Heineken Rugby World Cup, London

Craig's boss gave us tickets to the Rugby World Cup Game at Twickenham Stadium in London. We decided to make a weekend of it and went on Saturday to see a show as well. We saw Les Miserables, which was what we went to see in Seattle on one of our first dates! Sunday we went to the match with 82,000 other fans. Quite a weekend!

Twickenham Stadium, London

Sailing Season Has Begun!

The 2007 sailing season at Bray Sailing Club began April 28th with the lift in of all the boats. Since the weather gets so rough during the winter, all the boats in Bray Harbor are lifted out of the water from September until April.

Lift-In 2007

Derryn Du Sets Sail

The Crew of the Derryn Du

Joe, Eilis, Sonya, Simon, Craig (missing: in Seattle) & Susan (missing: taking photos).

The Crew

Visitor Tips to Hotel Kelly

We're looking forward to friends and family visiting this spring and summer. Here are a few things that might be helpful.

Travelling Details:
*Make 2 photocopies of your passport. Leave one at home and put one in your suitcase. If you lose yours while traveling, it will make it much easier to get it replaced.
*Buy a passport/ticket holder (preferably with a neck strap). You will be showing it many times as you pass through the airports and this makes it much simpler to have it on hand.
*Before leaving America, get the pin number for your credit card and ATM card (called a laser in Ireland). Ireland requires a pin for use of either card. Also, notify your bank of the dates you are traveling and the countries you will be visiting. With all the fraud protection, they often will stop your transactions if they see unusual activity. Travellers checks are not very convenient and are sometimes not accepted in certain shops. I would recommend that you use your laser or credit card to get cash and for purchases.

Clothing:
*What Not to Wear...if you don't want to look like an American tourist.
-White tennis shoes
-Shorts (men or women)
-Baseball hats
*Europeans wear....Men: jeans, khakis, dark shoes. Women: black pants, jeans, capris, skirts, dresses.
*When visiting a church, you can't wear sleeveless shirts (bring a cardigan).

Weather:
Ireland has a very similar climate to Seattle, but not as warm. I would recommend bringing a lightweight sweater for cool mornings and evenings as well as a rain jacket (winter or summer).

When coming into the country they often require you to give your destination...be sure to have our address and phone number with you.

Looking forward to showing you around Dublin!!!

The Aran Islands

The Aran Islands - Inishmore, Inishmaan and Inisheer - are located about 30 miles off the West coast of Ireland. Over St. Patrick's Day weekend we ventured to Inishmore. We took a 2 1/2 hour train ride from Dublin to Galway and then took an hour bus ride north to Roscommon. We then boarded the ferry for a 45 minute (wild) ride. We left Galway Bay with everyone laughing and taking pictures as we bounced and swayed in the huge waves. After about 15 minutes the boat became silent and the crew began quickly handing out plastic bags for the seasick. Luckily, we were fine, but the others didn't enjoy their trip too much. As we disembarked the ferry, our B&B was right at the end of the pier. We were the first guests of the season to check in. The islands are so isolated, that the season runs from St. Patrick's weekend to Halloween. Inishmore is 12 miles long and 3 miles wide and about 800 people live there. They have one mini-mart, two restaurants, and being Ireland...6 pubs! A very unique feature of the Aran Islands is that it is one of the few places in the country where Irish or Gaelic is still spoken.

Aran Islands Ferry

St. Patrick's Day

It was fun to be in a small village for St. Patrick's Day. Many of the locals gathered with their families at Ti Joe Watty's Pub. A big rugby match was on from 1-3pm and the parade was scheduled to start after the end of the match. The local school children made hats out of newspaper and decorated them with orange and green streamers. The parade consisted of the fire brigade, the school children, 3 musicians and 1 float. Despite the pouring rain and raging wind, the parade (all 15 minutes of it) walked through town. After the parade, the kids all came back to the pub for games and music. Two teenage boys provided the traditional music while the girls danced. It was really unique experience to celebrate with the locals. Craig and I along with one other couple were the only mainlanders in the place.

The locals celebrate St. Paddy's

St. Patrick's Day Parade

Walking Inishmore

History of the Aran Islands

The earliest ring forts on the island date from the Iron Age (c. 400 BC-500 AD) or even possibly from the Late Bronze Age (c. 700 BC). The limestone pavement and rock formations are incredible. Walking around the island you can imagine the lives of the early inhabitants. Hand built rock walls divide up almost every parcel of land. The tremendous cliffs run the entire length of the island. Farmers continue to bring seaweed up from the beach to lay on the ground to use as compost on the rocky soil. Cows, sheep, chickens and a few people and their dogs are the only things we saw when we hiked around the island. The permanent residents have cars, but mostly people walk, ride bikes, or take pony carts.

Dun Aengus Fort

Stone Fences

Today is Pancake Tuesday

Pancake Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday is a day of celebration as well as penitence, because it's the last day before Lent.
Lent is a time of abstinence, of giving things up. So Shrove Tuesday is the last chance to indulge yourself, and to use up the foods that aren't allowed in Lent. Pancakes are eaten on this day because they contain fat, butter and eggs which were forbidden during Lent.

Edinburgh, Scotland

We went to Edinburgh, Scotland for the weekend. It took less than an hour to fly there! It was sunny both days, and the locals said it was very unusual weather! I guess it is usually cloudier than either Seattle or Dublin. We found the people really friendly and welcoming. The city is beautiful! The Edinburgh Castle is right in the middle of the city. There is a lot of green space for walking right in the city, also. We went on a tour called The Real Mary King's Close...and underground area that existed in the 1800's, but was covered over after the plague and not reopened for 111 years. Very fascinating. There is a lot to see, and we barely scratched the surface. We would love to go back.

St. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh