Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

I returned from my trip to Ireland/N. Ireland/London this past weekend and have loads of adventures to share. So many, in fact, that I think I'll tell my tale in more than one post.

My journey began with an 11 hour layover in Newark on a Thursday. I'm not a huge fan of sitting in awkward pleather chairs for hours on end while being inundated by announcements about watching your luggage, so I took the train into the city and had lunch with my friend Sarah. (quick shout-out for her super blog: www.sarahisabadass.blogspot.com)

Delicious lunch and fantastic conversation - that's what every long layover should include.

I spent my first weekend in Belfast with two good pals: Elizabeth and Ben. We ate good food (a priority for a good holiday), listened to loads of new music and checked out a Belfast band called Ten Gallon Hat & The Big Salute. Great show.

After enjoying a coffee with Elizabeth at Belfast's best local coffee shop, Clements on Royal Ave., I left Belfast for Dublin to meet up with my pal Karen from L.A.

Karen and I spent Tuesday running a few errands in Dublin City Centre before visiting a gorgeous Georgian house just outside of Dublin called Castletown.

Castletown House

I believe this is what Jane Austen had in mind when she described Pemberley.

And here's a nice shot of Autumn on the grounds of Castletown


While in Dublin, I was able to catch up with my friend Anna who just started at Trinity. As Anna is still getting the lay of the land in the way of discovering Dublin's best cups of coffee and spots for dinner, it was important to me that I assist her in searching for her new favorite spots. Our "research" concluded that Bewley's on Grafton Street consistently serves up delish lattes and mochas as well as mixed berry scones.

For dinner on Tuesday night, I insisted that Karen and I meet Anna at an Irish burger place called BoBo's on Camden Street. The place is within walking distance from Anna's new flat and I am sure that she will be back for more BoBo's. (Anna, I think the life changing powers of that burger have yet to be felt). I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a really good burger with a bucket of hand-cut chips.


(I took this photo last year. Bet you never thought of Dublin as a good burger destination!)

On Wednesday Karen and I travelled south to Co. Wicklow to see some of my old favorite spots.

The best Irish shop, Avoca in Co. Wicklow


This isn't actually the shop but it does make for a nice picture. Avoca started way back in the 1700's as a woolen mill and today they still make beautiful scarves and blankets as well as gorgeous food. (and I mean gorgeous. even their soup looks like it came outta Gourmet Magazine)

The Meeting of the Waters, also in Co. Wicklow


Glendalough, another Co. Wicklow gem


On our third and last night in Dublin, Karen and I walked to dinner from our hotel in City Centre. Normally a walk to dinner isn't a highlight of a vacation, but this particular walk sure won't be forgotten by either of us for a very, very long time. Karen is usually very timid about crossing city streets unless pedestrians are given the green light, but for some reason she was especially daring as we crossed a street in front of Trinity College. A woman on a bike came out of the darkness ringing her bell shouting, "On the bike! On the bike!" Seconds later, the woman on the bike was no longer on the bike and Karen was sitting on the curb. The woman on the bike rode away with a torn glove and ripped jeans while Karen hobbled away with a fracture just below her knee and a chipped elbow. I know this because we visited a Dublin hospital the next day where Karen was X-rayed and outfitted with a leg brace that velcroed up the length of her leg and one crutch that looked like an Atari joystick.

Here is Karen post-accident, pre-hospital paraphernalia


And that is where I will leave this story for now.