What is that strange, glowing orb in the sky?

This weekend was unusually sunny!  Mark is happy about that, I am ambivalent. . . nothing new there.


It DID send us up to the roof garden on our building to check out the view - - pretty nice up there!  Looks like we'll have a good view of the St. Patrick's Day parade if the spectators aren't too obstructive.  Who needs bleacher seats?

up on the roof

We also took another stroll through our "neighborhood park" - - St. Stephen's green. . . can't really stay away from that place - it has a certain calming effect.  We walk slower, breathe deeper and smile more when we are within the walls.

This week we stopped to read each statue as we made our rounds. . . I commented to Mark that James Joyce actually did most of his writing while living outside of Ireland - - he wrote "Real adventures, I reflected, do not happen to people who remain at home: they must be sought abroad."

Saturday evening took us to the National Concert Hall for our first symphonic experience in Dublin.  The venue itself was worth the price of admission . . . take a look at the organ. .

one of the young men in the choir loft was wearing his "Batman" T-shirt for the occasion

And this VERY Waterford chandelier.

The program was part of the Dublin International Film Festival, and featured movie music which was either composed by Danny Elfman, or which had influenced his work.  Amazing work by a theremin player, and an altogether entertaining program.  Coming back on stage for an encore, the conductor announced “no evening of Danny Elfman would be complete without this piece” and launched into “The Simpsons” theme song. . . the crowd went wild!

Sunday morning was taken up with packing for our mid-mester return to Indy for Mark to catch up on some obligations and me to catch up with friends and family.

Sunday afternoon we continued with our “end of the line” theme, taking the Dublin Bus to the far far away stop of Dun Boyne in County Meath.  There we were collected by Mark’s research partner who drove us farther into the country to his home to pick up his wife.  The tour for the afternoon included Trim where we visited this. . .

Trim Castle

You may recognize the castle if you saw “Braveheart” which was filmed on site here.

Then into the old country of fairies and kings, to the Hills of Tara. . . the weather cooperated by changing from sunny to overcast, misty and windy - - perfect for hearing the fairy talk.

Fairy Cottage

Passage Tomb - being stabilized (for passage to the underworld?)

A lovely dinner of traditional Irish Stew left us happy and ready for the road ahead.

Left early Monday morning and am writing this in JFK awaiting our flight to Indianapolis.  After a week there, we go to San Antonio for the annual Demolition convention. . . don’t know if you’ll be hearing from me during our stay at home or not, but you’ll definitely hear from me once we return to Dublin!

Slan for now.