Duwes in Dublin

We had a great time with Sam and Brian this past week! So sorry to see them leave after 5 days. We went out to Bundoran again, and there was no surf but the weather was lovely. The Duwes got to see the countryside and some great old pubs, and we got some time with family. It's just so nice to have family around from time to time, and it was lovely to have Brian and Sam here.
Harp fell in love with Sam immediately, we went to the Book of Kells and the Long Library at Trinity, spent a lot of time in Lush, averted disaster when Josh found my lost engagement ring, and the Duwes took a tour of Wicklow. We spent a lot of time in the pubs, and it was just really nice to have the time to spend with them.
June is a busy month, the Dressendorfers get here tomorrow, and the Hassels are leaving Ireland to head back home this week. This is just too bad, we were becoming good friends, but we're in for a trip over my birthday, we just need to book it.
I've got to get Harp confirmed with his pet sitter and clean up to get ready for the Dressendorfers, try to Skype with my mom and Kelley and D, work in a yoga class and replenish the beer stocks for another solid week. We're heading out to Dingle and the Galway area, then back to Dublin for the weekend.

2 years

Nothing is really new this week, we had a lovely anniversary, and it's cool to have spent it here. First anniversary was in Santorini, second was here in Dublin, so I've got no complaints! We went to Bentley's, a posh little oyster bar by the Green that was lovely, with local Irish oysters that are really very good. I'm a lucky wife.
We're excited that Sam and Brian are coming out Saturday. We'll head back out to the northwest Saturday with Harp, even though the weather will be the predictable shit. They can see the coastline, maybe attempt to surf if there is any activity in the water, and see the countryside. The boys will golf Monday, Sam and I can hit my yoga class, she can take Harp out on a run, or she can just hang out if she prefers. I'll take them anywhere they want to go in Dublin, Guinness, Jamison, Kilmainham, the museums, Christchurch and or St. Patrick's, Howth, the Green and Grafton...whatever they feel like.
Josh is in London for a couple of days, of course there is the tube strike there right now, his luck, but he'll be back late tonight. Harp and i are getting ready to have guests! We did find the British version of Project Runway, called Project Catwalk, ha, Kelley Osborne is the sad and chubby host. It's worse than a poorman's version of PR, it's just horrible and they try so hard to stage bitchiness, i am in love with it right now in small doses. I cannot watch a full show, it's too tedious, but i can drift in and out and mock them out loud to Harp. He's my stand in for Steph, who would be disgusted with this cheap imitation. But she'd watch it anyway, given the black hole i have for any other option. So every single weekday at 1, i am pathetically addicted.

Bank Holiday Weekend!

This past Monday concluded a 3 day weekend that has had amazing weather. Almost 70 degrees, for like the past 5 days, we've spent every single day outside. We rented a car and got up early to head to the west coast for a surf trip.

We had an awesome time, after finding no waves in Streedagh, the boys' usual spot, we headed up to Bundoran, and found a brilliant day with 9 ft waves, tons of sunshine, and fairly empty water. Harp adored getting into actual waves and was exhausted by the time we were done as he spent hours leaping over each wave that would break. There are some great cliffs right beside the water, which were a bit dangerous as they are riddled with what are called the Fairy Bridges...literally sinkholes that have fallen thru the hillside down to the ocean crashing below. But anyway, if you are careful, you can head right out along the edge of the cliff and really get an incredible view of the surfers, literally right out below you. So after Harp and i were finished throwing his ball into the waves, we'd head up to the top of the cliffs with my camera and the long distance lens...the reason there are so many damn photos you'll have to sort thru if you check out the link below is because i could actually see Josh's face thru that lens from the to of the cliffs. It was awesome to have such a powerful camera! Of course, by the time i get up there, Josh has been surfing for at least 90 minutes and is still riding a few waves but i missed the chance to get most of his good rides when he was fresh and not exhausted. Next time we're out there, i'll have to figure out a way to placate Harp on the cliffs for a while before we head down to the beach.

We went to Yeat's grave which was in an incredible Irish cemetary, all old celtic crosses and the church sports a carved cross from a monastary that dates back to 500 ad, had fresh crab claws for dinner, and didn't crash the rental car. It was totally a victory. We got back in Sunday evening, hung out with Ciaran and Sarah Jane on our roof deck for the evening, then on Monday we went hiking in Wicklow. We managed to find a sheep trail we followed thru the bogs til we got to a mountain (of the Irish sorts), that we climbed. Harp loved it, was climbing around like a mountain goat and leaping into bog pools--we all had a good day and were completely exhausted when we made it home.

http://picasaweb.google.com/erinhittman/BankHolidayJune09?feat=directlink