scarf photo funness with Georgia

We did have a couple of shop moments, of course.

The great/terrible thing about Matalan, Penney's or Primark

is it's so cheap... This time we came across some fun scarves

so, off we went and got some alike. Georgia the blue and

Lauren and I the red. Later, Georgia and I decided we needed to

have a photo session... uh yes we had some fun!

Auntie Jean and I have had a thing about mac coats (I think that's

what they call them) and then, suddenly, I spotted these polka

dot shoes that had Irene written ALL over them (those are

for you subidoncita!)

flowers for Nanny

On Monday we went to Rufford park and took flowers for Nanny. Auntie Jean was telling me how she used to love it there and would always want to go when she visited Mansfield, no matter the weather or season... They would walk for a little, then sit on the wooden benches while having a natter and watching the girls play :)

p.s. I love that Nan loved nature so much. I love Nan.

with the girls :)

Here are some of the pictures with the girls: Georgia, Lauren and auntie Jean. We've had a neat week together.

walks in parks

and yummy food (some of the best moments seem to happen when eating or preparing food together!)

I love all three of these girls SO much!

feels like home

For midterm break I decided to fly over to England and stay with my family for the week. They live near Nottingham, which is a beautiful part of the country (I wonder if there is a not beautiful spot in England really).

England has always amazed me, I don't know what it is about it that makes me feel so at home. Well... I do a little. Around my 9 years of age I started visiting England and my dear Nanny more often and this collection of precious memories came with it --the warmest ones being of the times with her, of course (we spent hours together).

Some of my favourite memories are: going to Chester and having one of those "out" days walking around its charming little streets and the park, feeding the ducks and eating ice-cream (yes, I was very spoiled); playing draughts with Grandad, or being with Beryl and "silly-billy" Bryan over the road; trips to the beach, green parks, or fun fairs; fish and chips fresh from the chippy (incredibly yummy!) and, my top most favourite one, crying with laughter with Nan over nothing really that funny... absolutely loved it.

Avoca & Grafton Street

 

On a less cultural note, and as the girls we are, we had to pay a little visit to the shops. Grafton Street is such the lively, perfect shopping place with hundreds of shops and flower stands every few steps you take (...if I were a rich girl). My all time favourite though, was this quaint café/shop near Grafton Street called Avoca. It is a family business and one of the few remaining native shops in Dublin.  Like a museum all of its own or maybe a doll house a escala real, I couldn't help but absolutely love it.

 

 

Avoca's retail director said that customers "should feel slightly uplifted and feel a bit of theater going on" Well... mission accomplished. You totally got me feeling bright!

Dublin weekends

First time we went to Dublin was 3 weeks after arriving in Carlow, though loving it, we were craving some city life. Someone mentioned a Temple Bar Music Festival in Dublin, and that was the perfect excuse to make up our minds. I felt I was crazy for going to Dublin straight from school on a Friday after a really busy week, but once there the "tiredness" disappeared. 

I appreciated Dublin not being huge and, though a cold weekend, I actually really enjoyed walking around and  feeling all touristy having to figure out on our maps where to go. One of the highlights was the free, walking tour we got from this Irish/German student at Trinity College, also a writer and musician. He did a great job showing us around and tying it all to the history of Dublin and plenty of funny anecdotes (he even played the tin whistle for us). My favourite places were Trinity college and its incredibly beautiful library (every library should look like that -ladders included), the Cathedrals and St. Stephen's Green Park (Green is no coincidence). I could've spent my entire day taking pictures there.

Dublin Castle is... different. I loved the gardens and found the contrast between the castle and the "lego" houses beside it quite interesting. I wonder why this contrast of buildings, colours and completely different styles seems to be everywhere I've visited in Ireland so far.

 

Temple bar is the popular spot, filled with pubs, restaurants, cafés and bars. Though it had nothing to do with bars until quite recently. It gained its name from it's owner, Sir William Temple, and as it stands right by the river Liffey it became: Temple's bar. We had fun going in some of the pubs while the live music was going on and, on our second visit, we even enjoyed some live Irish dancing!

 

What I did love indeed was all the street music and markets. The fresh food was delicious (and cheap!) We've made a good, long stop on the Saturday food market both times we've been here. I kind of fell in love with these guys playing in Grafton Street... I mean with their music; they were class -as they say here :)

 

parks

Some pictures of Phoenix park and Saint Stephen's Green park, Dublin.

 

oh English...

...last night I was talking with my aunt, kind of laughing about the amount of pictures I'd been taking. Then she very nicely said: "oh, you know your blog... the emerald island?" Me, "yeah..." Auntie Jean, "well, I realized I read emeral on your title, but it has a -d at the end, it's emerald" ... Me: "ohhh... really? oh, funny...", followed by more laughing. But really... you'd think I'd notice these things after having read the lyrics as I sung Wicked, The Emerald City, umpteen times. Oh English... you and I still have a long way to go before I stop butchering you. Practice, practice, practice :-)

fridays, the Gibbons, Waterford

On Fridays, if we're not visiting somewhere else, we have a treat. President Gibbons happens to work in Carlow, so on a Friday he comes after work and takes us to his house for dinner with his family, then we all travel down to Waterford for seminary/institute. The ride is always grand - as the Irish say- because, no matter the weather (snow, rain, ice or sun), the scenery seems to match it perfectly, in a good/pretty way, and we get to have some good chats, jokes... just a nice time overall.

We've had delicious dinners and desserts at the Gibbons'. I love this family and just about everyone I have met in the Waterford branch. I kind of really miss it when we don't get to go! President and Sister Gibbons, or Paul and Angela, and their 14 year old son, Ben, have been so welcoming. I feel a little undeserving at times. They not only have us for the yummiest dinners and help us get to church - driving quite the distance- but also, have made us feel a part of the branch, been understanding, loving and KIND... so kind to us.

Ben is an avid reader; always a book in his hands. He and Michael Moylan are learning to play the guitar. Michael is actually really good and Meighan, his sister, has an amazing voice. So, some Fridays they get together and play/sing their music for a while. This particular day we all joined in, it was great. I love Fridays!

Medieval Kilkenny

Kilkenny is a beautiful city with such a rich medieval heritage! We were lucky to catch one of those rare sunny, blue sky Saturdays and to have brother Moylan, who knows a great amount of the history here, with us. He and his family are just great. I still don't have a picture with all of them, but I really enjoyed my weekend with them. 

As we toured around the city, we decided to have a look in one of the gift shops. The man there was quite a funny one. He informed us of every possible discount we could get, then had us put on these huge hats and took pictures of us all.

Kilkenny Castle was my favourite thing. The Butlers of Kilkenny Castle came to Ireland in 1171 with the Norman invasion. Strongbow, a legendary Norman invader, built a fort where the Castle stands today, by the Nore River. Then the Norman's power was consolidated when they built the city walls to keep the Irish from coming in. By the 1930's the Butlers realized it was too much for them to maintain and held a great auction in the castle for five consecutive days!  Around the 70's, it was passed on to the Castle Restoration Committee for £ 50. 

 

 

 

Kilkenny is also known for an important cultural scene of music, theatre and commedy. That we won't get to see, as it happens mainly in August, but I'm hoping to see the castle grounds even more gorgeus in the spring and who knows if we won't just come on a good music weekend.