Filed under: Dublin
Tonight the girls and I are trying to create a list of words that are different in Ireland than in the US. Here it is:
Irish to US
Post – mail
Crisps – chips
Biscuits – cookies
Chips – French fries
Senior infants – kindergarten
Junior infants – preschool
mum or mam – mom
granny – grandma
colour – color
football – soccer
euro – dollar – OK a little different but…
surname – last name
track suit – sweats
first class – first grade
telly – TV
cross – mad
mad – crazy
Filed under: Dublin
Today we went with Patrick’s mom and brother to Powerscourt Gardens. It a beautiful estate – apparently previously owned by former princess Sarah Ferguson’s parents. They are building a new Ritz Carleton next to it – and the restaurant will be Hell’s Kitchen’s Gordon Ramsay. It opens on October 1 and I’m saving my money to have dinner there at some point.
We ran into a school friend of Kate’s while we were there. (Picture below.)
Not much more to tell – but lots of great pictures to share…
The weather was absolutely amazing today. It was actually hot and super sunny. So we went to Bray. There is a boardwalk of sort in Bray – but really we spent most of our time walking in the sea.
We took a bus to Bray, which was about 30 minutes. We are at a horrible Chinese Restaurant. Word to the wise – don’t order house fried rice here. Then we walked through the town, which was a cute town until we got to the Esplade – the walkway near the beach. It wasn’t too busy but there were quite a few people – some wearing swimsuits. We should have brought Aine’s suit too – she was soaked before the afternoon was out. But it was so warm that it didn’t really matter.
We hung out for a long while and then to the Dart (commuter train) into the City Center to get Lily’s birthday present. It was fun except that I had no idea where the toy stores might be and Aine had a huge meltdown.
All in all though it was a very good day!
Filed under: Dublin
Last night Patrick and I went into town for Culture Dublin. There were free cultural events at 80 venues across Dublin. We had our map and a plan. I wanted to go for the free dance lessons and the Bollywood dance exhibit. Patrick wanted to go see some lecture at the Abbey Theatre.
We got into town early – 5:15. We started at the National Museum. (Clearly on Patrick’s list.) So we saw lots of Viking relics. They were pretty cool. The building was amazing. They were setting up the wine and appetizers, which started at 6:00. So we move onto the National Library and saw the Yeats exhibit. (Again, Patrick’s list.) And again we were early but the exhibit was well done – very interactive.
So then we headed to maybe see something on my list – and we ran into Kieran Folliard (owner of Kieran’s). In fact Patrick and I walked right past him, luckily he is more observant.
So we headed with Kieran to the Shelbourne Hotel Bar, which is very swanky. Luckily I was wearing my cool new boots and dress. We ended up there most of the night until I persuaded Patrick that we should see a little bit more of Culture Dublin.
There were supposed to be women in big butterfly costumes in Stephen’s Green – but we didn’t see them. It was about 9:15 and what we learned was not most of the places we tried were closing, despite the fact that they were supposed to be open until 10.
Finally we ended up touring a third rate art gallery in Temple bar and see some experimental art installments – like the one of the giant TV. It mostly looked like someone’s living room – someone with lots of teenagers.
So we headed back to meet up with Kieran and ended up at a fairly swanky pub/club called Café in Seine.
Then we took a cab home, which really wasn’t too expensive.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Mom and I went to the town. We went shopping! She got a dress, and some boots.I got a electric pencil,and a new diary.Kate (my sis) got a giant earser/rubber,and a pencil case.Aine (my other sis) got some pony tales.We went in duble decker bus on the top of corse.after shopping we went to Eddie Rockets.Last sunday we went to a farm we saw some chickens,littel ponys,ducks/gesse,goats/ sheep,and lots of plants.My teacher is Mrs.Phelan(F-ee-lan)My helper teacher is Mrs.Fahy(f-h-ee) We get to wear a sweatsuit for gym.My email adress is lily@10 questionsabout.com.Please coment my blog please!That’s all folks!
Filed under: Uncategorized
Today we went with Patrick’s mom and brother (Fearghal) to Dumdrum – an inner suburb in North Dublin – where they have a farm for visitors. The weather was crisp but nice for the farm. We saw goats, pigs, sheep, chickens, and more. There are also a lot of gardens that we walked through – well most of us walked, Aine ran.
After a while we had a nice lunch at the farm. The farm was originally owned by 2 sisters. When they died they left the farm to the County Council under the condition that it be kept open for visitors. The farm house isn’t really what you’d picture – isn’t more like a manor house. On very big plus – they had chocolate chip cookies – which didn’t make me one bit sad.
Filed under: Dun Laoghaire
Patrick brought the girls to see Bratz the Movie this morning. I went to the library to work. Sadly the nearby library was closed – but I was able to go to Deansgrange Library (25 minute walk away) to get online.
I met every after the movie and we ate lunch in Dun Laoghaire. Then we went to see a puppet show, which was a Punch and Judy type thing. After that we had 99s (soft serve ice cream cones with Flake candy bars stuck in them). The kids played on the playground and eventually we took the bus home.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Lily & her teacher Mrs Phelan
Lily is School
Filed under: Uncategorized
The girls have completed one full week of school – and everyone has lived to tell the tale.
Both girls had gym (aka PE) today so they could wear their track suits rather than the uniforms. The downside is that the sweatshirts are pretty warm and it was actually hot today. But the track suits seem much more comfortable than the regular uniform.
Lily has had quite a bit of homework – well a little every night anyways. Kate said they do most of their homework in school and only had a few math problems one night.
Aine has a friend in Montessori named Becky. She gets an treat everyday – apple and juice today.
Irish Grandma babysat last night while Patrick and I went out to see a play, The Big House at The Abbey. The play was OK but it was very, very nice to actually be out. We also stopped at The Palace Bar for a pint before the show.
Filed under: Uncategorized
While the rest of you slept, we started school today. Lily is in third class, Kate is in second class, and Aine is going to Montessori.
It’s about a 20 minute walk to school. We dropped of the big girls and left each in her homeroom. Kate seemed to find a friend right away. We didn’t evne get a chance to see Lily sit down – but I’m sure she’s fine.
Aine nearly knocked me over as she headed to the toys – so we’re not worry about her at all.
I’m hoping that the Internet connection will be up at home soon so that the girls can tell you about their impressions themselves.
(I couldn’t fin a web site for their school – but this is the parish: http://www.johnstownparish.org/)
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