Observations and musings

Well I think this will be my last post and am hopeful Guy will get some more pictures inserted in short order.

Big Cities: Dublin, London and Amsterdam
All big cities have things in common. The energy, the diversity and the awareness of how really alike people are. We as tourists are merely observers as the rest of the population go about their lives. I find this strangely consoling as I know I will soon be back in the routine of my own life.

Dublin: No place for the timid, this city is in a constant state of motion and if don't keep up you may well get trampled, yikes...music in every pub and on every corner no matter the time of day. The river Liffey is your guide post, easily navigated once you get your bearings. So much to see and do and I know we only hit the surface. There are things I do want to experience if I ever get a change to visit again.

London: HUGE! Reminiscent of NYC in area and population and it's distinct districts. The gardens are everywhere and are impressive. Really beautiful and really formal. The river Thames is a great way of getting your navigational bearings but I know I would be hard pressed to find my way around without a guide.



Amsterdam: The amount of bike traffic hits you immediately and the canals each have their own personality. This is a really clean city, the people are happy and you notice the high quality of life they have achieved. The red light district is actually quite a small area, a couple of blocks. The coffee shops are prevalent but seem to be mainly used by tourists. Community is key to their reality and in the city if you want outside space you go to a square to relax with ice cream, tea, coffee and possibly a cocktail. LOVED IT!



Large Cities: Liverpool and Galway
Liverpool is reminiscent of two of my favorite cities, Milwaukee and Baltimore. The Mersey river is your navigational tool here. Big enough for cruise ships and alot of barge/commerce traffic. Four colleges throughout the city and a real working class mentality. The riverfront like Baltimore's harbor is a magnet, how I wish Milwaukee would take a page from their book. I know why Sean loves it, this is a city I could have definitely spent more time exploring.

Galway: I don't have another city to compare it to. The Atlantic Ocean is the meter and it is spectacular. The city flows right to the shore and the people are friendly and have a real love of their city. If you travel to Ireland you won't be in a hurry to leave.



Musings on travel.
The cardinal rule, pack half of what you think you need. Someday I will remember this.
Definitely get a different sim card for your phone. This would have saved us some time and I could have been in better contact with the people I was traveling with and the people I was missing, specifically Taylor and Sam.

Rent a car and don't be afraid. This was a really good decision, we went where we wanted when we wanted and didn't waste precious time waiting for public transportation.
Public transportation, will someone in Milwaukee do something about light rail, enough said!

Guy shot at least 900 pictures, so if you want a detailed tour please come and see us, we will be glad to relive this trip.

Gloomy the weather and my mood

First day of our entire vacation that we face rain and I don't mind. I am starting to steel myself for another separation from Sean, this is our last whole day together. We have had a great time and I know I will miss him. I "shake off" the mood and we trudge across Dublin to the Guiness Tour. I truly don't care for brewery tours but I know that I will not be able to face some significant people in my reality if I pass.

It is actually an interesting couple of hours and the view from the sky bar at the top is spectacular,floor to ceiling windows and a 360 degree view of the city. We do a little shopping and head to our next must see.


The Brazenhead is the oldest pub in Ireland, 1198, and has been visited by everyone from James Joyce and Oscar Wilde to Bono and Van Morrison. It's early afternoon and the locals are more than happy to share their observations about what we "yanks" need to do before we leave. We enjoy the banter, soak up the history and I hope I have a chance to stop here again when I can come for the nightly jam sessions.



Off to Trinity College to do some shopping and hit Grafton Street. We take the Temple Bar route and see a group of gentlemen, I use that term loosely, in the midst of their stag party. The groom is in neon pink tights, leopard panties, black wig, and makeup that could only be done by a really frustrated clown wanna be! Every few minutes they blow a whistle, this triggers a moment of theater, either standing on one leg(not easily done in their inebriated condition) and singing a song, or becoming prostrate(in the road) and reciting poetry (I think). Each revelers shirt has their name and what role they play in the wedding party embossed on the back. THE BAR HAS BEEN SET...this is an entirely new degree of pre-wedding humiliation.


Although both men have said they are up for some shopping it soon becomes evident I need to park them at a pub and get serious. Generally there are at the very least 1 - 3 pubs on every block, not today. We finally find Dukes, and I leave them to their musings.

I head back to the shops, find a few things but not what I am looking for and resign myself to the realization I should have been more diligent in this regard earlier in our trip.

Back to Dukes and we decide we should head to the hotel, do some on-line checking in for flights and find a place for our last dinner together. The meloncholy is palpable and I fight the emotion, I want to enjoy these last few hours.

I go up to our room to freshen up and come back to the news that our flight is no longer at 3:30 p.m. but 12:50...I am not amused. This changes our next day to nothing more than getting to the airport, dropping the car, and catching our flights. Sean's flight has not been changed which means he has about 5 hours in the airport, oh joy!

Waltzing down narrow alley ways we walk in to two restaurants and leave before we finally find a little Italian place. Doesn't look promising but the menu they have posted looks good and we decide this is it. Okay, this is authentic Italian, I dare say we are the only English speaking people in the place and we are lucky to get a table. The meal is one of the best we've had and leave happy. We stop at the bar hotel and have an after dinner drink and I head up to our room to pack and prepare for the morning malay.

Where are we ? Or a change in the itinerary...

We wake to another beautiful day but no time for relaxing. The men have persuaded me that we need to skip Cork and head back to Dublin. I hit the netbook searching for internet and trying to change/cancel reservations. Disappointed, yes a little, but after Sean excused himself from breakfast it was a no brainer.

Guy and I take a short stroll around Clonmel to say good-by and wearily we climb back into our suitcase size car and hit the road. To say Sean was a little under the weather is putting it mildly and my mother instinct tells me that a down day in Dublin for him is the best medicine.

I am cruising at 140kph when we encounter signs that tell us the highway is closed. Now I am meandering yet again on roads with "acute bends" and experiencing small village life in Ireland. Beautiful yes, but added significant time to our drive.

We find our hotel in Dublin (couldn't face the place we stayed on our first night) with little trouble. We are directly across from Christ Church,(see the link) http://cccdub.ie/, they ask if we would like a room with a view of the church, enthusiastically I say "yes"! I have forgotten that Churches have bells! Sean and I decide to take a nap and Guy goes to explore a new area of Dublin. I wake with an itch for a walk and meet Guy, by chance, about a block from the hotel.

The church starts it's afternoon concert, about 3 hours, sounds like the same song over and over again, and I look at Sean's face...he has a church behind his dorm, clearly this is not an experience he will want to repeat any time soon.

After dinner, Mexican this time, I have some amazing Mayan pork, we head back to our room for an all, "CLINT EASTWOOD" night of movies.

A good nights sleep to prepare for another big day in Dublin.