Emerald Isle - Day Four - the Cliffs of Moher, the Burren and Galway Bay

Day four was definitely our marathon day!!!  We boarded a 7am train from Dublin bound for Limerick.  We found seats in our appointed car, only to be told by our tour director that we needed to move, for no particular reason.  Kate and Mom were seated across from a lovely mother/daughter duo from New York.  I, on the other hand, was seated across from a nun and her husband (yes, you read that mostly correctly) from Texas!  Two hours on the train later I was being "informed" by Mr. Nun that he thinks the women's movement left women (me in particular) less liberated.  Turns out women used to spend their days shopping with the money their husbands gave them, watching their kids and lunching with their friends.  Notwithstanding that his described existence sounded pretty good to me at the time, as I was constantly on my crack berry answering emails, I explained that the empowerment lay in the choice to marry my blackberry or lunch with my friends.  And I love my choice!  He didn't seem convinced.  Did I mention I don't like speaking to strangers on mass transit (or, in general)?  I did not get my Mom's genes.  I did, possibly, though scientifically possible, get Aunt Kate's genes.

Our first stop was in Limerick, where we did a quick drive through on our way out to Bunratty Castle.  I suppose the castle was supposed to be the most lux digs around once upon a time, but I don't envy anyone who lived in one.  The narrow winding staircases were crazy!  Bunratty village was also a lot of fun.  Mom kept trying to play with the livestock.  We saw a precious baby goat nurse.  On our way back to meet our bus, Mom met Ginny and Georgie!  I hope the State Department is not reading this, as I think mom lied on her immigration form when she answered that she had not been in contact with livestock on her trip.

Lunch was at a pub in Doolin.

After lunch we headed to the Cliffs of Moher.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day, which I understand to be the opposite of the day on which everyone else on Earth has traveled to the cliffs.  It was such beautiful, sunny weather that I couldn't get a good picture because of the brightness.  Oh well - I have the images in my mind.  We walked up both sides and admired the majesty of the cliffs.







Our tour guide warned us about traveling to the non-walled parts of the cliffs, as high winds have resulted in people falling off.  When we got to the end of the walled path, we saw a sign that read "Extreme Danger".  In case we couldn't read, a lovely french wife yelled at her husband who was crossing the wall over the Extreme Danger yelled "Eh-treme Dan-jay"!  What does my mother do?  Follows the french husband and then proceeds to taunt me from the other side of the wall as she peers over the edges of the cliffs.  Oh, a Mother's love!

After the Cliffs of Moher, we drove out to the Burren, which was amazing.  It used to be the ocean floor.  It's a whole national park where I presume you can camp, but it doesn't seem like it would be comfortable.

We drove around the whole Galway Bay and took in the scenery and drove along the Wall of Famine.

We caught a train in Galway back down to Limerick, where we were going to stay the night.  On said train was a drunk/high/crazy 30ish year old man who was yelling and carrying on.  He fell asleep for the first hour of the train ride, but unfortunately woke up for the second hour.  He came up to the three of us and sat across the aisle of the train car and touched my leg.  Oh no you didn't, sir!  Where I come from that is called an unwanted touching, otherwise known as assault.  I looked at him and said, firmly "Do not touch me."  He became irate and was yelling and throwing paper and things.  At the next stop on the train the very nice conductor kicked Mr. Assault off the train and apologized to us (as though it was his fault) that we had been bothered.  The last 45 minutes of the train ride were peaceful as can be.

We checked into the George Boutique Hotel in Limerick.  I guess the only three person room they had was also a handicapped room, as we had a walk in shower with a seat in it.  Every time you took a shower, you had to use at least 10 towels just so you didn't flood the room.  Oh yea, and the toilet could only flush once an hour- - but I suppose that is not connected to its being a handicapped room.  This was also our first (but not last) experience with a hair dryer that lived in the desk drawer.  I say "lived" because you could not remove the hair dryer from the desk drawer - it was connected to the plug through a hole in the back of the dress drawer........

Dinner was at Marco Polo - a mod, very interestingly decorated Italian restaurant.  Both Mom and Kate got the mushroom risotto.... Mom's without parmesan cheese.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Who orders risotto without the parmesan?  My mom! That's who!  My mother began her routine of attempting to force her food upon me.  "Why are you eating Kate's and not mine?"  "Because yours is flavorless white rice with mushrooms in it, Mom!"

Needless to say, when we got back to the hotel, we had no problem falling into a very deep sleep!

The Emerald Isle - Day Three - Dublin

We woke up on Tuesday, ready to see the sights that Dublin has to offer.  We began with breakfast at the Elephant and Castle on Fleet Street.

Our next adventure was exchanging currency (banks were closed for the first two days that we were in Ireland, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday).  There was a bit of Goldilocks to this adventures.  Baby bear (me) had simply gone to an ATM upon arrival.  Momma bear (Auntie Kate) was experienced with this process and proceeded straight to the currency desk at the Bank of Ireland.  Papa bear (ok, this metaphor is fading quickly....... my Mom) needed some prompting.  I told her "Mom, your line is "Good morning, I would like 200 Euro, how much will that be?"  I see my Mom get called to the counter and watch as the following unfolds: my mother takes out two 100 dollar bills, passes them to the bank teller and says "200 Euro please".  The teller kindly explains to her that the two 100 dollar bills is not sufficient.  My mother looks confused.  I look down and shake my head.  This was the beginning of my mother's not so lovely affair with what she termed "little people money" (don't ask).  Cash in hand, we were ready to head across the street to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells!

Our second adventure of the day involved photography.  Auntie Kate wanted to take a picture of mom and I in front of a bell tower or some other object on campus.  So we center ourselves in front of it and Kate snaps the picture.  Then Kate says "ok, let me get in a little closer".  She then proceeds to hold the camera steady in front of her as she physically walks closer to Mom and I.  My mother, admittedly technologically challenged, says "Kate, don't you have a zoom button".  Kate replies something in the neighborhood of "shut up Regina ;)"

Alright, enough.  Our first REAL adventure of the day was visiting the Book of Kells.  My heart sank a bit as a saw a huge group of school children heading inside the exhibit.  "No worries," Kate said "the kids will breeze right by it, and it will sadly be of no interest to them." Sure enough when it was time to get to the physical Book of Kells, the swarm of children had already departed.  I'm sure they were American.

The Book of Kells, including the exhibit preceding it which described the method of its production, the various symbols, etc. was fantastic.  I especially loved the explanation of the Chi Ro page.

A happy surprise at the end of the tour was stopping in the Long Room of the library at Trinity College.  It was one of the most magnificent rooms I had ever seen!  I felt like Belle in Beauty and the Beast, except that I wasn't allowed to touch anything, and I think singing and dancing about the room is discouraged.

After Trinity College we walked towards Christ Church passing the Dublin Castle along the way.  We then went to St. Patricks and toured the beautiful garden behind it with a field of amazingly vibrant tulips, some of which looked like peonies they had so many petals.

After walking in that area we headed towards Grafton Street to window shop before tea.

We had afternoon tea at the Westbury Hotel on Grafton Street.  It was really lovely.  It must be noted that my mom ordered coffee.  At some point during the tea, mom commented "This is so lovely - I haven't ever been to afternoon tea"  I remarked "you still haven't - you ordered coffee!"  The finger sandwiches were lovely as were the scones.  The desserts were the highlight though, including a beautiful painted chocolate egg.

That night we came back to the hotel and gussied ourselves up for dinner at Peploe's on St. Stephen's Green.  It was a charming restaurant in the basement of a Georgian row house lining the green.  The food was FANTASTIC.  We all shared a quail risotto to start.  I had a veal milanese, mom a suckling pig and Kate, fish I think.  We shared champagne and stories and had fun girl time catching up.

After dinner, we packed up as we prepared for a very early trip out of Dublin the next morning.  My mom made sure to take her "parting gifts" (i.e. the little shampoos and soaps) from the Westin :)

The Emerald Isle - Day Two - Wild Wicklow and Glendalough

Day two started with Starbucks. Beautiful, American Starbucks.

Properly caffeinated, we headed to meet our tour bus at the Dublin Tourism center, which of course was not open as it was Easter Monday, which is a public holiday in Ireland (and most of the rest of Europe). Note to self: move to Europe. Rather than being able to wait indoors in the tourism center, we had to stand out in the cold rain listening to a busker sing American songs, among which was "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life," a mistake on several levels, the highest of which was that it caused my mother to whistle that God forsaken song all day long...... and then some. I am not on the bright side at 9am after standing in the cold rain for 20 minutes.

We boarded the bus and met Stephen, our tour guide for the day. Stephen was a highly knowledgeable and entertaining tour guide, who grew up, as he claimed, the youngest of 10 siblings. This caused an attention complex in Stephen, who clearly became a tour guide to satisfy some not-so-repressed "no one listens to me" feelings from childhood. Stephen doesn't like children, or people who speak while he is speaking. Stephen may actually be an only child now, as it's entirely possible he killed his 9 older siblings simply to be heard. I digress. Stephen kept telling us to be quiet, and that we were being disrespectful. His response to a cell phone ringing was "Seriously, people. A cell phone?" If he hadn't given us entertaining insight on the origin of faeries, leprechauns and other Irish folklore.

We traveled first to Forty-Foot, which was a swimming area outside of Dublin where old-timers swam in the morning.

Next we traveled around Wicklow, which is absolutely breathtaking. We saw fields of sheep and baby lambs that had just been born, and infinite shades of green as far as the eye could see.

We all had lunch at a cute little pub. Mom met a Kieran!  One of the stated purposes of this vacation for my mother was meeting as many Rory's and Kieran's as she could.

We then made our way to Glendalough by way of a lake shaped like a glass of Guinness

(including a sandy area that illustrated the head of the beer). I couldn't get a good picture because I was too scared to climb close enough to the edge of the top of the cliff to get it. This will be a theme that comes up later in our trip.

Glendalough was absolutely breathtaking (this will also be a word that is overused in this recap). Everything about it was lovely. Mom and I walked to the second lake via the boardwalk. We heard a lamb in the distance. Mom was convinced the lamb was saying "maaaaaahm" and calling out for its mother. She desperately wanted to climb the fence and look for the lamb.

After returning to Dublin, we went for drinks at the Westin in the Vault Bar. The Westin Dublin is in an old bank - the bar is in the vault downstairs. We then headed to Ciao Bella Roma, an Italian restaurant in Temple Bar. We all shared a couple
 of pizzas.

The Emerald Isle - Day One

We arrived in Dublin at 6am. We got to the Westin. Predictably, our room was not ready, so we headed to three different Starbucks, to find all of them closed. At the third one, a little blonde employee opened the locked door and asked "I think we'll open in about a half our, is that ok?"As if we had a choice. Our choice, blondie, is for you to give us coffee in exchange for cash. C'est la vie. We went back to the Westin. I had a 15 EUR breakfast buffet from which I took a box of Special K and a banana. That's pure value.

Mom and I headed to Easter Sunday mass at St. Theresa's, a lovely little church on Clarendon Street. We walked a long a most empty Grafton Street on our way back to the hotel. The joys of arriving in a Catholic country on Easter Sunday.

After a very long nap, we walked down Fleet Street in the Temple Bar district of Dublin and came across the first of my mom's "this has been my favorite part!" moments during our week. Just past the Hard Rock Cafe was a little fish and tackle shop named.... Rory's. My mom has a certain affinity for the names Rory and Kieran. She reminds me each day that she'd like grandchildren named Rory and Kieran. I suppose that means I have to have two boys. I keep reminding her that she has two sons who can also give her a Rory and/or Kieran....... At any rate, one of the stated objectives of my mom's trip to Ireland was meeting Rorys and Kierans... easy to please, much? Anyways, the owner of the fish and tackle shop, Rory, came out and took a picture with my mom and gave her a little fish bumper sticker to take with her. I think my mom could have left Ireland that moment and have been happy. I will repeat that phrase several times in this recap.

We next went to Temple Bar and enjoyed a couple of pints while my mom danced to Irish folk music. My mom and Kate remembered the words to some of the songs the band sung and sang along with the rest of the crowd.

Afterwards, we walked along Fleet Street, finally settling on Quay's Restaurant, whose menu Kate and I judged satisfactory for my mom, despite her pleadings that she "could have found something to eat" at the first couple restaurants we passed. Mom had a terrific beef stew, Kate a salmon and myself a fantastic vegetable soup. All of us savored the excellent brown bread, the first of many pieces we each had over the course of the trip.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to rest up for the long day ahead. My mom snores, so she had purchased Kate and I ear plugs, as we were all in the same room. Those ear plugs would turn out to be a life saver.

The Emerald Isle - Preview

So some 6 years ago, I gave my mom an Ireland travel book with a note inside which read "Mom, I'm taking you to Ireland." (For the record, I just now realized, after spending a week in Ireland with the woman, that she did not bring said travel book on the trip.) Fast forward 6 years which included an engagement, a wedding, two cousins' graduations, another cousins' wedding, job changes, moves, and a strong desire to avoid the summer crowds, and my mom and I and my Auntie Kate were sitting at Vino Volo in Newark Airport waiting to board our flight to Dublin.

If you are ever looking for a restaurant with my mom, you'll hear the phrase "Don't worry about me! I can find something to eat anywhere." Ignore her. She cannot. My mom has an admittedly very bland palette. She thinks black pepper is too spicy. She doesn't eat fish. She thinks parmesan cheese "tastes like a cellar" (this might be the reason I love parmesan). She ordered mac and cheese at Vino Volo. It was laced with truffle oil. She is the only human being on God's green earth that thinks this is a bad surprise. Needless to say, she ended up with a styrofoam carton of chinese food instead ;) The foregoing also explains why I had few worries of her starving to death in Ireland, home of the potato and boiled meat and cabbage.

We boarded the plane, our tummies full to remove the necessity of trying to choke down airplane food. Thanks to my Uncle John, the gals had upwards of 30 free drink coupons. Needless to say, he has far fewer now. Seven hours later, the plane landed in Dublin, and we were on our way!

2011-2013 Reading List

Updated 22 January 2013:

The theme of 2011 has clearly become Paris. I think I am in withdrawal because I am not traveling there again for the foreseeable future.

The theme of 2012 is Paris and baby. Never too early to educate oneself as to how to prepare the body to make a baby.

The theme of 2013 is undecided, but thus far has been books written about time periods long since passed.

2011 book count: 13

2012 book count: 14 (17 if you count the fact that I read the Hunger Games trilogy twice)
2013 book count: 3

1. Super Sad True Love Story, by Gary Shteyngat (LOVE this guy).

2. Blood, Bones and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef, by Gabrielle Hamilton (I am a sucker for food books). I'm two chapters away. I really enjoyed this one. Calling Prune to make reservations today!

3. Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand (see title of blog, can you believe I've never read this? neither can I)

4. A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens (because of Oprah - no, not really)

5. The First Tycoon, by T.J. Stiles (because I like wealth, and capitalism (again, see title of blog) and it won a Pulitzer Prize)

 6. John Adams, by David McCullough (because it's been sitting on my shelf for too long, and I wimped out and watched the HBO miniseries instead)

7. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (I've read the series forwards, I'm now reading it backwards)

8. Some book I saw in a French bookstore about these American sisters who married into nobility (and then divorced and remarried, etc.) (seems scandalous and trashy, yet historic)

9. Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell (again, never read it). I've read it now! Kindle + weekend indoors + jury duty = book done!

10. Sweet Valley Confidential, by Francine Pascal. I read all of the Sweet Valley Twins (middle school books) as a kid. I read very few of the Sweet Valley High books and will admit to having read one or two of the Sweet Valley University books. This book sucked. It was terrible.... not even like guilty pleasure good. It took me about 4 hours to read it. Yikes.

11. Elizabeth Street, by Laurie Fabiano (historical fiction re the lower east side). This was great. Historical fiction was a good thing to read after #10.

12. Rememberance of things Paris, by Ruth Reichl. A collection of 60 years of food and wine writing from Gourmet magazine about Paris. Yes, please!

13. Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte (I just couldn't get into British female authors in high school for some reason, so I just read the Cliff Notes to this one) Finished just in time to see the new movie!!! (and hate it because I inevitably like the book more)

14. Emma, by Jane Austen (see comment to #12)

15. Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, by Amanda Foreman.

16. Apollo's Angels, by Jennifer Homans. A history of ballet, need I say more?

17. The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Inspired by watching Easy A, which was a cute movie. Another one of those books I had little use for in high school, but I really enjoyed this time around.

18. A Moveable Feast, by Ernest Hemingway. Inspired by seeing Midnight in Paris while in Maine visiting the husband's family. This book documents Hemingway's time in Paris during the 20s, which is when the movie is set.

19. The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain. This is historical fiction written from the perspective of Hadley Hemingway, Ernest's first wife, set during the same time period as #18 above.

20. The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris, by David McCullough. Variations on a theme, you see. Which theme is that?

21. Parisians, by Graham Robb. Yup, there's definitely a theme this year. I just so love this city :)

22. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, by John Le Carre. Saw the movie... felt I needed to read the book.

23. A visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer.... It won a Pulitzer. It deserved it. Though perhaps it was not a novel.

24. The Hunger Games Trilogy (Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay), by Suzanne Collins. I read them in three days (perhaps 3.5 and have already read them all again.... they are a little addictive).

25. The Fertility Diet, by George E. Chavarro, MD, and Walter C. Willett, MD.

26. What to Expect When You are Expecting.

27. Real Food for Mother and Baby, by Nina Planck.

28.  Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy.  It took a month, but I got through it.  This should also count as several books, I think ;)

29.  Boomerang, by Michael Lewis.

30.  The Visible Man, by Chuck Klostermann.

31.  Game of Thrones, by George R. R. Martin
32. A Clash of Kings, by George R. R. Martin
33. A Storm of Swords, by George R. R. Martin
34. A Feast for Crows, by George R. R. Martin
35. A Dance with Dragons, by George R. R. Martin

36. Where We Belong, by Emily Giffin. Guilty pleasure read in one return flight from Paris.  It sorta sucked, but I'm used to it with her.

37. Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child, by Bob Spitz.

38.  The Path to Power, by Robert Caro.  Have only heard marvelous things about Caro.  Perhaps starting with the longest book is not the best move, but I'm diving in.  This one is horrible to read on Kindle, because three weeks later, I'm still in the single digit percentage completion.... yikes.

39.  Wolf Hall, by Hillary Mantel.  I'm not always one for historical fiction, but I love the Tudor period of England, and given that this one the Man Booker Prize, I thought I'd take it for a spin.  Instantly hooked. 

40.  Bringing Up the Bodies, by Hillary Mantel. See above.  Can't wait for the third part of the trilogy.

41.  The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton. I blame this one on Downton Abbey.  Want to see what we Americans were doing while the Dowager Countess inquired about weekends....

42.  Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo.  Because of the movie, obvs.

43.  Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, by U.S. Grant.  Supposed to be great!

44.  The Constant Gardener, by John le Carre.

45.  Team of Rivals.  Because of the movie.

The Neighbor's Got to Go

I was in heaven all weekend. I had a house that I could pretend was my own and entertain people in it. Huge kitchen, dining table, etc. - it was a putterer's dream. And I am nothing if not a putterer :)

While I puttered - game night began. It began innocently enough with a lingerie shower of sorts where the bride had to guess who gifted each pair. Brownie Alligator's were easily the best. This blog is mostly PG, however, so there will be no pictures! It was followed by a drinking game where the bride has to correctly answer questions posed to the groom. Highlight here was the groom's answer that the bride's favorite activity is eating french fries while watching the Biggest Loser. A rousing game of Pin the Hose on the Fireman (and all that it implies) came next. A pictionary game followed. That's all I will say about that.

As the evening/early morning wore on, a select few of the louder girls (myself included) decided to hit the hot tub. Not more than 5 minutes in, we heard the neighbor yelling at us to keep it down. Not more than 10 minutes following that we were paid a visit by the property manager telling us our hot tub party had to end. Plots were hatched to "flamingo" her lawn with some leftover straws. The better part of reason kicked in and this plan was not realized.

Around 2:30, the last of us headed to bed. Or so I thought. At 5:08 am, we received the following picture via email from Ga.