(Mis)adventures of Heidirific

Finger painter for knitters

2010-02-20T18:07:00.007-06:00

Okay, so I have been notably absent from the blogosphere. I could give all kinds of reasons why, but I won't. The truth is that I just haven't really felt like blogging. I haven't had the blogging mojo. Well, today I did something that made me happy dance and made me want to blog. In other words, it was "blog worthy" so here I am writing about it.

Shortly before leaving Dublin, I learned how to hand paint yarn. I really enjoyed the creative process and wanted to do more. However, I was moving and haven't had the space or really the time since then. When we bought our house in June, it has a full basement with a double utility sink. There is a work bench and plenty of room for a work table and microwave. For Christmas, I asked for some yarn dyes and got them. Well, today one of my new knitting friends came over and we had a bit of a play. It was so much fun to experiment with the four colors of yarn dye I had and not have to worry about the colors not going together because I knew that they all did and that I liked them (they had all been tested when I learned in Dublin). It was also a lot of fun to just play. We also experimented with mixing colors and got some really good, rich colors from this. For the first time in a while, I got to just be creative and have fun. I just was.

Here our our first dyeing attempts.

Doubtful Sound

2009-08-13T11:35:00.012-05:00

When we were planning our honeymoon, one of my friends who is from New Zealand told us that we had to go to Doubtful Sound. We weren't sure if we were going to be able to fit it in but when we went to book our glow worm cave tour, the company had great deals on overnight cruises so we made it fit. There is a debate about which is better, Doubtful or Milford Sound. In my world, there is no comparison, Doubtful is so much bigger and more peaceful. However, Milford is more accessible and can be a pretty easy day trip. When we toured Doubtful, we had drab weather but that made it all the more surreal. It made photography hard, but the actual experience was amazing. We also got to see more penguins. Oh, and the food on the cruise was amazing!!

To Doubtful Sound

2009-08-13T10:57:00.005-05:00

OK, I am the worst at travel blogging! Since I last wrote, we have bought a house and moved. This means that I currently cannot find the notebook with my travel notes. Oops. Anyway, after the Milford Sound tour, we continued south to where we took an overnight cruise of Doubtful Sound. So, here are pictures of the journey to the boat for the cruise.

Milford Sound

2009-05-11T21:38:00.008-05:00

OK, I have been MIA due to a lot of reasons, none of which really matter (but in my defense, I took over 600 pictures this day of the honeymoon and it takes a long time to go through them). But back to the honeymoon pictures. After a very scenic drive, we took a 3 hour tour of Milford Sound. It was a lovely sunny day and we got to see seals and penguins. What more could you want?

Mirror Lake

2009-02-07T12:43:00.005-06:00

On the way to Milford Sound, we stopped at Mirror Lake. As with so many things on our honeymoon, it was amazing. As I made the last post, I realized that Mirror Lake really deserved its own, so here are the pictures.

To Milford Sound

2009-02-07T12:14:00.007-06:00

On the 19th day of our honeymoon, we went on a cruise of Milford Sound. I must say, it is actually a fjord. Anyway, I used an entire memory card that day! The day we went was beautiful. The sun was shining, the drive to the sound was amazing and we made many stops along the way. The guidebook made suggestions of little hikes and places to stop. A couple of the places were closed due to construction or geological "instability" so we couldn't see everything we wanted to. But then, if we had, we probably would have missed our cruise!

During the drive, we stopped at Mirror Lake (it's the next post), saw some keas which are native to New Zealand, and drove through a tunnel. The tunnel was basically 1 1/2 lanes and was one way so we had to wait for a while before we could go through it. While we waited, we saw little waterfalls and the parrot.

Te Anau

2009-01-12T19:18:00.006-06:00

On the 18th day of our honeymoon, we went to Te Anau. Since we got there in the afternoon, we missed the Milford Sound cruises for the day. Instead, we booked the Milford Sound cruise for the next day, a glow worm cave tour for that day, and an overnight Doubtful Sound tour (we were happy it was off season).

Since the glow worm tour didn't leave for a few hours, we decided to go hiking around the area a bit. There was the beginning track to a multi-day hike so off we went, but only for about an hour in and then turned around. As with the other hikes, it was quite picturesque.

At 7:00 PM, we headed off in a boat across Lake Te Anau to the cave. It even had an underground waterfall! Unfortunately, pictures weren't allowed because supposedly they disturb the glow worms. Even though we couldn't take pictures, it was an impressive tour and I'd highly recommend it. We got into a small boat with about 10 people in the dark and then our tour guide and as our eyes adjusted to the dark, we could almost see the sides of the caves. More often, I felt the presence of cave walls. It was kind of eery but really cool.

The tour got done about 9:00 PM and we hadn't had dinner yet. We saw a "roach coach" selling burgers and such but thought that we could do better. Wrong. Everything was closed! So, we headed back to the mobile burger mobile and happened to get pretty darn tasty burgers, even though they had beets. Yep, beets on burgers. Oh, I ate grilled chicken, not a burger.

Queenstown

2009-01-04T20:50:00.010-06:00

On the 17th day of our honeymoon, we wandered around Queenstown. We had brunch at Vudu cafe which has free internet access. It was a great cafe and very tasty food. I highly recommend it.

After a hearty breakfast/brunch, we did a bit of shopping (and more yarn) and went to a bird sanctuary to see kiwis. They are an extremely rare flightless bird of New Zealand. They are nocturnal so the houses are dark. We got there close to feeding time so we stayed to watch them get fed and eat a bit. The kiwis are raised in the houses until breeding age and are then released to "safe" areas in the country where the predators have been eliminated. I managed to get a slightly blurry picture of the kiwi.

From Glaciers to Queenstown

2009-01-04T16:51:00.007-06:00

Yep, I am still blogging about day 16 of our honeymoon (with a bit of the drive from day 15, too). When looking through the pictures of the waterfalls, I realized that the whole drive was just stunning, so here are pictures of the drive (minus the waterfalls) along State Highway 6, through Haast Pass and Wanaka to the suburbs of Queenstown.

Puzzle world

2009-01-04T16:38:00.003-06:00

On our drive from the glaciers to the fjords, we made a few stops along the way. One of those stops was Puzzle World in Wanaka. The Lonely Planet guidebook and a friend of mine recommended it so we thought we'd check it out. All I can say is that it is strange. If you have any balance issues or get dizzy easily, it is NOT a place for you to go!! There are some warnings on one of the rooms.

Puzzle World has rooms of different "puzzles." Some are optical allusions, well most are actually. There is a room of faces and if you walk a certain way, the eyes look like they are following you. There is also a room that explains how some of the optical allusions were done in the Lord of the Rings movies. There is also a room that seriously messes with your balance. There are funky steps and a slide that you ride up instead of down. The floor is also angled. Outside, there is a maze to solve. We did pretty well on the maze but had to quit early because I felt a bit ill from the "funky" room.

All in all, it is an interesting place. I think it is one of those places that you have a pretty strong reaction to. We met some other American travelers the night before we went who absolutely raved about it. While we were there, we met some Irish tourists that had been on our glacier hike. They were leaving the place and said that it wasn't worth the money.

Waterfalls, waterfalls, oh how I love waterfalls

2009-01-01T19:24:00.007-06:00

In case I haven't mentioned it or you haven't figured it out yet, I love waterfalls. We had a waterfall guide book (John gave it to me for my birthday) to New Zealand and I have planned vacations around waterfalls (that's why we went to Norway). I don't know what it is about them, but I love them. I love to hear and see the rushing water and I think that they are beautiful.

So, when we left the glaciers to drive on State Highway 6 towards the sounds/fjords, I was not disappointed. The guide book said that we'd see tons of them and many were just along the side of the road. I knew that there'd be lots of waterfalls on this drive. However, I didn't imagine that there could be as many as there were. I felt like every time I looked on either side of the road, we'd pass a waterfall. Some of them were tiny, others were pretty impressive. Many of them weren't named or if they were, it was unoriginal names like culvert 5. That's how many waterfalls are in this area!

Franz Josef

2009-01-01T18:48:00.007-06:00

On the 15th day of the honeymoon, we spent the day hiking on Franz Josef glacier. We had to be there at 8:15 AM which was quite difficult for us (those of you who know us know that we are NOT morning people). Anyway, we got to the base/guide place, got out gear, and then on the bus.

We then spent about 8 hours hiking on the glacier. We were decided to be in the slowest/photo taking group but I was still sore for a couple days from all the steps up and down the glacier. It was really cool to watch our guide use a pick axe to carve steps out of the ice. I think this was my favourite day of the honeymoon. It was the most physically demanding but it was an adventure. Climbing a glacier was also something I've really wanted to do since we were in Norway in 2004 and didn't get to hike on that glacier. Anyway, when we finished our hike, our guide informed us that we had hiked about 8 miles on the glacier!

Most of these pictures were taken with John's camera, by either of us. We shared the camera on the hike. I had mine with us as well but it got heavy to carry around.

To the glaciers

2009-01-01T18:22:00.007-06:00

On the 14th day of the honeymoon, we continued our travels south to the glaciers. We arrived near the glaciers in the afternoon, booked our hiking trip for Franz Josef the following day, and then hiked a bit around Fox Glacier. Since there is a high risk of landslides and such, we stayed pretty far away from the glacier.

As was becoming common on our trip, it rained. It kind of felt like we were back in Ireland with all the rain. However, the glaciers and fjords get a lot more rain, about 6 metres per year if I recall correctly. Anyway, it rained in the afternoon/evening so we did our laundry in the pouring rain, checked our email, and later went for a beer at the holiday park where we stayed.

Happy Christmas!

2008-12-24T22:27:00.006-06:00

The past three Decembers, we have flown to a Christmas market. The first year was Munich, then Salzburg and last year we went to Prague. This year, Europe was far out of our reach so we headed downtown for the christkindlemarket on a cold Sunday. It is a nice little market that is contained to about a block. It doesn't compare to the European markets but the prices of some things were actually lower than in Europe! We were also able to get tasty gluwein, some donut things, and good German sausage. So, even though it is small, it filled our "need" for a Christmas market and was a quite enjoyable couple of hours downtown. :)

This year, we also got a Christmas tree. The kitties are quite curious about it but they didn't climb is and haven't knocked it down. Darshin has tried to eat the branches. It is so nice to have a tree and have the presents wrapped under it. Somehow, it feels more like Christmas with the tree and presents. We even have four stockings waiting for Santa to fill them!

Also, for the second year in a row, I participated in an Irish Secret Santa. Even though presents weren't "due" until the 6th of January, I got mine already. It was a lovely surprise one day to have a package from Ireland. It contained two of my favourite yarns, too. :) When trying to take pictures, Tiffin was very interested in the hand made stitch markers.

So, on Christmas Eve, I wish you a Happy Christmas!

Petrol, where are you?

2008-12-22T20:11:00.002-06:00

The thirteenth day of our honeymoon was a Monday bank holiday. On the Sunday before, we decided that we needed to try to drive a ways before making camp. Problem was, we only had about half a tank of petrol. We checked the map and there were a lot of little towns along our route. So, on we drove.

Well, after driving a while and passing through a couple "towns," we were getting low on petrol (gas) and looked at the map again. There was a bit bigger town shortly ahead so we kept driving. We got to the town and behold, a petrol station. Problem was, it had closed about half hour before. See, it closed earlier on Sundays and even earlier because the next day was a bank holiday. The petrol station was also closed on the bank holiday or we would have just camped and waited for it to open the next morning.

At the petrol station, a guy was standing around so John asked him where the nearest petrol station was. It was back in the direction we had come! We ended up driving about 50 kilometers back in the direction we had come (but not on the same road) and passed 4 petrol stations, all of which were closed because of the bank holiday! We finally found one in the town we had originally started in.

Later in the trip, we saw warning signs that the next petrol station was X kilometres away (sometimes over 100)! We learned from our adventure and made sure that we had at least half a tank of petrol before venturing out to the next "destination."

On the Road

2008-12-22T19:06:00.008-06:00

On the thirteenth day of our honeymoon, we traveled. We got a late start and wandered further south. We walked across a swing bridge, which made me nervous, saw some seals, and saw some pancake rocks. We also saw one of the funny "hours" signs that seemed to be pretty common in New Zealand.

The Wall Island seal colony was our second stop and admired the views and watched seals playing. While walking around the coastline, we saw 8 wekas, which are a rare bird that I believe only lives in New Zealand. They are one of those silly flightless birds that New Zealand has a lot of. :)

Our third stop was the Pancake R ocks. They are a unique geological formation of rock that look sandwiched, or pancaked together. It was quite an interesting site.

We then continued our travels and drove on 2 1-lane bridges that had train tracks as well. Yes, that is right, the cars and trains share bridges in parts of New Zealand. The first one was a little scary since we've never driven on train tracks before and we had looked out for cars, but not trains. It was at night, which made it a bit more of an adventure, and we weren't able to take pictures.

Abel Tasman, part 2

2008-12-14T19:40:00.006-06:00

On the twelfth day of our honeymoon, we went kayaking in the Abel Tasman Park. We had booked with Kahu kayaks and were running late (we were supposed to be there at 8:30 AM and couldn't find the sun screen). Anyway, the group had left but because they had forgotten a lunch, we were still able to get to the dock and take the tour. The guides and other staff were all really friendly and seemed to have a lot of fun kayaking on the sea. If you're going kayaking in Abel Tasman, I'd highly recommend these guys. The lunches (included in the booking), were really good and had amazing muffins!

Anyway, while kayking, our guide took us to where seals frequently are and we got to see some sun bathing. We also saw some shags (a bird). We didn't see any penguins but there are some that live there. Our guide showed us pictures of some that he had seen the day before. Our guide also took us on a little adventure. We hiked with the kayaks into a river and then paddled down the river a little ways. On the way out, we did a bit of adventure kayaking and paddled all the way out. We had to paddle into the tide and got all wet. We didn't tip over, though.

The weather was amazing on the day that we went and it was one of my favorite days and adventures. There aren't as many pictures as my normal, though, because I had to paddle. However, there is one of my favorites in this post. :)

Hiking Abel Tasman

2008-12-14T19:17:00.005-06:00

On the tenth day of our honeymoon, we went hiking in the rain in Abel Tasman National Park. We spent five hours hiking along the coast and even in the rain, it was beautiful. The park was founded in 1942 and is the countries smallest national park. The park is named after Abel Tasman, who was the first European explorer to sight New Zealand in the 1600's.

Nelson

2008-12-14T18:46:00.006-06:00

After Marlborough Sound, we moved onto Nelson. The guidebook had said that Nelson is a craft centre of New Zealand so I was really looking forward to the town. We wandered around one day during the week and I found a lovely yarn cooperative (Fibre Spectrum) and got some wonderful hand dyed yarns. Nelson is a wonderful little town. It is filled with small shops, most of which aren't chains. There definitely is an artsy vibe to it and we got some Merino shirts while there. We also checked out the church, got some Danish cheese and German sausage. Yum!

We also went back to Nelson on the following Saturday because we were told that the market is wonderful, and the market was wonderful. There were a lot of craft people there. I got yet more yarn, hand dyed and/or hand spun in lots of lovely colors. We also got some jewelry, ate more German sausage, had a venison pot pie, and some cake. It was a lovely day.

After the market, we decided to check out Founders Brewery, in Founders Park. I didn't know what to expect, but Founders Park was not what we were expecting. Founders Park is a heritage park, where the buildings are like they were in the 1800's. There were some strange things there, though, like a chain saw exhibit.

Camp sites

2008-12-08T20:34:00.007-06:00

During our time in New Zealand, we stayed in a wide variety of places. There were a couple nights that we stayed in parking lots (literally) that were near a public toilet. Other nights, we stayed in DOC sites, which varied in how private they were. When it was cold or we needed to do laundry or charge batteries, we stayed in holiday parks. These were our least favourite as they were usually parking lots (often grass but not always) with power attachments. Most of them didn't have privacy.

During our trip, a few sites stick in my memory. Our absolute favourite site was on the water but in the Nelson area. We stayed there two nights and were able to have a camp fire (most places didn't allows camp fires! We had gotten German sausages in Nelson and grilled the sausage as we enjoyed the water and just being outside. Some of the photos of this site are amoung my favourites from the trip.

Other sites that we really enjoyed include where we stayed the first night on the North Island. It was in a park reserve parking lot but was private and really pretty. The rest were on the South Island. One was in the Malborough area. It was right on the water and spots were fairly secluded from each other (where these pictures were taken).

Marlborough Sound

2008-12-08T19:38:00.009-06:00

The 8th day of our honeymoon was rainy and dreary so we decided not to go kayaking as planned (turned out to be a very good decision since it rained really hard at times, it was pissing rain as the Irish would say). Instead, we wandered around Picton, did a little souvenir shopping, and drove around the area.

On our drive up to the wine country, we noticed a sign that said "Alpaca" with an arrow. Below the sign, it indicated that there was "fibre." Of course we had to stop. So we turned off the main road, drove into what seemed like someone's driveway, some some cute alpacas, and then noticed a shed like building that appeared to be the shop. There was no one there. The door was open but John wouldn't let me go in and wander around (I think he was concerned that I could get into mischief in an unattended yarn shop). Instead, we walked up to the house nearby and a guy answered the door. He indicated that he would come down to the shop soon. We then happily (well, I was happy) looked at the alpaca yarn and fibre and bought enough for me to make myself a sweater, some undyed for me to play with and a something for Aileen (she hasn't gotten it yet though). All of the wool was undyed which I quite like. So, some day, I will hand dye the white alpaca and have fun making myself a sweater with the brown. I have a few ideas for a pattern and think it will be a self-design (after I finish the one I started this spring).

After buying lots of alpaca yarn, we then continued on our journey to wineries. Since it was about an hour before the guide books said most of the wineries closed, we decided to try one of the major ones. We got there about 10 minutes before we thought it closed. There was one car in the parking lot and 2 customers in the shop. We walked in and were told that the store was supposed to be closed but since there was a private tour later in the evening, we could still shop. The person working in the shop also offered free tastings and chatted with us. She was from the U.S. and had gone to New Zealand to work for a year and is now studying there so she could stay. She seemed to be having a lot of fun. We certainly had fun tasting the wines and ended up buying three bottles. We intended to bring one of them back for my sister but decided that we didn't want to risk it breaking in the flight so we had to drink it. :) They were all tasty but I think I like my Italian wine better.

To the South Island

2008-12-02T20:11:00.005-06:00

On the seventh day of our honeymoon, we drove down to Wellington to catch the ferry to the South Island. On the way, we stopped at one yarn shop that we happened to drive by. It had mostly acrylic yarns but I managed to find some lovely merino to make a sweater/jumper for a friend's baby. I just have to get to work on it before the baby gets too big.

So, we took the ferry from Wellington to Picton. I spent a good part of the ferry ride concerned because I happened to notice a lorry/semi truck full of sheep on the ferry! They didn't seem happy and we figured that they were going to the South Island to get slaughtered. Later, we decided that that didn't make sense so they were going to a new pasture where they would have many happy years to eat grass and get sheared to give lovely wool.

Tongariro Crossing

2008-12-01T21:59:00.009-06:00

On the sixth day of our honeymoon (I know, we've been back about 3 weeks and I am only on day 6), we climbed part of the Tongariro Crossing. We were told by the Department of Conservation that the full crossing transport wasn't up and running yet so we could climb up the first half of the hike, to the saddle, and then back down the same way. While we were hiking, we found out that there were tour operators running but due to wind, they weren't doing the whole hike that day.

The hike was hard and I had trouble maintaining a comfortable body temperature but it was absolutely amazingly beautiful (as evidenced by the volume of pictures I'm posting). I kept getting too hot and then too cold. Tongariro Crossing was one of John's favorite things on the honeymoon and mine as well. After reaching the summit of the saddle, we attempted to continue on a little ways since there were supposed to be pretty crater lakes and we wanted to try to see them. What we found was a snow field. I turned back part of the way into it because my ankle hurt too much. John ventured on and reported that it was windy, very windy up there. That snow field was the hardest thing we did on the honeymoon (yes, harder than hiking on a glacier). We also got sunburned on the hike. We blame the snow field...

Tongariro National Park

2008-11-15T20:38:00.007-06:00

On our fifth day, we headed to Tongariro National Park. John wanted to climb Mount Doom and I wanted to see a World Heritage Site. Upon arrival into the National Park village, we got information about the crossing and hikes in the park. It was raining and mid afternoon, so we decided to do one of the shorter hikes, the Silica Valley hike. While on the hike, it was sunny, rainy, and even hailing! The weather really changes quickly in New Zealand.

Because it was raining, all these pictures were taken by both of us with John's Nikon 7900 instead of my D70. This helped his picture count and helped lower mine ever so slightly...

Tarawera Falls

2008-11-15T18:44:00.008-06:00

On the fourth day of our honeymoon, we decided to continue on our waterfall quest. It took us to Tarawera Falls, which is halfway between Rotorua and Whakatane in the Lake Tarawera Scenic Reserve. It is definitely one of my favorite waterfalls that I've seen. In order to get to the trail leading to the falls, we had to drive on logging roads with gravel and pot holes. We kept winding around and thought that we had gone the wrong way at times. Finally, we got to the car park and found the trail and ventured on our couple hour hike. This was one of my favorite hikes of the trip because it was sunny and it was amazing to see water pouring out of rocks, going underground and then back above ground.

Hell's Gate

2008-11-15T17:48:00.006-06:00

The next step on our waterfall tour, oh wait, I mean honeymoon, was Kakahi Falls in Rotorua. It is the largest thermal waterfall in the Southern Hemisphere and is in Hell's Gate Thermal Reserve. Because New Zealand was created by two techtonic plates colliding, there are volcanoes, mountains, and lots of hot springs/thermal reserves and this is one of them.

Hell's Gate Reserve was/is a sacred area to the Maori, the first cultural group to settle in New Zealand. They still use some parts of the park for religious/spiritual reasons. It is a realy interesting place. It helped that the day we went it was rainy/misty so the whole place had this surreal quality about it. It had a steam coming from the ground, sulfur bubbling up in mud and water, and even a mud volcano!

camper van

2008-11-12T21:32:00.006-06:00

When planning the honeymoon, John researched the best way for us to travel around New Zealand. He decided that renting a camper van from Escape Rentals was the best idea. Their vans are full size vans instead of dedicated campers. They are then fitted with a bench, table, counter and sink. We also got a cooler, a propane stove, camp chairs, a grill, and a solar shower. We didn't use the shower much, mostly because it wasn't sunny enough to get warm enough. There was also an electric heater, which came in very handy since some of the nights got quite cold.

Each van is uniquely painted on the outside in a theme. Our van was freshly painted and we were the first to use it! It was named Tamanui Te Ra, which we were told meant "big boy sun." We quite liked our van (except for the loose battery cable which Escape didn't seem to realize it had) and got a lot of compliments on it as we drove around New Zealand.

Just for fun, here are two pictures of other Escape vans we encountered as well. One day, we saw 7 Escape vans. I now wish I'd taken pictures of them. :)

Kitekite Falls

2008-11-12T20:49:00.007-06:00

I love waterfalls. For my birthday, he got me a New Zealand waterfall guide book. To help with the honeymoon planning, I looked through the waterfall book and marked the ones that I wanted to see. We then worked as many of those into the trip as possible.

The first of the waterfalls was northwest of Aukland. So, on day two, we got our rental camper van and ventured out of Aukland to see this waterfall. After getting a bit disoriented in Aukland, we found our way there and parked in the park car park. We then had a nice little hike to the waterfall. We knew that New Zealand was a wet country, but we hadn't really thought about what that meant: temperate rain forest. It was fascinating to see ferns and trees and have them be taller than John!

Upon seeing the waterfall, I had a bit of a surprise: kids were swimming at its base! It was a swimming hole!! Eventually, I succumbed to the temptation and had a bit of a dip with my clothes on. Since it was such a nice sunny day, it wasn't too cold hiking back in wet clothes...

Sky Tower

2008-11-10T20:40:00.005-06:00

While in Aukland, John had considered doing the a Sky Jump at the Sky Tower but upon seeing the height, decided against it. Well, that and they weren't doing jumps when we were there. Instead, we took the elevator up to the top level and looked out at the city. The windows are tinted or polarized (not sure which) which gave an interesting effect to the pictures. We went in the evening hoping to see a sunset over the city but the clouds came in just before sunset. It was still a beautiful view.

Aukland

2008-11-10T20:18:00.005-06:00

We arrived into Aukland about 6:00 AM on the 15th of October. Luckily, the hotel let us check in early and we took a nap until about 11:00 AM, which is still an early start for us. :) We then wandered around the city and did some site seeing.

We had wanted to go to an art museum, but unfortunately, it is under construction and closed at the moment.

Of course we went to visit a couple of churches as well. St. Mary's Church and Holy Trinity Cathedral are next door to each other. St. Mary's is an older, wooden church that used to be on the other side of the street. It was moved in basically one piece and rotated to its present location in 1982. There are pictures of the process in the church and they are quite impressive.

What a month!

2008-11-09T20:43:00.003-06:00

So, on the 11th of October, John and I got married. We had a wonderful day. There were a few glitches along the way but nothing major and it appeared that our guests didn't notice. Besides, at the end of the day, all that matters is that we got married.

On Sunday the 12th, we had a brunch for people, very informal affair. It was nice to talk to some people that we really hadn't been able to talk to during the reception and just to hang out with family and friends. Later, John and I opened our gifts together. :)

Monday the 13th of October, we headed off for 25 days in New Zealand!! It was an absolutely amazing. The country is beautiful beyond belief. The people were really friendly. We got to climb part of a volcano, hiked on a glacier, kayaked in the Tasman Sea, cruised two fjords, saw penguins and seals in their natural habitats, and saw a variety of flightless birds, including a flightless parrot!

Yesterday, we ventured on the incredibly long journey back home (with two planes delayed) but finally made it. Today, we transferred all 5330 pictures taken on our honeymoon to the portable hard drive and John rotated them all! And yes, we did take over 5,000 pictures! And yes, that means that there will be a lot of blogging happening...

6 days to go

2008-10-05T18:57:00.005-05:00

Somehow, it is only 6 days until our wedding! Where did the time go? It seems like just a few months ago that John proposed and only a couple weeks since we moved. Summer just flew by and now it is definitely autumn. It is so hard to believe that I have been at my current job for 4 months!

Lately, we have been doing a lot of work for the wedding. Well, really John has been doing a lot of work for the wedding. Since he's home more, he has been doing the vast majority of the prep and has taken over corresponding with some of the vendors. We've gotten our attendants' presents (I have 30 rows left on the last shawl, though) and John even wrapped his! He made the card box. He made table name cards and place cards. We've gotten our program mostly done (the church is doing it for us!). He organized the rehearsal dinner. I took my ring to get polished and appraised (I should get it back tomorrow!). We meet with the hotel for a final meeting on Monday. John has gotten a hair cut as wedding prep, too. We also both went to the dentist for a cleaning. :)

I've done lots of beauty prep for the wedding. I've gotten facials. I've gotten my hair highlighted, my eyebrows waxed, and my eyelashes dyed! Last Saturday, I ended up in a spa and hair salon on the same day! I never thought I would say it, but after Friday, I don't want to be in a spa for a while. On Friday, I'm getting a manicure and a massage. After the week we've had, I am so looking forward to that massage.

I am starting to get nervous. I'm not nervous about how the day will go, I know that it will be beautiful. Even if things go wrong (which I'm sure they will), it doesn't matter. What matters is that John and I will be married. What I am nervous about is that we have 115 people coming to see us get married. That's a lot of people coming to see us. We have events planned all weekend and it will be good to see people. I'm excited, I just wish that the butterflies in my stomach would go away and that my brain would focus on work things since I have a lot to get done this week!

Bachelorette night

2008-10-05T18:38:00.005-05:00

Saturday a week ago, John had his bachelor party and I had my bachelorette/hen night. We had dinner at a lovely restaurant that my friend A knows. It was a lovely meal with lovely ladies. A had chosen the menu and tried to pick things that I would like (and she did quite well I must say). She even had the menus printed and a personal cake. I was quite happy that it was all in good taste. :)

After dinner, four of us when to a karaoke bar and tried to sing some karaoke. We stayed a couple hours but our name didn't get called. While waiting, J took some random guy's hat and cigarette and sported them for a picture. Luckily, the guy was a good sport about it. As we were leaving, we ran into some guys going in and chatted with them for a while before going for breakfast food a couple blocks away. After breakfast, we took the train back up to A's car and then headed home. We got home about 3:30 AM!! We were home about 1 1/2 hours later than the bachelor night. :)

The next morning, J, A, and I were up for an 11:00 AM manicure and pedicure. It was lovely pampering. and I'm headed back to the spa on Friday for a manicure and massage.

Roller Derby

2008-09-25T19:53:00.002-05:00

This spring, one of my dear friends told me that she has was interested in Roller Derby. This summer, she told me that she was going to try out for the team and that she made the "you get to practice with us" "team." She seemed to really enjoy it and invited people out to watch a match last Saturday.

Since I had no idea what this Roller Derby was, we decided to go and check out what our friend was so interested in. So, in Roller Derby, the women skated around a track. There was one person who could get points by passing members of the other team. Another person set the pace for the rest of the skaters. Basically, it was contact roller skating around a track. It was really fast moving and has a lot of rules about how you can block and such and at any given time, there were usually at least 2 people in the penalty area. I didn't really understand all the nuances but it was quite impressive to see these women's skating abilities. It is something that we'll definitely be doing again and maybe we'll even get to see our friend out on the track...

Seasons Changing

2008-09-25T19:49:00.002-05:00

Lately, I have noticed many subtle signs that autumn is upon us and summer is a mere memory (although a good one). The mornings and evenings are cool and crisp even though the days have still been warm. I left work at 7:00 PM yesterday and it was dark! Part of that was a storm coming but it is definitely getting dark sooner and the light is fading. Earlier this week, I was looking around at the trees as I drove home and some of them are changing. I really enjoy this part of the year because it is so pretty. I just hope that the leaves are changing more and are pretty 2 week from Saturday. :)

T minus 1 and counting

2008-09-14T19:12:00.002-05:00

Thursday was one month before the wedding! We are now less than one month out. People keep asking me if I'm excited and I really don't know. I don't like that every spare/down minute, I am thinking about what needs to be done. We have a long "to do" list that is getting managed but it is still longer than I would like. I am really glad that we are here to do these things because it would be hard to do some of this stuff from a few thousand miles away.

Recently, we have gotten a lot done. I have tried on my dress and had a fitting (hopefully the only one), one of my bridesmaids got fit at the same time and the others have appointments for fittings. We have booked the rehearsal dinner location. Today we did a few reception decorations. I also finished one of the bridesmaids' shawls and am about 1/4 the way done with the second. I still need to weave in ends and block the third one that is done but that shouldn't take long...

Anyway, soon, we will be married and off to New Zealand! I'm so glad that John is researching and planning the honeymoon! Actually, he has been amazing through the whole process and has been doing more work that I have been for the wedding planning/tasks.

So, am I excited? I guess so. I am more in awe that we are getting married in less than a month! I don't think it will really sink in until I walk down the isle and see all the people in the church there for us.

So far behind...

2008-09-14T18:51:00.006-05:00

So 2 weeks ago today was my birthday. To honor the day, a group of friends went to a beer garden for dinner and drinks and just enjoying the nice summery weather. On Sunday, I got many presents from John. He took me to a lovely dinner at an Italian restaurant that I had always wanted to try but thought was too expensive. We had a lovely dinner and a lovely bottle of champagne.

This year, I got some wonderful presents. John got me two knitting books, a couple of New Zealand books, and wine from our favorite winery in Italy. The wine took some research because it is not easily available here. We got it easily in Dublin, but here, not available because it is a small cooperative of growers. Anyway, he did his research and found a place in the area that could order it and made it happen. It also just so happened that the wine was from the year that we went to the Italian Alps and saw the winery! The day after my birthday, I made a nice dinner and we enjoyed some wine in the Waterford wine glasses my parents gave us as a wedding present.

John's sisters were also good to me. One sister got me a chocolate cookbook. Another got me a gift basket of fruit English Muffins, coffee, and and jam. We are enjoying it a lot.

So, all in all, it was a lovely day. :)

Just what I needed

2008-09-07T18:08:00.002-05:00

Since we moved back, J and I have been trying to schedule a weekend together. Well, yesterday, I took the train up to see her. I decided to take the train because it was only an hour (versus an hour and a half drive) and it was close to the price of driving, and I could knit on the train, so it was an easy decision for me.

Anyway, I got up to where J lives yesterday afternoon and neither of us had eaten, so we settled in, J walked her dog, and then walked to get some late lunch/early dinner. We headed a restaurant on the river, didn't get service, and headed inside. We had good food, a bit of conversation and then back to her house. We were both exhausted so she made cookies and we just hung out the rest of the night and went to bed early.

Today, we got up, went swimming and relaxed in the hot tub, and then went to brunch. After brunch, we hung out on the roof top terrace of the building until it was time for me to head back home. All in all, it was a very relaxing girly weekend, just what I think we both needed.

Pineapple Downside Up Cakes

2008-08-31T15:08:00.003-05:00

John's favorite cake is Pineapple Upside Down cake. When looking for things to register for the wedding, I saw a pan that makes mini cakes in the shapes of pineapples and immediately registered for it (as well as a cast iron skillet to make the cake in). Well, at the shower, I was very happy to unwrap the pan and it was given to us by one of John's siblings. His brother then gave us a tin of pineapple to facilitate making the cake. :)

John was so happy to get this pan that one day while I was at work and he was cleaning and putting the presents away, he decided to try out the pan. Below is the making of the cake, as taken by John.

The left over pineapple turned into his dinner.

His trusty beer was his baking assistant.

Then he waited patiently for dessert to be ready.

And finally his efforts were rewarded. :)

And the cakes were tasty. We think we can find a better cake recipe (we used the one that came with the pan) but I think that we are definitely up for the challenge.

Warning: political post

2008-08-29T22:53:00.003-05:00

This is an election year but we will be on our honeymoon during the election. It will be quite interesting to hear the results and election coverage from half a world away. For the first time that I can remember, I really care about a candidate. Now, I have always had a preference and hoped that the "other candidate" didn't win but I was more voting against someone than for someone.

This year, I care. I care deeply. I care enough to want to donate to a campaign for the first time. I respect the candidate even though he is a politian. I am also watching the political rhetoric and choices for VP from the candidates. Obama chose Biden, who has been in politics for ages (too long, I think) but balances any perceived in-experience on his part. Today McCain announced his choice, Palin. She is a young candidate who has been governor for two years. Therefore, she also balances him in the opposite way. No matter who wins, history will be made with this election and I find that really exciting.

Lately, I have started reading Ravelry's political message boards. I checked out the McCain supporters group to see what they were saying about Palin and if they thought she could help McCain get former Hillary supporters to vote for him. What I found most interesting, though, was an idea to make her a community blanket. One of the supporters is going to sew all the squares together that other supporters have knit or crocheted. In contrast, the Obama supporters are knitting and crocheting things to donate to homeless veterans. While I like the idea of cooperative knitting, I don't think that supporters would be making a male VP (or presidential) candidate a blanket.

If women want to be treated equally, we should treat each other equally. By immediately doing something nurturing for a candidate and not doing this for other candidates, these people are saying that the woman is different. That does not help the cause of equal rights for women. Now, don't get me wrong, I think it is great that these supporters want to show their support. I just question if it really helps the bigger cause of equal rights/perceptions of women. Or maybe that isn't really the goal here...

Showered

2008-08-19T22:20:00.006-05:00

A couple weeks ago, my sister generously hosted a bridal shower for me. For readers not familiar with this tradition, the guests to the bridal shower bring presents for the bride, aka shower her with guests. The tradition started when trying to build up a woman's dowry before getting married. Sometimes women have multiple showers. The relatives of the couple may have showers, work, friends. John's mom, niece, and sister-in-law came to my shower in addition to some of my aunts and cousins. J also came (remember her?). I felt so bad for J because she got a speeding ticket on the way!

The shower started off with a few bridal shower games. We played a word unscramble game, got points for various items being in our purses, and my sister asked me questions to see if I answered them the same way that John answered the same questions. We then ate a light lunch and I opened presents! Most of the pictures were taken by J.

ETA: the KitchenAid box contains an ice cream maker. :) I already had a KitchenAid (John was very nice to me one year for my birthday)

Sunny summer

2008-08-19T22:04:00.004-05:00

A month ago (where did the time go?), Aileen came to visit. While she was here, I took her to multiple yarn shops (with some major stash enhancement) and to explore the city. The day that we went downtown was sunny (but hazy) and hot. As we walked around the city center, I was reminded of how interesting the architecture is here. I had forgotten how varied the buildings are, and yet they work together well.

I have to say, it is wonderful to have a summer again. Last summer in Ireland was so rainy. Even during the nice summers in Ireland, they don't compare to summers here. However, now the sun sets sooner, there is a chill in the air at night, and autumn is coming...

Where's home?

2008-08-11T19:23:00.004-05:00

Periodically, people ask how we are settling in after our move. People often ask how it feels to be "home." This is something that I have been giving a lot of thought to lately. See, when Aileen came to visit, I found myself referring to Dublin as "home." I did this without even thinking. For example, when we took her to an "Irish Pub" for dinner (for the humor value since it is NOTHING like an Irish pub), I looked for the bathrooms and upon finding that they were downstairs, I thought, "oh, they're downstairs, just like at home." My next thought was, but I am home. I also referred to Dublin as home during conversations with her. I thought is was maybe because she is from Dublin so it made sense. When talking to my sister this weekend, I also referred to Dublin as home a few times. This seems to be happening more since we've moved, rather than less. I'm not really sure what this is about. I wonder if it is because we aren't truly settled yet (and I don't think we will be for a while). We haven't "laid down roots" yet.

Anyway, these references and my thinking has made me wonder, what is home? Where is home for us? Do we have one? Dictionary.com has 31 entries under the search home! The one that I think is at play with me is this one: "the place in which one's domestic affections are centered." See, we have multiple places with "domestic affections." Does that mean that we have multiple homes since I don't think there is one place where the affections are "centered?" The old saying says that "home is where the heart is" which means that, yes, I have many homes. One is where I grew up, another where my sister lives, another is Dublin, and finally where we are currently living!

Beer!

2008-07-24T22:35:00.004-05:00

Some people comment about how everything is bigger here. Well, it is! In Dublin, our refrigerator was the size that students here use in college. We managed fairly well but wished that we had had more freezer space. Overall, it worked well for us because then we couldn't buy too much stuff.

Well, now we have a massive fridge! I know it is a standard size one but we just can't fill it. I know that they run better if they are full but it is just too big for the two of us because I am trying to only buy what we need so that we don't waste food.

So, this weekend, we drove about an hour to have dinner with my brother. After dinner, we realized that we were in the "the state of beer" and there was a big grocery store near the restaurant so of course we had to look for the beer that we can only get in the state. I think that we may have gone a bit overboard but at least now the refrigerator is full!

Any guesses on how long it will take us to drink it all (and yes, there is more in the door)?

Busy Weekend

2008-07-24T22:20:00.003-05:00

It seems like we've been quite busy since we've moved back. If we aren't visiting people/collecting stuff, we seem to be organizing the house. I am really glad that I have Mondays off, too. However, my Mondays seem just as busy. During my commute, I often wonder where my time is going. I just don't know. All I can say, it isn't spent knitting (well, unless it is Tuesday night).

This weekend was no exception. I got a wonderful evening to myself while John went to a barbecue place in the city. On Saturday, we woke up, hung up art on the walls and then went shopping for more house stuff, like picture frames. We also had a pre-marriage counseling session and then went to a party. The party was good since we got to meet new people and see people that we haven't seen in a while. It was strange for us, though, that we left a bit past midnight and more than half the people had already gone home. We then dragged a friend to a "post drinking" breakfast place and finally got home about 2:30 AM. We haven't been out that late since we left Ireland. It was really nice to be out late! (bonus points if you notice what is different about me in the picture)

Sunday morning, we got a phone call at 10:00 AM from my brother asking what we were up to since he was going to a Renaissance Faire and would be about an hour from where we live. We already had lunch plans and I went to a movie with a friend in the afternoon. We then went up to have dinner with him and went shopping afterwards (that will be another post).

On Monday, I had an eye appointment at 10:00 AM and then we met with the caterer in the afternoon and did our weekly produce shopping. This weekend, Aileen is in town (she arrived today) and we should have another fun, busy weekend!

Accents

2008-07-17T20:59:00.002-05:00

Since moving back home, people have told me that I have an Irish accent. Now, I know that I don't have a full on one because people in Ireland told me this all the time. :) When we moved back, I heard the accent a bit but now only hear the local accent in a few people.

A couple weeks back, Aileen called me from her sister's. It was so good to hear from her. I miss my friends in Ireland so much. Anyway, while talking to her, I heard her accent for the first time. I never noticed that she has a bit of a Dublin accent (sorry Aileen). A while ago, someone from Ireland called to talk to John. Again, I heard the accent. I have to say, when I hear it, I get a bit of a pang of "homesickness." I miss that accent and really look forward to Aileen coming to visit next weekend!!!!!

Public transport?

2008-07-17T20:05:00.003-05:00

So I was driving in my car this morning thinking that I should look into public transport options to get to work so that I could knit on the train again. I miss my knitting time and really haven't been able to get much done. Silly long hours.

I was listening to the news and then on comes a piece about public transport. Apparently, because of the increased petrol/gas prices, more people have started taking public transportation. Therefore, the trains are more full. The mayor's suggestion to fix this problem: take out some of the seats on the trains so that more people can stand and fit! Of course people are upset by this idea because they want seats on the rush hour trains. I also wonder why they can't add more trains because there always seem to be a lot of trains sitting around in the exchange areas when I'm on the train.

While I'm on the topic, last week, I heard a piece on the radio about the mayor's idea to help the buses. See, there is a common problem of bunching (which I learned is a bunch of the same route coming right after each other). The mayor's suggestion to fix this problem is to put GPS in all the buses and then have someone in a remote location watch to see the spacing between buses. If the buses get bunched, he suggested sending someone out in a car to tell the drivers to wait and fix the spacing issue! Why can't they use a 2-way radio instead of adding to the traffic congestion?????

So much planning!

2008-07-06T20:07:00.002-05:00

The big wedding planning is done and has been for a while. Now, we are getting into the details and I am starting to feel the stress. I have started dreaming about things to do for the wedding. I can feel my stress level/tolerance for things decreasing. John has told me that I have "bridezilla" moments when people disagree with me. Luckily, they don't last very long. :)

Anyway, last week, we got our invitations. That started the stress of realizing that we didn't have that many addresses and now have to print the addresses on the envelopes (we have horrible hand writing). We have gotten most of the addresses so hopefully we will just take some time each day and get them done so that we get get them mailed in a timely manner. This weekend, we also figured out some decorations for the reception and did more on our wedding registry. I know that things are getting done but there are a lot to do still...

"Cabin" fever

2008-07-03T20:30:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow is the 4th of July and we get a long weekend! Since I work Tuesday through Friday, I have 4 days off!! I am very excited for the long weekend since it has been a bit over a month since we moved back and we haven't gone anywhere. This week as I was driving to work, I realized that it has been a month and we haven't even thought about a vacation or a long weekend away! It has been a bit over a month since I've been on a plane and I'm getting itchy.

Tomorrow we are heading out of the area to go to John's brother's house for a picnic and fireworks. It will be nice to be away but I'm getting itchy for a "proper" weekend away (no, family doesn't count as proper time away). We'll have to figure one out soon. Maybe August. I don't know if I can go until our honeymoon...

A new local?

2008-06-30T22:14:00.003-05:00

This weekend, we decided that we needed to explore our new area a bit. So far, we've been going to places that we know and mostly driving there. So, John had the suggestion since it was a nice evening to walk into the downtown area of our new town and see where we could find to eat. He knew of an "Irish bar" that wasn't that far away and off we went.

After a 15 minute stroll, we were at the pub and sitting outside in their "beer garden" area looking at their menu. I smiled at it since they had two Irish dishes on it: a full Irish and fish and chips. The menu was very beef heavy with only one chicken dish (besides a couple salads). We ordered home made mozzarella sticks as a starter/appetizer (very tasty) and John also got Guiness cheese soup. That was very rich and since it had a lot of sausage in it, I let him eat more of it. I had a chicken sandwich for my main and John had a Paddy Melt. They were tasty and the best part was that they were served with chips, not fries! I was very happy about this since I was missing the Porterhouse chips.

I don't think that they had dessert, but we were too stuffed to get it anyway. However, the chips made me miss sticky toffee pudding (I need to learn to make this myself).

We'll definitely be heading back there.

Slipping back...

2008-06-30T22:01:00.003-05:00

OK, I like to shop. However, during our time living in Ireland, I really tried to not acquire too much stuff (besides yarn). We made a few lifestyle changes that I hoped we would continue when we moved back. For example, I like the idea of getting the food you need for the week and going each week to the grocery store (for fresh stuff anyway) and walking to places and taking public transportation. I liked not having a car.

However, upon moving back, I now need a car to get to work. Well, unless I want it to take 2 hours to get to/from work that is. The public transport system just doesn't work well for long distances (and we didn't want to live in area where my new job is). :( I do take public transport whenever possible to places, though. I don't mind taking it and I then John can have the car some. However, I feel us slipping back into driving places, even when they are walking distance away.

Since we've moved back, we've been in major acquisition stage. I don't really know why or how this happened, but we ended up buying a lot of stuff. I needed new clothes for work (I didn't really have summer clothes since Ireland doesn't have hot summers). We also needed bookcases to store all the books that we'd put into storage and have now gotten back. But we have bought loads of other stuff, too. Today we went to one of the ultimate mass buying places that probably don't exist in Europe: a discount warehouse. Everything is big in this store. Everything. I got two 72 ounce bags of chocolate chips and a 2 pound (I think) bag of M&Ms. We also got tortilla chips that came in a package about twice the size of the "normal" here which is about twice the size of those in Ireland.

After we checked out, we thought about how we would store everything that we just bought. I was happy that our refrigerator is probably about 3 times the size of the one we had in Ireland and we have probably about 6 times as much storage space! Everything really is bigger here...

Knit in Public

2008-06-29T22:06:00.005-05:00

June 14 was World Wide Knit in Public Day (WWKIPD). In honor of the day, This is Knit sponsored a photo scavenger hunt and graciously let people from outside of Ireland participate in a separate competition for a smaller prize. So, I got my list of items to photograph as well as the points assigned to each item. I then proceeded to get caught up in life and 3 days before the pictures were due, I decided that I should get in gear and try to take a bunch of pictures of my knitting in public.

On the Friday before WWKIPD, we went to dinner and it happened to be sunset when we were done so I made John take a picture of me knitting at sunset near the parking lot of the mall where we had gone to dinner. I then made him "go for a walk" by the lake where we took a bunch more pictures. After going to the lake, we decided to head to the local coffee shop (another of the challenges) and I hit the photo jackpot! See, one of the items was to take a picture in a coffee shop. Other items on the list included taking a picture with a customer at the coffee shop and taking a picture with coffee shop employees. So, we were sitting having our drinks (I had tea, John got a milkshake) and in walk this group of teenagers. I was quite happy that they seemed like a fun bunch because taking pictures with teenagers was involved in 3 of the challenges! So, I approached the group and explained my mission and they happily let me take their pictures. When I also explained it to the staff, they told me that they were also teenagers!

On World Wide Knit in Public Day, I ended up not going to the event here but instead had to take public transport down to a salon that I had gotten some face soap at to exchange it. I then attempted to make my way to Lorna's Laces to try to take a photograph there. I took the train to the exit Google told me to take and then walked to where their website listed as their address. It was a house! I was disappointed because I wanted to get bonus points of having a picture with my knitting at a yarn dyeing company but now I know that they do not do tours for the public and their mailing address is someone's house.

Anyway, this week I got an email telling me that I won the international part of the scavenger hunt so soon I will get some lovely hand dyed yarn from the Dublin Dye Company! These are some of my favorite shots for the contest. And if the staff member from the coffee shop finds this post and responds, yes I will make you a hat.

I wanna Wii

2008-06-22T21:42:00.005-05:00

In May, John and I went to a game night at my friend T's house. We spent the whole night playing various Nintendo Wii games, including the Wii fit. It was so much fun, that I decided that we should get one. John has talked about wanting one for a while as well. So, I decided that I should get us a Wii for when John moved home. Easy, right? Well, not so much.

I went around to the major stores that should carry them one day. Nobody had them. One major electronics store said that they were going to get a shipment in for Sunday morning and to come about half an hour before the store opened to get in line to get one. So that Sunday, which was the day John was coming home, I went to the store at 9:30AM and sat in my car waiting for the store to open. There were a couple other people waiting as well for the store to open. When it opened, I went in and asked if they had gotten the shipment of Wiis. The guy at the desk said that they hadn't and that they don't get shipments in on Sundays unless and it would be in their store ad if a shipment was coming in. So, no Wii. I then went around to more stores searching. Still no Wii.

Since I couldn't get him a Wii, I decided that I'd make him cookies as a coming home present. I didn't have any ingredients so I stopped at the grocery store and got what I remembered needing and continued shopping. Finally, I gave up on the Wii search and went home to make the cookies. Problem was that 1) I didn't get everything I needed and 2)because it was summer, the chocolate chips turned into a smooshy melted mass! (no leakage, though)

The following weekend, I went up to my sister's to collect some stuff. While there, we checked the ads and the same major electronics store had Wiis and Wii Fits in their ad! So, I consulted with my sister and we discussed which store had the best chance of having the best shipment and what time we needed to be at the store. So, we got to the store about 40 minutes before it opened and we weren't the first people there! We got in "line," pulled out our knitting/crocheting and sat outside the store for about half an hour before employees came to give us our vouchers for the product we wanted. So, about half an hour later, I was the proud owner of both a Wii and a Wii Fit. We've been having fun using them, too. The Wii fit is so much fun and I am actually "competing" with John to try to get top scores (normally I don't care about such things).

Long overdue pictures

2008-06-17T21:41:00.007-05:00

I know, pictures of my nights out are long, long overdue. So, without further ado, here are some pictures of my knitting night farewell.

And my other farewell.

Where ya been?

2008-06-17T21:32:00.005-05:00

OK, it has been well over a week since I last blogged. I've been busy, really. I can't really say what I've been doing because the time is just a haze, but I do know that it went by very quickly. I started the new job last week and I think I'm going to like it. I'm not really getting eased into the job but I think it is better that way. I am going to learn a ton and felt like a student at times last week since, well, I was a student 9 years ago!

On Saturday, I went to the hair salon to exchange some face wash that I got and then spent some time in the afternoon taking pictures for the This Is Knit's World Wide Knitting in Public Day Scavenger Hunt. It was fun but tiring riding around on public transport getting the pictures since John had the car. He was playing golf. We then went to the pub to celebrate a friend's birthday. (Note the size of the beer and sangria that John is holding)

We are also getting the house settled in. We went and got bookcases this weekend and John put them together so now we can start putting books away and getting rid of some of the clutter. Slowly, slowly putting things away and getting settled...

How does it feel?

2008-06-05T17:00:00.003-05:00

People on both sides of the "pond" (and even random strangers for that matter) keep asking me things like, "Are you happy to be back," and "how does it feel to be back?" Well, I really don't know how to respond to this because it feels, well, weird! I mean, I am enjoying reconnecting with people that I haven't seen in a while but I also miss my friends in Dublin and we aren't settled here yet.

Actually, to be honest, I feel drained. I am really enjoying this time off work. I am doing a bit of house related stuff every day but just vegging as well. I know that I need that. There is a part of me that doesn't want to start work next week. I could use some more time off. Yet, I am bored, too. Not really sure how that works and I need to get back to work and get into a routine so that I can feel more "normal."

The other main piece of it feeling weird to be back is that our place doesn't feel like "home." I feel like I am in someone else's house because we don't have many things yet (like pictures on the walls). We are still setting up. I am sure that soon it will feel like home. I'm curious to see how long it takes for this house to feel like "home" because it is easily at least twice the size of anywhere that we have lived before (and about 3 times the size of our apartment in Dublin). It is in a nice neighborhood but it is suburban. We are off a main road but there aren't shops or restaurants within walking distance. At least the train is within VERY easy distance and they have made this one more frequent so it is pretty easy to get places via public transport.

The other reason that it feels strange is because we haven't seen our friends that much. Since we aren't leaving in a week, we have time to reconnect and see people when they are free and aren't on this manic "must see people" schedule. That meant that during my first week back, I only saw people a couple times. It was great to reconnect with them but lonely at night when I was sitting in this empty house eating on the stairs because we didn't have any furniture yet. (Don't worry, it wasn't that lonely and I was too tired to socialize much anyway).

What did you do last week?

2008-06-05T16:12:00.004-05:00

So, I have been back home for 10 days. They have been 10 long days! Yesterday, John looked around our house and asked me what I did last week since there didn't seem to be much done. So, here is how I have spent my last 10 days:

Sleeping! Last week, I just did not have energy to do much (other than go to Target). I have been absolutely exhausted. J assures me that this is normal (for moving country and changing jobs with the type of job we have) as she was wrecked when she moved from Ireland as well.
Shopping! We got rid of most of our stuff in Ireland and we did have some in storage but we have been acquiring things like crazy. Most big things we are acquiring used which is nice since it is better quality than we would have paid for new and then we aren't adding as much to the mass consumerism...
Laundry
Cleaning

Here is a general idea of what I accomplished:

Tuesday (day after arrival): Got new mobile phones for both of us since our Irish ones don't work here (well, we can receive texts/calls but not send). I also got 2 pairs of shoes since I didn't have any work shoes. Really, I didn't. I donated or threw them away because they were worn or not so comfortable or just too big or heavy to bring back with me. After dinner with friends, I picked up the car we are buying from friends.

Wednesday: Got the cable and internet set up. After this, I got a bed. After this, I went to Target and got loads of stuff for the house (think garbage cans, garbage bags, laundry soap, etc). I then met up with friends for coffee and unpacked some of the stuff and watched silly cable.
Thursday: I don't really remember Thursday. Oh wait, that is the day that I drove out to my new job to see where I'll be working. That took a long time! I meant to go to Ikea but didn't get that far.
Friday: I got a few clothes from Kohls (I don't have many work clothes left, either) and visited a friend of mine. It was so nice to see her and her daughter and reconnect with people.
Saturday: This was a wonderful day! I had a day at the spa and got pampered and a lot of stress relief. After my spa day, I had more energy than I had in a while. I also picked up John's favorite chair from a friend's who had it in his condo. After that, his brother brought a van full of our stuff to me! Happy days, stuff from storage. It felt like Christmas because I had no idea what John had put into storage since I had moved before him. We didn't get our couch or TV but that should happen this weekend.
Sunday: went to many stores trying to buy a Nintendo Wii for John. I was unsuccessful. I intended to make him cookies but that is a different story with a different post...
Sunday: John came home!!!!!! His flight was 2 hours late but he made is safely and we had frozen pizza for dinner since he was exhausted.
Monday: Checked Craig's list for furniture and responded to many, many ads looking for 2 dressers and some bookcases. Also went to a thrift store and found some decent dining room chairs and a TV/plant stand thing that has been put to good use. We also put together the dining room coffee tables (legs had been removed for storage) and unpacked a bunch of the plastic bins full of stuff and washed loads of dishes. I was wishing for that dish washer...
Tuesday: Unpacked more, got a dresser and filled it. John worked from home. I also got to go see the Sex and the City movie with a friend of mine. :) I had missed my girlie movie partner.
Wednesday: went to Target again, Home Depot, and the pet store (twice) to get general home/pet stuff. We then went to the electronics store to look at printers and TVs and found ones we liked. We wrote down numbers to check reviews (both got decent reviews but are cheaper elsewhere). We then went and got a bookcase and had dinner with two of John's friends. Stopped at the grocery store at 9:15. :)
Thursday (today): got a dresser (pretty close in color to the other one we got) and I filled it with John's clothes. John worked from home. I played online and made cookies.

So, that is how I have spent my last week and a half. Somewhere in there, I also got keys made for John and got a kitty lounger thing and two scratching posts. Tomorrow I get to go on "mission get stuff from sister."

Goodbyes

2008-05-29T09:48:00.004-05:00

During May, I had a couple leaving Dos and "goodbyes." It was very hard to say goodbye to everyone, partly because I just don't do goodbye. They are too sad! Anyway, Aileen decided that we should have a bit of a party at a Knit Night on her birthday so we had a bit of a party, knitting style. :) It was a lot of fun and pictures can be found on Yvvone's blog as well.

And I got some pressies. :) Aileen and Laura got me some lovely Newbridge Silver earrings and pendant. I have looked at this set many times and never taken the plunge so I'm quite happy with them. They are surprisingly hard to take pictures of. :( I also got a beautiful skein of handpainted yarn from Elana and Lisa. They also gave me some hand made stitch markers, all purple of course. Aileen also gave me some pretty sock yarn. Yeah, small things that are easy to pack and more yarn! :) Not that I "need" more yarn.

The Friday before I left, I also had a work do. We went to an Indian restaurant for dinner and then the Porterhouse (of course) for drinks. It was great fun. They also gave me a very generous pressie of some Waterford Crystal martini glasses (purple of course) that I have loved since I first saw them three years ago and a Galway Crystal bowl. They are getting shipped so I haven't actually gotten them yet...

**There will be pictures but they are on John's camera and he is still in Ireland!

Dyeing workshop

2008-05-29T09:34:00.004-05:00

During the May Bank Holiday weekend, I took a yarn dyeing workshop. Three of us took the "class" and Elana and Lisa taught it. I was disappointed with myself for forgetting my camera. I'm really not a "good" blogger. :) Anyway, we had lots of fun and got to play around with color and basically paint the yarn. After painting it, it gets cooked in the microwave, cools, you rinse it and then let it dry. It is now wound and just waiting for the right projects.

In order to get used the process, we first did a little practice skeins. I'm glad that we did because I decided that I liked the colors the others were using better and of course switched to purple. :) The maroon was first.

We then got to dye our own skein of sock yarn! I of course caved into my love of purple (I had planned on dyeing it for John and therefore not purple) and am thrilled with the results. I have decided that it is too pretty for socks and am going to make something lacy out of it. It will be my first "proper" lace from my first hand dyed yarn. :)

Yvonne's hand dyed can be found on her blog. After we finished dyeing our yarn, there was some left over so Lisa and Elana decided to have a bit of a play. They used some left over dye and some Kool-Aid and made a purplicious skein. Apparently they were both thinking of the same purpose of the yarn. I found out this purpose on a little going away do that the girls gave me. :)

And yes, as usual, the kitties wanted to be in on the photo shoot!

moving

2008-05-27T14:20:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, I left Dublin. I woke up early to get ready to go to the airport. John went with me to help me take care of things. We got there about 4 hours before my flight but weren't able to check in until 3 1/2 hours before. So, John went on to work and I waited until I could check in. I waited in the line, got myself checked in and was told that I had to go wait in another line to pay the cats' fares. The guy at the counter was really nice and helpful though and he seemed to feel bad at how much the airline charged for the cats.

After paying for the cats' fares, I then went back to the counter, got my ticket and then the guy accompanied me to get the cat carriers scanned. That got done and then I waited for the next guy to come and collect the cats. Then I went through security and just patiently waited. Overall, I am glad that I got there early because I didn't have to rush to get anything and had a decent amount of time waiting but not so painfully long.

Eventually, we board the plane and I was only 2 rows out of first class!!! The seats were a bit more spacious and we got served first. It was nice but made me really want first class. :) It also meant that I got to get off the plane sooner (which is why I think the guy in Dublin put me there so it would be easier for me to collect the monsters). So, I ask in the arrival airport where to collect the cats. I was told one side of the baggage area. An hour after arrival and still no cats, I asked another person. Nope, there are two special baggage areas and I had to go to the other one. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue. However, I had two large bags with me on a cart and needed a second cart for the casts. Also, this is a major airport so the baggage reclaim is at least twice the size of Dublin's. So, there I was, pushing one full cart and pulling an empty one trying to navigate a full baggage area where no one paid attention to someone coming their way. I was very happy that I didn't actually hit anyone (but Tiffin's crate did fall off the cart after I had collected her).

The kitties were "waiting" for me in this far away special baggage area. Then, I had to go back across the baggage area again to get them cleared from the government. I rang that bell and waited. No answer. Rang again. Still no answer. Waited some more. Rang a third time. Still no answer. Then I decided to go to customs and ask them. They thought the public health people went home since it was a holiday and told me which area of check out to go to to leave the airport. While trying to get to that area, I got flagged by a different customs person and got to have all my baggage inspected! So, they then asked about the cats and managed to get the health and safety person to look at my paperwork.

So, about an hour and a half after landing, I was finally able to call J to ask her to come get me! Luckily she was on her way and I only had to wait about 5-10 minutes for her! And she had a milkshake for me! We packed up her car to the brim (pictures will follow) and headed to the new humble abode.

J had set up her memory foam mattress into a bed for me and had gotten some basic cat supplies. She then went to the grocery store and the pizza place to get us takeout! After eating, she went home and I tried to sleep...

New Name

2008-05-22T17:08:00.002-05:00

So, I am moving in a few days. Chick with stix has mentioned to me a couple times that now I need to change the name of my blog. I have tentatively changed it to (Mis)adventures of Heidirific. However, I'm not sure if I'm mad on the title.

So, do you think I should change the name of the blog? If so, any suggestions on a new name?

So much to do, so little time

2008-05-22T16:53:00.002-05:00

I used to move about every year to 18 months. I used it as an opportunity to get a better apartment and go through a lot of my stuff. We've been here three years. Three wonderful years but we've collected SO much stuff. I keep finding stuff. I think I have gone through something, but stuff migrates back. We have donated about 6 bags of stuff (mostly clothes) to charity shops.

Anyway, we have made out "to do" lists and checked them twice. However, we keep thinking of things to do before and after we leave. I know it will all get done. I just have to stop and breathe. And knit. With people. At least today I got a lot done and got to check about 5 things off my "to do" list.

I'm so lucky

2008-05-15T17:00:00.002-05:00

Moving country makes me more reflective than normal. As I am "closing down" my caseload and saying goodbye to people, I keep realizing that I am really lucky. I am lucky that I have met people here in Ireland that I am going to miss a lot (one of them has plans to visit already!). I have met a great group of women who get together weekly to talk about anything going on in life or just chat. It is amazing girl bonding time and exactly what I was missing in my life. There's just nothing like girlfriends.

I am also lucky that I am going home to some amazing people. We have a friend who was willing to look at apartments for us, not once but three times and help us chose a place to live. That also makes us twice as lucky: we have friends we trust enough to help decide where we should live! Then I have another friend who is willing to take a cut in rent to give us what appears to be an amazing place to live.

It is when people really come through for me that I wonder how I got to be so lucky. Whatever the reason, however it happened, I am so grateful and happy it did!

Progress

2008-05-12T15:25:00.002-05:00

So, it is slightly less than 5 months before the wedding and 2 weeks before our move. Although the "to do" list is still quite long, we got a few things done recently. First, today I got my wedding band! And I love it. It is exactly what I thought I wanted even before we got engaged and it looks wonderful with my engagement ring. I really want to wear it now but I have to wait. John's ring should be done before we move as well. :) Hurray, one less thing to worry about. We have also chosen our invitations and will be able to get them printed after we have an address. And I found my veil. All small but necessary things. :)

We have also made progress on the moving front. I have sold a bunch of our stuff. We still have more to sell but it is coming together, or rather emptying out. :) We shipped some books home this weekend and went through more stuff and donated yet more stuff. We just have to keep going through things and getting rid of stuff. I really don't know how we accumulated so much stuff, and some of it moved with us last time. Tomorrow I call the airline and book the cats onto my flight. So much preparation and so little time to knit...

Where oh where does the time go?

2008-05-12T14:29:00.007-05:00

Last month, my parents came to visit for two weeks. On the first weekend that they were here, we took the Bus Eireann day long tour of Newgrange/ Boyne Valley and Tara Hill. The tour guide wasn't one of the best that we had but it was still a good day. We had a few stops along the day. All in all, it was a good day but I suspect that there may be better tours, at least better tour drivers than the one we had...

I could write all about how amazing Newgrange is (and it really is) but I am going to let the pictures "talk" for me today. :)

Newgrange:

The Hill of Tara was also interesting to see. It doesn't look like that much at first but when you explore it, you can see some of the history. It was also fascinating to see the lambs running around this historical site!

Preparation

2008-05-06T16:08:00.003-05:00

As Coastal Aussie noticed, we are leaving Dublin, in 3 weeks! Well, that's how long I have anyway. So, in 3 short (or long) weeks, our European adventure will be coming to an end. People keep asking me how I feel about leaving. To be honest, I really haven't thought about it. I am happy that I am going to get to see my family and friends at home more often. But I am sad that I am leaving friends that I have made here. We are also going to miss the travel. There are a lot of things that I will miss about living in Dublin and have grown a lot and learned a lot in the three years we've been here.

There are also a lot of preparations to be made. We have to clear out our apartment. Man, we have acquired a lot of stuff in 3 years! So, now we get to go through everything and decide if we want to try to keep it, sell it, or donate it. Do we really need this paperwork or that? It is like a three year memory trip. It is also a really strange feeling to be selling off things that you have accumulated over three years. It is different to me to sell/get rid of things that you don't want anymore. These are things that are perfectly fine and I would be happy to continue using if we were living here but it costs more to ship than to replace and I have a the originals sitting in my sister's basement, just waiting for me to return home and collect.

LYS

2008-05-02T12:30:00.004-05:00

Since I have started knitting, I have had a LYS, or Local Yarn Shop. Ever since I signed up for my first knitting class, I knew that they were nice, friendly ladies. See, I chatted with them for at least half an hour when all I meant to do was give them money for the class! Throughout the last bit over a year, I have gotten to know them a bit better and become a "good" customer. :)

See, I buy the majority of my wool/yarn from them (and often feel guilty if I don't) and have taken a lot of classes from them, as well as going to knitting night on Thursdays. They have encouraged me to do some of my own designing and wowed over every finished object, and some works in progress that I have brought in. Last night, I wasn't able to go to Knit Night and I got a text from Lisa asking how much yarn I needed for the shawls that I am making for my bridesmaids. I emailed her back this morning and then spoke to her. The yarn they had coming in (and I planned to snatch all of) is on backorder until Sept!!! That just won't do. So, unknown to me, they called a bunch of other Irish shops to see if any of them carried the yarn and had some in stock. They found one company that did and had that information for me by the time I called them back this afternoon! They didn't want me to have a crisis! That just amazes me.

After I got home from work this evening, I called around to some shops back at home since I'll be moving back there later this month. The first shop I called didn't have the yarn but could order it. When I explained that it was back ordered here in Ireland, one of the women took my details and said that she would put my request out on another site and to have a distributor contact me directly! The second shop I called asked me about the yarn and then said she didn't have it. She wasn't helpful (wasn't helpful in person the one time I have been there either). The third shop (sadly websiteless) I called had the yarn I needed and even the amount I needed! After I explained that I was calling from another country, I asked if the woman would mail the yarn to a local address for me. She will!

With the yarn crisis averted, I rang my LYS back and told them how much I had, that I did need their remaining stock and that I was successful in finding yarn at home. The process just amazed me at how much customer service a LYS can give. In many ways your LYS is like a hairdresser. Once you find a good one, you are intensely loyal and feel like you are "cheating" if you go somewhere else, even if they don't have the item you want. You develop a relationship with them. They are not just a shop owner or a shop, they become a part of your life...

Ugh!

2008-04-27T14:33:00.002-05:00

On Friday as I rode on the bus, I listened to my MP3 player and cleared out old messages on my phone. As I got off the bus at my stop, I continued to play with my phone and listen to my music as I made my way to the jewelry store to look at wedding bands. I looked at the bands and decided that I needed one the same thickness as my engagement ring (which is thicker than average here in Dublin) so I will probably need a custom ring (which of course costs more).

Anyway, as I left the jewelry store, I decided since it was payday, I would head to the other jewelry store where we were going to order John's ring from. I reached back into my backpack and it was open! I know I had closed it on the bus. I reached inside the front pocket and there was no wallet!! I dug around a bit, and nope, it was gone. I then went back to the store I had just been in and asked the sales assistants if the bag had been open when I was in the store. It was! I then texted John and asked him to look up where a Garda station was so that I could report my wallet stolen. As we were talking, I saw a Garda and asked where to go. He directed me to the nearest station and I headed off. Meanwhile, John canceled one debit card and texted me the number to cancel the other. I canceled it and then went into the police station to report the theft.

The Garda was very nice and understanding. She took my details and asked what was in my wallet. I gave a brief list of what I could remember and explained that my driver's license is there and would be difficult to replace. She asked if I needed a letter from the police saying my wallet had been stolen and that she would ring on Monday to check if I needed a letter. I thanked her for her time and went on my way.

Saturday afternoon, I went wallet shopping. John was supposed to meet me after getting my bus ticket for next month and bus ID replaced (luckily Dublin Bus didn't charge me for it). While I was trying to find John and find out of if a charity shop near us took donations, the Garda from Friday rang to say that my wallet had been returned! That never happens! I went to go retrieve my wallet and see what had been taken. All my ID was still in it! I don't have to replace my driver's license. Hurray! The thief (thieves) took my money, bus tickets, prescriptions, and taxi voucher that I needed for Monday (can get another one easily enough). So, thanks to whoever turned in my wallet. I has made my life a lot easier. Now I just need to wait 5 days for my Irish ATM card back...

Votivkirche

2008-04-26T14:02:00.005-05:00

OK, I am really on a roll posting the Vienna pictures. See, I am procrastinating. We did a bit of organizing today and now I am procrastinating wedding knitting, cooking dinner, and other cleaning or baking. Hmm, that's a lot.

Anyway, while in Vienna, we of course visited every church we passed that was open. One of them was Votivkirche. Apparently it is one of the most important neogothic churches in the world! The church was built on the site of an attempted murder of Emperor Franz Joseph. Apparently, he was attacked with a knife but since he always wore a high collared uniform, his life was spared. His brother, Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph (later emperor of Mexico) later called for donations to build a church on the site. The church was to be a thank you present to God. The church was dedicated 24 April 1879, 26 years after being started.

Hundertwasser

2008-04-26T13:45:00.004-05:00

While in Berlin last summer, I learned about the artist Hundertwasser because Opal makes yarns inspired by his paintings. :) While in Vienna, we went to the Hundertwasser museum and saw a couple of his buildings. In addition to being an artist, he was also an architect. His buildings are fascinating because he did not like straight lines. Instead, he believed that buildings should have curved lines, including the floors. He also believed that nature should be brought into buildings so there are plants inside, a couple water features, and plants growing on roofs of his buildings.

In the museum, there is a model of what he thinks a town should look like. The model had rooftops resembling rolling hills with animals grazing on top and streams running through it. I imagine that the buildings would be fairly fuel efficient and pollution would certainly be reduced if buildings were built the way he suggested.

Either way, his buildings are fascinating. They look like something out of the children's game Candy Land to me.

Wien bei nacht

2008-04-26T13:35:00.002-05:00

Since I have an affinity for night shots, here is Vienna by night.

Schloss Schonbrunn

2008-04-26T12:48:00.005-05:00

While in Vienna, we had to go to at least one palace. So, off to Schloss Schonbrunn it was. The schloss was built by the oh so powerful Habsburg family. It started out as a hunting retreat for Maximilian II in the late 1500's. It was then built up and started to be called Schonbrunn in 1642, when Eleonore Gonzaga, widow of Ferdinand II, added to the palace. It has a labyrinth and maze (which we didn't go into) and very large parkland around it. Although it was freezing (literally), it was fun to wander the grounds and imagine great royalty hunting and relaxing there...

1516

2008-04-25T16:29:00.005-05:00

Alright, I continue to be remiss on the blogging. But I have a good excuse, really I do. I have been busy knitting. But that isn't the good excuse. The current one is that my parents visited for two weeks and then John's mom was in town for a few days. Yeah, so I was busy entertaining. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! (there is something else but I'll write about that later)

Anyway, back to the travel photos. Vienna, yeah. That's where our travels took us. While in Vienna, John was on a mission to find bock bier. It is a stronger beer that is only available a couple times a year, and Easter is one of them. Therefore, he consulted the "drinking" section of the guidebook and directed us to a pub that he thought should have potential. While the 1516 Brewery didn't have bock bier, they had a lot of other good things. Since we had gone to have dinner, we ordered food. I ordered a turkey burger and John ordered sausage. My "burger" was really a grilled fillet of turkey and tasty wonderful. It tasted well spiced and had a lot more flavor than I am used to turkey having. I gave John a bit. He said it tasted familiar. He then ate more sausage and he realized that my turkey tasted basically the same as his sausage!! The must have been grilled on the same grill....

Around Vienna

2008-04-13T15:35:00.004-05:00

OK, I have been remiss in the blogging again. I meant to post the pictures of our latest trip more quickly but life just seems to get in the way. At least I got a major piece of knitting done for the wedding (nope, no pictures). So, to get back on track, here are pictures from around Vienna.

Stephan Dom

2008-04-04T15:11:00.005-05:00

Welcome to Vienna! After dropping off our luggage at our hotel, Hotel Bellevue which was lovely. The room was spacious and the staff helpful. It was also in a good location as well.

So, after checking into the hotel, we decided to go check out the Unesco World Heritage site in Vienna, the city centre and Stephan Dom and surrounding area. The church was built in the 1200s and is quite impressive. I could go on about it but instead, I'm just going to let the pictures tell the story...

Oh, this post has a couple of my favorite photos from the trip.

Hungarian Baths

2008-04-04T14:47:00.004-05:00

Okay, we have been back for ages but we are continuing our play by play posting about our most recent trip. We better hurry up because we have another long weekend coming up soon. I don't really know what I've been doing with my time (besides working and sleeping) because I don't seem to get that much knitting done either. Hmm...

Anyway, while in Budapest, we decided that we needed to check out a bath because the city is on a fault line. So, we consulted our Lonely Planet guide and chose the only one listed that said men and women could come on the same day. The guidebook also said that the Gellert was like taking a bath in a cathedral! So, after the art museum, we headed onto the baths. When we got off the tram, the adventure began.

First, we ended up walking around most of the building because we couldn't find the entrance. We eventually found the entrance. When we walked in, we saw the lines to get tickets and the information booth. We stood in line, looked at the prices, discussed what we were going to do, and then asked a couple questions at the information desk. We then got back in line and I thought of another question and asked it while John waited. Meanwhile, we saw people wandering around in bathrobes and entering from a different entrance. We got our tickets and still didn't really understand what we paid for because you could get treatments such as massage but also there appeared to be different tickets for the warm and cool water areas. They told us that our ticket got us into both. So, we got our ticket and then handed them to the person checking them. He told us to both go the same way. No word on where the changing rooms were. We eventually found where to get towels and they told us where each changing area was (hallway to change into). Eventually, we got changed and then met up and found a bath. In that room, there is one cool water and one warm water pool.

After being done with these two pools, we decided to wander around a bit because we thought that there had to be more. And there was. We found two more pools. One was warmer than the other and we went into the warmer one and relaxed. We stayed in this pool until our fingers were all shriveled. Then we wandered some more and decided that was all there was for us. I then began my adventure of getting back to my changing area. Luckily for me, a guy noticed that I was confused/lost and told me how to get back to my changing area. After getting changed, we headed out and saw a bunch of people with guidebooks all looking disappointed because the bath stopped allowing in visitors before it closed...

Oh, and this ends the tour of Budapest. Next stop: Vienna

Szépművészeti Múzeum

2008-03-31T15:04:00.006-05:00

It wouldn't be a vacation if I didn't torture Heidi with at least one art museum. Actually we both really enjoy them, especially if there is an audio guide that can help to provide some background and context to the art work and the artists. The Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest has a nice collection. It contains pieces across a range of periods and styles. Even the building itself is interesting to walk through. Sadly, the audio guide is lacking, although it does appear to be a work in progress so it'll probably be getting better. Only a small portion of the collection actually has audio information available. Also the ones that do are poorly marked so often you don't realize more information is available. I was able to identify that there was a piece by Oskar Kokoschka though. My mother studied with him in his "Schule des Sehens," so I wanted Heidi to see some of his work. I managed to locate where it was supposed to be, but it was on loan to the Belvedere in Vienna. But more on that later...

The Statue Park

2008-03-28T15:42:00.005-05:00

After visiting the caves, we legged it to the south part of Budapest to go to a statue park, which was my favorite sight of the trip. Basically, the Hungarians seem to have collected the Communist statues that they wanted to get relocate and put them in the statue park in what was probably at one point a fairly rural area. Today, the area is in this sub development of houses.

Upon entering the statue park, grounds, you see a statue of Lenon's boots. You then see all these giant statues performing some type of action. We happened to go on a fairly gloomy day so the sky was dark and the place was almost creepy. If that was creepy enough, if you go into what looks like a temporary structure, you can watch a spy training video. During the rest of the trip, we speculated on who was spying on us. :)

Szemlo-hegyi Cave

2008-03-28T15:17:00.004-05:00

While in Budapest, we decided to go visit the Szemlo-hegyi cave because it was the one of two caves in the area that was open. When we got to the cave, the sign on the door said that tours were given on the hour and it was only about half past. We wandered around and looked at the display in the building. We then sat waiting for someone and to come from downstairs. At about 10 minutes before the hour, someone came down, asked if they could help us. We told them we wanted a tour. The person took our money and handed us pamphlets and told us that we could guide ourselves! Why couldn't we have done that 20 minutes earlier???

The cave was discovered in 1930 and was opened to the public in 1986. It has a stable temperature and humidity level and the walls are covered in thick layers of mineral deposits which are unique in Europe. Because of its environment, the air is supposed to be very healthy and people with breathing difficulties come there and sit for a while to feel better. I have to say, it was easy to breath while there and I didn't feel any of my usual sinus congestion...

The cave had an artificial entrance made by miners. It has a series of caves that you wander through. The Ferencvaros Hall is the first group and has growths that are supposed to look like bunches of grapes but I thought it looked more like cauliflower. In the Maria Chamber, there is a hole in wall of the cave. Supposedly, some explorers were in the cave and only this young girl Maria could get through the hole and into the corridor. The other people in the party had to widen the hole in order to get through.