Posts
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Christmas Party and Last Minute Shopping
Holiday greetings! Last Friday was the Black and Veatch Christmas party. 11 of us went out to dinner at a restaurant serving new Irish food followed by a trip to a pub for improv night. While our group was small we had a grand time and the improv show was a bit hit. An interesting Irish note, being 98% Catholic they have NO qualms about wishing you a 'Happy Christmas,' both in person and in advertising. I'm so used to the PC American version, 'Happy Holidays,' that it makes the statement really stand out to me. I even walked past a shop window (a nice shop in a mall) that said, in 12" gold letters "Happy Birthday Jesus." Quite different than what we see in the US!
Holiday shopping is done. Travis finally stopped working long enough this weekend to finish off his Christmas shopping and I think we're all done now. He's still working a crazy schedule, but promises the end is near. If anyone has any last minute requests you better let us know now!
We leave for home (Denver/Avon) next Wednesday, 12/20. We'll be back in Dublin 2 1/2 weeks later on Jan 6. It will be a nice break, I'm ready for some non-MSG infused good old American food. Or actually Mexican food and decent Chinese food!
We leave for home (Denver/Avon) next Wednesday, 12/20. We'll be back in Dublin 2 1/2 weeks later on Jan 6. It will be a nice break, I'm ready for some non-MSG infused good old American food. Or actually Mexican food and decent Chinese food!
Counting down the days... M&T
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Dark Nights in Dublin and Milan break
I'm finally getting back on track with the website here, and will attempt to update the blog more often so everyone knows what's going on. So, if you're interested in the goings on in Dublin, bookmark this page and check back when you are bored or need a distraction at work!
I did finally get some new pictures posted, from a trip to Milan about a month ago to visit our friend Phil. Phil is in Milan checking up on a plant design project. Once it's designed he'll move to Nigeria (at least I'm pretty sure it's Nigeria) where the plant will be built. We had a great, laid back time visiting, it was just what we needed. Travis was THRILLED to get to eat and drink in Italy, many of you may not know that for years when he was younger he wanted to be a pizza chef when he grew up. Pizza chef, electrical engineer, you can just see the similarties there :)
The biggest change in Dublin so far this winter isn't so much the weather (although there has been a lot of wind lately) but the really short days. At 8am when I finally rolled out of bed this morning the sun was not yet up. Our offical sunrise time today was 8:16 and official sunset is 4:11. I can tell you, though, that by 3:45 it's pretty dark. My computer set up is by a big window and the other day I was typing along and by 3:45 I couldn't see the keyboard anymore. Dinner is a funny event, weekdays we eat when Travis gets home, but on the weekends he's ready for dinner as soon as it gets dark. I have to keep reminding him that we normally eat at about 7pm, not 4!
Hope you enjoy the photos, tune in soon for upcoming events (like our trip home to CO!)
I did finally get some new pictures posted, from a trip to Milan about a month ago to visit our friend Phil. Phil is in Milan checking up on a plant design project. Once it's designed he'll move to Nigeria (at least I'm pretty sure it's Nigeria) where the plant will be built. We had a great, laid back time visiting, it was just what we needed. Travis was THRILLED to get to eat and drink in Italy, many of you may not know that for years when he was younger he wanted to be a pizza chef when he grew up. Pizza chef, electrical engineer, you can just see the similarties there :)
The biggest change in Dublin so far this winter isn't so much the weather (although there has been a lot of wind lately) but the really short days. At 8am when I finally rolled out of bed this morning the sun was not yet up. Our offical sunrise time today was 8:16 and official sunset is 4:11. I can tell you, though, that by 3:45 it's pretty dark. My computer set up is by a big window and the other day I was typing along and by 3:45 I couldn't see the keyboard anymore. Dinner is a funny event, weekdays we eat when Travis gets home, but on the weekends he's ready for dinner as soon as it gets dark. I have to keep reminding him that we normally eat at about 7pm, not 4!
Hope you enjoy the photos, tune in soon for upcoming events (like our trip home to CO!)
Monday, October 16, 2006
Visitors from Home and Spain trip
Hello again to our family and friends - wherever you may be! About a month ago Maggie's Mom and her S.O. Eric came for a two week visit. We had a grand time, and discovered that two weeks goes quickly! Even with a full two weeks to spend in Dublin and surrounding parts of Ireland it feels like we only were able to give them a small taste of what this country really is like.
We hit the ground running on the day they landed (to fend of jet-lag) with a tour of Guinness. Other sights in Dublin included the Botanic Gardens (amazing, we will return), Chester Beatty Library (better than the Book of Kells I hear), Christchurch Catherdral, and some crazy museums! Travis took a few days off and we did some day trips to Newgrange/Knowth in Country Meath just north of Dublin where we also stumbled upon the Hill of Slane and Hill of Tara where the High Kings ruled Ireland for centuries. We also did an overnight to Kilkenny which gave us some more time to explore the parts of the country a bit south and west from Dublin.
Other highlights included lots of eating - cheese sampling and whiskey tasting! We also made a dent in the candy sampling, Cadbury and Nestle both have more candy bar varieties here than you could imagine!
We then had a couple weeks to recover before heading off to Spain to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. We took a quick flight to Barcelona and spent a few days there before driving up the coast of the Mediterranean to an area called the Costa Brava. We stayed one day in a town called Cadaques where Salavador Dali lived. The town had plaques posted all around that had paintings Dali had done while he lived there that depicted actual buildings/streets in town. This part of the country is empty and has some very interesting geology, we took a little drive at sunset and marveled at the crazy rock outcroppings.
After Cadaques we headed to the Pyrenees and a tiny town called Torla. Surprisingly as I was planning this trip this town looked like fun and some friends of ours that were just in Spain also came back with a recommendation to stay there. It turned out to not even be on our map! Torla is at the gateway to a National Park with loads of hiking, caving, canyoneering, rock climbing, etc. We stuck to hiking :) We worked in a brisk 18km/11mi hike that was well worth it, fantastic scenery and Travis got to see some amazing mountains that look nothing like mountains he's seen before.
We left Torla and headed to the north coast of Spain (the Bay of Biscay) to Bilbao where the Guggenheim Foundation opened a museum in the '90s. The museum building itself is something to look at, and the art inside is just amazing. Unfortunately as we were there during off season the museum was changing exhibits and only one floor out of three was open, but it was still a great place to go. There was a hall with 12' tall steel sheet sculptures that you walked through. They were designed to test your perception, so sometimes you felt as if you were losing your balance or getting dizzy. We had a good time shopping and eating in Bilbao, also - great tapas bars (tapas are single serving snacks or appetizers that you graze on) and really affordable restaurants.
From Bilbao it was back to Barcelona for just one afternoon before heading back home to Dublin. We're both in love with Spain now! It was such an easy flight, just about 2 hours. No longer than driving to go skiing. Travis really enjoyed driving on the right hand side of the road for a week :)
Now it's back home for some fall weather, it's gotten slightly cooler and the days are getting noticeably shorter. I think we change clocks at the end of the month which will make the mornings better but nights will be getting dark much to early then! We don't have much in the way of fall leaves, a few trees change but for the most part the leaves just seem to turn fall off and turn brown or turn brown and fall off. Our next door neighbors have a vine on their house that turned a violent red color, it was amazing! I think that may be about all the fall color that we get. The gorse has been blooming, making the hillsides bright yellow, that feels a bit like fall.
Cheers to you all, Travis and I hope this find you well and happy.
M&T
We hit the ground running on the day they landed (to fend of jet-lag) with a tour of Guinness. Other sights in Dublin included the Botanic Gardens (amazing, we will return), Chester Beatty Library (better than the Book of Kells I hear), Christchurch Catherdral, and some crazy museums! Travis took a few days off and we did some day trips to Newgrange/Knowth in Country Meath just north of Dublin where we also stumbled upon the Hill of Slane and Hill of Tara where the High Kings ruled Ireland for centuries. We also did an overnight to Kilkenny which gave us some more time to explore the parts of the country a bit south and west from Dublin.
Other highlights included lots of eating - cheese sampling and whiskey tasting! We also made a dent in the candy sampling, Cadbury and Nestle both have more candy bar varieties here than you could imagine!
We then had a couple weeks to recover before heading off to Spain to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. We took a quick flight to Barcelona and spent a few days there before driving up the coast of the Mediterranean to an area called the Costa Brava. We stayed one day in a town called Cadaques where Salavador Dali lived. The town had plaques posted all around that had paintings Dali had done while he lived there that depicted actual buildings/streets in town. This part of the country is empty and has some very interesting geology, we took a little drive at sunset and marveled at the crazy rock outcroppings.
After Cadaques we headed to the Pyrenees and a tiny town called Torla. Surprisingly as I was planning this trip this town looked like fun and some friends of ours that were just in Spain also came back with a recommendation to stay there. It turned out to not even be on our map! Torla is at the gateway to a National Park with loads of hiking, caving, canyoneering, rock climbing, etc. We stuck to hiking :) We worked in a brisk 18km/11mi hike that was well worth it, fantastic scenery and Travis got to see some amazing mountains that look nothing like mountains he's seen before.
We left Torla and headed to the north coast of Spain (the Bay of Biscay) to Bilbao where the Guggenheim Foundation opened a museum in the '90s. The museum building itself is something to look at, and the art inside is just amazing. Unfortunately as we were there during off season the museum was changing exhibits and only one floor out of three was open, but it was still a great place to go. There was a hall with 12' tall steel sheet sculptures that you walked through. They were designed to test your perception, so sometimes you felt as if you were losing your balance or getting dizzy. We had a good time shopping and eating in Bilbao, also - great tapas bars (tapas are single serving snacks or appetizers that you graze on) and really affordable restaurants.
From Bilbao it was back to Barcelona for just one afternoon before heading back home to Dublin. We're both in love with Spain now! It was such an easy flight, just about 2 hours. No longer than driving to go skiing. Travis really enjoyed driving on the right hand side of the road for a week :)
Now it's back home for some fall weather, it's gotten slightly cooler and the days are getting noticeably shorter. I think we change clocks at the end of the month which will make the mornings better but nights will be getting dark much to early then! We don't have much in the way of fall leaves, a few trees change but for the most part the leaves just seem to turn fall off and turn brown or turn brown and fall off. Our next door neighbors have a vine on their house that turned a violent red color, it was amazing! I think that may be about all the fall color that we get. The gorse has been blooming, making the hillsides bright yellow, that feels a bit like fall.
Cheers to you all, Travis and I hope this find you well and happy.
M&T
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
August around Dubh Linn
When the Vikings came they named the fair city Dubh Linn or Black Pool. We live An Charraig Dubh - Blackrock. We've got a little bit more free time these days- Travis isn't working quite as much, the house is unpacked and set up, and we've got something resembling a social life. Here are some photos of what we've been doing in our spare time.
Monday, August 14, 2006
4 day Vagabond West by Northwest Ireland Trip
AKA Dave's Birthday Whale and Dolphin Spotting Tour. 11 of us plus guide Dave loaded into a Land Rover Defender and headed to the Connemara region of Ireland. We had the greatest time and met some really wonderful people.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
July in Baile Atha Cliath
Just in case you don't read Irish, that means Dublin :)
July was lovely, loads of fantastic weather, the beginning of 2 day weekends for Travis (about 1/2 way through the month) and my return back from US/Mexico.
2nd slide show - Kennon and Jennifer's wedding in Mexico, some time at home in Denver, and getting to use our Santa Fe opera tickets that we bought before we knew we were moving to Dublin (thanks for going with me Melinda).
July was lovely, loads of fantastic weather, the beginning of 2 day weekends for Travis (about 1/2 way through the month) and my return back from US/Mexico.
2nd slide show - Kennon and Jennifer's wedding in Mexico, some time at home in Denver, and getting to use our Santa Fe opera tickets that we bought before we knew we were moving to Dublin (thanks for going with me Melinda).
Friday, June 30, 2006
June in Dublin and trip to London
In May and June Travis was working 6 days a week so our 'weekend' was Sunday only. Here are some of our adventures around town and in Ireland on his day off.
We also learned about bank holidays, three day weekends throughout the summer, and took advantage of one for a quick trip across the pond to London.
We also learned about bank holidays, three day weekends throughout the summer, and took advantage of one for a quick trip across the pond to London.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Everyday life and Home Sweet Home
Here are photos of our apartment in the town of Blackrock, which is part of Dublin. There are also pictures of the town, our shopping centre, train station, where Travis works (I can see it from the train station and our bedroom window!) Pretty much our everyday normal things. We have some nice views out our windows and get lots of good light.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Dublin first weeks
We're in Ireland now!
It's very rainy in Dublin, and Travis is working 6 days a week so our exploration time has been limited. Plus we are looking for a place to live, etc. I have done some exploring on my own when the weather has been good, I really liked Howth! Below, the first pictures of our new life in Ireland.
It's very rainy in Dublin, and Travis is working 6 days a week so our exploration time has been limited. Plus we are looking for a place to live, etc. I have done some exploring on my own when the weather has been good, I really liked Howth! Below, the first pictures of our new life in Ireland.
Saturday, April 15, 2006
The Beginning
Is it cheating to write the beginning after the fact? After pondering this for a while I decided it's not.
I started posting and emailing bits back to family and friends at home days after we left Denver. Just a couple of weeks after we got settled (and my fried computer was fixed and internet was installed) I got organized and started uploading photo albums with novels of comments. About a month later I started blogging, and after a few tries I finally landed here on Blogger and have made a fairly happy home.
So I spent a good amount of time piecing together all those random posts in all those different places and put them all onto moores go retroactively. I finally got it all finished and I realized there wasn't really any introduction, and I felt like there needed to be one. So it's actually now about three years after we started this adventure, but I'm going back to write - How did The Moores end up Going?
Travis and I have always been up for adventure, we like vacations where we see things we've never seen before, we do things we've never done before, and we eat things we've never eaten before. I lost a friend in a freak hiking accident the summer after my freshman year of college and it's changed how I look at life. I am very much a seize the moment. Yes, I'm a planner, but I am not one to put big plans on hold for anything much longer than months. Why not just do it now? (btw that's true for more than just fun travel stuff, too). I'm married to a saver, and I too believe in saving for the future, but I also believe that you need to live your life to the fullest today.
Travis and I had many serious conversations during our courtship. One was about relocating for our respective jobs. Travis was raised in a town of about 500 and spent his entire life living in the same house. I moved 8 times by the time I was 16 and then a 9th time when I was 17 and went to college in a different state than where I was living. I enjoyed growing up the way I did, some parts were hard but I got to have some great experiences. I told Travis if he ever got offered an overseas assignment and I wasn't there to discuss it, the default answer was YES and we'd figure it out.
It nearly ended up that way. Travis went to Kansas City for a business trip, called me one night, and asked if I wanted to go to Ireland in three weeks for about 9 months. We discussed, and as they say, the rest is history. Some paperwork issues delayed our departure a little bit, but we put our condo on the market and beat a VERY hasty exit from Denver nonetheless.
I'll end with a farewell to our Denver house, which we loved very much. On to the next adventure!
