Thanksgiving in Ireland

Dublin Castle

I just got back from an extended Thanksgiving weekend on the Emerald Isle, and I'm not quite ready to start working.  Traveling can be exhausting, but it is definitely rewarding!  I got a lot of "looks" when I told people how I would be traveling to Ireland for a few days over Thanksgiving weekend.  Most of those looks were followed by comments like "Isn't that a long flight?"  or "Only a few days?".  Well folks, here in the US we don't get as much vacation time as elsewhere in the world, and I have to seize these breaks whenever I can - even if they are short!

Wednesday evening, I caught a short flight to Philadelphia and then the red eye to Dublin for my weekend in Ireland.  Fortunately, I slept for most of the flight and was ready to go when my plane landed.  The Dublin airport is not very far from the city center and after doing some research, I decided on taking the AirCoach bus for 12 euros round trip to my hotel.  I was able to buy tickets right at the currency exchange counter by baggage claim.  The Trinity Capital Hotel was only 3 stops from the airport.  When I arrived around 10 am, I got lucky because my room was ready much earlier than the 3pm check-in time.  I was able to shower, change, and freshen up before my 1pm Sandemans free walking tour of the city. 

Christchurch Cathedral

Reading about the tour online, I expected to meet the group in front of the city hall building.  As it turns out, my idea of front is not their idea of front and after a few minutes wandering, I found the group in the side courtyard area.  The next three hours were spent exploring the city.  For a very cold and rainy day, three hours walking outside were a bit torturous.  Even though my tour guide was very knowledgeable and passionate about Irish history, I don't think I can recommend going on this tour in poor weather.  Actually, even in nice weather, I'd say to skip it unless you are a really big history buff.  Definitely don't take kids.  They will be very bored.  Perhaps the stout and the city tour would have been a better option?

After the tour, I needed to go somewhere to warm up before dinner.  What better way to do so then to visit the Jameson Distillery and enjoy some quality Irish Whiskey?  While they don't actually make Jameson at the site in Dublin, it was still a fun tour.  It reminded me a lot of the Sam Adams tour here in Boston.  We learned how the triple distillation process works and got to have some samples.  There was even a group of people who were taste testers and got to compare Jameson against some of the leading Scottish and American whiskeys.  Though I would not appreciate "tasting" different shots of whiskey, I did enjoy sipping on my complimentary Jameson and ginger.  I would recommend coming here on your trip. It is a bit out of the way from the other landmarks, but you can walk there if you want or hop in a cab like I did. 

Jameson Distillery

My initials plans for dinner fell to the wayside because I was not going to walk all the way back to St. Stephens green in the rain.  A much better plan was to pop in to a pub in the Fitzsimmons Pub in Temple Bar area and listen to some live music while sipping on a Guinness and chowing on fish and chips. It felt like a very authentic experience, to a tourist at least.  Happy Thanksgiving from Ireland!

I blame the time difference as well as walking a good portion of the previous day on not getting up in time for breakfast on Friday.  When I finally did get up and moving, Temple Bar was calling my name for a cornish pasty from Hamley's.  The reviews online all made it seem outstanding, and while it was quite good, I wouldn't say it was incredible.  At this point, I was 2 for 2 when it comes to having potatoes in my meal.  From there, I wandered into a few shops and past some landmarks. 

Gradually, I made my way to the Guinness Factory Storehouse.  It is crazy how different this was from my Jameson experience.  It is like walking into Disneyland.  Everything is very "mass" oriented.  There is no guide, but over 7 floors of random Guinness stuff, including an entire floor dedicated to marketing materials and a bar where you can learn how to poor the perfect pint of the black stuff - which I am now certified in, thank you very much.  The gravity bar on the top floor provides nice views of the city, but it packed with people and nowhere to sit.  I'm pretty sure I spent close to 2.5 hours in here, with at least 1/2 hour in the store.  This is also a must-do while in Dublin!

The perfect pour of Guinness

That afternoon I wandered through the city some more in search of a post office so that I could mail some postcards.  At this point, it became pretty obvious to me that Ireland is in a recession right now and a lot of people are struggling to find work.  There were a lot of social services offices and I passed by several homeless shelters.  Most of the shops are not very fancy (with the exception of Grafton Street) and the city just didn't feel like it was at its peak.  It would have been really interesting to visit prior to 2008 so that I could have made a comparison to when it was doing really well.

Dinner that night was set for 7pm at the Brazenhead.  This is supposedly the oldest pub in Ireland.  I made my reservations in advance and walked into a pub with no hostess or waiter/waitress in sight.  I've found that this is very common in the places I ate.  Most of the pubs are self-seated, however the bartenders are usually happy to help answer questions.  Imagine my surprise though when their website encourages reservations.. hmm.  I finally asked the bartender about it, and he pulled out a piece of paper from behind the bar and "found my reservation".  A group of very loud men were sitting at the table that was supposed to be reserved and I ended up waiting a little while before being seated in an isolated back room.  Eventually other people came in to sit down, but at first it was very odd.  I ordered the Irish Stew and a Bulmers.  I love hard cider and this was pretty good.  My stew was delicious!  For dessert I had a Baileys coffee and some cheesecake.  A Baileys coffee is actually very different from an Irish coffee.  It is very delicious though and should be tried by everyone at least once.  I also feel the need to point out there were a few scoops of mashed potatoes in my stew, so I am now 3 for 3 with potatoes in my meal.

King John's Castle on the River Shannon

The next morning I got up very early and caught an Extreme Ireland bus for my day tour through the countryside.  I actually booked the tour through Viator, but looking back on it, it probably would have been better to do it directly through the vender.  I didn't realize at the time that Viator outsourced this tour and I don't like having to pay a finders fee when I can avoid it.  Our itinerary for the day started with several hours on the bus heading southwest out of the city.  The first stop was in Limerick to view King John's Castle across the river Shannon and the treaty stone.  This was a quick stop and was mostly for pictures.  For those of you who can't keep your kings straight, King John was the bad guy in Robin Hood.  :)

Around 11:30, the bus arrived at the Cliffs of Moher.  We really lucked out because the skies were clear and we were able to see the cliffs very well.  Our guide mentioned that the previous tours didn't see the cliffs at all because of all the mist.  Recently, they built a nice museum type of thing with a cafe and look out points right into the side of the cliffs.  It's not as fancy as the lookouts at Niagara Falls, but it is a nice place to come in and warm up after being out in the wind.  There are a few walking paths to take around the cliffs, but apparently this doesn't keep people from getting too close to the edge.  I wonder how many people get blown over the edge in a year?  That drop does not look too fun.  In the summer, you can actually hop on a boat to the Aran Islands and view the cliffs from the bottom looking up.

The Cliffs of Moher

After spending a few hours at the cliffs, we drove into Doolin for a lunch at a pub.  I opted for another authentic meal and had the boiled bacon and cabbage.  It was hear I learned that the American word for bacon is not the same thing as the Irish interpretation of bacon.  In fact, when they say bacon, they really mean ham.  Either way, I enjoy eating piggies, so I was content with my meal. Yes, this also came with three scoops of mashed potatoes and I am now 4 for 4.  I washed it all down with some Guinness and I was ready for the second part of the tour.

After lunch, we had some time for a small trek around the karst region of the Burren.  This was pretty cool!  The entire region is covered in limestone that was deposited along the coast by glaciers a long time ago.  In the summer, there is some pretty unique plants and flowers, but we didn't really see very much because it is winter.  From there, we made a quick stop at the 12th century Corcomroe Abbey.   At this point, I've seen a lot of ruins in Ireland, but this was by far, the creepiest!  There were a lot of very old graves and you couldn't really walk without stepping on one.

The Burren

After a very long bus ride back to Dublin, I dreaded having to pack for my return flight home.  Because of my poor planning and lack of a dinner reservation (I should have known better, it was around 8pm on a Saturday night), I ended up at TGI Fridays for a not very delicious meal.  Sadly, I did not get any potatoes here and my potato dining record concluded with 4 for 5.   I did get a Caesar salad with "bacon aka ham" and one last Bulmers before I went home to pack.  The next morning I was up and on the Aircoach back to the airport.  At this point, I was really looking forward to picking up some chocolate at the duty free stores in the airport.  I was very disappointed to find that there were no Kinder Schokobons anywhere!  Cadbury has a monopoly here!  How unfair is that?  In addition, the airport has incorporated US Customs prior to leaving the country, so you had to leave the main airport section and wait in a tiny little area with no restaurants before your flight.  When I finally boarded the plane, I left Ireland without a full belly or any chocolate.

Maybe next time.

Upcoming Trips

Happy Thanksgiving, readers!  I hope you all have a wonderful holiday with family and friends.  I thought I'd post a quick note here with a summary of some of the exciting trips I have coming up over the next few months.  I am headed out to Ireland this evening for an extended weekend, so look for a detailed trip post sometime next week!

I haven't quite figured out my plans for Christmas yet.  There a few factors still up in the air that will determine how much time I take away from work.  As soon as I get that set, I will plan my travels.  As for January, I have a weekend getaway planned for Quebec City and the Ice Hotel.  I mentioned this in a previous post and I am really excited to see it!  It's going to be a cold winter (note to self:  buy some snow pants).  I will get a chance to thaw out in February when I head down south to San Antonio to visit some family and go to a rodeo.  I might even buy some cowboy boots.

The big news and real reason for this post is a trip I just booked for March to Iceland!  I will be spending 4 days exploring a place that most people know very little about.  I managed to convince a few friends to come with me on this trip, so I know it will be fun.  If all goes according to plan, I will be crossing quite a few items off of my bucket list in 2013!

I am taking suggestions to fill up some of my other weekends in the early part of next year.  I've got April empty right now.  I will be going to Peru at the end of May, so I'm looking for mostly weekend or long weekend trips from Boston.

Less Than 2 Weeks Until Ireland

My 4 day trip to Ireland is less than 2 weeks away.  I can't believe it is so soon!  I have spent a few days here and there trying to come up with an itinerary, but I still have a lot of holes.  This is mostly because one of the first things I'm planning on doing when I arrive on Thursday is a free city tour with Sandemans walking tour of Dublin the first day, but I'm not 100% what we will cover.  My main questions are whether or not I'll want to go back and spend more time at any of the locations we visit.  Because it is a free tour, I doubt we'll do anything that requires payment, so no Book of Kells at Trinity College or Kilmainham Gaol - the Alzatraz of Dublin.   


Some of the things I definitely know I will be doing are:

• Eating lots of authentic food including cornish pasties, shepherds pie, and Guinness stew
• Drink a lot, including Guinness from the Guiness Storehouse, Whiskey from the Jameson Distillery, and Irish Coffee with Baileys.
• A lot of walking...Hello Europe!

I will also be spending a day on a Viator tour to the west coast to see Limerick, the Cliffs of Moher, Doolin, The Burren National Park, and Galways Bay.

If anyone has any suggestions on pubs or how to spend my evenings in Dublin while I'm there, I'd love to hear it!  I can't wait for this trip!

Wrap-up

Well, CC and I are in our last week here =( Rotation is going to be
boring because all of our preceptors are gone and nothing to do but
internet surf. Its only Tuesday and we already know what the weather
is like for the rest of the week into next week in 3 different
countries…

Anyways, we are going to enjoy our last week here =) so our blogging
is done unless something really funny happens (which is a possibility
with us!)

Thanks for reading and see you all very soon!

Love,

Bianca and CC (Cindi, Cinti or Cinzia as the Italians would say)

Day 28

Tonight we got an extra hour of sleep! Wahooo! We wake up with plans to go to church and see this “trunk”. All we know is that it’s a huge Castangna (chestnut) dessert.

We wake up to no pancakes! And just a pastry breakfast and fig jam. Right after we were done.. we were told to get ready, yet again. WHERE are we going this time. It is only 9 am. We go get ready and Francesca comes in with two fleecies for us! So once again, cute outfits out the window haha. Well we put them on along with our new sneaks. And getin the car with Ponuchu and Mariagrazia. We go up the mountain to Mondella, not to be confused with Mondello the beach. Ponuchu is soo excited to show us the mountains, so we took a few pictures and saw a few FLOCKS of sheep on the road. We saw the ski lift (and I got made fun of because I don’t ski but CC does).

After our little trip, we get dropped off. We thought we were going back to change. We DON’T have umbrellas? So we get out with Mariagrazia (my 11 year old cousin) and Ponuchu drives away. Sweet.

We walk around for a while and it starts to rain. Again, we still don’t know what we are doing and now we are wet. Thankfully, we run into Zio Pietro who so kindly give us his huge umbrella =) Happy Happy!

We are still walking around in circles, finally we go to the church, but no one is there because it is so early! So we stay for 5 minutes then leave to go to the tent with the dessert in it. Just a big mess haha. So the tent never opens so we go back to church. FINALLY a normal mass! =) Time to see this “trunk”. It is actually a huge dessert on a table that looks like tree branches, and people are waiting in line to have a piece. We wait in line and try it, but it has A LOT of alcohol in it, which distorted the chocolate taste. So we had a few bites for the hell of it.

We finally convince Mariagrazia that we want to go home because it is pouring at this point. And lunch is almost ready when we get there. We had another huge meal with lasagna (with egg and babe meatballs…sounds weird, but was YUMS), fried steak, corn, walnut bread, cheese, and of course…Tiramisu and Espresso =)

Although all the meals were delicious.. we were glad it was our last because we may have gained 2 kg here!

As we were eating our dessert my family is chatting away in Italian and we come across Cynthias nationality once again, and they try to talk to her…again. Not successful. I wish they would stop trying poor thing, but somehow I tell them that she speaks French. (Ps. I told Ponuchu and Mario this yesterday) They start talking (sounds like screaming) about how I should have told them earlier because Zio Pietro speaks French and he could have translated. Well that was fun.

Me and CC did get the recipe for the Tiramisu, so watch out America… its coming haha

We take pictures, play a few more rounds of UNO with the kiddies, and pack. Pack my 12 lbs of cheese and nuts and tea and chocolate! I don’t know how this is all going to fit to go back to the states, but they would NOT take no for an answer. Even after I gave my best loud Italian arguing voice. Fail.

So we leave for the airport, with some paninis they made us in hand. They came all the way to security to say bye. I tear up/cry (No surprise there!) Let me tell you, Naples airport is wayyyy better than Palermo’s. They had leather couches instead of seats! So fun!

We made it home with no problems! Yet another successful trip!

Day 27

 Day 27- from CC’s perspective

I wake up and think okay…here it goes.. I can do this! Yesterday was a bit overwhelming considering I only pick up on words that sound similar to French. Poor B has to play translator and everyone and I mean everyone is always screaming! I wait for B to get up since I refuse to be left alone and we go into the living room for breakfast. Everyone greets us with such big smiles, its so nice to be in a family setting as opposed to our empty apartment. We sit down to eat and are told we are getting pancakes…PANCAKES?!?! Neither B nor I really want an American breakfast, I mean we are only in Italy for a little while longer. But they were so excited to give us something we are used to and they were delicious. They also had homemade jam out on the table which was molto delizioso! After breakfast, B tells her family we need to shower…after various hand motions of what we want to do, they put the heat on (FINALLY I AM SO FROZEN) so we can shower. I go first. When I come out B asks me how it went and why I took so long. It was a fiasco. I tried flushing toilet paper that wouldn’t flush then panicked. Sweating, due to the increase in stress and heat and steaming shower, I decided to wait until I saw B to see what to do. She nonchalantly told me not to worry about it and that she would flush it for me..She saved me a lot this wkd.

When we both are all showered and ready for the day, they tell us to get ready to leave…its POURING outside…why do we have to leave?!! Im finally warm and dry…why!! SO B runs to the bathroom really quick before we go…I am not sure why but almost every time she leaves me to go run to the room or go to the bathroom, everyone decides to talk to me. Again, I understand close to nothing yet they all still talk to me. I eventually got to a point where B wasn’t allowed to leave me alone!

And so we’re off..into the rainstorm we go all equipped with umbrellas. The wind has picked up and B and I are still not adequately dressed for this weather with our little baby flats. All of a sudden a look over and B’s umbrella has inverted in the wind..I should have helped her, but I couldn’t stop laughing. She was panicking trying to get it fixed while Francesca has run to her side in a failed attempt to help her. Eventually Francesca decides that the umbrella is useless and throws it to the side of the street…and leaves it there. Even after all this, we continue walking. We make it to the town center/festival still unaware of where we are going. We make it to the jewelry store where they are buying B a gift (seriously the sweetest people ever)!

We trek back home after that and with soaked feet enter into the welcoming smells of Bolognese sauce. Its lunch time. But I am still not hungry…why are we eating again. I am going to explode from breakfast still…oh boy. So we sit for another delicious 4 course meal filled with homemade ravioli, steak, mashed potatoes and prosciutto, mozzarella, bread, and of course the amazing tiramisu! We also got to eat some figs today, my favorite =)

So now we officially cannot move and I am starting to grow accustomed to the loud speaking Italian family and I am honestly trying to follow what they are saying/ pick up on some phrases! We play uno with the kiddes and then get told to get dressed since we are leaving again. Again, it is POURING and B said she thinks they are taking us to go get shoes..WHAT?! No, that cant be right…so we get in the car.

We pull up to a mall 20 minutes later, yup…we are getting shoes. Apparently, we need shoes in order to go outside. After much arguing and attempts to tell them thank you but no, we lost. I got a pair of gray sneakers and B got a black pair, we didn’t have socks on, but that didn’t matter. Then we mosey on to a different store. And Maria Grazia asked me if I like a bag she is holding up, I told her it was cute and she proceeds to motion that it is for me! WHAT, For me?! I don’t need a bag, why are they insisting on buying me a bag?! They were so sweet for wanting to get me something and after trying to say no thank you again and B trying to explain they didn’t need to get me anything, we failed. We both got scarves. After a while we realized we shouldn’t say we like things anymore because then they just end up buying them for us!

We go back home with our new sneakers on and a happy Francesca and go to the festival. As per usual, the festival was bustling with people even though the weather was crappy. We got to taste more cheese and eat more chestnuts which were delicious! B and I were sharing an umbrella when we went up to a hill to get this specific cheese (I don’t know the name, I just know it was delicious)! Anyways, we get the cheese and the wind picks up. Here we are under an umbrella, holding chestnuts, trying to eat this melted cheese and in the rain. I thought a dropped a piece of cheese but couldn’t find it so let it go. The rain picked up even harder so B pulls up her umbrella again..this time the cheese that I previously dropped flew from the umbrella onto her while she was fighting the wind and I was cracking up. No one stopped to help us, they just watched us struggle. It was quite a site.

We finally get to go home and sit around the table to talk a bit. B went to the bathroom again and left me and conversation was steered my way (I still don’t understand why they think I speak Italian) so Maria Grazia pulls out the dictionary before we call it a night.

Day 26

We wake up SO excited to go to Capri. We are all cutely dressed for a warm, sunny, gorgeous day. We go to breakfast and all of a sudden feel the breath of COLD air. CC almost immediately gets goose bumps on her legs, why is this girl wearing shorts? We knew we may have a problem. Our driver, who has beautiful eyes, comes to get us for our tour shortly after and we drive for a solid 30 minutes until we get to the port to meet our guide. We get on the boat and look behind us to see where the guide would like us to sit and she is nowhere to be found. Um, what? Where is she?! We thought she would come back, but she never did. Guess we are seeing Capri on our own today.

The boat which looked more like a bus on the inside starts going and going and I am starting to feel so nauseous. I am glad I brought my bonine. I go to take one and decide one whole one is too much. So I break it in half, hmmm still too much. So I break it into a fourth…well crumbs of a fourth as CC would say since I did not do my best work. We start nearing Capri and see clouds, uh oh. We make it out of the boat and feel that it is somewhat warm so we should be ok. We find our guide (finally) and she tells us we are taking a bus up the winding mountain up to Anacapri. So we get on the bus and find ourselves amidst a Japanese tour. The guide is speaking into a mic into their ear pieces and we have the pleasure of sitting right next to her. This is going to be a long one. We make it up the mountain somehow without headaches and the guide gives us an hour until lunch to either go up on a chair lift to the highest peak of the mountain or stroll around the shopping area. We chose the chair lift even though she warned us how cold it is 4 different times.

CC, an avid skier, had no problem with the thought of going on a 13 minutes chair lift, I on the other hand, was a little worried. I watch CC do it and it doesn’t look so bad. I go to wait on the square and proceed to tell the man that I was scared. He said NO NO NO and I replied SI SI SI.

I wasn’t ready for the chair because of our little convo. He grabs my hand and throws me in. CC described my face as one of the petrified looks she has ever seen. She said that my already big eyes were the widest shes ever seen them and that I looked like the definition of scared. And I was for a minute or two because then I also realized there was no latch…sweet. But after a little it was fun! Well sorta because then I got bored and just bothered CC for the last 10 minutes of the lift. She said she wanted to enjoy her alone time. PSHH there is no alone time here, is she crazy! It was the longest we have been separated the entire time here!

We get up to the top and realize her shorts and my tshirt were a bad choice. It also starts to rain; however, THE VIEW WAS AMAZING! The sun was shining through the clouds and casting a scattered light onto the water. It was just spectacular. We took more pictures than we probably should have, but it was seriously beautiful.

We make it back down to the town center and go to lunch, which was delicious as well. I even got to drink from the little baby wine bottles! So cute and so good! I drank the whole thing so I was kinda tipsy by the end. We left Anacapri to go back to Capri on yet another Japanese tour bus. Capri was so cute and such a nice town. The alleyways were all narrow so cars weren’t allowed. The shops there were outrageously expensive, but I did find my little baby flats!!!! AND THEY HAD MY SIZE!!!! Its unheard of around Palermo, so it’s a good good day =)

The last part of the tour was supposed to be the blue grotto but the tide was too high so we were not able to go in it. Instead, we did a boat tour around the island. At this point the sun had come out and was gorgeous. We got to see other various grottos and learn a little history about the island! There are a LOT of famous people who have villas and yachts there, we plan to come back and meet up with them! Lol We even went through the tunnel of love. It is said that if you kiss someone while going under the tunnel that you will have everlasting love. Well, we blew kisses so there is no tearing us apart. We made it this long without killing each other, so eternity should be no problem.

We make it back to Naples exhausted and wait for my family to come pick us up! We are going to BAGNOLI!!! My home home town =)! We wait maybe 5 minutes and call them to see where they were and it was perfect timing since they were just pulling up! Ponuchu and Mario (my cousins) get out of the car and the traditional two kisses are exchanged. We sit down and the conversation begins. I am NOT ready for this. I am not fluent… what was I thinking! Is this a good idea? I mean CC is not going to understand anything but hello, eat, do you understand and pants! I struggle withthe convo and the car goes silent for a while. Soon Mario starts making phone calls. A LOT of phone calls. I am picking up words like EAT, TONIGHT, are you coming. Oh lordyyy, how big is this going to be. I look over and CC has the terrified look again. Oh boy. I ask her why, and she said she is nervous. I tried to calm her down, but I don’t think it worked. We get into town, and nothing looks familiar. We go inside and everyone was there! Yay! Also, the table was set. Dinner time. We had an amazing risotto with tartufo (truffles), roast beef and potatoes and mozzarella. We were stuffed! Francesca pointed to the new mayonnaise and ketchup bottles on the table. Ponuchu made her order them off the internet because that’s what they thought “americans” liked. Sweet thought, but we didn’t touch them the whole weekend. Lol People kept talking and I was answering but in fragmented sentences. They were also talking to CC, even though I told them she doesn’t understand. So I tried to translate the best I could lol. Then came the Tiramisu… The BEST tiramisu CC and I have ever tasted. We actually had it once a day for dessert and were not mad about it! Sooo good!

We were exhausted then I thought I heard Francesca say, go get your things. WHAT? It is 10 pm  and we are ready for bed. Apparently my family is not! This weekend was the chestnut and truffle festival and despite the cold and the rain, we were going. They laughed at my sandals and CC’s shorts, so we changed into the warmest things we had. Not good enough. I ended up getting a knitted blue sweater and CC got a white hoodie. Guess our cute clothes aren’t going to get much wear this weekend, and I spent a lot of time picking out my outfits, like too much time. So we go, in the rain. Thank goodness we brought our umbrellas. Although we just ate, they kept giving us cheese from the stands. Don’t get me wrong it was GOOD cheese, but we just ate a 4 course meal. The one cheese we wanted to know the name of, so I asked. They kept saying formaggio di pegora. I never heard of pegora cheese. Then my cousin starts going “Bahhhhh Bahhh”. Well then, I guess it’s a cheese from a sheep with no name. We move on.

I accidently mentioned marco polo, this gelato place that I vividly remember from my younger years. MISTAKE. They want to buy us gelato now. Ummmm, I want to explode. Poor CC says No, grazie. Too late Ponuchu already went to pay. We are all getting cones. It was really good though. CC said it was the best strawberry she had (this means a lot because that flavor is half of every cup she gets!) We go on our way for a little long with our wet feet, then go home for bed.