Category: travel

I finally have a broadband connection, so you have pictures to look at. The Paris pictures were pretty much a waste, but I might put some of them up later. Anyway, here are my pictures from yesterday, my first full day here on the lovely Cote d’Azur:

• The Morning Walk

• Le Chateau La Napoule

Yep, I’m in France! The day in Paris was… interesting. Jet lag is horrible. It’s four in the morning and I’m awake. I’m stuck on a really slow modem connection, so no pics or real elucidation or stories until I can find some broadband.

But, I did get my croissant, a couple beignets, and had the most amazing meal for dinner tonight.

The Cote d’Azur is gorgeous, and I can only imagine how perfect it is in the summer.

Ok, it’s late, I’m tired, and I think I can get back to sleep… more info later!

We had just one full touristy day in Dublin, and this was it. We’d already walked around the City Centre quite a bit, but still wanted to hit some shops that were closed during the week after work. So, we wandered down to Grafton Street, hit Powerscourt and a couple other shops, made some purchases, and then took the long way home to go past some sites we hadn’t seen yet.

We dropped off our purchases at the hotel, and grabbed the DART (commuter train) south around Dublin Bay to Dalkey, which is where Bono of U2, and other famous Dubliners live. It’s a cute little town on the sea. We wandered all over town, then ate lunch in an Australian restaurant.

We leave tomorrow for home, via two taxis, two airplanes, and I’m sure six lines at Heathrow in the middle.

This has been a great trip, both professionally and personally. I got to know a co-worker better, formed new relationships with the guys in Dublin, and had a lot of fun. Dublin is a great city. If you have the chance to visit, do. The people are great, the food is so much better than I expected, and the whole atmosphere is just perfect. I’ve got more to write about my thoughts on the trip, and my first trip to Europe in over twenty years, but I’m tired, need to pack, and want to go to sleep. Cheers!

Photos from this morning’s commute.

I went to my first traditional Irish pub this evening, and it wasn’t a tourist trap. Cobblestone is a cramped, smokey little hole in the wall with free-flowing Guiness (I had Coke, I swear), mislabelled bathrooms, and good company. We had a really good time, me apologizing for the bad reruns we stick them with and McDonalds, and I made one of them apologize for reality TV (even though it’s really a British thing and not Irish – but they’re neighbors). I learned about the Irish gorvernment, a little more about the culture, and had a lot of fun.

I’m feeling a little better today, although I bet the smoke won’t make me feel any better tomorrow. We’re doing well at work, and I’m hoping we can cut out early on Friday and get some shopping done before the crowds descend on Saturday, our only real touristy day.

Sorry I don’t have more pictures, but we leave in the dark, and come home in the dark, and the pictures come out crap. The sun doesn’t come up until after 8, and it sets at 4. Did you know that Ireland is level with Newfoundland, and the tip of Spain is pretty much even with Maine? I had no idea… Beautiful sunrises on the way to work though, you really should see them through the completely fogged up windows of the bus (yes, boss, we’ve been taking the BUS to work – but no more, it takes way too long to get to work).

I wrote this very early yesterday morning, but it didn’t post because of hotel network problems… cheerful, ain’t it? I’m much better now.

It’s 5:25 AM GMT, and I haven’t slept in 24 hours. Why? I’ve been coughing all night, and retching up multi-colored volumes of stuff out of my lungs. I swear I tried to sleep. I did. I just kept coughing… and couldn’t stop. I sat in a really hot shower for half an hour, tried the cough syrup I got at Centra (7/11-ish, only nicer), and drank a gallon or more of water from my little Slimish Still Water bottles that I also got at Centra, so I could quell the coughing fits that have plagued me so far on this trip.

What’s so disappointing about all this is that yesterday went really well. The discussions at work went very well, we ate at an amazing restaurant for dinner, and I tried to go to bed at a reasonable hour.

Now, it’s about time to go sit in the shower for another hour, get dressed and see if I can get some breakfast downstairs (Jen, you were right, I should have brought more snacks).

You remember what I said about the hotel TV? It’s even worse overnight. I know the weather now for every city in Europe, and I don’t want to… Make it go away…

I love Ireland AM. It’s the coolest morning show I’ve ever seen. Maybe it’s just the accents, but I still love it. Also, I love Irish Football (I think that’s what that was). It takes the best of rugby, soccer and football, and there are no pads. Very cool. Good luck to me finding it on DirecTV (oh, but I will look… trust me).

I woke up a couple times last night after going to bed at 6:30. I just couldn’t keep my eyes open any more. I left Sean near O’Connell Street and trudged back to the hotel, sniffling, and quickly losing any energy I had left. I am rather proud that I made it back to the hotel without making any wrong turns and without a map. Sean commented (and I agree) that it’s a lot harder to get lost when you’re walking than when driving. I think that’s especially true here, since we’d have to worry about driving on the left, all the weird stoplight/intersection combinations and the horrible traffic. Walking, while hard on my poor feet (brought the wrong shoes, which I thought were the right shoes), is a great way to see Dublin (yeah, I’m an expert now). The people watching is priceless. The sounds of the city really seep in, and it’s just great fun. It’s too bad I have to work this week…

We made it! It took two planes, a dozen super-long lines at Heathrow, some confusion, the world’s funniest cab driver, and some luck, but here we are. Dublin is great. Everyone we’ve met so far has been friendly and helpful, and the city has a great vibe to it.

The pictures are online from our first day.

Ok, what can I tell you before I have to go jump in the shower… Well, here are a couple tips. First, TV in the Alexander Hotel pretty much sucks. But, MTV Europe rules. They play videos and everything! And they’re not the bubblegum crap we have in the States. I’ve seen Snow Patrol, The Darkness, and the School of Rock video since turning it on, along with a bunch of other interesting stuff (like a song by a former Spice Girl that doesn’t suck!). Second, and more importantly, if you have to change terminals in Heathrow Airport, don’t fool around thinking that you have enough time to do anything else. Get there. You’ll have to go through no less than three confusing lines, and follow a dozen unintelligible signs. Good luck.

I didn’t sleep at all on the plane. There was no way to get comfortable, so I watched Seabiscuit (good), and 2 Fast 2 Furious (horrible) and tried to read. International business class is awesome. I highly recommend it if you can get your company to spring for it.

If you go to Dublin, talk to your cab driver. Our cab driver was short, red, hairy and hilarious. He was a driving confirmation of every stereotype I came into the country with. Thankfully, everyone else I’ve met since arriving has nullified a lot of those, but man, he was the best introduction to Ireland I could think of.

Ok, I’m gonna shower, get dressed, and consider going downstairs to get a traditional Irish breakfast. Toodles.

We’re leaving for Ohio tomorrow morning. Jen keeps moving our departure time up by thirty minutes every time she thinks of some other reason for us to stop (changing diapers, Max decompression time, lunch, etc). Now, I think we’re leaving at 4:30am yesterday.

What do I do before a big trip? Why, I wipe the Powerbook clean and start over. I’m going to go to Best Buy and get a cigarette lighter adapter so Max can watch movies the whole way there, and then to the sto’ to buy soda and last-minute munchies. I have my directions and my big driving map. I’m going to get the oil changed at lunch, and debating about buying a cell phone. The one thing I don’t know is whether Ohio is Eastern or Central time. If it’s Central, that means we can leave an hour later (please, oh please).

I’ll have the Powerbook with me, so will hopefully be able to blog from the road. But, don’t look for anything insightful (do you ever get anything insightful here anyway?). See ya on Monday!

We’re going on a roadtrip this weekend. My wife’s brother is getting married in a little town in Ohio. So, we’re gonna pack up the truck, throw Max in the back with the luggage and his lamb and drive on out. It’ll be fun. We haven’t done a real roadtrip since the Virginia Beach trip last year. The best part is her parents will be there. I can smell the Pinochle and trash talk already.

There’s something wonderfully American about roadtrips. Jen and I decided last night to plan the Great American Vacation. We may never take it, but we’re going to plan it. We assume we’ll take a big honkin’ RV, spew pollutants across this great country of ours. I call it “spreading the love”. We want to finely balance great natural and historic wonders like Monticello and Yellowstone with the macabre and campy American classics like The Corn Palace and World’s Largest Ball of Twine. We’ll stay in campgrounds, I’ll wear a fisherman’s hat, shorts with black socks and chew on an empty pipe. She’ll look at the map quizzically while I go on and on about the price of gas and how many miles we need to cover before we get to Carhenge. Max will sit in the back playing video games and looking at us like we’re crazy. Yeah, it’ll be the perfect vacation, just like the home movies we watched at Grandma’s. Uncle Bud shooting 16mm film out of the back of a beat-to-hell station wagon as mom, Aunt Linda and Aunt Judy played in the seat in front of him. Stretches of concrete in a disappearing line behind him, filled with gas-guzzling behemoths of steel passing on all sides. Who wants to go?