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We had an eventful trip back to Colorado for Christmas. There was a major blizzard in Denver and DIA closed for four days. We missed getting in by hours and were thus stuck in Chicago. There was NO way to get to Denver, I was calling bus and train companies to get there any way possible. We even contemplated renting a car and driving, but the roads were all closed. Luckily we know and like Chicago, so after an immdiate stop at Chipotle to fuel up on Mexican food we simply took our rental car and started doing some of the errands we'd planned to do in Denver in Chicago instead. Target is Target, whether it's in Chicago or Denver!
My brother Jonathan also got married this holiday season, to Lisa. The snow continued right up until their wedding, which made for great skiing for all the cousins that came out to visit right before the wedding. It was great fun to see them all, I really have a good time with them and wish that we could hang out more often.
The pictures include some shots taken right before we left of crazy weather in Blackrock and a daytrip to Powerscourt just outside of Dublin. Note the low light at Powerscourt, even though it was high noon.
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
