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.

Paris

Once again, our travel planning was lacking.  We booked super cheap tickets to "Paris" not realizing we were flying into an airport 45 minutes outside of the city instead of the main airport.  The shuttle into Paris ended up costing as much as our plane tickets.  After being in Ireland for four months, it felt a bit disconcerting for the shuttle to be driving on the right side of the road.  I had a bit of a surreal moment on the ride.  Here we are -- an American ex-pat family living in Ireland on a trip to Paris and my Mexican-born husband starts chatting in Hebrew with the shuttle driver.  It's a long, long way from life on Iona Avenue.  

I had been excited to see Paris but at the same time I wasn't really expecting to fall in love with the city.  Paris is amazing!  The architecture is breathtaking.  The amount of art, sculptures, fountain, gardens is mind boggling.  The food is divine.  

Only Alfonso goes half way around the globe to meet
a family friend from Buena Ventura

First outing was to the Louvre.  Even if the building was empty, it would be worth the trip.  The detail of the walls, ceiling, the sheer scope are impressive.  But it is filled to the gills with countless works of art.  With the kids, we could barely scratch the surface of what it holds.  We went to see the Mona Lisa which ended up being the least exciting item on display.  There were so many people and you were so far away, it would be easier to study a postcard print.  We spent most of the rest of our time wandering around the Greek and Roman sculptures.  I felt practically giddy walking around.  I would love to have a month or so just to wander the halls.  Someday...

We stayed a couple blocks from the Jardin de Luxembourg where we met up with David, the French runner who had stayed with us for a couple months when Nadia was a baby. 

The second day, Paris lost a bit of its allure for me.  Spent the day in swarms of people.  Smoking people.  I felt like we were walking in a haze of smoke the whole day.  My throat was so sore by the end of the day.  Took the subway to the Eiffel Tower.  It was nice to see and I'm glad we did it.  That said, if we ever return to Paris I wouldn't bother going up again.  The crowds were a bit insane.  The view was nice but not spectacular.  **Blogger's note: Alfonso disagrees with the blogger's viewpoint and believes the view is beyond spectacular. The author thinks he needs to get his own blog.

Nadia's favorite thing about Paris:
the carousel

We went down to the Arc de Trioumphe.  More crowds.  David and his girlfriend, Pauline, met us and took us to a restaurant, Le Procope, which was founded in 1686.  It is just bizarre to be eating at a place that is older than our country.  The food was delectable.  I always thought the French were a bit snobby when it came to food.  Well, they have every right to be.  French food is so unbelievably tasty.  We ate pastries daily.  I am running out of adjectives to describe it.  Yummy doesn't quite capture the essence.  

It is so hard to get a decent family picture...

The last day, we went to Notre Dame for mass.  The building is so impressive both inside and out.  The mass itself was lacking of any spiritual aspect.  It was the "international" mass which meant that it was in French but they gave a 30 second summary of the homily in English.  Most of the people were tourists; so you are sitting in a sea of people that aren't participating and don't understand anything other than the ritual of sitting and standing.  Wandered around, seeing more fabulous buildings, eating more delicious food.

Paris is an incredible city -- so much history and culture. But its beauty is very different from the natural beauty of Scotland. That said, we didn't get to explore the French countryside. Someday, someday...

I want to go back just for these.

Irish National Stud and Japanese Gardens

Alfonso's cousin, Marina, stopped in for a few days at the end of her European vacation.  Always nice to see family.  We went to the Irish National Stud and Japanese Gardens.  Beautiful spot.

One of the horses had €77,000 stud fee.
Talk about a high end pimp...

Nadia would have spent the whole time
at the playground if she had a choice.