Days 1-3: Barcelona, September 2012

On Friday, August 31st, we headed to Newark for our flight to Barcelona -- vacation officially kicked off with two sparkling glasses of cava at the Newark airport! We arrived in Barcelona first thing on Saturday morning and proceeded to the Hotel Neri, an adorable little hotel in the Barri Gotic.  Hotel Neri is on a street so narrow that our cab driver at first couldn't find it, and then could barely drive down it. We were offered a very-much needed cup of coffee while we checked in.  We then spent the day walking around the Barri Gotic and Ciutat Viella, and saw the cathedral -- complete with beautiful white geese in the cloisters.  We sat down for a sandwich at a little cafe (olive oil on the bread of a ham and cheese- check it out people). We asked for the check afterwards. 20 minutes passed. Rachel finally went up to the bar and paid herself. We imagine that we'd still be sitting there waiting for the check if she hadn't!

After a stop at the Museo Picasso, which was really special, we headed back to the hotel and crashed before waking up for our first dinner at Restaurante Roig Robi, which was far away enough from our hotel that Rachel asked "are we still in Barcelona?" during our taxi ride. The long distance turned out to be worth the wait as we had a to-die-for tuna tartare in a sesame dressing and an amazing veal dish.

On Sunday morning, we woke up early and headed to Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's one hundred fifty-year-in-the-making church. We entered through the "Passion" facade - Christ on the cross pictured below.

 The actual front door of the church has "Give us this day our daily bread" carved in over 50 languages.

This is the "Nativity" facade, which also depicts the life of Christ.

We continued our lesson on the architecture of Gaudi, heading to la Pedrera and Casa Batllo. We took a tour of Casa Batllo which we both loved.

 

On Sunday night, we headed to Camp Nou to experience Sunday Night Football, Catalonian style.  We saw FC Barcelona play Valencia.  Husband, having only been to a live soccer match in Argentina, where they are apparently so worried of post-game violence that they literally fence in the "cheap seats" allowing the rest of the attendants to clear out of the stadium before letting loose the real hooligans, was beyond surprised to find that Camp Nou was perfectly clean, in a safe neighborhood, and we did not need to fear for our lives for attending. He was even more pleasantly surprised that the food was not only edible, but a hot dog was 2 euro (versus the $9 Yankee dog we are used to)! I was thrilled that it was a non-smoking facility (but bummed that it was alcohol free). We even had an old-timer behind us who took it upon himself to enforce the no smoking rule.

The match (which Barca won 1-nil) did not start until 9:30pm (read: Rachel read the 21:30 to mean 8:30, math fail), which left us relying on those 2 euro hot dogs for dinner. Arriving back at the Hotel Neri past midnight, we were informed that the hotel bar was closed, but that "many" places in the neighborhood were still open. They were not.  Or they were so sketchy as to bespeak caution to the wary tourist. Our thirst unslaked, we threw that caution to the wind and entered an empty dive bar worthy from its appearance (or so Christopher thought) of the lowest of the lower east side of Manhattan.  But Rachel was right, and it turned out to be a good place for a tipple, and so closed our first full day.

Monday would be known as "the day of Plan Bs", a rare occurrence in a 15 day journey. Rachel had lunch, dinner and after-dinner drinks spots all picked out, all of which were closed on Monday (boo Spain, boo. Also, clues to your economy - I note very few places in the United States close three days a week). For lunch, we had tapas (too many tapas) in a little square in the Raval.

We then walked to the St. Josep marketplace and admired all of the stalls filled with amazing fish, meats, spices, nuts, candies, etc. We stopped at one stall for a copa de vino :) That night we dined at Rias de Galicia, where we were chastised by our waitress (in Spanish mind you - she couldn't (or wouldn't) say a word in English) for not sucking on the heads of the shrimp (can't do it Sally) and also closed the place down - at one point, we knew we had another course coming, which Rachel asked about in Spanish, but the waitress thought we were asking if we could order an additional course - she checked her watch and said "no". It was a lovely meal and a very special place.

The Emerald Isle - Day Six - Cork and Kinsale

We took the train to Cork and my mom chatted up to teenagers (yes, you read that correctly) who were headed to Cork to some amusement park, which they claimed was not very good, but were headed there for lack of better things to do on Easter Break.

Upon arrival in Cork we were introduced to Michael Connolly (that's Mick to his friends, which we quickly became (see below)).  Mick drove us to our hotel, the River Lee Hotel.  Within 3.5 seconds of the trip, my mother had Mick discussing his nine grandchildren and she had let it out no fewer than 16 times that she had none.  The River Lee was a nice, new, American-style business hotel.  We walked around Cork and settled on lunch at the Pavilion, a restaurant in the Huguenot Quarter (directly across from the Huguenot cemetery) that was housed in an old movie theater.  It was surprisingly good for a not-so-crowded, slightly out of the way lunch spot.

We then walked around Cork (nothing to write home about, don't waste your time except for Huguenot Quarter and the English Market (which is pretty awesome)).  Mom bought a loaf of bread and a pound of butter (yes, you read that correctly) as a snack.  Obviously, when we departed the hotel the next day, 7/8 of the pound of the butter was left as a donation.

Two highlights of Cork: (1) there was a cow in a tree. Literally.  See picture.  It is apparently part of a traveling installation that the citizens of Cork hate because of the expense it took to bring the cow here. (2) there was a store that sold very funny t-shirts.  None of which I remember now.  Kate, Mom?

Mom and I dropped of Kate at the hotel and proceeded to the Cathedral of St. Finn Barre, the "Notre Dame" of Cork (various pictures below).  It was a lovely church and there was a choir from England rehearsing for a concert, so it was nice to have musical accompaniment to our visit to the church.  I also like the interactive guide at the church that explains all of the sculptures at the front of the church -would I honestly have guessed "wise virgins" and "foolish virgins"?

After St. Barre, we called up Mick and told him to swing on by to pick us up for our dinner in Kinsale. Kinsale is ADORABLE (sadly no pictures!!!) and, if I could have changed one thing about our trip, I would have skipped Cork altogether and headed straight there.  By the time we arrived, most of the shops were closed up.  We headed to Max's Wine Restaurant, a restaurant featured on both Kate and I's "eat here" lists.  It did NOT disappoint.  Mom tried Ling, a fish she had never had and LOVED it though it's cooking liquid contained (gasp!) sun dried tomatoes.  The dish also featured langoustines which she gobbled up.  Kate had an excellent bass.  I had the foie gras.  Dessert was a creme brûlée with rhubarb and hazelnuts.  Mick came and picked us back up and dropped us a the hotel.

The Emerald Isle - Day 5 - Killarney

On day 5, we woke up in Limerick, quickly decided it didn't warrant a morning spent exploring (or eating breakfast for that matter) and decided on a train down to Killarney, a lovely little town.  Upon arrival, we walked across the street to the Malton, our incredible hotel.  We immediately headed out for lunch at a pub on the main drag.  Another delicious bowl of soup for me, another 4 pieces of Irish bread for Mom ;)  Kate had her eyes set on an apple crumble for dessert.  The proprietor came and chatted us up, and described his own experiences traveling in the United States, mostly in connection with seeing U2 in concert, whom he seems to know personally.  He described sitting in a VIP lounge at some concert that was somewhat broken up when Chelsea Clinton and her friends showed up!

We continued our day going in and out of all of the lovely shops in Killarney.  Mom found an "Irish Potato Cookbook" for my dad, who insists (perhaps not wholly inaccurately) that all Irish food is devoid of flavor and consists of boiled meat and boiled potatoes.

We got an afternoon snack in an ice cream cone and headed to the hotel to dress for dinner.  We had a drink by the fireplace at dinner where "not-Rory", my mom's name for all Irish men not named Rory or Kieran, served us drinks.  We headed to the dining room to what certainly was one of the culinary highlights of the trip.

It was a fun-packed, but relatively low key day for 3 travelers who much needed a relaxing day :)

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.