Vienna waits for you

Vienna, Austria
December 5-7

The beautiful Schonbrunn Palace. I'm in my Stay-Puffed Marshmallow Man outfit- Turtleneck sweater, Irish Sweater, Puffy Coat. Gotta stay warm somehow!

Oh Vienna! So beautiful!! I was so happy to be back in this city after seven years and see that it really was as gorgeous as I remembered. We pulled into Vienna on December 5th for a quick two night stay. Even their train station is gorgeous! The Westbahnhof train station has undergone a huge renovation and I can honestly say it was the cleanest, nicest train station we have been in in all of Europe. They had three floors of shops and restaurants and services and there was free wi-fi throughout. We were starving when our train arrived and it was nice to be able to settle in for lunch at a train station where you didn't feel like you were playing Russian Roulette with your health. After grabbing a bite to eat we headed downstairs to get train tickets. We were on the last few stops of the trip so we could pretty much plan it all out now as there were no "extra days" to play with. We booked our train to Berlin (an overnight train) and picked up a Vienna Pass for our stay here and we were off to our hotel.

After our luxury digs in Budapest, we were back in an expensive country so we opted for the Meininger, which is a hostel that doubles as a hotel. You may remember the Meininger from our first week, when we stayed there in Salzburg. They are low budget but they do a nice job. The rooms are clean and spacious and the hotel is very safe. We got a twin room for 48 euro a night, which is about 100 Euro less than anywhere else in town! As with many budget European hotels they just push the twin beds together when they know it is a couple staying there. For 48 Euro a night, we weren't going to complain about two nights in twin beds!

That first afternoon, we spent the majority of the day getting our laundry done. We hadn't done laundry since Dingle so it was a necessary evil. Luckily the Meininger, being a hostel, also had a laundry room. We knew it was the last time we would do laundry before heading home so we washed everything we could in two loads to give ourselves a fighting chance at staying clean. We took turns manning the laundry. First I stayed with it while Shaun went for a run, then he stayed with it while I worked on a blog post upstairs. By the time we finished up it was close to 6 but it was so worth it to put on fresh, dry clothes. Ah, the joys of the road!

So we were both clean and happy when we used our Vienna card to go into town and take a look around. Vienna has existed since around 500BC but really came into it's own in the 1800's under the Hapsburg Dynasty when most of the amazing architecture was built. Like many very old cities it is set out not in a Grid, but in Rings, and the inner rings contain most of the sights, making it easy for tourists. We took the train into Stephensplatz and walked up out of the Metro. What I didn't tell Shaun was that St Stephen's cathedral would be right there in front of you as you come out! It is a massive cathedral that looks like it was plopped down in the middle of the city. The streets around it and the plaza in front are all just for pedestrians so there is nothing that impedes your view. And they had some crazy light show going on as well so it just added to the spectacle. We took a walk around inside (it was also lit up) and then continued our exploring.

Saint Stephen's cathedral with the light show inside

After checking out the sights for a little while, we were hungry for dinner. As we learned on the first part of the trip, when you go Austria or Germany every menu will have multiple kinds of Schnitzel on them so you are bound to eat it at one point or another. We've had good Schnitzel and not so good Schnitzel and now we wanted to try the best! A place called Figlmueller in downtown Vienna supposedly does the best Veal Schnitzel in town and it isn't expensive! They pound the veal out paper thin, bread it and then fry it in three different pans to make sure the oil is consistently hot. They serve over 350,000 Schnitzel a year!! The place was packed, and not just with tourists either. Almost everyone ordered the Schnitzel and some wine. If you ordered the Gruner Veltliner (a dry white wine) they served it to you in a clear mug. Shaun found that a little disturbing, but I loved it! The whole experience was fun and delicious- a great combo! After our giant Schnitzel we walked around a bit more and then headed back to the Meininger.

The giant schnitzel at Figlmuller

The next day we had a big day ahead. We planned to spend most of the day in the city, checking out the sights and then we were going to attempt the Opera again!! Shaun had decided that since we didn't get to go for my birthday two days before, this would be a "do-over". So we took the subway into town and stopped off at the State Opera House. At first we thought all was lost. The only seats they had available were over 100 Euro a piece! We were planning on splurging but I couldn't swallow that price. Lucklily we stopped at the Tourist Office. She pointed out the Volksopera (The People's Opera) which was outside the city center but still had some good seats available at a price we could afford. And with our Vienna Card we got an additional 10% off the seats. Done!

Opera tickets taken care of, we began our sightseeing tour of the city. One of the great things about Vienna is their public transportation system. They have buses, trams and subways circling the city so there's always a way to get to where you're going. And that is important in December! By now it had gotten really cold. My new uniform was a turtleneck sweater, followed by an Irish Sweater, followed by a down jacket. I looked like the Stay-Puffed Marshmallow man every day but at least I was warm. Even Shaun, who is never cold, had taken to three layers by now. Regardless, we didn't complain too much about the cold because it was the same thing that was making the rooms so cheap!

So on that cold afternoon, we took Tram 1 and 2 which circle the city (the Ringstrasse) and just hopped off when we wanted to check something out. The Parliament building was gorgeous, but it sits right along the road so it was hard to get good pictures. Then we went over to Rathaus. You may remember from my earlier German/Austrian posts that Rathaus is German for City Hall. (I know, the Irony). Well, this Rathaus is spectacular. It was built in Gothic style back in 1872 and it just looms over the city. And to top it all off, they had set up a huge Christmas Market right in front of it! Clearly it was time for some mulled wine and Currywurst!! By the time we finished checking out the Christmas market it was getting late in the afternoon so we needed to head back. It was time to get ready for the opera.

Rathaus (City Hall) all lit up at night. It was gorgeous.

It was such a fun evening! With a few cheap accessories from H&M and a new scarf from the Christmas market I was able to dress up my little black dress that I had purchased way back in Paris. I had some new boots and I actually took the time to do my hair, which was a luxury in itself. Shaun put on one of his button down shirts and his Irish sweater with some freshly washed Khaki's and we were good to go! I felt like a real grown-up for the first time in a while! We hopped on the train to the Volksopera stop and 45 minutes later we were sitting in our 9th row seats waiting for Die Fledermaus to begin!

Waiting for the Opera to begin!


The Opera was great. The music was beautiful (Strauss) and the costumes were gorgeous and even though the dialogue was in German, they had a screen at the top that translated the gist of what was happening on stage in English. They had three acts with two intermissions in between and they served Champagne or wine and small snacks during the intermission. Everyone was dressed up and thanks to my little purchases I didn't feel out of place. After the Opera ended we walked down the street to a little Asian place and had a bite to eat before heading back to the Meininger. It was a wonderful "do-over" birthday and a night I won't forget!

On Thursday, December 7th we really gave our Vienna Pass a work-out. The pass covers all public transportation and we took it all! We had a lot to do that day. We were taking the night train from Vienna to Berlin and we needed to store our backpacks at the train station so that was job number one. We took the subway out to Vienna Miedling station and locked up our backpacks one of the big lockers. It was only about 11AM and our train didn't leave until 10PM that night so we had a whole day left to explore Vienna. First up, the Schonbrunnn palace.

Shaun out behind Shonbrunn Palace

The Schonbrunn palace was the summer home of the Hapsburgs and it was built back in the 1600's. It is a grand old yellow palace done in the Rococo Style. As with everything else in this area, they had a Christmas market set up! For once, Shaun and I managed to refrain from eating or drinking anything! We had a long day and night ahead so we wanted to keep our wits about us. After walking around the Christmas market and strolling the gardens of Schonbrunn, we headed across town to the Belvedere Palace and Museum. Belvedere literally translates to Beautiful View, and I remembered this place as having a lovely view of Vienna over beautiful green hills. Unfortunately it was now December so the beautiful view was a little gray! We enjoyed ourselves anyway, walking around the grounds a bit and then taking the tram back into town.

By now it was getting dark and the city was all lit up with Christmas lights. We decided to get on either the number 1 or number 2 tram which both basically go around the Ringstrasse. Of all the cities we've been to recently, Vienna has the most beautiful Christmas decorations so seeing it all lit up at night was a real treat. We took the tram over to the area around St Stephen's cathedral and then walked around the "Golden U", Vienna's high end shopping district. By now we were quite cold, so we sat down in a cafe and had some hot tea. Fully revived we continued our sightseeing tour of the city. We walked through the Hofburg Palace and past the Spanish Riding School, over to the Volksgarten (the people's garden) and back over to City Hall (Rathaus) which was just gorgeous all lit up with Christmas lights.

This is one of my favorite statues in Europe. It commemorates the victims of the Plague of 1679 which was believed to be Bubonic Plague. It was completed in 1693 and it is 69 feet tall.

Our next stop was the Museum Quarter, which had a huge Christmas market. Normally we might have gone into a few museums, but we were running a bit short on time, so we just walked through the market, looking at all the beautiful ornaments and the delicious food and watching the light show. The museums are these old converted palaces, so they are huge, and they were projecting all sorts of things on the sides of the buildings, from Dinosaurs (for the natural history museum) to snowflakes. It was quite lovely.

A statue honoring Marie Therese in the middle of the Museum Quarter area. She was the only female ruler of the Hapsburg empire and she ruled from about 1740 to 1780. She is considered to have been one of their best rulers. You go girl!!

Our last stop in Vienna was for dinner at a cafe called the Augustinerkeller. It was a bit touristy, but we had a coupon for a free glass of wine with our Vienna Pass so we didn't mind! The food was good and the company was excellent as always. The place was absolutely packed and there was a guy walking around playing the accordion. Normally we just try to stay inconspicuous, but this night we were up for a little fun, so when the guy came over and asked if we would like to hear a song we said sure! Little did we know he would stand at our table for about 10 minutes playing tune after tune! We were both laughing our butts off though because I was in the booth seat and Shaun was on the outside of the table so it was like he was serenading Shaun the whole time! Finally our food arrived and he left us to eat in peace.

I just love this picture. It cracks me up.

After dinner we headed over to the train station for to catch the "night train" to Berlin. We had booked two berths in a 4 berth cabin, which we thought would be a bit more civilized than the 6 person cabin. We were going 2nd class so we knew it wouldn't be nice but we were just hoping for good cabin mates. We had prepped our bags so we had a change of clothes, PJs and a toothbrush on top for easy access.

When we arrived at the train, we were relieved to find our cabin was shared with a nice Austrian couple who were about our age. We were all pretty tired so we didn't talk much that night, just a little chit chat about the train. Then everyone headed to the bathrooms to change and we all curled up in our respective bunks. The conductor came around asking what we wanted for a beverage with breakfast and then we turned down the lights to sleep. Shaun, as always, was snoozing in minutes but I couldn't fall asleep. I think it was a combination of the cramped quarters and someone smoking in the non-smoking hallway outside our cabin, but regardless it was about 3AM by the time I finally fell into a fitful sleep.

Goodnight!

In the morning we woke to the conductor coming around with coffees and a little pre-packaged croissant. We were in Germany once again. We had started the trip on August 23rd in Munich and now we were back on December 9th in Berlin, where we were spending three nights before completing the trip with a quick stop in Frankfurt. We were both looking forward to seeing Berlin and getting a better understanding of its history. We finished up our coffees, packed up our bags and hopped of the train for one of the last stops on our trip.

Farewell Mozart, Farewell Vienna!

Out of the Shadow of Communism

Budapest, Hungary
December 1-4

The Chain Bridge in Budapest on a Foggy Day

We touched down in Budapest in the early evening hours of December 1st after our fun visit to Dublin. As always, we had done our research on how to get into the city from the Airport. The city guides mentioned that the Taxis in Budapest were known for ripping people off and the train was over an hour, so the Shuttle bus was clearly the way to go. I got in line for the shuttle while Shaun went to find an ATM. Luckily we had also done our research on the currency, because the Hungarian Forint (HUF) is one off those crazy currencies that takes thousands to reach the value of a dollar. We took out 50,000 forints, which translates roughly to 220 dollars. That kind of thing can be a huge shock if you don't know the exchange rate. One time we were in Prague years ago and I accidentally made an ATM withdrawal that amounted to about five dollars. We were charged more in fees than we had actually withdrawn!

With some HUFs in our wallet and a shuttle to the hotel, we were off. Here is the greatest thing about Budapest. It is still cheap. Very cheap. We could have gotten a two or three star hotel for around 30 bucks, but we had other plans! I had saved up my Starwood points from all my business travel and we were able to get a room at Le Meridien in downtown Budapest for only $60 a night! Le Meridien is a 5 star hotel right in the heart of the city, close to all the things we wanted to see and do and it is beautiful! Our room was huge! The plan was to stay for three nights, but I think you know where this is going!

The Chain Bridge at night

That first night we were way too tired to do anything but get a little dinner, so we walked around the corner to a little Italian place, had a quick bite and headed back to the Hotel. I took a bubble bath (oh the luxury!) while Shaun worked on his blog. It was a quiet, lazy night and we were happy as clams.

The next day we got up early, showered and headed out. Budapest also had a free walking tour and it got really great reviews. We headed down to Vorosmarty Square and met up with the tour group. Our tour guide, Sarah, was wonderful. She grew up in Budapest under communist rule, but under the more relaxed form that preceded the end of the Cold War. She did a great job of bringing us through the history of this city. The big joke was that Hungary has a long history of siding with the wrong people and being conquered and occupied over and over again! (The Turks, The Hapsburgs, The Nazi's and the Soviets were some of the occupiers of Hungary over the years)

The tour took us all over the city. In case you don't know, Budapest was once two separate cities, Buda and Pest before becoming one united city in 1873. It is easy to tell the two parts of the city apart, Buda is all hills and Pest is flat as a pancake and the Danube separates the two. We started on the Pest side of the city looking at the gorgeous old architecture interspersed with communist era buildings. We stopped at the beautiful St Stephen's Cathedral and walked along the Danube so we could see the Little Princess Statue. It is just a statue of a little girl (although it looks like a boy) but it is beloved in Budapest because it was the first Post-communist statue erected in Budapest and therefore the first non-communist propaganda statue the city had seen in 40 plus years.

St Stephen's Cathedral with the Christmas Market out front

The Little Princess, beloved for being just a nice statue, which was more than enough after 40 years of Communist Rule. And Sarah, our tour guide

After exploring Pest we walked over the lovely Chain Bridge to the Buda side of the city; the Buda Hills. We walked up the 200 plus stairs to the old Palace, which is now a museum. From there we went to St Matthias church and the Fisherman's Bastion, a beautiful Neo-Gothic arcade overlooking the Danube. Both which were just beautiful, even in the fog. The weather was also bitterly cold, only about 25 degrees, so all the walking we did was a good thing. When at the end of the tour Sarah invited folks to join her and the other guides at a cafeteria style place right around the corner, we were all over it!

Saint Matthias Church with the beautiful tilework

The view of the city below through the Fisherman's Bastion

The lunch spot was a place we never would have found. You go through an unmarked door and up a flight of stairs until you come to a big open cafeteria. There were lots of locals eating there and then us! Sarah helped everyone order their lunches, which was great since all the signs were in Hungarian. Shaun got a big bowl of Veal Paprikash with dumplings and and I got a roast stuffed chicken leg with rice and vegetables. On the side we got a cabbage salad and bread. The whole lunch came to less than 12 dollars and it was excellent.

The next few days in Budapest were great, but were mainly filled with wandering the city streets. Even in the cold and fog this city is lovely. The Parliament building, which was modeled after London's Parliament building in Westminster is the most beautiful of all. When you are up in the Buda hills looking down on Parliament across the river, it's not hard to see why so many people love this city.

The Parliament Building was hauntingly beautiful in the Fog

One afternoon we took a long walk over the Chain Bridge and up into the hills to see the Citadel, an old fortress that was built by the Hapsburg in 1851 after the 1848 rebellion when the people of Budapest tried to take back their city from the Austrians. There they have Lady Liberty who looks out over the city and at 14 meters tall can be seen from all over when the days are clear. She was actually put there in 1947 to commemorate the Soviet "Liberation" of Hungary from the Nazi's after World War II. After Hungary won their freedom back from the communists in 1989, the plaque was changed to read: "To the memory of all of those who sacrificed their lives for the independence, freedom, and success of Hungary".

You can still feel the Turkish influence in the city as evidenced by this statue we saw on our walk up to the Citadel. That's the chain bridge below

Lady Liberty looks out over the city of Budapest

The view from the Citadel

After spending some time at the Citadel enjoying the views of the city, we wandered back along the paths down the Buda Hills all the way over to the Castle and St Matthias again. We considered going to one of the many Turkish baths around the city, but when I looked in on one the line was huge. We probably should have thought to do that on a weekday!

The nightlife in Budapest is very cool, probably a little too cool for a couple of forty year old backpackers, but we didn't care. Sarah had told us that if you wanted to experience the real Budapest, you need to go to the "Ruin Pubs". The idea is simple; there were hundreds of old abandoned buildings after the fall of communism in the late 80's. As the buildings sat in decay, young people saw an opportunity and they turned them into makeshift bars. They often have no signs outside and a graffiti'd curtain may be the only thing you see to let you know there's something good back there. It sounds like it would be illegal, but it isn't. It's actually a big part of the city culture now. We only went to a few, mainly because they were hard to find, but they were really cool and fun! The furniture was stripped down, the walls had graffiti art all over them and the heat usually amounted to a bunch of heat lamps around the tables. The lighting was low and the people were friendly and everyone was having a great time. If we were 15 years younger we would have been up all night! As it was we had a few drinks and wandered back to our 5 star hotel. Not a bad compromise!

Grafitti art on the curtain that served as a door for one of the Ruin Pubs

Hanging out in one of the Ruin Pubs

The scene at one of the larger Ruin Pubs

Another fabulous thing to do in Budapest in December is the Christmas Markets. Budapest has hundreds of them, large and small, set up all over the city. Each of them has their own distinct feel and each of them has their own fabulous food. We very quickly found that we could have a delicious hot meal for cheap money if we didn't mind eating standing up at the Christmas Markets. With items like Roast Goose Leg, Goulash, Handmade Sausages and Braised Cabbages and Grilled Vegetables, we didn't mind at all! And these markets also had entertainment. We saw a few bands and a troupe of Hungarian Folk dancers along the way!

One of our delicious meals, Roasted Ham Shanks and Grilled Vegetables

Roast Goose Leg and Stuffed Cabbage! Yum.

And the requisite sausage with mustard

By our third day we were supposed to go get our train tickets to Vienna, but we decided to stay another day instead. Between the city itself and our fabulous hotel, it was very hard to leave. Plus it was my birthday, and traveling on your birthday is no fun! Our only disappointment in Budapest was our attempt to go to the Opera that last night. We had heard it was very easy to get last minute tickets to see an Opera in Budapest and that it was very inexpensive, so we attempted to get tickets for my birthday but they were sold out. No worries though, we were going to Vienna next; the home of the Opera! So, instead we found a nice place to have dinner and made it an early night so we would be fresh for our travel the next day.

Birthday dinner

I was feeling artistic

Even with the cold, Budapest was a wonderful surprise. It was like Croatia in that it was inexpensive and full of unbelievable beauty and the people were really friendly. And although we were in Hungary, most people seemed to know enough English that we never felt really hampered by our lack of Hungarian. As always, we tried to use the pleasantries like Koszonom (thank you) and that got us a long way.

We were sad to leave Budapest, but our next stop was Vienna, a city I love. I had only been there for 24 hours back in 2004 but it made an indelible impression on me. I was really excited to go there with Shaun and see if it still made the same impression. So after 4 days in Hungary we were off to Austria, for one of the last few stops on our European trip!

The beautiful St Matthias lit up at night over the Danube

How we learned that Pub Crawls and Travel Days don't mix

Ballyhaunis, Galway and Dublin
November 28-December 1

On the afternoon of November 28th, Shaun and I made a pit stop in a town called Ballyhaunis in County Mayo, Ireland. Ballyhaunis is a small town of about 4700 people and most tourists probably never hear of it. We were there because this town was important in my family history. My grandparents were married here on April 25, 1927. I'm sure the town looked very different back then, but the church, which was built in 1909, has probably remained very much the same. Shaun and I walked around outside and took some pictures before finally heading in. It was really interesting to sit quietly in the pews on a rainy afternoon so many years later.

Standing outside St Patrick's Cathedral in Ballyhaunis, Ireland


That evening we made our way back through the very wet roads into Galway. We had decided to stay one night in Galway instead of driving all the way to Dublin after Ballyhaunis and we were certainly happy about that decision considering the bad weather. We booked a room at a little B&B in the Salthill area called Claremount House. The owner was a lovely woman named Anna who took one look at us and brought us a pot of tea and some homemade bread to warm us up from our cold, rainy journey. We were only staying one night so after our tea we headed into town to have dinner and a beer or two.

We had a nice little dinner at a restaurant called the Spanish Arch and then we were off on a mission. There was really just one place we wanted to go back to on our stop in Galway: the Quays Bar. We had been to Galway in 2004 and both of us had great memories of the Quays. (pronounced Keys). It is an old pub which is partially constructed from the remains of an French Medieval Church. There are beautiful stained glass windows, gothic arches and wooden pews. There's even a pulpit overhanging the bar below, so you can give a fiery sermon from the pulpit if you want! (I did of course!) We hung out at the Quays for a while and relived our 2004 memories before heading back up to the Claremount House to bed.

Some of the stained glass windows inside the Quays

My Fiery Sermon on the Evils of the Drink!

The next day we started out with a hearty Irish breakfast at the Claremount house. If you go to England and Ireland I strongly suggest staying at the B&B's, if only for the breakfast! There were eggs and sausage, tomatoes and mushrooms and homemade brown bread with jam and butter. Top it off with a carafe of strong coffee and we were ready for the drive back to Dublin! We had to return the car to the Dublin airport so we headed out right after breakfast.

Two and a half hours later we arrived at Dublin airport where we dropped off the car and made our way to our B&B. The Shantalla Lodge was another beautiful little place run by a sweet woman named Moira who was about my age. It was outside the center of the city a ways, but on a number of main bus routes which was fine with us. We had both been to Dublin in 2004 so we didn't feel that sense of urgency you get when you are in a brand new city for a very short time. As it was, we did a pretty good job of packing a lot of fun into a very short time!

The first night we took the bus into Dublin to go to dinner at a place called MJ O'Neill's. Getting there was half the fun! The way the buses work in Dublin is you tell the driver your stop and he tells you the fare. We weren't sure what stop O'Neills was at so we initially told the driver O'Connell street, which is the hub of the downtown area. Eventually we realized we needed to go further so Shaun went to tell the driver. He told him were going to O'Neills and the driver told him what stop to get off and said not to worry about the extra fare. Shaun walked back to our seats and we waited for the stop. Then when we were driving past the street that O'Neills was on, he pulled the bus over for a few seconds and yelled back to us just to point it out! You are not going to see that happen in Boston! Everyone looked over us to see who the driver was talking to- we were both cracking up.

MJ O'Neills in Dublin

The food was traditional Irish. Lamb Stew and Corned Beef!

O'Neills is an old pub in the heart of the city that serves traditional Irish food. It operates like a cafeteria, where you take a tray and head over to the carvery and order up what you would like for dinner, then order your pint and take it all to a table. Shaun ordered a corned beef dinner and I ordered some lamb stew and we both had a Guinness to wash it all down. After dinner we walked around the city for a while before heading back to the B&B.

The next morning we had another fabulous Irish breakfast at the Shantalla Lodge and then headed into Dublin early. There was a free walking tour at 11am that we both wanted to attend, so we got some coffees and headed over to city hall where the tour was to begin.

The tour was excellent. Our tour guide was a guy named Robbie who was a real history buff. You could tell he really enjoyed giving the tours and we found him both interesting and very entertaining. We walked all over the city, from Dublin palace and castle to the two protestant Cathedrals, Christ Church and Saint Patricks. We walked through Trinity College and over the Ha'Penny bridge and we had coffee in Temple Bar. We walked through St Stephen's Green and talked about the great famine at the Famine Memorial. We stood at the end of O'Connell Street and talked about the Millennium Spire that was completed two years too late in 2002.

Shaun and I behind Dublin Castle, in front of the Carriage House. The Carriage House is really just a facade that was built to hide the poor from the visit of Queen Victoria

The famine memorial on St Stephens Green. Quite a moving statue.

Robbie also told great stories. My favorite one was about how Bono and the Edge from U2 went to the Clarence hotel for a drink after one of their early gigs and were turned away from the fancy hotel bar. As they left, angry and embarrassed, they retorted that they were going to be rich and famous someday and when that happened they were going to buy that Hotel and fire them all. Guess who owns the Clarence Hotel now? (And many other buildings in the Temple Bar area!)

The Clarence Hotel in Dublin, now owned by Bono and The Edge

Another great story involved a Plaque on the O'Connell Bridge commemorating the death of Father Pat Noise, "under suspicious circumstances". The plaque appeared out of nowhere in 2004 and after trying fruitlessly to find out who Father Pat Noise was, the Dublin city council decided it was a hoax and ordered it removed. The people of Dublin, upon hearing that the plaque would be removed started putting up makeshift tributes and memorials to the ficticious preist and the Council finally aquiesced and allowed the plaque to stay. Two brothers eventually fessed up to the hoax but the plaque still stands to this day.

The Plaque to Father Pat Noise on the O'Connell Bridge

By the time the tour ended we had been walking around for 3 1/2 hours-- on a free tour! We had all gotten to know each other a bit during those hours so when Robbie suggested that we all might like the Pub crawl that evening as well, it was a no brainer! Everyone tipped Robbie well for the fabulous tour and vowed to meet back up again that evening for the Pub Crawl.

By now it was almost 3PM so Shaun and I went to get a bite to eat and then headed back over to Trinity College to see The Kells. The Book of Kells is an ancient copy of the four gospels that dates back to around 500 AD. The book is famous for the lavish decorations throughout the manuscript. They only display two pages of the Book of Kells at any time, but they have an excellent exhibition leading up to the viewing that shows in great detail how much work and time (40 plus years) went into the creation of this book. It is amazing that the book survived at all over 1500 years, and even more amazing that it is such good condition. If you find this kind of thing interesting, I would highly recommend a novel called "The People of the Book" by one of my favorite current authors, Geraldine Brooks. Hers is historical fiction about a Jewish Haggadah that survived for centuries before turning up in Sarajevo, but it gives great insight into what it must have taken to keep a book like this safe during some of our more turbulent periods in history.

After the Kells, we set off in different directions. Shaun was off to Cross-Fit Galway to get in a work out and I was off to find someone to cut my hair! The last time I had a haircut we were in Paris, so it was getting pretty unruly. I wandered around the O'Connell street area for a while before finally finding someone who could take a walk-in haircut. Less than a hour later I was back on the street, a little lighter on top and ready for our Pub Crawl!

The Pub Crawl was loads of fun. Our guide for the night was a guy named Ronan who did the Sanderman tours when he wasn't playing in his band, Funzo. He was a great host. The Pub crawl cost $11 euro and included free drinks at a bunch of pubs. Shaun and I started out sitting at a table with an engaged couple, Mark and Caroline, who were both from New Zealand but currently live in Australia. Caroline had been on the road for about as long as we had and Mark had just joined her to do a few months of travel himself. We shared lots of travel stories and gave each other tips on places to go in our journeys. We had our free Guinness or Cider and got to know each other a bit. It was all quite civilized. Then we moved on to the next pub.

Shaun with Mark, Caroline and Halina at the beginning of the Pub Crawl

At that point, the free drinks became a little more potent than Guinness. In fact, many of the free drinks were actually shots! Other than a half-shot of Tequila, I passed on most of the hard stuff. I know myself well enough to know that I just can't handle it. My husband on the other hand, thinks he is twenty! By the end of the night Mark, Ronan and Shaun were rapping, break-dancing and just generally getting down in Dublin. The highlight for me was when Shaun pulled off his sweater and started doing "the worm" on the floor of the pub. The look on Caroline's face was priceless. It was all quite hilarious.

The dancing was in full swing

Ronan busting a move

The next day was a travel day. I woke up a little tired, but not feeling too badly considering the late night. Shaun on the other hand was looking a little gray. It didn't help that we had to take the bus to the airport for our flight to Budapest and the bus we boarded was hot as Hades. By the time we got to Dublin airport he was absolutely green. Luckily we had arrived at the airport with plenty of time. We went through check-in and then I grabbed a coke for Shaun while I looked around for some food. I found a Thai place that looked like it would fit the bill. We sat down and ordered some Pad Thai and Spring Rolls for both of us and a hot and spicy soup for Shaun. I was quite relieved as I saw the color creeping back into his face! For a while there I thought we were going to end up quarantined in Dublin by airport security!

Oh how this photo makes me laugh! This was obviously before he got some food in his system!

So with my newly revived husband, we boarded our flight to Budapest. We had two more weeks of travel to go and we were pretty excited about our next destinations. We would start in Budapest, make our way to Vienna, Austria and then finish up in Germany, where it all started so many months ago! Our 3 week hiatus to Ireland and the UK was a real treat, especially because we were able to speak to everyone in English. Our last two weeks would be in Hungarian and German, but at this point we were ready for whatever came our way. Next stop, Budapest!

Back to Nature

The Dingle Peninsula
November 21-28

It was the morning of November 21st and I was giddy with excitement. After 7 years, Shaun and I were returning to the Dingle Peninsula on the West Coast of Ireland. We had been there for one night in 2004 and fallen in love with the area. We would not short change Dingle this time around!

We started the morning at the Belfast bus terminal. We needed to rent a car for Dingle but since Belfast is considered the UK there would be an exorbitant drop-off fee if we rented it there and dropped it off in Dublin. Luckily for us, there are buses running every hour from Belfast to Dublin. It takes three hours and it costs 10 pounds and drops you right at the airport so it was a no brainer. We walked into the bus station at 8:50am and by 9am we were flying along on our way to Dublin. Other than a quick stop at the border (to show passports) the ride was uneventful.

At the airport we picked up our car and headed out on the roads. By now Shaun was an old hand at driving on the left. We actually had a very good system down. The night before our journey we would send directions to my Ipad and then I would be in charge of giving Shaun directions while he just concentrated on driving. I barely had to use my imaginary emergency brake at all on this part of the trip!!

The drive out was nice, but we could tell something was different. We both remembered the last time we drove across Ireland as being much more confusing and time consuming. As it turned out, Ireland had used their years of great economic boom (remember the Celtic Tiger?) to do massive infrastructure improvements. This meant two lane highways almost all the way across the country. It certainly made the drive faster, but I think you miss something by not traveling through all the little towns. We did make one stop on our way though in the town of Adare. Adare is a beautiful little town about 2/3 of the way from Dublin to Dingle. It has a tons of little shops, restaurants, a park and a cathedral in the center. One thing I loved about Adare was that the stores have the old thatched roofs you hardly see anymore. It's probably considered a tourist trap, but I'd be happy to be trapped there anytime!

Cute little Adare on the way to Dingle

After a late lunch in Adare, we were back on our way to Dingle. The closer we got to the peninsula, the prettier things got. When we reached Tralee at the start of the Dingle Peninsula, the sun was setting and the sky was starting to turn pink. By the time we were halfway down the peninsula the sky was absolutely breathtaking-- puffy white cotton candy clouds against a baby pink backdrop. It was like the island was welcoming us home with our own little light show.

It was like a vision from a dream...

The cottage we had booked was called the Rambling House. It is a 200 year old cottage in the village of Kilmalkedar in the hills above Dingle Town. I had seen the cottage on VRBO (Vacation Rentals by Owner) a few months back and fell in love with the idea of staying there. I e-mailed the owner, Louise, while we were in Belfast and she said the cottage could be ours for the week for 300 Euro. The price was right! She sent me the directions in an e-mail and let me know how to get in. She said the housekeeper would turn the heat and hot water on the afternoon of our arrival.

Shaun in front of the Rambling House

By the time we arrived in Dingle town it was already dark. We followed Louise's directions which included things like "pause to admire the view". Of course it was too dark to do that so we just made our way along the narrow winding road until we arrived at Rambling House. The Cottage was perfect for us. It had a big kitchen with lots of good pots and pans for cooking. It had a wood stove in the living room where we could have Peat fires. It had three bedrooms, two of which we kept closed so as not to disperse the heat. And very important for us, it had a washing machine! I think we put a load of wash in before we even sat down for the first time!

After bringing everything in from the car, we headed back down into Dingle to get some supplies. We were both tired of eating out so our first stop was Garvey's, the local grocery store. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning as we shopped for fresh vegetables and fruit and herbs. We picked up eggs and bread and coffee and lamb and chicken and bacon and crackers and cheese. I finally had to stop myself. We were only here for a week after all! Then it was back up the hill to Rambling House to settle in. We made a fire in the wood stove, cooked up a nice dinner and settled down for bed in our cottage.

Dinner the first night at the cottage. Yay vegetables!

When we woke up in the morning we finally got to see the view. Our kitchen had a big picture window that looked out over the hills of Dingle and out onto the ocean. Shaun and I both threw on some sweaters and headed out to check out our "front yard". It was sheep city! The hills all around us were dotted with sheep, including the next door neighbor's front yard! We couldn't wait to get out and explore, but first we had a few small issues to take care of.

The front yard

That first 24 hours in Rambling House had a few ups and downs. The heat had this odd timer system that we had a little trouble with, but finally we got that figured out and the place started to warm up. Then when Shaun went to make breakfast a fuse blew when he plugged in the electric kettle. We tried and tried to figure out the fuse system but no luck. And unfortunately that meant no heat again. Eventually I had to e-mail Louise for help. She sent her handy man Derek over who fixed the fuse situation and all was well. (Turns out the tea kettle was faulty and that was causing the electrical overload). After that was fixed, things went much more smoothly at Rambling House. I guess its all to be expected in a renovated 200 year old cottage!

Our time in Dingle was a fabulous mix of long walks, long drives and long relaxing days at home. Every day had its own charm, but the long walks were my favorite. That first full day we bundled up and set out from the house to see the countryside around us. We walked down the street to see the ruins of an old beehive hut (more on those later) and then continued down a one lane road that led toward the ocean. Along the way we passed cows and chickens and horses and ducks, all just grazing the beautiful green farmland. And the sheep, oh my, the sheep. The funniest statistic I heard that week is that there are 10,000 people living on the Dingle Peninsula and 500,000 sheep! That's one person for every 50 sheep!

Hanging with some cows...

And ducks and chickens!

We continued our walk down along the ocean on Slea Head Beach. It's funny, when I was a kid growing up I always thought of the rolling green hills of Ireland but I never thought of beaches. And it is an Island...as in "surrounded by water". The beaches here are actually quite fantastic. It was late November so it was way beyond swimming season, but the walking was fantastic. The wind was howling so the waves were crashing and the views were just amazing. All along the coast the farmland would come almost right down to the beach so you would be walking along the sand and look up and see cows standing there staring at you!

I swear they really did stare at you!

I loved these shells we found everywhere

Another day we drove the car out to Clogher Beach and did a walk along the cliffs and beaches of that side of the peninsula. The waves were just massive and we could barely catch our breath from the wind, but we just walked and walked for hours. Usually we would leave the house mid-morning and get back late afternoon. It was always great to come home and cook up a hot lunch in our cottage and start a nice warm fire after a long day of walking.

Amazing Clougher Beach. Crazy Windy

The sea foam actually flew up over the cliffs

On Thursday we had a fun Thanksgiving for two! We had found a relatively small turkey the day before and even though it was a bit of a pain to do the cold water defrost, it was totally worth it. By the time the morning rolled around the turkey was ready to go and so was I. I was really looking forward to a day of cooking!

It was cold and rainy out that morning but that didn't stop Shaun from wanting to go out for a Thanksgiving run. He dressed up warmly and set out in the cold while I started prepping for the feast. First up, an apple crostata. A crostata is a perfect dessert when you don't have your normal tools because it is meant to be rustic. There was no rolling pin in the house, so I used a wine bottle to roll out my pie dough, then scooped the filling in the middle and folded over the edges. Voila! No pie pan, no rolling pin but a great dessert just the same.

The Apple Crostata

Next up was the turkey and stuffing. As much as I love eating Turkey, I think my favorite part of Thanksgiving is smelling the Turkey cooking in the oven. Even though we were far away from home, it seemed very festive as the house started to fill up with that great smell of roasting turkey. And Shaun made it hilariously easy for me. My husband has become a bit of a vegetable junkie over the last few years, but not today! For this Thanksgiving he insisted that all he wanted was Turkey, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy! So that's what we had! Of course, we also had wine and apple crostata so there was at least some fruit involved!

Turkey for two. We had leftovers for days!!

Shaun watching Caveman TV

After our turkey dinner, we watched "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" for another taste of home and played Bananagrams by the fire. (If you like Scrabble, you will love Bananagrams!) But the best part of the day was Skyping with family. First up was Shaun's family. His sisters had never used Skype before so it was really fun to see them all for the first time since we left in August. Next up was my family. My brother Patrick was hosting my sisters Maura and Katie and their families in Maine. With all the kids around it was mayhem, but the best kind of mayhem! At this point we were only about 3 weeks from going home on our "Christmas Break" so we were really excited to see everyone and make plans for Christmas, even if was via video!

While all that home cooking was great, we wanted to get out in Dingle a bit too, so we had some fun in town as well. One night we went to Foxy John's Hardware Store and Bar. It was a trip. One one side the place is filled with nails and tools and sandpaper and such, and on the other side is a bar where we sat and had a beer. It was the off season so we were the only non-locals in the place, but everyone was very welcoming. We also went out for some traditional Irish music or Trad Music as they call it. An Droicead Beag (The Small Bridge Bar) had a nice warm fire going and a couple playing the guitar and the fiddle. It was a great way to pass a cold winter's evening.

Foxy John's Hardware...And Bar

A little Trad Music at the Pub

On our last full day in Dingle we drove the 30 mile scenic drive around the coast of the Peninsula, stopping along the way at every scenic overlook or old celtic ruin. The drive is absolutely gorgeous regardless, but when you throw in a bunch of "really old stuff" it becomes a fascinating look back in time. We had downloaded a self-guided tour onto my Ipad, so all we needed to do was set the Odometer at the Aquarium and pull over whenever we came to something interesting on the tour. The very first thing we came to was a gallaum, a prehistoric grave or boundary marker that dates back to 4000 BC. Now that is some old stuff! Later we visited a bunch of intact beehive huts or clochans. These huts were built for Celtic Cheiftains and date back to around 500 BC. They were never destroyed by the locals because they actually thought they might be fairy huts! God bless the Irish for their superstitions!

One of the beehive huts

Dunberg Fort

Same place above and below, very different poses!

Two of the coolest things on the peninsula are actually right in our neighborhood; the Gallarus Oratory and Kilmalkedar Church. The Gallarus oratory was built back in the 7th or 8th century and it is an early Christian church shaped like an inverted boat. It has been standing for about 1200 years and it is still watertight inside even though there was apparently no mortar used in the building. Kilmalkedar is the ruins of an old Romanesque church dating back to the 12th century. When I tell you that the church was in our backyard, I'm not kidding. It was literally next door to us so it was fun to go explore over there. Both of these spots were stops on the self-guided tour, which was pretty cool since they are in the neighborhood.

Outside (above) and Inside (below) Gallarus

The ruins of Kilmalkedar right behind our house

After touring the Island, we were both starving so we stopped at a little pub in the center of Dingle for some Fish and Chips and a beer. We looked for Fungi, the Dolphin who lives in Dingle Bay, but no such luck. We had to settle for a picture with his statue instead.

Fish and Chips

The statue of Fungi

On the morning of the 28th we packed up our things and loaded them into the car. We were headed up north to Galway for a night with a pit stop in a town called Ballyhaunis and then on to Dublin for two nights. We were well rested and we felt like we had made the most of what Nature had to offer in Dingle. As we drove the winding roads back out of Dingle towards Tralee we talked about how good this stay was for both of us physically and mentally. We were just over two weeks out from heading home for Christmas and we had some big cities ahead, but we both felt good about it. We had a recharged attitude and a backpack full of clean clothes. What else could we need!?

I call this one "Sunset with Sheep"

And this one is called "Husband with Rainbow". I have a flair for the obvious