Away From My Desk: 2011

Monday, May 30, 2011

End of European Adventure -BBB Tour

Edit: we know this post is late but internet issues and jet lag are to blame, not us!
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As we sat in the airport this morning, we realized this was our fifth time at the Dublin airport in 10 days. That's got to be a record! On this crazy trip, we realized we had taken almost every mode of transportation available in Europe--
Flying, buses, taxis, cars, light rail/metros, trains, boats, more flying.

Last night we almost "borrowed" a bike in Dublin just to add it to our list! But Lauren's bike skills are not up to par.

We were pretty successful on the wonderful B,B &B trip as Lauren is calling it! Very successful on the beer part. Bulmer's is Lauren's new favorite drink! Smithwicks is mine (we stole a glass from the pub).

For our last night in Dublin we watched a soccer game with our new (and similarly drunk) British, Scottish, and Welsh (not to be confused with normal Brits according to them) friends. We learned we could not call these people "British" in one category anymore. The soccer game was a big deal becuse it was Bacerolona and Manchester unitied. Then an Irish band that sang the blues, thanks to an American guitarist... Good trip all in all

I have a newfound appreciation for the Gaelic font...Dingle, Ireland

We returned on Aer Lingus from Amsterdam once again to the Dublin airport (4th time this trip). Aer Lingus is the other major Irish airline. (The other-RyanAir-we took to Brussels) We hopped in a rental car and left Dublin for the west coast of Ireland. The drive was beautiful even though it was on the wrong side of the road. At first, we used the major highways and made great time. The views were pretty, but got a lot better once we hit the rural highways.

This part of the drive was stunning! Ireland is at least forty shades of green. And definitely has more farm animals than people. We enjoyed Dublin, but we fell in love with the rest of Ireland. It's beauty is outstanding. The people are good. And the animals are too darn cute!

Jordan adjusted to driving on the other side of the road well.

We got to Dingle just in time for some local music at Rick Steves's favorite pub--Murphys! (Marty and John, no t-shirts available b/c I thought you guys should have one!) Dingle is a great town. The peninsula has very few people, but has 1/2 million sheep. It also has the most artifacts & historical stuff in Ireland.

We woke to a traditional Irish breakfast. Then on to the famous Slea Head drive. I navitaged and read history while Jordan drove us around the curviest roads. I knew it would be pretty, but it was breathtaking. It usually takes about 3 hours, but with our wandering skills and photos it took about five hours! And since I broke the camera on the second stop of the tour, we were lucky the pics turned out this well. Good job Jordan! We even took self-photos at the westernmost point in Europe!!!

Then on to a pub crawl with a stop for the local pizzas! Great Irish music and Bulmers/Smithwicks.

Here I have to comment about the Irish, love em'. I knew from all my reads of travel books, online,and famous authors that we would like Ireland. Also, I was right to say they have so many similarities to the South. They are nice, slow, honest, food-loving, musical, beer drinking folk. They love their county and country. And they have a healthy dislike for the British.

Side note: The title comes from one of my many "out-loud thoughts" on our long drive. Most people in the county Kerry have their family name written on a stone placed in front of their home in Gaelic font. This has some relation with this county has the most Gaelic schools. And of course, my comment was "I have a newfound appreciation for the Gaelic font..."
-Clearly, I need more travel time and less time spent with the Microsoft Office apps.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Amsterdam

We arrived in Amsterdam under much better circumstances than the rainy night of our last visit. We also checked into the B&B from our last trip to find that they have upgraded! We stayed in their new building on the famous Singel canal; location doesn't get much better than this in Amsterdam!

We visited the Van Gogh museum which was housing a special exhibit of Picasso and Montmartre. We saw original posters and artwork from the famous Paris neighborhood. In something Amber and Jenna will appreciate--we saw the original cat "Noir" poster! It was originally an advertisement for a shadow puppet performance. But the Van Gogh paintings were great. We saw the many famous self-portraits & the Sunflowers painting and learned that Picasso did statues too. Also, they had a room with paintings from artists who were inspired by Van Gogh.

Then we wandered around Vondelpark, which is a park the locals visit.

With a lot less to do since we've already visited Amsterdam we took the time to rent a paddle boat and explore a little more. Lauren managed to make her way up the canal to buy us some beers at a local pub, which we drank in the canal. It truly is a different viewpoint of the city.

Mainly we spent our time wandering around the town and just enjoying the city. We went all over the left part of the city. We learned to work the trams this time, and even though they only go two directions it made for a bit less walking which is always welcome.

And of course, we had to re-live our favorite red light tour....

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Thalys & thoughts

THALYS!! BEST TRAIN EVER….in route from Brussels to Amsterdam!

And something we decided…

We aren’t city people. The only cities we love are Munich, Amsterdam, DC and New Orleans. I would include Vegas, but we only go to the three mile stretch known as “the Strip.” I think Europe has been the deciding factor. When we arrived in Brussels, the station is in the not so good part of town. Immediately, the city left a bad taste. However, we warmed up to it. The city did not take itself too seriously, and that is very evident by the people and the comic strips! However, we felt ourselves longing to get on the Thalys to Amsterdam, even as we were enjoying the pretty sites. We should consider this a “learning moment.” See why you travel?

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Brussels

Our 26 hours in Belgium was intense! Luckily we got to see everything I wanted –thanks to cabs.

We hopped in a cab and visited the Atomium. This statue is amazing! As amazing as the Eiffel Tower!

Then we made my dream come true and visited Mini-Europe. This park is has a mini-version all of at least one building in every European country! Even complete with a mini-Eiffel Tower…

From there, we wondered around the city trying to see the beautiful buildings. It is very easy to get lost in Brussels because the streets constantly change names and can be very winding.

The Grand Palace was as beautiful as promised. As we watched the sunset on the square, we sampled different Belgium beers & ate a waffle.

The last spot was the EU tour. If Congress is lazy, then the EU is just plain asleep. Most people had a driver drop them off at the door or wandered in around 10am. Oh Europe…

After that we tried to take a bus back to the hotel, as we had taken a bus to the EU, but somehow got on the wrong bus and ended up on the other side of the large city. A NYC analog would be like trying to go to the Upper East Side but ending up in Queens! Luckily, someone could call us a cab! See isn’t being able to take cabs make live so much better?!

Isn't that little guy funny?

Dublin Overview

When we got to Dublin, we had the opposite of Irish luck. We had an awful flight with a screeching baby in the row behind us and got hardly any sleep. Then the pub in which we could check into our room was closed b/c it was a weekend. After about ten tries with my southern charm, a man at the Westin told us about a luggage store place all the way across the river. Of course, the river we would learn is a short walk. After that incident, our Dublin days were great!

We hit all the high spots while we walked--The O'Connell bridge, the Post Office (where they read their Independence writing in 1916), and the Spire. The Spire is European's tallest monument.

We walked to Dublin Castle, which is where the Normans started the city. Then to Chester Beatty Library. This library is a collection of amazing books donated by an American businessman who moved to England then Dublin in the 20th century. We saw original pieces of the gospel writings from the Bible and other religious writings. Sadly, the whole first floor was closed, so we missed the "fun" writings. Then we toured St. Patrick's, where most of the famous Irishmen are buried. Also, we toured Christ Cathedral, where Strongbow is buried. And Trinity College, with the Book of Kells and the largest single library on Earth!

Then Jordan said we needed to experience Dublin. We headed to the touristy Temple Bar and heard some great live Irish music. We even encountered some crazy Irishmen dressed up as WWE people?! A nice Englishmen (they are so polite) helped me find my drink of choice, Bulmer’s cider! It's great and comes in four varieties. We noticed more Irish people drank Bulmer’s cider or Smirnoff Ice then Guinness...weird huh?

The second day we headed around Grafton Street and the famous parks-St. Stephen's Green and Merrion's Square. Both of these parks have famous statues:

We walked to the Guinness Storehouse. The tour was great and very informative. Sadly, I still couldn't stomach any Guinness Beer:

After that, we had plenty of time to stroll around and see Dublin:

We learned we loved hanging out at our local pub--the one we stayed above. The music, sports watching, and local families were fun to watch and talk to about Dublin.

We barely missed President Obama's speech. We did see all the set-up and the car route. Luckily, it didn't cause too much delay. Did you know that Lady Gaga and Obama were in Dublin on the same day? Coincidence, I think not!

From there we took RyanAir straight to Brussels.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Dublin (day one)

After a less than entertaining flight complete with a screeching ginger baby we made it to Ireland bright and early this morning. Dublin is a very nice little city and much smaller than expected, even after Marty said it would be.

While waiting to visit one of the spots on Lauren's list - a library :( - we did stumble across one of the sights Obama will be visiting/speaking on Monday (Dublin castle/Chester Beatty Library) :