Portugal One Last Time

For our last European trip, for a very long time, we had to visit Bruno and Marta one last time. They were spending their holidays down in the Algarve in Albufeira. Bruno’s family condo is near the Club Med da Balaia, so the beach was full of tourists, but with it being so late in the season, the beach was not as crowded. Bruno and Marta were shades of brown that I only achieved when I lifeguarded every day in the sun. Our lily white skin stood out in the crowd, that was for sure. We knew before heading over that it was going to rain, and boy did it! We played Catan (the board game), enjoyed some chats, went for walks between the showers and ate ourselves silly. I love seafood and we super-indulged with prawns, clams, crabs, “sea dinosaurs” which is the translation but we would call them Goose barnacles and fish. The best was the little snails cooked in a little garlic, oregano and olive oil. Yummy stuff! Of course ice cream was a must because even though it was raining it was at least warm. On our last day in the Algarve we got up early and lo and behold there was sun. We slathered ourselves in sunblock and headed down to the beach. As I have said before, they were brown, we were ghost white. After a few hours of laying in the sun, splashing in the Mediterranean, walking up the beach, we decided to move to the swimming pool since there would be less wind. That was when I noticed how red I was getting. Even though I had reapplied, I had originally missed a few places. My stomach, the tops of my feet and my knees were burnt to a crisp. Ben also burned in spots where we missed the cream. We headed back to Lisbon as the sun was setting to see their new apartment.

Any trip to Lisbon is not complete without a few pastéis de Belém. Luckily their new apartment is in Belém. After dinner we took a stroll down to get a few cakes before his family arrived to say hello to us. Their apartment is newly constructed in an old building not far from the President’s residence. They are placed very central! The following morning we went out for breakfast at Pastelaria Restelo which is known for its sweet and savoury croissants with ham and cheese covered in powdered sugar. Sounds strange but it worked! After filling ourselves we headed to the Large Jesus, like the Holy Redeemer in San Paolo, Brazil. We went up to the top of the base, to his feet which overlooked all of Lisbon. We even got to drive over the San Francisco Bay bridge twin. While on that side of the river we picked up more seafood for a final lunch feast with Bruno’s cousin, Daniel, whom we have meet on several occasions. Bruno made sure to teach me how he makes all his creations, so I can recreate them again! It was sad to leave our friends in Lisbon, but hope to see them in Portland next year!

Strange Anomaly #74

I know that everyone must relieve themselves, and all over the world people will do it in the street, but then men here seem to do it more than anywhere else. The stench of urine in the mornings is not cool, on a daily basis in city centre. The worst recently was we were getting out cash at the bank machine and some guy pulling out his cash decided to pee right there. He was well dressed, on a very busy road, and had a queue of people behind him waiting to pull out cash too. Karen nearly stepped in it. We were in shock! Another time I have even seen four lads lined up together doing it in front of our neighbour’s door late at night. Wrong! If women have to hold it, why can’t the men. They seem to manage to do it in other cities?!

Happy Arthur’s Day

Catherine and I each year celebrate Arthur’s Day with at pint at 17:59 (or as close as we can get) since Guinness was founded 1759. This year we had to celebrate a bit early and went to a secret little pub, Fallons, for some of the best Guinness in all of Dublin. The pub is one of the last that clean their own draught pipes and since so many customers order Guinness only, it tastes the purest and best. Catherine’s sister owns a pub, hence that little gem of knowledge. It was great to have one last Dublin celebration of Arthur’s Day!

My Fancy Architecture Project

The Celtic Tiger ran away a long time ago, which is why as an architect, most of the projects I have worked on over the last 5 years have been put on hold, completely disregarded, or have been tied up in planning appeals for years. The one beast of a project I have been working on, which has been highly controversial, finally made it through planning after countless redesigns, changes, additions, alterations and clarifications. The links below best explain the history, with the RTE (the national news station) showing it on the 6 O’clock news! Ben may have had his project show up in fancy magazines, but mine was on the news! Not sure if or when it will be built, I am not going to speculate there, but there is satisfaction in knowing that I made something through planning and it has potential of being built!

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0916/dunnes.html

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0917/1224304267437.html

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0916/dunne-business.html

http://www.newstalk.ie/2011/news/permission-granted-for-re-development-of-ballsbridge-site-in-dublin/

Strange Anomaly #73

One early Saturday morning, Ben and I trekked across town to go to our old breakfast place, Hobarts, in Ranelagh, because it has an amasing full Irish breakfast. As we were walking, we dodged the many 'sidewalk pizzas' left by the throngs of drunk people who wandered the streets the night before and got sick. As we walked, a young family walked towards us, and the smallest of the group, who was maybe three years old, slipped in one of the sidewalk pizzas, getting vomit all over herself. I would not have wanted to be her mother as we all stared in horror at the small child. Just one of the strange dangers of Dublin.

As a side note:
I do not do these strange anomalies to point out bad things about Ireland. I do love Ireland, they are just things that seem strange coming from an American.

Last Country Pub

There are several pubs within Dublin County (that are on the outskirts of Dublin City) that I had already been to, except for one. The Blue Light. One of the women I work with, Sylvia, I have been teaching her all about Mexican food. Yummy things like enchiladas, burritos, empanadas, and more. For my parting gift she decided to take me on a trip outside of the city since she drives and knows I love experiences. Plus I would have no room in my suitcase to bring anything home with me. We had our fingers crossed for sunny weather even though it had rained all week, and sure enough, the clouds parted and we were able to have a nice pint out on the terrace overlooking Dublin and the Irish Sea. The pub is great with cozy fireplaces, live traditional music being played, good beer and great craic. The pub is a great old man pub, but there were still was a good mix of younger folk, families and the locals. It was too warm to snuggle in front of a fireplace, but I wish that I could have been able to make the trek up there in the snow since it would have been perfect. It is a bit hidden, so no tourist, and I was glad that I was able to squeeze it in. Since Sylvia was driving she was unable to drink, so after enjoying the view as the sun was setting, we headed back into town, ditched the car, and continued our tradition of eating a wide range of Mexican food, good beer and unforgettable chats!

Dia duit, álainn Connemara

When my parents had come for a visit several years ago, they had said how beautiful Connemara was and how they liked Kylemore Abbey. As we wind down living here, I have to see the last little bits of the Emerald Isle, and that was one area I had yet to see. Catherine had wanted a sleepover at her house, so I decided to combine the two, overnight roadtrip! Catherine's American cousins were visiting their mother in Galway so we stopped for tea. It was great meeting her extended family and of course eating some yummy biscuits and chocolate cake. First stop after Galway was Oughterard to see Lough Corrib, the biggest lake in the Republic. A few girls were swimming in it, and they were quite brave. It may have been sunny, with a few rain showers, but certainly not warm enough to go for a swim. We decided to take the scenic route through the Connemara National Park on our way to Letterfrack. The landscape was dotted with small lakes and rivers. The rolling mountains were beautiful and craggy, where I had her pull over from time to time so I could grab a photo. We passed through Kylemore Abbey for a few quick shots, but as they were closing for the day, we kept on going to our hostel. We took a quick nap, before heading out to scope out the town for a place to eat. We decided on a seafood place, as we were by the sea. I forget portions in the country are much larger, so we made the mistake of getting a stater, a main, and of course sharing a dessert. We stopped in the one pub on the way back for a night cap, before heading to bed. Early the next morning, it was eat a quick breakfast and off to Kylemore. Since we beat all the tourbuses for the day, we got to see the Victorian Gardens all on our own, wandering through the multi-acre garden. As we walked back to the Abbey, that was when the tourists arrived. There is not much to see in the main Abbey, except for part off the ground floor, but it was breathtaking. The view of the Abbey, or once castle, over the lake is stunning. Great photos! We walked down to the tiny gothic church the man had build for his deceased wife. I could see how the King of England had thought of buying the place. We were fortunate enough to get out of there before it was too crowded and the rain started. We drove until Clifden so we could stop for a tea and pick up a postcard/stamp to send her parents. The sun was finally shining, so as we passed through the heart of Connemara, we had great views. I had packed lunches and when our tummies started to rumble, we turned up a small side road, hoping it would lead us to the sea, so we could eat our lunch. The sun was shining, as we could overlook the Aran Islands as we ate our peanut butter & jelly sandwiches with apples. How much more American lunch can you get? Catherine enjoyed it, as did I. After a few photos we were back on the road through Spiddal where all the Gaeltach kids were studying, and finally through Galway to head back to Dublin. Although there are SuperMacs in Dublin, we had to stop once more in Roscommon before getting home after a great road trip.

Strange Anomaly #72

Because space is so tight for houses and gardens, it was great to see a full-sized bouncy castle taking up an entire front garden. It was hard for me not to want to jump over the little fence and have a go at jumping on it. Someday I will fulfill my dream of all of us married ones dressing up in our wedding dresses and bouncing in a bouncy castle to be grown up princesses!

Donegal and my last Irish Counties

It was my goal when I moved here to get to know the country I was living in, so I made a point to make it to all 32 Counties. I only have three left and this grip marked the last of them: Donegal, Cavan and Fermanagh.

Ben had a recommendation to stop at the Ulster American Folk Park just outside Omagh. It was a recreation or preservation of homes found through out Ulster starting with a 1600's single room farmhouse up until the late 1700's. There were chickens and geese running around. I really wanted to play with the chicks, but as Ben predicted, they ran from me. We walked down a recreation of a typical street frontage found in the late 1700's before boarding a boat showing the conditions of what it was like for a family to immigrate to America on. Four adults had to fit into a bunk (either on the top or bottom) that was the size of a double bed, for about 2 months. Amazing what people had to endure. When we disembarked, it was into a typical American street found in the same time period. From there it was homes found on the East Coast of the States up through the late 1800's. There were log cabins, and modest clapboard homes. Throughout the park, there were people dressed up in period costumes discussing what life was like. It was very informative, and I love hands on, visual learning.

From there we stopped in Letterkenny for a bite to eat before reaching our final destination, Dunfanaghy. The co-worker that had recommended the folk park, was orginally from one village over from where we were staying, so John headed over to show us around. We drove around the cliffs to get a view of the peninsulas and islands. We had a bite to eat before heading to the pub since there was a festival going on. As we left to drive John to Carrigart it started to rain. I am so thankful Ben grew up in the country as he can manage to drive curvy dark country roads with ease, even in the rain. This city girl had to ask him to slow down for my sanity.

In the morning, the breakfast at the little B&B was huge and delicious, to get our day going. It was a bit drizzly as we headed to Magheraroarty to catch the ferry to Tory Island. We watched the ferry come in and were some of the first on. I was super excited as I had been wanting to go to Tory for years! The boat ride started out smooth, but as we passed the last island, the waters turned choppy. I was glad that I had taken some anti-nausea as it was not so smooth with swells a few meters high. It was sunny on the island, with clouds all around. As we disembarked I was anxious to see the King of Tory Island, the last King of Ireland, but he was no where to be found. I was a bit disappointed, but I was not going to let that rain on my parade. We headed off to the western tip of the island first toward the lighthouse. The sun was not really out, but it was not really cloudy, we were just happy that it was not raining. With half the loop done, we headed to the eastern village. The landscape was rugged, and became hillier as we headed east. Up past sheep running around, dodging sheep poo, we climbed the highest cliff to gaze out over the Atlantic. I had to tie my jumper around my head as the wind was blowing from every direction. We stopped for a bit of lunch, ham & cheese toasties with a cuppa tea. I got to speak a bit of Irish as most people on the island would speak Irish as their first language. I was excited! With the sun dipping behind some dark and ominous clouds, it was time to catch our boat back to the mainland. If we thought it was bad coming out, it was way worse on our way back. We both fought off getting sick. It was a miserable 50 minutes. When we docked, we saw the king driving up to the pier, but I was not about to go talk to him, I wanted dry, solid land. We had to sit in the car awhile before Ben felt well enough to begin driving down the coast to Ardara. We passed through many little towns, where there was no English to be found, it was great! We followed the signs to our hotel, which was out of town, nestled among the trees, in a very quiet and remote area. We opted to eat dinner at the hotel as it was a three course meal. It was a splurge, but well worth it. After an amazing meal, the sun was still up so we figured we would watch a movie after I check my email in the lobby. About 10 minutes later when I got to the room, Ben was nearly asleep, and for the first time in weeks, he got a quiet nights rest in a large comfortable bed, sleeping well over 10 hours. He never does that.

For our final leg of our tour, we took the scenic route. I knew it would be longer, but little did I know, it would take hours longer. We headed out along the coast, stopping to take photos on the way to Gelncolumbkille. The steep cliff roads had sheep blocking our way, not that much in a hurry to get out of the road. These were also my first sheep I had seen with wagging tails! The cliff roads were only one car wide, and there were several places I held my breath as we neared the edge. There were beautiful views, I was just glad Ben got out to take photos and not me. At the end of our detour was a hike to see the tallest sea cliffs in Europe, Slieve League Cliffs. We parked the car at the base of the hill where there was a gate. We figured at the top of the hill would be the sea. No. We had to walk about 45 minutes to the top car park area. All we would have had to do was open the gate. Ben's head had gotten quite burned the day before, so he took my jumper and tied it like a turban to keep the sun off him. We started hiking to the top of the cliffs, when Ben stopped to take a photo and my fear of heights kicked it. The rule is, keep walking, don't stop, I can follow you all the way to the top. Once I am at the top, I can make it down just fine and feel ok about it. It is just making it there. He did not understand the rules, even after all this time. After my mini melt down where I was happy to sit on a rock, just off of the trail, away from the edge, Ben had to go to the top alone as I gazed out over the sea and cliffs. We of course had to treat ourselves to ice cream after that, I mean the sun was out! We made our way down and headed finally to Donegal town for lunch. We stretched our legs for a bit before getting back in and heading to Enniskillen, for Lake Erme. There was a few ruins there we stopped at, and that was when we saw the black clouds. As we drove into Cavan, the heavens opened up and lashed rain. I did not mind returning home to rain, as it had been nice for most of our trip!

Berlin as seen from a Segway

By the time we got to the hotel in Berlin, it was quite late so we went for a traditional German dinner. I was in heaven! We took a stroll out to where we were going to meet our tour group the next morning so we could time how long it would take us to walk there. Their parks are pitch black at night, and felt a bit dodgy, so we headed back to the hotel and hoped for the best in the morning. We had a Segway tour. Those cool two wheeled things. It was perfect for my sprained ankle and for Ben's interest in technology. By the time we got to the hotel in Berlin, it was quite late so we went for a traditional German dinner. I was in heaven! We took a stroll out to where we were going to meet our tour group the next morning so we could time how long it would take us to walk there. Their parks are pitch black at night, and felt a bit dodgy, so we headed back to the hotel and hoped for the best in the morning. We had a Segway tour. Those cool two wheeled things. It was perfect for my sprained ankle and for Ben's interest in technology. We had an English tour guide, guide us through the city. We covered early Berlin history up through the end of the GDR. We had ten stops along the way learning interesting tidbits over the four hours. We had a great time riding the Segways in the street, passing cyclists. Top speed was 30 kmh. Ben was the one encouraging me to go faster.

We explored a few other things on our own once the tour was over, the large aquarium in the Radisson hotel and toured through the GDR museum. It was a great hands on, touch things, interact with exhibits type museum. I know a lot about Germany history, but East Germany was one of those things I knew very little about. At the time, I was bored when my father made me watch live video of the wall falling, but now I am glad I have that memory and can now fully appreciate what those people went though and what the wall falling truly meant.

The following day we went out to a Stasi prison, way out of town, that was guided by prisoners who had spent time in there. It was depressing the conditions that the inmates had to endure, both Russian’s, after WWII, and East Germans who were suspected of bad things. I was heart wrenching and instead of doing something more upbeat, we went back to the holocaust memorial and toured through the museum there. As I was quietly sobbing after reading diary entries, and being overwhelmed by so many emotions, Ben reminded me that it was our actual anniversary. I love history, but I wish I had picked happier touring things to do that day. As we walked home that night after another fantastic dinner, did I mention I love German food, we noticed many scantily clad women who seemed to be soliciting men. When we got back to the hotel I had to look up prostitution and sure enough, it is legal in Germany. They were the hottest hookers I had ever seen, even put most strippers in Portland to shame. They were good about not approaching men who were with women, so one look at Ben and they quickly looked away since I was with him. I was the one who could not tear my eyes away.

The best day was the third zoo in a third country within a month. The Berlin zoo has been remodeled so recently due to wars so it is very modern. They was no point in having a map as the paths serpentined around but we still managed to see everything. It was a beautiful day, as we were tired of having rain. The monkeys were going bananas it was great. A spider monkey even fell in love with Ben and made faces with him. She followed him around as he walked through the monkey enclosure. With Ben's camera in great working order, he was having a great time capturing them as they frolicked around their cages. We even managed to be at the big cat enclosure as they were being fed. The lions and tigers were growling so much, roaring like crazy. You could hear them all across the park. I could feel their roars in my chest as we were only a meter away from them. As always I made Ben take photos by the rhinos as they both have great grumpy faces. I saw my first panda, but he was sleeping, and I caught sight of a foot and his bum. As the day grew to a close we took a snooze on a bench in the sun to really enjoy our holiday. We spent the entire day at the zoo much to my pleasure, and left as they were closing. We were tuckered out after so much walking.


The next morning I stuck Ben on a train to the airport, as I got on my own 8-hour train ride down to Sarrland to visit my bestest Germany buddy Katrin. I was to stay with her over the next 5 days to see her new place, visit her new office, and of course meet the new man in her life. I had met a few of her friends before, so it was great to catch up with them, and head out for a night on the town! It was a relaxing week as I wrote, read, slept at Katrin’s while she worked. The weather was not all the cooperative: rain profusely in the morning but then sunny just about the time Kat got off work. One night, we had a great walk from Saarbrücken, Germany over into France. So funny to think the boarder is about a 20 minute walk. It was a great relaxing visit spending time with my buddy and seeing how fantastic she is doing since I have missed so much since she moved back home.