Blarney and other stops with Abuelita

We made it back from Italy in time for Santa's visit.  Kids were spoiled as usual.  Went to church down the street with maybe 20 other people for a mass that lasted less than 20 minutes.  Guess everyone goes on Christmas Eve.  At least we didn't have trouble finding seats!  

The December - January time frame really isn't the best time of the year to visit Ireland.  Despite the nasty weather, we managed to show Alfonso's mom a fair amount of Ireland.  We headed into Dublin for sight seeing but apparently everything is still closed on the 27th of December despite websites saying stating closures only for Christmas and St. Stephen's Day.

My cousins, Beth and Oscar, were in town and we were lucky enough to meet for a quick trip to the park and bite to eat.  Then we had a belated Irish Christmas meal with the McCann family.

Took the requisite trip to Oughterard but his mom's knees weren't up for the climb to the top of the church.

Cold, windy visit to Castletown.

Finally made it down to Blarney with the kids.  The grounds are huge and there are tons of buildings and places to explore.  Unfortunately it was raining, so we went to the main castle and that was about it.

Here we are waiting in line to kiss the Blarney Stone.  Alfonso and I had both kissed it on separate occasions, so we passed on laying down in the rain for repeats.

You lay down, grab the rails, lean back and smooch a wet stone that's been kissed by countless saps beforehand all hoping to acquire the gift of gab.  

Happy 40th, Alfonso!  Not the most exciting party.  Good food, good pie, surrounded by those who love you the most...what else could anyone want?  Mariachis and a trip to see Real Madrid...well, there's always next year!

Italia

The Colosseum and the Forum

It is becoming increasingly difficult to find the right words to describe our experiences.  Since I was a little girl, I dreamed of seeing the Colosseum without having any real expectation of doing so.  Over the years, you see pictures, hear stories, watch movies and your mind tries to conceptualize the idea of the Colosseum.  My mind failed to imagine the grandeur.  Standing in front of this historical, renowned, massive, architectural wonder was euphoric.  It was just a complete "wow" moment.  The visit itself was less epic and more  common place as Nadia had a stomach ache, Alfonso's mother struggled with all the steps and the boys took turns pretending to kill each other gladiator style.  Despite the more mundane aspects of our outing, it was fabulous!

The Forum wasn't nearly as crowded as the Colosseum which automatically gave it bonus points.  It was nice to wander around but the ruins weren't in the best shape.

We were in Rome with Alfonso's mother as a built in babysitter on our anniversary with countless options of romantic venues.  Alfonso's choice?  Ditch the wife and take the boys to a Roma vs Milan soccer game!

"Exciting" game that ended 0-0.
How can it be exciting if no one ever scores?

The Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Basilica

 The amount of trash in Rome severely detracted from the experience.  Graffiti on every building.  Stray cats and pigeons galore.   People litter shamelessly.  Rome is disgustingly filthy.  Despite all the incredible sights Rome has to offer, it is hard for me to fall in love with a garbage heap.

We took a quick jaunt through the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel.  Very similar feel as going through the Louvre.  With the kids, we could barely scratch the surface of what the Vatican had to offer.  What we did manage to see was quite impressive but stressful trying to keep track of three kids among the throngs of tourists.  Marina, Alfonso's cousin, gave us a wonderful tip that saved us from a massive queue to enter St. Peter's Basilica.  Alfonso was very impressed with St. Peter's -- the size, the detail, the beauty.  I was dealing with crabby kids so I was more in the mindset of "Another fancy church?  Nice.  Now let's go eat."  (Alfonso really needs his own blog.)

In front of St. Peter's Basilica

Inside St. Peter's Basilica

Almalfi Coast

On the balcony

We stayed in a little town on the coast called Vietri Sul Mare which was right outside Salerno.  It put us in a good location to visit Paestum and Pompeii with the added bonus of some gorgeous scenery.  We stayed right on the beach.  Well, about 100 feet above the beach and took some spiral stairs down to the beach.  The kids were crazy enough to get in the water (when I was up in the house and couldn't stop them.)  The sun was warm but the water was cold.  They lasted about 20 minutes before they turned purple.  The view was stunning.  Blue skies, blue seas and beautiful sunshine.  Unfortunately, loads of trash on the roads and in the towns.  I just don't understand...

Looking down from the balcony

Paestum

Temple of Neptune/Poseidon

Temple of Athena in background

Kids throwing pine cones by the Temple of Hera 

Where do you go to see some incredible, well-preserved Greek ruins?  Italy, of course.  The Greek colony of Poseidonia was founded in the 6th century BC which included temples to Athena, Poseidon and Hera.  Later the Romans conquered and built a forum and an amphitheater.  This place is a hidden gem.  Despite the sheer size and incredible ruins, the place was empty.  We had the entire park to ourselves for almost two hours before any other tourists showed up.  It was nice to have a quiet outing after the crowds of Rome.  The temples were just astounding.  We thought Athena's temple was huge until we walked down to the other two.  The columns of Poseidon's temple were simply massive.  Absolutely loved this spot!

Kids had fun running around
to be in the panoramic shot twice.

Pompeii

Pompeii is a remarkable window into the past.  I couldn't get over how well things were preserved.   I didn't realize how much artwork was intact.  I called everyone over to see a painting of a serpent in one of the first homes, only to go to the next room and see a bird, and then some buff dudes with 6 packs painted on, and then dancing ladies, etc.. The city itself would be impressive by modern day standards.  The detail and painting of each room makes our homes look lackluster and uninspired by comparison.   Street after street of ancient marvels and we only saw a tiny fraction of the city.  Too much to see and the kids were dragging as this was at the end of our too long trip.  Although the world is blessed with these extraordinary ruins, it was at such a high cost.  Walking around this incredible city, you realize how many amazing architects, artists, poets the city held.  The shared knowledge and memories of 20,000 people just gone.  What a horrible tragedy.

We are so blessed to be close enough to travel and see such marvels.  It was a magnificent trip but a bit exhausting and two days too long.  Nadia was a trooper walking around seeing sights that she didn't really comprehend.  When it was all over, she said that we just saw "a bunch of old stuff."  Alejandro was more excited about the beach and the pasta than anything else.  Dante was in his element with all the Greek/Roman gods.

 We headed back to Ireland on the 24th so Santa would know where to find us.  Our trip was definitely the best present.  A very merry Christmas!

Kilkenney and Half day trips

Cathy was able to come for a quick trip.  With only a week, we managed to see quite a bit despite the fact that the kids had school.  Alfonso finally got to take some time off work so we let him tag a long as well.  

We took our first family trip to Kilkenney (Alfonso had stopped before with Jason).  The castle has an interesting history of the old towers being modernized and expanded over time, falling into ruins and then being restored.  The grounds are free of charge and gorgeous.

We didn't have time for the trek over to Cliffs of Moher.  So I googled seaside trails near Dublin and we ended up on a stunning hike in Howth.  (I don't know what we would do without the internet.)  The sun was even kind enough to grace us with its presence for most of the day.  

In Howth, after a tasty lunch at the pub

The port in Howth

Alejandro had his science fair presentation.  I think he was only glad we showed up so he could add to his tally of how many times he gave his presentation.  

With the kids being in school most of her visit, we didn't have time to wander very far.  It is surprising what we could manage to see between 9 and 2:30.  We hit the usual, nearby spots but somehow never made it across the street to explore St. Finian's Church.

Glendalough

Wicklow Mountains

Oughterard

Foggy day at Castletown

The Long Room Library at Trinity College

In Dublin's fair city, where girls are so pretty,
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone. 

Alejandro's Birthday

Double Digits.  Where does the time go?  

Grandparents

Mom and Dad made it over for a visit (just in case, you didn't notice them in the pictures from Paris).   It was very special to share the experience with them and as an added bonus, we had built in babysitters.  In addition to Paris, we made some memories around the Emerald Isle as well.  They had been to Ireland years ago with Grandma Conrad and Aunt Maggie, but there's loads of places they didn't get to see.  And loads more that they missed, so they'll have to come back...

Requisite stop at Castletown.  

I made my acrophobic mother
climb out onto the roof at Oughterard.

Setting up story telling sessions for the kids' classes ended up quite the ordeal.  Communication at the school works a bit differently than the States.  Anyhow, Dad ended up telling stories to the entire school in two groups.  It was a rousing success and enjoyed by all 210+ children and teachers.
 

Junior infants - 2nd Class were a bit rowdy.
You can see Nadia two spots to the left of my dad.
She was leading the chorus of screams
every time the crocodile attacked.

3rd - 6th Class were much more mellow but still enthralled.

The Wonderful Barn in Leixlip

We stopped at the Village at Lyons for some tasty treats.

We headed over to Mayo Abbey to visit Fr. Tom's family.  It was interesting to see the area where he had grown up.  Roads were tiny with paved tracks for each tire with grass growing down the center.  It was a lovely visit and we feasted on an incredible spread of food.  Olive gave the kids third helpings of dessert despite my protests.  It was a long drive to go there and back in one day, but everyone enjoyed it.

Malahide Castle had a special ghost story tour for Halloween.  Nadia got scared and I ended up carrying her for way too much of our visit.  It was an interesting take on different people who died/were killed in the castle.  They tried to weave the different characters into one story even though they lived in the castle during different times.  The boys enjoyed it but they question and pick at every detail until the whole story unravels.

Since Malahide Castle didn't give a "real" tour, we headed up to Trim to get a more historical one.

Alfonso and the boys took Mom and Dad on a walking tour of Dublin.  (Nadia kept me company while I nursed my twisted ankle.)

Eating Gino's Gelato outside of St. Stephen's Green

This crew spotted Alfonso about to take a picture and
proceeded with a massive photo bomb.

Too much cuteness going on here.
The kids want a dog in the worst way.  Me -- not so much!

The visit flew by in a blink of an eye.  Missing family is the most difficult sacrifice for the experience of living abroad.  We try to make the most of our precious time together.  Ale did so by forcing my dad to play Rummy every waking moment while Dante was glued to Grandma and stealing her vest whenever he could manage.  The memories last a lifetime.