OMP last hurrah!

The day after we moved into Sean’s was my final OMP Leaving Do,

and sadly it was for me and for Niall. But I know I can see Niall again since he has a brother who lives in Portland and hopefully will come and visit! It was probably our most subdued event at Hogans but it was great to get the old gang back together. It was a great turn out and was happy and sad to say a final goodbye to my co-workers.

Hottest Day of the Year

After putting in our notice to move back home, we decided to give them a couple months head’s up and end on the September paydays. Ben had a whole week off before me to clean and get things ready to move, and I only had the one day to help pack before moving. And wouldn’t you know it, the two hottest days, ALL YEAR, happened to be the two days we were moving. Mid 70’s may not seem that hot, but they are! Especially when there is no cross ventilation and we had to scrub every surface in our small 300 square foot apartment. We managed to fit all of our things to take on the place with us into 2 large suitcases, 2 medium suitcases and 2 duffel bags, plus our carryons.

Tullia took a few little bags of stuff as well as my pirate chest, Edell took a full car load of items since she was doing a kitchen extension and a few miscellaneous spices and whatnots for Sean and Celia. The cost of shipping was ridiculous so we had to fit it all into the maximum suitcases. Sean picked us after work and after a full car load to his house, we dropped off the big screen TV to Andrew and Tori as a parting Moore gift and that was the last of our stuff. Sort of strange to think our lives fit into just a few suitcases. And after all the moving with the hottest days of the year, we were in desperate need of showers to not offend our new housemates. Sean was nice enough to let us finish out our last week in Ireland at his place!

Strange Anomaly #75

Hurricane Katia hit Ireland and England this year. I know, hurricanes, sounds like something that should only be in the Caribbean, but apparently ever 25-50 years or so a hurricane can loop back up and hit Ireland. The winds were crazy that morning. Why I even bothered to brush my hair, I will never know. The wind was so strong that I had to stand and lean into it to keep from blowing me over. ME! And I am not so tiny. Kids flew past my on their bikes being pushed from behind. Hurricanes, in Ireland, I never would have guessed it.

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.