touring Ireland. (Damon broke away to sightsee with us on the weekend.) Here are some of the places we visited:

Aillwee Caves
This was a new destination in The Burren I'd never visited; very cool caves, great butter-cream fudge in the farmhouse shop and amazing birds of prey exhibit. We also had lunch at a tavern near the Burren Smokehouse; instead of eating salmon, we opted for our first plate of bangers and mash.

Cliffs of Moher
We got lucky this day -- some rain but low winds -- we visited the Cliffs after our cave tour.

Ring of Kerry
Damon drove us south for our weekend getaway; we spent one night at a B&B in Kenmare, near the Ring of Kerry, hoping to catch one of the boats to Michael Skellig Island on Sunday, but no luck. The waves were too high. I was very bummed not to see the puffin birds on the island. We enjoyed some great food and Irish music at the pubs in Kenmare on Saturday night. This time, our drive through Moll's Gap afforded us sweeping views of the valley and lakes below.

Clifden, John d'Arcy Castle and Aughnanure Castle
The infamous crappy weather of Ireland hampered our journey that day. Our jeans got soggy hiking out to John d'Arcy Castle; we turned back and sipped on hot chocolate at the boathouse restaurant near the docks. We had to skip the John d'Arcy monument due to rain and low visibility. We also snapped some photos of Kylemore Abbey on the way home.

Ross Errilly Friary
Some of the coolest ruins in all of Ireland -- well-preserved and only 30 minutes from Galway.

Dublin
We drank pints of Guinness at the Gravity Bar above the Guinness Storehouse, then went to the Jameson's distillery and drank whiskey at the bar -- the best place on the planet to drink Guinness and Jameson's, respectively.

Galway
Another highlight of the trip was simply hanging out in Galway. We watched musicians at Tig Coili, a famous pub here. Here's a video of musicians at Tig Coili. We also ate fish & chips at McDonagh's in Galway.

Cigarette warnings in Europe

2008-07-03T06:11:00.000-07:00

The EU seems to have taken the shock-value approach to anti-smoking campaigns. They've made sure that each box of cigarettes is plastered with a clear message: Smoking kills. I didn't really notice how graphic their anti-smoking advertising/warning campaigns were until I saw some cartons of Kents at the Duty-Free Shop in Turkey. Is this only happening in Europe or has this more-aggressive tactic to curb smoking caught on the States too?

I hope it does...enough with sugar-coating it and saying wimpy statements along the lines of "smoking is harmful to your health."

Why all the Apologies?

2008-07-03T02:30:00.000-07:00

I'm convinced that the most-used words in the Irish vocabulary are as follows:

1) bye
2) sorry
3) hiya (or how'erya)
4) pint
5) feck (or fuck)
6) cheers

Here's my rationale:

Bye -- bye is the most-used word in Ireland (or at least County Galway) because most Irish don't say "bye" once: they say it at least three times with each farewell.

Sorry -- the word that truly inspired this blog post...I'm not quite sure why the Irish feel the need to apologize for, well, almost everything. Sorry is used when you bump into someone, when you want to get past someone blocking your way, when you can't hear or understand someone, when you want to get someone's attention quickly, when you are actually sorry or when you aren't sure what else to say, "sorry" is usually the most appropriate word. They don't say "pardon me," "excuse me," "could you repeat that?" etc, etc. Yes, I do realize that "sorry" is just politeness here, the Irish aren't really apologizing, but it's really cute to witness it from the American perspective. Why do the Irish have to be so kind all the time? I love their warm spirits, but if you're not in the wrong, is there really any reason to accept the blame? I'll have to wean myself off this habit when I return to the States, or everyone will be looking at me strangely.

Hiya - the smile "hi" or "hello" just aren't that common here. Greetings need to include a warm inquiry into the other person's wellbeing, such as "Hi, how'erya?" -- which is really pronounced as more of a run-on word.

Pint - no explanation needed. This is the land of Guinness, the place where keg-truck driver is a highly skilled, sought-after and highly demanded employment position.

Feck - this swear word is like our usage of "damn" or "shit." Think of it as the ketchup in your vocabulary, if every other word was a French fry.

Cheers - from what I can tell, "cheers" means "goodbye" and "thank you." Talk about word economy. Plus it can also be used for toasts (but I think this is more common in the States.) Love this word.

Almost time to check out

2008-07-02T02:45:00.000-07:00

Damon booked our one-way tickets home to California for early September. I scheduled an appointment with the movers today for the end of August. We can't believe the end is finally near. Ten months have already passed since we embarked on this one-year journey to discover life in Ireland.

Irish summers are a bummer

2008-06-29T02:47:00.000-07:00

I returned home from France this week praying that summer weather would have arrived in Galway. My husband warned me otherwise. June could have easily been mistaken for March, April, May, even October. It rained...a lot. The wind blew. Damon wore his hooded raincoat every day. Nothing new. I savored every day I spent in France and Hungary, soaking up the humid air and sunshine. I keep hoping that summer will arrive; they'll be sunny skies and opportunities to wear shorts and tank tops.

I won't hold my breath.

Adventure #27: France and Hungary

2008-06-26T03:16:00.000-07:00

My second (and final) big work trip of my year abroad centered around a documentary filming project with B.Napa Films. My company commissioned film maker Bret Lyman, the founder of B.Napa, to make short documentary films profiling each of our winery clients in France and in Hungary.

Bret and I spent roughly two weeks on location, working from sunrise to sunset. From a geographic standpoint, this trip was a repeat of all the regions I visited in France in April while scouting shots for the June filming trip: Rhone Valley, Burgundy and Champagne. (See previous blog post.)

Hungary was a new destination for me, so I've chosen to focus on it for this post.

We spent two days in the Tokay region, about 2.5 hours east of Budapest. We stayed in the village of Mad, where Royal Tokaji is located. To read an interesting story about Mad, click here. Mad is a charming, sleepy little place. Although this village is the birthplace of the Tokaj Renaissance and Tokaji wines have re-emerged on the international stage since 1990, the local community is just beginning to wrap its arms around the idea of tourism and capitalism, after so many years under Communist rule. A hotel has opened in town, buildings are being restored, a few bars have opened. Even more much-needed tourism development is happening around the nearby village of Tokaj. The two rivers that meet near Tokaji village throw off a mist that contributes to the fungus that grows on the Tokaj grapes and helps shrivel the berries so they can be made into Tokaji Aszu wines. Tokaji wines are some of the richest and rarest in the world. Because tourism is just getting started here, it's definitely an interesting place to visit if you prefer a more rustic, quaint travel experience. The 13th/14th-century cellars built under the villages are incredible. I encouraged them to start hosting cellar/cave tours in the summer. Lunch at the Grof Degenfeld Castle Hotel (on the terrace) with a bottle of Hungarian sparkling wine should not be missed.

Budapest is a very charming city, actually two cities -- Buda on the west side of the River Danube and Pest on the other. I didn't bring my pocket camera on the trip, but here are some great pictures of the city.

We had an incredible dinner at the famous Gundel's restaurant in Pest, replete with musicians, Hungarian food and spoonfuls of the rare Essencia from Royal Tokaji Wine Company. The architecture of Budapest was an interesting mix of old and new. Lots of old mansions had been converted to museums or museums with restaurants, cafes downstairs. Walking through Heroe's Square and down the Andrassy Avenue, now a World Heritage Site, was quite an experience. There was an exciting vibe throughout the city; maybe it was the arts festival that was taking place, but I also sensed an air of liberation still alive and well in Budapest, some 20 years after the fall of Communism in Hungary.

Bret also traveled to Alsace without me, as I had to return to Ireland to pick up cousin Bruce for his holiday.

Adventure #26: Cruising Greece and Turkey

2008-06-15T00:24:00.000-07:00

Who could possibly spend one year living in Europe without taking advantage of the opportunity to cruise one of this country's sparkling seas? This was the question we asked ourselves last December before booking a week-long cruise around Greece for a last big vacation of our year abroad.

Budget Travel summer holiday magazines profiled a trip called Pearls of the Aegan with Thomson Cruises, a UK-based company. Though drinks were priced in pounds and the ship, Emerald Princess, was showing her age (2008 is her last year of voyage), we were still thrilled with our first cruising experience and the value of our vacation. Sure, there were only three couples our age on this vessel. Cruises might be packed with eldery folks, but we were all about the destinations, so we had a blast -- especially making fun of the live entertainment on the ship -- definitely catering to the old, English clientele. We had to walk out on the comedian one night because we didn't get any of his jokes. :)

We had no idea how many islands there were surrounding Greece -- according to Wikipedia, there are about 1,400 islands of Greece, of which 227 are inhabited. Only 78 islands have more than 100 inhabitants. And the islands are divided into different groups with names we'd never knew existed. Nor did we know how many different seas surrounded Greece that we would have the opportunity to cross over seven days. It truly was a fascinating vacation from every aspect.

We flew from Dublin direct to Corfu on a charter flight (typical of holidays booked through Budget Travel) and boarded our ship there on a Friday. We spent the first day getting the lay of the land on the ship, then we hiked up to the old fort of Corfu. Corfu, the island, is a Greek island on the Ionian Sea, an arm of the Mediterranean. Corfu, the town, is a quiet village with a charming, old-town district. Great architecture, influenced by the Venetians during their reign.

Corfu:

We spent our second day at sea, lounging on one of the decks, tanning our sun-deprived Irish skin. An amusing safety training was also conducted that morning.

When we awoke on Sunday morning, the cliffs of Santorini welcomed us from our round, cabin window. We learned what a soft-port is this day -- cruise ships can't dock at shore; they anchor offshore and small boats taxi passengers to the shore. Santorini is essentially what remains of an enormous volcanic explosion. It is one of the most stunning places we've ever seen in our lives, in terms of the cliffs, the waters, the architecture. We definitely want to return here some day to spend more than just one day. If you only have time to look at one slide show, pick this one!

Santorini is part of the Cyclades Islands of Greece. (It's also a wine-producing island, so one of places I was definitely interested in checking out.) There are only three ways to get from the port at the bottom of the cliffs to the towns at the top: 1) ride the gondola; 2) ride the donkeys; 3) walk up the steep donkey trails. We opted for the gondola, where tragedy struck: Damon dropped his camera when exiting the gondola, sending it flying across the concrete. The injuries appeared fatal. Could there be any worse fate for a photographer on his first day of vacation? During our exploration of the area around Thira, the main town on the island, after many hours, he finally figured out a way to rig the camera to work again and took a few incredible shots in the process. (Scotch tape saved the day.) There are only a few streets where cars can drive near Thira, the rest are paths, sidewalks, winding through a sea of stacked, white stucco buildings perched high on the edge of the cliffs. We hiked to a rock formation, got nasty sunburns, and I stopped off in an art shop and bought a Nazar Boncugu, the Evil-Eye hanging bead. I thought these were Greek, but when I got to Turkey, I was told the Greeks borrowed the concept from the Turks.) Then we had an amazing traditional Greek lunch at Restaurant Aris, part of the Loukas Hotel, overlooking the sea before a stroll through the shopping district and taking a long, stinky, amusing walk down the donkey trail to a seaside bar for a bottle of Mythos. We then returned to the ship for our overnight travel to the next destination.

Santorini:

We hopped off the ship the next morning in Kusadasi, a port town on the west coast of Turkey, with no expectations and very sketchy plans. We knew we wanted to visit the ancient city of Ephesus, but we didn't want to partake in any group bus tours organized by our cruise ship. Serendipitiously, we ended up in a taxi cab driven by a young, friendly Turkish guy who used to live in Los Angeles and also studied wine while he was there. All he wanted to do was talk about wines -- California, Oregon, Washington, New Zealand, Australia -- you name it. His family owns a hotel, Hotel Bella, in Selcuk, near Ephesus, with a restaurant on the top roof. He offered us a fair price to drive us to Ephesus, gave us a private tour outside the entrance, lent us his tourism book on the ancient ruins, then picked us up after we spent 1.5 hours walking through the ruins. The ruins of Ephesus were spectactular. Hard to compare to Rome, but so fascinating due to their age, the location (in the middle of an arid, forested valley), the fact that only 10% has been excavated and that the entire city used to be on the harbor, but earthquakes and time have moved the water several kilometers westerward. The city itself was founded in the 10th-century BC!!!

We then drove to Selcuk to see the Isa Bey Mosque on Ayasoluk Hill and the 6th-century basilica of St. John the Apostle. Damon ended up photographing their hotel for them, they took us to their rooftop terrace to try some local Turkish foods and photograph the baby storks nesting around the street. We also bought a beaded, hanging piece, shaped in a diamond, which is supposed to be some Turkish good luck charm for your home, but I can't find the name on the internet anywhere.

Back at Kusadasi, Damon detested the pesky salesmen at the Grand Bazaar market near the port, so we took a public shuttle bus (quite an experience itself) to Ladies Beach for some sunbathing and lunch. The Muslim influences on life were ever-present. I noticed, few, if any, local women at the beaches. Many Turkish men were hanging out on the sand in their swimming trunks only, but rarely with a woman by their sides -- always accompanied by other men. Kusadasi was quite touristy, like Gran Canaria in our opinion (at least the closest beaches and areas near the port we visited); not much ethnic, local experiences to be had and lots of garden-variety shops and restaurants catering to Northern European tourists who want to eat fish and chips when they are in Turkey. We did manage to find some Turkish food at Ladies Beach and sampled one of the best beers I've ever tasted in my life, Efes Dark.

Western Turkey:

We woke up early the next morning in Piraeus, the port of Athens. After a 40-minute walk to the Metro station, we found our way into the heart of Athens, located about 9 km south-east of the port. It goes without saying that the history of Athens, and each of its ancient architectural highlights, would be hard to capture in any blog. It's one of the world's oldest cities, with a recorded history spanning at least 3,000 years.

We had a full day to explore, and saw as much as we could. We learned that many of the churches, oldest structures in the old town of Athens date from the Byzantine era. We walked throughout the city. Our highlights included:

First Cemetery of Athens
Athenian Acropolis
Parthenon
Temple of Olympian Zeus
Plaka neighborhood
Temple of Hephaestus
Ancient Agora
Roman Agora
Philopappou Hill

We also tried to find a bouzouki bar to listen to authentic music before boarding the ship, but learned that musicians didn't start playing until at least 10 p.m., and we were far out to sea by that time. But we did get to sample local souvlaki sandwiches. We both agreed that the Acropolis was a little disappointing, only because there are so many tourists herding around the ruins and restoration work limits the magnificent photo opportunities. Cranes, fabrics and scaffolding obstructed the Parthenon especially. But somebody's got to try to preserve such a priceless part of civilization, right?

I believe this was the night I realized something was seriously wrong with my skin. Itchy, red bumps had popped up all over my calves. The ship doctor, who didn't speak much English, charged me 40 pounds and said it was an allergy. Shouldn't a doctor on a cruise ship be able to recognize a sun rash when he sees it? I got some ointment, but it didn't help much.

Athens:

Our day in Mykonos, another Cyclades island, was the shortest of all ports of call, sadly, due to the long overnight journey ahead to Zakynthos. We strolled through the capital city of Hora, took some amazing photos of the white-washed architecture and some playful kittens, then hiked up the hills in search of great vista views before boarding the bus to Platis Gialos beach, one of the more low-key, family beaches and the closest to Hora. (There are also gay and nude beaches a little farther away which we skipped, of course.) I tried to keep my sun rash covered as much as possible as we lounged on cushiony chairs in the sand. I gathered lots of cool stones along the shore before we headed back to Hora to catch the final bus back to the ship, with only five minutes to spare. (This was typically the case for us throughout the trip -- first people off the boat, and last back on before the ship left port.)

Mykonos:

My skin rash spread overnight; Damon became inflicted too, unfortunately. For our last new port of call, Zakynthos, another Ionian island, like Corfu. (This was also a soft-port, which means it took a little longer to get to shore.) We'd hoped to find a half-day boat tour at Zakynthos where we could see the loggerhead sea turtles, as well as Shipwreck Cove and the Blue Caves. But all of the boats left an hour or so before we arrived at port. So we took an afternoon boat ride in the bay of Laganas to see the loggerheads, then visited an island (possibly Marathonisi) to sunbathe for an hour (not a good idea with our skin at this point), before heading south to see the Keri Caves. The Laganas area was overly developed restaurants and bars catering to English-speaking tourists. We did, however, enjoy walking around Zakynthos Town and found a great local pottery maker. We had fun that day but probably wouldn't go back to this island.

Zakynthos:

Our final day was spent back in Corfu, strolling through the streets of old town. A bus drivers strike caused some panic with travelers that morning, but we had no problems with our charter bus from the port to the airport. We did, however, feel very sorry for the hundreds of people standing out in the blazing sun at the airport, trying to figure out how to get to their final destinations.

It took seven days for the sun rash to heal but the memories will last forever. What a great way to experience a cruise for the first time.

Adventure #25: Barcelona

2008-05-26T01:03:00.000-07:00

Damon had been banking on going to a work conference in Barcelona in mid-May since last fall, so we kept holding off on booking a trip, all the way up until early April. When the company trip plan fell through, we had no choice but to take another vacation. Who could possibly live in Europe for a year and not visit Spain at least once, right?

Last fall, we asked several Spaniards we'd met in Galway the same question: If someone told you they only had time to visit one city in Spain, which would you recommend? I could see the near-tortuous contemplation on their faces, silently crying out, "Spain? Only one city? How can this be possible?" But when they finally made the grueling decision, they all gave the same answer: Barcelona. (They made their cases for additional visits to San Sebastian and Sevilla, of course.)

Barcelona was a little overwhelming to me at first. It's big, bold and eclectic, a sprawling city so large that only a poster-size map would afford you the ability to see all sections of town, especially the tiny little Gothic Quarter passages. On many occasions, we spent 15 minutes walking underground in the never-ending metro tunnels before reaching the platform. Hordes of tourists swarm the streets. But if you like to walk (and we do) and you love food, sparkling wine, diverse architecture, music and the bustling pulse of an oceanside city (ditto here), Barcelona's charms soon overthrow the shock of its stature. Once you get your bearings, learn the ropes and accept the fact that millions of people like you flock to this amazing maritime city every year, you will have a fabulous time. We certainly did.

Barcelona is the second-largest city in Spain and the capital of Catalonia, an autonomous region in northeastern Spain, bordering France and the Andorra region of Spain. They have their own government, cultural traditions, etc., even a language, Catalan, quite different from Spanish, but since we don't speak Spanish, we didn't really notice. :)

We flew Ryanair from Shannon to Girona and took a bus to the main station, Barcelona Nord, in typical Ryanair fashion. We stayed at a house converted into guest rooms called Fashion House, which was located half way between the bus station and the top of La Rambla. Fashion House was a great location and great price, but a little too noisy for us.

We spent our first day walking around, getting a handle locations and distances, while letting sensory overload welcome us in grand Barcelona style. A walk down La Rambla -- passing vendors selling ducks, chickens, turtles, parakeets, ferets, bunnies and more as well as painted street performers miming for money -- led us to La Boqueria, a highlight of the trip. This market blew our minds! It dates back to the early 1200s. You could spend at least a half-day hanging out at the tapas bar counters, sipping on cava and nibbling on croquetas. Just check out our pictures. We ate fresh, grilled calamari and a plate of sauteed mushrooms with our cava, then moved along to Bar Pinotxo, where I waited in line for heavenly morel mushroom croquetas. We bought some chocolates and a Kiwi smoothie before taking a walk around the new boardwalk area by the Aquarium and the port where all the cruise ships dock.

Then we walked through part of the Barri Gothic (Gothic Quarter) and toured the Cathedral of Santa Eulalia with its beautiful cloisters and fountain surrounded by geese. Unfortunately, there is a lot of restoration work happening here now, so we couldn't get a good shot of the exterior. We spent the rest of the day walking over to, and up to Montjuic, the mountainous area where most of the 1992 Summer Olympics buildings were constructed. (We'd hoped to take the gondola from the port over to the mountain, but got turned away by one of the gondola workers even though the guide books said it closed three hours later.) We checked out the stadium, auditorium and the gorgeous views from the plaza in front of the National Art Museum of Catalunya . We also visited a place we did not realize was a theme park called Poble Espanyol. It's a village of tourist shops with all the buildings designed to display different types of Spanish architecture. The buildings were very pretty, though not a highlight of the trip. That night, we ate a hardy, traditional Catalonian dinner at Meson David, a restaurant that had been recommended to us for its value. We finished off the night with mojitos (is there any city that doesn't feature them on every menu?) at this really funky bar that reminded me of a less-commercial version of Rainforest Cafe called El Bosc de les Fades, and we sipped our mojitos by a tree trunk, under its branches, next to the pond adorned with plastic dolls. Crazy place.

The behemoth Sagrada Familia beckoned on our second day, the Antoni Gaudi Catholic church that has been under construction since 1882. He lived his last 16 years inside the church while building it and is buried in the crypt. We'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking; this place is insane. Tourists stand in line for sometimes two hours to ride the elevators up to one of the spires high above the city. That's the only way to go up. We got there at opening and still had to wait nearly one hour. The highlight was the climb down from the top, where we got to stop off at some open terraces jetting out from the side of the church. (Scary!)

Architect Antoni Gaudi left his Modernisme imprint all over Barcelona, and Barcelonians, as well as the rest of the world, will be grateful for thousands of years to come. Once you see a Gaudi building flanked by a traditional business building -- the mosaic tiles and curved lines juxtaposed with bland walls of stone and straight lines -- you want to spend the rest of your time in Barcelona seeing his masterpieces with your own eyes. I know I did.

We went to a disappointing market about 15 minutes from the church (really just a flea market), then doubled back and hopped on the Bus Turistic outside Sagrada (no small feat -- we had to wait in line for at least 30-40 minutes) and rode around during a light rain storm, listening to the history and seeing many sights on the north side of town. Our next Gaudi building we'd hoped to see was Casa Batlló, sadly closed early when we stopped by on Saturday, so we took exterior pictures of it and Gaudi's nearby Casa Milà, then strolled down the fashionable Passeig de Gracia and had tapas and cava at an sidewalk cafe. Afterwards, we found a local artists market happening on Avinguda del Porta de l'Angel, where we also watched a woman dancing flamenco, an amazing tap dancer, and Damon bought me a new bathing suit for our coming Greece trip. We stopped by the Santa Maria del Mar church, then tried to get into the Picasso Museum a couple of times that night (always LONG lines), then had a wonderful dinner at Senyor Paralleda, just east of the Gothic Quarter, before heading down to Placa Reial for an authentic flamenco performance, another highlight of the trip.

We had a lot of ground to cover on our last day. As soon as they opened the doors at Casa Batlló on Sunday morning, we started our tour. The curves, funky windows, stairwells, mosaic tiles and rooftop terrace were a trip. Check out the photos. We also stumbled upon a big race happening on the streets of Barcelona and took a few photos on our way to the Picasso Museum in the Gothic Quarter, determined to get in. We arrived just before opening, and there was still a line of at least 50 people. But we learned that this particular Sunday was free-entry day, so the line went fast. This museum has one of the most extensive collections of artworks by the 20th century Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. I would have liked to have spent more time there, but we booked two seats at a classical concert at Palau de la Música Catalana, mainly to see the interior of this stunning Art Nouveau masterpiece. The music was lovely but the setting was unreal.

Our next Gaudi stop was the Park Güell, a public park on the west side of the city which was originally supposed to be a housing development commissioned by Count Eusebi Güell. It is a UNESCO Heritage Site. We absolutely loved the walking trails, cave-like tunnels, plants, mosaic tile benches and more. We shared a sandwich in the park before hopping on the tourist bus and going to Tibidabo, the highest-point above Barcelona. There is an amusement park here will rides perched on the cliffs -- amazing! -- and you have to either drive a car or ride the funicular to the park, which we did. We treated ourselves to a carmel apple while watching the kids enjoy the rides -- what a surprise we found when I bit into the apple and found that Catalonians like to harden the caramel on their apples!

A little rain hampered our photography opportunities, so we climbed to the top of Temple Expiatori del Sagrat Cor -- one of these best-kept secret type of places we discovered. We have no idea why more tourists don't pay the 2 euros to take the elevator to the top of this church above Tibidabo, but the views were amazing. We waited for the skies to clear and got some great shots, before finding a terrace bar overlooking the city to stop for a glass of cava. We road the tourist bus on two separate routes, finishing near Barceloneta, an oceanfront neighborhood where we had paella and arros negre, two traditional Spanish dishes, to celebrate our fanastic 2.5 days in Barcelona. I think 4-5 days would be the right amount of time to spend in Barcelona, so hopefully someday, we'll return. Hanging out in the market, sidewalk tapas cafes and beachfront bars sounds like the way I'd like to spend my next trip to Barcelona.

Reality Check on Pricing

2008-05-26T00:50:00.001-07:00

We just paid more than 16€ (roughly $24) for a bottle of contact lens solution at the pharmacy in Salthill. The bottle is medium-sized, about as long as my hand from the tip of my fingers to the base of my palm. How's that for a reality check, regardless of the poor exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Euro?

Mother Nature is a cruel flirt

2008-05-21T02:45:00.001-07:00

Maybe the Irish are used to Mother Nature's cruel jokes, pouring sunshine and warm temperatures along the West Coast of Ireland after seven months of bone-chilly winds and intermittent rain.

I'm not.

She flirted with me earlier this month. I returned from Prague to find girls in bikinis tip-toeing on the sandy beaches of Salthill. Hordes of people walked along the Prom in shorts and tee shirts, licking balls of vanilla ice cream from atop sugar cones. I painted my toenails. I pulled my capri pants out of storage, deep in the back of my closet. Did I dare believe that summer was here, that this glorious weather would never end?

The Irish told me not to get used to it. Mother Nature is a tease in this part of the world. But I dreamed that this year, just maybe, Ireland would have a warm, sunny summer while us Californians are living near the sea.

We returned from Barcelona on Monday to cool breezes and cloudy skies. Yesterday, I wanted to go running, but it was chilly and windy, so I opted for the treadmill at our gym. Today, it rained all morning. My flip-flops are worthless again. I have no idea when, or if, Mother Nature will stroll in and drop a bucket of sunshine on us again.

The silver lining: we leave for Greece one week from Friday.

Is this what they call an Irish Spring?

2008-05-06T23:48:00.000-07:00

The soap company that decided to name its product Irish Spring could have easily called the sudsy bar Irish Winter or Irish Fall, as there doesn't seem to be any difference whatsoever between the three seasons, from my eight months of experience living here.

Ireland is all rain, all cool temperatures, all wind. That's okay in the winter, as it's quite similar to a Northern California winter. But I have been wearing thick socks for eight months straight; my toes are pasty white and gasping for some warm, fresh air, which they are accustomed to enjoying every year by March -- because three months of winter hibernation is really all you get in Northern California -- and me and my toes like it that way.

Damon and I went to Prague for three days last weekend, leaving the cool, rainy, damp Ireland behind us for some sun in the Czech Republic. We savored one day in Prague without a cloud in the sky, and my entire body loved every warming second of the day. When we got off the plane in Dublin, I didn't see a cloud, the air was still and quite warm...it almost felt like summer. I turned to Damon and asked, "Are we in Ireland?"

I guess Ireland just skips Spring -- or maybe the weather is different this year -- but I didn't see much change in the weather from January to April. Then May 5th arrived...and summer debuted along with it. Someone in the sky flipped a switch, and suddenly, magically, we have warmth. I knew the Galwegians would be going crazy here. It was about 22 degrees yesterday (71-72 degrees), so they were all out at the beach, girls in bikinis and guys in their swim trunks. You would think it was 85 degrees out, but hey -- these people haven't seen 70 degrees since probably last August. It was definitely the hottest day I've ever experienced here.

I went to French class last night with slip-on sneakers -- NO SOCKS! I wore a tee shirt and capri pants. I felt like an eskimo on vacation in the Caribbean for the first time...strange, out of place. I hadn't walked outside without three layers of clothes and a hood since September. I hope it doesn't end, but I fear that the rain and wind will return soon. The silver lining? We are going to Barcelona in less than two weeks. I am certain I'll be able to wear sandals and shorts for three days: I CANNOT WAIT.

Adventure #24: Prague

2008-05-06T00:10:00.000-07:00

We leave our apartment in Galway early on Saturday morning, driving east to Dublin airport. By noon, we're sitting in a Czech beer garden in the center of Prague, eating goulash and dumplings, while sipping on authentic Czech lager beers.

This is the greatest beauty of living in Europe. The ease of traveling is absolutely amazing; the flight took just two hours.

Our vacation in Prague was probably our most relaxing to date. I left our travel guide on the kitchen counter for Damon to read on Friday night; he never read it, we never packed it. We discovered the city with only a map we picked up at the front desk of Miss Sophie's Hotel (and Hostel). It was quite nice to have such an unhurried pace for a getaway.

Prague is considered one of the most romantic cities in the world. It didn't disappoint. Most of the historic center is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I was particularly interested in seeing Prague, as my grandfather, Frank Kermashek, was Czech. Many of the locals did look like they could easily be from the Midwest U.S. Most of the women I saw did have features similar to mine and many of the people I grew up around how said their ancestors were from Poland or Czechoslovakia. (Before we left for Prague, Damon told me it's not good to say Czechoslovakia anymore when you travel in the Czech Republic, as that state/country ceased to exist in 1992.)

Travel into Prague was quite easy with public transport. Taxis are notorious for over-charging here, we read, so we took public transport route, which means one bus ride (Bus #119) to Dejvicka (A, Green Line Metro). Then we took the Metro from there -- about one hour travel time total from the airport to our hotel south of Old Town. (Tickets are sold at machines outside the bus stop. A ticket last for more than one hour, and gives you access to Metro and Bus. Tickets were cheap, and no one ever checked or scanned our ticket. It seems the Czechs operate on an honor system.

We started our trip with an authentic Czech lunch -- we got to taste true Goulash (no hamburger meat or elbow macaroni here) -- and wash it down with beers brewed on the premises, typical in Prague. I think the version of Goulash I ate was Pörkölt, typically made of meat, onion, paprika powder, tomatoes, caraway seeds and other additions (though often debated) to the basic recipe. The food was definitely cheaper than Ireland and France. (We usually ate a hardy meal with drinks and an appetizer for under 30€.) Lodging prices were reasonable as well (70€ per night).

Then we wandered through the streets of Mala Strana and got our bearings while finding the sites, figuring out when to visit. We then crossed over the famous Charles Bridge and walked through Old Town Prague, did some shopping, hung out at cafes, people-watching. Horse-drawn carriages take tourists through the streets of Old Town. You can also take car tours in vintage convertibles with a driver's guide for a reasonable price.

That night, we watched the famous Astronomical Clock strike 8 p.m. The 12 Apostles spinning around the open doors were quite cool, as was the skeleton pulling on the rope in unison with the chiming of the tower's bell. After the trip, Damon did some research and told me what the four figures (skeleton is one of them) stand for "the four things that are despised": 1) Death (represented by a skeleton); 2) Vanity (represented by the figure holding a mirror); 3) Greed (the figure with the bag); and 4) the Turkish -- OF COURSE! (the figure with the turban). This totally cracked us up. But overall, the hourly show was a little disappointing. We thought the other parts of the clock would spin too, and we'd be able to understand the reading of the planets, the sun, the moon as well. No luck.

The second day, we strolled through the parks and climbed Petrin Hill and its mini Eiffel Tower overlooking the city. Then we walked through the Prague Senate gardens, followed by a tour of the Jewish Quarter in Prague, Josefov, an amazing experience. I never knew of Prague's rich, Jewish history before planning our visit. The Old Jewish Cemetery left us speechless. It was used beginning in the 15th century. There are an estimated 12,000 graves there, some stacked 12 deep. We also toured a few of the synagogues; Damon had to wear a yamaka (as requested). We also learned that it is customary to wash your hands in the fountain at the exit to the cemetery. (I took a picture of some Italians doing this.)

We discovered that mojitos are all the rage in Prague, so we found a bar that specializes in them and ordered a Raspberry and a Strawberry one.

We then took on an afternoon boat ride on the River Vltava, crossing under the Charles Bridge and many other beautiful bridges in Prague. One of the most fascinating learnings of the trip for me was that most Gothic architecture structures were made of sandstone, and it turns black as it ages. That is why most Gothic buildings are black in color -- it's not pollution, just old age. Charles Bridge is covered with sandstone statues. Damon took some great nighttime photos that evening after we had dinner at Wenceslas Square.

On our last day, we enjoyed a morning stroll along Charles Bridge (very few tourists then), then stumbled upon a vendor cart in the street selling a unusual-looking traditional Czech pastry called Trdlo, so we had to try it. We then toured Prague Castle, St. George's Basilica (oldest church in Prague) and St. Vitus's Basilica (seat of the Archbishop of Prague). We ate goulash soup and beer-soaked sausages at an authentic Czech beer garden, Malostranska Pivnice, near Prague's Little Venice area on Cihelna Street, just under Charles Bridge. We watched some live Czech music near Wenceslas Square that afternoon before buying tickets to a Black Light Theatre performance called "Faust," held at All Colours Theatre that evenings. It was quite interesting to see this intimate, low-budget type of theatrical performance, when we typically watch shows by Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas. We also learned that marionettes have a long history in Prague. The wooden puppets filled souvenir shops, and we couldn't help but bring home one...a gift for someone special back home.

Sadly, we missed the Czech Cubism Museum (closed on Mondays), something I'd really hoped to do. There were also many concerts (classical -- Vivaldi, Mozart) held in the cathedrals every night, which we didn't cramp into our schedule.

Lisbon is still at the top of my list for favorite destinations this year abroad, though Prague's many spired churches, winding river, ornate bridges, hills, parks, cobblestone streets and lively, laid-back atmosphere made it a close second.

Adventure #23: Lisa and Mom in Ireland

2008-05-02T00:09:00.000-07:00

Upon our return from Paris, Damon picked us up at the airport, then we stopped off at Kilmacduagh Monastery near Gort, so Mom could see an ancient monastic site.

After the Paris jaunt, Mom and I had two days to enjoy Ireland. Surprisingly, the weather was better here than in Paris. We spent a leisurely day in the Connemara region (see my previous post with background on this region), where we had lunch at an Irish/pub restaurant in Clifden, so Mom could try authentic fish & chips. Then we walked up to the John D'Arcy Monument, overlooking the town of Clifden, before driving out on Sky Road to see dramatic views of the Atlantic Ocean along the coast of Ireland. Then we toured the walled gardens, chateau and church at Kylemore Abbey before driving back to Salthill. Though we wanted to go for a stroll along the bayfront promenade in Galway, we were too tired from walking in Paris for three days, so we skipped it. Mom did get to watch all the prom walkers each day from our balcony, though.

On our last day, we spent the morning relaxing at the apartment and repacking, then went down to the Ballyknow Quay at the end of the River Corrib in Galway to feed the swans, before driving down to Bunratty Castle & Folk Park. Damon and I had visited Bunratty before, though we never attended the medieval banquet dinner held inside the 15th-century castle walls. Bunratty is considered Ireland’s premier visitor attraction.

Before our dinner, we toured the castle first; Bunratty Castle is considered the most complete and authentic medieval fortress in Ireland and is fully furnished. Built in 1425, it was restored in 1954 to its former medieval splendour and now contains mainly 15th and 16th century furnishings, tapestries, and works of art which capture the mood of those times. Then we strolled through the Folk Park while waiting for dinner to begin. Bunratty Folk Park recreates 19th-century life in Ireland. Set on 26 acres, the park includes 30 buildings in a "living" village and rural setting, which spread out at the foot of the castle's massive walls.

We were greeting for dinner inside the castle with a glass of Mead in the main hall of the castle. The walls were draped in tapestries and our hosts dressed in vintage Irish clothes. We listened to harp and voilin players before moving into the dining room. We sat at long, wooden tables next to other guests (everyone at our table was American). We were given only a knife for utensils, so we could eat like they did inside the castle walls centuries ago. (They did give us a little cup of lemon water to dip our fingers into between courses.) We sipped soup straight from the wooden bowl, nibbled on spare ribs, then chicken and potatoes before dessert. Pitchers (pottery-style) filled with white and red wine, as well as water, dotted the table, along with platters of traditional Irish Brown Bread. The hosts sang Irish songs while we ate. Two tourists were also crowned "Lord" and "Lady" for the evening, and were fitted with crowns and special treatment during dinner. We chatted with tourists from Virginia and Texas, one of whom has relatives all along the Kansas/Missouri border leading up to Kansas City. A small world, as always.

The next morning, Damon and I left for Dublin airport around 2:30 a.m., and Mom left for the bus to Shannon airport at 3 a.m. It was a lot of fun to show Mom a little bit of Paris and Western Ireland. I wish she could have stayed a little longer, so we could have relaxed more and seen more at a leisurely pace, but she does have a job and other responsibilities that I have been thrived to shed for one year -- and only four months left of freedom!

Adventure #22: Lisa and Mom in Paris

2008-05-01T00:09:00.000-07:00

Mom arrived one day late into Ireland (generator problem on her AerLingus flight from Chicago to Shannon), so she spent her first what-would-be Ireland night at a Holiday Inn near JFK airport in New York. We spent her first day enjoying a rainy afternoon in downtown Galway, though she did get to have a true Bailey's & Coffee -- her favorite drink -- on Irish soil in a Gaelic pub.

Damon dropped us off at the bus terminal on Monday morning, and Mom and I took Bus Eireann to Shannon airport for our short flight to Paris-Beauvais, where we caught another bus into Paris. (Mom got to learn the ins-and-outs of European travel and flying budget airline Ryanair: lots of bus transportation and cheap flights with no frills.)

We checked into our cute little hotel near the Eiffel Tower called Hotel du Champs de Mars, which I highly recommend. I'm not sure you can find anything this nice and centrally located in Paris for 90€ a night. We strolled through the gardens of park Champs de Mars and then along the River Seine, so Mom could see all the wonderful bridges. We crossed over the famous Pont Alexandre III, past the Grand Palais, before enjoying a walk down the lovely Champs-Élysées, where we stopped at a sidewalk cafe and enjoyed tea and hot chocolate, before climbing the Arc de Triomphe. We finished our first day with an authentic French bistro dinner at Chez Georges on Rue Mail, before taking in an evening boat ride on the Seine with Vedettes Pont-Neuf. It rained off and on our first day, but it wasn't too bad.

On Tuesday, we woke up to light rain, which lasted most of the day. We had French pasteries on the famous Rue Cler market street (right around the corner from our hotel), then walked over to the Eiffel Tower to find very long lines, all before 9:30 a.m. We decided to hop on a tourist bus in the rain (and save the Eiffel Tour for Wednesday morning), though the bus became very crowded and difficult to enjoy all the sights, but we were dry. We took one loop on the bus past the L'Opera, Place de la Concorde, Notre Dame and the Louvre before catching the Metro to pick up our Versailles tickets. After a hectic train change to get outside the city to Versailles (we almost lost each other between train cars -- and got on the wrong train), we finally reached our destination and spent a rainy, soggy afternoon at the Palace of Versailles. We avoided the long lines by first visiting the Estate of Marie-Antoinette, a highlight of the trip. The Petit Trianon was under renovations, but we toured her personal theatre, gardens, grotto and the famous farm with her private residence near all the vegetable gardens and farm animals -- goats, sheep, cows, chickens, donkeys, pigs, etc. Then we toured the Grand Trianon, before walking back through the palace gardens to the Chateau Versailles. The lines were gone, and we finally navigated our way onto the second floor (without following a mob of tourists, this proved to be difficult). We strolled through the Chapel, Grand Apartments, Queen's apartments and Hall of Mirrors before having the tour cut 30 minutes short. The web site and brochures said the palace closed at 6:30 p.m. (last entrance at 6 p.m.) But as soon as 6 p.m. hit, they directed everyone to the door. A little bit of a bummer, since I'd planned the visit so that we would have one full hour inside the palace. We enjoyed a casual dinner (replete with French onion soup!) that night at a corner bistro near L'Ecole Militaire, not far from our hotel.

On our last morning, we hoped to get back on the tourist bus for one last loop to get our moneys worth, but the Eiffel Tower still beckoned. We endured the winds and rain while standing in line (probably only waited 45 minutes), before taking the elevators to the second story of the tour. The weather improved and the sun magically appeared when we got to the second level. We then took the metro over to Jardin du Luxembourg for an impromptu picnic lunch with the birds before doing some shopping and heading back to our hotel to collect our bags and take the metro back to Port Maillot to catch our bus back to Paris-Beauvais airport. It was wonderful to show this amazing city to Mom and share the travel experience with her. I just wish we could have spent a week in Paris, taking in all the sights and spending long afternoons sipping wine and people-watching at the cafes.

Adventure #20: France (Loire, Roubaix, Champagne)

2008-04-26T00:08:00.000-07:00

Five days in France sounded like a perfect way to enjoy our April getaway to me. Damon decided to plan a vacation around Paris-Roubaix, the "Hell of the North," one of the most famous, grueling cycling races in the world.

We started off in the Loire Valley (direct flights on Ryanair from Shannon to Nantes) and drove over to the coast of France to an island called Noirmoutier-en-I'lle, which was interesting, but in hindsight, too far of a drive in the opposite direction of where we were heading. We then drove back east for a tour and tasting at Coulée de la Serrant in the Savennières region of France’s Loire Valley, owned by the famous biodynamic winemaker Nicolas Joly. We then drove to Angers and walked around the city, before continuing east to our B&B in Rochecorbon, near Vouvray. Finding the B&B proved difficult. The GPS coordinates provided on their web site were off a bit. Damon backed into a wall on a skinny street before we finally gave up, started walking, then re-set the GPS and found the B&B ourselves. (The stratch wasn't nearly as bad as we thought it would be -- our first travel problem since Rome in 2005!) We enjoyed a traditional French dinner in Vouvray that night. It was lovely staying at Les Hautes Gatinieres, which is simply Jacqueline & Andre's home with separate bedrooms upstairs for the guests. Jacqueline takes impeccable care of her home; we loved the hospitality and breakfast served in their dining room each morning while their poodle played near our feet.

We spent a full day touring as many Loire Valley chateaux as possible -- because that's one of the main reasons to visit the Loire. We toured the gardens of Chateau Villandry first, a chateau highly recommended by our B&B host due to its sprawling gardens.

Chateau Villandry Photos:

Then we made a quick stop at Chateau d'Azay-le-Rideau. Then we drove east to the glorious Chateau de Chenonceau, not to be missed on any trip to the Loire. The Loire River runs under the chateau, and gardens on each side of the wide entrance to the chateau (one side designed by the king's mistress, the other side later designed by his wife, the queen, when she took the chateau back from the mistress when he died. (I didn't realize until we arrived that my best friend from high school, Meredith, and I had toured this chateau our senior year on our language class's French trip.)

Chateau de Chenonceau Photos:

After a walk through Amboise to look at its chateau and taste some local wines and cheeses, we grabbed a French sandwich and continued on to see Chateau de Chaumont. We hiked up the hill, over a crazy bridge, to find the draw-bridge entrance to the chateau. Then we hopped back into the rental car (did I mention that they gave us an Opel? The same car we have here, which Damon detests) and drove through Blois, past its chateau onto the behemothly famous Chateau de Chambord, which I remembered visiting on my senior trip.

Other Loire Chateaux Photos:

We finished our day, as planned at Chateau de Cheverny to watch the daily 5 p.m. feeding of the hunting dogs (probably 70 of them in all). You can watch a video of the dogs at feeding time here. Then we toured the Cheverny gardens and chateau, known for its collection of furnishings.

Chateau Cheverny Photos:

We left the Loire for Roubaix, several hours north, in the early morning. We stopped off at the Palace of Versailles, which we'd missed during our November trip to Paris. We stood in line for more than an hour to get in, and learned a lot from our trip that I used in booking a Versailles visit for myself and Mom during her upcoming visit.

Palace of Versailles Photos:

As we drove north to Roubaix, which is close to the Belgian border, I thumbed through our travel book and discovered that we'd be driving through the Somme, the area where the World War I "Battle of the Somme" took place. We read about all the cemeteries that dot the landscape, overseen by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (and noted by the green signs). We saw a tiny green sign amid fields of mustard and decided to take a look. We hiked back in (the road was too muddy) to take some pictures of this cemetery, and Damon found -- of all things -- a World War I Mills Bomb stuffed into an old military shell casing. (I later decided to ship it back through the post office from France versus having him try to get it through airport security!) We also visited a few of the many monuments (such as Thiepval Memorial and the Beaumont-Hamel Memorial, the latter of which we walked through). Beaumont-Hamel is known for its trenches, well-preserved since the ending of the war in 1918.

The industrial town of Roubaix was quite sleepy, despite the race. We walked down the street where the cyclists would be riding through that afternoon and took pictures of all the stones engraved with the previous winners' names. Then we drove out into the countryside to find one of the stages with cobblestones, where we could watch Sunday's race. Finding a place to buy food on a Sunday in France is always difficult, though. We hunted for a bakery and bought their last loaf of bread. We also found a rotisserie set up in the parking lot of a church and bought chicken breasts and new potatoes, which we ate in the car -- tailgating tourist-style, I suppose. It was a lot of fun. We even bought beers from a guy selling them from his front yard, trying to make a little extra dough off the race watchers.

Stage 5 (where we watched the race) was quite a scene. The tailgate parties would have made American football diehards jealous. One company even partnered with Jupiler beer and brought in two bars and a huge mobile stage with a DJ. We sat at a roadside bar across from the Jupiler party, drank beers and enjoyed the people-watching.

There were two races that day. We didn't realize this at first. The first wave of cyclists rolled through more than an hour before Damon had expected. We didn't recognize any of the riders either. Then we realized it was a juniors' race before the big one. Watching the caravan of sponsors rattle down the cobblestones before the pro cyclists charged through was pretty cool. We also got to see one of the giant French puppets (Les Géants du Nord), not sure what to call these guys. Here's a video link to see them. They are 20-feet tall characters, hollow inside, and people get inside of them to move them along the road, I guess. (I think it takes 8 people to move a Géant.) Each Géant represents a historical figure in Northern France history. There were Géants at every stage along Paris-Roubaix. We got to see Theodoric, who happens to have his own blog, in French, of course.

Damon photographed all the top cyclists while they sped by, and I filmed the race with my videocamera. You could reach out and touch the cyclists, they are so close. It was insane; a real rush. Most of the cyclists were dusty (not muddy) because it didn't rain that day. Many years, it rains on race day, and the cyclists come through on the cobblestones caked in mudd. We did see some bloody elbows, knees and foreheads, which Damon caught on camera. You can watch a very cool photo album of Damon's Paris-Roubaix work by clicking here.

We then drove over into Belgium -- just so we could say we'd done it -- before returning to Roubaix. We went down to the Velodrome in Roubaix to see if any activity was still happening post race, but the vendors were already tearing down. We took some pictures of the track, them bought a few souvenirs for friends back home. Sadly, they don't sell Paris-Roubaix tee shirts or any logoed souvenirs, which was quiet surprising to us. Definitely a business opportunity for someone.

World War II Memorials and Paris-Roubaix Photos:

We spent our last day together in Champagne, a few hours south of Roubaix. We visited a few wineries and had lunch in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger before checking into our hotel in Reims, the largest city in Champagne. That afternoon, we toured the Cathedral of Reims, which was damaged badly in World War I. It was amazing to see all of the damage on this sacred, Gothic structure. We strolled through the streets of Reims before having an Italian dinner -- pizza and Chianti -- for our last night in France together. (It's not that we don't like French food; it's just that the French don't do casual nearly as well as the Italians.) If you want to have dinner in France in blue jeans and tee shirts for under 15€, chances are that you will find yourself eating pizza (if you can't find a French sandwich shop open).

Champagne Photos:

Adventure #21: Lisa in France

2008-04-25T00:09:00.000-07:00

I leaned into the driver's side window of our rental car on a street in the center of Reims and kissed Damon goodbye. He was off to Paris-Beauvais to catch a flight back to Ireland -- without his navigational security blanket, the Garmin Nuvi -- and I stayed in France for another nine days to visit my company's French winery clients, with Damon's GPS as my co-pilot.

It was really intriguing to drive through so many different regions of France and see the changes in each location -- the geography, the typography, the people, the food, the architecture, the weather. I also enjoyed brushing up on my French and spoke as much as I could every day. It would have been more relaxing to take the train, but the drive proved interesting. I learned that the French have some of the best highways in the world -- and you pay a price to drive on them. We all know that gas is crazy expensive in Europe, but add on a toll of 12€ to drive for a couple hours on the autoroute. Luckily, I was traveling on the company's dime. :)

After visiting a client in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, I had a wonderful three-course lunch (with a glass of Champagne, of course) on the Place de la Republique in Epernay, the main city in the Champagne region, before having a glass of Champagne with a colleague from Wine & Spirits magazine. Then I drove east toward the border with Germany to the Alsace winegrowing region. I spent a couple days in Andlau, a village in Alsace, then enjoying a morning walking tour of Strasbourg before hopping back in the car and driving very far south -- about 5-6 hours -- to the Rhone Valley.

Andlau and Strasbourg Photos:

I stopped in Lyon for dinner, where all the men looked Spanish and Italian, as did many of the buildings -- my first experience seeing the Mediterranean influences of bordering countries can have such similarities yet speak different languages, etc. (Alsace is the same with its Germanic influences.) I stayed at a little B&B in the Crozes-Hermitage wine region called La Farella and loved the hospitality. The family welcomed me into their home for cheese and wine while I used their computer (my Wifi in the room wasn't working). The B&B looked like an Italian villa, and the family ate paella one night -- a Spanish dish. The owner mentioned to me that her husband was from Spain, and they eat a mix of French and Spanish food. She was from the Midi (southern France), and she couldn't understand most of my French, sadly. She said I had an accent American/Parisienne, which I guess is actually a compliment.

After visiting our new client in Crozes-Hermitage, I drove down to Nimes on Saturday to visit another client, then spent the afternoon driving north through the southern Rhone Valley. I didn't realize I was so close to the Mediterreanean; I should have tried to drive to the sea, but instead, I spent a few hours in Provence and the Cotes du Rhone. First, I walked through the walled village of Avignon, then I drove to Chateauneuf-du-Pape and then toward the mountains to the village of Gigondas, where one of my favorite wines comes from to taste Gigondas at a wine bar in Gigondas, which I figured would be a rite of passage.

I drove a few hours back north to Beaune, the main city in Burgundy, and -- of all things -- ate sushi on Sunday night. I love French cuisine, but there is no good sushi in Ireland, and I've been missing sushi a lot lately. The California Roll at Sushi Kai (50, faubourg Saint-Nicolas, Beaune) didn't disappoint. I found that the Burgundians understood my broken French and I understood them quite well, which boosted my confidence. (Burgundy is only a few hours from Paris, and their accents are more Parisienne.) I even conducted a business meeting 90% in French -- a revelation for me.

After a few days of visiting our clients in the Cote de Beaune and Cote de Nuits, I drove to Paris and stopped at a cafe on the northeast side of the city to meet an American couple, he's a writer and she's a photographer. They've been living in Paris since the 1980s, and I wanted to make a connection with them since they write about wine and travel often.

As soon as I arrived back into Ireland, I had one day to clean, do laundry and prepare the guest room for Mom's inaugural visit to Ireland.

Rhone Valley and Burgundy Photos:

A long delay in blogging

2008-04-09T01:07:00.000-07:00

I'll be spending the next four weeks traveling (roughly three weeks in France, then four days in Prague), so I won't be blogging. In fact, my travel blogs will probably be shorter upon my return, as I need to focus my writing hours on finishing the book -- I only have barely four months left to complete it! Yikes...

Adventure #19: Omey Island

2008-04-06T04:03:00.001-07:00

The Emerald Isle is truly an island nation. Every time we look closely at a map, we find more islands we never knew surrounded the country, which is also...an island. This weekend we scanned a map and found a place called Omey Island, located in the Connemara region a little more than one hour northwest of Salthill.

The cool thing about Omey is that you can only reach it during low tide. There is no bridge, which reminded me a little bit of Mont-St-Michel in Normandy, France, which I visited my senior year of high school. Omey Island has no grand wall surrounding the village nor a stunning, spired abbey at its peak like Mont-St-Michel, but it was quintessentially Irish in every sense. It's fairly close to Clifden, a charming village on Clifden Bay in the Connemara.

We walked across the long, wide beach to the island, following very tall traffic signs (even though it's really not a road) mounted in the ground high above the changing water levels. The wind left really cool shapes in the sand, and we picked up lots of sea shells along the way. There was a cemetery near the shore facing inland with several Celtic crosses. Then we walked past the ubiquitous stone walls that separate nearly all properties in Ireland, finding a few ruins of buildings, many cows and a few residents back to the Pacific Ocean. (We read that Omey has 20 full-time residents in all.)

The coastline was very rocky, lots of brown and black boulders, with little sandy beaches and water holes along the way. The views of Cruagh Island, High Island and Friar Island were all visible from the shore. Heavy, cool winds kept us pulling our hoodies tight over our heads, but the sun was shining all day, so we can't complain.

We drove onto the sandy crossing before heading back to Galway -- just so we could say we've driven on a road that only exists a few hours a day!!

We've also discovered the next few islands we want to see off the Western Coast of Ireland:
- Clare Island
- Inishbonfin

Now we're off to France...

Travel Tips To Save Time

2008-04-02T17:00:00.000-07:00

Over the last seven months, I've probably logged around 50 hours of travel research, all web-surfing. Since we're only living in Europe for one year -- and on a strict budget -- I dedicated much of my time to finding the best deals.

To save fellow travel shoppers some steps, here are some web sites I recommend, as well as a few tips:

AIRLINE TRAVEL (IN GENERAL):

Fuel surcharges in Europe are steep. Make sure you check the fine print when you are reseaching flights online (click all the way through the booking steps), so you can see the true full cost of the fare. Ryanair has recently updated its web site so that users can see the fuel charge and taxes after they click on the base fare price.

Non-EU citizens are often not allowed to check-in online, and some airlines, such as Ryanair, charge a fee for not checking in online, so if you are an American, you are screwed.

Even if you have an Irish ID/registration card, you still have to visit the non-EU immigration line at airports in Ireland. The lines can often be long with tourists, and you just want to get back home, but you have to wait along with all those who do not live in the country.

Traveling by bus to the airport seems to be the best option in Ireland, but it all depends on the cost of gas, how many days you'll be traveling and who is paying. We often drive to the Shannon airport because parking is only €8 a day, gas is paid for under the work assignment, so it's cheaper than spending €13 each on the round-trip bus ticket. CityLink is a great city-to-city bus service in Ireland; however, the cost to travel from Galway to Dublin airport on CityLink is now €29 per person, so we have ended up driving to the airport car park and paying the day fees instead.

FLIGHTS:

Air Ninja is a great web site when you're trying to figure out which airlines fly to the country you are trying to reach from your departure city.

For sites that search multiple carriers and offer multiple options/fares, Expedia still seems to have the best prices for travel to and from the U.S. I also researched fares to get from France to Hungary, and found Expedia to also have the best deal -- especially since I have a U.S. bank account and am paid in U.S. dollars.

Kayak.com is the web site that AirNinja uses to check flights and prices on non-discount airline carriers. I haven't seen Kayak offer the best prices on any of my searches.

LowFares also allows you to check multiple carriers at once.

OpenJet seems to be a good web site for also checking out multiple carriers, but I've found that they only offer a couple of great fares, and the rest are really expensive.

There is a Beta version of a new web site called CheapFlights out there with an Irish URL. It has decent prices and appears to be linked in with eBookers.ie and Lastminute.com. eBookers hasn't shown me much love on the cheap: haven't found a great deal there. LastMinute appears to be a UK-departure-focused site, good for booking holiday packages.

When my mom was trying to find a flight from the U.S. to Ireland, the best deal we found was located at Airfare Planet. Make sure you click all the way through on the fare searches, so that you can see the final price, including tax.

For airline-direct web sites...

People can complain all they want about Ryanair, but I don't get it. Even with the sur charges they slap onto your final bill (checking a bag, checking in at the airport, paying with a credit card), it's still been the least-expensive option for us most of the time. Even if you pay 26 euros round-trip to get from Paris-Beauvais to Paris (see destination comment below), your flight was still about 50 euros. It's hard to beat. The key is that you need to be able to fly on off days. The weekends are almost always expensive. We've gotten the best Ryanair deals by flying out on Thursday, back on Tuesday. There are few, if any, deals to be had May 1-August 30. Book your summer vacations as early as possible to get the best rates. Also, use the destination map tool at their web site. It's invaluable because Ryanair travels to small airports near the big cities, names you may have never heard of.

SkyEurope seems to be another value option for traveling within Europe. I haven't flown them, but did find the best fare from Budapest to Strasbourg with them. They travel to many destinations.

AerLingus is trying to get competitive with Ryanair. We did find them to be less expensive for flights from Dublin to Lisbon.

AirFrance and CityJet seemed to have the most expensive online fares. I checked flights from Ireland to France, Ireland to Italy and France to Hungary -- ridiculously expensive.

CAR RENTAL:

Before I moved here, I thought that Europcar was the best company with which to rent a car in Europe. In my research, I've actually found Hertz to be very competitive, usually matching the price of Europcar and beating it a few times. We ended up renting cars through Hertz in Lisbon and twice in France because the prices were a little better. In Hungary, I found Europcar to be the most expensive, while Hertz and ArgusRentals offered very competitive prices.

HOTELS:

When booking hotels in Europe, I've only found Expedia to be competitive when it comes to airport hotels. Couldn't find good deals for hotels in major cities--except for a few with very bad ratings on TripAdvisor.

The best deals I found for hotels (not B&B or hostel), were at Booking.com. Venere was a close second.

When searching multiple types of lodging (apartments, hotels, hostels), I discovered the 30.com lodging sites. You have to google search "30.com hotels" to find all their different URLs for each city. Their search maps are very useful. I didn't end up booking any lodging through this site (never ended up with the best price--but always close). I spent hours looking at the icons for available lodging against the map, so I could see which properties were in the best locations. I most recently used Barcelona30 for searches.

B&Bs:

Ireland is very well-known for its B&Bs. The owners are usually very friendly and the accommodations comfortable. The Ireland B&B Network doesn't allow online booking, but it has a convenient tool for sending reservation inquiries.

The best web site I found for researching B&Bs in Switzerland was Bed and Breakfast Switzerland. The map tool is very useful; you can mouse over the icons to find the B&Bs with price ranges. B&Bs seemed like the most-affordable option in Switzerland, besides a hostel.

I never found a great web site for researching and booking chambre d'hotes or B&Bs in France. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. There is this site, but you have to know which region you are staying in--can't search by city name, which did me no good.

HOSTELS:

We are staying at hostels four times during our travels this year. Hostels are much nicer and more acceptable here than in the U.S. We used TripAdvisor to select our hostels, only reserving rooms at places with high ratings. Many hostels offer rooms with en-suite bathrooms. We have heard good things about hostels in Ireland, Prague, Barcelona and Switzerland.

I've have very good experiences booking through HostelBookers.com. You only pay a deposit (the rest is due when you arrive at the lodging), but the prices have been better here on the web page of the hostel, in my experiences.

If you don't mind sharing bathrooms and staying in dorms, Ryanair has a partnership with HostelWorld, and you can search availability on their web site. These fares have always been great, and sometimes a private room with shared bath or en-suite room will pop up on the availability.

APARTMENTS:

Apartments seem to be the way to go when staying in Prague; Barcelona too. This seems to be most cost-effective for parties of four and larger; we couldn't find a good deal on an apartment for just the two of us. AccommPrague can help you find an apartment in Prague. They were very helpful, but we opted for the cheaper alternative, a hostel. We have some friends with kids who just rented an apartment in Paris for four days, and they absolutely loved it. Highly recommended for families, groups of couples.

REVIEWS:
You probably all know that TripAdvisor is the God of all travel web sites. We've used it to research and select accommodations for 99% of our trips this year, and have yet to be unhappy with our selections.

To view any of my lodging reviews and recommendations, visit TripAdvisor and search the word "vinovixen". My member profile should pop up, and you can click on it, then select the "contributions" tab to read all my review postings.

Safe and Happy Travels!!

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Polar Bears are Awake

2008-04-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

It's about 14 degrees outside today (57), which is obviously considered sub-tropical here in western Ireland. The kids got out of school today and all went down to the diving boards across the street from our apartment to take their first dip. I guess this means spring is finally here...I hope.

Funniest Travel Book EVER!!!

2008-04-01T00:56:00.000-07:00

I was thumbing through our book shelves on Sunday morning, looking for a travel guide to read, when I stumbled upon a book I'd never noticed before: The Safe Travel Book. I figured it was a reference guide that Damon purchased from Amazon last summer, along with the 10+ tourism guides he bought in anticipation of our European journeys.

We spent a good 30 minutes laughing our asses off, as we scanned a few chapters. Chris Rock could do an entire gig around one chapter alone.

Here are some of the highlights (not the complete list, but just our favorites listed in "Chapter 2: What to Take on Your Trip"):

Toiletries and Convenience Items
2.9 The following items will probably be necessary on your trip:

- A roll of toiler paper in a zip-lock plastic bag (a partially used roll is less bulky, and the inner core can be removed to save space)
Note: Because women have more frequent need of toilet paper and supplies at public facilities (and sanitary conditions are uncertain), it is smart for women to fold up a day's need of toilet paper and tuck it into her panties, ready for use at a restaurant or museum facility. PUT THAT MENTAL PICTURE INTO YOUR MINDS WHILE WALKING THROUGH PARIS...CAN YOU SAY SPEECHLESS????
- Woolite-available in small packets in powder form
- Several large handkerchiefs (usable in emergency for bag handles, as a towel, as a mouth cover filter or emergency toilet paper) THIS GUY IS OBSESSED WITH FEMALE HYGIENE....
- An inflatable drip-dry hanger for hanging washed shirts to dry in the bathroom--also available from Magellan's catalogue (2.11) WHEN I READ THIS TO DAMON, HE ASKED ME IF THE AUTHOR WAS MacGYVER...

Medical Items
2.10 It will be important to have the following medicines and other medical items with you 9see 1.75 and 1.76):

- A collapsible drinking cup
- A syringe and needle...
- Water purificationi treatment--household bleach, such as clorox...Order the Portable Aqua/Water Purification Kit, $15, from Passport Health.... WHAT IS THE WEIGHT LIMIT PER PASSENGER, AGAIN?

Security and Crime Prevention Items
2.11 The following items may be useful for thwarting assault and theft:

- A small string of bendable wire, such as coat hanger wire, to fix baggage handles if they break
- A three-foot-long piece of nonstretch clothesline or strong string to replace broken bag handles--several strands thick so that it won't cut into your hand ARE YOU SURE MacGYVER DIDN'T WRITE THIS?
- An attachable door look to use inside the hotel room door where a door chain is not provided by the hotel...

Damon soon told me that his company included that book with his international assignment package. Perhaps this is because the author, Peter Savage, is an international security consultant specializing in corporate crisis management. One Web site states that the The Safe Travel Book is, "...a standard reference for corporate security officers and travel managers." There was a lot of information about terrorism and other topics that might be useful to business travelers visiting high-risk areas, but I can't imagine why any company would provide this to the average employee going to work at a factory in the EU.

Okay, this edition was published in 1993, but I keep wondering if I really would have been gullible enough to buy any of this crap--even back then. The link above is for a revised edition, and I hope the updated version is much more realistic and useful to the average international traveler.

The scary thing is that Damon's company probably bought hundreds of copies at $13-$18 a pop, and employees are letting them sit on their shelves and collect dust.

If they'd only open the cover and turn a few pages, they'd realize the good humor just waiting to be discovered.

Adventure #18: Cork and The Ring of Kerry

2008-03-25T13:27:00.000-07:00

We've just returned from Easter weekend vacation, where we visited the most beautiful corner of Ireland we've laid eyes on thus far: the southwest coast.

County Kerry consists of the famous Ring of Kerry, as well as the bucolic Dingle Peninsula. We stayed in the city of Cork, located about an hour east of the Ring of Kerry, which made for a good base to also reach western County Cork sites, as well as its southern coast.

Heading south from Galway, we stopped at Carrigafoyle Castle and Ardfert Cathedral on our way to the Dingle. We spent our first day driving around the Dingle Peninsula, and first stopped off in the coastal town of Dingle, the home of Fungie, the dolphin, but didn't take the boat ride out to see him. (Full refunds advertised if the dolphin doesn't come out to say "hi!"). Heading west along the coastal highway R559, we visited Dunbeg, a promontory fort along the coast. Two sheep charged up onto rolling hills near the fort and butted horns right in front of Damon. They weren't camera shy. Nearby, the southern slope of Mount Eagle falls steeply away to the sea to form Slea Head, the most south-westerly point of the Dingle Peninsula. At Slea Head, where the road turns to head north on the peninsula, there is a white sculpture of the crucifixion known locally as the Cross with gorgeous ocean views. As soon as we turned the corner, the Blasket Islands came into view. Then we drove to Dunmore Head, mainland Ireland's most westerly point, for a picture and more views of the Blaskets.

Dingle Peninsula (+ northern County Kerry sites):

The next day, we did a walking tour of Cork, the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland. We saw Miller Genuine Draft signs in the pub windows and three guys carrying cases of MGD on their shoulders. Then we learned that Beamish & Crawford, a huge brewery in Cork city, brews MGD and many other beers near the river in Cork. I emailed my step-father, Bill Crawford, to make sure he traces his lineage back to his brewmaster relatives and gets some royalties from the bustling beer business they've got over here!

Cork City Photo Album:

Then we drove to Blarney Castle, so that Lisa could kiss the Blarney Stone, which is said to bring the gift of gab to those who kiss it. (Like that is needed...) The castle is surrounded by beautiful gardens, where we saw exotic plants that looked like the one from the movie, "Little Shop of Horrors." There were also Wishing Steps, which you're supposed to climb up and down backwards, with your eyes closed, to have your wish granted -- and a place called the Witches Kitchen, a gigantic, moss-covered tree with an old cave dug under it with ruins of a fireplace.

We spent the rest of the day in west County Cork. We toured the Jamesons Old Midleton Distillery in Midleton, where Wash Still, the largest pot still in the world, is located. It was built in 1825 and has a capacity of 31,648 gallons. Lisa participated in the Whiskey Challenge, a comparative tasting of whiskies from Ireland, Scotland and the U.S. Lisa learned she doesn't like whiskey straight, and was severly outpaced by the Polish, Irish and English folks who also participated.

Close to sunset, we drove through the town of Cobh, the pretty seaside town that was the Titantic's last port of call before it sank in the Atlantic. We spent the evening in Kinsale, considered one of Ireland's most charming villages, and it didn't disappoint. Kinsale sits at the mouth of River Bandon and is known for its yachting marina and annual food festival. We visited Charles Fort, on the coast just outside of town, before doing a walking tour of Kinsale and having dinner at a pub.

County Cork Day Photo Album:

We saved the best for last, spending our final day driving the Ring of Kerry. The Ring of Kerry is a tourism trail on the Iveragh Peninsula. We stopped first at Torc Waterfall, located at the base of Torc Mountain, about five miles from Killarney, before driving through the town of Killarney to Muckross Estate inside Killarney National Park. The park spans more than 25,000 acres and includes the Lakes of Killarney. Amazing views. We walked 1.5 miles along a trail to see the ruins of Muckross Abbey. We then drove to Ross Castle on the lake shore, where you can rent boats and row out to the little islands in the middle of the lake. (If only we'd had more time and less rain.) The highlight of the trip for both of us was Ballinskelligs Bay, where we visited a sandy beach that's home to Ballinskelligs Castle and Priory. The stones and pebbles on the beach were a beautiful lavender color. The tide came in while we visited the priory ruins, so we had to get a little wet in order to reach our car. The mountain and ocean views were absolutely breathtaking! Would anyone who saw these turquoise waters in a photo think this is Ireland's coastline? Check out the slide show and see for yourself. We could see the Skellig Islands in the distance, home to puffins during the summer months. We would love to come back and take a ferry ride out to see the birds perched on these cliffs. We stopped off at Staigue Fort, a round stone fort with sea views, before driving back through Ballaghbeama Gap and Moll's Gap on our way home. The fog and misty rain didn't allow us to fully appreciate the Gap views; we had no idea Ireland had such steep valleys and high mountains.

Ring of Kerry Photo Album:

It probably would take two days here to experience all The Ring of Kerry has to offer, so we hope that maybe we'll have time to come back this summer -- although we loved visiting southwest Ireland without all the tourists!!

Can we get some directions, please?!?

2008-03-19T09:12:00.000-07:00

We've been here six months, and we just got voicemail on our home phone line in Ireland. When NTL installed our phone in September, no one told us we had voicemail (there's no answering machine) or gave us directions for using the service. Over here, you have to figure things out for yourself. Sure, if we would have called 1908 and asked NTL, they would have told us. But we didn't want to make a fuss -- that's too, ummm, American. A friend from Minnesota who is living here finally told me last month that she had to call and ask for instructions, which NTL happily offered. Damon tried to set-up the voicemail last week without contacting anyone (just used the instructions our friends gave us). It didn't work. You know a company isn't providing good user directions to its customers where then are Yahoo! Answers pages set up for people trying to figure out how to use their NTL voicemail. Maybe we Americans are just too spoiled!

To save others the time and headache, here are the voicemail directions I received today:

To set up voicemail:
(From your home phone in Ireland)
Call 1571
Password 8899
You will be prompted to create an outgoing message. Please note: this does NOT mean your voicemail is active.

To activate your voicemail:
*77 (then press "send")

To activate call waiting:
*76 (then press "send")

To turn off voicemail:
#77 (then press "send")

Adventure #17: St. Patrick's Day in Dublin

2008-03-18T09:22:00.000-07:00

I returned from Tuscany on Saturday night (into Dublin) so that Damon and I could celebrate my birthday (and St. Patrick's Day) together in Ireland. (How ironic that our 17th adventure fell on March 17.)

St. Patrick is one of the patron saints of Ireland. Many Irish people had told us American celebrations on St. Paddy's are larger than the Irish ones, but the Dublin festival did not disappoint. The St. Patrick's Day parade in Dublin is part of a five-day festival; more than 650,000 people attended the 2008 parade. We think we saw more Americans and French than Irish! Lots of people traveled to Ireland to celebrate on the home turf; the immigration line at Dublin airport (non EU citizens) took one hour to clear!

We spent one night at Howth, an oceanside fishing village northeast of Dublin, where we visited the Howth castle, pier, farmers' market and Bull Island, where we watched some kite surfers. Then headed into the city centre on Sunday for my birthday and stayed at the 5-star Conrad Hotel (for free, thanks to Hilton points). We walked around Grafton Street and Temple Bar, had a couple pints of Guinness, then went to dinner at Itsa4 restaurant. They are known for their burgers, so we had to try them -- incredible -- and they should be at 18.95 euros a pop!

This was probably the best parade either of us have ever seen. The costumes were amazing. Everyone in the parade was dancing, smiling and having a good time. Nearly every band was from the United States, which was kind of cool. Unfortunately every pub was packed with people spilling out into the street, so we didn't get to have a Guinness in a Dublin pub on St. Paddy's, but we still had lots of fun. We listened to traditional Irish music at an outdoor concert near St. Stephen's Green park before heading back to Galway.

Adventure #16: Tuscany (Lisa solo)

2008-03-15T09:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, maybe I shouldn't give this trip blog adventure status since Damon could not attend. It was a work trip, but lots of fun. The Wilson Daniels sales & marketing team spent a week in Tuscany, with Florence as our base. We took day trips to visit our clients Castello di Volpaia (in Chianti Classico), Tenimenti Angelini (estates in Chianti Classico, Montepulciano and Montalcino) and Marchese Lodovico Antinori (estates in Bibbona and Bolgheri in the Alta Maremma along the Tuscan coast). Our visits to the wineries were absolutely wonderful, and the sun came out as the week went on. The meals, wines, conversations and bus rides throughout the week were unforgettable -- lots of great memories already. Almost every night we were back in Florence in time to have dinner and wander throughout the streets on our own. It was great catching up with all my co-workers; it seemed more like I'd been gone one a short trip and just returned than being away for six months. Very relaxing for a company trip. Florence was much dirtier than I remembered it from our honeymoon, but still a charming city. I found some time to visit the San Lorenzo market to buy gifts for family and friends. Our imports director and I jogged up to the Piazzale Michelangelo on Saturday morning to see the city from its best vantage point before heading to the airport.

Tagine Initiation

2008-03-08T02:58:00.001-08:00

We have finally used our new tagine, a gift from Damon's mom and Gary. It's not that I didn't want to cook with it; it's just that its cone-shaped red top and thick base intimidated me a little bit. I had to work up the courage to tackle it and the nearly 15 ingredients that needed to be prepped and cooked inside the tagine. They also gave us a really cool cookbook, and after a half-hour of thumbing through recipes, I decided on a lamb dish that is very similar to this recipe: http://www.recipetips.com/recipe-cards/t--3400/beef-or-lamb-tagine.asp.

The dish probably took about 3 hours to prepare, including prep work. I was so wrapped up in the cooking that I forgot to take a photo of the actual ingredients cooking in the tagine. But we took a couple pictures of the plates afterwards.

This lamb dish tasted a lot like pot roast to me. It was good, but not nearly as flavorful as I expected - probably because I've never eaten North African food and I assumed it would be rich in exotic spices. We also found a recipe in the book that calls for prunes, honey and more spices, so I am going to give that one a try later this month.

A tagine is such a cool, original gift for anyone who likes to cook and try new things. I'm still hoping we can make it to Morocco some day.

Adventure #15: Lisbon, Lisbon Coast and Alentejo

2008-02-26T07:14:00.000-08:00

Portugal never broke the Top 10 when we started planning our monthly European getaways back in October. It's not that we didn't think it would be an amazing country to see, it's just that others (like Egypt, Dubai, Berlin, Budapest) ranked higher on our lists. But once we learned how expensive (and long) flying to the Middle East could be, we searched for another city with a mild climate in which to spend our February vacation - and we settled on Lisbon, mainly because we found cheap flights and a fantastic lodging deal at the VIP Eden Aparthotel on Restauradores Square in city centre for just 55 euros per night.

Lisbon is Europe's westernmost capital city and also supposedly the cheapest. The prices did not disappoint - just 39 cents for a jug of water that costs 2.50 euros back in Ireland. Everything about this city exceeded our expectations. The architecture was an ecclectic mix of Moorish (African and Middle Eastern Muslims who overtook Lisbon in the year 711), Spanish, French and Italian. This city has so much character, you have to see it to appreciate the diversity. And the weather was excellent - most days were sunny and 64-68 degrees. We had a little rain one morning, but that was about it. Another unforgettable trip with great weather.

The people were extremely friendly too. One bus driver gave us a free ride to the nearest tram station when we asked him for directions - definitely got our nod for nicest bus driver in Europe! Public transportation was convenient, cheap and safe - one-day pass good on the Metro, buses, tram and trolleys for only 3.50 euros - and you get to ride up in the famous street elevator on that ticket too.

Lisbon reminded us a lot of San Francisco, with its large bridges, trolley cars, hilly streets and beautiful river/sea views. (If you are having trouble seeing any of the slide.com pictures, just click on the X in the upper-right-hand corner of the Slide box. Their advertisements and sign-up screens are a pain in the butt. Sorry.)

Some of the sites we visited in Lisbon include:

The Rossio, one of the main squares in city centre where Damon took stunning night photos of the theatre and water fountains.

Praça do Comércio (Commerce Square), a large piazza near the water with stately canary-yellow symmetrical buildings around the parameter with a huge archway leading into the square.

We watched the Singing Chihuahua perform on Rua Augusta. Do click on this YouTube link to watch him sing. He did not disappoint.

Miradouro das Portas do Sol and Miradouro de Santa Luzia. Miradouros are several terraces and lookout points with vistas of the city.

The famous Santa Justa elevador (elevator), which we didn't wait in line to ride but walked up to the top and enjoyed sweeping views of the rooftops, castle and waterfront.

Santa Maria Maior de Lisboa (Sé de Lisboa), the cathedral of Lisbon, is the oldest church in the city. Construction of the cathedral began in 1147. The Cloisters there (2.50 euro entry) were stunning and well worth the nominal fee.

Alfama, the oldest district in Lisbon. We walked through the streets of Alfama on Friday (where we stopped and had lunch outside) and on Saturday (for a disappointing flea market). On Friday we stopped by the Castelo São Jorge in Alfama, but chose not to pay to go inside based on recommendations from other visitors.

We climbed to the top of the Padrão dos Descobrimentos monument and looked out over the city and River Tagus.

Torre de Belém (Belém Tower) was built both as a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon and as part of a defence system of the entrance of the Tagus river and the Jerónimos Monastery, which was necessary to protect Lisbon.

Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (Jeronimos Monastery) - Damon's top site in Lisbon - unbelieveable Cloisters.

One of the highlights of our trip for me was a visit to the São Vicente de Fora Monastery, where we enjoyed sweeping views of the city and River Tagus as well as stunning azulejos tiles throughout the hallways, stairwells and cloisters.

While in Lisbon we also learned about azulejo tiles and visited the National Museum of Azulejos, which allowed us to also see the ornate, gilded Convento da Madre de Deus church, now part of the museum. The azulejos are a typical form of Portuguese or Spanish painted, tin-glazed, ceramic tilework. They have become a typical aspect of Portuguese culture, manifesting without interruption during five centuries the consecutive trends in art.

Day Trip #1: Cascais and Sintra

Cascais, a coastal town 30 kilometres west of Lisbon, was recommended to us by wine writer Bob Ecker of Napa. It is a former fishing village with a harbor, charming shops, wonderful architecture, a castle (under renovation so we couldn't visit), Castro Guimaraes Palace and Farol Museu de Santa Marta(museum that looks like a villa perched on the rocks with a lighthouse nearby). The harbor, palace (with beautiful gardens) and nearby museum are pictured here.

Castelo dos Mouros (Castle of the Moors) is located on a hilltop overlooking the village of Sintra and is recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The castle was originally built by the Moors, possibly between the 9th and 10th centuries. The steep and winding drive up the hill to the top was quite a ride.

The Pena National Palace (Palacio Nacional de Pena) was another highlight of our trip. The palace stands on the top of a hill above the town of Sintra, and on a clear day it can be easily seen from Lisbon and much of its metropolitan area. The palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal. The architecture and grandness of the palace reminded us of Las Vegas or Walt Disney World...on steroids.

Day Trip #2: Alentejo (Reguengos de Monsaraz, Evora, Estremoz)

For our last day in Portugal, we drove to the Alentejo region to sample its wines and visit a few of the historic villages.

We first stopped at Herdade do Esporão in Reguengos de Monsaraz, had a wine tasting and took a jeep ride through the vineyards. The winery is known for its historic tower and had a beautiful lake, but it was a little farther southeast than we expected (about 35 minutes from Evora).

We then spent a few hours walking through the walled village of Évora, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where we also stopped for lunch at an outdoor cafe.

That afternoon, we enjoyed an insightful tour at J. Portugal Ramos winery near the village of Estremoz, then walked around the castle and church near the top of Estremoz before heading back to Lisbon.

I don't think I could go a lifetime without visiting Lisbon again. It's a special place and one that is already calling me to return.

What the f*ck? The F-word in Ireland

2008-02-25T07:50:00.000-08:00

One of the things that caught us by surprise here was how often we hear people say "f*ck." The Irish throw F-bombs around in their conversations the way Americans would use "hell," "damn" or maybe even "shit." One of Damon's co-workers said his four-year-old said "f*ck," and he and his wife began laughing. It's just one of those cultural differences I find amusing because when you think it about, it's just a word. We are the ones who made it taboo by saying it was bad and telling our children to never say it. Here's an interesting list of urban legends about the origin of the F-word. I also read online that it could have started back in Ireland as a form of the word "feck," another expletive.

Adventure #14: Ross Errilly Friary

2008-02-18T07:13:00.001-08:00

Damon found this killer page at Wikipedia that lists all the monastic sites in Ireland, so we decided to check out Ross Errilly, which is only 30 minutes from Galway.

The Ross Errilly Friary, a medieval Franciscan abbey, is among the best-preserved medieval monastic sites in the country. And we had no idea it was nearby. The detail on the walls and windows were amazing for such old ruins. We walked through short doorways into mazes of corridors past the chapels, a kitchen, courtyard, tombs and rooms galore. It's definitely somewhere we'll take any visitors and suggest to our American friends living in Galway.

Ireland weather in February

2008-02-18T07:13:00.000-08:00

We braced ourselves for the wettest year of our lives before leaving Northern California for Galway, Ireland, six months ago.

It hasn't been that bad. Seriously.

Maybe this is a mild year, but this Galway winter reminds us a lot of a Northern California winter - and one of my friends here who used to live in California agrees. Sure, there's been a little snow (which comes around every five years or so but disappears within a couple hours), and some mornings it hovers around freezing. There have been a few sideways rain storms and lots of wind. We haven't seen much rain in February though.

Here are a couple pictures taken on February 4 and 12. Today is just as sunny as either of these. Not too bad!

Irish Pottery

2008-02-17T06:28:00.001-08:00

Brenda and Steve gave us a gift certificate for Christmas to Louis Mulcahy Pottery. He's a talented Irish pottery maker (all handmade pieces) who relocated from Dublin to the Dingle Peninsula, where his workshop and studio are now located. He still has a shop in Dublin, which Lisa visited last month and purchased a beautiful fruit bowl to match the wine chiller and goblets they gave us a few years ago. I also found out there is an annual studio sale in Dublin on March 1, and I hope to return and buy some great pieces at up to 70% off.

Deterrents in Ireland

2008-02-17T01:28:00.000-08:00

From my perspective, the Irish go to great lengths to deter certain activities. Massive ad campaigns featuring teenagers with mutilated faces to scare kids into not drinking and driving. Millions spent on supermarket shopping cart locks so that shoppers cannot get their one euro deposit back from the cart without returning it to one of the designated bays in the parking lot. Charging customers for plastic bags so they won't request them, thus decreasing waste.

But the most puzzling of them all is the recycling situation. The only way to get glass recycled is to drive it to a recycling center (see below), just like Americans used to do back in the 1960s and 1970s with old-fashioned soda pop bottles. For an island nation that is concerned enough about waste to charge a 22-cent levy on each plastic bag, you would think they would be focused on developing a more sophisticated recycling program. When we moved in, we were given no instructions from the building management company here about do handle our trash and recycling. It took me a good month to figure out that food waste is separated from all paper and plastic, but that's about the extent of it. We organize all our empty glass into a plastic trash can, which we had to purchase, and tote it to the recycling center once every two weeks. I am probably hurting the environment more by driving the car to the recycling center and buying a 12-gallon plastic trash bin that will reside on this planet in a landfill for the next 300 years than it would for the trash collection company to add glass recycling to its services and charge for it.

But I care about the planet, so I gladly drive my empty wine bottles to the gigantic plastic recycling receptacles, which will also be living in a landfill some day too. I hope all the young students at NUI, our local university, have the foresight to do the same.

I'm not saying any of these initiatives are bad. It's just frustrating that some countries don't realize that if you give consumers incentives to do something, they will do it. And if you provide them a service that adds convenience to their lives, they will pay for it - especially something that helps the environment.

Ireland: the island nation of premature expiration

2008-02-13T12:06:00.001-08:00

Every morsel of food in Ireland has an expiration date it seems, and it's always two days from the date you are standing in the store, but 3-4 days from when you expect to get around to eating it. Expiration dates are starting to control my life. I roam the Tesco aisles for an hour, calculating dates and planning out meals precisely because anything perishable I buy is going to die within 48-72 hours. I feel like Jack Bauer in the kitchen, racing against the clock every day, trying to cook that chicken and boil that broccoli before times runs out.

I have no idea how the Irish do it. I watch women in the store, buying six jugs of milk, five cartons of eggs, four sticks of butter. How many men does it take to woof that down in less than two days? Our tiny refrigerator here barely holds a week's worth of groceries for two people. One of my U.S. comrades who's living here shops for a family of four. She goes to the store at least twice a week because her fridge only holds enough food for three days of meals, and of course, everything would expire if she did all her week's shopping in one day. Every thing is smaller here: the fridge, the milk jugs, the cartons of juice. People buy less on each visit and just shop more frequently each week.

Damon says the food doesn't last as long because they don't use as many preservatives here, which frankly is probably healthier for us. But that still doesn't explain why the fresh tomatoes are moldy and splitting two days after purchase.

Every now and then we see a side-by-side refrigerator in the newspaper or on TV, which is referred to as an "American Refrigerator." This society would hiss at the concept of Costco, don't you think? Maybe Americans should go back to the old days where everything was smaller, food perished sooner and daily life just wasn't so convenient.

Baby Rave? You've got to be shitting me

2008-02-13T11:50:00.000-08:00

The title of this blog says it all.

I was researching the event calendar for the 2008 St. Patrick's Day Celebration in Dublin, which Damon and I plan to attend March 15-17 to celebrate my 34th birthday. I found an event calendar listing I thought said "Babe Rave @ Temple Bar." I was expecting a dance party with lots of beautiful girls. I googled it, and found nothing. Then Damon said, "Are you sure it's not a Baby Rave? They just had one of those at Leisureland last week."

He was right. As part of this year's St. Patrick's Day festivities, there will be Baby Raves held on two nights.

Have you ever heard of a Baby Rave? If you google "baby rave" only Irish and U.K. web sites come up on the first page. They are all the rage here in Ireland, because half the population is between 20-35 and popping out kids left and right. Throw an adult bash with lots of loud music and dancing, but bring your kids. Just because you're parents doesn't mean you can't party anymore, right? Americans are too uptight to think this is cool and host such events. It wasn't too long ago in the U.S. that Happy Hour Playdates were profiled in many top media outlets, questioning mommies' morals for enjoying a glass of wine and good conversation while their tots played Lego.

The EuroMattsons raise a pint of Guinness to you and say, "Craic on, Baby Ravers." We salute you, but we childless couples may never join you in your follies.

Adventure #13: The Rock of Cashel

2008-02-10T01:50:00.000-08:00

This weekend we took a day trip to County Tipperary to see the famous Rock of Cashel, located about 2.5 hours southeast of Galway City.

The Rock of Cashel, with its well preserved ecclesiastical remains, is one of Ireland's spectacular landmarks, rising high above the surrounding plain on a hill of limestone (i.e. "the rock"). History at Cashel is only documented back to the 4th century, but St. Patrick converted the local King Aenghus here in the 5th century. The Rock served as the traditional seat of the Kings of Munster, one of the four provinces of Ireland, whose kingdom stretched over much of Ireland's south and southwest. Its greatest king later became the High King of Ireland, Brian Boru - prior to the Norman invasion.

In 1101, Cashel was handed over to the church where it flourished as a religious center until it was laid seiged to by Oliver Cromwell's army's in 1647. This resulted in the deaths of more than 3,000 people.

I read online that the Rock was one of the film sets for the movie "Excalibur."

The site includes several structures built with different architectural styles; highlights include:

- Cormac's Chapel, a Romanesque church (the "Jewel of Cashel," circa 1134)
- A Gothic cathedral (built between 1235 and 1270)
- A traditional Irish round tower (90 feet high; circa 1100)
- A tower house
- Hall of the Vicars' Choral (built in the 15th century)
- St Patrick's High Cross (circa 12th century)

Our tour guide said that all the buildings were built from limestone from the surrounding hills. Inside the Cormac's Chapel is a sarcophagus that probably contained the remains of either a king or a Cashel priest at one time. The original sits in the National Museum in Dublin on Kildare Street. The chapel entrance features a wonderful Romanesque archway with supports.

The cathedral is the largest building on the site. Within the walls of this grand structure are many interesting features: several carved tombs in the North Transept with remarkably detailed, well-preserved carvings despite exposure to the elements; stone hooks on the walls where a wooden balcony would have housed the vicars choral during mass; tomb of Miler Magrath, who caused a scandal by being both a Protestant and Catholic archibishop at the same time (he lived to be 100); and The Crossing, a lovely detailed arch where the four sections of the building come together.

The Round Tower is the oldest and tallest building on the site. Round towers were known as both a storage place for valuables and a lookout for advancing intruders. The doorway is about 10 feet from the ground. Cashel priests and students would climb a ladder and up into the many levels of stairs to fill the tower, then the ladder was raised up inside, according to several sources. Our guide also said that further research has questioned the true reason why the doorway is 10 feet off the ground. It probably was most likely because round towers were built back then without cement (just stacked stones), so it was critical that the base of the tower be the strongest point. Having a door at the base would have weakened the structure.

The original Saint Patrick's Cross now sits inside the dormitory museum onsite. St. Patrick was said to have visited Cashel in 450 AD, and the cross was erected in his honor. The east side of the cross shows the image of St. Patrick carved into its surface.

Although Cashel looks like a monastic site with all its various buildings housed inside a wall, only the archibishop, his aides and the vicars choral resided here, according to our tour guide. (There are ruins of Dominic's Abbey and Hore Abbey nearby, which we do not visit on this trip.)

The vicars choral were laymen appointed to assist in chanting the cathedral services. At Cashel there were originally eight vicars choral with their own seal. The restoration of the Hall of Vicars' Choral was undertaken by the Office of Public Works as a project in connection with the European Architectural Heritage Year (1975). Along with the dormitory block, is now home to the visitors center and museum.

There is also the O'Scully's Monument near the corner of the outer wall of the Rock of Cashel, an ornate memorial erected in 1870 by a local landowning family. Brú Ború, a national cultural centre, is located at the foot of the Rock of Cashel, but we didn't pay a visit.

On our way out to Cashel, we made a quick stop in Nenagh, the bustling provincial town owes its origins to the Norman Butlers who build a castle here in 1220. We snapped a few shots of the castel ruins, which are being restored, as well as St. Mary's Church of the Rosary, a neo-gothic church, built 1896 and noted for its stained glass windows from the famous Harry Clarke studio. We also drove past the nearby are the remains of a medieval Franciscan Abbey.

Pancake Day in Ireland

2008-02-05T11:31:00.000-08:00

You learn something new every day.

My teacher at Alliance Francaise de Galway pointed out to the class that today is Mardi Gras, aka "Fat Tuesday." I've had the pleasure of celebrating Mardi Gras, the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, in New Orleans during the official Mardi Gras when I was 20 and it was easy for those under 21 to enjoy a few drinks. There were no pancakes there, only lots of beer, beads, gumbo and king cakes with plastic baby Jesus dolls inside. No pancakes.

Anyway, we began to share our "Fat Tuesday" experiences - although I was the only one who called it that - and Mardi means "Tuesday" in French and Gras mean "Fat." Here in Ireland, as well as the United Kingdom and Australia, it's Pancake Tuesday. I had no idea what they are talking about and when I walked out of class and down Shop Street to the bus stop, a chef from Malt House restaurant was serving free pancakes and recipes in the streeet.

Adventure #12: Westport Area

2008-01-27T00:38:00.000-08:00

This Sunday, the weather was quite nice (around 50 degrees with little rain), so we decided to take a road trip to Westport, which we missed on our Sligo trip (post: Adventure #10). We took the scenic route along N59, heading about 1.5 hours north and slightly west of Galway into County Mayo to reach the Westport area on the coast.

We stopped first at the Aasleagh Waterfall on the Erriff River. The waterfall wasn't huge, but still pretty, and there were a couple of rams roaming along the river banks. We drove through the Erriff Valley, known for its Maumtrasna and Partry Mountains and the Sheefry Hills flanking the road. The town of Westport is quite charming, with lots of shops and a small town square, but we opted to continue driving to find more inspiring landscapes for photos. We stumbled upon Achill Island, Ireland's largest island, located about 30 minutes north of Westport. The typography reminded us a little bit of the Aran Islands, though the Minaun Cliffs and Cathedral Rocks here were much smaller than the cliffs along Inishmore. The Atlantic Coast Drive along the southern tip of the island was very pretty. The island is 87% peat bog, and there is also an abandoned village here called Slievemore, which has been vacant since the Great Irish Potato Famine. We hope to return and see the north part of the island another weekend.

We then drove back to Westport to see Clew Bay. There is a famous mountain here called Croagh Patrick, Ireland's holy mountain. We did not make the two-hour climb up, but we did take some pictures of the famous statue of St. Patrick overlooking Clew Bay near the base of the mountain. On "Reek Sunday", the last Sunday in July every year, more than 25,000 pilgrims climb the mountain, many of whom climb barefoot. Mass is celebrated on Reek Sunday on the peak in a modern chapel. There is also a visitor center at the top. Perhaps we will make the climb this summer, but not on a holy day! I would have to teach Damon the "Our Father" or maybe have him baptized. Not sure if he's ready for that! :)

Adventure #11: Foppolo, Italian Alps

2008-01-22T07:18:00.000-08:00

We knew we wanted to go skiing once in the Alps while living in Ireland, just so we could say we'd done it. I spent two full days researching resorts in Switzerland, France, Austria, Germany and Italy before we decided to book a ski weekend in the Italian Alps at a tiny village we'd never heard of called Foppolo. Foppolo is a mountain village about 1600 meters (5250 feet) above sea level and only 80km northeast of Milan. It's located in the Brembana Valley in the Lombardy region (marked in red on the map below). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foppolo

Hotel Cristallo, a 2-star hotel right next to the main ski lift, offered the best price for a ski package - 3 nights hotel, 2 days of lift tickets, 2 meals a day and transportation to and from the airport - so we took a gamble. And we got roundtrip airfare to and from Bergamo (a city near Milan) for just 30 euros per person, all taxes included. I was a little worried when I asked a colleague from Milan if he'd ever been there, and he said, "no." We were also nervous that there might not be good snow at a lower-elevation resort only 1.5 hours from Bergamo, but our gamble paid off. Foppolo had a few good days of snow just before we arrived, and beautiful blue skies and sunshine both days we hit the slopes.

Hotel Cristallo's bar is right at the end of the run, so you can ski right up to the terrace, take off your skis, sit down and order Prosecco, beer - whatever you fancy -and watch the skiers barrel down the run. The owners of Cristallo even put out traditional antipasti on the bar every afternoon - heavenly! We had the place practically to ourselves on Friday; only a ski school group of kids and a couple families from England were there. Then the crowds drove up from Milan on Saturday and Sunday, but the lines were still shorter than most we've seen in Lake Tahoe.

Foppolo is considered a good resort for beginner skiers. The main lift next to Hotel Cristallo is considered a green in America (Blue/facile/easy here). It was a little hard for me. Damon has only been skiing three times, and he beat me down the hill by probably 5 minutes every time. That's why there are so many pictures of me skiing and none of Damon. Only one time was I at the bottom of the run waiting for him to snap a photo - just because I rested while he went for another run. Sadly, I wasn't able to get a good shot right until he finished his run. He was so mad when he saw that the only picture of him skiing showing him doing the pizza!

The mountain tops were breathtaking and Foppolo chalets charming. This was an unforgettable weekend getaway.

Here is the ski map of Foppolo:

Appliances in Ireland

2008-01-22T06:02:00.000-08:00

One of the most amusing things about living in another country is learning how to use everyday items that are designed differently in other countries. About the only appliance that was easy to figure out was the microwave, which seems to have universal functionality. Here, the vacuum's electricity cord retracts into the bottom corner, which took me about 30 minutes to find. The oven has six different settings, depending on what you are baking, and the other dial is in Celsius, so we have to use our cell phone to convert the degrees every time we cook. Pizza does not cook properly unless you use the bread/pizzas setting. I learned this the hard way after two failed attempts at homemade pizza. The showers are electric, and you have to have a switch turned on outside the bathroom door in order for your shower powered box to dispense any water. But the funniest of them all is the clothes dryer. There are no ventilation tubes to expel the moisture and heat out of the laundry room here, so there is a plastic bladder (looks like a ice pack found in an Igloo cooler) at the bottom of the dryer. This has to be emptied about once a week when it fills up with water. The heat shuts off as soon as it's full, so you know it's time to change it when your clothes are still wet after 90 minutes. (There is also a little orange button that lights up, but I didn't figure out what that meant for a month.) There are also two lent catchers that have to be cleaned - the typical lent catcher that should be emptied after every wash and a condenser unit that needs to be rinsed of lent every so often. Talk about high maintenance! I had to take a couple pictures to share.

Adventure #10: Sligo, Yeats Country

2008-01-14T06:29:00.000-08:00

Clear skies and temperatures in the low 50s over the weekend beckoned us to take another day trip before the winter rains and lower temperatures returned. We drove to County Sligo, home of the legendary poet WB Yeats, about two hours north of Galway. Sligo and Leitrim are the northernmost counties in Western Ireland, and we visited some of "Yeats Country's" top sites, which took us into both counties.

We drove through the city of Sligo, then stopped first at Glencar Lough's waterfall, which was very nice but not photo-friendly, which bummed out Damon. The views of Glencar Lough across the road with sheep grazing were quiet serene though. We then drove along the N16 to see the picturesque Benbulbin Mountain. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benbulbin
We stopped near Drumcliff Bay at the Drumcliff church and cemetery to see WB Yeats's grave, where there are also ruins of an old monastic site including a beautiful High Cross. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WB_Yeats

The R291 highway runs along Sligo Harbour out to Rosses Point, the entrance to Sligo Bay, with a small lighthouse and many walking trails. It reminded us a lot of Salthill. I tried to get artsy with my little camera, snapping shots of dry-docked old boats, while Damon was photographing the lighthouse.

Inland from Sligo Harbour lies Lough Gill, another beautiful lake with Parke's Castle on its north shore. The 17th-century fortified manor house is a starting point for boat trips around the lough; it was closed, but we walked around and took some nice photos - more artsy stuff from me here, sorry!

Dooney Rock, a small mountain (or large hill, I guess) on the south side of Lough Gill with walking trails and beautiful views of Benbulbin was out last stop of the day. The lake waters were so peaceful the surface mirrored the puffy white clouds in the sky. We hiked up to the top before heading back home. We'd hoped to have time to visit Westport, a village on the west coast, but we'll have to save that trip for another day.

Snow in Galway

2008-01-04T05:57:00.000-08:00

Supposedly it rarely, if ever, snows in Galway. But we got to see a little white blanket on the ground before sunrise on January 4. I called Damon at work and said, "Why didn't you call me and tell me about the snow?" He replied, "What snow?" It wasn't snowing an hour before when he left for work. The snow was gone by sunrise when the temperature reached above freezing, and the rain continued throughout the day. I took pictures for Damon, so he could see the snow.

Adventure #9: Canary Islands

2007-12-31T13:08:00.000-08:00

The Medtronic plant closes here the week of Christmas, and employees are required to take vacation - which was fine by us. We decided it was time for some sun, and booked a trip to Gran Canaria, one of the Canary Islands.

Gran Canaria is the third largest island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago located in the Atlantic Ocean 210 km from the northwest coast of Africa and belonging to Spain. The island is volcanic in origin and much closer to the equator; it was around 70 degrees each day the entire time we were there (lovely).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gran_Canaria

We stayed in Playa del Ingles ("Englishmen's beach"), located on the southern tip of the island (the Costa Canaria), where all the other Northern European tourists stay to escape the winter cold. Christmas is the island's busiest week of the year, we were told. Lots of Germans, English, Irish and Scots there. Playa del Ingles was very touristy: lots of tacky souvenir shops, malls, arcades and restaurants that all served the exact same food and drink menus - only the restaurant logo in the corner was changed. But an open-air restaurant on a cliff with unobstructed views can serve whatever it wants, and people will come just for the scenery. We did, and the pizzas and banana splits were great. Playa del Ingles has a beautiful promenade that runs along the ocean called Paseo Costa Canaria. One of the most enjoyable parts of the trip was just walking along the paseo, looking out at the ocean, catching some rays and people watching. The beaches were very pretty - lots of beach umbrellas, windsurfers, kite surfers and parasailors, as well as people walking along the beach down to the sand dunes of Masopalomas.

Masopalomas, just west of PdI, has these amazing sand dunes - the only similarity to Africa we found on the island. It is truly a Spanish island - language, food, people, architecture, etc. After spending Sunday afternoon walking through the dunes, where we found it gets really windy around lunchtime (tradewinds), Damon decided it would be cool to walk the paseo down here on Christmas Eve morning and watched the sunrise. Spectacular!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maspalomas

We lounged by the pool some our first few days too, but it was usually partly cloudy and a little chilly for sunbathing without full sun. We also watched the sunset at Faro de Maspalomas, the site of the island's notable landmark lighthouse, built in 1886, long before the tourism boom. Another boardwalk starts here and runs up the west coast of the island - not sure how far it goes, possibly only to the next town. The camel rides were nearby, where we sadly learned that they simply put you in a double-metal chair (with another person) that hangs over the camel's hump and a guide leads a line of camels on a rope around in a contained pin - so we didn't opt for the 28 euro per person ride! There was also a cool statue here of a person riding a huge moray eel. And lots of nice shops and restaurants too.

A favorite memory of mine - not Damon's - would be the mercados, or street markets. The San Fernando mercado was held on Wednesday. There are great markets somewhere on the island almost every day of the week, but this was the closest one to PdI, located about 3-4 km northwest of our hotel. We walked there, and I bought a couple purses and some bling-bling jeans for Norah from the vendors in colorful tents pitched in a parking lot. We also found a cool gift for Ian.

The highlights of the trip were Thursday and Friday. We realized on Wednesday we needed a car to get out and explore the rest of the island. It took a half a day to find one (almost all were rented), and we finally coughed up 60 euros for a Leon Seat (whatever that is). It was a nice car, and we set out around 9 a.m. on our day-long road trip. Highlights included:

- Los Azulejos - a very cool rock formation in the southwest interior of the island where minerals and oxidization have left these beautiful shades of green and peach on the mountainsides. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuente_de_los_Azulejos

- Anden Verde - the coastal area on the west coast; beautiful drives along cliffs, the coastline, vegetable and fruit plantations, and tiny, charming towns. There were several vista points along the road where we stopped and took pictures; we could even see Tenerife, the next Canary Island west of Gran Canaria, which had a snowpeaked mountain called Teide, which is the highest point of Spain.

- Agaete - a little town on the west coast with beautiful whitewashed buildings and a botanical garden; we walked from here down to the boardwalk of Puerto de las Nieves.

Puerto de las Nieves - a sleepy little fishing village with a small port for ferries to Tenerife. Very quiet, charming - colorful buildings, small beach, surfers catching waves near the rocks. The manmade wall they've created to protect the city from surge during hurricanes was also impressive.

- Roque Nublo - means the "Rock Clouded" in Spanish; a monolith vertical rock that is 80 m tall. It is one of the most famous landmarks in the island of Gran Canaria. The elevation is 1,813 m ranking it second on the island and one of the tallest in the archipelago. It's located in the mountainous interior of the island, called the Cumbre. We arrived here after circling the entire island by car, then driving straight north of Playa del Ingles about one hour into the mountains. Stunning views, and lots of curvy, windy roads, which Damon enjoyed driving along. We hiked into Roque Nublo and watched the sunset. Maspalomas and the ocean were visible through the fog. It was about 40 degrees at Roque Nublo and still 70 degrees at the beach! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roque_Nublo

Our last day on the island, Friday, was fantastic. We took the city bus to Puerto de Mogan, a fishing village known as "Little Venice" due to its network of tiny bridges in town. Brightly colored Bouganveilla - oranges, pinks, purples - covered overhead arches and doorways on whitewashed Spanish-style buildings with tile roofs. Fisherman brought in the daily catches, local boys challenged tourists to "throw money in the water" so they could dive in and catch the coins before they hit bottom. The largely popular mercado is held here every Friday, which I visited while Damon snapped lots of great photographs. We walked along the town lagoon - a beach we wish we had discovered earlier in the week, as it was peaceful with very little wind - then had lunch on the boardwalk before catching a ferry boat that took us on a leisurely tour along the southwest coast before ending in Arguineguin, a working port town where we took the bus back to Playa del Ingles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_de_Mog%C3%A1n

We enjoyed a few authentic Spanish tapas meals, one on Sunday and another on Christmas evening. Tapas Tango and Capaco are run by the same family and were lots of fun - great atmosphere, live music, food, wine. http://www.tapasbarcapacotango.com/ We also had an amusing Christmas Eve dinner at a place called ROMA, that alleged it was Italian, but was really a mix of international dishes - and everyone there was eating steak and potatoes! How sad; we had pizza and pasta while listening to some guy named Lorenzo who was up on a stage in front of the dining room with an electric keyboard and microphone. He looked like a bus driver and sang a song called, "The Pizza Song," which was sadly in our heads all week! It was a really funny night. We found an amazing Italian restaurant later in the week called Il Duomo di Milano farther inland from the beach. Many of the guests were Italian, so we were in the right place. :) Our last meal was at sunset on the Paseo Costa Canaria, savoring pizzas, Spanish wine, great views and fun memories from the week.

We went out to a few clubs on Friday night, but couldn't find a place where anyone was dancing, so we vowed to go dancing in Galway some night soon when we returned home.

What's Christmas without a tree?

2007-12-15T06:21:00.000-08:00

Because we are spending Christmas in the Canary Islands, we have no plans to decorate for Christmas whatsoever. I was a little bummed about not having a Christmas tree for the first time since living in Miami, but low and behold, our building maintenance workers decorated the entry way and stairway landings with some decorations. The tree, although a little scrawny, is located just outside our door - almost as good as having a tree of our own!

The Irish Patience

2007-12-15T01:09:00.000-08:00

Lately, the old saying "patience is a virtue" is on my mind. Mostly because I've realized that many of us Americans have little patience. We want it all, and we want it right away, conveniently as possible. Why are we such an impatient society? The secret lies in Ireland: all the patience in the world lives in the hearts of the Irish. How can those of us Americans have any patience when the Irish are born with enough of the virtue to last the world twice over?

Here's just a few recent examples to prove my theory:

Yesterday, I was standing in the airport queue (line) waiting to check in. Like a typical American, I was on my cell phone, talking to someone about work, distracted and shuffling my bags as I moved closer to the front of the line. When it was my turn to check in, I had no idea: head turned, still talking. No one tapped me on the shoulder. The airline agent did not yell, "Next!" The people behind me did not say a word. They all just waited. Patiently.

That night, our door buzzer rang around 10:15 p.m. (Guests have to ring us from a locked door downstairs and then be buzzed in.) Damon said it was probably a wrong number and don't answer it. A few minutes later, it rang again. We didn't answer it. Then it rang again a few minutes later. This time, I answered it. It was, of all things, the UPS driver. He rang us 3-4 times over a 10-minute period, and never left. Just waited until we finally answered. He apologized for making deliveries so late but said it's really the only time people are home to accept packages.

Last week, Damon and I went to the Salthill Post to ship some Christmas goodies back to the States. We arrived about 5 minutes before closing, and there were five customers inside the Post office at closing time. A postal worker turned off the lights immediately and locked the door, so no additional customers could walk in. The three other customers were finished mailing their items before we were and walked to the door. Though I wasn't paying attention at the time, I realized when we were ready to leave and the worker came out from behind the till (cash register) to unlock the door for us, all the other customers had been standing in the dark at the door, quiet as church mice, locked inside a closed business. Not a peep. The level of patience in Irish society then became fascinating to us.

Damon also comments regularly about funny situations with Irish drivers on his daily commute: how he's yet to see an aggressive driver, and the Irish seem to yield to everyone and everything. He's always the first to make a move at the roundabouts. He just heard someone honk their horn in traffic for the first time this week. We've been here more than 3 months. There's a lot of traffic here in this congested town of 70,000 with lots of commuter communities on top of that population number. Can you imagine a city road or crowded parking lot anywhere in America without car horns blaring?

Maybe they have so much patience because the author of the famous proverb about this valuable character trait has been traced back to the 'Piers Plowman' (1377) by William Langland, an Englishman. When the book was published, many parts of Ireland were again controlled by the English, or at least in the midst of the Irish lords submitting to the English, after Richard II became King in 1377. "Patience is a virtue" has its roots not far from here, and it surprisingly hasn't been a lost after more than 600 years.

Damon's Paris

2007-12-09T09:40:00.000-08:00

Here's a slide show of the pictures that Damon took and has had time to format since our trip to Paris. His photos are much prettier than the ones I posted in "Adventure #8: Paris."

Goodies from America arrive

2007-12-09T05:13:00.001-08:00

I was giddy when I received two packages of goodies this week from friends back home. Ann Marie, Paula and Anju all sent us items we'd been missing from back home. Some of the highlights:

- Kosher salt
- Emerald Nuts (Pecan Pie)
- Pria bars (Chocolate Mint)
- Zone bars (Chocolate Peanut Butter)
- Kansas City barbecue sauce
- Made in Napa Valley rubs

I also received several issues of my favorite wine magazines from Julianna at the office.

Thanks, Ladies!

What's up with the weather?

2007-12-09T03:53:00.001-08:00

We've had surprisingly great weather in Galway since arriving in early September. I couldn't believe how nice it was the first two weeks of November. Here are some pictures from November 7 (pictured top), when it looked like summer outside. But the rains and winds arrived at the end of the month, and I've also included a few pictures from December 1 (pictured bottom), so you can see how dark and dreary it gets. If you look closely at the bottom-left picture, you'll notice a die-hard swimmer in the lower right-hand corner, getting ready to walk out onto the yellow pier. These people are crazy! There was even a swimmer out this morning.

Irish Radio: Back to the Future?

2007-12-07T00:04:00.001-08:00

Irish radio is where all bad (and once popular) American music comes to die. It's fascinating to us that DJs on the Top 40 radio stations will play Rihanna, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake or Beyonce, mixed in with some of our country's hits and misses from the 80s. It's an unexpected time warp that's not necessarily welcomed on the commute home from work, at least for Americans.

What we've heard on Irish radio recently:

- "Living on a Prayer" - Bon Jovi
- "I'm Bad" - Michael Jackson
- "Wake Me Up Before you Go-Go" - Wham
- "Gonna Make You Sweat" - C+C Music Factory
- "You Can't Hurry Love" - Phil Collins
- "Land of Confusion" - Phil Collins
- "Don't Stop Believin'" - Journey
- "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" - Journey

Sadly, it seems the Irish love two of my most hated singers of all time: Phil Collins and Steve Perry. Thank God I haven't heard any songs from Live yet on the radio, although that's a band with a few hits in the 1990s. My least favorite band of that decade and surprisingly, one of Damon's all-time favorites. One of the few things in life we disagree about is Live. "Lightning Crashes" ruined it for me. Those lyrics suck. Damon: I love you, but you are smokin' crack if you think this band is worth a hoot. I digress.

Also, I know a few of these artists are not Americas, per se, but I went ahead and included them under the umbrella of "American music." Sorry to all you die hard music history buffs out there. :)

A stroll through the neighborhood

2007-12-06T01:10:00.000-08:00

Damon's been working a lot, and we've both been sick. Needless to say, I've been a little bored, so I thought it would be cool to take out the camera and show you some snapshots of daily life here in Galway.

From this slide show, you'll see:

- Our main street in Salthill and some of our favorite spots
- Our gym and its San Francisco-style side street
- Funny things in the grocery store
- City centre main street during holidays

Hope you find some of these as amusing as I did at first.

Irish Christmas Traditions #3: Mince Pies

2007-12-06T01:01:00.000-08:00

When I first started shopping at the Dunnes grocery store here, I stumbled across a jar of "mincemeat" in the baking aisle while looking for ingredients to bake Damon's birthday cake. I was puzzled, wondering why a meat product would be found alongside flour, nuts and cake mixes. This is also where they display all their raisins, whereas our stores usually put the raisins in the snack aisle with granola bars and crackers. Raisins are a major ingredient in baking here, as I've found with the Christmas Pudding (or plum pudding) recipes (see "Irish Christmas Traditions #2..." post).

Mince pies are a British tradition, festive little pies consumed during Christmas and New Year's. Historically, they did contain meat, but nowadays, the only remnant of the original meat is the inclusion of suet (raw beef or mutton fat). Typically, the filling is now made entirely from fruit-based mincemeat containing dried fruit such as raisins, currants, glace cherries, apricot, candied peel; spices such as cinnamon or nutmeg; nuts such as walnuts or chopped almonds; suet; and some kind of alcohol, usually either brandy or rum.

Here's some great history on the Mince Pie:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mince_Pie

This weekend, we heated some in the oven and topped them with ice cream. They were quite tasty.

Irish Christmas Traditions #2: Christmas Pudding

2007-12-06T00:45:00.000-08:00

The aisles at the Galway grocery stores are packed with holiday goodies, many of which I've never seen or heard of until moving here. Sure, you'll find the usual endless boxes of chocolates and candy canes, but there's a ubiquitous treat called Irish Christmas Pudding, which I'm quite intrigued to try.

I've been researching it and learned that it's also called plum pudding, but doesn't contain any plums. Interesting. I guess plums are an essential part of any Irish Christmas feast. Christmas Pudding has its roots in England:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Pudding

Here's a Christmas Pudding recipe:
http://www.dochara.com/eat/traditional/christmas-pud.php

Happy Holidays!

Irish Christmas Traditions #1: Hot Wine

2007-12-06T00:24:00.000-08:00

I guess I'm not as worldly as I thought. Never had I considered -- or even heard of -- drinking wine hot before I moved to Ireland.

When we arrived at the Radisson Galway on Saturday night for Medtronic's Christmas party, in which 1,800 turned out (yikes), we were greeted in the lobby by Santa Claus and servers with trays of glasses filled with red wine. I noticed steam rising from the glasses and asked the girl, "Is this hot?" She replied, "Yes." I grimaced, and pointed to the next tray in the other server's arms. "That one too?" Sadly, she nodded. What the hey - why not try something new? I grabbed a glass and "gave it a go," as they say in Ireland. After the first sip, I was ready to give the glass back. It tasted like cheap red wine with lots of cloves. But coffee hot. The alcohol was through the roof, due to the heating, I bet. Ugh. Not my cup of tea.

Maybe the experience is so bizarre to me because I would never dream of drinking a wine hot. Some sort of Northern European tradition we won't be bringing back to the States!

The nasty concoction we tasted is probably a local recipe for the original hot wine, Hypocras, which is said to have been invented by Greek physician Hippocrates (5th century BCE). Hot wine is also big in Germany, England, even Austria, I believe. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypocras

But since there are lots of Polish immigrants here, it may have been a Polish recipe, such as this one:
http://flyertalk.com/cookbook/viewrecipe.php?id=502

You are more than welcome to try this one at home! Merry Christmas.

Adventure #8: Paris

2007-11-30T01:17:00.000-08:00

It's easy to lose yourself in Paris: gazing at the works of Monet and Van Gogh at one of the city's stunning museums, strolling the Grands Boulevards, or just sitting at a sidewalk cafe, sipping a glass of red wine, people watching and contemplating life. We only had three days to explore this amazing city, so there wasn't much time to truly immerse ourselves in the often relaxing Parisian way of life. But we did spend some time admiring the works of the world's greatest Impressionist painters.

We arrived late on Thanksgiving evening and checked into our tiny hotel in the 9th Arrondissement called Pavillon Opera Lafayette on Rue de la Tour d'Auvergne. Small and simple, clean and cheap. Then we popped into a little Italian restaurant around the corner from our hotel called Pizzetta on Avenue Trudaine. It was recommended by a writer for Gourmet magazine who has an apartment nearby. (He also lives in San Francisco.) It was a little strange having pizza for our first meal in Paris, or for Thanksgiving dinner for that matter. But it was a casual place, unlike most restaurants in Paris, and that worked well for us. The pizza and ravoli were fabulous. We then walked down to the Louvre museum and took pictures of all the building lit at night, and sadly, the lights went out at midnight, so we returned back to the hotel.

Our first day, your Black Friday back home, got off to a slow start, getting our bearings, finding the nearest Hop On/Hop Off Bus Stop (where we purchased 2-day tickets), dodging a little rain. (And Damon needed to sleep in, of course. ;p) After a ride around on the bus tour past the L'Opera Garnier, Trinite Church, Pigalle and Montmartre, we had a long, exceptional luncheon at Casa Olympe on 48 rue St-Georges (9er), a restaurant owned by Dominique Versini (aka Olympe), one of the few female chefs in Paris to achieve celebrity status. It was highly recommended by our friend at Gourmet and not too far from our hotel. Most restaurants in Paris serve prix fixe menus, 3-course luncheons and 4-course dinners with a set price. I had a pumpkin soup, lamb chop and cheese plate; Damon had some amazing appetizer with a poached egg on it, then sea scallops and a chocolate cake oozing with chocolate. All dishes were delicious. I adopted this as our Thanksgiving meal. By the time we finished with lunch in the afternoon, we decided it was best to hop on the Hop On/Hop Off Bus again and try to squeeze in as many sights as possible. When it got dark outside and even colder outside, we went to the Champs-Élysées, looking in the windows of all the shops on this main street and grabbed a hot chocolate at McDonald's, of all places, but they have a cafe inside - it's so different from the U.S. They even serve beer in mugs and coffee drinks in ceramic cups. We walked to the end of the Champs-Élysées to Place Charles de Galle to see the Arc de Triomphe. A daily military service under the Unknown Soldier's tomb was taking place, so we couldn't get under the arc, but we did go to the top and take some great photos of the city streets that fan out from the roundabout at the Arc de Triomphe. By then, we'd frozen enough for the day, and Damon didn't have gloves or a beany, so we took the Metro, Paris' excellent underground train network, back to the 9er to Cadet, the Metro station about 5 minutes from our hotel. We also found gloves for Damon at a shop in the Metro. We freshened up before meeting Erwan Faiveley, the director of Domaine Faiveley, one of Wilson Daniels' clients, for dinner. We had a fabulous, ritzy Parisien dinner with Erwan and his girlfriend Charlotte - wonderful wines, seared scallop amuse buse, a killer chestnut soup and delicious entrees, but I can't remember what they were.

We headed to the Louvre early on Saturday, hoping to beat the crowds. After buzzing through the top sights in the museum - Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa, The Raft of Medusa and the Napolean III Apartments - we walked over to the Ile de la Cite, the stunning little island in the middle of the River Seine, to see Notre Dame. We stopped for crepes along the way, then photographed Notre Dame and workers trimming a Christmas tree in front of the church. I showed Damon the art sellers' booths along the River Seine by Place St. Michel and Notre Dame where I purchased art last year, then we hopped back on the bus and took a long tour of past all the top destinations - Assemblée Nationale, Musée d'Orsay, Place de la Concorde, Champs-Élysées, Arc de Triomphe, Dome des Invalides and Hotel des Invalides, Grand Palais and Petit Palais, La Tour Eiffel, Parc du Champ de Mars, Palais Chaillot and Trocadero, etc. We considered going up the Eiffel Tower today, as it was quite sunny out, but the lines were terribly long, so we walked through the Parc du Champ de Mars, the park where the Eiffel Tower is located, and took lots of great photos of the tower with blue skies and puffy white clouds. Then we walked about 10 minutes east to find Rue Cler, a street I'd read had a wonderful market on Saturdays. We strolled down Rue Cler and looked at all the produce and food, then grabbed a Croque-Monsieur and Chevre Quiche, two delicious snacks to try in Paris. (Croque-Monsieur is a French hot ham and cheese sandwich, typically made with gruyère and sometimes tomatoes.) We took the tour bus over to a stop near the Pantheon, so we could photograph its impressive facade, and then we walked down to Jardin du Luxembourg, one of my favorite places to visit in Paris. Every time I've been to Paris, I've strolled through this park and had my picture taken in front of the pool outside Palais du Luxembourg. We grabbed a few chairs in the park and relaxed for a few minutes, then walked through the gardens on the southside of the park, Jardin R. Cavelier-de-la-Salle, Jardin Marco Polo and Place E. Denis, where we photographed a beautiful fountain, Fontaine de l'Observatoire. I did some research, which indicated this fountain was designed by Davioud, Carpaux and Frémiet in 1873. The fountain includes a statue of a globe supported by four women, each representing a continent.

Late that afternoon, we took the Metro to Pigalle and Montmartre to see the Sacre Coeur church, overlooking Paris from the north - the highest point in the city. We walked through a busy street filled with fabric stores and discount clothing shops up the hill to the church. We had no idea this was the place to be on a Saturday night. Hundreds were gathered on the terraced steps leading up the hill to Sacre Coeur, including a group of 50 or so with a guitarist singing American hits like "Brown Eyed Girl." Girls were dancing on the lawn and drinking wine from the bottle wrapped in brown paper bags. Crazy scene. We watched a lame puppet show, took beautiful pictures of the sun setting and then walked through the red-light district of Pigalle (didn't feel scared or get accosted), before heading back to our hotel for a nap before dinner.

After resting in the room, we walked about 20 minutes south to find Chez Georges, an institution known for its traditional French bistro fare that transports diners back in time. It had been recommended by two friends. Sadly, it's closed on weekends. So we went to Juveniles, a wine bar I'd read good things about online from San Francisco blogger Chez Pim http://www.chezpim.com/blogs/ . The English server would not let me speak French - every time I tried he would answer in English - but he was really friendly and the food was great - tapas style. We had an excellent goat cheese crostini salad and prosciutto crostini with tomato and pesto, which I have replicated twice for Damon since we got home. (I always find simple French appetizers like these to be so inspiring that I try to recreate them for weeks after the trip.) We finished the day by taking pictures of the Eiffel Tower at night from the two bridges closest to the tower, Pont d'Iena and Pont de Bir Hakeim. The Pont de Bir Hakeim bridge has two levels: one for motor vehicles and pedestrians, and a viaduct above, through which passes Line 6 of the Paris Métro. We used Line 6 twice to visit the Eiffel Tower.

Damon needed some sleep on Sunday, so I walked down Rue des Martyrs to find some pastries for breakfast. I absolutely love this neighborhood and would live here in a heartbeat. The road is lined with chocolate shops, patisseries (French bakeries), wine shops, cheese shops, markets, hair salons and clothing stores. Why go anywhere else? I stopped into the local Nicolas wine shop and purchased two bottles of Champagne (way cheaper than in Ireland), and I even found a studio apartment we could purchase outside in this area, if only we could sell our house. There I go, dreaming again. I digress. Sunday was originally going to be our day to travel out to Versailles, but we realized on Saturday we still hadn't seen several important tourist destinations in the city, so we vowed to return in the spring to see Versailles, as well as Les Halles, Bois de Boulogne, Palais Royale and many other sights we either didn't get to, or could not go inside to see. We started our day at the Eiffel Tower, hoping we could avoid the crowds. Lines had already formed by 10 a.m. at the elevator entrances, but the escalier entrance (stairs) had no line, so we decided to walk up two levels of the tower - nearly 700 steps! - to reach the next set of elevators. Good exercise, and it beat standing in line for an hour, plus there are historical factoids posted in the stairwells for climbers to stop and read. The first level of the Eiffel Tower has pictures and story boards along the railing, so tourists can learn about the buildings they are seeing. Although it was very cold, it was a beautiful day in Paris, and we got some great pictures of the city from the Eiffel Tower to show for it.

We left the Eiffel Tower and walked along the River Seine, past river boat docks and stumbled upon a photography exhibition outside. (I'd read November was a big month for photography exhibits in Paris.) Lots of interesting photographs of people from all over the world hung on white temporary walls in the middle of the walkway by the river - a nice diversion during our walk down to Pont Alexandre III, the gilded bridge considered the most extravagant in Paris. It connects Grand Palais with Les Invalides. Musee d'Orsay was our next stop, a nearby museum known for its exceptional Impressionist exhibition. Along the way, we grabbed some traditional grilled sandwiches on banguettes and ate them on the steps of Musée d'Orsay. I could have spent another hour at Musée d'Orsay, gazing at the works of the great Impressionists - Renoir, Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Degas. Definitely a highlight of the trip for me.

After a ride on the tour bus again, we hopped off and walked through the Jardin des Tuileries, Paris's most central garden. It connects the Louvre with the Place de la Concorde and forms a part of the large central axis between the Louvre and La Défense. The sun was about to set, and a column statue near the garden's north exit caught our eye - it was Place Vendome - another place I'd wanted to visit. It's now a swanky mecca for jewellery and shopping with amazing stores set around the large granite slabs of the square. Damon could hear the Ferrari engines revving up a mile way. We snapped a few pictures of the Place Vendome column (amazing colors in the sky), and continued walking toward the Opera and its shopping district, hoping to find some shops to buy gifts, but forgot that almost everything in Paris, except some museums, is closed on Sundays. Tourists should always plan their Paris trips around what is open on Sunday, and then fill in the other days. Lesson learned. We were hoping to squeeze in a nightime boat ride on the Seine during this trip too, but decided to save it for the next visit.

We had dinner at that at Astier in the Oberkampf area (44, rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud), mainly because it was open on a Sunday. The place is known for its cheese plate, which did not disappoint. There were probably 12 different French cheeses on the wheel, and you can sample them all. I did, of course. The rest of the meal was so-so. Not a highlight of the trip, but I was proud we navigated the Metro and then found the restaurant in an area we'd never visited before.

The next day was packing, buying pasteries for the trip home, getting around on the Metro with our luggage, then taking the bus back to Beauvais airport to catch our flight. I spoke as much French as I could and realized I have a lot of work to do before my French classes start in January.

A few interesting factoids that complement our pictures:

Arrondissement - If you haven't visited Paris before, the city is divided into 20 arrondissements municipaux (roughly put, "municipal boroughs"). 1er (the shorthand way to refer to them) is in the center of the city, and then the arrondissements fan out from there. We stayed in the 9er, which we liked very much. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrondissements_of_Paris

Conciergerie - Built in the early 14th century, this palace was part of the residence of the kings before the Louvre. In 1391, the Conciergerie became the first prison of Paris when this residence accommodated the seat of the Parliament and the judicial power. During the French Revolution, nearly 3,000 condemned spent their last days here. They were then transported to Concorde Square to be guillotined. Amongst them were Marie-Antoinette, the Austrian and wife of Louis XVI and Charlotte Corday, arrested to have stabbed Marat in his bath.

Pont du Carrousel ("pont" means "bridge" in French) - In the "Da Vinci Code" a truck on the Pont du Carrousel offers Robert Langdon an ‘escape’ from the police. In real life the Pont du Carrousel, built in 1833 then demolished and rebuilt in 1936 because it was to low for boats to pass, offers the visitor a view of both the Seine River and the Louvre Museum. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_du_Carrousel

Assembleé Nationale Palais-Bourbon - Built in 1722 for the Duchesee de Bourbon, daughter of Louis XIV, the Palais-Bourbon was confiscated during the Revolution. Since 1830, the official seat of the National Assembly (French Parliament) is the Palais Bourbon on the banks of the river Seine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_National_Assembly

Place de la Concorde - During the French Revolution (1789–1799), the square was renamed again (previously Place Louis XV) and became "Place de la Révolution" -- the square were many famous people, such as King Louis XVI and Marie-Antionette, were beheaded. The guillotine here was most active during the "Reign of Terror," in the summer of 1794, when in a single month more than 1,300 people were executed. After the revolution the square was renamed several times and in 1830 it finally got its current name "Place de la Concorde." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_de_la_Concorde

Grand Palais - The Grand Palais ("Grand Palace"), like the Tour Eiffel, was built for the world fair of 1900, which was held in Paris (Exposition Universelle, also called Paris Exhibition of 1900); neither were intended to remain as permanent additions to the city. Today is houses museum exhibits (Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais), a planetarium, the Palais de la Decouverte and other tourist attractions. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Palais

Pantheon - The Pantheon in Paris was modeled after the Pantheon in Rome. When it was completed at the start of the French Revolution, the new Revolutionary government ordered it to be changed from a church to a mausoleum for the interment of great Frenchmen. Twice since then it has reverted to being a church, only to become again a temple to the great intellectuals of France. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panth%C3%A9on%2C_Paris

Eiffel Tower - The Eiffel Tower sparkles at night until midnight. We couldn't figure out exactly at what hour it starts sparkling, but it's lit earlier in the evening without the sparkles. This might be a Christmas thing. Not sure. When the tower was completed in 1889 it replaced the Washington Monument as the world's tallest structure — a title it retained until 1930 when New York City's Chrysler Building (319 m — 1,047 ft tall) was completed. The Eiffel Tower celebrated its 100th birthday in 1989. The tower is the most visited paid monument in the world per year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_Tower

Les Invalides - This is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building's original purpose. It is also the burial site for some of France's war heroes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Invalides

Pont Alexandre III - this bridge was also designed for the world fair of 1900. It's from the era of the elaborate Louis XIV. It's a magnificent example of art nouveau style decorated with nymphs, cherubs and other sea monsters. The four golden statues depict Art, Commerce, Industry and the Sciences.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_Alexandre_III

Jardin du Luxembourg - It's the largest garden/park in the city. Luxembourg is the garden of the French Senate, which is itself housed in the Luxembourg Palace (Palais Luxembourg). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jardin_du_Luxembourg

Sacre Coeur - It's a Roman Catholic basilica dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The design has a heavy Romano-Byzantine influence. The church is built of travertine stone, which constantly exudes calcite, which ensures that the basilica remains white even with weathering and pollution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacre_Coeur

Place Vendome - It was designed by Denon, Gondouin, and Lepère and modeled in the style of Trajan's Column in Rome. Originally there was a statue of Napoleon on top, which was removed and then replaced over time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_Vend%C3%B4me

Adventure #7: Rally Ireland, Northern Ireland

2007-11-17T21:59:00.000-08:00

This weekend, we took a day trip up to Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, to see the World Rally Championship's first race in Ireland. Ireland anticipated around 150,000 spectators from around the world would be on hand to watch the three-day race through the backroads of both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. http://www.rallyireland.org/

Rally racing is a sport Damon has been fond of for my years; I didn't know much about it before we met, but I would describe it as Nascar meets the Amazing Race. Rally drivers in turbo-charged, hatch-back cars compete against the clock on courses in several countries, primarily in Europe, http://www.wrc.com/page/RalliesIndex/0,,10111,00.html which are usually dirt roads. Some times they drive on pavement too, and races even occur when there's ice and snow on the course. They compete only against the clock and drive like banshees. There are two members per team in the car - driver and co-driver. The co-driver has the map of the course and coaches the driver as to how he should drive fast and not crash.

Here's some information from the WRC web site about the relationship between the driver and the co-drive in rally racing:
http://www.wrc.com/page/PerfectPartnership/0,,10111,00.html

I'm not really explaining WRC like I should, so you can also read the background on it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Rally.

We watched the Saturday leg of the rally in Northern Ireland, near a town called Enniskillen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enniskillen

It's pretty amazing that part of this island nation is owned by another country, and you can drive from the Republic of Ireland right into Northern Ireland without really knowing it. I thought there might be a check-point or at least signs, but Damon said the only thing he noticed was that the speed limit signs changed when we crossed into Northern Ireland.

Up before the crack of dawn, we drove about 3.5 hours to Enniskillen and didn't hit much traffic until we got into town. Then we followed the herd of cars back to a main road where everyone parked and then walked about two miles into the country to the rally course. The cold, rainy, dreary weather didn't hamper everyone's fun. We bundled up as best we could and trekked back to the course. People dressed in safety jackets, rain coats and rubber mudd boots were everywhere, hanging out on the hills of cow pastures surrounding the road where the cars would buzz through in an hour or so. Okay, so maybe we weren't probably dressed in our jeans, coats and hiking shoes. We also didn't know we were supposed to bring lawn chairs, which we don't have. Most people just stood around the course road, while others opted to bring out bulldozers and sit inside their fork lifts.

The crowds started hooting and hollering when a fog horn sounded, as we first heard the hum of a rally car engine in the distance. It was pretty cool to watch the compact, brightly painted cars fly down the hill on the wet country road and take the hair-pin turn at the corner. We walked along the course, taking pictures from various vantage points. But after about two hours in the rain with no chairs or mudd boots, we decided our World Rally experience was fulfilled, and headed back to the car for the drive home.