Weekend Two

Temple Bar

Weekend two actually began on Thursday evening when we attended the first of our TradFest events -- a concert in Christ Church Cathedral by Ralph McTell  -  - OK, he's not Irish, he's British, but we have had his "breakout" CD for years and were anxious to hear him live - - old folk singers age like fine wine.  It was also a great opportunity to see the inside of the Cathedral in the evening, and it did not disappoint.

Christ Church Cathedral

Friday evening's event was just as enjoyable, but completely different - - -a small, very funky theater hiding in the rear of a bookstore was the venue for a concert of emerging artists.  The first act comprised of two young men, one playing Irish Harp and pipes, and the second on Bodhrahn. Absolutely brilliant!  That was followed by a lively group of seven musicians playing everything from Reels to Tom Wait !!

Sunrise from my kitchen window

Saturday morning dawned with our first true headaches of the trip - - we blamed it on the "small funky theatre" allergies, but in reality it may have been just as likely that we needed a day of rest!!  We did venture out after lunch to the Christ Church Cathedral again - - the grounds were set up with a traditional Irish Village, complete with sheep, ponies, and Molly Malone.

Meath Beo Rural Village and Animal Farm

The Crypts were open with an exhibit of King James Bibles dating back to , well, King James - - 400th anniversary of the translation.  Also a craft fair, story tellers, and displays of the various ages of the Cathedral from its Catholic beginning through the changes after the Reformation.

A trip through the farmer's market provided some great local apples, and an outdoor stage concert, and we were happy to call it a day.

ISunday we had planned to meet friends back in Temple Bar for the outdoor stages, but it was a truly rainy day (not the intermittent showers that we've had so far). . . so we met instead in a pub which was located in a re-purposed bank building from the days when banks were real palaces of commerce.  Directly across from the current Bank climate. . .



Occupy Dame Street

Rather than Traditional Irish music, the entertainment of the evening was traditional American Jazz - - - small world. . .

Sunday Skype appointments included our Indianapolis son Ed, dil Lindsey and grand-daughter Jayme, as well as my Mother. It took Jayme a few minutes to figure out what she was seeing on the computer screen, but when she did, she lit up and started to babble like crazy - - made my heart happy! 

Mother still can't get over the fact that we can talk so easily from across the world. . . seems like science fiction to a 90 year old!

Mark took the camera on a field trip today, so this is late getting posted. . . next stop is Galway on Wednesday for a Fulbright event. . . I'll post soon thereafter.

Thanks for all the positive comments dear friends. . . thinking of you often.

Pat

Finding Who?

Hello Friends -

This week found me following Mark to Manchester UK for him to present a paper at a sustainability conference at Salford University. . . where it actually took us was to Media City, UK which was built on the old dock lands of Manchester. . .

Media City UK

Over $500,000 British Pounds have been spent re-inventing the area, and the BBC has recently moved its Manchester offices and studios here. . .

BBC Media City

While Mark did his academic thing, I was lucky enough to have actual work to do myself (thank you Indy clients!!) but I still took time to have some adventures into Manchester (as one of the conference presenters said about Media City, "don't be thinking that this is what Manchester looks like")

Real Manchester

The Manchester Museum of Art, the Gallery at the Lowry, and the War Museum filled my time nicely, but my favorite part was probably meeting my favorite BBC character  . . . .



The Tardis

Back in Dublin now and have already attended two concerts of Trad music as part of the Temple Bar Tradfest - - more on that after the weekend. . . .

Cheers!

The First Weekend

Hello from Dublin on Sunday evening. . . it's been a great two days filled with no plans but much "serendipity" as Mark likes to call it.

We set out after lunch on Saturday after having a leisurely morning watching the wind blow the seagulls off course outside the apartment windows. . .

First order was to explore our new neighborhood.  First to the west - - St Patrick's Cathedral is all of a block away.

St Patrick's Cathedral

We checked out the Mass schedule and found Sunday at 11:00 to be the most likely for us, but not this weekend as we had already planned to attend a concert on Sunday at noon.

So, off to the shopping area of the neighborhood.  We found a green grocer, several meat shops, a supermarket, a flower vendor (we'll have to buy some houseplants to make Mark happy after giving away his "babies" before leaving Indy) - - thanks to all the adoptive parents . . here are some of the plants he's missing. . .

Stopping in at a sweet little shop we ended up with spices, olives, wine and chocolate, and had to make our way back home for a download before continuing our walk.  This is the street as we walked home.

After a cup of tea and some of that chocolate, we headed out again, walking down streets just to see where they would take us . . . to our surprise, the street we were on took us directly to the hotel where we stayed in the summer of 2010 - our first trip to Dublin.  As Mark said, the longer we are here, the smaller this city will get.

South Leeson Street

After a little more shopping, we walked around the St. Stephen's Green area and Grafton Street a bit more to take in some atmosphere before heading home for dinner.  Passing another church, we found we were right on time for 6:00 vigil Mass, so we went in.  The strains of organ and violin music led us to know that it was a good stop. 
For our choir friends - - - we didn't have to worry about knowing the new translation responses, as they were all sung in IRISH!! What a beautifully musical language!

A good dinner at home was all we needed to cap off the day.

Sunday dawned another beautiful but windy day.  After a late breakfast we headed north of the Liffey to the Hugh Lane Dublin City Gallery where we attended a choral concert given by the Irish Youth Chamber Choir.  What we had expected would be a children's choir, much like our ICC, was, in fact, an adult choir ages 18 - 28.  The program was varied, the performance impressive, and the space wonderfully live acoustically.

Dublin City Gallery

Wandering the galleries we also found that the "modern" art aspect was modern as of 1908 when the museum was founded.  There was some contemporary art, but most of the collection was from the early 20th century.  We especially enjoyed some whimsical stained glass by Harry Clark - - didn't get that particular postcard, but here is an example of his work.  It reminded us of Tim Burton.

"The Snow Queen"

Outside the museum we found ourselves in the "Garden of Remembrance" paying tribute to those who died in the cause of Irish freedom . . . Close by the the monument to Parnell.  My readings have given me some appreciation for the history of this place, but I intend to read much more before it's all over.

Garden of Remembrance

Back across the river and through Temple Bar area, we decided to see what tickets were available for next week's "Trad Fest" - festival of traditional Irish Music. . . we were delighted to find tickets available for Ralph McTell.

We also stumbled upon a Chinese New Years celebration complete with Dragon Dance (if you were tall enough to see over the crowd - - some could, others could not).

Back home then to write this blog before I forget everything, do some laundry and pack to leave again in the morning.    .   . heading to Manchester England for a conference.  We'll be back Thursday in time for Trad Fest.  .  .

Cheers!

The Leaning Curve

If the time before we left Indy was measured in hours, then the time since our arrival in Dublin early Tuesday morning has been measured in what I will call "learning moments".

In no way is the following list meant to be a complaint - - to quote the grandmother of a dear friend, "you can bitch all you want just don't complain". . .

So, here are some of the things that we have learned:

• the customs agents in Dublin have a good sense of humor when your wife hands you HER embarkation paperwork instead of your own (jetlagged Mark was so confused!)
• airport taxis are MUCH cheaper in Dublin than in NYC
• pay as you go phones are very reasonably priced - - using them is not
• it will take a LOT of convincing to get your landlord to believe that the heat does not work in the living  area of the apartment (landlord - "Oh, that is a cold, cold apartment" us - "well, if it is 50 degrees outside it should be at least that warm inside" . . . and on it went -- good news was, by the third day, the electrician had arrived and replaced the broken thermostat - nice and toasty now
• Irish TV has a lot of US programming on it
• grocery stores may close at 7:00 p.m.
• restaurants (off season and mid week) may close at 8:00 p.m.
• somehow the US has bred all of the flavor out of chicken
• do not assume that just because Fulbright has deposited funds into you Irish bank account that you will be able to access said funds
• if the sun is shining when you leave the apartment, you should still take a raincoat
• just because the oven looks clean doesn't mean that you shouldn't lift the aluminum foil to check underneath before you fire up the oven
• Leprechauns are real - - I know this because they designed the appliance placement in the kitchen (the oven and microwave are 10" off the floor - - do you know how hard it is to read the directions down there with tri-focals???)
• "one euro" stores are VERY helpful when setting up a household
• it is challenging to stock a kitchen from scratch when you'll only be somewhere for four months
• it is necessary to empty the "condensation receptacle" on the dryer, which caused Mark to ask "where do they drain the washing machine that it couldn't accept the dryer water??"
• it is mischievously fun to read the Indy news updates and realize that Mark is not on the "ice rink" that is I-65 outside of Lafayette
• walking everywhere is really fun
• there is always something fun to do in Dublin
• TGIF
• I'll post some pictures next week
• Cheers!

T-minus 50 hours and counting

If it's not done now, well, I have 50 hours to get it done!!

We leave Monday.  All the months of list making, planning, shopping, research, are behind us, and I'm still worried about what I've forgotten. . .

But, I'm also ridiculously excited to be gong on this adventure, and the weather has made sure that I'm happy to be leaving Indiana right at this moment.  A week ago it was beautiful walking weather.  Today I woke up to the radio announcing 17 degrees.

That said, a rabbit just hopped past my office window, and a cardinal is in the tree directly in front of my computer, so I really will miss this place that we have truly come to love.

AND, Ed and Lindsey will be over tomorrow with Jayme . . .  don't let her grow up TOO much while we're gone, please.

Jayme at the Childrens Museum

Thanks to everyone for your good wishes, and if I'm not posting, be assured that it is because I'm too busy having fun!

Cheers!

Christmas on Grafton Street

Pat

Back home again . . .

Merry Christmas Eve!  We made it back home just in time to celebrate our grand daughter's first birthday. . . now to get ready for Christmas! 

Not a single decoration or cookie in sight, but we sing the 6:00 Mass at St. Monica tonight, and that seems like a good way to start Christmas.

Shaurette family Christmas will be Tuesday, so that should give me enough time to get some presents wrapped!

After the Holidays, I'll do an update of our very successful trip and the upcoming schedule for departure.

Blessings to all who read this and everyone who the love.
Pat

The Adventure is beginning

Time is getting short.  We leave this Sunday for the house-hunting trip, which has already been an adventure.  Setting up apartment viewings on line with agents and managers who would just as soon wait until you actually arrive has been nerve-wracking for this overly scheduled person!

Mark has been crazy busy with end of semester work to complete, and he is trying to get everything in place for the new semester at Purdue before he jumps across the ocean for the semester.  He's already committed to coming back in March, which doesn't bother me at all since I'll get to catch up with Jayme when we're back in Indy.

I've been trying to get my business wrapped up and assuring my clients that I'll still be available to them electronically.  It should work. . . we'll see.

I've also been shutting down my kitchen so that I won't be leaving a freezer full of food - it's beginning to make my creative cooking a little more challenging.

Once we have an address, I'll send it to anyone who's interested.  Meanwhile, hope you enjoy my posts here.  I'll try to do my best to stick to it,although journaling has never really been my "thing".

Peace,
Pat