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| Ireland 2 |
Friday, May 30, 2008
georgous day!
well today is beautiful!
I was so warm today, that once I came home i put on shorts.
But first I should back up and tell you what happened since the last post. Last night we went out with some of Daves Coworkers to the same Italian restaurant that we went to Tuesday. the reason that we went out is because one of his coworkers is leaving and this was his goodbye dinner thing. I must say it was again very tasty.We then went to a genuine Irish Pub (which I know Dave was happy for). When we got there, there were some other Googlers there already. We took up a good portion of the available sitting space. It was VERY crowded and it was only Thursday. We left that pub at 1230 and headed down to another bar. This one had a cover charge and was playing more pop/ dance music. Dave and I were already a bit tired so we didnt stay that long. Im not sure when we got home though.... 2ish?
So Dave and I both slept in this morning. I signed up yesterday for the viking splash tour and I thought Ihad a lot of time to get to it so I left 30 min ahead of time but it turns out that it took 1/2 hour of a brisk walk and I got there just in time! The Tour itself was pretty good. When we went into the canal basin we saw where U2 had their recording studio. They are currently there working on a new album to be released in 2008. The windows and doors were open but there were no cars in the parking garage yet- after it was only noon. Our tour guide did say that since they are demi-gods noon is their dawn.
After the tour II bought lunch at a convenience store and ate it in the park "St. Stephens Green". There were ducks there that were very interested in my sandwich! I then walked through Grafton street which is a shopping street where the street gets closed to regular traffic. I took an eco friendly bike as close to home as I could. Its a 3 wheel bike that has a 2 person seat in the back. It was a bumpy ride but it was free. They are sponsored each month and therefore they are plastered in advertising (7up this month). They can only be picked up at 2 locations and have a limited radius. but hey- they are free!
In the courtyard near here they have a little market set up so I picked up some new crop potatoes from Ireland and other veggies for tonight.
So I came home and changed into shorts since it was such a warm day. I opened all the windows then found the courtyard. I went out and read in the sun.
Now Im cooking supper for Dave and I. Potatoes, carrots, squash, and hot and spicy chicken. sounds good eh?
I noticed some people left comments
Thanks for the comments!
I was so warm today, that once I came home i put on shorts.
But first I should back up and tell you what happened since the last post. Last night we went out with some of Daves Coworkers to the same Italian restaurant that we went to Tuesday. the reason that we went out is because one of his coworkers is leaving and this was his goodbye dinner thing. I must say it was again very tasty.We then went to a genuine Irish Pub (which I know Dave was happy for). When we got there, there were some other Googlers there already. We took up a good portion of the available sitting space. It was VERY crowded and it was only Thursday. We left that pub at 1230 and headed down to another bar. This one had a cover charge and was playing more pop/ dance music. Dave and I were already a bit tired so we didnt stay that long. Im not sure when we got home though.... 2ish?
So Dave and I both slept in this morning. I signed up yesterday for the viking splash tour and I thought Ihad a lot of time to get to it so I left 30 min ahead of time but it turns out that it took 1/2 hour of a brisk walk and I got there just in time! The Tour itself was pretty good. When we went into the canal basin we saw where U2 had their recording studio. They are currently there working on a new album to be released in 2008. The windows and doors were open but there were no cars in the parking garage yet- after it was only noon. Our tour guide did say that since they are demi-gods noon is their dawn.
After the tour II bought lunch at a convenience store and ate it in the park "St. Stephens Green". There were ducks there that were very interested in my sandwich! I then walked through Grafton street which is a shopping street where the street gets closed to regular traffic. I took an eco friendly bike as close to home as I could. Its a 3 wheel bike that has a 2 person seat in the back. It was a bumpy ride but it was free. They are sponsored each month and therefore they are plastered in advertising (7up this month). They can only be picked up at 2 locations and have a limited radius. but hey- they are free!
In the courtyard near here they have a little market set up so I picked up some new crop potatoes from Ireland and other veggies for tonight.
So I came home and changed into shorts since it was such a warm day. I opened all the windows then found the courtyard. I went out and read in the sun.
Now Im cooking supper for Dave and I. Potatoes, carrots, squash, and hot and spicy chicken. sounds good eh?
I noticed some people left comments
Thanks for the comments!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
boat tour
hello welcome to the next edition of my blog.
as Im writing this Im talking to Andrea on msn about my day. So if I forget anythings its because Im distracted!
well it started as a nice sunny day when I woke up this morning. I put on capris and headed out. Im glad that I put a sweater around my waist. The weather here is very moody. By lunch time i needed to put my sweater on and got rained on a bit.
I went to the visitor center to see what I could do today. The thing i wanted to do was booked for today so i booked to for tomorrow. I decided that I would walk around the area and also go see where we have to pick up the tour on sat. around noon I was in the right area but was getting hungry. I decided to go to mcDonalds- I know I know, why McDs? it was there - it wasnt very cheap. It was E6.10. but its a 1.5 exchange rate makes it a bit much. all food seems to be the same price without the exchange rate. I also notice that gas is the same. its E1.25 /L here.
After lunch I found where we have to be on Sat. and continued walking along. I found the bus station that we would have to go to to take a bus to London. I headed back to the River Liffey and walked along the boardwalk there.
I found a boat tour that followed the river out to the mouth. It was a 40 min cruise. The river is tidal so it goes in and out with the tide. It was at low tide so we were quite a bit down so it was a bit hard to see everything. They had windows on the roof as well so you could see up. It was totally enclosed so it was a nice ride.
Once the ride was over I continued along the river and found some swans swimming in the river. I got home around 3:30pm. I went and bought toilet paper and shreddies for Dave.
When I got home I tried the wash machine again. Its supposed to wash and dry but we cannot find the instructions anywhere in the apartment. It does not dry at all and there is no drying rack in the place. Since we are sharing the apartment I cant just lay out our undies to dry.
Now its 5:30 and I have to remain at home. Dave leaves work about 630 (on most nights) and I have his keys. I have to be home to let him in!
Yesterday wasnt an exciting day. I stayed home most of the day. I tried doing laundry but there was issues. But we had the maids come in and clean up a bit. They usually change the sheets and towels and do a quick clean. They were very surprised to see me :)
well thats all I have for now.
tonight we have a good bye party for one of Daves Co-worker. I think we will go to the Italian restaurant and then to a pub. We will see.
as Im writing this Im talking to Andrea on msn about my day. So if I forget anythings its because Im distracted!
well it started as a nice sunny day when I woke up this morning. I put on capris and headed out. Im glad that I put a sweater around my waist. The weather here is very moody. By lunch time i needed to put my sweater on and got rained on a bit.
I went to the visitor center to see what I could do today. The thing i wanted to do was booked for today so i booked to for tomorrow. I decided that I would walk around the area and also go see where we have to pick up the tour on sat. around noon I was in the right area but was getting hungry. I decided to go to mcDonalds- I know I know, why McDs? it was there - it wasnt very cheap. It was E6.10. but its a 1.5 exchange rate makes it a bit much. all food seems to be the same price without the exchange rate. I also notice that gas is the same. its E1.25 /L here.
After lunch I found where we have to be on Sat. and continued walking along. I found the bus station that we would have to go to to take a bus to London. I headed back to the River Liffey and walked along the boardwalk there.
I found a boat tour that followed the river out to the mouth. It was a 40 min cruise. The river is tidal so it goes in and out with the tide. It was at low tide so we were quite a bit down so it was a bit hard to see everything. They had windows on the roof as well so you could see up. It was totally enclosed so it was a nice ride.
Once the ride was over I continued along the river and found some swans swimming in the river. I got home around 3:30pm. I went and bought toilet paper and shreddies for Dave.
When I got home I tried the wash machine again. Its supposed to wash and dry but we cannot find the instructions anywhere in the apartment. It does not dry at all and there is no drying rack in the place. Since we are sharing the apartment I cant just lay out our undies to dry.
Now its 5:30 and I have to remain at home. Dave leaves work about 630 (on most nights) and I have his keys. I have to be home to let him in!
Yesterday wasnt an exciting day. I stayed home most of the day. I tried doing laundry but there was issues. But we had the maids come in and clean up a bit. They usually change the sheets and towels and do a quick clean. They were very surprised to see me :)
well thats all I have for now.
tonight we have a good bye party for one of Daves Co-worker. I think we will go to the Italian restaurant and then to a pub. We will see.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
A wet yucky day
Well today was a wet and windy day. I noticed on one sign that it was 11 C.
I started the day by sleeping in a bit- always a good way to start the day. I then proceeded to eat breakfast and then I was ready to start my day.
I decided that I was going to go to the Visitor Center to book a day trip on sat. We will be heading out on a
bus tour of the country side. This was a long wet walk and my umbrella kept turning inside out.
I also picked up some coupons and more maps.
From there I started heading back to the apartment and got hungry on the way. I stopped at a small cafe and got a BLT.
I was heading in the right direction but on a street I didnt know. Much to my surprise I ended up right where i wanted to. I took a tour of a museum called Dublina & the Viking world. It showcased Dublin's history.
It was ok. Interesting but not so exciting that I would tell people to go there.
I came home very wet and tired. I ended up taking a nap on the couch and was surprised when the door bell rang. Dave was home. He fully thought that he was late and I would be wondering where he was. In fact I was surprised to see him since he was at least an hour or 2 early. I didnt expect him until at least 630 and it was 5 pm. Dave logged back into work from here to finish work.
At 7 pm we headed to a restaurant where we met Daves manager for supper. We went to an Italian restaurant and it was pretty good.
Now Im home and getting ready for bed!
have a great night
oh- Dave has it set up that i can go on the internet during the day so I can research things better now.
I started the day by sleeping in a bit- always a good way to start the day. I then proceeded to eat breakfast and then I was ready to start my day.
I decided that I was going to go to the Visitor Center to book a day trip on sat. We will be heading out on a
bus tour of the country side. This was a long wet walk and my umbrella kept turning inside out.
I also picked up some coupons and more maps.
From there I started heading back to the apartment and got hungry on the way. I stopped at a small cafe and got a BLT.
I was heading in the right direction but on a street I didnt know. Much to my surprise I ended up right where i wanted to. I took a tour of a museum called Dublina & the Viking world. It showcased Dublin's history.
It was ok. Interesting but not so exciting that I would tell people to go there.
I came home very wet and tired. I ended up taking a nap on the couch and was surprised when the door bell rang. Dave was home. He fully thought that he was late and I would be wondering where he was. In fact I was surprised to see him since he was at least an hour or 2 early. I didnt expect him until at least 630 and it was 5 pm. Dave logged back into work from here to finish work.
At 7 pm we headed to a restaurant where we met Daves manager for supper. We went to an Italian restaurant and it was pretty good.
Now Im home and getting ready for bed!
have a great night
oh- Dave has it set up that i can go on the internet during the day so I can research things better now.
Monday, May 26, 2008
our photos
you may have to copy and paste the link.
http://picasaweb.google.com/debbie.debaeremaeker/PackingUpAndOffToIreland
check them out!
http://picasaweb.google.com/debbie.debaeremaeker/PackingUpAndOffToIreland
check them out!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Drunk Before Lunch
so tired!
we did a LOT of walking today.
we saw a lot of the city and we estimate we walked at least 15 km over the course of the day.
Today started out with a tour at the Jameson Distillery. It was about 45 min long. It was a great tour. Dave and I both didnt know how whiskey was made. It goes through 8 stages.
1. Grainstore - thats where they stored the gain. They supplied specially selected seeds to the farmers and then bought back the harvest from them.
2. Malting - they let some of the seeds germinate and then roast them while they roast the others right away.
3. Milling - they ground the mix of seed up
4. Mashing - this is when the took the ground up seeds and mashed them with water to make a porridge like substance. The grains that floated to the top was sold back to the farmers as cow feed
5. Fermentation - added yeast to start the fermentation process. This is in a HUGE vat and sits for 80 hours.
6. Distillation - when it starts the process it is 8% alcohol. It then goes through the evaporation process 3 times and ends with 80%. They add back distilled water to take it down to 62%.
7. Maturation - They put the alcohol in used barrel {that was specially selected to be used for other spirits first and then bought back by Jameson} and it has to sit for a minimum of 3 years. Jameson usually waits 7 years or so where it gets to 40something%.
8. Marrying and Vating - once the barrels have reached maturity they are poured into a big vat where they sit for 5 days and blend all the flavours together. It then gets bottled.
The tour finished off with a glass of Jameson Whiskey. I had mine with cranberry juice and Dave had his with ginger ale. We both decided that we like rum better! lol
We came home and had lunch and headed out to the Dublin Castle. It was also a great tour. It is now used for head of state meetings and other government things. We cant wait till we see a "real" castle. Nearby there was the African Day celebration that we stopped into later in the day. Who knew that there was that many Africans around here!
Its kind of weird to go from Toronto thats so multi cultural to Dublin where its not so much.
From the castle we went to a park and found a mall on the way where we stopped for a snack.
We traveled through the park and made our way to the Grand Canal. It doesn't appear to be working now. The water is flowing through it but thats about it. Its so narrow that not too many boats would be comfortable in it. (I think the feeder canal in Dunnville is wider)
At this point we were very tired from walking and made our way home.
We have been buying groceries everyday to keep up with Dave's daily allowance and it has been working very well. We haven't spent the whole daily limit yet.
While making supper and watching TV there was a memorial for the Chinese that died in the earthquake. That is fine except it was in Chinese. We had no idea what was all happening. It was interesting none the less.
now im getting ready to close down for the night.
I wonder how many of you are reading this?
You can leave comments. If you do please leave your name. If we have spam or too many unsigned ones then we will have to stop the comments.
thanks :)
we did a LOT of walking today.
we saw a lot of the city and we estimate we walked at least 15 km over the course of the day.
Today started out with a tour at the Jameson Distillery. It was about 45 min long. It was a great tour. Dave and I both didnt know how whiskey was made. It goes through 8 stages.
1. Grainstore - thats where they stored the gain. They supplied specially selected seeds to the farmers and then bought back the harvest from them.
2. Malting - they let some of the seeds germinate and then roast them while they roast the others right away.
3. Milling - they ground the mix of seed up
4. Mashing - this is when the took the ground up seeds and mashed them with water to make a porridge like substance. The grains that floated to the top was sold back to the farmers as cow feed
5. Fermentation - added yeast to start the fermentation process. This is in a HUGE vat and sits for 80 hours.
6. Distillation - when it starts the process it is 8% alcohol. It then goes through the evaporation process 3 times and ends with 80%. They add back distilled water to take it down to 62%.
7. Maturation - They put the alcohol in used barrel {that was specially selected to be used for other spirits first and then bought back by Jameson} and it has to sit for a minimum of 3 years. Jameson usually waits 7 years or so where it gets to 40something%.
8. Marrying and Vating - once the barrels have reached maturity they are poured into a big vat where they sit for 5 days and blend all the flavours together. It then gets bottled.
The tour finished off with a glass of Jameson Whiskey. I had mine with cranberry juice and Dave had his with ginger ale. We both decided that we like rum better! lol
We came home and had lunch and headed out to the Dublin Castle. It was also a great tour. It is now used for head of state meetings and other government things. We cant wait till we see a "real" castle. Nearby there was the African Day celebration that we stopped into later in the day. Who knew that there was that many Africans around here!
Its kind of weird to go from Toronto thats so multi cultural to Dublin where its not so much.
From the castle we went to a park and found a mall on the way where we stopped for a snack.
We traveled through the park and made our way to the Grand Canal. It doesn't appear to be working now. The water is flowing through it but thats about it. Its so narrow that not too many boats would be comfortable in it. (I think the feeder canal in Dunnville is wider)
At this point we were very tired from walking and made our way home.
We have been buying groceries everyday to keep up with Dave's daily allowance and it has been working very well. We haven't spent the whole daily limit yet.
While making supper and watching TV there was a memorial for the Chinese that died in the earthquake. That is fine except it was in Chinese. We had no idea what was all happening. It was interesting none the less.
now im getting ready to close down for the night.
I wonder how many of you are reading this?
You can leave comments. If you do please leave your name. If we have spam or too many unsigned ones then we will have to stop the comments.
thanks :)
Saturday, May 24, 2008
sat. may 24
Well good evening everyone.
One thing that I forgot to mention yesterday is that they drive on the other side of the road in Ireland. Coming from the airport to the apartment yesterday it was weird to notice. This made Dave a bit car sick as a result.
Today was a pretty good day. It was a bit breezy today but sunny.
We woke up late (11am or so) and then went for a walk. We found the tourist center and picked up a few pamphlets. We were invited to go to a BBQ at Daves managers here. It was very yummy and we met a few people Dave works with their others.
When we came home we made supper and are now watching a movie on tv. "Charlies Angels - Full Throttle"
Soon its off to bed and the start of another day.
One thing that I forgot to mention yesterday is that they drive on the other side of the road in Ireland. Coming from the airport to the apartment yesterday it was weird to notice. This made Dave a bit car sick as a result.
Today was a pretty good day. It was a bit breezy today but sunny.
We woke up late (11am or so) and then went for a walk. We found the tourist center and picked up a few pamphlets. We were invited to go to a BBQ at Daves managers here. It was very yummy and we met a few people Dave works with their others.
When we came home we made supper and are now watching a movie on tv. "Charlies Angels - Full Throttle"
Soon its off to bed and the start of another day.
Friday, May 23, 2008
we made it
well- we are in Ireland. we landed early just before 9am local time. (about 4am ET)
we got some groceries so we could eat something and food for breakfast for tomorrow.
now we are looking for somewhere to eat supper.
Tomorrow we are going to explore a bit and maybe go to a BBQ that the manager over here is hosting.
we met the guy who is also staying in the apartment with us. His name is Peiter and is from holland where we will be. This was great since he could tell us about the city.
have a great day :)
we got some groceries so we could eat something and food for breakfast for tomorrow.
now we are looking for somewhere to eat supper.
Tomorrow we are going to explore a bit and maybe go to a BBQ that the manager over here is hosting.
we met the guy who is also staying in the apartment with us. His name is Peiter and is from holland where we will be. This was great since he could tell us about the city.
have a great day :)
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Leaving Today!!
Well today is the day!
we are leaving the country for 4 months.
We are homeless- they packed us up yesterday and we gave up our keys.
Andrea is buying my car from me and thats all thats left for us here.
here is our itinerary for the next 4 months as of right now:
3 weeks in Dublin, Ireland
1 week vacation in London, England
2 weeks in Groningen, The Netherlands
the rest of the time near Mons, Belgium.
We will be back on Sept 25th, God Willing
keep updated on this blog!!
we are leaving the country for 4 months.
We are homeless- they packed us up yesterday and we gave up our keys.
Andrea is buying my car from me and thats all thats left for us here.
here is our itinerary for the next 4 months as of right now:
3 weeks in Dublin, Ireland
1 week vacation in London, England
2 weeks in Groningen, The Netherlands
the rest of the time near Mons, Belgium.
We will be back on Sept 25th, God Willing
keep updated on this blog!!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
where on earth is Lenoir?
Well lucky for you all there is an answer to this question. The answer, my friends, is in wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenoir,_North_Carolina
hope that answers some questions :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenoir,_North_Carolina
hope that answers some questions :)
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Farewell parties
I would just like to thank everyone for coming out to our good bye parties. Thank you to Andrew and Janet for planning the work one for dave.
we will miss you all!
To the Mandarin for friends get together
To daves managers house for a fire
we will miss you all!
To the Mandarin for friends get together
To daves managers house for a fire
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