Day 2 started with a good, hearty Irish breakfast, which is the same as an English breakfast except it includes black and white puddings. We decided to take a tour of medieval Dublin, going through the Dublin Castle, which is part castle and part office building complex, the Chester Beatty Library, which was Leo's good idea (it houses an amazing collection of ancient books), we walked around some churches (mostly from the outside, since they charge steep fees to actually step foot in the door), then decided to go to the Guinness Storehouse, since when in Dublin, do as the tourists do. The place was an amazing homage to the marketing strength of a decent, but in my mind, not AMAZING, beverage. The Gravity Bar at the top of the Storehouse, where you get your "free" pint of Guinness after shelling out 14 euros to get into the place, did provide a really nice view of the city. We got some fantastic fish and chips at Leo Burrdocks, which is a small take-away restaurant near Christ Church, and we picnicked on the lawn of the church in the sunshine. After a few more pints of Guinness and a bit more wandering around, we found a Nepalese restaurant for dinner, where the amazing food was slightly tainted by some debit card issues my parents had been having since arriving in Dublin.
When we woke up on day 3 it was windy, rainy and cold. It's amazing the impact that the weather can have on you. So long as the sun is shining, life is good, things are going your way, and the world is your Irish rock oyster. When the weather is bad, everything looks bleak and oppressive. This is how the day felt. We had been planning to get out of Dublin and go to hiking along the cliffs of Howith, which is on the water, just north east of Dublin. But since it was miserable out, we altered our plans. We went to Trinity College to see the book of Kells and walk around the Library. In the hopes of staying somewhat dry, we then went to the National Museum, which had an awesome collection of people who had died and been preserved in bogs. It was a small museum, so we thought we'd round out the morning with a trip to the Natural History Museum, but were informed that it had been closed for the last 6 months, so we headed once again to a pub for some more Guinness (do you see a theme here). Due to ongoing debit card issues, my folks decided to head back to the hotel where they could call the company and try to resolve the problems that kept plaguing them - it turned out the problem was that the hotel had put a hold on a large chunk of their money, without telling them, so it appeared to their bank that there were insufficient funds on their card. After a few more drinks to ease the pain, we decided on some traditional Irish sushi for lunch followed by some more drinks, some Euro football watching, and the most expensive doner kebab I've ever eaten (10 euro for a doner and chips).
On day 4, there were gale force winds blowing across the Irish Sea. This was the day we were supposed to leave. The woman at the front desk checked online for us and called the ferry port and told us that there was nothing saying that the ferries had been cancelled. Our ferry wasn't until 2:45, so we thought we'd try to get in a bit more sightseeing before we left. According to our guidebook, not much was open on Sunday, and practically nothing before noon, but there were a few churches we'd be able to go into between their services. In the gale force winds and driving rain we marched to St. Patrick's Cathedral, only to be met at the gate by a very surly woman who barked at us that we were not welcome to come in. At the next church, though not met with such nastiness, we were turned away as well (though invited in to pray if we wanted). Cold and dejected, we found a coffee shop, where the woman at the counter tried to rip us off, but we decided to sit there for awhile anyway to wait out the storm. Though the winds didn't die down, the skies did clear up and we reclaimed our luggage at the hotel and hopped in a cab. We joked with the cabbie about the ferries not running due to bad weather, and just as we were turning into the ferry port, the cabbie heard on the radio that the ferries were cancelled. Not believing this news, we checked at the ferry port, and not only were the ferries cancelled, they had been cancelled since the previous night. Angry, cold, tired, wet, and in need of a Guinness, we climbed back into the cab, went back to the hotel, and checked back in, giving them a few nasty glances and some passive aggressive comments. After some Guinness, once again things didn't seem too bad. We went to the National Portrait Gallery (since it was now after noon and some things were open), relaxed a bit in our hotel rooms, and then had a wonderful meal at a place Leo had found, Eden.
Day 5 we awoke and the skies were clear. We grabbed some croissants and headed to the ferry which I had made sure were running. We got on the 8:45 a.m. ferry and hit Hollyhead 15 minutes after the first train to Crewe departed. We got on the next train which was an hour later. Once we got to Crewe it was another hour until our next train to London. Leo and I, who had both planned on going in to work, as it was Monday, were both getting antsy. Finally, after an extra day in Dublin, 2 hours on a ferry, 5 hours on trains, and 2 hours standing around, we got back to London. Leo went off to work for the remainder of the afternoon (and evening), my parents headed back to their hotel, and I headed home.
Looking back, we did do some interesting things in Dublin, had some good meals, and had a lot of quality bonding (drinking) time. But I'm not sure if I'll go back to Dublin any time soon.
Pictures will be posted, but this evening we're off to Copenhagen, so it will have wait until we return.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
A look back at Dublin - Day 1
Dublin seemed an obvious place to visit while my parents were in London. It got us out of the city, it wasn't too expensive to travel there, and we'd be able to do it in a few days (and not miss much work). What we didn't seem to think about was what we'd find in Dublin, what we'd do during the days we were there, and what the city was actually like.
We though we'd make a trip out of traveling to Dublin, so we opted for a 6 hour journey on train and by boat to get there. The countryside was beautiful and turned us all into babbling 5 year olds, pointing out everything we passed with single word utterances - "sheep!" "cows!" "castle!" "lake!" We went through Wales and marveled at how long and unpronounceable the words were. We hopped on the ferry at Hollyhead and found the seas to be a bit more lively that we had anticipated, though we all survived. When we emerged in Dublin, the skies darkened, and the troubles began. There were no taxis at the port, so we took the bus along with the other foot passengers from the ferry and one crazy woman who kept yelling rude comments at the bus driver then telling us all that she was 3 months pregnant and going into labor (when she was obviously not). The bus dropped us off a distance from our hotel, so we hiked there in the now drenching rain. The hotel looked fine, but was staffed by a bunch of the most helpful morons we ever met (eager to answer any question with the most incorrect answer possible).
Hungry after our long journey, we went to a place I had found recommended on several websites, only to find that it was basically a TGIFridays-like chain restaurant with mediocre food. After, we walked around Temple Bar (the young, hip area) which was filled with bars and pubs and fast food restaurants and which reminded us of tourist areas in the US - areas devoid of culture, filled with people just looking to get drunk and/or laid, and smelling faintly of urine. Think St. Marks Place in New York, or the French Quarter (without the charm) in New Orleans, or South Street in Philadelphia. So we hurried out of the area as quickly as possible and found a nice old pub filled with actual Dubliners, where we sat and had a few pints of Guinness. After the pints, Dublin looked a lot better (perhaps that's why all people do there is drink). Leo had found out that the Buena Vista Social Club was playing that night in Dublin so we ended up seeing an amazing show in a beautiful old theater, and ended day 1 in Dublin on a high note.
More to come soon (plus pictures)...
We though we'd make a trip out of traveling to Dublin, so we opted for a 6 hour journey on train and by boat to get there. The countryside was beautiful and turned us all into babbling 5 year olds, pointing out everything we passed with single word utterances - "sheep!" "cows!" "castle!" "lake!" We went through Wales and marveled at how long and unpronounceable the words were. We hopped on the ferry at Hollyhead and found the seas to be a bit more lively that we had anticipated, though we all survived. When we emerged in Dublin, the skies darkened, and the troubles began. There were no taxis at the port, so we took the bus along with the other foot passengers from the ferry and one crazy woman who kept yelling rude comments at the bus driver then telling us all that she was 3 months pregnant and going into labor (when she was obviously not). The bus dropped us off a distance from our hotel, so we hiked there in the now drenching rain. The hotel looked fine, but was staffed by a bunch of the most helpful morons we ever met (eager to answer any question with the most incorrect answer possible).
Hungry after our long journey, we went to a place I had found recommended on several websites, only to find that it was basically a TGIFridays-like chain restaurant with mediocre food. After, we walked around Temple Bar (the young, hip area) which was filled with bars and pubs and fast food restaurants and which reminded us of tourist areas in the US - areas devoid of culture, filled with people just looking to get drunk and/or laid, and smelling faintly of urine. Think St. Marks Place in New York, or the French Quarter (without the charm) in New Orleans, or South Street in Philadelphia. So we hurried out of the area as quickly as possible and found a nice old pub filled with actual Dubliners, where we sat and had a few pints of Guinness. After the pints, Dublin looked a lot better (perhaps that's why all people do there is drink). Leo had found out that the Buena Vista Social Club was playing that night in Dublin so we ended up seeing an amazing show in a beautiful old theater, and ended day 1 in Dublin on a high note.
More to come soon (plus pictures)...
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Too much Dublin
I promise to go into detail soon about our Dublin trip, but right now I'm exhausted. Let's just say we stayed in Dublin longer than we had planned, our trip back to London was terribly long, and this week I'm supervising photo shoots at ungodly hours. Maybe after some coffee I'll feel like writing more.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
We're off...
Once again we're going off to explore new lands. This time it's the land of James Joyce, Guinness, and all things fried. We're setting off by train and then by boat to Dublin. I promise to return on Monday with photos and stories to tell.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Leo's Birthday Dinner
Last night we went to our favorite restaurant, St. John, to celebrate Leo getting older. We thought it would be a no-hassle Birthday plan, with great food, good friends, and a pleasant atmosphere. 
Unfortunately, not everything went as planned and I ended up being doused with white wine and considered a thief by the end of the evening. We were seated in the private dining room, since we were a large party. 
Our server was very abrupt when telling us the specials and getting our wine order, but I just thought she was trying to be efficient. I watch Hell's Kitchen and Top Chef. I know that a party over 5 people is typically difficult to deal with, and we had 9. We got a few bottles of wine for the table, and Leo ordered a round of vodka shots (just to keep the conversation lively and flowing). I won't go into what everyone had, but we were all quite happy with our meals. St. John always delivers amazingly fresh and flavourful food. I started with the smoked sprats with horseradish sauce, 
followed by the ox tongue with horseradish and beets. 
I haven't had tongue since I was about 10 and my Grandmother forced me to try some of the grey, cold, horizontally sliced tongue (so each piece still looks like a tongue) she brought back from the supermarket. I've been frightened of it ever since. So I though that St. John would help me overcome this fear, and it did. The tongue was the consistency of pastrami, and tasted both of beef and organ meat. The juices from the beets mingled on the plate with the horseradish sauce, making an excellent sauce for the tongue.
The server had been coming in infrequently to check on us, and our bottles of wine ran dry. The time between our starters and main courses was close to half and hour, and we were all snacking hungrily on bread before our mains arrived. While our mains were being cleared, one of the busboys knocked the rest of my wine right into my lap...and he never apologized for it. Everyone at the table was buzzing (rather loudly, so as to be heard by the server) that they should bring us a complimentary bottle of wine, or some free desserts, but instead a napkin was thrown at me by our surly server, an apology was mumbled, and a half a glass of wine was placed in front of me. Everyone at the table told me to make a fuss about it, but I just wanted to carry on with the meal. Before our server came to take our dessert orders (she had been gone for a while at this point), two people from our party had to leave, since one was about to miss his last train home and the other had to bike home, which was going to take him some time. When our server finally turned up, we ordered desserts and Leo's came out with a candle in it...which was nice.
When the bill arrived, there was the standard scrabbling to get the correct amount of money together (at this point our server was very attentive!). When we handed her the money, she counted it on the table in front of us, then handed me back a 20 pound note and informed me that it didn't feel right and she wasn't going to accept it. She held it up to the light and explained to us how it was probably counterfeit. I was appalled. We just spent a good deal of money, and a whole lot of time, on the meal. She had hundreds of our pounds in her hands, and she had the nerve to throw our money back at us and insinuate that we were trying to pull one over on her. The least she could have done was take the money to the register to count it and question it's authenticity in private. Perhaps she could have used one of those pens that every restaurant seems to have to check to see if a bill is counterfeit, rather than just denying our money. Luckily, I had another £20 note in my purse, we paid the bill, did not add any additional tip besides the service charge (which we probably would have if the service had been good), and left.
From now on, when we go to St. John, I'm eating in the bar.
Unfortunately, not everything went as planned and I ended up being doused with white wine and considered a thief by the end of the evening. We were seated in the private dining room, since we were a large party. Our server was very abrupt when telling us the specials and getting our wine order, but I just thought she was trying to be efficient. I watch Hell's Kitchen and Top Chef. I know that a party over 5 people is typically difficult to deal with, and we had 9. We got a few bottles of wine for the table, and Leo ordered a round of vodka shots (just to keep the conversation lively and flowing). I won't go into what everyone had, but we were all quite happy with our meals. St. John always delivers amazingly fresh and flavourful food. I started with the smoked sprats with horseradish sauce, followed by the ox tongue with horseradish and beets. I haven't had tongue since I was about 10 and my Grandmother forced me to try some of the grey, cold, horizontally sliced tongue (so each piece still looks like a tongue) she brought back from the supermarket. I've been frightened of it ever since. So I though that St. John would help me overcome this fear, and it did. The tongue was the consistency of pastrami, and tasted both of beef and organ meat. The juices from the beets mingled on the plate with the horseradish sauce, making an excellent sauce for the tongue.The server had been coming in infrequently to check on us, and our bottles of wine ran dry. The time between our starters and main courses was close to half and hour, and we were all snacking hungrily on bread before our mains arrived. While our mains were being cleared, one of the busboys knocked the rest of my wine right into my lap...and he never apologized for it. Everyone at the table was buzzing (rather loudly, so as to be heard by the server) that they should bring us a complimentary bottle of wine, or some free desserts, but instead a napkin was thrown at me by our surly server, an apology was mumbled, and a half a glass of wine was placed in front of me. Everyone at the table told me to make a fuss about it, but I just wanted to carry on with the meal. Before our server came to take our dessert orders (she had been gone for a while at this point), two people from our party had to leave, since one was about to miss his last train home and the other had to bike home, which was going to take him some time. When our server finally turned up, we ordered desserts and Leo's came out with a candle in it...which was nice.
When the bill arrived, there was the standard scrabbling to get the correct amount of money together (at this point our server was very attentive!). When we handed her the money, she counted it on the table in front of us, then handed me back a 20 pound note and informed me that it didn't feel right and she wasn't going to accept it. She held it up to the light and explained to us how it was probably counterfeit. I was appalled. We just spent a good deal of money, and a whole lot of time, on the meal. She had hundreds of our pounds in her hands, and she had the nerve to throw our money back at us and insinuate that we were trying to pull one over on her. The least she could have done was take the money to the register to count it and question it's authenticity in private. Perhaps she could have used one of those pens that every restaurant seems to have to check to see if a bill is counterfeit, rather than just denying our money. Luckily, I had another £20 note in my purse, we paid the bill, did not add any additional tip besides the service charge (which we probably would have if the service had been good), and left.From now on, when we go to St. John, I'm eating in the bar.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
When in London...visit gardens
This past weekend, the weather was amazing. Actually, Sunday got a bit too hot...but I'm not complaining. With the amazing weather, my parents and I decided to partake in Open Squares
weekend, when private gardens around the city are open to the public. Rather than describing what we saw, I'll just show you...tomorrow (since Leo took my camera with him to Scotland before I was able to download the photos). But they really are lovely, I promise...you'll see tomorrow.
On Sunday we all took a tour of the neighborhood markets, including the Columbia flower market, finishing off with our favorite Sunday Roast at the Royal Oak. Luckily we got there early and were able to score the big table in the back of the pub (with only a few elbows thrown). My folks loved the meal and the company (thanks Tom and Caron for joining us). And my parents bought me an aloe plant to add to my growing menagerie (fingers crossed I won't kill this one).
weekend, when private gardens around the city are open to the public. Rather than describing what we saw, I'll just show you...tomorrow (since Leo took my camera with him to Scotland before I was able to download the photos). But they really are lovely, I promise...you'll see tomorrow.
On Sunday we all took a tour of the neighborhood markets, including the Columbia flower market, finishing off with our favorite Sunday Roast at the Royal Oak. Luckily we got there early and were able to score the big table in the back of the pub (with only a few elbows thrown). My folks loved the meal and the company (thanks Tom and Caron for joining us). And my parents bought me an aloe plant to add to my growing menagerie (fingers crossed I won't kill this one).
Monday, June 2, 2008
Home
Ever since we got back from Chicago things in London have felt different. While we were waiting in the airport to board the plane, we both realized that we just wanted to be home...and home was London. Even though our flat came fully furnished, we still wanted to sleep in our bed. We wanted to eat at our local Turkish restaurant, and wanted to pick up some essentials (hob nobs, crumpets, actimel) at our Tesco. After 5 months, London feels very comfortable.
Since getting back, we've fallen into our standard routines - going to work, drinking with Leo's coworkers on Friday evenings, going to the markets on Sundays. Unfortunately, this doesn't make for very interesting blog posts, but don't despair. My parents are coming to town soon, so stay tuned for some more sightseeing, restaurant-hopping, and trips abroad.
Since getting back, we've fallen into our standard routines - going to work, drinking with Leo's coworkers on Friday evenings, going to the markets on Sundays. Unfortunately, this doesn't make for very interesting blog posts, but don't despair. My parents are coming to town soon, so stay tuned for some more sightseeing, restaurant-hopping, and trips abroad.
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