Driving on the "wrong" side of the road...

...is not as bad as I thought it would be.

We rented a car to get out to the west of Dublin, see the countryside, stay at the most amazing cliff side hotel... and I had been fretting about it for weeks!  I was so nervous about driving a manual (it had been a year), and most importantly that I would somehow murder us in a head-on collision while trying to navigate the other side of the road.  Luckily, since everything is reversed - aside from the pedals and steering column gadgets - it was actually pretty easy to get in the swing of things.  Not to mention of course that there were other people on the road so I really only had to follow along.

The thing I like about driving in Europe, everyone is so much more considerate and smart when driving a vehicle.  They stay to the slow lane if they aren't needing pass anyone, they follow traffic laws, they don't honk at you impatiently, and one of my favorite things are roundabouts.  I love them.  They make traffic flow so much easier, and generally just seem smart to me.  But, I'm also a big traffic nerd, so it's not a surprise that I like them.  The one thing I don't appreciate about driving in Ireland is that they aren't exceptionally good on signage.  A portion of the motorway was closed on the way out and in from Dublin and finding the detour path was tough.  You would go many a kilometer without seeing a sign, and having signs through a roundabout are a bit more tricky.  Luckily, there were others taking the same "diverted traffic" route and I was able to guess that if I followed the cars we would get there and the glory of a GPS to know that even if we took a wrong turn we wouldn't get lost.

A few things of note that I encountered renting a car in Ireland.  The rates are pretty cheap for the car rental, where they really stick you is the insurance.  I wasn't entirely convinced that my insurance would cover Ireland  and I was pretty sure my credit card didn't carry enough, so we went for the full package.  Especially since reading online before going over there I had heard horror stories about accidents with narrow and unsafe roads.  When we purchased the extra insurance though, I was surprised to find out that flat tires and burning out the clutch were not included under the insurance we got.  I have the impression that flat tires must be a pretty common problem there, since there are such narrow roads and for many country roads you essentially have to pull off the side if anyone is to pass in the opposite direction.  Luckily, we had neither of those issues, but something of note all the same.  Also, you have to return the car with the tank full.  That makes sense, but they actually charge you upfront for the cost of petrol (approximately 85 euro for our little car) that they refund you when you get back if the tank is full.  That was a bit of a shock.  Which added to some stress getting the car back on Sunday (see below). 

I made ONE mistake while over there, which is pretty good I think.  The last hour of our car rental, I was flustered getting back since we were an hour late on our rental, we had a hard time finding gas (see above with exorbitant fees), and we were putting everything into the GPS to get back to the car rental and so I wasn't sure of my route.  So when I pulled out of the gas - err petrol - station and did everything right, turned left from the left side of the driveway, made a near left turn, but then had a lapse since there weren't any other cars and I was looking to see the map when I look up and I have migrated into the oncoming traffic lane on the right side of the road.  Luckily the person coming AT me was very patient and didn't even honk or flash his lights, just calmly waited until I righted the car and got back on the "right" side of the road.  So much for going 10 for 10.  Next time I'll have it in the bag.

Starting out on the motorway. 

Ireland from the motorway.

Driving on the left.

It's (Not) Always Sunny in Dublin

We made it safe and sound into Dublin!  We flew American Airlines for the first time for international travel, and I have to say - we were disappointed compared to the great experiences we have had on Aer Lingus the last two times we've flown over here.  We didn't have individual screens, which means we didn't have individual choice over what we were watching and most maddening was not having access to the map to see where we were.  But the service was just as good, we had two meals, and we still got here in good time.  I guess we can't truly ask for more than that.  Other than for perhaps more leg room, and not having to walk through business class on the way to coach. That puts a damper on things for sure. 

We landed at 8 am and took an air coach bus into the city.  It's more expensive than the Dublin city bus, but it's a bit more direct and a lot more comfortable. The trip from the airport was longer than we figured because of rush hour but we were there in no time. The walk to our hotel was just down O'Connell St and the along the river. Of course it started to rain!  Oh Ireland and your sunny disposition. We weren't able to check into the hotel, The Morrison, but we dropped off our bags and were able to get a feel for what we had booked. It was a beautiful lobby and the people behind the counter were very pleasant.

We decided to try and hunt down a coffee shop we had found last year wandering around the city. It was a way to kind of figure out what we wanted to do that day and a nice place to stay out of the rain. We ended up finding it around the corner from Trinity College. It's called Fixx, and it was just like we remembered. After a bit of a caffeine we decided to finally head to Kilmainham Gaol. I have been wanting to go there for four years so, it was about time.

Kilmainham Gaol is a jail that has held many leaders of the Irish rebellions. It was built in 1796, and operated as a jail until 1924. The tour had a very passionate guide who led us through many years of Irish history and the various rebellions and wars they they faced to try and gain their independence. It was a great tour and I'm so happy we finally got the  chance to go. It was also a brief tour - only about an hour, so we should have done it long before.

To keep out of the still rainy weather and kill time to check in to our hotel, we stopped in for a pint and a snack at The Porterhouse. Apparently a chain (we went to a different location last time). They have a great beer list and they had delicious sweet potato/red pepper soup. Then off to the hotel to take a nap!  We were exhausted from the flight and the time change.

 Now was the chance to finally see our hotel room  our luggage was already in our room, a great service, and everything looked great.  John's only complaint was the somewhat tired looking carpet, but it bought it was a great room. And the beds looked incredibly inviting!  Our nap was refreshing and probably absolutely necessary to make it through dinner since I was falling asleep in my soup a couple of hours earlier.  When we awoke, the rain was gone and the air was crisp.  

The location of our hotel on the north bank of the river across the street from Temple Bar made it a very convenient location to get around and do what we do best, aimless wandering. We managed to find a pretty delicious restaurant to sit down in not too far from the hotel (although we took a very circuitous route). The bathrooms were one of my favorite parts was they were co-ed (not why they were good, but just a point of note) and the sinks overlooked the kitchen. So you could see them cooking up the food while you washed your hands. 

Then drinks at the hotel and by then we were exhausted and crashed. Especially since I knew I would need to be on my game the next day when we were renting a car and driving to Ardmore.....on the other side of the road......and a manual transmission....

End of the line - It's Dublin time

 Did anyone else just immediately think of Cool Runnings?  Man, that's a great movie.. but nothing to do with our last stop on our trip - Dublin. 

Personally, I really enjoy Dublin.  We haven't spent an extraordinary amount of time there, really only a few days... but I think it's a fun city, and it's really green.  We stayed at the same place we stayed for our honeymoon - Clontarf Castle.  It's just outside of the city a little bit, but with a bus stop in front that takes you straight into the city center.  The castle has been renovated, as seen below, so there is the mixture of stone and glass.  There are a couple of places to eat and a cozy bar.. and the rooms are very comfortable. 

We did another hop-on, hop-off bus tour to see Dublin since we really didn't have that much time.  It makes it a lot easier , and certainly much faster to see the various sites.  We of course did the Guinness Storehouse tour.  Fun fact #1 for Dublin, the Guinness factory atrium is in the shape of a giant pint glass, with the 9000 (that's NOT a typo) year lease that Mr. Guinness signed encased in the floor in the middle.  The storehouse is fun to walk through.  You get to touch, see, watch the various stages of how Guinness is made, and get a free pint at the top in their Gravity Bar that overlooks Dublin.  They also have all of their old slogans and advertisements out for display and old bottle designs.  It's fascinating to see how advertisements have changed --- and awkward that Guinness so blatantly, ummm..... used stereotypes in their marketing campaign...

Really?  "Him Strong"?.... Wow

It's funny to think back 3 years ago when we were here and I could barely get a few sips of Guinness down.  Oh how things have changed.  Since our honeymoon I have suddenly taken a liking to stouts -- I blame the good beer we get in Chicago.  Either way, it was too bad for John because I actually drank my beer this time, so he didn't get 2 free ones (of course by "free" I mean that we paid an admission into the storehouse... but I like to pretend that they give Guinness away like water in Ireland).

J

ohn and Pat hanging out in Gravity Bar with their pints.

After Guinness, another drinking adventure awaited us at the Jameson Distillery not too far away.  We hopped back on the bus and headed over - when I saw the car that I think I should own - the Megane.. Ha.  

The Jameson Distillery is no longer a working distillery - they do that elsewhere  now (Cork rings a bell).  But, you still get a good tour, and you get to listen to an Irish person talk for about an hour which I always find to be a good time.  At the beginning of the tour they ask for volunteers to taste whiskey at the end -- and as luck would have it, I got picked again this time around!  In all fairness, I waited until Marla was picked before throwing my hand up -- and I tried to get John to volunteer but he wouldn't... so I thought I would give it another shot.  I liked the whiskey this time around better as well.

While on the tour, they were talking about people who worked in the factory and nicknames that were given out.  I looked on the wall and found Tierney (Martha's maiden name)... the nickname for Tierney was Hump. 

Before the tour, clearly we needed to try the different levels of Jameson.. Delicious!

Then Marla and I did our comparison to become official Jameson Tasters:

When leaving Jameson, I saw what I think might have been one of the happiest pugs ever:

After a bit of a tour around on the bus, everyone kind of went their separate ways.  John and I went to find a snack:

You can't think that John could go an entire two weeks without having chicken wings, right?  The wings weren't half bad actually.

We saw some old gates and some stairs.

Took pictures in front of churches with fabulous blue doors.

We saw a little girl feeding a swan bread --- biggest fear of my day was imagining that little girl being attacked by the swan.  I think that would put her off of birds for a while.  But seriously, who lets their kid get that close to something that would gladly eat one of her fingers if she doesn't let go of the bread fast enough??

We got coffee from a place that put Intelligentsia to shame with the way they did designs on the top (that's not even complete yet).

And ultimately we just walked around until meeting up with Katie and Marla for dinner.

Our dinner was at a place called "Kitchen".  It was pretty tasty, and really cute.  They provided you with a blanket when you were seated outside to keep warm.  Brilliant!  I don't have really any good pictures of it since I'm still working on working my camera in anything other than daylight/non-moving situations. 

So, while short, the Dublin leg of our trip was still a nice way to end it, I think.  I would love to go back to Ireland and actually spend some time outside of the city... I want to see the giants causeway, cliffs, green fields, etc etc... And I think it would be a bit of a trip to drive on the other side of the road (assuming I could get the hang of it.. I don't even drive much in Chicago...).  It's also a great place to start and stop because it's one of the cheapest places to fly into for Europe, and Aer Lingus is a pretty nice airline.  So, it's my recommendation.  The flights between cities on the low-cost airlines (Easy Jet, Ryan Air) are still cheaper than trying to get into Paris from Chicago, or most cities for that matter, so I think it makes sense.  And it just adds another city that you might not see without it. 

That pretty much wraps up our trip.  I'm already itching to go back to Europe... try something new... a new city, a new country... I'm up for anything.  My favorite part of the trip - the doors we saw.  I know that sounds strange maybe, but the doors in Europe are just so full of character.  You'll see.

(Sorry I was so hopelessly slow at posting, I hope to work on my timeliness in the future of getting this out --- For my first attempt, not absolutely horrible --- but I can seriously only go up from the bottom, right?)

Villa la Pergola

I realized there had been promise of descriptions of the Villa we stayed in..and I had not delivered.  We stayed at Villa la Pergola, in a town outside of Firenze, San Martino Alla Palma.  It was near the top of a mountain/hill (hard to do in a stick-shift van with little to no power)... about 15 minutes to the electric train in Scandicci that took us into the heart of Firenze.  All in all, it was actually a lot easier to get in and out of Firenze to the villa than I thought it would be.  Between driving down the mountain/hill, and taking the electric train (2 euro one-way I think, very reasonable), it took about 40 minutes or so to get into downtown.

It was a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom villa, with a hot tub, a pool, and a wonderful view from the table you see below.  It was fantastic.  And the chairs, tables, etc were all made by the owner - pretty incredible. 

This is the view of the back of the house, which is actually were our door was.  We were on the bottom level on the left.  Two of the bedrooms were upstairs though.  The kitchen had essentially everything you would need to cook.  We even had a welcome bottle of wine on the table.

The table with the view overlooking Firenze and the surrounding area.  The pool was directly out of this picture to the right.  There were olive trees, and it was just beautiful.  The family business is ceramics, so the table was their own design and make.

This was the view at night.  Under the moon, there is a dome-like light, that's the Duomo in Firenze.  Not too bad. 

I highly recommend staying here.  The owner was very helpful with information and recommendations.  They have a couple of units that they rent, and they live upstairs which means they are available if something comes up. 

Hopefully I will finish up the last of the trip (in much delayed fashion) into Dublin soon!

**FYI, here is the website of the villa -- http://www.villalapergola.com/**

Ciao Italia!

Just a quick farewell from Italy... A quick stop to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa and then it was off to Dublin to finish off our trip.  We flew Ryan Air, which is one of the low cost airlines in Europe (think Southwest, but you have to pay for anything extra).  When I booked, I made sure to register us for the higher weight limit (20 kg) for our checked bag... and we made sure to check in before we got there so we wouldn't have to pay to print our boarding pass.  Just a note, we were worried about the weight limit so we asked to weigh our bags before the check-in process to make sure they were under the limit.  The check-in attendant was more than willing to let us, which was great.  I was nervous they would say no as John and I had a pretty rough time leaving in 2008 and ended up paying a hefty fine for our overweight bag.  So definitely make sure that you do that - they are pretty strict.

Unless you are flying in and out of Pisa, I don't believe it's worth a trip.  Maybe we missed out on something and didn't fully understand it?  But seriously, there is hardly anything there... just little shops, the tower, and lots of people.  It was also really hot in September.  Not a big fan.... But here are some final pictures to say goodbye.

Picture taken from our Villa with Florence in the background.

The newly stabilized Leaning Tower of Pisa.

The Alps - I've never really seen them, except from an airplane or from a train.

Sunset from the airplane on the way to Dublin.

One of the first sighs of Ireland - and of course it's a golf course. 

I'm on a boat!

After Rome we spent a bit of time at the villa relaxing.  Our next trip was just a day trip to Venice (Venezia).  We were taking the train there in the morning and coming back later in the evening.  Like our other day trips, we didn't book very far in advance because we didn't feel that we would have any trouble with tickets selling out on the train.  We were a little bit wrong in that assumption (ass, u, me... got it...).  So when we went to the train station to buy our tickets the day before, the early morning train was SOLD OUT.  Really?  It was a Thursday.  Who goes to Venice on a Thursday?  Answer: everyone.

So after much scrambling and thoughts of making a random overnight trip of it, we decided to just take the later train instead and pulled into the station just in time for lunch.  I find that when I'm in Venice (did that sound pretentious?  I'll restart)... I find that Venice requires me to take a lot of pictures.  Many of the exact same thing over and over again.  The canals look different around any corner when you don't have a camera in front of your face.  But unfortunately they start to blend together once you flip through the pictures.

Venice to me is full of colors and boats... and I love both of those things.  They also have a lot of bridges... another thing which clearly is intriguing to me.  Fun fact (maybe just fun to me?), when I was looking at the map of Venice I saw all of their public transit.  It looked exactly like a Metro map or the L map... and I was so surprised that they had an underground here.  Then suddenly I realized the public transit is on the canals... d'oh.  I'm smart...s-m-r-t.

We took a gondola ride along the canals... We started off from a pretty busy section, so it was a little choppy until we got into the island canals, but it was fun.  I hadn't done that before, and for the price, I don't think I would do it again.  I suppose it's a "must do" for Venice though.  All in all, it was mostly just wandering between the streets, taking in the colors, the views, etc.  We didn't get to go into St. Mark's due to an insanely long line.  I had been in there about 8 years before (wow----that is insane) and it has some of the most beautiful mosaics that I have seen.  The floors are covered, and it's just incredible.  That was kind of a bummer that we weren't able to see it.

Overall, everyone in our group loved Venice -- I am still "okay" with Venice.  I don't know that it will be on my list for a very long time.  But, it's still a pretty cool city, and I would recommend it.  Without further ado, here are the pictures.  Sorry for the heavy-text post, just wanted to fill everyone in.

Gondolas are everywhere.  The gondoliers wear the striped shirts and hats that you expect.  It's fun.  You get to see everything from a little bit of a different perspective.

One of the many pictures of boats.... and colorful buildings.  Contrary to what I would have believed with the sold out train, there weren't a lot of people on the side streets.. so we were actually able to take pictures without people!

The Grand Canal that runs through essentially the center of the island.  

Umm...yes, he is actually wearing a shirt that is specifically made for the collar to be popped.... It kind of freaked me out - but not too much that I couldn't pull out my camera and take a picture.

Fun Fact #2: This building in the back left (brown/gray) is on the rehearsal dinner invitations from our wedding.  When John was last in Venice he was on a gondola and took a picture while under the bridge you see of the building in the back.... Weird.

This is Basilica di San Marco with the mosaics.  You can kind of see the gold mosaics in the arches.  It is truly an incredible church.  I recommend it!  If we had more time I would have probably made us wait in line.

Piazza San Marco is notoriously full of rats with wings... err.. pigeons.  Why people like them and feed them, I do NOT understand.  I understand even less when people are so excited when they land on their bodies... or when people sit on the ground with them.  It's disgusting.

This is where we took off on our gondola.  A little bit away from St. Mark's.

My last post for this trip will just be about the doors that we saw.  Americans do not appreciate a really great door, let me tell you.  

On our walk back to the train station to head home.  Boat...check...color...check.

I think we are on the Rialto Bridge over the Grand Canal.  It's a famous bridge, but I there seems to always be an advertisement on the side of the bridge which really discourages me from taking pictures of it.

Sun is setting around the bend of the Grand Canal.

 

I mean, if you're out walking in Venice, you should probably bring your pet wolf.  That seems like the way to go... Just an FYI, this was walking across the new Calatrava bridge (Ponte della Costituzione).

So that was Venice... I think everyone should try to go, but I personally don't think I could spend too much time there.  I would like to see Murano, getting a boat and cruising around the islands sounds like fun... but I think that's far in my future.

When in Rome

An overnight trip to Rome is not enough time... and I could have spent some more time just walking around.  We had such little time to see all the "big" sights, we weren't able to just wander like we had been doing since we left London.  

Our hotel was right off the Campo De'Fiori.  Which was walkable from the train station (albeit tough with our heavy bags), lots of restaurants, and an open market in the mornings and early afternoons.  The hotel (Hotel Camp De'Fiori) was fantastic.  There was roof top deck which provided some amazing views (to be seen later) and they welcomed you bringing up drinks and snacks.  It was also just a great location to see all the sights that we had on our list.

We noticed that there were quite a few Subways while we were over there.  I don't like Subway in America, so I can only imagine that its European equivalent is very similar.  But, strangely enough, we did see quite a few people eating it.. and maybe it's because of their "hand made gelato"... I'm not sure I trust it.  Ha.

I would probably eat at Subway more if they had homemade gelato in the Subway on the first floor of my work.

Martha had done some legwork and reserved tickets to the Vatican Museum for us.  While St. Peter's Basilica is free, the Vatican does cost money.  We were considering a tour, but we were worried about committing ourselves to so much time in a museum.  Contrary to popular belief, I can really only stand about one hour of painted golden halos and various religious art.  But, while we didn't do the tour, I highly recommend buying the tickets online so that you can avoid the line and you get to reserve a time.  The line to buy tickets and get in stretched down the wall, and while I don't know how long it would have taken to get in, I can't imagine that it would have been worth it.  (Oh and brilliant invention - Nutella to go!!!  It comes in a little container with little breadsticks and tea... Yummm!!!).

A nun sitting among the columns of St. Peter's Square.

This was after the Vatican Museum and on our way into St. Peter's Basilica.  They look so serious...

I tried really hard to avoid taking pictures of the Swiss Guard in the Vatican.  I feel bad for those crazy dressed guards that look as though they should be part of some flamboyant display on Broadway or the likes.  But truly, when I look at them, the outfits scream "look at me!  take a picture of me!"... and so I had to oblige.  They must get so sick of people looking at them.  People were literally crowded along the fence, 2 or 3 people deep, to take pictures.  So I took some pictures of the architecture to squelch my conscience.  

How very Liberace of them..

After the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's we saw Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps... we ate gelato (seriously every day required gelato, and if a day was missed - clearly two the next day was required)... and made our way back to the hotel to enjoy the roof deck before heading to dinner.

Trevi Fountain.  We threw in our mandatory coins to make sure that we return to Rome and that we return to Rome with our love -- I'm assuming that is going to still be John.  Haha.

Just one of the views from the panoramic magnificence that was the roof top.  In the distance you can see the Victor Emmanuel Monument.

The next morning before heading to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum we checked out the market in the Camp De'Fiori.  It was so colorful, and everything just looked delicious.  We bought a few spices (which we have used, and are VERY spicy if used in excess), Marla bought some saffron (wow that shiznit is expensive).... it was great.

This guy was just sitting at his booth and carving vegetables.. On the other table there were curly-q carrots.

This is the market that we bought our spices from.  I don't think I can see the spices we bought in the picture, but everything we bought contained red pepper flakes in abundance.

We walked back by the Victor Emmanuel Monument.  It's not the most .. ummm... revered monument in Rome.  It's called the "wedding cake" and the "typewriter"... It's on the Piazza Venezia and it apparently destroyed quite a few Roman ruins for its construction.  Not a good way to score points with the Roman people from what I understand.

On our way to buy tickets for the Roman Forum and the Colosseum we saw this woman.  A weird little doll strapped to the top of her luggage.  It was seriously creepy.

John loves Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.  He loves Greek and Roman Gods... I'm not too far behind.. although I can't apparently remember all of my mythology.  It's so amazing to think of what people constructed so long ago and it's managed to stay standing through all of this time.  Incredible.

I 

The outside of the Colosseum.  The structures they built back then and the bloodshed they encouraged.

They have a replica of the floor that used to be over the tunnels.  It used to be covered in sand (arena is Latin for "sand" -- sorry, no fancy symbols here -- which I think is interesting) and clearly the gladiators fought various animals and each other in the center.  It's insane to think about the animals that were housed under the floor, and the intricate methods to get them raised up to fight.

The outside layers of the Colosseum.  When you are walking around, you can definitely see where our modern stadiums get their inspiration.

The Roman Forum.  Our last stop before heading to the hotel to pick up our bags, see the Bone Chapel (Cappuccin Crypt), and on our way back to the train station to get back to Florence.  

We saw the Cappuccin Crypt (multiple spellings, I chose one, hopefully it's ok).  It cost us 1 euro, and we got to walk through the crypts completely decorated with human bones, bones of Cappuccin Friars. We couldn't take pictures, but it was surprising how "beautiful" bones could be.  They had pelvis's that looked like butterflies and all sorts of other designs made from bones that I never could have imagined. 

So that was the Cliff's Notes of Rome.  Our entire trip has essentially been Cliff's Notes, but this was exceptionally quick.  We saw the highlights, I'm not sure anyone (except for John and me) want to go back -- but it was definitely worth the trip.

(P.S. Definitely look into the Hotel Camp De'Fiori - wonderful hotel... if only our TV had worked...)