Dublin City Visits

I was lucky enough to travel to Ireland for work last week. I was doing university site visits to complete research for a project and spent several days in Dublin on my own. It was my first time on the Emerald Isle and I was quite happy to have several rain-free days (!) Some highlights of the city:

St. Stephen's Green area, the largest park in the city

A rather fancy shopping mall nearby

Trinity College Dublin, the oldest university in Ireland founded by Elizabeth I

St. Patrick's Cathedral, the purported site of the origins of Catholicism on the Irish island

And of course, liquid-focused tourism

Temple Bar area

Proper Pubs

Guinness Storehouse

Summer time and the (city) living's easy...

It has been incredibly hot a good part of July and we've been taking full advantage of walking everywhere and consuming icy beverages on the regular. There are so many things going on around Boston during the summer, it's hard to keep up. 

Two Saturdays ago, we headed down to WGBH headquarters - the local public television station that brought Julia Child to the world - for a local craft beer festival featuring food trucks from around the region. 

I always feel like I'm in the know when it comes to local beer, but I happily discovered a whole menagerie of nearby breweries I hadn't experienced before. My favorite discovery was Newburyport Brewing Company. A brand new brewer in one of my favorite little north shore cities, their Belgian White was extremely tasty with a crisp finish perfect for a hot summer night.

This past weekend, we had several visitors staying in our itty-bitty apartment that had taken on a resemblance to the surface of the sun in atmosphere. I love the heat but 110 degree heat index is a little much and we headed toward the water in search of cooler entertainment on the river.

The duck tours are a Boston original; the 'ducks' are amphibious WWII era vehicles that were used to get men and supplies from ships to the beach. Now a colorful fleet roams Boston as the only guided tour that covers both land and sea (well, river). 

That, my friends, is a duck.

After a quick spin around downtown, you splash down into the Charles River to take a look at the skyline and let the kiddies drive. The informational part of the tour is pretty typical if you are familiar with Boston, but the chance to 'drive' up the Charles is first class.

Supposedly, you can now swim in that. Not so sure.

2012: A Year in Review Part II

Notre Dame, Montreal

 And the year in review continues...

July

July was a whirlwind kicked off by a slightly less successful honeymoon to Breezes Curacao...which had stopped being a Breezes resort a few weeks before we arrived, but failed to truly clarify that. (See my fruitless attempt for rumination here). But hey, it’s the Caribbean and we’ve been on more ridiculous trips together, so we had a great time. And I only got sunburned once.  

Of course, burn or no burn I came home to a new boss, but that is another story...

August

To continue with the run of nearly 30 weekends of booked activities, we went camping two weekends back to back, NYC, and then to a wedding. At a campground. Well actually, I should say a Maine wedding, but not the Martha Stewart variety. More the logger camp variety. After being un-invited to the rehearsal dinner and left to dogsit with my parents, we made our own fun and I got to marvel at how fat my ex-boyfriend had gotten...and how much taller my wife is than him :)  

September

I turned 27 in September and in honor of this late 20’s milestone, I actually got to spend time in Canada when it wasn't far side of the moon cold. I love Montreal and we've been as a couple several times, hotwire hotel hopping our way through every neighborhood of the gorgeous old city. We spent the long weekend with the McGill froshers and their parents, explored the Mile End neighborhood and the distant side of Mont Royal, ate true Montrealler bagels, and had afternoon tea in Birk’s Cafe.  Birk’s sits in the middle of a lovely baroque jewelry store often described as the “Tiffany’s of Canada”. In contrast to my times in Tiffany’s 5th Ave, Birk’s was quiet, refined, and the salespeople did not stalk you excessively.  Combined with a beautiful afternoon tea spread and excellent service, it was a perfect birthday event.

Antwerp, Central Square

October

I studied abroad in Amsterdam six years ago this January. It was a life-changing experience that brought me to myself, this career, and this lifestyle. I was unbelievably excited to return and even more so to show April every nook and cranny of a city that clings still to my heart. But I was anxious - anxious to see something I treasured as a memory as a living, breathing, changing organism. More so, I found so much of myself there, I was afraid to look again after several years of relatively settled being.

Going back was like having never been gone. I knew every street and canal, my grocery vocabulary was sufficiently impressive for my easily impressed wife, the rhythm of the city came back as if I had only been gone for the weekend. I still loved everything, beautiful and dingy.

We also spent a day in Antwerp, further insuring my belief that Belgium may be one of the nicest places on earth.

November

I am thankful for my wife, family, and friends, civil rights, the State of Massachusetts / the City of Boston, weekend brunch, BBC 4 documentaries on youtube, Top Gear, amazon prime shipping, and my electronic kettle. If you could see this thing, you'd understand.

December

Orlando, FL, Curacao, NYC, Montreal, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Minnesota: it’s been quite the trip both literally and figuratively and as I peek semi-anxiously over the edge into 2013, I do hope to have a few minutes to rest...but I guess I’ll do that when I’m older.

Red Light District at Rest

Amsterdam Again

I studied abroad in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands during my junior year of university. This past week was my first trip back to a place that influenced so much of my life: my career path, my political / social outlook, and my desired lifestyle. Being back was almost like never having left.

After the jetlag and the imminent post-holiday depression wear down, I will write more about our trip and what to do, see, and eat in Amsterdam (and a good day trip plan to Antwerp)!