Filed under: Dublin
Mostly I like coming to Dublin – but one thing that makes it a little sad is that my normally perfectly placed birthday seems to fall while we’re here so often. And I don’t love spending my birthday here. Ever since everyone forgot it a couple of years ago I tend to at least mention it – but I don’t really make plans. (Mostly because the only thing worse than not celebrating would be planning to celebrate and having it backfire.)
The weather was really nice on my birthday. In fact, I think the weather was much better here than at home. We ended up going for a big lunch at the Italian restaurant near us. They no longer serve seafood chowder so I got lasagna. I figure that while lasagna is never great, it’s also rarely terrible.
After lunch we went into town. There was supposed to be a festival happening in the docklands. In practice – not so much. So we ended up walking to the far end of the docks for nothing. Except they have added a big Ferris wheel to the area. And clearly I had a momentary lapse of good judgment and decided that we should go on it. It just seemed like we ought to do something fun for my birthday. But some readers might not know, I am deathly afraid of heights. Both Lily and I are.
But we got on. The Ferris Wheel started to rotate. We went up and the commentary started. And then the wind picked up. I could feel the little cab shake and I could hear the wind. And the commentary told us we were 60 meters up. (To be honest, it would have meant a lot more to me in feet – but I knew it was high.) So I made Patrick push the panic button. And Lily and I alighted after the first rotation. The guy in the ground – who works there – said he hates heights too and never goes up. Could have used that bit of wisdom before we set out.
My day capped off a couple of hours later when Patrick gave me a size 16 skirt.
Filed under: Dun Laoghaire
One of the things that we all miss when we’re in Minnesota is walking down the Dun Laoghaire Pier. So we’ve been there twice. (Dun Laoghaire is a town south of Dublin; we live much closer to Dun Laoghaire than to the center of Dublin.) There are actually two piers in Dun Laoghaire. The East Pier is the one that’s best for a walk if you want to see people and maybe get an ice cream. The East Pier is a little rougher. But usually your odds of seeing a seal (or even porpoise!) is higher on the east pier. Amazingly we walked down both and saw a seal each time. It’s always a big thrill for us to see a seal.
Otherwise they’ve fixed up our favorite Irish Chinese restaurant, Café Mao. The cinema is showing Kung Fu Panda 2. They’re still renovating the boardwalk (and have been for more than a year) but it’s going to be nice when they’re done!
I don’t have any pictures. I should have made some attempt to catalog it – but we got on the train at 7:00. We couldn’t get reserved tickets so we were watching the train station board to get the platform. And when it finally showed up we were quick. We had to be about the first people on the train. We settled into primo seats around a table. Sat back to relax and realized that we were in reserved seats. There was nothing on the outside of the train to indicate reserved seating – and by the time we realized it we have lost our first to the train advantage. SO we sat where we were.
There was a couple who walked by us – and I’m pretty sure we were in their seats and they took pity on us. So we waited for any other potential seat takers. And we waited. Eventually we realized that the train was overbooked. People were sitting in the aisles and we weren’t the only ones in reserved seats who hadn’t really reserved. But we got lucky and we got the seats, which was super lucky!
So we had a nice ride on the train all the way to Holyhead (Wales). We arrived around 11 – but that was OK because we had plenty of time to get on the boat. It left at 2:40 am. Really it was us, the mail and about 8 other foot passengers. We and the mail were sober.
The girls mostly remember people telling jokes on the way from the train station to the boat. I was getting afraid on the walk to the boat that we would be walking onto a boat from 20 years ago with benches for seats – fortunately it was a very nice boat. It was just a terrible time to travel. We were very happy to get off the boat in Dublin (no hassle in immigration), into a taxi and walk out into Cabinteely!
Filed under: London
I’m glad that I was pretty good about maintaining the blog while we were traveling – now we’ve been in Ireland for a week and I’m working to remember what we did in London. We decided that we’d try a mix of sightseeing and shopping. (I thought we’d get our shopping done day one – but apparently that only whetted the appetite and the girls had things they wanted to go back and actually buy.)
We started on London’s South Bank. It’s a great place to see Big Ben, London Eye, the Thames – and there was some sort of festival going on so we got to see fun sculpture and arty, mini-houses, which were very much like the arty ice fishing houses we saw in Minnesota a few years ago – only not so cold. There was a huge hay fox. I took a close-up and a picture with Kate in it for perspective. Also we had a really nice lunch. Much nicer than we should have had – but we were making up for McDonald’s the day before.
Then we headed back to the other side of the River. We walked by Big Ben, Parliament (where you have to say – look kids Big Ben, Parliament – from European Vacation). It was a beautiful day and we took plenty of pictures. There’s a great picture of Aine in front of a horse at White Chapel.
We were going to walk to Buckingham Palace – but we decided we’d seen it before and Trafalgar Square would be better. Our timing was perfect – we got there, got some cute pictures and were able to duck into the Tate Gallery for the 10 minute rain shower. From there we headed back to Picadilly Circus, the toy store and up around Oxford Street. It was kind of fun to walk around that area since I used to work on Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road so I’ve done the walk a lot.
Eventually we made our way down to Covent Garden. We’d been there before but it’s always fun to see the people and the buskers. Then we decided we’d wind our way back to Euston Station – where we planned to get the train/boat to Dublin. Our funny bonus sight was walking by Pineapple Express. I shouldn’t even admit that we’ve watched it. I can’t even tell you where it is – but suddenly everything looked a little surreal and I realized I’d seen the street before – on TV.
Filed under: London
After our ups and downs (mostly ups) it was great to land in London. People speak English, which is a boon when you speak English. I lived in London for years, so I kind of know it. And as soon as we got out in the train station I saw a big ol’ sign for free wi-fi. Nothing could have made me happier.
I called Patrick (via Skype) and learned that he had secured the apartment I had tried to book. That too was good news since a search earlier in the week indicated that there were no hotels rooms in London for less than £600 per night. Apparently there was a big tennis match in town – and that may have hurt my chances for accommodation. But as I said, in the end, despite my utter lack of responsible planning we got a nice place in Hammersmith. Actually it was a good size bedsit, which means everything was in one room (shower right next to the stove) and the toilet was outside the front door (luckily right outside the door for us). I’ve included pictures.
We took it easy in London. We had visited before and we had 2 full days so we didn’t feel like we had to see anything so we could just do what we wanted. Aine wanted to go to Hamley’s, the big toy story. Lily wanted to go to the Times Square of London and the street where Austin Powers went shopping. Kate was up for anything.
So we started by taking the Tube to Leicester Square, a quick jaunt to Piccadilly Circus, en route we popped into M&M World. It was a big highlight for the girls; me not so much. We walked by Ripley’s Believe it or Not, which also drew great interest from everyone but me. This time I pulled the meanest mom ever card and we didn’t go in. But we enjoyed the ambience of Piccadilly.
Then up Regent Street to Hamley’s and Carnaby Street. We bought some things and made plans to return the next day for others. Then we walked down Oxford Street to Marble Arch. I made my usual side trip to find the Banksy picture in the Tube station but realized that the girls didn’t share my passion for a graffiti boondoggle. We walked through Hyde Park – just hours before Kings of Leon were slated to play an outdoor concert.
Then we scooted to Chiswick to meet an old friend of mine – Alison. It had been nearly 20 years since we last met. It was great to meet her, her gorgeous daughter Millie and partner Matthew. We had a fun night. Years ago Alison and I used to go on big hikes in London. We’d stop to get Wotsits (a detail I had forgotten) and then pooled our pennies for a pint. My favorite thing was how often people asked if we were sisters. As the pictures probably indicate we don’t look much alike – except that we both have always had long hair.
It was a great, easy day!
Filed under: Paris
So we had our plan for Paris in 8 hours. We mapped it out. We read about French history so that we’d be in the know. Unfortunately the train wasn’t in on our plan. The Train was 3 hours late. How does a train that leaves on time arrive three hours late? I have no idea – but it does.
So we did Paris in 5 hours.
And I wanted it noted that we saw just about everything on our list. We left the train station on foot and we travelled on foot the whole day. We did see a musical bus – which I’m sure what part of the Faites de la Musique. We walked through a sculpture gardens along the Seine on the way to Notre Dame – and had very delicious pain au chocolate.
We saw Notre Dame – from the outside. In fact everything we saw, we saw only from the outside. Going indoors was just not going to work for us. The lines were too long and our time was too tight. We loved the gargoyles and the gruesome statues. We took pictures of the lower ones. We loved the devil and John the Baptist. And of course the flying buttresses – which really is just something I like to say.
Crossing the bridge over to the Ille de la Cite (where Notre Dame is) we saw a gate with lots of locks on it – apparently it’s good luck or inspiration to lock your love by putting your name on a lock and leaving it there.
So after that we hightailed it to the Louvre. We passed Pont Neuf (a bridge) on the way. Again, the devil was literally in the detail. There are faces sculpted along the bridge are all different and so expressive. We tried to capture a few. From there to the Louvre. We saw the big glass pyramids, which were very cool. (Also we saw how they clean it – I included a picture.) I was sort of sad that we didn’t get to go in. In my original plan, I had hoped we’d get in but the late train made it impossible. So we marched towards the Eiffel Tower…
We marched by the Orsay Museum (Impressionist Artists), some fancy government buildings, through Les Invalides, all getting a good taste of the Left Bank and then the more businessy, upscale area right near the Tower to the Tower itself.
It’s huge and looming as you might expect. The girls seemed to like it a lot – I suppose, especially for Aine it was one thing she recognized. And it’s always fun to see things you recognize. So after walking around a bit towards Napoleon’s Tomb Kate pointed out that maybe we should be worried about getting to the train station, which was on the other side of town. Luckily she spoke up.
It took a while to find a taxi. I knew that they didn’t love take 4 people but of course what could I do. When a taxi finally stopped, I think he thought there were 2 of us – until the others jumped out from the bushes. I mustered up my French and asked nicely if he could take us to the Gare du Nord. (We did drive by the Arc de Triomphe – which was the final item on our list.) The traffic was terrible – and once we got into the station, the traffic was worse! We got a lot of hassle getting into the UK (immigration comes before the train.). They asked tons of questions and of course I had almost nothing in terms of birth certificate or tickets back to the US but eventually we got onto the train with about 7 minutes to spare. Unfortuantely we got on the train starving and now quite sure where we’d be spending the night in London. I had hoped to talk to Patrick at the station.
On the up side – the chunnel train is kind of cool. You really only spent about 20 minutes of the 2 hours journey going under the see and it mostly feels like a tunnel.
I know this won’t get posted in advance – but I wanted to put our plan into writing – just in case we succeed you can all congratulate us. We’re ambitious. We will be getting to Paris at 11 am and leaving at 7 pm. We have one suitcase on rollers, my very heavy computer bag, and each of the big girls has a purse type bag.
So out of the train station (Bercy) we will be going to the Notre Dame, then crossing the Pont Neuf to the Louvre. We may go into the Lourve; we’re going to see what the lines are like. If we go in I think we’ll be focused on one painting. I don’t want to give it away but it rhymes with Pona Pisa. From the Lourve we’ll be walking through the Left Bank and Les Invalides to get the Tour Eiffel. At least two of us would not enjoy the heights – so we will probably not go up. We’ll take a quick glance at Napoleon’s Tomb as we make our way to Arc de Triomphe. If we have time we’ll try to see Sacre Coeur on the way to Gard du Nord.
PS We are there on the Faites de la Musique, which means there should be buskers and music wherever we go.
Monday morning Michael took off for Australia. Then Patrick and Irish Grandma headed to Dublin. The girls and I went on a boondoggle walk. It took us to a part of Italy that really was all Italian. There was a food market where the girls got lollypops. Eventually we got tired and hot and headed up to the train station.
We had a nice lunch of parma ham and melon, pizza and carbonara. Tasty! After another, quicker boondoggle walk to hang out at the station for a long time. I have to say the kids were really good.
Eventually we got on the train and promptly sat in the wrong couchette, which meant as soon as the train started we had to walk through the train to the penultimate car to our couchette – so that seemed very exciting.
Our couchette is really two long seats facing each other with 2 bunks for sleeping above. There’s a big window on one side and a sliding door to the walkway on the other. In the couchette next to ours was an American family who apparently had something much posher in mind. But we liked it. Aine climbed up immediately; Kate soon followed. We all played on computers (or wrote blog posts) until we fell asleep and once we did fall asleep we each had our own bed.
We went right through the Swiss Alps, which was beautiful. I woke up the big girls to at least see it. I took some pictures – but know from experience that those sort of shots never do justice to the real thing.
Now we’re just sitting on the train – two asleep, two awake – waiting to get to Paris.
Filed under: Rome
Our final full day in Rome started with Patrick and Michael heading back to the O’Neill church in Trastevere, while the girls and I headed to a market in the same area. The market was fun – just wished we had more time to spend. It appeared again as if we were in the minority not speaking Italian. The market was the kind where they empty bins of clothes onto a table and sell them very cheaply. We loved it!
Next we met up with the brothers and Irish Grandma and went to church. Despite rumors, the church did not crumble as I darkened the door and I did remember when to sit and stand.
Finally we made our way to the Villa Borghese – a large park. Unfortunately we took two taxis and that was a big mistake. Patrick and the girls took one; Irish Grandma, Michael and I took another. Then we spent more than an hour looking for them. Apparently their taxi driver had dropped them off someplace very different within the park. The park is the size of Phoenix Park in Dublin or maybe Como in St Paul.
Eventually we decided to have lunch. There was one very nice restaurant in the park and we knew that was the one Irish Grandma would choose and we were very OK with it. It was very nice. Our eyes popped a little at the prices but we forged ahead. We ate outside partially to keep a lookout and mostly because that was the only option. Luckily I spied Patrick and AIne looking for us!
Aine told Patrick he has to look at the restaurant once she saw it and she knew Irish Grandma would want to be there. But still it was lucky that we connected even when we were so close.
Oh – I had tomato risotto with raw tuna. It was delish!
After the lunch we walked around the gardens. There was a lot of modern art, as you can see from the pictures. We loved the sculpture. The park again was as full of Italians on a Sunday as tourists so that was fun. The girls played on a bouncy castle and the merry-go-round. We watched some amazing skaters and rollerbladers practice/show off their moves. There was one guy who had to be north of 70 in shiny stretch pants and a tight yellow top. He could do the splits on rollerblades.
After a while we wandered home – down the Spanish steps, around the Pantheon and through the Piazza Navarona.
We capped off the night with some gelato!
Filed under: Rome
Patrick’s uncle (Father Eugene Boyle) was the Vatican librarian until he died about 10 years ago. He’s kind of an adopted uncle. Apparently when Father Eugene was young his parents died and Patrick’s grandmother took him in.
So on Saturday afternoon we went looking for where he was buried. Here’s the kind of funny thing – he’s buried in a catacomb. You don’t really think about people being buried in catacombs these days.
Father Eugene is buried in San Clemente. Under the church there is a layer of catacomb and a layer of ancient ties. Apparently it is where the ancient cult of Mithras held ceremonies. It was cool and damp but didn’t feel super creepy. In the very depths there was a back room with an underground spring. That was kind of cool to see.
Father Eugene is buried a little closer to the service. I tried to get a picture – although the space is pretty dark. (He gets a very nice plaque!)
To cap off the night we went for a walk down by the Tiber River. For summer they have set up sort of a festival with tents of food, drinks, game and trinkets set up. Actually the food and drink weren’t promote pups and beer; they were full on restaurants with tables.
We were definitely in the minority not speaking English, which was rare for our week. It was super crowded with everyone having a good time. And although we were there from about 11 pm to midnight, our kids were not the youngest there. So it was a nice blend of families and younger folks having a good time.
Walking down the river gave us an opportunity to spend a few minutes on Isolta, which is a island in the middle of the river. They had a big drive-in type movie screen set up for a big show – but nothing was showing as we walked past.
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