Bordeaux, France :: June 6 to 2010
It has taken me far, far too long to post my photos from Bordeaux, but it is nice to look back and remember the fun I had with Deb, Dave and Sylvia on our French adventure! Meeting in Bordeaux at various times on Saturday, we used my very useful French dictionary on the first of many great meals, including the next morning at a cafe for breakfast where the male waiters wore skirts (sorry now I didn't get photographic proof of that!) We continued touring (and drinking) our way around the city, with it's fantastic architecture, lovely gardens, eccentric cow statues, efficient (and unobtrusive) tram system and really amazing food and wine!
Bella Roma Part II :: May 13 to 16, 2010
Dani and I traveled back to Rome to meet Deb, who was joining us for our final weekend in the city. We tried to pack as much sightseeing and cannoli eating into two days as possible, come rain, or more rain! We toured the Villa Borghese, the Pantheon, the Fontana di Trevi, the Piazza Navona, the Spanish Steps, the Vatican City, Isola Tibernia and Trastevere. We used the hop-on, hop-off bus to get around on our second (wetter) day, and we were the brave and/or crazy souls on the uncovered top floor of the double decker bus! It was a wet, whirlwind trip but just enough of a taste of Italy to want to return again soon!
Firenze (Florence) :: May 10 to 13, 2010
On our second day in Italy, Dani and I took the train into Florence, and booked into the excellent Archi Rossi Hostel, with free hot breakfast! We spent a lot of time wandering around exploring the city, occasionally getting lost but sometimes having unexpected adventures like happening upon an Irish pub on our first night and doing a pub quiz with a couple of girls from Alberta (our team, Canadian Craic, came third). On a walking tour of the city we sampled some amazing gelato and later on had our first ever cannoli, so it's a good thing we were walking so much! On a rather especially wet day we went on a bus tour in English and Spanish of Pisa, Chianti and Siena, taking in the famous leaning tower (smaller than expected), the incredible Tuscan countryside including a winery tour and tasting, and the picturesque city of Siena which according to our tour guide is "a lovely, safe, friendly but somewhat boring" place, though we enjoyed it regardless! Upon entering the Cathedral in Siena, Danno wearing her "short shorts" was asked to put something else on, and failing that, was given the "modesty skirt" a disposable wrap looking like a large dryer sheet with ties, to protect God's eyes from her pasty Canadian legs I guess!
Bella Roma Part I :: May 9 to 10, 2010
When my sister Danielle had the opportunity to attend a scientific conference in Munich, we decided to meet in Rome for a week of Italian history, food and weather. The food and the sights were even better than we could have imagined, the weather, however, was slightly damp except for our first day in Rome. No weather could detract from the endless beauty of the incredible architecture, sculpture and ancient monuments that surround you wherever you look. The modern elements of the city sometimes seem strange against their ancient backdrop, from the fearless Vespa drivers, to the countless street vendors who throng you with umbrellas the moment the first drop of rain appears. It's hard to choose which photos to include, but I will try to minimize the number of awkward-standing-in-front-of-monuments variety!
Galway Bike Trip :: April 10 to 11, 2010
One week later I was back in Galway city, this time to meet up with a fellow SWAPPER who was leaving the city and needed to sell her bike. Since I had always been intending to get a bike once the weather improved, it was perfect timing, especially since it was a gorgeous weekend in Galway, warm and sunny. I rode along the seaside promenade up past Salthill and into a park to test out the new wheels, and they have since been well-used on the country roads around Kiltimagh.
Irish Grand National :: April 5, 2010
After I saw Deb and Kiren off to the airport, I took the bus to Mullingar to meet my friend Edel for the night, and we continued to Fairyhouse Racecourse the next day so I could finally go to my first real steeplechase meeting! It helped that it was also the day of the Irish Grand National, along with several other important races, which meant there was a good sized crowd including many ladies dressed in silly hats and heels for the "Best Dressed" competition. All I really cared about were the horses however, and they didn't disapoint, even if my somewhat arbitrary picks for each race didn't win (I chose based on good names, colour and overall pretty-ness :)
Bread & Butter Tour of Ireland :: April 2 to 4, 2010
After a challenging flight that included losing their luggage, Deb and Kiren finally made it to the West of Ireland over the Easter long weekend. We called it the "Bread & Butter Tour" in honour of Kiren's newfound love of amazing Irish soda bread and real butter, which we sampled in many places over the course of the weekend (along with my banana bread, quiche and chocolate-zucchini cake)! Our tour began with a lovely sunset in Westport, and then the next day we headed to through the village of Cong to rugged Connemara, with a stop in Clifden for lunch. We continued along to Galway, even finding a perfect rainbow in Galway Bay, before making our way back to Kiltimagh for the night. On Sunday, we traveled East towards Dublin for Deb and Kiren's flight back to the UK, but we stopped to see Trim Castle and Newgrange along the way (even if we were a bit late to go on the tour). Their visit was over far too soon, but they have plenty of reasons to come back to Ireland in the future, and not just for the bread and butter!
St. Patrick's Day Parade :: March 17, 2010
Kiltimagh is well known for putting on a great parade for St. Patrick's Day and they didn't disappoint this year, and the weather even held out for the day! Many entries were very creative and amusing, look out for the "desperate husbands", along with several representations of Tiger Woods and enough cross-dressing to make me think I was at a 4-H event! Our successful GAA football team was well represented, especially by the distinctive blue and white "Kiltimagh Car" that has been seen around town for the last few months (we did the graphics for the car, as well as the boards for Jedward, Gone Fishin' and the Creche).
Countryside :: February & March 2010
I've been reminded by several sources that I'm falling behind with my photo journal, so here are some shots of the local countryside taken on various walks over the last few weeks which should bring me up to date. Weather has been clear if still chilly recently, but it's finally starting to feel like spring. The hill (or local mountain) in some of the photos is called Sliabh Cairn, and it's a nice walk with good views and wind turbines on top.
Football Match at Croker :: February 14, 2010
There was great anticipation around town when our Junior GAA football team made it to the national finals, which meant they would be playing the big game at Croke Park Stadium in Dublin. Almost the whole town traveled to Croke Park for the match (which meant there was still about 80,000 empty seats) creating a contagious atmosphere of excitement with many blue and white flags flying (Kiltimagh's official colours). It was an intense, closely matched game which we narrowly lost 14-16 to the opposing team from Castlegregory in County Kerry, but both teams put in a good effort and there was plenty of celebrating afterwards regardless. Go Coilltes!
