Copenhagen, A City We Could Call Home

We arrived late on a Wednesday night.  And by late I mean around 10 PM.  We got off to a rough start since our plane was delayed an hour.  And when we finally arrived the metro was out of service so we had to take a bus into the city.  But I don't hold it against Copenhagen, maybe Aer Lingus for the delay, but not Copenhagen.  They are adding a new metro line and they have to work on it at some point, right??

After asking for some help, we found our way to our new apartment.  We climbed the 4 flights to a beautiful little two bedroom with tons of character and hardly any furniture.  The people who own the place are obviously minimalists because they had the bare essentials and that's it.  Surprisingly, we didn't want for anything and the whole time I kept thinking "we have WAY too much crap".  

That night I went out for some food, beer and milk while Ash put Lenora to bed.  There were plenty of people out having a good time, enjoying the nice weather.  Even though our apartment is smack dab in the middle of the city, I felt completely safe and pretty comfortable.  Which is pretty odd for me, I usually don't like going out in foreign cities by myself.  I do it, but I don't enjoy it, not like Ash who can wander the streets just watching people, feeling the "vibe" of the city.  It usually takes me a little bit to get used to a new city before I feel comfortable on my own.  Copenhagen was different. I could tell right away.  

I'd say seventy-five percent of our time while on vacation is doing stuff that would interest our queen bee.  And this trip was no different.  We must have seen half the parks and/or playgrounds in the city.  And that's saying a lot since it seems Copenhagen caters to their little ones more than most cities.  I swear there must have been a playground every three to four blocks in any direction you went.  I believe we stopped at a good portion of them.  And they're all unique too.  A lot of them had natural type climbing structures.  The one close to us was beautiful with bridges, a "moat", wooden posts that you can hop on, oh, and these amazing wooden dragons guarding a gigantic egg.  Another's theme seen to be "roof tops of Copenhagen".  It was really cool with all these famous places from around the city in miniature form.  I took lots of pictures of most of the parks we went to since we were off the bikes long enough for me to get out the camera.

For us (me and Ash) the highlight was just biking around the city.  Wow, I wish more cities would follow their lead when it comes to biking.  The city is SO bike friendly it is UNREAL.  Because it is so flat and so bike friendly, everyone owns a bike.  They have completely separate bike lanes, not the sidewalk and not the road, an actually bike lane with a divider to designate boundaries.  Sometime the bike lanes even have there own lights!!  Don't believe me?  I took a picture, check it out.

We love biking so this was great for us.  I felt very safe biking around and didn't have to worry about someone zipping past in a car.  We saw so much of the city just tooling around on our little cruisers, stopping here for a bite, there for a romp at a playground.  What fun! 

The weather was awesome. The biking was phenomenal.  The parks were beautiful. The food was great. The people were very friendly.  Tons of stuff to do and see.  The city itself was picturesque and clean.  It's a perfect place in almost every way.  Except the cost.  If not for the cost, I think Ash and I would seriously consider moving there.  But I don't think either of us would be able to handle the exorbitant price for everyday items on an everyday basis.   Too bad.  

The Most Beautiful Place on Earth? Maybe.

Okay, it may not be the most beautiful place on Earth, but it's up there. Where else could you spend three days seeing so many different terrains in less than a two hour drive in any direction?  We had so much fun.  Everyday was packed full of amazing views and great weather.

It only takes about 2 1/2 hours to drive from our house to the Galway area, so we spent the morning hanging out in Galway until we could "check in" to our cabin.  What a beautiful little city. So many places to walk and so picturesque.

We went to lunch at a great little restaurant on the water called "Ard Bia".  A few different people recommended this place and it didn't disappoint.  Ash got a yummy fish chowder (well, yummy for him...not me!) and I got the BLT.  Maybe I should call mine an "LT" since Lenora kept stealing all my "B"!

After lunch, Ash planned out a nice loop to take in some Galway sites on our way back to the car. [see pictures for details and captions] Then we headed to our cabin.  Wow, it was a winner! So quaint and quiet. Right on Galway Bay.  No internet and no TV, but we relaxed while looking at the view and playing with the "cabin toys".  The bay was pretty mucky so we didn't actually swim, but we had fun skipping rocks.   Lenora skipped her first rock, two skips, not bad.

Galway

On Saturday, Ash planned a trip to a spectacular beach with azure blue water surrounded by sheep and cow farms and mountains.  Don't believe me?  Look at the pictures below.  You will think I photoshopped it, but I didn't.  I swear!

It took us an hour and a half to drive from our cabin to the very tip of Connemara but it was worth it.  The drive alone was breath-taking.  I just love the green rolling, semi-rocky terrain of Ireland...especially when there's a sheep farm involved.  Then we drove up to this beach. I couldn't get the camera out fast enough!! And, get this, there was only about 30 people (maybe) on this HUGE beautiful beach.  WTF??? Are you kidding me??? Why??? It was a gorgeous, warm (75-80 degree) day.  Well, great for us.  No stepping over people, looking for a place to camp.  It was all ours!!!

Connemara 

Sunday, we hiked.  We drove to The Burren, an area with a crazy rocky terrain.  It was about 40 minutes south of where we were staying.  We drove out in the middle of nowhere; or so it seemed.  We stopped the car and started hiking up, up, up. The hills were beautiful, but very different than the day before.  We did a 6 mile loop.  Lenora was such a great hiker!! I'm so proud of her.  We had a great time and only saw about 5 or 6 people the whole time.  I felt like we were the only people on Earth.

The Burrens

Monday, our last day.  We were going to go to a beach and hang out in Galway before heading back to Dublin, but the weather turned.  It was still very pleasant, but not beach weather.  We decided to drive to Cong.  A friend had mentioned the forest there was amazing.  The town was supposed to be very quaint (and touristy) with the ruins of an old abbey and a beautiful castle.  We thought that would be a great way to end our mini-vacation.  I'm so glad we went!  

The town itself is so cute, very picturesque.  The abbey was perfectly "ruined".  It was right on the edge of this little river with the most crystal clear water. After touring the abbey a little, we headed into the forest.  Wow, it's like the Pacific Northwest forests have a "sister" forest in Ireland.  It made me so happy (and homesick) to walk through that forest.  It was GREEN, GREEN, GREEN, with mossy trees and ferns.  Everything I love about the PNW forests.  Even the weather reminded me of the Seattle area; cool with a little dampness in the air.  Perfect.  Can you tell I miss Seattle a little?

The walk contained a few caves and I think both Ash and I were kicking ourselves for not having a flashlight on hand.  The caves were open for exploring but we couldn't go very far without some kind of light source. Damn it!! Next time!

We promised Lenora a castle, so at the end of our day, we forked over the 5 euros per person to walk the grounds of the Ashford castle.  Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful castle, but the price is pretty steep since you can't go in the castle.  It's actually a 5-star hotel and you need to be staying there to enter the castle.  But the grounds were beautiful and perfectly manicured. 

Cong

That concludes our mini-vacation.  It's a gorgeous country. So far, we've not seen an "ugly" place in Ireland....hmmm, maybe I should make that a goal for our next mini-vacation.....nah. 

Oh I forgot I wanted to do just a little bragging about our little lady....just a little, I swear.  She is such a great traveler.  I think she might have said "when are we going to be there" once on the entire trip.  And everyday we traveled for at least 45 minutes in the car each way.  I'm so glad she likes exploring, just like her mama and daddy.   

A Birthday Party In a New Country

Let me set the stage for Lenora's 4th birthday. A birthday in a new country, with new friends.

Lenora has been going to her preschool for about 3 months now and she has met and befriended all of the kids in her class and likes her teachers.  She went from not really wanting to go to school to asking when the next school day was going to be.

She particularly likes a group of girls in her class and talks about "Sophie, Kate and Mae" all the time.  Always "Sophie, Kate, and Mae"; it almost makes you think it's one girl with a really long name.  She even came home one day with blue eye shadow on her eyes.  Sophie had brought blue and pink eye shadow to school and proceeded to adorn the other girls in the class with a generous helping.  When I picked Lenora up that day I thought she had fallen down and received two black eyes!  

So Lenora has met some new friends and has become part of the class, but I have yet to meet a parent from the school.  Every day I drop Lenora off and I pick her up.   I chitchat with the teachers a bit.  And in all that time only one parent has stopped to talk to me.  And I didn't even know who her kid was.  She just asked if I was new.  I saw her once and never saw her again.  I should explain that I find the drop off and pick up of kids at this school very weird, especially coming from a Co-op Preschool.  When I drop Lenora off in the morning, I stand outside the preschool and say goodbye.  The parents don't go inside, are never asked inside and I get the feeling they are not wanted inside.  Most of the parents (or childminders) don't linger.  Same with the pick up.  So there's no real opportunity to talk to or get to know the parents.  Maybe that's how most schools operate and I'm just not used to it, but I find it weird and unfriendly.  

Now we're coming up on Lenora's birthday.  And we're trying to decide whether we should have a party for her.  Who would we invite?  She has some friends at school but we've never seen them out side of school.  We've never had any play dates with them.   I don't even know what half the kids in the class look like, since I'm not allowed in the damn classroom.  The parents don't know us.  I don't know them.  What should we do?  How would we even invite the kids?  I don't know where any of them even live!  Should we just skip having a party this year?  That's what I was planning on doing until Ash brought up Lenora's birthday.  He thought we should ask her what she wanted to do for her birthday.  And of course, not knowing the logistics of what goes into planning a party, said she wanted a party with her friends from school.  So we set about trying to figure out how to invite these "phantom" kids to her party.  

It turned out not to be that hard.  I talked to the teachers and they said just to give them the invitations and they would hand them out to the parents.  Easy-peasy! Next came waiting for RSVPs.  I was worried none of the kids would come since their parents don't know us AT ALL.  But there was no need to worry.  All of the parents accepted the invites and Sophie, Kate, Mae and Eva (all the girls in her class) came to the party. They all had a lovely time.  None of the parents even stayed for the party!  And it turns out none of the parents know each other.  And Sophie, Kate and Mae are only friends at school.  So even though we are the "Americans", it turns out we're all in the same boat.  

I'm so glad Ash suggested the party or asking Lenora what she wanted.  I was making a mountain out of a mole hill.  Now I know the parents, and we've all exchanged phone numbers.  Hopefully we can arrange some play dates for summer vacation. 

Please enjoy some pictures from Lenora's 4th Birthday.  It was a great event!

Irish Living

We've been in Ireland for about 3 months now and I'm just starting to write this blog. Man, I'm a slacker! Shame, shame on me.

What can I say about Ireland? It's a lot like the U.S., except not. Slight differences that make you say, "Hey I am living in a different country!" Name some you say?

1. Driving on the "wrong" side of the road. Although, that wasn't as hard to get used to as I thought it would be. I think having the steering wheel on the "wrong" side as well seemed to help the transition. I have to admit, I did hug the curb and cringe whenever I drove past a car going the opposite way, but that didn't last too long. Heck, now I even drive single handed...sometimes.
2. Beautiful country sides, for example: old churches, I mean REALLY old churches, with ivy and moss all over them, canals with locks (and lock houses) every so often, rolling green hills dotted with little white sheep, the smell of an nice earthy peat fire, tons of green fields and parks throughout the city, row brick houses with different colored from doors.  
3. Lack of "necessities", including but not limited to: Jiff, Mac'n'Cheese, Crest toothpaste (specifically "Fresh Mint" and "Sparkle Fun"), Chocolate Chips, Tapatio, good Mexican food, Lawry's season salt, Bread flour.  
4. Their English.  I love the accents.  When I'm standing in lines I just like to listen to the people talking around me.  And we're having a lot of fun with their sayings ("It's lovely" and "You're grand" to name a couple) and how they call things by different names (chips = french fries, crisps = chips, biscuit = cookie).  For the most part I'm not having any trouble understanding or being understood, so there's that!
5. The price of gas (outrageous!) and restaurants (especially Thai, don't get me started on that one!).  But then the price of fresh baked bread is half what it is in the states.  Good deals on fruit and meats.  I can find a lot of spices in the local grocery stores that I could only find in specialty shops in the U.S. Oh, and spices are cheaper.  And Super Quinn, how I love Super Quinn. Not because it has a great selection of food, although it's not bad, but they have a personal scanner you take with you as you select items. You scan the item, load it into your bag and repeat. When your done, your items are ALREADY bagged and you just head to a special counter to pay for your stuff.  Simple as that!  They don't recheck or even look at your bags, you just pay and leave.  I love it!
6. All of the national museums are free.  Let me repeat:  F. R. E. E.  And the few that we have been to have just been beautiful.   

There are more, I am sure, but that's good for now.  

We're living in a suburb of Dublin called Castleknock.  It's close to the city (5-10 minutes through the park and we're in the city).  Our house is close to the commercial area of Castleknock and close the Phoenix Park , which is HUGE and lovely.  See I'm already using their words! Our house is also huge, well, huge for our standards (3 bathrooms, we can all pee at the same time!) with it's own little Irish quirks (let's leave that for a later post).  Lenora's preschool is a short bike ride away.  She wears the cutest little uniform complete with red tie.  There are tons of beautiful places for me to run after I drop her off.  And the weather is actually great for running, not too hot, not too cold.  I especially like it if it's misting every so often.  Ash's commute is very short, less than 10 minutes by car, 20 by bike.  It's a great little area. 

We're having a grand time.  Seriously, we're enjoying Ireland so much.  We need to explore the rest of the country more.  We've only taken one trip, but that will come in time.

Our Neighborhood