Amber Bay B&B

While in Galway, we stayed at the Amber Bay B&B in Salthill. The location is great as it has sea views and we even had a room with a view. However, there were a few glitches with our stay. First, the water in all of Galway was insafe to drink. In the lobby there was a posting about the bacteria in tap water. While that didn't need to be a big problem, the only warning we had was a letter posted in the entryway. The proprietor never told us about not being able to drink the tap water (which he may or may not have been obligated to do but would have been nice to be told about when we arrived). When we got back home to Dublin, John told us that he had read online that hotels/B&Bs were supposed to provide bottled water. We got one 2 L bottle for three of us during our 4 night stay.

Upon our arrival, the proprietor also questioned that we had three people. I had clearly stated in my email enquiry and on the phone making the reservation that there were two adults and a child. While he didn't have a triple/family room available, he gave us a fold out bed. Shortly after arriving, I went down to pay for our stay since I prefer to pay on arrival than departure. He had quoted a price to me in email and then charged me a different price. I know I should have said something to him but I just didn't feel like it after having driven 4 hours to get there. Upon departure and returning our key, he was going to charge me again. Obviously I didn't pay him twice.

Another disappointment was that the owner didn't talk to us during our stay. We didn't see him initiate conversation with any of the guests. I know it isn't a prerequisite for a B&B owner to be friendly but most are. That is part of the charm of staying in a B&B versus a hotel.

Walk by the sea

A couple weeks ago, we went down to This is Knit to let K pick out yarn for her birthday present (which I will start soon even though her birthday was Friday). We took the train down to Blackrock and then walked down by the sea to the Dun Laoghaire. The walk was beautiful and could have been longer but K wanted to head back. It was a bit tricky to get from the road to the seaside path but John navigated us quite well. We got the walk idea out of the Walking Dublin book by Pat Liddy. I think we'll definately do the walk again and continue it past Dun Laoghaire next time.

Kilmainham Gaol

Upon John's recommendation, we went to tour the Kilmainham Goal (jail) in Dublin. I thought it was strange to take my sister and niece to tour a jail but he had seen it before and liked it so we went to see it. I was surprised at how interesting it was and the guide was very good. He gave a lot of history. The jail is quite old, having its first prisoners in 1796.

The Goal's "claim to fame" is that it was used to hold political prisoners. Many famous Irish were held in the prison. When the cell that an important figure in Irish history stayed in could be verified, a plaque with the person's name is above the cells. It was the executions of some key members of the 1916 uprising that has raised the goal's importance as well as changed public opinion of the uprising.

The jail itself is a dismal place. The walls are quite thick, the cells small, and it has a musty feel. As an old jail should be, it is quite eery. The newer part of the jail reminds me of modern jails and apparently is the model that most modern jails are built on. Overall, I would highly recommend this tour. Even K enjoyed it but then she likes history. I think she enjoyed the guide and that we could add a bit of information for her to help her understand why people were put in the prison.

St. Patrick's Cathedral

When we came to visit Dublin before moving here, we went to see some sites. One of them was St. Patrick's cathedral. I remembered being impressed by it when we saw it the first time so I decided to take K and R to see it. It was as pretty as I remembered it being. This time, however, I found myself comparing it to other churches that we have seen in Europe. While it doesn't compare to some in Italy, it is a beautiful church.

Dublin Castle

I've lived here almost two years now. I am finally doing tourist things. This is sooner than in my last city. I never did them there. :) One of the things that I took R and K to see was Dublin Castle. Since I've been on the Malahide Castle tour a couple times now and don't really like it, I thought I would take them to the Dublin Castle in city centre. This tour is much better. It gives more history and they let you take pictures. :) Seriously, though, the castle was K's favorite part of her trip to Ireland. During the tour, they take you down to the medieval part that excavations have uncovered. It is quite interesting to see a part of the old Dublin wall.

Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of Lady Justice because this monument is a bit unique. She faces the palace, not the people. She is also not blindfolded. And in the rain, reportedly the scales are not equal!

Inside, the palace is quite nice, not as ornate as the palace we saw in Munich but nice none the less.

Being a tourist

During R's and K's (my niece) visit, we showed them a lot of the sites in Dublin. On the day of their arrival, we took the Dublin Bus Hop On and Off bus tour. It costs 14 Euro for adults and the ticket is good for 24 hours. It gives a good view of the city. Interestingly, it actually gave me a new perception of the city. Sometimes I forget just how compact Dublin is. The tour takes in most of the major sites and you can get off the bus when you want to see any of them. We didn't actually get off the bus, well except when K needed to go to the bathroom.

So, we ended up stopping at Pheonix Park/Dublin Zoo. The driver said that the tea room was open with little snacks and K needed to use the bathroom and we were cold. So we got off the bus and the tearoom closes at 4:00 PM. It was 4:10! No hot chocolate for us. :( We managed to get into the zoo to use the bathroom and then took the rest of the tour. Overall, I'd definately recommend it as a way to get an idea of the layout of the city and if you are going to see a lot of the main tourist sites in 24 hours, it is a good way to get to each of them.

The pictures are of the Pheonix Park area.

Driving!

Last Sunday, I drove in Ireland for the first time! I wanted to take my sister and niece out to Galway and John had to work so it was up to me to drive. My sister rented an automatic since she doesn't know how to drive a manual transmission and I'm not very good at it. We got a compact car since we didn't think a subcompact would be comfortable/big enough for the three of us with luggage. I think it was a good decision but there were definately times that I wish we had the smaller car.

Anyway, we took the bus up to the airport and to the car rental place. We got our car and put our stuff in it. I put the key in the ignition and it didn't turn. We looked around the consule and couldn't see any reason why the key wouldn't turn. We tried again. And again. Then R, my sister, went to get help. A guy came, turned the steering wheel a bit, and then started the car right up! Since it has been 2 years since I've driven, I had forgotten that the steering wheels of cars can lock when they are left in certain positions. I felt really dumb but we were then on our way.

So, R was navigator and I was driver. We had figured out our route ahead of time and we were on the M50 looking for the highway to Galway. We somehow passed it (it wasn't marked well in the construction on the M50) and ended up near Tallaght! When I realized how far south we were, we turned around and just before the toll bridge, was our turn off. So, we got on the new motorway and drove. Happily drove 120 km/hour. I liked it. It made me happy to have 2 lanes in my direction. Then the motorway ended. And the narrow roads began. And the little towns appeared. In one town, there was a narrowing in the road and a truck coming at me. Cars were parked on the side of the road. I moved over a bit and a parked car's mirrors rubbed against our windows. Oops. I pulled over and we looked at our car. No scratches other than the mark on the window so the other car was also fine.

With both of us nervous, I pulled over and slowed down for every bigger vehicle we saw the rest of the trip. And there were lots of narrow roads and semi-trucks (lorries) and tour busses. There were also lots of people going really fast (ok, probably the speed limit) and crossing onto my side of the road. While on the country roads, we couldn't get over the speed limits. These roads were barely 2 lanes wide and the posted speed limit was often 100 km/hour! That is the same speed as some motorways!! How can that be safe? Needless to say, I didn't not drive that fast on those roads. For the first time in my life, I happily drove a bit over half the posted speed limit!

On a lot of the roads, there were signs saying how many people had died on the roads in the county in the last 4 years. People in Dublin talk a lot about the number of foreign nationals driving as a reason for the increased deaths in road accidents. Some also sugget drunk driving as the reason for the increase. I think it is people driving 100 km/hour on roads that are really 1 1/2 lanes wide! That is just not safe. You cannot go around the corners at that speed and not cross into the other lane. Hell, some roads aren't even wide enough to have lane markers and they still have speed limits of 80 km/hour! As the ads say, speed kills.

Taxis

During the course of the week and a half that my sister and niece came out to visit, we took a few taxis. I took one the morning of their arrival to get to the airport. It cost me 17 Euro from city centre. On the way back, it was 25 Euro. On the way back to the airport yesterday it was 30 Euro. Now, that is quite the difference. I know there are differences in the cost for different times of day, extra cost for extra passengers and bags, but come on. There shouldn't be a 5 Euro difference for the same number of bags and people.

The reason the last taxi cost more was the route taken. Each taxi driver took a different route each trip to/from the airport. The driver with just me in the car took a "usual" route (there are 3). When my sister and niece were heading back to the airport, the driver went up past Clare Hall in Swords. Now, this is farther north than the airport and a good bit out of the way. Certainly not the most effective way to go, no matter what time of day it is (and it was early on a Sat morning with little traffic). When the drivers were going an out of the way route, I know I should say something, but I didn't. Dublin isn't that big and since I take a lot of taxis, I may have the driver again. I also can't help but wonder how much of this difference was the accent and that my sister and niece were obviously tourists.

I'm staying

Since December, more and more people keep asking me what my plans are. My friends back home ask. People I work with ask. Random people who I barely know ask. Everyone seems to want to know if I am leaving. They don't ask if I am staying, they ask if I am leaving. They comment on high turnover in Speech/Language therapy in Ireland and then ask if I am leaving. One person started the conversation by commenting that I had been in Ireland almost two years and what was I doing? She knew there was a chance that I would leave. Other people ask how John's job is going. They then say things like, "Oh good, then you'll stay."

When people in Ireland ask me this question, I am reminded of the high turnover in my field and am struck by what they are really asking. People want to know if they can get attached. In many ways, I think that they have difficulty trusting new people. Other therapists have left, what makes me different?

The other end of this spectrum is with the therapists. It gets frustrating having people ask me what my plans are. It also gets frustrating working with angry people because that is how they have had to be to this point. The Irish therapists that I know don't get asked if they are leaving. They occasionally get asked if they are staying (and yes, there is a difference). It makes my relationships a bit more difficult at times because people are guarded with me. Also, it kind of hurts my feelings that they may be asking about my life and what is going on with me for I perceive to be selfish reasons.

Projects

Since I finished the baby blanket, I have focussed on learning new stitches and combinations. So, I have made some simple, little projects such as hairbands and potholders/hotpads (for taking things out of the oven/moving hot things). Both Tiffin and Darshin sit on my lap while I knit. They also enjoy sitting on any knitting or yarn that I may have left out. And yes, that is a Darshin paw attacking the red hotpad!