Our Last Dalliance with Dublin

Drama at Connolly's pub!

So here we are counting down to our last days of three months in Dublin.  In the last 2 weeks we have almost managed to do the final things on our "to do whilst in Dublin" list.
One of our earliest plans was to attend the Viking Theatre, which we discovered when out walking one night.  This is a very small theatre, above a pub in Clontarf, about a 20 minute walk from the apartment. We saw a play entitled Down by the River, a one man play, that left us pondering its meaning.  We enjoyed this late, but first visit so much, we went back this last week to the opening night of "Dusty Memoirs". After the performance, everyone in the theatre was invited to join the director and performers in the pub.   We met the director, an ex school teacher who was living her passion of writing plays and who brought her sister over to meet us because her brother lived in Blacktown.

Dermot and tradional musicians

The Cobblestone

Dinner at The Hairy Lemon

As usual, we have also had numerous visits to and dinners at various pubs and restaurants around Dublin. Some have been with David's colleagues, whilst others have been purely out of interest. On our last Saturday night in Dublin, we finally got to hear Dermot fiddle playing at the Cobblestone with other tradional musicians.  I was amazed that all he wanted to talk about when he came over to see us after his session was the bubble experiments that David and a student had been doing during for the last few months!  Then after not finding the Italian restaurant Nico's that Dermot recommended, we ended up enjoying pasta at Bruno's, the 5th Italian restaurant we have eaten at in Dublin and all of them very good. Early Sunday evening, we had a lovely catchup with Sue and her husband Justin when they popped into Dublin. Sue used to teach with me at Glenwood.  David searched the Internet for a pub that claimed to serve truly authentic Irish food. So, the Hairy Lemon was where we headed and were not disappointed by the Irish Stew or the Coddle. Of course our meals came with the standard serving of spuds done at least 2 different ways.
So for the 4th night in a row on the Monday, we ate out and this time at Cafe En Seine or Cafe Insane as the locals call it. We had dinner with David's PhD student, Joseph. This pub is art deco and is completely ostentatious. I enjoyed my chicken meal but the men were disappointed with their lamb.
After a tapas dinner the following Thursday, our final restaurant meal in Dublin was at The Winding Stair with Dermot, Tara and Helen. This restaurant had been recommended to us and indeed it was lovely and, being opposite the Ha'penny bridge, was a short stroll from our favourite pub, The Merchants Arch, that we had discovered during our first week in Dublin. Our last dalliance with Dublin would not have been complete without a final visit. We were not disappointed and enjoyed the music once again!

At Bewley's Grafton St Cafe

We also couldn't have had our last week in Dublin without at least a couple more trips for chai latte, cappuccino and carrot cake at Bewleys - the best carrot cake ever!
Dublin also celebrated Aurthurs Day in our last week in Ireland. Arthur's day is a celebration of Arthur Guiness' birthday, although apparently no one knows when his birthday was but celebrating it in Ireland (and now world wide) has turned into a very successful PR stunt.  A number of international acts play unannounced in pubs across Ireland and so David was keen to find where Mumford and Sons were playing in Dublin, trying to guess at which one of over a 100 pubs with music on the night.  Needless to say, we never found them, but found thousands of Guiness-fueled mad Irish men and women, at times squeezed down streets shoulder to shoulder with them.  So one of  the few disappointments of this Dublin dalliance was to find later that night on the internet that Mumford and Sons had played at Whelans, one of the top music pubs in Dublin and the only place on our "to do" list that we didn't get to!

St Patrick's Library

Up to the last week, I thought that I was going to have 3 months work free until one of David's colleagues at Dublin City University organised for me to spend my last Friday morning at St Patrick's, a school associated with the university teachers training college.  It was an interesting morning seeing how the Irish organise a school and exchanging views with teachers but a few of their jaws dropped when they found out that I had come to Ireland on long service leave, not something they have in Ireland.

Visiting the Book of Kells, Trinity

A visit to Trinity University and the Book of Kells was something we had been meaning to do for 3 months but it took us to our final days in Dublin to get there. THe Book of Kells is an illuminated celtic version  of the 4 gospels. Whilst the display of the books is amazing, the old library was spectacular and straight out of Harry Potter. Rows of old texts on shelves reaching 2 floors looked more like fim props than the real thing. This was a fitting last tourist attraction for us!
We have had so many adventures  in the last 3 months and have had a ball. There is only one thing left to say and that is  (insert Irish accent).... "Its been GRAND!"

Can't wait until David takes up another Fellowship.




See you,
Anne

Looking for George

Tourette sur Loup

From the quaint old towns perched on hillsides in  Provence to the self-sanitising, rotating toilet seat in Germany, this trip has been one of contrasts.
Our trip to Europe began with a very fuzzy early morning start after a previous late night saying goodbye to Dolores and Paul, who were returning home to the US.

A street in Vence

We flew into Marseilles, picked up our rental car, adjusted to left hand drive and were off ( a little tentatively on my part) on our road trip from France to Germany via Vence, Aix en Provence, Como (to search for George), Appenzell,  Erlangen, Ingolstadt and finally Munich.

A Tourette street

The weather was warm and we were basked in beautiful sunshine as we made our way along the Nice motorway before taking the road to Vence. The roads narrowed the closer up the hills towards Vence we got. The hillside towns would appear as you turned a corner, perched as if they could tumble to the valley floor below. The terracotta walls and roofs were contrasted by brightly coloured shutters that seemed to open on to a sheer drop. Our hotel was opposite the market square and a short stroll to the old town. We spent the afternoon exploring the old town, wandering between streets, which were a mix of little restaurants, shops and residential. The local children were playing hide and seek, racing around the streets and hiding behind old rustic fountains. We visited the colourful Chapel of the Rosary designed by Henri Matisse and the cathedral in the square with a Chagall mosaic.

Chagall mosaic

This area of Provence is known for its many small villages home to  local artists and for its perfume. So on day 2 we went in the direction of Tourette sur Loup. This small hillside village was beautiful with unique art shops all displaying and selling the work of locals artisans and a market with varied ceramic wear. We could have spent so much time here, we will have to save the perfume tour for next time,  but we knew we had to get on the road to drive along the Cote D'Azure before getting to Aix en Provence where David was to give a lecture at the university. We drove through Antibes and Cannes and stopped off at Cassis to dip our feet in the Mediterranean (it was a painful walk across the pebbly beach). Cassis is where the French go for a day at the seaside and is not generally a tourist haunt. The best beaches can only be accessed by boat so the marina was filled with boats of all sizes, usually bigger boats than smaller and tall cliffs shelter the seafront. A castle was perched looking over the village and although it was late in the day the place was alive with people.

Cezanne statue, Aix

Soothing feet after Cassis beach walk

Whist David was busy working on the Monday, I spent the day wandering the town of Aix en Provence. Whist it is known as a city of fountains and the home of Cezanne, it lacked the charm of previous villages we had visited. However Aix (or X as it's pronounced) is not a village but a city known for its "baroque splendour". George, David's colleague there, took us out for a delightful meal where we were treated to specialties of the Provence region, with the meal carefully prepared and beautifully served. The French certainly place great importance on their food!

Monaco

Tuesday was to be our longest drive. We once again headed off in beautiful sunshine, stopping off in Monaco on the way. The many boats at the waterfront were magnificent, including one with a helipad. The place was dripping in wealth. David did his best James Bond impression as we drove our little Chevrolet Spark passed the Maserati's and Ferrari's at the door of the Monte Carlo Casino. We saw the palace and the resting place of Grace Kelly before our drive to Como.

View of Como from Brunate

Despite my best efforts, George Clooney eluded me in Como. It could have been the terrible weather that kept him away as it bucketed down, spoiling the view from the top of the funicular railway at Brunate. There was however, the most magnificent church, which had high ceilings all beautifully painted in the Baroque style. I think probably the most beautiful church we have seen. So after coffee and pastries back in Como whilst we waited for a break in the weather, we set off towards Switzerland, across the market square, where cars are not meant to go!

Hotel Kaubad, Appenzell

We drove around Lake Como to Mennagio, through winding streets where it was necessary to pull over for a car to pass, through Lugarno and up into the alps via the San Bernadino Pass. The scenery was spectacular as we climbed  and climbed and climbed. Our overnight stay was in  Kaubad, Appenzell, which we had chosen because it was in the  pristine Swiss countryside nestled amongst rolling green hills. We ate a traditional Swiss meal and awoke the next day to crisp alpine air. We passed cows with cowbells ringing as we made our way to St Gallen and it's old town. We ate lunch in Lindau where we had views of Austria and in fact realised breakfast had been in Switzerland, lunch was with views of Austria and dinner was to be in Germany. Lindau was a pretty spot overlooking a small harbour.

Lindau view over Lake Constance

We eventually got to Erlangan and met Dirk and Corrina for dinner. David was to attend meetings the following morning, so Corrina offered to show me around the town. Erlangen is mainly a university town, where you need to sidestep students on bicycles as you walk around. It was a beautiful sunny day so after Corrina left I spent a lot of time people watching and even had an odd conversation with a women who didn't speak English and I of course don't speak German.
Our final leg of our trip was to meet my cousin Belinda in Munich. In order to return the hire car by the required time on Saturday we had an overnight stop in Ingolstadt to be closer to Munich. We then caught the S-Bahn train to Pasing, a suburb of Munich, where we were met by Belinda and her daughter Lucy (her son Felix was doing his best Federer impersonation at his tennis tournament).

Rathaus, Munich

After catching up on all the family news Lucy took us into the city and played tour guide, taking us to the Rathaus (townhall) in Marienplatz, where we watched the glockenspiel (animated clock), went into Peterskirche, the oldest church in Munich, and up the tower for a view over the city, through the Viktualien Markt, the market square in the city centre, and to a cafe for Schmalznudel and Striezerl, traditional Bavarian pastries. We then met Belinda and Felix for dinner at the Hofbrauhouse, the most famous beer hall in Munich, where we had a great evening of Bavarian beer, food, music, singing, crowds and noise!
So now we are back in Dublin for our last 2 weeks. We have a list of things we still want to do including walking off French pastries and German cakes!!!!  Cheers, George!

                            

Hei (hello in Finnish)

Knit n Tag, Helsinki

The winding cobble-stoned streets, the endless steps climbing up medieval towers, the hospitality of the people, great weather for most of the time  and one of my favourite foods-salmon, it's been a wonderful, exciting week with many unexpected surprises!
Finland and Estonia - I'm so lucky to have experienced them both. We had a very early start to this trip and were amazed at the number of people drinking Guiness at 6 am at Dublin airport. The early start meant that we had more time in Helsinki before a flight to Turku the following day. Upon our arrival, and after we'd had a late lunch, we came across a park not far from our hotel where there were numerous groups sitting knitting. Apparently it was a "Knit n'Tag" event.  All the trees were covered with knitting from pom-poms to traditional designs to characters. I'm not sure the reason for this but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. 
 
From here we walked towards the ferry terminal and market area. The market stalls were beginning to pack up, however we saw stalls selling reindeer sausage which did not look at all appertising. The hotel had sold us a 2 day travel pass so we took advantage of this and set off on the ferry, which leaves from near the markets to Suomenlinna Fortress. This was an intriguing place as whilst it was a fortress in the middle of the harbour, it had more a village-type atmosphere with dirt paths covering a series of islands, which were linked by bridges. It mainly seems to have museums and restaurants on it now.

Turku Cathedral and Aura River

Day 2 saw us head off to Turku, a 30 minute flight from Helsinki, where David was to spend the next two days at Åbo University. Turku has nothing much of note except a lovely river front, although it used to be the capital of Finland. We found that arriving on a Sunday meant it was a challenge to find places to eat for dinner.  Surprisingly, we had dinner at a lovely rustic cafe beside the river with loads of atmosphere.  Monday is also a day where most things were closed,  so it was another walk along the river and a browse through the shops to keep myself occupied.

Naantalli waterfront

Once David's work commitments were completed, we took a bus to Naantalli. Normally it's a busy seaside town that thrives during the summer months but on a bleak day it was almost deserted.  
Back in Helsinki on day 4 after another early morning start, we took in the sights of Senate Square, Helsinki cathedral, Uspenski Cathedral, the market square, the old market building and the church in the rock. The architecture was varied and the cathedrals stood out on the Helsinki skyline when viewed from the harbour. We were blessed with beautiful weather and our day ended with a wonderful evening dinner cruise around the many islands in the archipelago out from Helsinki. The golds and oranges of the sunset were amazing. The boat took us past holiday homes scattered around the many waterfronts. Each of these had what looked like small boat sheds on the edge of the water but these were in fact saunas. Finland has over 3 million saunas throughout the country such that everyone in Finland can have a sauna at the same time!

Harbour view Helsinki Cathedral

Archipelago island sauna

Helsinki dinner cruise

Toompea Hill, Old City, Tallinn

Back to the waterfront on Day 5 for a 1 and 1/2 hour fast ferry across the Baltic Sea to Estonia and the capital Tallinn, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  This place was definitely a highlight of the week. We spent 2 days exploring the old medieval walled town, stumbling along the cobblestones streets, walking up numerous wall and tower stairs and eating salmon morning, noon and night! Well at least I did!

Climbing a Tallinn tower

We toured through the Bastion tunnels, underground passageways dating back to the 1600's upon which high walls were constructed. These were used to move soldiers and ammunition throughout the town but during WWII it was used as a bomb shelter and even more recently, homeless people would live in them. We climbed the tower of St Olav's church for a remarkable view of the town, walked along the top of the walls, wandered up the hill to the Alexander Nevski Cathedral and saw Fat Margaret, Tall Hermon and Catherine's passage ( the names given to towers and lane ways).

Dinner at Restaurant Kaevukohvik, Tallinn

We ate beautiful meals in restaurants with serene atmospheres  and, in fact, after searching for places to eat and being told we needed to book, we found a perfect restaurant where I ate "fried salmon" and David ate "moose stew". We had a room to ourselves there, with a view over the ancient town well. Perfect food, music and company!
We were truly disappointed when it was time to leave this interesting and beautiful town.

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A Musical Week

Take The Floor finale

From  Eileen's performance in "Take the Floor", the Fleadh music festival in Cavan to the pubs of Galway, it certainly has been a week of great "craic" (the Irish term for fun).
Firstly to" Take the Floor"- the lighting, costumes, music by Beoga and of course the 50 international Irish dancers made for a night of great entertainment. Eileen was graceful and made the dancing look easy. 10 days to create a performance, what an exceptional achievement!
Whilst Eileen was hard at work,Vicky, David and I took on Dublin with the help of Dolores and Paul. We had a great time together and tried our best to distract Vicky from missing her daughter.
Thursday night saw us take off to Belfast via the Fleadh Festival in Cavan. This is one of the largest annual traditional music festivals in Ireland. We specifically went to see a concert with Clannad and Altan, two of Ireland's most noted bands. Both play traditional Irish music but each have a different sound, Clannad's ethereal sound is similar to Enya's (she is the lead singer's sister) whilst Altan is more the foot-tapping jig and reel variety but they also play beautiful ballads. Both bands have been together for over 30 years and a couple of the musicians in Clannad looked like they were wearing shirts from 30 years ago. I loved the sound of Altan and their music distracted me from the hard seats, cosy closeness to the person next to me and the rain that was bucketing down outside.
Our 2 hour drive on to Belfast was not a pleasant one with the rain pouring down, and a wrong turn which meant narrow roads rather then the route we had planned. We finally arrived a little testy at about 1 am. Whilst David had a lecture the next day at the university, I had the luxury of a sleep-in, a late breakfast and a leisurely look around Belfast.  This included the Ulster Museum with 10 Da Vinci drawings, the Hop On Hop Off bus and the viewing platform at Victoria Square shopping centre. There was so much talk on the bus tour about the peace in Belfast and how much the country has changed, but this dialogue was interspersed with comment on the division that still exists. True peace will not be evident until the "peace" walls are removed and people move on without the constant reference to their past.

Ross Errily Abbey

We drove to Galway on Friday afternoon. We had spent an hour or so there with Emma and Rebecca and were determined to make it back to experience the Galway night life for which it is known. We also wanted the opportunity to see that area of Ireland as we had heard lots of things about the surrounding countryside.
So on Saturday morning, we headed towards Cong. This is a very pretty town.  I had read that if you imagined your romantic notion of an Irish village, this would be it. On the way, we went to Ross Errily Abbey. This is one of the best preserved Franciscan friaries in Ireland dating from the 14th Century. The countryside in this area is chequered with stone walled fences and filled with Connemarra Black Faced sheep.

The Hun

Near Cong is Ashford Castle. This is an amazing castle, now a 5 star hotel but in the most splendid grounds. It is set on 370 acres and has a lake at the front, turrets, fountains, woods for exploring and a nearby school of falconry. We had lunch in Cong, at the Hungry Monk cafe, before our return trip through the Connemarra district, an area of mountains, lakes and valleys.

Cong

The evening still lay ahead of us and it was the music and atmosphere of Quay Street we were looking forward to. We had a lovely dinner at the Quay Street Kitchen where the waitress suggested we go to The Crane to listen to more traditional music. It was packed with people but the music did not disappoint. 16 musicians were playing a variety of instruments with the occasional song being sung in between. It was marvelous!

On Sunday, we visited the village of Knock, an hour north of Galway, and attended mass. Knock is known for the appearance of Our Lady, St Joseph and St John the Evangelist in 1879. It is one of the major pilgrimage sites in Ireland. After visiting the Knock Shrine and browsing in the many shops selling religious items, we drove west to the coast, to Westport. South of Westport there is an imposing mountain called Croagh Patrick. Many people climb this mountain as a pilgrimage of penance as it was here that St Patrick spent 40 days and nights.

Knock Shrine

Croagh Patrick

Our weekend was fast coming to an end and so after the long drive back across Ireland, we settled into to another week at home in Dublin. Now we have Finland and Estonia to look forward to next weekend.

Musicians, The Crane Bar, Galway

Touring, Tombs and a Transvestite!

After a quiet week, taking it gently due to my mishap the previous week, we waited the arrival of Vicky and Eileen Wallace. Eileen is in Dublin to be part of a one night Irish dancing show "Take  the Floor" after being selected from dancers from around the world. Rehearsals started Monday, so we had the weekend to allow them to settle in before Eileen was off for this magnificent opportunity.

At the Ferocious Mingle Market

We managed to fit in a bit of shopping and a visit to the Ferocious Mingle Market on Sunday. This is a quirky vintage market with a touch of the eccentric and, because it was Sunday, stall holders dress up. We bought a couple of books. One Vicky found that she said was a great book was called Man and Boy.  But looking a little longer, she found the book she actually had enjoyed - Boy and Man. What was the chance of finding those two books on one second hand bookshelf? So we bought them both. There was supposed to be music that started at 1 pm but like all things Irish that does not necessarily mean 1 pm and so we left the Mingle Market without listening to the music.

Sand sculpture

Then we headed off to the sand sculptures at the neighbouring Dublin Castle and stumbled across Furlong and Kehoe, the ice cream shop where we tried ice cream flavours such as Guiness, bacon and maple syrup and  beetroot and chocolate.
Once Eileen was dropped off on Monday, David, Vicky and I set off to explore Newgrange, one of the most famous Neolithic sites (5000 years old) in Europe, which is north of Dublin. We had hired a car for the day to take us to Bru an Boinne (The Boyne Valley) as the Newgrange region is known in County Meath .

We went on the David Officer tour, which took us firstly to a place called Monasterboice. This is in a rural area close to the coast, dates back to the 6th century and is known for its elaborately carved Celtic cross, one of the largest in Ireland

Monasterboice

Amongst the ancient ruins, there are also new graves. The cemetery was alive with colour as flowers are regularly put on the graves. We came across a man standing before a newer grave that he was tending and that was decorated with marble figurines and words such as sister and friend. I asked him if the grave was special to him and he proceeded to tell us about his daughter who had died aged 12 in 2008. She loved to sing and had been in her school concert when she had fainted and in his words "was dead before she hit the floor". He said her heart just stopped beating. His story has stayed with me and moved me greatly.
The David Officer tour then took us to Mellifont Abbey, the first Cistercian monastery in Ireland,  and then on to Knowth. Knowth and Newgrange are the sites of one of the worlds most important archaelogical discoveries and is a truly amazing place.

Knowth

On top of the Knowth mound

Neolithic art, Knowth

A World Heritage Site, prehistoric passage tombs are spread across the landscape and these mounds reveal the oldest surviving traces of human activity (www.newgrange.com). The tombs at Knowth are spectacular because of the elaborate carving (Neolithic Art) on the massive kerbstones. Newgrange is impressive as an engineering feat as every year at the shortest day of the year, a single beam of light penetrates into the central chamber of the tomb. My words don' t do justice to this area.

Newgrange

How the huge kerbstones were moved across the landscape to this area can only be surmised.

Hill of Tara

On our way back home, we went via the Hill of Tara, one of the most sacred sites in Ireland.  From there you are supposed to be able to see 23 counties of Ireland. Sitting in the car for the day did mean I arrived home feeling very tender, but am determined a few cracked ribs won't spoil my time here.     Anne

PS Have returned from a night at the local pub where we played Crazy Bingo hosted by Annie Balls. Well... What can I say.... Nothing!