tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56775766276215313392024-03-21T17:03:05.455-07:00The Cure for Boredom is CuriosityThere is no cure for curiosity - Dorothy ParkerSheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481857019989352123noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5677576627621531339.post-51434944099690301452010-11-04T10:45:00.000-07:002010-11-04T10:45:47.542-07:00There - Now I've gone and spoiled it<style>
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</style> <div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0.1pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>You see? I am so weak. </span></span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0.1pt 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0.1pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Since my last post, I have been so tempted to write in this space.<span> </span>But I really, really, didn’t want to ruin what I saw as closure.<span> </span>...A nice neat package of a travel journal.<span> </span>But I felt the pull.<span> </span>It called to me when the kids started the school year in fabulous fashion.<span> </span>Then it begged me to post at the equinox, as fall is my favorite.<span> </span>Again as we came to Samhain. (Now that I’ve been to Ireland I can pretentiously name-drop, right?<span> </span>Go back to Halloween’s roots, as it were?)</span></span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0.1pt 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0.1pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>I thought I could post little things on Facebook, and be satisfied.<span> </span>The FB is great for letting me keep in touch with those who I care about, but it has its limits.<span> </span>It’s small-talk and chit-chat.<span> </span>Great.<span> </span>But often for me, making small-talk is difficult.<span> </span>We introverts like to go deep.<span> </span>If you’re an introvert, you know exactly what I’m talking about.<span> </span>If you’re an extrovert, you now think I am mental.</span></span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0.1pt 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0.1pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>So, yeah, I enjoyed writing this little blog more than I anticipated - and I have had such supportive feedback from people who have read it, that I have convinced myself I could write more entries. The trouble is that I am back in real life. It is one thing to make my dry observations while traveling, but I think it is altogether different to turn my gaze toward the events that fill my daily life. </span></span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0.1pt 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0.1pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>For one, it is unexceptional; which is not to be confused with boring.<span> </span>I just mean that I don’t think the things that occur in my life are fascinating to others.<span> </span>And actually, the loss of privacy concerns me.<span> </span>Two, I am opinionated and probably too blunt for my own good…<span> </span>I over-share; I ask pointed questions.<span> </span>I am terrified that my efforts at being diplomatic would fail and I would then alienate people I care about – family, friends and neighbors.<span> </span>And a big issue is:<span> </span>What is the point of the blog?<span> </span>If it stayed a travel blog, fine.<span> </span>If only I could make a living out of traveling and being witty – that would suit me.<span> </span>But I don’t want to run with a particular topic and become its champion.<span> </span>Then it becomes the thing that defines you – and nobody is that one-dimensional.<span> </span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0.1pt 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0.1pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>But then, maybe it would be fun.<span> </span>And maybe it would cause me to write about things others would enjoy.<span> </span>I may lead an unexceptional daily existence, but the experiences that brought me here are far from ordinary.<span> </span>If I can communicate that in a humorous and entertaining and manner, then I would be very pleased.<span> </span>I will try not to fuck it up, and also, not to swear so much.</span></span></div><div style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;"><br />
</div>Sheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481857019989352123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5677576627621531339.post-1861284655539512672010-08-30T21:37:00.000-07:002010-09-05T14:10:10.778-07:00I miss it<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TDt0vMEyKEI/AAAAAAAACsk/GtuOUuFZnw0/s1600/IMGP0612.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="134" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="562" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TDt0vMEyKEI/AAAAAAAACsk/GtuOUuFZnw0/s640/IMGP0612.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Europe I mean. </span><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I don't think it is missing <i>vacation</i>, per se, because I was with my kids 24/7. And that is <u>not</u> a vacation. It is a family vacation. It was wonderful, don't get me wrong. The family unit is strong, and Riley holding my hand as we strolled through Europe (particularly through Paris and Southern France) is my most treasured memory of the whole summer.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TEmG_LwMKZI/AAAAAAAACs0/UojojZao9mM/s1600/DSCN1805.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="135" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TEmG_LwMKZI/AAAAAAAACs0/UojojZao9mM/s320/DSCN1805.JPG" width="272" /></a></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">But I miss it. I miss the "closeness" of the cities. They are more pedestrian friendly with lots of streets where only cars making deliveries are allowed to enter. I miss how all the cars are small and boxy because they are fuel efficient and care more about space than looks. I miss being able to go everywhere without <i>getting into</i> a car. </span><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Cars seem so isolating now. (The bigger the better. We use them to help define our cultural tribe. We - Americans - can afford to waste gasoline because we have just that much money to burn. Let's leave alone the ramifications of sending billions of dollars to oil producing nations.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">In the US we always want to carve our personal space out of the landscape. House with big yards, neighborhoods with fences and gates. We are still prairie homesteaders fighting back the wilderness in our minds. We all have manifest destiny dangling somewhere just out of grasp. anyways. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/THx_h0TzJvI/AAAAAAAACsg/SZE8uV0bOvM/s1600/IMG_0106.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="136" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="626" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/THx_h0TzJvI/AAAAAAAACsg/SZE8uV0bOvM/s640/IMG_0106.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I miss walking up to restaurants for a not-so-quick-bite to eat. I miss that people congregate and are out in public until bedtime. I miss that you can drink wine in the park and not get a ticket for open container. I miss having a daily beer in a pub and striking up conversations with stranger who think my accent is cute. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I think I even miss blogging about it. </span><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TEmHbzD4m2I/AAAAAAAACss/IyeJWDxh4y4/s1600/DSCN1826.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="137" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="124" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TEmHbzD4m2I/AAAAAAAACss/IyeJWDxh4y4/s200/DSCN1826.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I miss having a camera around to capture things. I need to start carrying one. I just ordered an iphone and it will be my first phone with a camera. For some reason, even though I am a bit of a technology junkie, I am late to the dance when it comes to cell phones. I have never even sent a text on a phone. Shocking, I know. I just never saw the need. I will be texting though - within the next week when my phone comes, I got a family plan with unlimited texting as my daughter once again pushes me into accepting the fact that she is now a teenager. (First Facebook, and now texting.)</span><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TD2QcAqH3mI/AAAAAAAAAeE/Rq5lFEjX-zg/s1600/DSC_0124.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="138" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TD2QcAqH3mI/AAAAAAAAAeE/Rq5lFEjX-zg/s640/DSC_0124.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">There is one part of this post-Europe malaise that <i>is </i>a vacation thing. I miss the simplicity of only owning one suitcase full of possessions. It was so easy to control life when that's all you posses. I have not done laundry since I came home. It's been a week. Actually 10 days. I can't bear to go through it. in our house, we call this the "Pee Wee and the snakes" phenomenon. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKsaHk7d6bU" linkindex="139">Click through</a> to understand fully.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Real life is a lot more complicated, and if I am truthful, I will say that by the end of Ireland I was itching to get back home. I love my home and my community and my friends. </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I love my kids' lives, I love the Puget Sound and I love Seattle too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And not to be gross, but this is so funny... I LOVE love love my not-good-for-the environment plush toilet paper. Like wiping your butt with <a href="http://98percenttheory.blogspot.com/2010/08/release-seehassen.html" linkindex="140">bunny fur</a> compared to the peeled tree bark stuff they have in the EU.</span> <span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Let's <i>end</i> there for now.</span>Sheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481857019989352123noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5677576627621531339.post-62083379101076221282010-08-21T17:08:00.000-07:002010-08-22T16:19:56.300-07:00All that you can't leave behind<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">After three weeks of soaking up Irish history and culture we head off to the airport at 7am. This will be a long, long day as we regain our lost 8 hours, and all of it is spent in the air. We have to fly through Atlanta, as payment for that sweet Paris-direct nonstop flight in the beginning. We should get home around 9pm, which will be 5am the next morning for our European set bio-rhythms. </span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG856ZpuG5I/AAAAAAAACcI/k4wKZ3Eb7Ao/s1600/DSCN2006.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="41" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG856ZpuG5I/AAAAAAAACcI/k4wKZ3Eb7Ao/s640/DSCN2006.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;">Photo: landing in Cork by Riley</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">I'm sitting on the plane, watching Ireland pull away from me at 465 miles per hour. The countryside is like a Mandelbrot <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foxD6ZQlnlU" linkindex="42">fractal</a>, or one of those powers of ten videos. As you zoom in from outer space, the mixtures of the various greens, and all the colors woven into the quilt of the land expand and repeat. A photographer's dream, the light changes constantly. It is nothing like the rest of the EU countries and that is hopefully an advantage. I hope the country is able to hold onto its unique Irish character and culture as it wrests the economy out of a difficult situation. But that conversation is for another day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG86TiaAs9I/AAAAAAAACcQ/HYOqUJjeZec/s1600/DSCN2088.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="43" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG86TiaAs9I/AAAAAAAACcQ/HYOqUJjeZec/s640/DSCN2088.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;">Only 20 short hours after takeoff: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VlK2BOhmvU" linkindex="44">Hello Seattle!</a></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">Now what? I guess the vacation blog is done. I am so glad (relieved) I stuck it out and was able to publish everything. I hope others have enjoyed reading my twisted take on things as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I have so much left unsaid and I have hundreds of pictures that you haven't seen. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I can't wait to get home. I can't wait to come back. </span><br />
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<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" linkindex="45" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=fd49c3eb-fea5-43f0-8426-4f159506c708" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a></div>Sheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481857019989352123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5677576627621531339.post-71226538255645511692010-08-21T16:43:00.000-07:002010-08-21T16:43:06.948-07:00I want the lot of what you've got, and I want nothing that you're not<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG81Sa5XepI/AAAAAAAACck/kCrbLr30bSA/s1600/DSC_0404.jpg" imageanchor="1" linkindex="111" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG81Sa5XepI/AAAAAAAACck/kCrbLr30bSA/s640/DSC_0404.jpg" width="424" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">Here it is. Our last day. I was so worried that I would only get 98% through this blog and not finish! It’s Aidan’s birthday. <b>Nine years old</b>. He has grown taller over the last seven weeks. I hope he remembers this trip. He’s a little young, and some day he’ll read this blog and think that I was on a completely different trip than the one he was on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/THA9GkoGAXI/AAAAAAAAClM/i9RPj0iPcaE/s1600/IMG_0601.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="112" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="446" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/THA9GkoGAXI/AAAAAAAAClM/i9RPj0iPcaE/s640/IMG_0601.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">We started off in fine style. Down to the Four Seasons Dining Room for breakfast. The waiter learns it’s Aidan’s birthday and decides to bring out this as a surprise:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/THA9Rc2qQ_I/AAAAAAAAClo/OAiAP696MEc/s1600/IMG_0608.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="113" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="141" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/THA9Rc2qQ_I/AAAAAAAAClo/OAiAP696MEc/s200/IMG_0608.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">Next up a couple hours at the swimming pool, followed by a ride on the “Dublin Eye” Ferris wheel. </span><span style="font-size: small;">Again, like London’s, but smaller.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> At the top of the loop, we spy THIS - what the what? I promise you there are no Dukes in Dublin, not Daisy, Beau or Luke. Then we move on to an early dinner at the Dublin Hard Rock, also like London’s, but uh, but not as big. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">I’m sensing a theme here. Dublin is best enjoyed when you’re doing something London doesn’t have, I think. It has charms of its own and it doesn't need to compete. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">We follow up with a walk around Temple Bar and Grafton. Then head back for some ice cream, generously scooped for Aidan by Murphy’s of Dingle. Then on to the <s>Traditional Irish Music Pub Crawl.</s></span><br />
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<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Whoops, not so fast. Under the heading of </span><u style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">things you could have told me five minutes ago,</u><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> apparently Riley had been out of sorts for the last few hours. Not thirty seconds after buying our tickets, she tells us that she thinks she’s going to be sick. We beg for our money back and take her to the hotel. So the night ends a little early, but it’s all good. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The kids are both asleep within the next hour and Ken and I chill while we wait for the morning to greet us.</span></span></span><br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" linkindex="114" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=bc0f7464-7fae-4ec7-b707-ea412ca34406" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a></div>Sheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481857019989352123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5677576627621531339.post-89049868434058430132010-08-21T16:29:00.000-07:002010-08-27T15:36:45.704-07:00See what toucan do - Guinness<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/THBNd_vdwkI/AAAAAAAAClI/hX-hpbEjNro/s1600/IMG_0575.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="44" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/THBNd_vdwkI/AAAAAAAAClI/hX-hpbEjNro/s640/IMG_0575.JPG" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;">Entance to the chamber</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">Though I fought it at first, the kids rallied and we headed back to Newgrange for a second try. These last days are a bit strained. We want the trip to end; we don’t want it to end. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">We are close enough to the end to start thinking about all the things we have to do once we reach our next destination - home for us and Germany for Ken. We are holding together, but our differences seem a little magnified. It is making things a little bittersweet. </span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">One of our differences is our approach to the day. Ken wants to leave at 7am and be at Newgrange when it opens. (It is about 40 minutes north of Dublin.) I prefer to enjoy our fabulous Four Season beds for a few extra hours. Ken needs breakfast and coffee as soon as he wakes, I can be content on a glass of water for an hour or so before the blood sugar starts to plummet. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">We sleep in, then we scramble to get out before am becomes pm.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG80p61yJjI/AAAAAAAACbY/l0gCXNGV97M/s1600/DSC_0344.jpg" imageanchor="1" linkindex="45" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG80p61yJjI/AAAAAAAACbY/l0gCXNGV97M/s320/DSC_0344.jpg" width="193" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;">Finally - a suitable cup!</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG80secApcI/AAAAAAAACb4/k37TfYLwluw/s1600/DSC_0349.jpg" imageanchor="1" linkindex="46" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG80secApcI/AAAAAAAACb4/k37TfYLwluw/s400/DSC_0349.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange; font-size: small;">Riley shrunk to the size of a Leprechaun</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">After a very cool experience at Newgrange, we double down and go to the <a href="http://www.leprechaunmuseum.ie/" linkindex="47">National Leprchaun Museum</a>. Yup. The kids totally dug it.</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG8022TxnBI/AAAAAAAACWA/iTf7yYLPsZA/s1600/DSC_0377.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="48" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="263" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG8022TxnBI/AAAAAAAACWA/iTf7yYLPsZA/s400/DSC_0377.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;">Original nick name: Bono Vox of O'Connell Street</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">Then you’ll never guess where we went next. It had grown cold and rainy and so we were going to tour the Guinness Brewery. But we had to make one little pit stop first. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">See that store front? It’s where some punk teenager named Paul took his stage name. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">I could probably write a blog post that was made up entirely of U2 lyrics, but this is the only U2-related thing I did in Dublin. Had they been in town and not on tour, I probably would have made us drive to Dalkey to try a sighting. But U2 were in Italy and I was in Dublin, so this is as good as it gets.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG81O_ivvYI/AAAAAAAACc0/76sNrqZFsHU/s1600/DSC_0399.jpg" imageanchor="1" linkindex="49" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG81O_ivvYI/AAAAAAAACc0/76sNrqZFsHU/s400/DSC_0399.jpg" width="190" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;">Ordering up our pints</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Guinness was incredible. Like Willy Wonka for adults. It even has its own Wonkavator. It might be worth a trip to Dublin just for these few hours. You wind your way through nine stories of barley goodness to have a complimentary pint at the top. Yum. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We learned important things about the history of Guinness, like why they have a Toucan as a mascot, and generally had a silly time of it – I pushed Riley into a barley pit, much to Ken’s chagrin. We lightened our wallets at the gift shop and headed back to the hotel.</span></span></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG807c7D67I/AAAAAAAACeQ/oMbGGe-eg2Y/s1600/DSC_0382.jpg" imageanchor="1" linkindex="50" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG807c7D67I/AAAAAAAACeQ/oMbGGe-eg2Y/s640/DSC_0382.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange; font-size: small;">In front of the Wonka-like beer waterfall, Ken explains the importance of clean water when making beer</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><img alt="" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=bc2906e4-6e2c-4f60-9614-b163ce5c01e5" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></div>Sheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481857019989352123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5677576627621531339.post-20848345938238283982010-08-21T15:22:00.000-07:002010-08-21T15:22:02.707-07:00And I have no compass, and I have no map - U2<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sunday it was time to head to Dublin for our last few days. On the way, we would take a small detour to Newgrange. If you are unfamiliar with Newgrange, here’s a link. I have really been looking forward to seeing this, it is older than Stonehenge and even older than the pyramids of Giza by about 1,200 years. It was built in the Neolithic stone age. This is before paper, before metal tools, before MATH. It is astounding to me that we can walk into the chamber, and stand in a place that holds so much ancient memory.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Can you guess what I’m going to tell you next? Are you going to say that it was closed when we got there? Well, you’d be pretty on target. It’s a good thing that I am writing this with some time to cool down, because my post would have been about one word long if I was blogging by iPhone or something, which I don’t have. Use your imagination for that word.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG858Jf4l_I/AAAAAAAACkg/PWMEtTnZagg/s1600/DSCN2031.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="101" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG858Jf4l_I/AAAAAAAACkg/PWMEtTnZagg/s200/DSCN2031.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">The morning got off to a late start, because while Ken and I were out partying the last two nights, the kids turned the hotel rooms into a garbage pit. I had great difficulty getting everything stuffed back into their suitcases and we didn’t leave until noon. This was frustrating, but ok. We’d had a good visit and a nice big breakfast. The day still had promise.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then Garmina revealed a little secret, that I think I was supposed to have known about, because Riley was aware, but somehow I missed it. You see, Garmina took us on a wrong turn AGAIN because she didn’t have a major new highway in her system. We got badly detoured by trying to get back to the main highway, and when we pulled over to look at a real map, I rolled down my window and a bee landed on my lap. Other members of the family will tell you that I over-reacted, shouted in a manner that caused everyone else to shout in response, and jumped out of the car in a manner that caused Ken to have a tension headache. What I am going to tell you is even worse.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Garmin has an updated version of the roads. Our Garmina doesn’t have that version in her because my husband got annoyed at Garmin’s business model. According to him, instead of the Apple experience, where you buy a product and enjoy it, you get a Microsoft experience where you buy a basic version and then have to pay for every single thing and time you want to upgrade. In this case, you buy the European maps, and then you have to buy the <i>upgrades to the European maps</i> separately. Granted, this is crap. But um, seven weeks in Europe? Maybe we should have had the upgrade? I let that percolate down through my consciousness, feeling a little annoyed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Twenty minutes later we were on the M1. The day still had promise.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We pulled into the parking lot of the Bru na Boine visitor center at 2:30. The place was open until 7pm with the last shuttle for Newgrange leaving at 5pm. Access is strictly controlled and you have to be shuttled to and from Newgrange, but you can stay as long as you please. Five minutes later we were at the counter when they made the announcement that all shuttles were sold out for the day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Kidding, right? No</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I am working a royal burn now. Not the Versailles kind of anger, just extreme disappointment in the "man does I feel sorry for myself" way. Really? Again? First Glastonbury and now this? I might have cried. Could the day still hold promise - it didn't look good.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fourseasons.com/images/generated/property/dublin/landing_pages/basics_welcome.jpg" imageanchor="1" linkindex="102" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="113" src="http://www.fourseasons.com/images/generated/property/dublin/landing_pages/basics_welcome.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;">That's right</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">It will be hard for you to muster much pity for me as I explain that we then drove to the Four Seasons Dublin. I can explain. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG81gZcD0TI/AAAAAAAACcY/ROmQoUs361U/s1600/DSC_0408.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="103" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG81gZcD0TI/AAAAAAAACcY/ROmQoUs361U/s400/DSC_0408.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;">You know she liked it if she let me take her picture</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">Dublin is really quite expensive and it is smaller than it’s equally un-child-friendly big cousin, London. I tried to go to other hotels, but I had to book two rooms. The Four Seasons was having a “3 for the price of 2” deal that made them the best-priced rooms I could get. Don’t get me wrong. They had the best beds of the entire 7 weeks, ahhh… sweet, sweet beds. But it’s like buying a mortgage that’s too big. Just because you qualify for the mortgage doesn’t mean you can afford the upkeep. Four Seasons is old people money. Old people statues and décor and china and room service. There’s nothing wrong with it and the service they give you is sublime, and the people who are there for you are sincere, and turn-down service rocks. Anyways, they weren’t my first choice, but you can be skeptical, and mock me while I was feeling pissy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Eventually we checked into the hotel and got out to Grafton Street, which is the main shopping area. It wasn’t easy. We were tired, bickering and hungry. It was Sunday night, so everything but the pubs was shut down. We got lost, we got found again and finally through some chance walked straight into the tourist info center. Suddenly the day had promise again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/THA76tmc85I/AAAAAAAACkw/OA2yOtumqfc/s1600/IMG_0564.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="104" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/THA76tmc85I/AAAAAAAACkw/OA2yOtumqfc/s200/IMG_0564.JPG" width="196" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">We had planned to go to a special dinner, but thought we were too late. It is a dinner at the <a href="http://www.brazenhead.com/#">Brazen Head</a> Pub – the oldest Inn in Dublin. You are in a private room with about two-dozen people for dinner. With each course, a storyteller explained a different part of Irish folk life. It was called <a href="http://www.irishfolktours.com/" linkindex="105">Food, Folklore and Fairies</a>. I asked the clerk – Did they still have room for 4 more? She called. They did. It was great. I won’t give away any of the details incase you ever go to Dublin. But there was one particular highlight that made it extra special. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">I wasn’t sure that Aidan was particularly interested, because he moves around a lot and often appears to be off in his own world. But when he does that, it actually helps him listen. He needs the movement. This is difficult in school sometimes. Anyway. At the end the storyteller said that he had copies of the evening’s stories on a CD and Aidan asked if he could get one. I was surprised, but gave him the ten Euro. When the storyteller met Aidan, he gave him the CD as a gift. It turns out that when I was pre-paying for the dinner, I had met the storyteller, thinking he was a waiter or a cashier. He had asked me how I came to choose this night and I told him we were celebrating Aidan’s birthday with kid-friendly things in Dublin. </span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/THA7zET4QWI/AAAAAAAACko/p6wYAq5mJh8/s1600/IMG_0560.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="106" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="436" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/THA7zET4QWI/AAAAAAAACko/p6wYAq5mJh8/s640/IMG_0560.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange; font-size: small;">Please, oh please, let this work...</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">Aidan was so happy that he was shaking. He couldn’t believe the storyteller had given him an early birthday present. He has been so worried that nobody would celebrate his birthday because we were in Dublin. It made me teary just to watch him be so delighted in the moment. The promise of each day.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFlCieB3daI/AAAAAAAACPk/6wYBgo8V9Hw/s1600/IMG_0443.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="107" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFlCieB3daI/AAAAAAAACPk/6wYBgo8V9Hw/s640/IMG_0443.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" linkindex="108" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=dc7bde8d-f241-4421-acf9-7e7f324b3f7c" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a></div>Sheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481857019989352123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5677576627621531339.post-1258262390480393882010-08-21T14:26:00.000-07:002010-08-21T14:26:22.266-07:00Galwegians<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Galway is billed as this fabulous San Fransisco of Ireland, an artsy fartsy kind of place. I dearly love SF, so I am really looking forward to visiting it’s smaller sister city. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We are spending the next two nights at the <a href="http://www.thetwelvehotel.ie/" linkindex="106">Twelve</a> hotel, which is a relatively new hotel built around the bones of a hundred year old bar/pub. It is pretty darn cute if you like your hotels to have some personality. The bathrooms are great fun with changing colors mood lighting, the décor is dark and modern, and the rooms are wuiet despite having a rowdy bar downstairs. We have a great sute where the kids are each on their own ligne-roset couch beds, schweet.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Galway is meh for me though. It looks just like every other touristy town, just plopped in Ireland rather than France or something. That is kind of a letdown. I expected a bigger version of Dingle, with more art galleries and Irish craftsmen showing their work. This was not to be. It turns out that Galway is really a very good base-camp for exploring the amazing scenery of the surrounding areas of the Burren and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connemara" linkindex="107" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Connemara">Connemara</a>. It is definitely worth another visit when I can plan some farther-out, outdoor adventures where we come back into Galway for a shower and a pub.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then something caught our eye. We might not be able to look at or buy art, but we could <i>create</i> our own. We found a bone-carving studio. Yeah, like the Maori. Cool. This chick goes to the local butcher and buys Irish cow bones in mass and prepares them for a further purpose of becoming talismans.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/THA7Wlv0mvI/AAAAAAAACkM/T2BKwM4fdqM/s1600/IMG_0542.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="108" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="394" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/THA7Wlv0mvI/AAAAAAAACkM/T2BKwM4fdqM/s640/IMG_0542.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFlCXl8DiUI/AAAAAAAACPY/PlT7uEQXWhI/s1600/IMG_0441.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="109" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="146" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFlCXl8DiUI/AAAAAAAACPY/PlT7uEQXWhI/s200/IMG_0441.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;">Dangerous beaches</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">Aidan is too young, so the next day I send him and Ken to Roundstone to see these beaches… Dog’s Beach and G, and yes, they are that nice. Here is Aidan sinking up to his ankles in the seashell sand. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG8xb0GCLmI/AAAAAAAACac/5T18jsZxctA/s1600/DSC_0328.jpg" imageanchor="1" linkindex="110" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG8xb0GCLmI/AAAAAAAACac/5T18jsZxctA/s200/DSC_0328.jpg" width="160" /></a></div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG8xeGuCNNI/AAAAAAAACak/cL_L4B3gAMs/s1600/DSC_0331.jpg" imageanchor="1" linkindex="111" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG8xeGuCNNI/AAAAAAAACak/cL_L4B3gAMs/s200/DSC_0331.jpg" width="126" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">Riley and I then went to her studio to spend six very long hours carving. When she saw what we wanted to do, she sort of chuckled at our ambition, told us that was far more than a one-day project, and helped us scale things back. We began by sketching our ideas, and finding a bone fragment that would work. Then we sketched onto the bone and sawed it down to a two millimeter margin. Then we went into a rotating sander, where I lost most of my fingernails, it was hard to tell amongst all the bone dust. Then carving, dremeling and sandpapering, and more sanding, and more sanding, and file work and sanding and sanding and finally either polishing or a tea-treatment. It was quite hard work and the tendons in our hands were sore the next day. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG8xi5q9JaI/AAAAAAAACas/5tmoxXYMhuM/s1600/DSC_0334.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="112" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="123" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG8xi5q9JaI/AAAAAAAACas/5tmoxXYMhuM/s200/DSC_0334.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG8xmfNv_NI/AAAAAAAACa0/vOywMH3IhW4/s1600/DSC_0336.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="113" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="85" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG8xmfNv_NI/AAAAAAAACa0/vOywMH3IhW4/s200/DSC_0336.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">I made an “S” which also stood for swan, because the kids and I ran into a famiiy of swans on a little hike, and they were magnificent. We stood and watched, enchanted at them for quite a long time. I also found a way to incorporate a moon shape into the swans wings, which I quite like, as the moon is usually a maternal symbol. Riley Made a tribal-style cat in repose, and tea stained it to look more like an aged relic. I think we are both happy with our carvings, even if they aren’t as complicated as we hoped, but we both want to do another one that we could spend more time on. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/THBC4SFiVJI/AAAAAAAACkY/1DfyV9gjH_8/s1600/DSC_0415.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="114" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/THBC4SFiVJI/AAAAAAAACkY/1DfyV9gjH_8/s640/DSC_0415.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" linkindex="115" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=4d1bd755-7178-4f83-bb09-ee8669f25cce" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a></div>Sheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481857019989352123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5677576627621531339.post-55929694439277175422010-08-20T21:23:00.000-07:002010-08-25T18:07:30.729-07:00Gateway to Galway<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFlC6swTG1I/AAAAAAAAB1U/BB9EgB1kBOc/s1600/IMG_0456.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="45" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFlC6swTG1I/AAAAAAAAB1U/BB9EgB1kBOc/s200/IMG_0456.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange; font-size: small;">Look what we found!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">We have suitcases ready to go. We are in week seven of this journey and we are fairly adept at the packup. We have one small problem though. Space. It turns out I have sort of a funny thing to share. I feel bad because to share it, I have to pick on Ken a little bit, and we all make mistakes, so I want this to be as light-hearted as possible. So with a clap on his shoulder, I have to explain our predicament. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkuwN__HGI/AAAAAAAACN8/qA47hXAm3yI/s1600/DSC_0240.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="46" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkuwN__HGI/AAAAAAAACN8/qA47hXAm3yI/s640/DSC_0240.JPG" width="424" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">When I packed, I was in charge of the kids’ suitcases and mine, of course. I had to be judicious because we were covering a fairly wide range of temperatures, from the sunny and dry upper nineties in southern France to the cloudy and wet lower fifties of Ireland coastline, which makes for a 50 degree variance. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">It turns out that I made some smart guesses. For example, plaid shorts for Aidan really only need to be washed once when the stains get bigger than the plaid. Riley will wear capri pants no matter the outdoor temperature, and she sleeps in her clothes, so she can be ready at a moment’s notice, even if she looks and/or smells less-than-fresh. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">I have gone seven weeks without wearing a single pair of shorts. I have never worn skirts in my life up to this summer, but somehow have discovered they aren't so bad. I also have 4 skorts which are fantastic because they look like skirts, but you don’t have to keep your legs crossed in a lady-like fashion, which is difficult for me to maintain when sitting on curbs and swearing at the kids. Which reminds me...</span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Sidebar</b> – I forgot to tell you a really funny thing I did to embarrass Ken. When we were wandering Heathrow on our way to Cork, we paused outside a British souvenir shop. There were masks of the Queen on a rack near the front. Without thinking, I immediately slipped into my copy of Jon Stewart’s impersonation of her majesty. “<a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-april-24-2006/monarchy-update---queen-of-the-stone-age" linkindex="47">Well, hell-loooooo</a>.” I said in my best queenly voice. It was too loud and a large number of British heads swiveled to take into consideration yet another loud-mouth American making a jerk out of themselves. I thought it was hilarious, but Ken covered his eyes and shook his head as if to explain that I had’t had my medication yet that day. Back to the present task. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG86D2_Lr7I/AAAAAAAACaU/hUen6Sb0VrI/s1600/DSCN2054.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="48" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TG86D2_Lr7I/AAAAAAAACaU/hUen6Sb0VrI/s400/DSCN2054.JPG" width="371" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;">Aidan on an apparent Hobbit bench</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">I packed each suitcase loosely enough to bring home souvenirs, and lightly enough for me to be able to handle on my own. But I <i>am </i>married, and that is where things get a little more complicated. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">My husband hates to travel, remember how I told you it took me two years to get him to do this trip? He thought it would be a grand idea to do some bachelor travel at the end of our family trip. That he might as well send the kids and myself home on our own, so that he could continue with another two weeks worth of plane-hopping around Germany and such. I was not fond of this idea, but I’m a big girl and I figured that while travelling with the two kids would be a grind, we would survive. </span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Actually, wait, I need to say that Ken had two grand ideas. He also thought that since he was going to be working in Ireland for three weeks, he would ship (one of) his bikes to Cork, with an entire week’s worth of Ireland weather-worthy bike gear. He also figured that since he would be sending all of this stuff home from the Ireland plant, he might as well load up on books and other remarkably heavy-for-traveling-items during the first six weeks of our tour.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Here is where things get a little sticky. Somehow in his conversations with the people at the Ireland plant, he missed the part about how things can be shipped <i>to</i> Ireland, but not back to Seattle. In order to go back to Seattle, they would have to wait until there was a container going for some reason. Which isn’t a normal nor a frequent event.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGPS0sF3_4I/AAAAAAAACSw/1ddSxC0mfNU/s1600/40332_138549476180829_100000773327231_171491_1673338_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" linkindex="49" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="187" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGPS0sF3_4I/AAAAAAAACSw/1ddSxC0mfNU/s400/40332_138549476180829_100000773327231_171491_1673338_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;">Riley found this graffiti sticker on a trash can...</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Also, as you might guess, plans change. Out of the three, four-day weeks that Ken was going to ride his bike to work, he ended up travelling on two of them. One week he went to that lovely B&B in England that you saw, and the next week he went on a quick trip to Belfast. So as near as I can figure, he rode his bike to work once.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGPS1KgBIoI/AAAAAAAACSk/ijBJIYXzg2Q/s1600/39502_138417706194006_100000773327231_170966_3053650_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" linkindex="50" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="522" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGPS1KgBIoI/AAAAAAAACSk/ijBJIYXzg2Q/s640/39502_138417706194006_100000773327231_170966_3053650_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;">...and turned it into THIS. I love her creativity!</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">This brings me to our current situation, which is this. Sitting on the hallway floor and not fitting in our suitcases we have: a bike, a giant black shipping case for that bike, a week’s worth of pants, gloves, helmet, jerseys, shoes, you name it, he brought it, bike gear, new souvenirs toys and clothing brought from England, and our regular stuff which includes a mountain of books like the British edition of Harry Potter 4 and the Irish pre-release of the next Skulduggery Pleasant which are not to be left behind. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now, if you know Ken, you know he is resourceful to say the least. You will not, in fact, swallow your gum when I share the news that he SELLS the bike to a guy in Ireland. Sells it for cash Euros, which we are desperately short on, since Ireland is the only EU country without a banking agreement with BofA. He also materializes with a suitcase on Thursday night. It is a warranty return with a faulty zipper that he manages to get for free, just like that Alfa Romeo upgrade. So we shrink the pile and have cash. The pile does not shrink far enough however. Something has to give. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">It is my patience and my back. I will return to the US with two kids and four suitcases; which are packed to the weight limit. At least the flight Ken booked allows us to clear customs in Ireland so that I don’t have to mess with four suitcases and trying to make my connection in Atlanta…. (Or does it…) and still the bike case and a pile of stuff packed into it will be left behind for the someday-return via container ship. Or it will still be waiting for Ken the next time he returns to Cork.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"></div>Sheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481857019989352123noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5677576627621531339.post-40314756098616504122010-08-12T08:00:00.000-07:002010-08-25T18:02:38.761-07:00Kilkenny<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There must be something in the air, and so far it's not rainbows. Haven't seen one of those yet. Each town we visit just seems to have more charm than the last. Kilkenny is our favorite yet. This weekend is quicker than last, two days instead of three. Then it's four more days in Cork and then we stay in Galway next Friday and Saturday, and then finish off the whole trip with three nights in Dublin.</span></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGaJUFmMcI/AAAAAAAACQ4/tnpJreMa-xs/s1600/IMG_0477.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="57" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGaJUFmMcI/AAAAAAAACQ4/tnpJreMa-xs/s640/IMG_0477.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Aidan exploring the base of the rock, below the cathedral. It could be he's trying to get away from the yellow jackets that are once again pestering me.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We start off with a visit to the Rock of Cashel. It looms large in Irish folklore for a few reasons. It supposedly came into being as Saint Patrick drove Satan out of Ireland. The devil was in a frantic hurry to get away and a mountain was blocking his path, so he took a huge bite of it in his mouth in order to get away. 30 km later he dropped it - that's the rock. It now has a cathedral on top full of amazing things and tourists blocking my shots, so you'll have to do an image search on your own.</span></span><br />
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<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGa5gn38nI/AAAAAAAACRA/kbIe5Q0zQSg/s1600/IMG_0478.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="58" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGa5gn38nI/AAAAAAAACRA/kbIe5Q0zQSg/s200/IMG_0478.JPG" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We loved this though - it's the path of the dead. People would make a formal procession with their dead and walk a particular path through Cashel and up to the cathedral for burial ceremonies. We took a walk on it in the day time, but it would be fabulous to do on Halloween. </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thedailyspud.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/taytos.gif" imageanchor="1" linkindex="59" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.thedailyspud.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/taytos.gif" width="153" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">History lesson over for the day, and one bag of Taytos later, we drove on to Kilkenny. I forgot to tell you about the "Taytos accord." Every time I take Aidan to something older than 500 years, I have to buy him a bag of these:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I had a surprise in store for the kids. About 20 odd years ago, some guy named Eddie liked the California diners like Ruby's and Johnny Rocket's so much that he retired to Ireland and set up his own version, which borrows rather heavily from both. It's called Eddie Rockets, and the waitress wear little red and white striped dresses, just like the Ruby's girls do. The food is mostly the same with a few Irish twists. There was an Eddie Rockets on the north end of Kilkenny next to a shopping mall. Between hamburgers shakes and root-beer, I figured it would make the kids happy for the rest of the day. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">While there, a mysterious thing happened, that we may never see again. We stumbled into a pocket of gingers.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I love gingers. I married one, and I'm sorry that there wasn't enough ginger dna on my side of the family to produce ginger kids. This is why gingers are predicted to be extinct within the next 100 years. Gingers are not all over Ireland like you might think. They are just one archetype. However. We walked into Eddie Rockets, and almost every person in the place had red hair. Some of it was strawberry blond, some was ruddy, some orange and wild, some darker auburn, some was white with age with a tinge of rust remaining. It was boggling. Not only that, but as we ate, more came in the door. Somewhere in Kilkenny, the ginger gene is strong. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> (I know what you're thinking - South Park Harry Potter. I'll give it to you but please, only click through if you are not easily offended. It's South Park, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4yvY6vqFO0" linkindex="60">mkay?</a>)</span></span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGMuSbOtbMI/AAAAAAAACQ0/GIawceWTGPU/s1600/DSC_0324.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="61" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="500" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGMuSbOtbMI/AAAAAAAACQ0/GIawceWTGPU/s640/DSC_0324.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;">View from the hotel window. I could photograph doors and flowers all day.</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGdMyR5CEI/AAAAAAAACRQ/FnwmmYziRIA/s1600/IMG_0493.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="62" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="394" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGdMyR5CEI/AAAAAAAACRQ/FnwmmYziRIA/s640/IMG_0493.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;">Kilkenny castle, taken by Riley on a far off hill, just before stepping barefoot into dog doo. Ken and I are under one of the windows.</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGiYv25s6I/AAAAAAAACI8/M1DcgFyjljo/s1600/IMG_0500.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="63" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGiYv25s6I/AAAAAAAACI8/M1DcgFyjljo/s200/IMG_0500.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In one of the basement rooms</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGjp7nqOQI/AAAAAAAACRY/qDeI8DbmX-8/s1600/IMG_0504.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="64" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGjp7nqOQI/AAAAAAAACRY/qDeI8DbmX-8/s320/IMG_0504.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">From our booth</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ken and I left the kids for the evening and we went to <a href="http://www.kytelersinn.ie/" linkindex="65">Kyteler's Inn.</a> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Kyteler's was the whole reason I had booked this weekend. I wanted to have a few drinks in the oldest operating pub in Ireland. Dame Alice established this pub in 1324, and it is a treasure. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">I think any woman who was convicted of witchcraft and sentenced to be whipped and burned at the stake deserves to have a pint lifted in her name. We had a great evening with music and drunken Irish guys who were full of stories.</span><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGXuafnn5I/AAAAAAAACRo/CfmucyQl6MA/s1600/DSC_0329.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="66" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGXuafnn5I/AAAAAAAACRo/CfmucyQl6MA/s200/DSC_0329.JPG" width="138" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">The next day we meandered back to Cork following a route that took us to a waterfowl refuge, where we found the <a href="http://98percenttheory.blogspot.com/2010/08/release-seehassen.html" linkindex="67">Seehassen</a> in his summer home. We also broke the bee curse. We had to walk on a boardwalk full of bees and yellow jackets to get to one of the observation blinds. It took a few moments to screw up our courage, but we forged ahead, with me in the lead, and they didn't bother us at all! Not coming or going. Phew. </span><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Next stop was Duncannon Beach, where we added the Irish Sea to our list of waters swam in. Though Aidan was the only one to get completely wet. I didn't take pictures because the wind was fierce. We had Beach side food and decided to try to hit the Waterford factory visitors center. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">However, we forgot to keep Garmina in check, and she led us on a road that dead-ended to a ferry dock. Not having anywhere to turn around, we took it, since ferries are so cool. We got to Waterford too late to look around, unfortunately. But it was a warm sunny day and the drive was on wide two-lane roads, so we didn't mind.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGVuIQI4wI/AAAAAAAACR0/7Avn1PXscCo/s1600/IMG_0506.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="68" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="145" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGVuIQI4wI/AAAAAAAACR0/7Avn1PXscCo/s200/IMG_0506.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">Our Passar</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGV_tO9cvI/AAAAAAAACR8/PEnq3-LXwIg/s1600/IMG_0508.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="69" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="275" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGV_tO9cvI/AAAAAAAACR8/PEnq3-LXwIg/s400/IMG_0508.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">Bad Garmina</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><img alt="" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=c3187095-08d3-4d14-bcfd-47a30074b4c9" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></div>Sheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481857019989352123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5677576627621531339.post-2686535123826255942010-08-12T06:19:00.000-07:002010-08-25T17:57:51.382-07:00Cork and Blarney<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGMXgBttAhI/AAAAAAAACNs/0u3_MR-tJ_Y/s1600/DSC_0239.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="43" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGMXgBttAhI/AAAAAAAACNs/0u3_MR-tJ_Y/s640/DSC_0239.JPG" width="580" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;">Just a door I found </span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Time is relative, right. Sometimes it flies; sometimes it drags and sometimes you feel like you bounce in and out of the flow of it. As if there were eddies in the current. Or you fall down the rabbit hole where you experience fantastic adventures, and then come to realize that you were only gone for an hour. </span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">You experience it on vacation. You get your own speed of time, which is slower than that of the rest of the world. Maybe like us, you might spend two weeks in Wyoming and live a month’s worth of days. Then you re-enter reality and Hurricane Katrina has destroyed New Orleans. And you want to go back to Wyoming.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The weekend we just had was only three days but it felt like a week had passed since we were in Cork. Ken left Tuesday for England, and the kids and I had plans to run around Cork, Cobh and Blarney while he was gone. Wednesday I made a mistake and triggered a migraine. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One horrid aspect of migraines is that you know the triggers, but that doing something that triggers a migraine doesn’t always mean it WILL trigger a migraine. You only know after the warning signs appear that you did trigger it and then you kick yourself for being so stupid. That’s what happened to me. I had one in early June and that seems to be about the frequency I get them – about every other month. This one came when I made the mistake of having a hot chocolate that was way too rich. It was like a melted bar with cream added, I don’t know. I usually don’t drink hot chocolates because they are either crappy or so rich that they are an overload on the sweet tooth. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">About an hour later I started to feel nausea. It's almost like vertigo. It's feeling sick and dizzy at the same time, but it's neither one nor the other. Medicine helps you cope, but it doesn't shorten the duration. Mine are usually three days, which I like to call "onset day, catch up on your sleep day, and the day of departure."</span></span></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGn-zs1l6I/AAAAAAAACQQ/_JFM6TB-mwg/s1600/DSC_0320.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="44" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGn-zs1l6I/AAAAAAAACQQ/_JFM6TB-mwg/s200/DSC_0320.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGool8n9fI/AAAAAAAACQY/N7jCtm-BQXs/s1600/DSC_0321.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="45" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGool8n9fI/AAAAAAAACQY/N7jCtm-BQXs/s200/DSC_0321.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The kids didn't mind. Cobh was scrapped. Thursday we met up with a guy from Cascade who used to work at Blarney Castle when he was in high school and college. He was going to give us and his adorable five year old son a tour. Not thinking clearly, I left my camera at home. Maybe next time. So I bought these at a horribly high price. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We went to the Witch's kitchen in the Druidic oak circle on the back side of the castle, past the poison garden (which had a fake marijuana plant among other, more nefarious things.) It's the oldest evidence of cave-living in Ireland and a fire mysteriously appears in the kitchen every night. We went down and then up the wishing stairs, backwards and with our eyes closed. We're told this means that our wishe will come true within the next year.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I would be remiss if I didn't point out something funny, and not "funny-ha-ha" as we like to say. The hotel we are in is ok. Not great, not a pit. Each week, we change apartments, and each week there is a charming amount of odd things which are broken, stuck and missing. Riley calls them "lovable inconsistencies." I don't dare criticize (except for now), because the family views me as sort of a softie who doesn't want to endure hardships. (Ok Ken thinks that.) So I'd like to take a moment and show you the disparity between where the family is staying and where Ken is staying on his trip to Derbyshire.</span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGsXNfiZSI/AAAAAAAACQI/OFR9TtC_8LU/s1600/DSC_0315.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="46" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="197" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGsXNfiZSI/AAAAAAAACQI/OFR9TtC_8LU/s320/DSC_0315.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">Mod Dunny is very disappointed</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">First up is one of the twin beds in our apartment. It had such a sag to it that I had to take a picture to prove I wasn't exaggerating. I laid an ironing board on top to try to give a horizontal plane.</span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Shame on you Best Western. I know the economy is hard, but this hotel is full, your pub and restaurant are hopping every night. Replace your mattresses a little sooner, ok? Gross. Now for Ken. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGqgBkeWKI/AAAAAAAACQA/twP8XNpZImw/s1600/IMG_0466.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="47" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGqgBkeWKI/AAAAAAAACQA/twP8XNpZImw/s640/IMG_0466.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;">That's a king size 4 poster bed with 6 pillows. The house was built in the 1600s. The owner rents out rooms as a B&B for fun. She's a collector and will sell many of the true antiques in the house. Ken claims that it might be the best night's sleep he's ever had. Indeed. One might be extra tired after roaming around the English countryside in one of these... </span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGm_1DmGRI/AAAAAAAACQk/v8KV10kZ5lE/s1600/IMG_0470.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="48" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGm_1DmGRI/AAAAAAAACQk/v8KV10kZ5lE/s640/IMG_0470.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;">And the rental car agent just happened to give Ken an upgrade to this Alfa Romeo sedan. Suspicious.</span></span></td></tr>
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<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><img alt="" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=d57413d3-d5f8-4672-a94d-41bd60c3cc16" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></div>Sheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481857019989352123noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5677576627621531339.post-30479069049573654022010-08-12T05:31:00.000-07:002010-08-25T17:53:55.603-07:00Ring of Kerry<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFlBiSqcg4I/AAAAAAAAB0k/LIFzeahaik0/s1600/IMG_0418.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="336" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFlBiSqcg4I/AAAAAAAAB0k/LIFzeahaik0/s400/IMG_0418.JPG" width="252" /></a></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Monday came and it was time to head back to Cork. We were reluctant to leave behind what might have been the best breakfasts in all of Ireland, and so had a very lazy start, not ready to check out until almost noon. </span><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">After the last few days, we felt that Ken had been tried by fire and was now well-adapted to driving the wild Irish <strike>rose</strike> roads. Were had not intended to drive the Ring of Kerry because of its reputation for being crowded with tour buses and such. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">But it was the Monday of a holiday weekend, and we figured most people would be heading back to wherever they needed to be. It was cloudy and threatening to drizzle. We also heard that if you start the ring long after the tour buses (which hit the Ring at 10am), going the same direction (which we were positioned for,) you would have the ring to yourself. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"> Riley said she wanted to see it and Ken was game. We figured we'd just stop a lot and take the whole day to do it. It's supposed to be a 4 hour drive and our goal was to make it take more like 8.</span><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We revisited Inch Beach for a time and then took a deep breath and turned onto the Ring. And it was great. Not crowded in the least, narrow roads, but not as bad as the last few days. Stunning scenery of course, though this day the tops of the hills were hidden by misty low clouds. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">That probably shortened the trip time by a few hours, because even with having dinner in Sneem, we still made it back to Cork between 8 and 9pm. It was a long day, but worth it. There is a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_town" linkindex="337" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="New town">new town</a> I will need to come back to called Derrynane, with incredible beaches and hiking trails. I look forward to seeing it again.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkwOG53k4I/AAAAAAAACPM/NHVCM_p0tOA/s1600/DSC_0290.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="338" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkwOG53k4I/AAAAAAAACPM/NHVCM_p0tOA/s640/DSC_0290.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;">I don't even remember the name of this beach on the Ring, but it had the remains of an ancient something on it. No guardrails or handrails, just crumbling old stones begging for exploration. That's Aidan, cavorting, Ring of Kerry in the background.</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFlDjfeVa3I/AAAAAAAACO8/1TgSQadQ5ao/s1600/IMG_0427.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="339" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="434" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFlDjfeVa3I/AAAAAAAACO8/1TgSQadQ5ao/s640/IMG_0427.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;">We did find a leprechaun though!</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGPSDbvq90I/AAAAAAAACSs/_slj3VC5cDg/s1600/IMG_0451.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="340" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="560" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGPSDbvq90I/AAAAAAAACSs/_slj3VC5cDg/s640/IMG_0451.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We had practically the whole place to ourselves. Our car is parked beyond the house and we walked through the woods and meadow to the beach.</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFlCryu2YKI/AAAAAAAACP0/JIK4IfoqKGY/s1600/IMG_0444.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="342" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="394" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFlCryu2YKI/AAAAAAAACP0/JIK4IfoqKGY/s640/IMG_0444.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;">Aidan </span><i style="color: orange;">runs</i><span style="color: orange;"> for the water</span></span></td></tr>
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</span></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=d10c0d12-5216-489e-8316-b01a568d413d" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></span></div>Sheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481857019989352123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5677576627621531339.post-63942646431574794592010-08-12T02:16:00.000-07:002010-08-12T03:08:27.924-07:00Dingle Peninsula<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Along the way to Dingle, we made a little stop. It was one of those things you do to placate one of your kids on vacation, except this time it was awesome! </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Aidan collects those tourist fliers that hotels have in racks off to the side of their lobby. He passes right over the ones for hot air balloon rides or castle tours and goes straight for thee water parks and the bouncy houses, the bowling alleys and petting zoos, you get the idea. He had one that was for a tin soldier factory. It was sort of out in the middle of nowhere and we didn't give it a second thought until we passed a sign for it, and the sign looked kind of cute. So we decided to take the detour to the <a href="http://www.princeaugust.ie/" linkindex="58">Prince August </a>factory and visitor centre without telling Aidan. </span></span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
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<tr style="color: orange;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">You know it's gonna get good when the front of the building looks like this: </span> </td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkrE7z8kcI/AAAAAAAACNA/pwGNVVAXnKU/s1600/DSC_0232.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="60" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkrE7z8kcI/AAAAAAAACNA/pwGNVVAXnKU/s400/DSC_0232.JPG" width="233" /></a></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And there were these in the parking lot:</span></span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I don't even think I know anyone who is a "gamer" or anyone who collects figurines, but this place was a ton of fun. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It is a family run business and they have some amazing craftsmen and artists working to create tin figures from every possible time in history that you could imagine - including mythological history. Egyptian or French Royal Court chess set? Yes. Tin soldiers from every war ever? Yes. The original one-legged tin soldier? Yes. All hand-carved and then cast and painted and shipped all over the world. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">They will host parties where you get to cast your own piece of tin and then paint it, if you arrange it ahead of time. The owners are delightful and it was a lot of fun. Aidan and Riley picked out some things to take home to paint. (They have dragons too.) </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We made our way west and made the fist of many beach visits. The one below is Inch Beach. There is a surf culture in Ireland. Not just the California brand Quicksilver Boardrider shops, but local board shops and such. It is a lot more like surfing in Washington where the water is cold and rough. There are summer surf schools and camps as well. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkrPRJ9GVI/AAAAAAAACNI/7vJ9CHbyzF4/s1600/DSC_0235.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="61" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="396" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkrPRJ9GVI/AAAAAAAACNI/7vJ9CHbyzF4/s640/DSC_0235.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">Here we are socked in low clouds at Inch Beach. But they don't last. Riley is happy here because it reminds her of home. She is unhappy because it reminds her of home.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkqqAT6NnI/AAAAAAAACNQ/mhmrNIUzzjc/s1600/DSC_0236.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="62" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="123" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkqqAT6NnI/AAAAAAAACNQ/mhmrNIUzzjc/s200/DSC_0236.JPG" width="200" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We proceed to the<a href="http://www.castlewooddingle.com/" linkindex="63"> Castlewood</a> in Dingle, it's as lovely as it looks, like most things in Ireland. We check in and go off exploring the town of Dingle itself, which, as you can guess, is lovely. Old buildings, cute stores, great pubs with live music. Even Murphy's ice cream shop where they make their own flavors like Irish "brown bread." Fun fact. Dingle is the runaway capital of Europe. Lots of disaffected youth roaming from hostel to hostel with everything they own in a backpack.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFlAgKbHvXI/AAAAAAAACNk/rmLZNypAXwY/s1600/IMG_0408.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="64" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="394" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFlAgKbHvXI/AAAAAAAACNk/rmLZNypAXwY/s640/IMG_0408.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">Ireland takes the green right up to the ocean's edge...</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We spend Saturday roaming the western edges of the Peninsula, toward Slea Head, stopping where we could to soak up the locals. We went to a totally off-beat <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHzRu8P_2KI" linkindex="65">Celtic and Prehistoric Museum</a>. Run by this eccentric guy who made a lot of money as a musician and then decided what he really wanted to do in life was collect old things. And I don't mean antiques, I mean like mammoth bones and stone-age and bronze-age relics. It was the strangest thing ever. All of this real, actual, historical stuff just sitting out here in the middle of nowhere.</span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkszCbTdEI/AAAAAAAACOQ/3Pp1OMJrSBM/s1600/DSC_0252.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="66" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="394" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkszCbTdEI/AAAAAAAACOQ/3Pp1OMJrSBM/s640/DSC_0252.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;">We went for a short hike to explore the beehive huts.</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr style="color: orange; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">We got up close and personal with sheep, because the roads are just that narrow. The black on the bottom of the picture is the car door, and we are on a cliff that goes straight down to the ocean. That is a very nimble sheep.</span></td></tr>
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<tr style="color: orange; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">We stayed here for a while, because it was just that nice of a day.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkuOpXA9kI/AAAAAAAACOs/gjCUTXpCXTw/s1600/DSC_0274.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="69" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="446" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkuOpXA9kI/AAAAAAAACOs/gjCUTXpCXTw/s640/DSC_0274.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="color: orange; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Aidan was in heaven.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFlCCIoqEpI/AAAAAAAACO0/k8QE9ueJzwQ/s1600/IMG_0423.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="70" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="394" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFlCCIoqEpI/AAAAAAAACO0/k8QE9ueJzwQ/s640/IMG_0423.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="color: orange; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Front porch view from the Catlewood.</span></td></tr>
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<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><img alt="" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=80867e40-6a3f-4ed9-9875-997d6d5a299e" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></div>Sheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481857019989352123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5677576627621531339.post-7643355649602028462010-08-11T09:14:00.000-07:002010-08-11T09:14:37.657-07:00Headed for Dingle<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkzHGh_eII/AAAAAAAACMs/o3Kg4HKGhdE/s1600/IMG_0406.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="84" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkzHGh_eII/AAAAAAAACMs/o3Kg4HKGhdE/s640/IMG_0406.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">Nothing special, this is just how adorable Ireland is every where you turn</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Saturday morning we packed the car and headed for the Dingle peninsula. I have driven some amazing roads in my life. The PCH from border to border, Key West, east coast, coast to coast, the continental divide, and all over the west from Montana and Wyoming down to Arizona and New Mexico. County Kerry is up there with the best of them. </span><o:p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></o:p></span></span> <br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkzaWcM5tI/AAAAAAAACGQ/-5E7-h7L_WA/s1600/IMG_0385.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="85" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkzaWcM5tI/AAAAAAAACGQ/-5E7-h7L_WA/s400/IMG_0385.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">However, it would rank higher if you weren’t absolutely afraid for your life. Imagine the track on Space Mountain. Add some pot holes, a left-side drive, stone walls to either side of the road – I think to prevent the auto and human wreckage from mangling the sheep, and another driver not just coming at you, but coming at you at 100kmh and the road is only a car and a half wide – assuming your car is smaller than a Jetta. The roads in southwestern Ireland are exactly the with of a tractor, and they won’t be changing anytime soon.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And I feel I have to add. Driving in Ireland is so bad that Ireland is exempted from every insurance policy known. I am not kidding. You have to take out a private policy that is twice as expensive as the car rental. Mental calculation – that’sa lotta Euro. Not only that, but it <i>excludes </i>damage done to mirrors and wheels (tires, hubcaps) and windshields because the conditions are just that scary. It happens so much that you still have to pay for that.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkzvMX1r4I/AAAAAAAACMk/Z94eF4Nftxk/s1600/IMG_0389.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="86" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkzvMX1r4I/AAAAAAAACMk/Z94eF4Nftxk/s400/IMG_0389.JPG" width="252" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">Now it might be a chicken and egg argument as to whether the driving conditions in Ireland lead the drivers there to behave poorly, or if the remarkably poor driving skills of the people on the roads lead to the dangerous conditions. I don’t think we can delve into that here. I will say that the driving skill level is reflected in the absolutely atrocious attempt at parking. It’s like they practice a Celtic form of the i-ching. If you picked up some sticks and then let them fall where they may, and then pulled back to look at them – that would give you an accurate depiction of any given parking lot in Ireland. I think here, lines are just suggestions, not rules nor preventative measures.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I had to explain all of that, not just because it’s therapeutic, but because I need you to understand why, even though I have just witnessed some of the most spectacular scenery on the planet, I don’t have any pictures of it. To make it worse, I have searched online and I can't find any pictures of how beautiful the wildflowers along the roads are. I guess you'll have to come see for yourself some day. This is why coffee table books, filled with </span><i style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">aerial</i><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> shots of the landscape, are on the market. Go online or to the library or bookstore and check it out and know that Ireland is all that and then some. All your senses are heightened when you think you are about to die.</span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOD8LZYF1cgMVGth3YSmQSvvGtcK0-jZkEN8tJU2BPqUfbH-jZijbzaXnyWjde-6UUL08yhPtawFJ_OX00vCUqF4MUKdsxGMiLGg8kRPwKOkPX5hZLEFG5ySv45BFNMsNyD4q2YX-VUNU/s1600/Wild+Flowers+in+Knightstown.bmp" imageanchor="1" linkindex="87" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOD8LZYF1cgMVGth3YSmQSvvGtcK0-jZkEN8tJU2BPqUfbH-jZijbzaXnyWjde-6UUL08yhPtawFJ_OX00vCUqF4MUKdsxGMiLGg8kRPwKOkPX5hZLEFG5ySv45BFNMsNyD4q2YX-VUNU/s640/Wild+Flowers+in+Knightstown.bmp" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;">I found this, but I don't know the source. However the width of the road is accurate! Imagine this for miles, and then every time you curve there's a new color added to the mix. Purple thistle and yellow daisy and pink hydrangea all thrown together.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><img alt="" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=bc2aba2b-e871-4857-8557-e3dfe601b7ea" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></div>Sheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481857019989352123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5677576627621531339.post-18622363513398889302010-08-11T07:06:00.000-07:002010-08-11T07:13:41.264-07:00Factory tour in Midleton<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The kids and I explored Cork more thoroughly on our own the next day. Our hotel sits on a steep hill so that it takes about 15 minutes to walk down to Bridge Street, which leads into downtown, and then 30 minutes to walk back from the same point. Add another hour or more to walk downtown, and it’s a nice stroll for some fresh air. It is much like smaller towns in the U.S., only with more pubs. I have to chuckle when Riley repeatedly asks if it’s true that Cork is the second <i>largest</i> city in <i>all </i>of Ireland? It’s definitely different than what we’ve seen up to this point.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">Back in 1899</span></td></tr>
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<tr style="color: orange;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Today!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">Because the Irish have made a national commitment to preserving traditional agriculture, people are close to their food sources. Fresh markets and butchers abound and they seem to predominate over bigger grocery stores. There is a deli/grocer just about half a mile down from the hotel, and the kids make daily treks to it to buy actual food provisions and also sodas, yogurt-covered raisins and bubble gum, which Aidan has discovered for the first time.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IQGmtOSbZFk/S3vC_9hLvgI/AAAAAAAAACc/0jznBNwxzU4/s320/cork+coffee+roasters.jpg" imageanchor="1" linkindex="52" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IQGmtOSbZFk/S3vC_9hLvgI/AAAAAAAAACc/0jznBNwxzU4/s400/cork+coffee+roasters.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">Even better on the inside!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">Always on the hunt for good coffee, I strike out a few times. Then Riley notices a sign up ahead: <a href="http://www.corkcoffee.com/" linkindex="53">Cork Coffee Roasters</a>. Sounds promising. Double cappuccino should put them to the test. It is heavenly. It becomes a daily stop on Bridge Street, which means I have to hike 45 minutes for that little cuppa. And totally worth it. The barista gets to know us, and we eventually bump into the owners. The husband is Irish and the wife is from Seattle, where they lived for a number of years, natch. No wonder they know how to make good coffee. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The next day, we go into work with Ken and have our own private guided tour of the manufacturing facilities. There are towers of Term-a-rests stacked up high as they are tested for leaks. You really want to climb up and jump on either those or the bins of foam scrap that are just begging some someone to dive in. Pretty cool for the kids to see how everything is made. It’s no <a href="http://98percenttheory.blogspot.com/2010/07/loccitane-en-provence.html" linkindex="54">L’Occitane tour</a>, but it is what allows us to buy the L’Occitane products.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFk0G0YFs3I/AAAAAAAACMc/cZAKoqWXbMI/s1600/IMG_0394.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="55" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFk0G0YFs3I/AAAAAAAACMc/cZAKoqWXbMI/s400/IMG_0394.JPG" width="311" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">From the factory we hike a trail into the tiny town of Midleton. We do a little Irish hurling and football jersey shopping, visit a French patisserie, wander through a park, and eventually meet Ken for a late lunch after the plant closes at 2pm. We went to the <a href="http://www.farmgate.ie/midhome.htm" linkindex="56">Farmgate</a> café and had a fabulous Irish meal. And a few hornets. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
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<tr style="color: orange;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mmm - if only every restaurant could grow its own menu</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">I don’t think I have mentioned this before, but I seem to have a bee problem. Not the cute, fuzzy bumblebee or the valiant honeybee, but those damned yellow jackets. They like something about either my blood chemistry or my hair products. Every freakin’ day they come and investigate me. It has become a running joke. I had hoped it would end in England, but no. They are here too. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"> The worst part is they get in my hair. I haven’t run a flat iron through my hair since we left Seattle. I brought it, but it blew the converter. So between the curls and the humidity and the different kinds of water and lack of proper curly hair-care products, I am walking around like Hermione Granger in the early HP books. Maybe closer to Hagrid, I don’t want to think about it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But at any rate, there was no harm done to anyone involved. I will go on to attract hornets for some time to come.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkytWVICoI/AAAAAAAACMU/fzta2lp4JkU/s1600/IMG_0402.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="58" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="490" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkytWVICoI/AAAAAAAACMU/fzta2lp4JkU/s640/IMG_0402.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">What I look like to a yellow jacket who has been trapped under my water glass</span></td></tr>
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<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><img alt="" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=1bd425f4-8704-4b35-baf9-be472c5b91a6" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></div>Sheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481857019989352123noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5677576627621531339.post-7845193874378294522010-08-11T05:49:00.000-07:002010-08-11T05:49:33.999-07:00Welcome to the People's Republic of Cork<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://peoplesrepublicofcork.com/logo/1.gif" imageanchor="1" linkindex="187" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="104" src="http://peoplesrepublicofcork.com/logo/1.gif" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="color: orange;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.peoplesrepublicofcork.com/" linkindex="188">www.peoplesrepublicofcork.com</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This last part of our trip spreads out two weeks of fun over three weeks. We knew this going in. We really had no idea how this trip would progress. Would we be at each other’s throats? Would we hate traveling and living out of a suitcase for two months? Ireland has the potential to be rainy every day. Would being stuck in a small town with no car drive us over the bend? (I crack my self up.) Ken would be working 4 days a week at the company’s facilities in a town about 20 minutes away. Then we’d take long weekends together in different parts of Munster. What would we do to fill those four days?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">On the plus side, everyone was really looking forward to seeing Ireland. We had lots of books to read, I was two weeks (or more) behind on this blog. We were generally having a fantastic time; the kids were getting along with each other and us.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">On the minus side, it became apparent to me in London that 4 weeks was a nice amount of time to do this trip. (Stupid <a href="http://98percenttheory.blogspot.com/2010/08/modern-art-makes-me-want-to-rock-out.html" linkindex="189">Venus statue</a>.) Long enough to have forgotten about the <a href="http://98percenttheory.blogspot.com/2010/07/jet-lag.html" linkindex="190">Paris jet lag</a>, long enough to experience Europe and have had a grand time. Short enough to go back and still have some nice summer weather at home. It was not easy leaving Seattle summer time behind, even though I have heard that the weather has been a mixed bag this year. And coming home in mid-August means we jump right into the back-to-school craziness. Though I have to admit that part of the reason I wanted us to spend these extra three weeks in Ireland was so that I wouldn’t have the kids complaining because all the money that usually gets spent on summer camps and swimming lessons, etc went to our Europe trip. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So, this is the stage set before us. Riley was feeling better. It wasn’t anything major, just some nausea perhaps brought on by too much pub food. If you aren't careful with what you order, everything is battered and fried. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It feels a lot like June on Bainbridge here. Good luck has followed us again and for Ireland, we will have amazing weather for our visit. It’s variable cloudiness with highs in the sixties. Some days are closer to 70, some days closer to 60. There is a lot more humidity. At these temperatures, it’s still pleasant, but it wouldn’t feel so good if it were in the 80s. The cloud ceiling is kind of low here, and I can see how oppressive that would feel in darker days. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Not only are there low clouds; there are also usually three layers of different weather passing by overhead. Ireland is like a large traffic calming speed bumps for the rest of Europe’s weather. There is constant upper level wind that causes view to change every time you look outside. Like Seattle there are these golden periods at sunrise and again at sunset, when the sun is between the clouds and the horizon, and the world glows golden, and clouds light up from underneath. We are so far north that it’s still not fully dark at 10pm. Very nice for sitting out on the patio, nursing a Carlsberg, Harp, Murphy’s or Guinness. Not consecutively. Unless you're Irish?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://corkheritage.ie/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/pana-1024x768.jpg" imageanchor="1" linkindex="191" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://corkheritage.ie/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/pana-1024x768.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">St. Patrick Street looking up toward Bridge Street, where my fav coffee shop is. Cork looks just like this - super busy with shoppers - then, clears out completely by 6pm, to refill around 8pm. photo:corkheritage.ie</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Around 6pm, we drove down from the high point of the hotel on the hillside, and parked at the main street (St. Patrick street, like Main Street, only Irish) and got out to explore. Cork has about 120,000 people (which makes it the size of Charleston, SC) and is the second biggest city in Ireland. It is an industrial city, think rust-belt midwest only with a working harbour instead of a car plant. The last decade has been very good for Cork and it has a pretty sound retail core, that seems to be holding up during this recession/depression. </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">After the big cities we’ve been in, Cork felt so small. </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">We walked the entire downtown core in short order. The stores close up early here, so we decided to come back tomorrow and explore all the little alleys. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">We found an Italian restaurant with a menu that would satisfy all four of us and had dinner. As we made our way back out to the car, people were streaming into the city. Mostly young people in their twenties, but families too. It turns out that everyone goes home from work and then returns to spend the evening in the pubs starting about 8pm. And judging from the lilting sounds of ABBA that I hear drifting up to our hotel window at 10:40 every night, they stay out later than we do. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">The nights alternated between this and then low grey clouds that weren't nearly so pretty. photo:ocaoimh.ie</span></td></tr>
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<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><img alt="" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=286c473a-0131-49b2-94b0-0d6e42cf4281" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></div>Sheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481857019989352123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5677576627621531339.post-70872191734187639632010-08-10T16:59:00.000-07:002010-08-10T16:59:44.510-07:00Cheerio England, Failte Ireland<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Monday Travel Day. That means tomorrow will be decompression day. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Our flight to Cork doesn't leave until 6pm, so we take a leisurely tack out of Oxford and then tag along with Ken as he visits outdoor places and talks to people in the industry. Getting to Heathrow is a breeze, as is the long walk to the Irish terminal. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Goodbye England. I like that your news shows have managed to keep separate from the entertainment shows. I very much enjoyed <a href="http://www.topgear.com/uk/tv-show" linkindex="42">Top Gear</a>. Funny blokes, they are. I like that as the night progresses you don't bleep out curse words on your other tv shows. You treat adults like adults, and that is refreshing. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">Greetings from Buckingham Palace</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Not so sure about the monarchy thing, though. 3 million pounds per year to heat Buckingham palace? Why not let the poor Queen live elsewhere; hasn't she suffered enough? Maybe turn the palace into something useful for the whole nation, a college for the middle class and museum of antiquities, maybe. I don't like how dingy and depressing so many of your homes and neighborhoods are. I know you have crappy weather 300 days of the year, but have some pride and fix things up a little. Take a cue from the Irish and put a coat of paint on or something. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">London, I love that I can walk a block in any direction and have fabulous food from pub fare to Peruvian and Indian. I love that your population is a huge melting pot of incomes, colors and nationalities. Chelsea - you look very interesting, I'd like to stay in your part of town the next time I come to London for a visit.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We have our flight instructions in Gaelic, and then proceed to cross the Irish sea. As soon as we gain altitude, we start to descend. Ireland is the proverbial patchwork of greens and golds, illuminated by a slanting sun. It looks just like all the coffee table books promised it would, and it is spectacularly beautiful.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGttIbnW7I/AAAAAAAACLg/bOOmdbQsYHc/s1600/DSC_0309.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="44" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGttIbnW7I/AAAAAAAACLg/bOOmdbQsYHc/s400/DSC_0309.JPG" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">Zoomed in</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGs4gZf0QI/AAAAAAAACLo/ttFrXb7CYCE/s1600/DSC_0306.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="45" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGs4gZf0QI/AAAAAAAACLo/ttFrXb7CYCE/s400/DSC_0306.JPG" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">Our view toward Cork from one of the bedrooms</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We check into our hotel and proceed with our house keeping. We will stay here for 5 nights, for each of the next 3 weeks.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGW6ouKHmI/AAAAAAAACMA/kD6T0ZqY5GU/s1600/DSC_0335.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="46" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="290" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TGGW6ouKHmI/AAAAAAAACMA/kD6T0ZqY5GU/s640/DSC_0335.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">View from the living room toward the "burbs"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Riley will spend the next day or so under the weather with a bit of traveler's tummy, and we won't go explore Cork until Wednesday. </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Sheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481857019989352123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5677576627621531339.post-58854700370152335562010-08-10T16:58:00.000-07:002010-08-10T16:58:42.589-07:00Oxford, est. 1231<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It didn’t start off better. The Holiday Inn Express had a breakfast buffet. This means much in England, where breakfasts are hearty. However, we seemed to time our arrival to the table at the precise moment that the kitchen staff had an implosion. Not wanting to eat Frosted Flakes, I was left with basically a flavored yogurt and um, yeah, that’s it. For 30 minutes not one batch of scrambled eggs, not one muffin, nothing came out of the kitchen. I washed my hands of Bath and we headed for the car. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">But Bath was not done with us. As we squeezed our way out of the town, some lady wasn’t paying attention and hit us. Not bad, just a loud smack side mirror to side mirror. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXT1fb_TkX4" linkindex="74">"Tis but a scratch." </a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdgOzJx_3kg3eWtSwKprcV2Ut9lFVa3iKHHirBPrv-Gxz3RaNDEuNQ65v1k-Xnv3zo70NrEOzzSJGGJspAyH2MofRLPmGrIE8PKPSscjhIfRNXfwGErMuWBtfwTnngb3gmOctD0Atr23E/s1600/DSC_0216.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="75" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdgOzJx_3kg3eWtSwKprcV2Ut9lFVa3iKHHirBPrv-Gxz3RaNDEuNQ65v1k-Xnv3zo70NrEOzzSJGGJspAyH2MofRLPmGrIE8PKPSscjhIfRNXfwGErMuWBtfwTnngb3gmOctD0Atr23E/s320/DSC_0216.JPG" width="308" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We broke free of the tide of traffic that was headed back to London and turned our car to the northeast. English mythology weekend would finish in grand fashion. I am almost a little hesitant to tell you where we are going. Some of you don’t know me that well, and some of you do. Hopefully you’ll love me anyway. We are going to Oxford. We are going via Wolvercote. Haven’t heard of it? Well, I don’t doubt it. The Wolvercote cemetery is where J.R.R. Tolkien is buried. Some people want Elvis, some want Hendrix, some want Cobain, I want Tolkien.<o:p></o:p></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDT3oA5nHQnzxuqPpv87BHyY95O4zh2ukTK_cbkAnGkq6XE1J3yhUloDjyreS4Ir2qkXiXBJLF261sfup2LyMVhNkvdEVZRAHQG6TLG2uBbpEBSgT0JkM0mffih9VwflyC7nCIOqSWm6s/s1600/DSC_0215.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="76" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDT3oA5nHQnzxuqPpv87BHyY95O4zh2ukTK_cbkAnGkq6XE1J3yhUloDjyreS4Ir2qkXiXBJLF261sfup2LyMVhNkvdEVZRAHQG6TLG2uBbpEBSgT0JkM0mffih9VwflyC7nCIOqSWm6s/s640/DSC_0215.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;"> Amazing - I want this many flowers planted on my grave some day</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It felt strange. It was even worse that we couldn’t find the cemetery and I had to get out of the car and go into a pub and ask for directions. But when they heard my accent, they smiled and I said, “You know why I’m asking. I want to pay my respects to the professor.” They gave me perfect directions and we were there in five minutes.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We got out of the car and I was apprehensive. Not because I idolize the guy. I mean, I obviously appreciate his body of work. But this was something that took a legend and turned him into a person. I think it’s awfully personal and humanizing to go to a person’s grave. You’d better mean it. I am not sure I am making any sense.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We walked through a path and suddenly, there it was. And it was so small. I had a lump in my throat because it was so ordinary. In death we are all so ordinary. What is the difference then? The stories we leave behind for others? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-uwMtjwvyW6QwlcN2kbKcEq97-CO7UDQawwELN5o-0WbkH8kFG9iCRfhe1vi1k2IZ3clfwr1DjktGEAiY8-W-HjUa8vIWOrtGV7-X5XDD6uI9fLTa1CFya7vC-5ErftnT6aMcRuAF7E4/s1600/DSC_0210.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="77" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-uwMtjwvyW6QwlcN2kbKcEq97-CO7UDQawwELN5o-0WbkH8kFG9iCRfhe1vi1k2IZ3clfwr1DjktGEAiY8-W-HjUa8vIWOrtGV7-X5XDD6uI9fLTa1CFya7vC-5ErftnT6aMcRuAF7E4/s400/DSC_0210.JPG" width="273" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I looked and there was the inscription that I hoped to see in person. Tolkien’s wife pre-deceased him and when he died, he was buried in the same plot. He always believed she was so beautiful and so kind to love him, that she had to be somehow more than human. He wrote a love story of a female Elf who fell in love with a male human and gave up her immortal life to be with him. Her name was Luthien and his was Beren. These are the names inscribed on the tombstone.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I was touched, but not emotional until my sweet son came up and slipped his hand into mine and said, “I don’t understand why people always talk like they are afraid of graveyards. I think this is the most peaceful place I’ve ever been in.” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I strangled out a “Yeah, Aidan, I think I agree with you.” Or some such thing, and began to walk. We spent another hour wandering around, noting dates and answering the nine hundred questions Aidan suddenly had about graveyards. Whos, whats, whens, wheres, whys and hows. It was sort of difficult, but calming. We decided it was time to drop our stuff off at the hotel and go explore Oxford.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3JkeRSFmz65SyPpGwzY8-4B9Had4CFoA1DGbcmWxXKgLUpKLf9QbyQbb1wMJ8oxEya6q0VyDdwHsOl8E2XpmqAR_8ZRBTBtXkwfRxVSZOD-BowbChJ8FwSzohj3cupgzUfa7HK5MHP1I/s1600/DSC_0226.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="78" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3JkeRSFmz65SyPpGwzY8-4B9Had4CFoA1DGbcmWxXKgLUpKLf9QbyQbb1wMJ8oxEya6q0VyDdwHsOl8E2XpmqAR_8ZRBTBtXkwfRxVSZOD-BowbChJ8FwSzohj3cupgzUfa7HK5MHP1I/s640/DSC_0226.JPG" width="358" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">Maybe someday he'll read other books in this same courtyard</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Oxford University was established in 1231. How crazy is that? We went with the idea that we’d find some of the places that they filmed the Harry Potter movies. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Instead we wandered through bookstores, and alleyways, and the Bodleian Library and then to see an exhibit on the development of Experimental Science. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Impressed, aren’t you, I can tell. I was too when in a darkened humidity and temperature controlled room, I laid eyes on John Aubry's copy of Newton’s <i>Principa Mathematica</i> from the year 1686. I got teary for the second time in one day, it was maybe the coolest thing I have ever laid my eyes on. I know, I know, how lucky am I? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">OK so we then went shopping at a couple of Oxford University stores, had dinner in a cute little café that had the most awesome beer called <a href="http://www.hall-woodhouse.co.uk/beers/badgerales/furstyferret.asp" linkindex="79">Fursty Ferret</a>. So good that I brought the empty bottle home with me!<o:p></o:p></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVVQ2MMGGhasbn-KpCxsbMTvhcagS5wzhrPWcPoG6FlDttDvNib3hyphenhyphenrsHUBhtzCyCXOlVsaXDivZ0cMNTDn94u8PnZqa0TUi4xUY1KSyd70mVjg6SaveSqD-D86dpDGoht8v73rTUZ-8g/s1600/i_fursty.jpg" imageanchor="1" linkindex="80" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVVQ2MMGGhasbn-KpCxsbMTvhcagS5wzhrPWcPoG6FlDttDvNib3hyphenhyphenrsHUBhtzCyCXOlVsaXDivZ0cMNTDn94u8PnZqa0TUi4xUY1KSyd70mVjg6SaveSqD-D86dpDGoht8v73rTUZ-8g/s400/i_fursty.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">Yummy yummy</span></td></tr>
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</div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We caught the bus back to our hotel, and basically collapsed. Tomorrow we’d return the car to Heathrow and fly to Ireland for the last leg of our journey.</span></span></span> <br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><img alt="" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=fd546abd-c911-4bd0-b90b-1afc21e833b1" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></div>Sheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481857019989352123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5677576627621531339.post-74748283839941269672010-08-10T03:22:00.000-07:002010-08-25T17:37:09.609-07:00Ring around the Bath<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Saturday July 23<sup>rd</sup>, we discover a better way to get to and from the airport. It turns out that there are “private cars” for hire. These are cars where you have to arrange for a date ahead of time, as opposed to just picking any old taxi off the street. I likened it to hookers vs. call girls, and Ken just shook his head in disgust at me, but I stand by the analogy. The private car was half the price of the taxi ride, and that also makes it cheaper than taking the trains and way faster.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLRZCxwSwFHBJsFFhp9U9t431RGgym6qzxnjMANSAaeOjVp0ma9NFgA71JduTuqqxnz3u1l6KBpyseFix-VaYqzpNdgG47fz4_kpPHewq8TpPx4V5YGzGYov_iBC6OzepZo6VjKS3Ee5Y/s1600/DSC_0209.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="49" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLRZCxwSwFHBJsFFhp9U9t431RGgym6qzxnjMANSAaeOjVp0ma9NFgA71JduTuqqxnz3u1l6KBpyseFix-VaYqzpNdgG47fz4_kpPHewq8TpPx4V5YGzGYov_iBC6OzepZo6VjKS3Ee5Y/s400/DSC_0209.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The British are much more efficient at renting cars than the French, and we were soon set to cruise in our sweet little Audi A4. Now, as you all know, some days are better than others when you travel. Sometimes, the journey is half the fun, and sometimes, the journey is a terrifying death drive from hell. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It started off pretty good. Driving on the left wasn’t too bad, especially since we were on a “<a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_carriageway" linkindex="50" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Dual carriageway">dual carriageway</a>” heading out of town. The problem was, so was every other person from London. We sat in stop-n-go traffic and what should have taken half an hour, took two hours. There was some mysterious point when enough people turned off the road or something, and traffic finally started to flow. We uneventfully made it to our first waypoint: Stonehenge. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiFq_nk8pE0" linkindex="51">(And other assorted henges.) <o:p></o:p></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8nzaUf82Br76lFo8V8RZDcx9ieME2G1RodAD2-L-uvpfw9OrXgyNVtVILbDIrz3pI_d3NITshj9nHw5nlMdzaGwgzF8RaD7CiLYqx7zsDs9_RDIfHKceUG_KmXSXLlxhK1MnonmJs68g/s1600/DSC_0201.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="52" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8nzaUf82Br76lFo8V8RZDcx9ieME2G1RodAD2-L-uvpfw9OrXgyNVtVILbDIrz3pI_d3NITshj9nHw5nlMdzaGwgzF8RaD7CiLYqx7zsDs9_RDIfHKceUG_KmXSXLlxhK1MnonmJs68g/s640/DSC_0201.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">In front is the slaughter stone</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Very cool. It would only have been better if there were no other people except maybe some Druids and pagans doing trippy things at sunset. It was hard to visit with so much activity going on around it. It seems like a place where you need time to sit and listen to the wind blow across the hill, and let it tell you things about long ago. Not to be on this trip, however.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggNUNi8X2JgCAkkzis_9MEZKzWzFvD2Ish__R8A1-SaeLJ_lxx-B8pBK5b8p3JoDT44WhyphenhyphentviHNzfPt7e42l3Ddeydkp7Qi5h7sOwIlrIARZG1tiBezEz6kbfd2bMCDM3DQh4yEIRdePk/s1600/DSC_0202.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="53" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggNUNi8X2JgCAkkzis_9MEZKzWzFvD2Ish__R8A1-SaeLJ_lxx-B8pBK5b8p3JoDT44WhyphenhyphentviHNzfPt7e42l3Ddeydkp7Qi5h7sOwIlrIARZG1tiBezEz6kbfd2bMCDM3DQh4yEIRdePk/s400/DSC_0202.JPG" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">Who says spirits don't dwell in stones?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We felt good, but the driving had taken a little toll on Ken. The roads are twisty and very narrow in the countryside. Like the width of one Suburban. When two cars come at opposite directions, it’s a cross between a game of chicken, and a square dance move. You’re cooperating and fighting for space at the same time. You have to roll up the passenger windows, or lose and eye to the brambles and the bustles in the hedgerows.</span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It went to pieces before we knew. Garmina was our downfall. Our next stop was through Glastonbury, to find the <a href="http://www.chalicewell.org.uk/" linkindex="54">Chalice Well </a>and the ancient <a href="http://www.glastonburytor.org.uk/" linkindex="55">Tor</a> of Arthurian and Holy Grail legends. (Yes, this weekend was all about English mythology.) </span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Somehow though, Garmina got confused. I was a little nervous that we weren’t seeing signs – any signs – as we drove longer and longer in the wrong direction. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwHpSiTqQ7S1sIe8bOckJZ8JogojDv8mK9X6JDspFrdeKtb0O1ejZl4OJTr1aZsBkCtWLPtVG3qMvzljMWCOZvE-lQBHWDEH_tnTTMIp17lPlkPc3kCIu4CVSLcVzFVORygbisNJI0Eic/s1600/silhouette_of_glastonbury_tor_sunrise470_470x350.jpg" imageanchor="1" linkindex="56" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwHpSiTqQ7S1sIe8bOckJZ8JogojDv8mK9X6JDspFrdeKtb0O1ejZl4OJTr1aZsBkCtWLPtVG3qMvzljMWCOZvE-lQBHWDEH_tnTTMIp17lPlkPc3kCIu4CVSLcVzFVORygbisNJI0Eic/s320/silhouette_of_glastonbury_tor_sunrise470_470x350.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">We were not HERE</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The problem was that we didn’t have a larger map of England from Hertz, (you can believe we bought one on the way to Bath) and Garmina doesn’t tell you what direction you’re driving and you can’t zoom out far enough to see where you’re going wrong. </span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> So when Garmina announced that we were at the Chalice Well, well, we were actually in a field just past a junkyard somewhere far, far, away.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I will tell you that we persisted, but it will end sadly. Despite the carsick prone children, Ken insisted we turn around. Not because he likes sick kids, but because he loves me, and he felt really bad because he knew this was something I really wanted to see. I had visions of the family hiking to the top of the Tor as the sun went down, I wanted to see Wiccans and hippies and people who believe in faeries and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mists-Avalon-Marion-Zimmer-Bradley/dp/0345441184/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0" linkindex="57">priestesses</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As we curved around a bend, I saw the Tor and it was magnificent. More so, as we got closer to our destination. There was no way to take a picture, as every time I lost sight of the horizon, I got a little dizzy myself. We pulled into the parking lot of the Chalice Well at 5:55pm. There is not one open parking spot, and the doors close at 6pm. A bad bit of timing that was only made worse, because I had uttered the prediction of that exact scenario a few minutes prior. A woman in green robes told us that we could still climb the Tor, but I declined. The kids were carsick and wanting dinner and a bed. The futility of the last few hours was so heavy; we were all tense. It was going to take another hour to get to Bath, so we turned the car around and pressed on. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Once in Bath, we left the kids behind with the promise of bringing them some food. I am sure that my impression of Bath is tainted because of the day we just had. But it is supposed to be this sort of luxurious spa retreat town with hot springs. What I saw was that it is apparently the bachelorette party capital of England, where girls in their 20s go to guzzle sweet alcoholic drinks at the TGIFridays and flirt with the guys who are in town for a bachelor party of their own. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just not what I expected. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We wandered around and managed to find a pub with just locals in it. Not one sparkly mini-dress or high heel in the place. We had a good little pub dinner and took some fish and chips back to the kids. (bridge of spiders) We closed our room door to the remnants of Calvin Klein One perfume haunting the Holiday Inn Express hallway, climbed into our beds, and hoped tomorrow would be better.</span></span></span> <br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><img alt="" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=d91f9ee3-4f4f-4768-9bad-149cd8aa29a4" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></div>Sheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481857019989352123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5677576627621531339.post-57240597180826030322010-08-10T02:33:00.000-07:002010-08-11T05:05:47.556-07:00Modern Art (makes me want to rock out!)<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As Friday rolled around we were struck with how much of the city we still wanted to explore. This is good I guess, since it gives us lots of reasons to return. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkxEBA-LLI/AAAAAAAAB_4/kXe-GRGy3Z4/s1600/IMG_0340.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="46" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkxEBA-LLI/AAAAAAAAB_4/kXe-GRGy3Z4/s640/IMG_0340.JPG" width="540" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: orange;">Just before he <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eP6nY-112Xc" linkindex="47">rocks out!</a></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">We hadn’t seen any art, so Aidan and I decided to head over to the Tate Modern for an hour or so, while Ken and Riley stayed behind to internet. It was ok, if a bit gloomy – lots of grey cement that must be dreary in the winter. But it was really cool to see Matisse’s Snail. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTbYYFnqgKPhqlfQOnHTyLHlaktxZ0nQZWjDfmeP-4CXujLDl4wp0paIes0InFVMbVfuzaVF9hSCfCOy7JlRMZa1jUOsxsycVSCixAa8f8jw4zYRMmItw1093ti7tk-yisjJC2ury1GIU/s1600/IMG_0341.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="48" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTbYYFnqgKPhqlfQOnHTyLHlaktxZ0nQZWjDfmeP-4CXujLDl4wp0paIes0InFVMbVfuzaVF9hSCfCOy7JlRMZa1jUOsxsycVSCixAa8f8jw4zYRMmItw1093ti7tk-yisjJC2ury1GIU/s400/IMG_0341.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">His favorite, because there were so many images hidden inside</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">I taught an art docent lesson to Aidan’s 1<sup>st</sup> grade class on this same work, and I had no idea it was this big! Then we came across this Venus looking at a mountainous pile of her presumably dirty clothes. Immediately I was whisked back to the thought of Riley’s bedroom and home for the first time in four weeks. Dang. Confining her to one suitcase of possessions has been great.</span><br />
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<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-SOV71em8U8g8TSapyqc-be9W-VU-iBnzLkIfVevGJZ4N2cfywow9LeotB6uoGX5SEcbcZZh6ISU38FdeY1hd7ZTZqIfWF6uKUrwS8dc5aphEIYpD9LsStllqWx1gA-QOrjn_tBM9pTc/s1600/IMG_0345.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="49" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-SOV71em8U8g8TSapyqc-be9W-VU-iBnzLkIfVevGJZ4N2cfywow9LeotB6uoGX5SEcbcZZh6ISU38FdeY1hd7ZTZqIfWF6uKUrwS8dc5aphEIYpD9LsStllqWx1gA-QOrjn_tBM9pTc/s400/IMG_0345.JPG" width="341" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">When we got back to the apartment, we found that Ken was a little disappointed we hadn’t really made good use of the underground. He loved it. He loved London. In fact, I think he was replaying his whole adult life in his head, thinking about how he could have transferred to London with Ernst & Young all those years ago. Riley and Aidan would be speaking with a British accent, and we’d vacation in the States once a year. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We actually <i>wanted</i> to take the train from London Bridge to Kings Cross, so we could go to the special platform 9 ¾ that is set up for photos with a half submerged trolley. I also wanted to sing, <i>“I was speeding on the subway, through the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stations_of_the_Cross" linkindex="50" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Stations of the Cross">stations of the Cross</a>. Every eye looking every other way, counting down till the pain will stop.”</i> It was just always either too late, or more than one transfer, so we didn’t do it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We wanted to get some football jerseys for Aidan, but were having difficulty finding a store that carried soccer pitch stuff. So Ken set about to rectify that. We stepped down into the belly of London. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I myself am not a big fan of the underground. It’s hot. All different kinds of hot. First is the dry hot that comes like dragon’s breath, blasting at you from the front of the train as it pushes its way through the tube. There’s also the moist, humid human heat that comes from the combined exhaling of the masses of people in the four levels of tunnels. Then the too close together, stuffy hot on the inside of the train cars. The kind that makes sweat trickle down your back when all you’re doing is standing there, maintaining your balance. And this is when it's only 70 degrees outside, I can't imagine the horror it would be if England was farther south.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I hold the position that if you’re going to sweat you should at least be doing something worthwhile. Am I right?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVxPXSaFcOLSv7R0OML92jOIXGbqpAUF2OC6LYt1XHqT_UN3Si5afYTi8LY4htt7qqUf8zsVJKWDrMdIiVkIcR9Y5qgeS4NuyHudNsa2Hju6GiWgt2lcHgMl5aPTBCCeOGJAjYcldwoZk/s1600/IMG_0333.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="51" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVxPXSaFcOLSv7R0OML92jOIXGbqpAUF2OC6LYt1XHqT_UN3Si5afYTi8LY4htt7qqUf8zsVJKWDrMdIiVkIcR9Y5qgeS4NuyHudNsa2Hju6GiWgt2lcHgMl5aPTBCCeOGJAjYcldwoZk/s400/IMG_0333.JPG" width="373" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">Underground: Not Aidan's favorite thing</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">So up, up we climb, each step taking us further away from <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087015/" linkindex="52" rel="imdb nofollow" title="C.H.U.D.">C.H.U.D.</a> s, until we break back out into fresh air. Ken shakes his head at my weakness, and we commence our search for Chelsea gear, since I think Manchester reeks (ha, ha, just kidding.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">We get home. You might like to know that we took the tube to the Millenium Bridge again, and walked the rest of the way. We have to pack. The tension is a little high, as tomorrow we are getting a rental car at Heathrow, and spending the next two days visiting Bath and Oxford. The idea of driving on the left is a bit unnerving, but it will be far worse than we can guess at this moment.</span><br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><img alt="" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=05071e09-2f50-4f6a-8808-cabf0fdcb9f6" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></div>Sheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481857019989352123noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5677576627621531339.post-33010015831680625162010-08-09T09:27:00.000-07:002010-08-09T09:27:04.345-07:00Deouble Decker Redux<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkhWCeOIPI/AAAAAAAAB_U/bMdY5a2N764/s512/DSC_0146.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="123" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkhWCeOIPI/AAAAAAAAB_U/bMdY5a2N764/s400/DSC_0146.JPG" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> I want to pause here for a moment and say thank goodness for historical fiction. One thing I forgot to include yesterday was that Riley was fascinated by the Tower of London because of Reading The Other Boleyn Girl. I think history is best remembered with stories, and for her to remember the politics of King Henry VIII's court is awesome. Her to recognition that the Boleyns and Howards were cousins, that Anne's daughter Elizabeth went on to become Queen, puts so much history into context. He who controls the tower, controls the river. Goosebumps.</span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">For killing people other than queens</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: right;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TEmNalZvN7I/AAAAAAAAB_o/ccp7A7anMxM/s512/DSC_0170.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="125" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TEmNalZvN7I/AAAAAAAAB_o/ccp7A7anMxM/s640/DSC_0170.JPG" width="354" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I was shocked when the next day when Riley told me she wanted to do it all again. I mean the whole thing. She wanted to see the entire city by double-decker bus and ride through the parts where we missed because we had chosen to walk. Surprised also because doing this meant that we had to get out of the apartment and our carcasses on the bus early. Once the 24 hours is up, they won’t let us on and we would be left to the tube from that point. So we went for it, and true to Meidell fashion, we made it with just eight minutes to spare. We were on the bus for good now.</span></span></span> <br />
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</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It was threatening to rain, but you just couldn’t tell if it would or not.<span> </span>Halfway through, it did.<span> </span>In buckets.<span> </span>With wind and thunder.<span> </span>We tried to wait it out on the upper deck.<span> </span>This was working until Aidan stood up and moved our giant poncho so that all the pooled water spilled down our backs.<span> </span>Then all hell broke loose as we tried to go downstairs.<span> </span>We were thoroughly soaked.<span> </span>Just as quickly as it started, it ended and it was sunny for the rest of the day, naturally.<span> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">We are loving all the dragon statues!</span></td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We (ok, I ) endured the ride. <span> </span>Aidan got yelled at by the bus driver for goofing around on the bars. (Good lad.) <span> </span>And then we got off just before the very end to go have a late lunch and explore the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covent_Garden" linkindex="128" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Covent Garden">Covent Garden</a> area.<span> </span>Did a little shopping, watched some street shows, checked out a brand new <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.kidrobot.com/" linkindex="129" rel="homepage nofollow" title="Kid Robot">Kid Robot</a> store, picked up some new high-tops for Riley, all kinds of good stuff to do there.<span> </span>We stayed until late and then actually walked back to the hotel over the Millennium bridge again.<span></span> </span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.christopherrogers.co.uk/ImagesofLondon/LondonCoventGarden%20copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" linkindex="130" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.christopherrogers.co.uk/ImagesofLondon/LondonCoventGarden%20copy.jpg" width="321" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="color: orange;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.christopherrogers.co.uk</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I was particularly impressed with the kids, because we had started out the day with only the goal of seeing Toy Story 3D at the London IMAX theater. They decided they could see a movie any old time, and wanted to explore instead.<span> </span>Just before home we stopped for ice cream and sat to eat it while the sun disappeared behind the skyline. It was a great day.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
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</div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" linkindex="131" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=58a83589-b104-446a-89e8-7d708f295695" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a></div>Sheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481857019989352123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5677576627621531339.post-27008927022000416182010-08-09T03:03:00.000-07:002010-08-25T17:25:46.740-07:00Double Decker Bus - Panic on the streets of London<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFksVzQ0h7I/AAAAAAAABwk/437eYU-qI1U/s576/DSC_0180.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="47" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="522" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFksVzQ0h7I/AAAAAAAABwk/437eYU-qI1U/s640/DSC_0180.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">Is this the cutest picture? I love it!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p>How can I not use that reference? If I invoke the Clash, I have to do the same with the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AlH2oYedfk" linkindex="48">Smiths</a>. The song is stuck in my head and it won't go away.<br />
</o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><u><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"></span></o:p></u></b>Paris is the place you’d want to live if you didn’t have to work. The place sighs with the sensuality of languorous living. Wine and kisses hello, chocolate and warm loaves of bread, beautiful words murmured and shouted, it’s full of passion and potential love. London on the other hand is where you’d want to live if you actually did have to hold down a job of any importance. It’s crazy busy and full of people making things happen. It’s fast and fun and full of things to do where you can see and be seen, day and night. It wants to pull you in and get you involved.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ken was off on his own adventure at a normal business hour like 8 am, and so an hour (or maybe, two) later, the kids and I embarked on ours as well. I didn’t really have a plan with London, like I did with Paris. In fact, I had wrongly assumed that I would be ambivalent about the place. (I love it!) I had also underestimated its size. That is a little misleading. London is gigantic, but it is very enjoyable to walk in, and supremely easy to get around by taxi, tube and, yes, by double-decker red bus. After all the walking we had done in Paris, the kids thought this was a smashing idea and so we decided that we’d go total tourist in London and buy a 24 hours full-London hop-on, hop-off, bus tour pass.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TEmMn2gUHHI/AAAAAAAABK4/_nZsKB0he0g/s720/DSC_0175.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="49" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TEmMn2gUHHI/AAAAAAAABK4/_nZsKB0he0g/s640/DSC_0175.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">I took about 99 pictures of the flowers of London, mostly.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We went with the Big Bus only because their buses looked newer and their upper decks looked nicer. It suited our needs perfectly, but it’s not something I’d choose if I were coming to London without kids. It included a free river cruise with a hilarious guide, and kinda lame but useful commentaries from live guides on the buses. There were also free walking tours available, but we didn’t take advantage of them. We also liked it because while London had been having a mixed summer weather-wise, we once again brought warm and sunny weather with us. Sitting up on top gave us a fabulous view of the historical things that we didn’t want to go visit in person. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TF_NytU7UoI/AAAAAAAAB-k/3QLslj7-8C0/DSC_0144.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="50" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TF_NytU7UoI/AAAAAAAAB-k/3QLslj7-8C0/DSC_0144.JPG" width="183" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">Kids liked this better than royalty</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">One historical sight that seemed to give everyone a thrill was that we saw Princess Anne go by in a motorcade. Cheerio, spit spot and all that. All traffic has to stop and pull over so that the royal procession is unimpeded. We saw her plain as day, looking completely uninterested in her boring life of being shuttled around from one event to the next. I bet she’s never seen London by double-decker bus.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.emilive.com/portals/599/tour/2160/2_highres.jpeg" imageanchor="1" linkindex="51" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://www.emilive.com/portals/599/tour/2160/2_highres.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We had a wonderful lunch at the original Hard Rock café, out on the front patio, warm sun and cool breeze. The kids were so happy to eat American food. Aidan ate a 1/3lb hamburger! It’s the most food I have ever seen him eat in his life. </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TEmNQ_dDzzI/AAAAAAAAB-o/-ul9BXG6R6M/s512/DSC_0186.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="52" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TEmNQ_dDzzI/AAAAAAAAB-o/-ul9BXG6R6M/s200/DSC_0186.JPG" width="121" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Later we visited <a href="http://www.hamleys.com/" linkindex="53">Hamley’s</a> toy store, which is in the middle of a big 250</span><sup style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> birthday celebration. This I love. A toy store that is older than the United States. It was 7 floors of kid heaven, and so we bought a few things, the perfect kind of souvenir. The kids were game, so we hopped off the bus for the day at St Paul’s cathedral and took the Millennium Bridge back to our side of the river and wandered the rest of the way home.</span></span></span><br />
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<tr style="color: orange;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">She didn't want to face the camera, but I liked all the lines in the composition</td></tr>
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<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><img alt="" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=23c79fd0-e869-4390-8211-3431865426e8" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></div>Sheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481857019989352123noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5677576627621531339.post-4804523729713921502010-08-05T13:10:00.000-07:002010-08-05T13:10:25.094-07:00Washing machines and down time<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We need to take the next day to do laundry and have some down time.<span> </span>The kids are better travelers than I’d hoped, and some of that is due to giving them a chance to absorb their new surroundings each time they change, even if that means that we start our visit by not leaving the room for a day.<span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">Almost as common as McDonalds</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Another unexpected thing is how busy we are.<span> </span>I was so prepared for the kids to be bored and whiny that we packed too many toys – card games and such - for bad days.<span> </span>I thought Aidan would while away the evenings with his own blog posts, but there just hasn’t been time.<span> We've had constant good weather. </span>We are basically sleeping in, and then we are busy all day.<span> </span>We eat dinner much later than we used to, and when we come home we unwind and head to bed.<span> </span>So I hope travel is the best schooling, because I thought Aidan would be learning keyboarding, and that just isn’t happening.<span> </span>You might like to point out that I am hogging the laptop, but I am doing my blogging at night after the kids are zonked.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Europe, I know you are all into maximizing space and conserving resources, but what is up with your laundry? Laundromats are practically non-existant. I have only seen one dryer at the hotel back in Sarlat. In Friedrichshafen, the staff said that there was no such thing as a laundromat in their town. Our Paris flat had only a washer and everything was hung to dry. Here in London we have a combo unit that holds between 1/2 to 1/3 a regular load. It takes 4 hours to "wash" and 3 hours to "dry" and when the clothes come out, they are as in the same condition as those fingertip towels at restaurants - hot and steamy. Maybe "clean" in the sense that water has run through them as they tumble for the last 7 hours. But not exactly clean in the sense of stains actually being removed. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I am going to break the timeline here, because I am typing this post in Ireland. Our first week here, we had the same experience with the all-in-one unit as in London. The second week, in a different apartment, we were stunned. The clothes got dry. 2 hours to wash, 2 to dry. Not only did they dry, but they practically were melted to the walls of the machine. One more week remains, and I am resigned to whatever fate the last washer gives us. The trip has been hard on the clothes, and I will be throwing out everything that is white and light. Every dollar we spent on trying to get a mix and match travel wardrobe was worth it, though. The clothes have paid for themselves by being able to be worn twice and drying quickly and relatively wrinkle-free. Oh and for Aidan, I have found that plaid shorts can be worn over and over and only have to be washed about once - which is only slightly less often that Aidan has been washed himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TEmMxE_nxRI/AAAAAAAAB-A/0rb11AexK2k/s720/DSC_0200.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="7" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TEmMxE_nxRI/AAAAAAAAB-A/0rb11AexK2k/s640/DSC_0200.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">Cute, cute pub nearby</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p> <span style="color: orange;">The Globe - also nearby</span></o:p></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TEmNYRDwLRI/AAAAAAAAB-I/n-7txP9SiWE/s512/DSC_0199.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="8" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TEmNYRDwLRI/AAAAAAAAB-I/n-7txP9SiWE/s640/DSC_0199.JPG" width="424" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span id="goog_1266524979"></span><span id="goog_1266524980"></span>Back to London. While I battle with the wash, Ken puts in a workday on the computer. He is going to explore the London outdoor market over the next few days, talking to vendors and such. The kids and I will explore London on our own. When he’s done for the day, he and I leave the kids behind and venture out to get the lay of the land and the pubs of the neighborhood and to buy some groceries (and more laundry detergent) for the week.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></span> <br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" linkindex="9" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=02616f38-a868-4d76-8046-2dd101f4c427" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a></div>Sheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481857019989352123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5677576627621531339.post-41438458928199682702010-08-05T07:39:00.000-07:002010-08-05T07:39:06.316-07:00London Calling<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkf_wwBXoI/AAAAAAAAB9U/BEz16YEe8Lg/s720/DSCN1949.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="80" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="394" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkf_wwBXoI/AAAAAAAAB9U/BEz16YEe8Lg/s640/DSCN1949.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">Lego re-enactment of the legend of the slaying of the Seehasen</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Hotel – taxi – ferry – train – customs – Zurich airport – plane – customs – London taxi – hotel. Smooth as dark Swiss chocolate.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkgR5S3R2I/AAAAAAAAB9c/pJIt4n1wvd4/s720/DSCN1954.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="81" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="393" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkgR5S3R2I/AAAAAAAAB9c/pJIt4n1wvd4/s640/DSCN1954.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TEmfhc87cFI/AAAAAAAAB9k/vFt6aGDII_E/s512/IMG_0336.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="82" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TEmfhc87cFI/AAAAAAAAB9k/vFt6aGDII_E/s400/IMG_0336.JPG" width="375" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;">And not this kind of shoolin, guvna...</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">After logically reasoning that the cost of a taxi is cheaper than the cost of four train tickets, and four tube tickets while pulling suitcases and carrying backpacks, we promptly got schooled. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">While there is no direct route from Heathrow to the East end of London, the taxi driver decided it would be in <s>our</s> <i>his</i> interest to take us right through the heart of the city, west-end first, you know, to point out the landmarks, and coincidentally boost the fare by oh, I don’t know, 25 pounds? Because I’m <i>sure</i> it never crossed his mind that London has really, really bad traffic congestion. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This week in England is the budget buster of the trip. What started off as expensive has grown even more so. Since I booked everything at the sad exchange rate of one pound buying $1.44, the dollar has dropped and dropped over the last six months, down to $1.56. London is a difficult place to find family-friendly lodging. The rooms are too small to have four people and the cost of two rooms is astronomical. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(We almost stayed at the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ6ssVFwPII" linkindex="83">Cathcart Towers</a> - you know - where the diamonds are - near the airport. All higher culture is based on cruelty.)</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We are in an apartment that is part of the <a href="http://www.londonbridgehotel.com/" linkindex="84">London Bridge Hotel</a>. In the Southwark, which is obviously pronounced "Suthuck." Top floor – that’s sixty-two steps – with great window breezes and air conditioning as needed. (We have brought the weather with us at each stop of the way on this trip, and London is due for a fabulous week of sunshine and above normal temperatures while we are visiting.) The kids again get their own room with twin beds, and we have a washing machine – well, a machine that gets the clothes wet anyway – I’ll get into that later. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We are right across the street from the London Bridge train and tube stations, and there is construction everywhere. Though we don’t know it at the time of check-in, the neighborhood is killer. The nights are quiet, the days are crazy loud and even crazier busy. We are right next to the <a href="http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/" linkindex="85">Borough Market</a>, which is wonderfully full of fresh everything and food stands, coffee shops and cafes. Things are looking good!</span></span></span> <br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" linkindex="86" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=f083cb86-5765-4ecc-9c96-9ad481d10424" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a></div>Sheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481857019989352123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5677576627621531339.post-24738754686199064572010-08-05T06:57:00.000-07:002010-08-05T06:57:38.979-07:00Release the Seehassen<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.hoax-slayer.com/images/giant-rabbit2.jpg" imageanchor="1" linkindex="82" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="152" src="http://www.hoax-slayer.com/images/giant-rabbit2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><a href="http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff311/pagness/500full-donnie-darko-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" linkindex="83" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff311/pagness/500full-donnie-darko-poster.jpg" width="136" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">The <strike>Kraken</strike> Seehassen is honored with a <i>fest</i> every July. What is a Seehasen? Glad you asked. Yes, fellow children of the 1970's, I know what you want, and here's <i>your</i> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDe8fTgVUZw" linkindex="84">link</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Now, as far as I can tell, it’s a cross beteen this on the left: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">and this on the right: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">(Netflix it it if you <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0246578/" linkindex="85">dare</a>.) <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://seehas.ragestudios.de/gfx/Logo09_kl.png" imageanchor="1" linkindex="86" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="http://seehas.ragestudios.de/gfx/Logo09_kl.png" width="200" /></a></div><a href="http://seehas.ragestudios.de/gfx/seehas_home.jpg" imageanchor="1" linkindex="87" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://seehas.ragestudios.de/gfx/seehas_home.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">No actually, um, the Seehasen is a sea-bunny. He’s like, six feet tall and he’s white with black spots and he comes out of Lake Constance and is a friend to all the children. It’s all a little fuzzy to me (pun) (and slightly creepy, like all good and cautionary fairy tales), but that’s the general idea. Because it’s German, it doesn’t seem as cute and cuddly as it potentially could be if say, Pixar got ahold of it. The logo and main characterization leave a bit to be desired - think merchandising, Friedrichshafen. Think of all the possibilities that these statues could bring...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://static.cosmiq.de/data/de/365/d4/365d44c24e1a17a7689bbd645525fa23_1_orig.jpg" imageanchor="1" linkindex="88" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://static.cosmiq.de/data/de/365/d4/365d44c24e1a17a7689bbd645525fa23_1_orig.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">I foolishly took the tween and teens to the Seehasenfest, thinking it would be a quaint glimpse into Swiss-German folklore along the shore of a beautiful lake. It had that great potential. I was wrong. It was really a 30-minute walk past endless beer gardens and carnival games followed by a three-hour struggle to find a taxi back to the hotel as every Swiss and German within an hour’s train ride poured into the tiny downtown area. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Enough said. Let’s move on to London.</span></span> <br />
<br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" linkindex="89" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=8630c3a6-2800-4b34-9030-45e2e8f5de23" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a></div>Sheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481857019989352123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5677576627621531339.post-8593378785865466892010-08-04T16:42:00.000-07:002010-08-04T16:42:10.877-07:00Out Door trade show, kid paradise<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I am afraid my tales of Germany won’t be too exciting, and I have to be nice because this is the industry hand that feeds us, so to speak. <o:p></o:p>This week is really about the kids. All three of them, that’s right. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFlKZY11D4I/AAAAAAAAB8Q/4RpZ5AGjV9Q/s720/DSCN1896.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="163" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="281" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFlKZY11D4I/AAAAAAAAB8Q/4RpZ5AGjV9Q/s400/DSCN1896.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="color: orange;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Indoor and outdoor pools</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">I’ll start with the youngest one. The hotel is a kid’s paradise. If you could ask Aidan what three things would make him the happiest boy on the planet, he’d tell you that he’d like a day where he could swim as long as he wants during the day, followed by free access to his own private putt-putt course, and then an evening of bowling until midnight. And don’t even get him started on the breakfast buffet.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFlK4eal_8I/AAAAAAAAB8g/GdQlyOGkoUc/s640/DSCN1902.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="164" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="307" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFlK4eal_8I/AAAAAAAAB8g/GdQlyOGkoUc/s400/DSCN1902.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkeKZosx1I/AAAAAAAAB84/NUIOSKIUi4A/s720/DSCN1925.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="165" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkeKZosx1I/AAAAAAAAB84/NUIOSKIUi4A/s320/DSCN1925.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="color: orange;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Could they be IMing each other?</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">Then my firstborn. She got to have all of the above, and the company of another teenager for the week. (I don’t know why, exactly, but we aren’t coming across very many traveling families. I thought the kids would get a chance to meet way more single-serving friends than they have.) With her new friend Brad, she got to taste a little bit of independence, running around unsupervised and even taking a taxi on their own to the trade show from the hotel.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkdqMhX30I/AAAAAAAAB8o/fQKFrBYloZQ/s640/DSCN1913.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="166" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkdqMhX30I/AAAAAAAAB8o/fQKFrBYloZQ/s400/DSCN1913.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">Ken got to schmooze with the entire outdoor industry in Europe, which is not unfun. This industry is largely (but not exclusively) populated with people who have not been encumbered with the outcome of procreating. Those who have kids and/or spouses generally do not have them present at the show, so when the beer flows, and it does flow in Germany, the party begins.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
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<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkd5sn1UvI/AAAAAAAAB8w/JAofGgJfMjc/s640/DSCN1921.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="167" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TFkd5sn1UvI/AAAAAAAAB8w/JAofGgJfMjc/s400/DSCN1921.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">As for me, meh. It was good. I got to swim, and to read hundreds and hundreds of pages of a few books, which was great. Fiction even, something I rarely get around to reading. For the last two weeks, I have sworn off reading my regular news sources, and I am deleting any email that isn’t either personal or a billing notice. I had decided to leave it all behind while in France, so I could be entirely present, not concerning myself with the news cycle in the US – one that certainly would still be around when I return. I like it so much that I think I am going to continue it for the whole trip. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ringhotel-krone.de/UserFiles/Image/inHTML/Hotelzimmer_Familien_7.jpg" imageanchor="1" linkindex="168" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://www.ringhotel-krone.de/UserFiles/Image/inHTML/Hotelzimmer_Familien_7.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="color: orange;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bed is so hard that even the comforters are afraid of it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;">I ended up taking care of the kids as they got a little tummy trouble. I slept on a bed that was so hard that I actually pulled the sheets up to see what the hell it was made of. Ever hear of a pillow top, Germans? Austerity is not always the end-all-be-all. The room was pretty cool though, we were on the top floor with skylights, and in a suite where the kids had their own room and twin beds.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Wifi was only available in the lobby, so I took advantage of it when I could. One great thing about Germans is that they love to drink, so there was that too. (One bad thing is that I don’t know a damn word of German, and because it’s not a Latin-based language, I couldn’t read a single sign.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://d.yimg.com/ec/image/v1/release/56799774;encoding=jpg;size=300;fallback=defaultImage" imageanchor="1" linkindex="169" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://d.yimg.com/ec/image/v1/release/56799774;encoding=jpg;size=300;fallback=defaultImage" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The trade show was pretty cool. It was HUGE. Friedrichshafen is where zeppelins come from. Bet you didn’t know that. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">It’s true. So the convention center here is like a whole bunch of ginormous zeppelin hangars. In addition to companies showing their latest product lines and taking orders, there was an entire zeppelin field sized courtyard full of climbing walls and slack lines and of course, beer gardens. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.outdoor-show.com/od-wAssets/fotos/735px/OD_hallenuebersicht-2010_EN.gif" imageanchor="1" linkindex="170" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://www.outdoor-show.com/od-wAssets/fotos/735px/OD_hallenuebersicht-2010_EN.gif" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="color: orange;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Each of these halls is the size of a zeppelin hanger!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TEmfO17rS1I/AAAAAAAAB9I/Clh4gSkupuw/s720/IMG_0259.JPG" imageanchor="1" linkindex="171" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="336" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nt0jQSTEc3A/TEmfO17rS1I/AAAAAAAAB9I/Clh4gSkupuw/s640/IMG_0259.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="color: orange;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...Remember my name...</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">There was an incredibly cute fashion show, with lots of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHZR9SA5pOg" linkindex="172">dancing</a>. It turns out that in Europe, they use the whole spectrum of colors for clothing, shoes and gear. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I really wish the clothing buyers from all the outdoor “lifestyle” brands/stores in the Seattle area could take away from this show the apparently remarkable notion that the color palette includes more than the same five colors we see in the Pacific Northwest. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">You know the colors – the bright apple-y green that every woman has in her closet. I know this because you can’t have five women in a group without this color making an appearance. Myself included. It’s a great color, flattering to lots of skin tones, but please, enough is enough. There is also the plum-y mauve, the chocolate brown, the teal/peacock blue, the burnt orange, ugh! The same colors over and over, year after year are just variations on each other. “I know – let’s heather the apple green and it will be revolutionary for spring.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sorry for the rant. Anyway, it was very interesting to get a glimpse into the market, to see who is innovating and who is imitating; what the bigger companies are up to, and whom they are buying to get even larger market share.</span></span></span><br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" linkindex="173" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=5d8e002d-4f55-4329-bc83-48b46443bd04" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a></div>Sheilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16481857019989352123noreply@blogger.com2