Settling in After a week on the road, it's been good to settle into someplace where we will stay more than one night. We are right on the esplanade--the more urban version of the coastal path we enjoyed in Crawfordsburn. I'm a bit burnt out from uploading photos
Obama Plaza Today we drove east to Ennis, then south to Limerick, then to Dublin, then north to Belfast. On the way, we just had to stop at Barack Obama Plaza in Moneygall. WTF? The first couple visited the president's mother's ancestral home in 2011 and what better
Cliffs of Moher The last time I saw the cliffs, I was 18 and hitching around Ireland. I had lucked into a ride with a German family in a VW van. My plan was to take the ferry out to the Aran Islands after seeing the cliffs. However, it was pouring rain and
Hanging with the Coole people We cycled the long curving promenade that surrounds Salt Hill and Galway Bay, visiting a famine memorial that pays tribute to the captains and crew that delivered Ireland's emigrants safely to America, Australia, and other ports. It listed a sampling of 100 ships that left from Galway in
Wild Atlantic Way The Irish Tourist Board has cleverly rebranded the west coast of Ireland as the Wild Atlantic Way and helpfully posted signs with two blue W's--which look like a long ocean wave--all along the route. You don't need a map to do this trip, which makes it
Land of poets It isn't hard to see why Ireland produced so many great artists. It is a land of unspeakable beauty--and so the challenge of finding words to capture it is all the more consuming. I won't even try, hence the many photos in this post. We started
Under Ben Bulben We started the day with a bike ride up onto the ridge above Cromleagh Lodge, taking in sights you miss while driving. I didn't bring a camera, so I can't share these sights, however I recall one observation (I'm writing a week later due
Get the Frack out of Ireland We finished cleaning the townhouse (a tough job when two cats and a dog live there and the landlady has not been told of said dog and cats by the property manager--something I didn't know) then hit the road, driving west from Belfast to Enniskillen, the last large
Run around We leave tomorrow on vacay so today was a long list of errands and cleaning the townhouse. We also looked a second time at two of the townhouses in Belfast. One is being bid on by a guy who just sold his house in London. Meaning we will never outbid
Middle age musings I think about white water kayaking whenever I hear roaring water, as I did in the glen yesterday. The noise gives me a heightened level of anxiety that does not dissipate until quiet is restored. I kayaked for a while in my mid-40s but never mastered the combat roll (a
Fred, Joe, and Nolan If we walk Maysie after 7:30 a.m., we will encounter Fred, Joe, Nolan, and Finn, Nolan's aging black lab. Joe and Nolan carry dog treats (or "bickies" as Joe calls them--short for biscuits), so Maysie will sprint toward them as soon as they are
Fast food Tesco is the U.K. version of Target--except there's lots of photos of the Ulster farmers who raise the beef and veg Tesco sells. So a much better vibe. And they sell Indian dinner in a box. What is not to love about that?
Bidding wars I went into Belfast Friday to have a second look at a property we put a bid on. We are in a bidding war and David thought it was worth having a second look before raising our offer. Much to my surprise, I did not like it on second viewing.
Comments A long time ago I mentioned that David was looking into adding some code so that readers could leave comments on the blog. He created his own blog to do it and he found a few problems. Like you have to go through a weird registration process, which I wasn&
Willpower I don't consider myself a particularly avid shopper, but I think having 99.9% of my possessions in storage in Delaware is making me covetous of stuff. That and my fervent desire to buy a house and settle in with the right sort of decor. What else could
Marquess of Dufferin and Ava If you were a member of the Protestant Ascendancy [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_Ascendancy], you could build vast land holdings in Ireland from the 1600s onward and construct stately homes such as nearby Clandeboye House. The family that owned the estate consisted of a succession of lords, barons,
Zumba zombie Last week I took a zumba class, very excited about getting some exercise while having fun. It was fun--but also humbling. I thought my biggest problem would be learning the patterns quickly and keeping up with the class. The teacher was so good that that wasn't a problem.
Lollygagging on the Lagan The Lagan River flows through Belfast to the lough. There's a towpath along sections of it and a beautiful trail that makes you feel you are far away from anything manmade. We hiked a few miles along it from Stranmillis--near where we've made the offer on
Shop til you drop David's co-worker Helen got me out with two of her friends today to hit the charity shops. We started in Holywood--a wealthy area, so good pickings--then went to a shop in Connswater where everything was 99 pence ($1.70), then to Cregagh (pronounced Creggie) Road, which has the
Heat wave The temperature has been in the high 70s to low 80s for three days, making this an unusual heat wave. In the U.S., I wouldn't have blinked at 80 degrees but here it feels very hot--you quickly get accustomed to a more moderate climate. The air conditioning
Aelish's sister Today's destination was Downpatrick, where I was to meet Frances, the sister of my former co-worker, Aelish. On my way, I passed this amazing castle in Killyleagh. I stopped to take photos but mine were so poor that I'm stealing one from the internet. I knew
The Troubles Today David and I viewed a house that we may make an offer on. It's a townhouse in Belfast, meaning David can walk to work and we are close to Queens University and night-time activities. We give up the coastal path, but you can't have it
Mental maps To improve the chances of running injury free, I've gone to Aurora to warm up and stretch before I run outside, picking up on my early spring Aurora workout but dropping the treadmill part. So I'm learning a network of trails on the grounds of Bangor
Monty Python's failing circus The remaining members of Monty Python reunited to put on a show in London's massive O2 Center, with live broadcasts to theaters around the world. One of those was in Belfast and David and I went last night, looking for a good laugh. We looked everywhere and we
Rory! Rory! Rory! Rory McIlroy won the British Open today. He is from County Down, where I am living, specifically from Holywood, right up the road. Everyone has been following his progress in the tournament all week. I think it has surpassed the weather as the main topic of conversation (Brits are notorious