Last Day in Dublin

It's hard to believe but my two weeks in Europe are coming to an end. Kari took me out to Howth, a town on the coast, for a little excursion. We had a great seafood lunch including oysters on the half shell, and then went for a long walk along the pier. Once we got back to her house, she checked the post and Sine and Lily's passports had arrived. So now they can go on holiday to Portugal next week.

I had a wonderful trip but I will be very happy to see my husband again! I've missed him tons!

Here are a few photos from today:

KARI AND THE BABY CADILLAC

SINE AND LILY'S PASSPORTS

Downtown Dublin

DOWNTOWN DUBLIN (ABOVE)

LUNCH AT THE WESTIN

Kari and I went to downtown Dublin yesterday for a full day of eating, sightseeing, and shopping, with the girls in tow. We started by having lunch at the Westin where Kari saw her co-workers and everybody got to meet her daughters. Then we walked down Grafton Street to do some shopping, and we took a break by having coffee and dessert and doing the feeding of babies/changing of diapers routine. Then we were off to do more shopping and ultimately met Nigel for dinner. Once we got home, we all crashed but it was a fun-filled day!

Downtown Dublin

Yesterday evening, Kari prepared a delicious Irish dinner of Beef and Guinness Stew, Caramelized Parsnips, and Stir-fried Cabbage while I baby-sat. I've copied all the recipes because I want to replicate the meal when I return. It was fabulous!

Today we're planning on having lunch at the Westin in downtown Dublin and seeing a few of the sights nearby. These days have been (thankfully) lean on the sightseeing action so there hasn't been much to post. Hopefully I'll have some photos to post this evening when I return.

A Few Reasons Why Dublin Has Been So Fun......

LUNCH AT THE AVOCA CAFE

HAPPY GIRLS

Relaxing in Dublin

Kari took me to a great store called Avoca in Dublin. We shopped around and bought some clothes, had lunch, changed three diapers (one baby pooped immediately after changing a wet diaper!), fed babies, burped babies, put babies back in carseats, put carseats back in cars, inserted pacifiers, and then came home. Now we're just chilling while the babies nap again until dinner, at which time I'm sure it will start all over again!

It's so cute to see the differences in personalities. Lily has a "panic attack" (Kari's description) when she wants something or needs to go to sleep, while Sine simply falls asleep. Both are smiley and cute and when we lay them down together, they play and stare at each other. It's fun to get to know them!

To Dublin

This morning Audrey and I went our separate ways in Paris. I flew to Dublin to spend the rest of my vacation with my cousin, her husband, and their twin daughters. Audrey is on her way home. When I got to Dublin, Kari and I enjoyed some lunch outside in the sunshine while the girls napped. We got caught up over great food, wine, and coffee. Nigel is out of town this evening so it is all girls! The babies are currently napping so I'll post photos later when they wake up.

It's great to see the sun shining again!

Versailles

GATE INTO VERSAILLES

TONS OF TREES

THE CASTLE

STREET IN THE TOWN OF VERSAILLES

WITHIN THE CASTLE

Audrey and I took the train out to the Paris suburb of Versailles today to see the amazing castle that King Louis XIV built in the late 1600s and early 1700s. We ate lunch in the town and then spent the better part of the day seeing the expansive grounds, the king's "retreat" within the grounds, and the castle itself. The extravagance of the grounds and castle were incredible.

We returned to Paris in time for dinner and I enjoyed one last French meal of a kir, French onion soup, roasted salmon, and a yummy apple tart for dessert. Tomorrow I leave for Dublin and Audrey goes home. It has been a fun-packed week!!

Cruising around Paris

BIKES AVAILABLE FOR RENT
THE LOUVRE

NOTRE DAME

COLORFUL CAFE SCENE

This morning, at the very last minute, Audrey and I decided to walk all over Paris instead of seeing Versailles. We took the Metro to the Louvre and walked around Ile de la Cite, along both sides of the Seine river, toured Notre Dame, toured the Deportation Memorial (very moving; it honors the 200,000 French Jews that lost their lives during the Holocaust), got rained on and then decided to go into the Louvre, and spent a couple of hours seeing some of the more famous artwork in the Louvre. At that point, I was over sightseeing, so we went to a cafe in the Latin Quarter and had a drink and some dinner (escargot and mousse au chocolat) before coming back to our hotel. We're going to go back out this evening and see the Eiffel Tower lit up in the darkness.

I don't remember Paris being as expensive as it is now. We've routinely paid over $6.00 USD for a bottle of diet Coke or water, well over $20 USD for a basic "cheap" entree, and an arm an a leg for a very basic hotel room. Even London, which is supposed to be very expensive, was cheaper than this. But it is still a very photographable (is that a word?) city so I've enjoyed snapping tons of shots. I'll attach a few here.

Welcome to Paris

Audrey and I took the Chunnel/Eurostar train to Paris this morning; in 2 short hours we went from one time zone, language, and country to another. After navigating the Metro with our too-heavy suitcases, we took off for a walking tour of the city. We walked by the Eiffel Tower, along the Seine river, ate lunch at an outdoor cafe, walked some more past the Musee D'Orsay, the Louvre, we checked out tons of cool art, and ended up into the Latin Quarter where we finally pooped out after about 7 hours.

This is short because I"m testing an internet connection. If this takes forever to upload, I'll know to look for a new one! Thanks for all your emails and comments. I read them but don't always get a chance to respond.

Last Day in London

I can't believe this is our last day in London, but we're about to leave. Yesterday we walked to the West End and happened across the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. There were so many people that it is difficult to see what is going on, but you can hear all the pomp and circumstance. After lunch, Audrey went to scope out the shopping scene whilst I went to Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately there was a flower show going on within the Abbey so the crowds were intense, but admission was reduced by four pounds so that was handy. The Gothic architecture of the Abbey was breathtaking, similar to Notre Dame. Several kings and queens are buried there; coronations have occurred there since 1066 or so; and many royal weddings have happened there as well. Photography is not allowed inside, so I only have outdoor photos.

We then met up for high tea at the National Dining Room (within the National Gallery). Audrey convinced me that she had narrowed down the overwhelmingly huge shopping scene for me. So back we went to the West End and I had a blast at Monsoon and one other store (the name is slipping my mind at the moment). After dinner, it was bedtime for me!

Today we're taking the Eurostar train via Chunnel to Paris. We leave at "hahlf pahst" eleven so we'll be in Paris by 2:30 local time. We're hoping to see the Eiffel Tower today since our hotel is within a stone's throw from it.

The first photo shows the crowds at Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guard. The second is Westminster Abbey from the outside.

Until the next time!

Fun on a beautiful sunny day

Yesterday Audrey and I woke up to sunny, warm weather. We decided to abandon our plan of going inside Westminster Abbey to stay outside and work on some Vitamin D production. We walked all over the city to Leicester Square (where we picked up our half-price Les Mis tickets at the "tkts" booth), around Little Italy, through Chinatown, and people-watched at Trafalgar Square, listened to demonstrating in front of Big Ben and the Parliament Building, watched the London Eye slowly spin, and walked around Westminster Abbey.

We then got ready to go see Les Miserables and took a cab to Soho for dinner. The show was powerful and amazing. The "theatre" was quite small which made the show feel much more inimate and we had eight-row seats which was also quite nice! The music, singing, and production were top-notch.

We're planning on going to Westminster Abbey today, having high tea, and playing it by ear. Tomorrow we're taking the Chunnel to Paris for three days.

The bottom photo is a picture of the water closet door when somebody is occupying the stall! The others are of Big Ben, the Parliament Building, and Westminster Abbey (in order of appearance).

Yes, those are photos!

Okay I found a T-mobile hotspot so I am now able to finally upload some photos. Technology is so great when it actually works!!!!! I didn't put any captions on my photos because I wanted to post them before they got lost (I've lost several uploaded photos while trying to put captions on them!).

The photos match the days and they are fairly self-explanatory. There is a photo from the British Museum of mummified cats which I thought was hilarious.

We're going to see Westminster Abbey today and we're going to pick up some tickets for Les Miserables, hopefully for tonight. More later.

St. Paul's Cathedral and the British Museum

Today I woke up at the crack of dawn, ate breakfast, and made my way to St. Paul's Cathedral. For you royal family watchers, this is where Lady Diana and Prince Charles got married. The church was amazing and much more modern that some of the Catholic churches in Italy. Apparently there has been a church on that site since around 600, but it was destroyed and/or burned down a time or two. The most recent version is fairly new, as in just a few hundred years old.

The rear of the church is a dedication to the Americans who were stationed in Great Britain during WW2 or were killed fighting Nazi Germany. The stained glass windows have seals from all 50 states imbedded in them along with biblical representations. There is a book listing the names of all Americans who died to help save Great Britain; this was presented by the Queen to the United States sometime in the 1950's, but is housed at St. Paul's. The tribute was very moving.

I then scaled the stairs up to the top of the dome where I had a fantastic view of London.

After lunch, I picked up Audrey and we went to the British Museum. Artifacts from cultures all over the world are housed here from ancient times up to the present. We saw the Rosetta Stone, several mummies, and all sorts of other cool objects. The best part about this is that it was free! I paid 10 pounds to get into the church, but the museum was free. Unbelievable!

We had some more great pub food with cider and now I'm ready to relax. Tomorrow we're probably going to see Westminster Abbey and Les Mis. That should be fabulous.

Oh, and where are the photos you ask? I still have no ability to upload from my current location due to the extremely slow connection. I have made it my mission to find an internet cafe tomorrow to try to get some photos uploaded.

First Day in London

After a fabulous night of sleep and a "hearty English breakfast," Audrey and I took off for a hop-on hop-off bus tour of London. The narration pointed out various sights along the way so we got an overall feel for the city. We stayed on the bus for the whole tour and got off at the Tower of London where saw the Crown Jewels which were very impressive. The royal family owns some gigantic gems and old artifacts! We then took a Beefeater tour of the rest of the Tower--very amusing British humor was employed which I enjoyed immensly. The tower is hundreds of years old and has been added on to over the years. I love seeing the original portions of any historic structure because it gives me something tangible to connect back to the people who originally lived and worked there.

We then followed the signs for "subway" so we could take the Tube to the major shopping district to check out the London retail scene. Guess what? "Subway" in British English refers to a sidewalk the crosses underneath the street. It does not refer to a powered moving object that whisks you away! We finally did find the Tube station and made our way to Soho where we ate some great pub food for lunch and proceeded walked past the storefronts of the most upscale shopping you could ever imagine. We went through several stores where mere mortals like us shop.

As we were eating supper this evening, some strange lady came up to Audrey and asked if she was finished with her meal. When Audrey said "Yes," the lady promptly picked some food off of Audrey's plate and said, "I'm so hungry right now!" It was so surreal and bizarre!

I would love to post a few photos but the internet connection here is a royal pain in the neck and I cannot get a single photo to upload. I'll try again in the morning, but so far I am not impressed with the wireless in this country!

Mind the Gap

I have arrived in London, finally! Once I got through customs, I felt adventurous and took the slower of two trains to downtown London. From there I was going to take the Tube to my hotel, but I hit a wall. It's 4:30 a.m. my body time and I did not have it in me to find the ticket kiosk, figure out how to buy tickets, find the correct Tube line, get on said Tube in the proper direction, get off at the correct stop, and then haul my luggage the few blocks to my hotel! So I hailed a cab an voila, 10 minutes later, I arrived at my hotel.

I still haven't decided if I'm going to try to nap before Audrey arrives or if I am just going to continue drinking caffeine and sleep really well tonight. In any case, it's great to be here!

On my way

I just landed in Amsterdam after a L-O-N-G flight from Portland. I have a few hours to kill here before I head to London Heathrow. I'm planning on drinking coffee and trying not to fall asleep! I've never taken a "red-eye" that arrives at bedtime my body time so I'll have to figure this one out. I'm hoping to nap in London before Audrey gets there so we can cruise around for a while this afternoon. My guess is that I will crash tonight. I sure am excited to be in Europe again!