It's no secret these days that I have a vested interest in a young Irish lad named Frank, so a few weeks ago, I finally made the voyage to that small, beautiful island in the Northwest of Europe. The trek there was interesting, as most of my stories begin. I arrived at Ben Gurion airport with plenty of time to spare before my flight, and I was patiently awaiting my turn in the baggage screening area. Just then I looked down, and noticed a bloodstain soaking through the knee of my jeans. Apparently I had cut myself hours earlier, and at that exact moment, it decided to start bleeding. Nothing sketchier in an airport security line than being covered in blood. Awesome. Luckily, some nice Israelis had a few wetnaps, which although stung something awful, provided me some way to clean myself up. Note- Israeli security was not too helpful, unless you consider their barrage of questioning about what I did to myself to be covered in blood "helpful."
When I landed in London some 6 hours later, I was incredibly excited to be in an English speaking country again. I was reading all the signs, browsing through magazines, and chatting to any and everyone I encountered. It's amazing how often in Israel I have no idea what is going on around me, but here in London, eavesdropping and people watching regained its place as one of my favorite hobbies. Oh, and Starbucks! How I missed that delightful coffee chain, especially at this time of year, where I was able to get one of their festive holiday beverages...amazing Toffee Nut Soy Latte :)
After spending a good 10 hours in the Luton airport curled up in a basket I created with two leather chairs, I finally landed in Dublin! I was instantly shocked by the weather, having been at the beach in Tel Aviv just a day before. Since I arrived so early, we took a few hours to sleep and relax before beginning our tour of Ireland. That Saturday we were in Dublin, and saw some great sites including Christ Church Cathedral, which was built in something like 1030 and incredibly beautiful, but also haunting in that way only churches can really make you feel. Later, we went to the Book of Kells Museum near Trinity college, including a visit to this amazingly old and huge library. If I was a Harry Potter fan, I would imagine this sort of library is what their wizardry school has...Of course, no touristy trip to Dublin would be complete without a visit to Temple Bar, which much to my suprise is a neighborhood, not just one bar, and last but not least, the Guiness Brewery. Now, I've been on a few brewery tours before, but I have to say that this one wins for coolness handsdown. It was a self guided, interactive tour, where you could watch old and new Guiness commercials, check out how the bottles and advertising campaigns have changed over the year, and of course, sample the stuff. We opted to have our free pint on the top level of the brewery, called the Gravity Bar. This large, round bar has floor to ceiling windows on all sides, offering an amazing 360 degree view of Dublin. We were there when the sun had just set, and I am a sucker for a cool city view at night! Later, we made the 2 hour drive down to Cork, the city I had heard endless stories about during my summer in Chicago, with a band of 10+ native Cork-ians as my neighbors.
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| Inappropriate Leprechaun....of course! |
Sunday we drove out to West Cork, which is absolutely beautiful! We drove the Ring of Kerry, which is a beautiful 170 km drive along the Southwest coast of Ireland, with some stunning views of the sea and the Cork & Kerry Mountains (which interestingly enough, divide Cork & Kerry Counties). Along the way, we stopped at a few detours to break up the drive, mainly to check out ruins of castles, churches or forts, or to grab a cup of soup and tea in a little town. I won't bore you with every detail of our week, but I will say that in short, Ireland is a beautiful, fun place, with very friendly folks and lots of cool towns, sites and views!
Before heading back to Tel Aviv, Frank and I spent a day in London. We flew in from Dublin around 8 in the morning, dropped our bags at the hotel and headed into the city. Our luck being what it is, the temperatures in London that day were the coldest of the year so far! Our first stop on the tube was in Westminster, were I had some authentic fish and chips at a pub...no beer yet though, it was only like 11:30am. The dish was....ok. The fish was delicious and fresh, but I would have liked the crust to be seasoned a little more for my liking, and the side dish of mashed peas was a bit confusing. Later, we went into the Westminster Abbey, which is one of the biggest, oldest and most famous churches in the world. The beauty and history located inside the church is like nothing I have seen before. Kind of exciting to be there around this time, since the royal wedding is taking place there in the spring! Sadly, no Prince William sitings to report. Later in the day, we headed to Trafalgar's square, visited the National Art Gallery, the Tower of London and saw the Tower Bridge (what Frank told me most people think is the London Bridge, but it's not!). Before leaving the city for the night, we had a nice "Thanksgiving" dinner in the Shepard's Bush neighborhood. Instead of the traditional Turkey Day dinner (since let's be honest, I don't eat most of it!), Frank found a great vegetarian restaurant to check out called Blah Blah Blah. I was a bit skeptical of the name, but it turned out to be awesome! It was a BYOB, which I miss dearly from Chicago restaurants, so we brought along a bottle of red wine. A bit odd being away from home for Thanksgiving, but as much as I missed the traditional meal with my family, it was a great day in London, to cap off a great week! Looking forward to my next visit already!
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| This is how excited Frank was about the art gallery.... :) |
Also, purchased my ticket home last week....Chicago here I come on February 9th! I'm expecting some sort of a blizzard or at least a cold front that day to properly welcome me home.... :)
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