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.

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. 

Settling in

September, we slowed down a bit and laid off the travelling.  The kids needed to get into the routine of school.  Our friend, Jason, came for a visit.  Alfonso managed to sneak out of work for a couple days and the two of them went sight seeing sans kiddos.  My mind can not even comprehend that concept.

Food

The food in restaurants is much better than I remember.  Pizza leaves much to be desired.  Their lasagna is a bit sketchy made with cheddar cheese and sour cream and very mushy noodles.  Overall, the food is pretty good; we have found a few exceptional places.

Our pizza in town.  Not exactly PC.

Grocery shopping is infinitely easier than Israel because things are labeled in English.  The dairy products here are heavenly.  I'm not much of a yogurt person but I have been scarfing the rhubarb yogurt like crazy.  It is soooooo good!  Cheese and milk just taste better.  Icecream however is made from reconstituted dried skim milk.  Nasty.  Seriously, who thought that was possibly a good idea?  You can buy Ben and Jerry's or Haagan Dazs but it is pricey.  The beef is grass fed and very tasty.  

Funny names.  Different flavors.

There are various products that you can't buy or are hard to find.  There are very few corn products as it is too cold to grow here.  The entire Mexican food section is comprised of Old El Paso products.  Breakfast cereal causes the drama in our house.  Dante doesn't like any of the cereals here so he typically eats peanut butter toast with banana (the jars of peanut butter are tiny.)  Some cereals are exactly the same but called something different i.e. Frosted Flakes are called Frosties and Mini Wheats are called Mini Max.  Others are flavored differently such as Honey Nut Cheerios are just Honey Cheerios and don't contain nuts -- and they are made by Nestle instead of General Mills.  Selections and brands are just more limited.

Random pictures on the OJ containers

Driving

Driving here wasn't quite as bad as I'd expected.  Driving on the left was an adjustment but didn't take too long.  The cars in the other direction are on the right -- so it is pretty easy to remember not to drive there.  On occasion, I still try to get in on the right side of the car only to find there's no steering wheel.  The biggest problem is the narrow roads.  We have decent sized roads near us where two cars can squeeze by to pass.  Many roads are only one lane but the traffic is two directions.  There are no shoulders most places and hedges or stone walls come right up to the road.  So you have to find a driveway to pull into to let other cars pass.

The one lane bridge over the canal on the way to school.

When Alfonso told me that we had to cross a double blind one lane arched bridge to get to the kids school, I had a mini panic attack.  When you get close to the bottom of the bridge, you honk and if no one honks back then you go up and over.  If someone honks, then it means they had already started over and you wait for them to cross.  Turns out that it is safer to cross these bridges because drivers stop and cross slowly, while the two other bridges on the way to school are narrow but have enough room for two cars can squeeze by each other so no one bothers to slow down.  I don't mind driving except for in Dublin. Dublin is too crowded and too confusing.

Please note the bull.

Parking spaces are tiny everywhere.  Most of the motorways were built between 2000-2010.  So travelling between cities is relatively quick and easy.  But many of the tourist destinations are off the main roads where it takes a long time to travel short distances.  There's an abundance of roundabouts (traffic circles) similar to Israel.  Drivers are much nicer here and let people merge and change lanes instead of intentionally cutting them off.  The lights take a little getting used to.  In the States, the light will be a solid green circle but have a red left arrow.  Here there will be a solid red circle but have a green straight arrow and a green left arrow.

Odds and ends

Wouldn't want to make the sheep worry...

I am compiling a list of all the words/phrases that have different meanings.  I will have a separate post with all the languages oddities.  It turns out that English is not English.  Most expressions I hear from the kids as they spend more time with Irish folk than I do.

For a really big cold

When I first got my cell phone, I was constantly getting calls for other people.  I figured it was just from someone else having the number before me.  One time, a man told me the number he was trying to reach -- not a single digit was in common with my number.  I'm thinking this guy is completely bonkers.  Then I try to call my sister and end up talking to some lady in Limerick.  After three attempts, I finally get through to Cathy only to find her phone has been ringing but she ends up talking to some guy looking for the lady in Limerick.  When I think of lines getting crossed, I picture the old time switchboard operators that are physically putting the lines in the wrong spots.  Not sure how it happens in this day in age.  There was one woman trying to reach her daughter in the hospital that was connected to me consistently for about two weeks.  We started chatting after a while.  I haven't heard from her in months now and kind of miss her.

Cows grazing by the kids' school on a foggy day.

It rains.  Frequently.  Never gets too hot.  One day this summer, it hit 75 and everyone flooded the beach.  Never gets too cold.  Rarely snows.  Because of all the moisture in the air, it tends to feel colder than it is.  The moist air also tends to cause a thin layer of black ice on the roads.

Escalator for the grocery cart at one of the bigger stores.

On Sundays, the mall and some bigger stores are open but generally speaking, most things are closed.

You'll see lots of kids (not mine) at the pub doing homework while the parents have a beer or two and socialize.

Tax is already included in prices about 23%.  Everything is more expensive here.  Except potatoes.

You have to take your own bags to the grocery store.  Or pay 20 cents a bag for the cheap plastic bags.

Irish drink tea, not coffee.  Yet, no one drinks iced tea.

There aren't many aquatic centers for swimming pools.  But you can pay to swim at hotels that have pools.

This was in Scotland but it is really funny.  I'm still laughing about it.