Blogs from Ireland, Europe - page 324

We slept well last night. I think we were both out by 9:30. I woke up this morning feeling miserable. While Mark was in the shower, I called the front desk and said I needed to see a doctor. Note to self: when calling the front desk of a hotel telling them you need to see a doctor, say, “It’s NOT an emergency but I need to see a doctor.” They called back in a few minutes and said the doctor couldn’t be here for about a half an hour. At that point I said it wasn’t an emergency and there was a disappointed pause. (Guess I ruined the good story for the pub that night!) He said, “I will ring you back,” which he did in short order. He said he was really sorry ... read more

Today was the first day of classes and the past four days have been a great deal of fun and great to settle in and get to know the City of Galway better. So far I am liking Galway a great deal more than Dublin, it has the hustle and bustle of a city with plenty of stone covered streets to walk on with many shops and pubs to check out. Yesterday a couple of girls in the program and I headed down to the coast, north of Claddagh and though I saw many little kids and families swimming (it was probably 65 degrees!) I could only go and touch it, simply to be able to say that I touched the Atlantic from both sides. It was quite windy but absolutely beautiful, it was perfectly clear ... read more

Our flights were on time and fairly comfortable. I slept for about 4 hours and Mark slept for about 2--miracle, that, as he usually does no more than nod a time or two on a plane. We arrived at about 9 a.m. The weather was cool and showery, kind of what we had read in the forecast. Our bags were 3 of the last off the plane but we had them in hand and were in the cab to the hotel by 10:15. The cabbie was very friendly and asked us lots of questions about what we would be doing while in Ireland. When we told him we were renting a car and traveling around the country side, he said, "Oh, you'll have earned the Victoria cross by the time you get back for that!" We ... read more

Hi all, Well, it's finally come around and gone - our last weekend in Dublin. Hectic, crazy, drinking, cleaning, organising, dancing, cuddling babies - it's had it all really. We've been here for five months now and it's been great, but it's time to move on and see some sunshine (without the rain and howling wind that's been quite common here during June - boo!) We both had fun with our work mates on Friday then with Lindy Foat, Steffi and Cecile (housemate) on Saturday, then it was out to see the little cutie, Ava Niamh Curran (and Belinda, John and Wendy). She has the life - eats, sleeps and soils herself all day. What a life! Actually, that's pretty much what Dave's been doing for the last week. Ha! Mum, Dad and Grandma are all ... read more

Hello Everyone! So this a week or so late, but I want to fill you in on the trip I took to Dublin, 3 days after I got back from Nice, France. I was meeting Ben Webster, so I was pumped. I left Saturday morning. I had planned to catch the Stansted express to get to the airport at 4:15am. I had my alarms set so I wouldn't sleep in. But . . . guess what. I set them for 3:30pm. I woke up at 3:56 and missed my train. I got the next one at 4:30. My flight was leaving at 6:15. The counter to check in closed at 5:50, and I got there at 5:45. Almost missed it! Anyway, I got to Dublin to find myself like 20 people behind Ben in line at ... read more