Saturday morning coffee in Kensington

Rachel and I met my mom (who just returned from a month's holiday in Ontario on Friday) and my sister-in-law Silvana for coffee and a quick catch-up visit before Rachel and Tyler head back to Vancouver on Sunday.

Back to reality!

We arrived home at 7:50 pm on August 23 from the UK and jetlag notwithstanding, I returned to the full time grind, going back to the office and full time work on August 25. Thankfully my body clock is adjusting and I no longer feel like staying up when I wake at 4:00 am.

On Monday Andy and I ran various errands, including grocery shopping, spending $200 which we both converted to English pounds in our heads and later commenting to each other that given the amount of groceries we bought, we got a lot of food by comparison to what 108 pounds would have bought in England! The other adjustment? getting used to driving on the "correct" side of the road!!

Temple Bar by day & night

Saturday night:

Saturday "day":

Street performers in the Temple Bar area:

To say the Temple Bar area of Dublin is a "happenin place" is an understatement!

Day #s 3, 4 & 5 - Dublin, Ireland - Aug 14, 15 & 16/09

Local man playing the spoons:

Bank of Ireland:

A view of Dublin Castle:

We left Kilkenny just after noon, and drove to Dublin where we spent 2 nights. Unfortunately the stiff neck I had arriving in Ireland on Wednesday progressively got worse with each day, with increasing pain, bringing back memories of when I experienced whiplash 15 years ago. The simple task of sitting in the car became a chore as every little bump, jostle or turn on our way to Dublin, exacerbated the pain in my neck. Andy and I decided to make it an early night Friday evening, and ordered in pizza for dinner. I looked up physiotherapy clinics and found a clinic in the Temple Bar area open on Saturday. I was so pleased to get an appointment at The Physiotherapy Clinic the following day and my whiplash suspicions were confirmed. The physiotherapist explained to me that it was probably a combination of 3 small things, which on their own, would cause no issue, but in combination, all occurring over a short period of time, compounded the stiff neck, escalating it to whiplash. Alva, my physiotherapist gave me a thorough assessment, incorporating massage and trigger release therapy which helped a bit to ease the pain. While not an ideal situation, I was relieved to know what I was dealing with, and knew I would be able to take some muscle relaxants when I got home to Moreton. Incredibly, you cannot buy muscle relaxants over the counter in England and Ireland like you can back home in Canada.

Ryan's Pub, Kilkenny

We absolutely loved listening to these guys playing traditional Irish music! It was "standing room only" ... just before they started to play this song, they placed their drink order, which you will see being served, as they play. A couple of the locals got up and started to dance, and believe me, there was barely enough room for them to turn around, much less twirl, but somehow they managed! This night will stand out as the BEST night of our trip to Ireland. Good times; good memories!

Kilkenny Castle

Day #2, Ireland - Aug 13/09

Travelling from Cork to Kilkenny, we took a detour south to the coast, stopping for awhile to explore Kinsale, where we took the following two photos:

Heading inland, we made our way to Kilkenny, stopping along the way to capture the lush green landscape Ireland is so well know for:

Arriving in Kilkenny around 4pm, we checked into our B&B and set out by foot to explore the very pretty town:

Day #1, Ireland - Aug 12/09

Arklow Castle, enroute to Cork

Coastal view just outside of Ballyhack

Dunbrody Abbey Ruins

On Wednesday morning, we flew into Dublin, with Marian and Alban. Flying to Ireland was the easy part ... our flight arrived ahead of schedule, just before 9am, but that's when the easy part of the travel experience ended:

1. the queue for non-EU passports was ridiculously long;

2. when we finally got through passport control, we went directly to baggage reclaim (for Alban & Marian - Andy and I had carry on luggage), however, there was no marked Ryanair luggage carousel from Birmingham so we had to go on a hunt for their luggage - thankfully we found it at the RyanAir baggage control desk (sitting there, waiting to be claimed);

3. whereupon we joined another ridiculously long queue at the Enterprise car rental counter (while manned by 2 Enterprise staff members, for whatever reason, they could only process 1 car rental at a time). When we finally arrived at the counter to have our reservation filled, an Enterprise staff member advised one of their staff had called in sick and consequently, they were short staffed. They suggested we proceed directly outside the airport and take the shuttle bus to the Enterprise car lot where staff at that location could help us out with the paperwork and provide us with the car (why in the world they allowed us to stand in line waiting to arrive at the counter to make this suggestion is beyond me!)

4. so off we go, and joined yet another queue, waiting 20 min for the shuttle to arrive, and when it did, it could only take 8 people! The driver said another shuttle would be on its way, so Andy and Marian went ahead. Alban and I waited for the next shuttle;

5. big surprise: there was only 1 shuttle; the same driver pulled up some 25 min. later! Some pushy American people jumped the queue; thankfully the driver recognized us and made room for us on the shuttle van. Upon arriving at the Enterprise car lot (about a 10 min. run from the airport, I might add), Andy and Marian were at the counter, just completing the paperwork for the car;

6. Some 2 and 1/2 hours after arriving at Dublin International Aiport, we were on our way!

We headed onto the highway to make our way to Cork, stopping along the way; a few of the views are captured in the photos above.

Thursday morning brought better weather. Andy and I went for an early morning stroll and took the photo below of Cork City:

Saturday Fun with the Twins

Spent the weekend in Coventry. Mark dropped the twins off with Teresa because he did not want to expose them to Ryan, who it seems came down with the swine flu earlier that week, having 3 of the 5 symptoms: coughing, vomiting and high fever. We put Sophie to work helping us wash the car whilst Chloe was inside helping grandma make a pie. Sophie joined Chloe in the kitchen and then we all went to the park where swinging and jumping were the favorite activities! With all their steam run off, it was time for an ice cream and Sophie has a visit with a ladybird (aka ladybug in Canada).

Lunch at the Mason Arms

Andy and I had a delightful lunch at this country pub on Friday, an early wedding anniversary celebration. Looking forward to visiting with our friends from Calgary who arrive in Moreton tomorrow and then the 4 of us are off to Ireland on Wednesday! Being a quarter Irish, I've always wanted to visit Ireland; I am really looking forward to it!

Windsor Castle

Went to Windsor Castle today; the largest and oldest occupied castle in the world, and one of the official residences of The Queen. The Castle site encapsulates 900 years of British history, occupying an area of 26 acres and contains, as well as a royal palace, a magnificent chapel and the homes and workplaces of a large number of people.

St George's Chapel shown above to the left, is one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in England, and the spiritual home of the Order of the Garter, the senior order of British Chivalry established in 1348 by Edward III. The church entombs ten sovereigns, including Henry VIII and his third wife Jane Seymour, and Charles I.