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Back home :-(

I'm back home now. Overall, I had a great time. It's just having 3 round trip plane rides in three weeks is not great.

I am playing hookie from work today as it was 6 in the morning London time when I hit the sack and I only got about 6 hours sleep.

I will post a short summary of my time in the Canary Islands and I have to sort through some 400 photos to decide what goes in the Gallery. Will play around with it during the day and hopefully have all up within a day or so.

As for now, I need food! There's nothing in the house (and what there is I don't think I would want to touch after three weeks!).

Back from the Canaries!

Just got back from Gran Canaria (at 3:30am!). Had an absolute blast.

There was interent access available at various places but I was just too busy having fun to do any updates.

I will be backfilling in some entries and put some photos up over the next couple of days. I took over 300 photos there so I want to sort some a bit before I put them up in the gallery.

Check back by tomorrow!

Off to the Canaries!

Justdoing last minute packing and arranging. Will be leaving soon to go to the airport. Our flight is around 8:30 this evening from Gatwick and we will arrive in Las Palmas around 00:45.

Tomorrow at this time I will be sitting in a tapas bar having sangria and tapas!

Back in Lane End

Traveled back from Dublin this morning. Will be just hanging out until we leave for Gran Canaria on Saturday evening so nothing exciting to write about.

Catch up in a few days.

Dublin - Day 4 - Jameson

Had a pretty good night last night sleepwise so I am refreshed and ready for the Jameson Distillery tour. First off a bite to eat for breakfast and a catch up on the blog/gallery thing.

The Master Whiskey Taster

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Around noon headed out on foot toward the Jameson distillery, about a good eight or nine big blocks from where I'm at. Weather has been fantastic and the only touch of rain so far is the spitting of rain that occured as I walk toward the distillery, certainly not enogh to even get wet with. Have about 20 minutes before the next tour starts so just wander about the lobby and gift store.

First thing the tour does is go into a small theatre to see short film on whiskey. The guide books say to be quick to volunteer at the beginning of the tour for the whiskey tasting at the end so no sooner had the words looking for two female and two male volunteers left the guides mouth I had my hand up and was chosen!
So the tour proceeded through the old distillery. They no longer make whiskey there, all the whiskey operations have been shifted to County Cork so they just have displays of what used to go on here.

Afyer about a half an hour we entered the Jameson Bar. Everyone got a small glass of Jameson whiskey but one table had been set aside for the four tasters. There was myself, Leanne, an Aussie via London, Jim, a Dubliner living in Birmingham (and 82 years young!) and Miguel from somewhere spanish. On a placemat were 6 samples of whiskey, the four Irish whiskeys (Jameson, Bushmills, Powers and Paddys), an american scotch (Johnnie Walker Red Label) and a bourbon (Jim Beam). First you had to taste the four Irish whiskeys and choose your favorite. Then you had to taste your favorite against the other two and choose your overall favorite. You were then given a bigger glass of your favorite and a personalized Master Whiskey Tasters certificate.

Miguel didn't really seem into it but us other three were. He left without finishing his bit, Leanne and her boyfriend, Jim and his friend Paul and I sat there and drank then split up the rest of Miguels drink.They had to push us out before the next tour group came through.

So I staggered down to the gift shop, spent too much money then went to the lobby bar where I had two hot whiskeys. By now it was about 3:30 and I still had to get over to9 the Guinness Storehouse to buy some goodies and back into town to get a bohdran.

Stagger, stagger stagger I made it over to Guinness and managed to get away without breaking the bank. Took a bus back to the center of Dublin and found the music store that the Musical Pub tour guys reccommended. I could have bought a tourist type bohdran for around 50 euros but decided if I was going to do it I might as well get a real one. Found a nice one, handmade, tunable with a goat skin head, a beater and a bag. Won't say how much it cost but it does have a nice sound to it ;-)

So now that I have practically spent my budget (this is where credit cards come in handy) I had a nice final meal in Temple Bar, bought a couple of more souvineers and am doing a bit of internet before I head back to the hostel. I think I'll hit the sack early tonight as I have an early flight (7:45) back to London and therefore have to get up arounf 5 so I can get to airport on time. I'm only a little worried about getting up because the alarm in my watch doesn't sem to want to work and the alarm in the Palm is on the quiet side. Now I have to figure out how I am going to pack all the crap I bought so I can get it back to England.

Either I make the flight or I don't!

No pictures uploaded today, the upload doesn't want to work fro this computer, will put them up from Bev and Frasers tomorrow.

Dublin- Day 4 - Observations

Just a few quickies:

Smoking

About two weeks before I arived in Dublin, Ireland constituted a total ban on smoking in the workplace, first such comprehensive ban in the EU. Basically this means you can't smoke anywhere except your own home and the street.

Great for me, I trully dilike smoking and this means I can eat and drink without smelling like an ashtray afterwards. The downside is that there are crowds of people smoking just outside the doors of most pubs and restaurants. They don't even bother to move away a bit so you have to pass through a cloud. Also, there are cigarette butts everywhere. Someplaces have put up ash cans on the wall but most people just toss their butts on the sidewalks. Makes for a bit of a mess.

Insomnia

I don't think my bouts of insomnia are because I am staying in a hostel, I'm prone to that anyways. I think it's because I had short naps each of the first days. I don't catch up on lost sleep, what is lost is lost. It just screwed up my sleep cycle. Yesterday I stayed out until bedtime and hardly had any insomnia, thus a descent night of sleep.

Dublin

Dublin isn't exactly a beautiful city. I think it had so many economic problems since the famine in the 1800s going through the battle for independance to modern times dealing with massive immigration out of the country that it never really built it's own monumental buildings.

The rebirth of Dublin (and Ireland) in the last 20 years, the Celtic Tiger, has brought new prosperity to Dublin. there are construction cranes and projects all over the place. Maybe when this bulding boom is over there will be some nice building. Meanwhile there are also no tall buildings in the city, the Guinness Storehouse at 9 stories is one of the highest. Most of the new construction seems about 5 or 6 stories max, I wonder if that's part of a plan?

Not really a city you want spend a whle lot of time in. If I ever make it back to Ireland it will definately be to go to the West.

Guinness

Guinness definately is better here. Can't say I drank it much at home, never cared for it. Figured while in Dublin do as Dubliners do. I haven't had a disappointing pint (although I tend to order half pints) yet. And I really do believe the Guinness is better at the Guinness Brewery.

PEI

In my limited exposure to the Irish countryside I must say that PEI really does resemble Ireland!

Dublin - Day 3 - Glendalough

Much better sleep last night even if I didn't sleep right away. Went ahead and booked for the next two nights as the place is cheap enough, about 30.00cdn a night.

Up and adam today as I have booked a trip down to County Wicklow and the monastary at Glendalough leaving at 9:20. Had breakfast in a small cafe then hooked up with the bus. There are about 20 of us in a small bus.

Headed down through the southern coastal suburbs of Dublin, one of them, Dalkey, being the main residence of famous Irish such as Bono from U2 whose house we drove by. Doesn't take long to get out of Dublin. Requisite stop at Avoca Kniters outlet. Did buy a lambswool scarf ;-).

We soon leave the coast to go up into the mountains. Lots of sheep! Springtime so there are tiny lambs all over the fields. Pass through some of the smaller villages before hitting the ruins at Glendalough (Glenn of two lakes).

Glendalough

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Founded by St Kevin in the 6th century most of the bilding there were built between then and the 11th century. It managed to survive Viking raids in the 9th and 1oth centuries and an Englsh incursion in 1398 before final suppression in the 16th century. The ruins include Ireland's only surviving monastic gate, a cathedral, a round tower, a high cross and St Kevin's Church. There is also an old graveyard filled with celtic crosses.

We spent some time crawling around the ruins. The bus driver told us that the round tower is one of the best examples around. It's over 100 feet tall. The entrance door is about 12 feet up the side, this was to stengthen the base which has 3 foot thick walls. It also faces the cathedral. There are 4 windows on the towere, one facing each direction.

The Cathedral was once the largest in the country and next to it is St Kevin's Cross, an unadorned cross that was carved before the monks had tools to cut holes cleanly through stone. St Kevin's Church (11th Century) was once called St Kevin's kitchen because of it's chimney-like tower.

The Cathedral - Glendalough

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Round Towere and graveyard

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From here we took off to the lakes and the Upper Lake. Up on the cliff abve the lake is St Kevin's Bed, a cave where he used to go and pray at the lake the bus driver produced a bootle of Jameson and we all did an Irish toast, Slainte (slawncha).

From there we went back to Laragh, just down the road from the monastary for lunch. I went for a short walk after a quick lunch of Guinness Beef Stew and a half pint and came across June the Last, a beautiful Irish Setter. She is named June the Last because her owner, an elderly man, said she will be the last one since she is only a year and a half old. June the 1st had been a wedding present of his parents in 1917. While most of the Junes in between were related, some weren't even Irish Setters at all and this one had no connection to the original.

Back into the bus and on into the Wicklow Gap area. There are no trees in the area, the hills are made of granite so nothing more than scrub grows there. This was the valley where they filmed Bravehart in. They seem to be quite proud of that, the road has been renamed the Bravehart Way and you can take tours. There is also a small town nearby named Hollywood, apparently an immigrant from here founded what is present day Hollywood, California in the 1900's and named it after his home town.

Lough Tay

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We made a stop at the top of Lough Tay, a lake that is said to look like a spilt glass of Guinness. It and the estate next to it are owned by the Guinness family. We continued driving through through the hills. This area was once ome to a thriving peat mos industry, there is only one such operation going on now, we passed by it. From there it back to Dublin.

I walked around the part of Dublin I hadn't hit yet, south of the Liffey. Wandered through Trinity college. I just hit the closing time of the Book of Kells, will have to put it on my list for tomorrow. Wandered down to Merrion Square where Oscar Wilde was raised.

In the area is fine examples of Georgian row houses (most built during the time of the various King Georges, 1700's). They are usually 4 stories with the windows getting progressively smaller toward the top. They feature brightly painted doors (no two next to each other are allowed to be painted the same color) with leaded fanlights above them.

Fine example of Georgian doorway

Click on the image to see larger view

From there I walked through St Stephen's Green, a city park with gardens and ponds. The construction of the gardens and ponds was paid for by one of the Guinnesses in the 1880s. I guess I will be hiting two springs. Spring is in full bloom here and it should just be starting when I get back home.

Since I had been having insomnia lately I was determined not to go back to the hostel until bed time so,despite the fact I was really drooping I treked on.

Over to John Mulligan's Pub, reputed to pour one of the best pints of Guinness i town. A real old fashioned pub that dates from 1782. I can say without a doubt that it was indeed one of the better Guinnesses I've had outside of the Guinness Brewery. After that off to the internet cafe for a little catch up on the photo gallery and back to Temple Bar for a late dinner.

Got back to the hostel around 11 and off to bed. A little insomnia but overall a much better night.

Dublin - Day 2 - Thank goodness for Guinness!

After a night of little or no sleep I set off to explore Dublin. I have two things on my agenda, Guinness and Jameson, tours, that is.

As I came out on O'Connell Street I heard a loud speaker from the direction of the GPO (General Post Office). This morning is Easter Sunday and there is a remembrance of the 1916 Easter Rebellion going on. A lot of retoric and up the come marching a group in suport of Sinn Fein with a bagpiper and paramilitary.

Sinn Fein Marchers

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Then off for breakie and internet. Did the two at the same time to cach up on blog and gallery stuff. Had a hot chocolate and a cookie while I typed.

I had bought one of the hop on, hop off bus passes yesterday. It was good until 4:15 so of I went around noon time. Had to do half the tour before hitting the Guinness Storehouse but it was a diferent driver therefore different commentary.

You don't actually get to see beer brewed, they installed a multistoried, multimedia tourist center within the confines of the brewery. The brewery used to be the largest in the world, there are about 96 acres of brewery here brewinf 4 million pints of Guinness a day. The tour is a self guided one, the first floor being dominated by a gigntic souviner store. If you can possibly think of anything that can have a beer label on it (and some you can't think of) they have it.

Guinness Storehouse

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Going up through the middle of the 9 story building is an atrium which is supposed to resemble a pint glass. I walked through most of the exhibits slowly winding my way up to the top and the prize: a pint of Guinness. At the second to the top floor is a restaurant. Since it was around 1:30-2:00 I thought I should have a bit of lunch before my Guinness so I popped in there. Surprisingly good seafood chowder with a big hunk of salmon in it and a half pint.

At the very top is the Gravity Bar where you can get your free pint of Guinness and take in the view of the city. Quite a party going on there. The bar was supposed to turn slowly when first built but I guess they had technical difficulties so it is firmly fixed. But the remnants of that idea, a round glass room with a round bar in the middle remain. You practically get a 360 degree view of Dublin. Actually, not a very exciting view as Dublin is fairly flat withut a lot of tall buildings. You see mostly church spires and construction cranes.

I got my Guinness and plopped myself down on the flor to drink it when the wall hit. I was suddenly very tired. So much for doing Jameson Distillery today!

Me and my Pint!

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I finished off my Guinness then crawled back to the hostel. Got my room changed to another and layed down for about an hour. Got up around and left around 6:30 to go to Temple Bar to find some eats. Ate in a small cafe, wandered around a bit then went back to the hostel and to bed for an early evening around 11. Had insomnia again but thankfully only lasted a few hours. Room as a whole a lot quieter.

Dublin - Day 1

Sped across northern London at 2:30 in the morning on the way to Stanstead Airport. Really can't sleep on busses and the fact that every few miles (at least for the first half) it was going through roundabouts amde sure I didn't sleep. Pulled into Stanstead around 4:30am.

Musical Pub Crawl

Larry and Mark entertain

The rest of the operation was rather routine. No problems here with checking in and the flight took off in time at 6:10am. Just an up and down flight, arrived in Dublin around 7:20. Did the lugguge passport control thing, I sat for a few minutes to collect my thoughts, bearings. The tourist office was opening up so I grabbed a few brochures. Caught the airport bus into town, got off on O'Connell Street just around the corner from the hostel.

I needed sleep! It was now 24 hours since I woke up yesterday and I knew there was no way I could make it through today without a snooze. The hostel was relatively quiet, I was in a room with 4 bunks, only 3 beds were occupied. I crashed for about 4 hours.

So, newly refreshed I headed over to O'Connell Street and the tourist office. Booked two tours, a musical Pub Crawl for this evening and a trip to Wicklow for Monday. Went into a few shops looking for bohdrans (Irish drum). Of course they have them in all of the tourist shops but of what quality are they? Also checked out a music store. Will go back on Tuesday.

Bought a ticket for the Dublin double decker bus tour, it's a hop on, hop off affair good for 24 hours so I'll be able to use it tomorow. I took the full tour (aout an hour and a half) to get my bearings then headed back to the hostel for a quick rest up before the pub crawl.

Again, a little bit recharged, I wandered over to Temple Bar area to catch the tour. Larry and Mark were our guides. We all met up in Oliver St John Gogarty's Pub then headed over to Ha'Penny Bridge Pub. We had a room upstairs and the fellows proceeded to give a short course on Irish music using the guitar, fiddle and bohdran. They entertained us for about 45 minutes there. I spoke to Mark about the bohdran and he said he would give some info at the end.

From there we headed over to Isolde Pub. A few more musical styles and tradition were explained and demonstrated. About an hour later we were done. Got a few recommendations on buying bohdrans and the best places for trad music in Dublin. Bought a CD featuring musicians that do the Musical Pub Crawl (there is a pol of about 20) did a few years ago.

Spent the rest of the eveing wandering around Tempe Bar and then back to Ha'Penny Bridge Pub for a few half pints of Guiness. Yakked with a few Irish guys whilst in the pub but one of them had such a thick accent I could hardly understand him, friendly enough though.

Finally, back to the hostel. Wasn't too noisy but I had a massive bought of insomnia and then around 4 in the morning a couple came in rather noisily and proceeded t shag in the bunk below me! So much for sleeping. Did manage a few hours of sleep in the morning but with another sleep deprived night not sure how long til I hit the wall. Guy at the front desk said he would get me another room for tonight, we'll see what hapens. Not al lot available room wise as it is a long weekend.

Lane End

Just hung out with Bev and Fraser today. Fraser, Chris (Tanis' boyfriend) and a neighbor worked on rebuilding a fence while Bev did some painting. I actually went for a short run! Around noon we drove down to Reading so Chris could look at a flat. Tiny basement place with two small bedrooms at 127,000 pounds!Rather dreary area too.

After that we went off to Costco to do some shopping. Had to check it out whilst here. Not very different although more interesting food choices. We then drove back through Henley and then nto the hills to visit a winery. Had a few tastes and bought a bottle.

Spent the evening getting ready for Dublin, booked the bus ticket between High Wycombe and Stanstead and the first night in the Rainbow hostel. Decided it would probably be best if I didn't go to sleep as the bus was at 2:25 am and I didn't want to risk missing it. Fraser dozed while I watched TV.

London

Plane arrived on time but we were parked at a remote whatever you call it and had to deboard the plane via stairs and take a bus to the terminal. The busses were slow and since I was at the back of the plane it took me about 20 minutes to get off the plane. This also meant I was at the end of the line for passport control, etc. It was over an hour by the time I emerged with all my stuff. I'm surprised Tanis (Bev and Fraser's eldest daughter) was still waiting. We drove

Typical tourist shot!

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back to High Wycombe, actually Lane End where the new house is. Ceildh was there farting around on the computer. Tanis and I decided to hoof it into London.

We took the train in, wandered over to Covent Garden, went up to Camden Town, it rained a bit, we went back to Picadilly Circus to go to a sushi restaurant, Osatsuma where we pigged out. Went in search of some tea that Tanis liked at the restaurent, not too hard of a chore since we were in the Chinatown section of London. Back to Marlebone Station where I ran into Marks and Spensers and got a couple of their trifles desserts for us to eat on the train. Was actually back in Lane End before the sun set!

Spent the rest of the evening yakking with Bev and Fraser. We broke open the Cape Breton whisky (not bad) and then proceeded to taste a bunch of other single malts. Eventually went to bed.

Today's the day!

Finally, departure day has come. Woke up feeling not so hot, headache and a bit nauseous but I think it's just stress. Early morning disasters but par for the course. Still had to go into work to record the MPA course. It went ok but I really ansty. Back to work for a few more instructions then it was off to the races for all the last minute goodies and packing. Drop by Sandra's to pick up a suitcase since mine are falling apart, pick up the new contacts, get some British Pounds and Euros, get 3 dozen assorted bagels. Back to the apartmaent and get everything pack, last minute local banking and errands and I'm actually out the door by 5:10!

Sandra kindly offered me a snack as I dropped my car off in her driveway. As we were transfering the lugguge to her car she took one look at my other suitcase and lent me her other suitcase. We got to the airport and I still had 3 and half hours before my flight. Had a slight problem with my e-ticket at the BA counter, I had recently recieved a new Visa Gold card so the number was different from my old card that I used when I booked the flight last October. So while Sandra kept guard over the goods I went in search of a pay phone. Oh, there are plenty of pay phones at the airport but try to find a coin operated one! I do have a calling card somewhere, god knows last time I used and where it is so I used my CC to at least get onto the phone.

That taken care of it was off for a quick beer and onto boarding. Didn't have a whole lot of time left so I just popped into duty free and grab a bottle of Cape Breton Single Malt Whisky as a present for Bev and Fraser.

Flight was packed, I was in the very last row of the plane. It was a 3, 3 and 3 seat configuratuion and I was on the aisle of the middle. The only empty seat on the whole airplane (at least in the cattle car section) was between me and the person in the other aisle seat. At least I was able to sort of sleep curled up on my seat as it is impossible for me to sleep in an upright position.

Gotta love BA service, there's a little pack on your seat with your headphones, a sleep mask, socks, toothbrush and toothpaste. Each seat has an individual video monitor with 18 channels of viewing pleasure, 7 of those showing movies. I was able to use my headphones for better sound (as opposed to Air Canada which use their own plug so you are stuck with their crummy headphones).

Drinks came through, the steward gave me two bottles of wine, do I look that much like a lush? ;-) Meal was quite tasty, grilled salmon and vegitables over pasta, a tomato and bonawhatever cheese, an apple tart and roll. Started to watch Big Fish but dozed off toward end. Slept rather fitfully for a bit before waking up with a headache and therefore didn'y want the breakfast/snack of muffin, yougurt and orange juice. Managed to feel a bit better when we landed.

One more day!

Well, one more day before the plane takes off! And I have a shitload of things to do. Despite the fact that I booked this flight 6 months ago I still have to wait til the last minute before doing anything about it.

Actually, that is not totally true. I have worked on this site in order to set it up so I can make diary entries and upload photos so that those who wish to can follow my escapades. I also set up one of the Palm Pilots that has been languishing on my desk for the past almost two years to be able to write weblog entries directly to a text file on the SD card. This way I can make entries as I wish then just use a card reader (I have a small multi card one) to drag it over to the desktop in an internet cafe, copy and paste, and away I go.

So I'm off to the usual panic state as I have just this afternoon to finish off all my erands. Thank goodness my friends are getting aclimatized to living in England so I am not hving to get a barrack box from Air Force in order to carry monter bottles of pickles, cases of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and bottles of massage oil. I think I can actually fit everything in one suitcase!

Photo Test

This is a test of the CSS for photos and adding a thumbnail and link to Gallery. This is my friend Ben at Christmas. The rerst of the text will be dummy text to see how it wraps around the photo.

Christmas

Ben

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Phasellus dui nulla, rutrum quis, elementum vel, malesuada nec, wisi. Nam non mauris. Maecenas tempor semper diam. Suspendisse feugiat. Vestibulum lorem. Etiam mollis leo a nibh. Phasellus accumsan elit eget nibh. Pellentesque volutpat, nunc sed accumsan porttitor, dolor lacus venenatis quam, sit amet mattis metus ipsum non purus. Sed mattis ipsum in nisl. Suspendisse nec urna quis lorem mollis faucibus.

Pellentesque dictum sapien eget lacus. Maecenas porttitor eros ut nulla. Integer vestibulum tempus ipsum. Proin velit dui, viverra sit amet, tincidunt sed, venenatis id, neque. Praesent tempor, mauris ut auctor egestas, nunc justo vulputate leo, ut lacinia magna magna vel leo. Nam ac neque sed risus mollis eleifend. Nam sed risus. Integer id odio. Ut iaculis massa in wisi. Cras felis tellus, commodo mattis, iaculis at, consectetuer ut, lectus. Mauris vestibulum suscipit nulla.

Donec nec diam id felis sodales sollicitudin. Curabitur lectus nunc, rutrum ac, interdum eget, sagittis vel, dui. Donec eleifend tincidunt mi. Duis varius est a magna. Nam pellentesque. Proin lacus. Duis tortor lacus, scelerisque ut, rhoncus in, pellentesque sit amet, dolor. In ornare. Pellentesque quis ligula quis quam pulvinar dictum. Pellentesque laoreet nisl quis metus.

Palm and Blog

I am sitting during a break at a Mess Dinner in St Jean. This will my first attempt to write an entry to my blog with the Palm Pilot.

I am using a freeware program called VFSi that allows writing and editing of a .txt sitting on the SD card. The card can then be put into a card reader and then the .txt file can be dragged into a computer.

This will help me when I go on my vacation and I want to make blog entries. I won't have to be tied to an internet cafe all the time.

Movng onto other things, I almost done setting up Gallery on this blog. Following the instructions on dlugosz.net for integrating Movable Type and Gallery proved to be fairly easy. I will be able to put up some photos while I a on my trip. I still have a couple of the inner templates to finish and then make a navigation scheme for the site.

I'm looking forward to this, my first electronic trip:

a. Palm Pilot
b. Charger/sync unit for Palm
c. Snap on thumb keyboard for Palm
d. Multi card reader
e. Digital Camera
f. Spare batteries/charger unit for batteries/spare CF card
g. Mini Disc recorder/player
h. Charger unit for Mini Disc
i. Mini Discs
i. Spare batteries

This is going to be the electronic holiday. Actually, I won't have to drag all of this stuff with me as I can leave the chargers in the suitcase in the room and just carry the important things: camera, palm, minidisc, card reader.....Hey! Wait a sec, that's almost everything! Oh well....