Holidays! Down South

  Today we are headed back up the coast.

 We are coming from a holiday trip to visit family in SOuthern California. We spent Christmas Eve and Day In Costa Mesa. It was nice to be back there. I knew

where everything was, and even if I didn't, chances are it was within a 15 mile radius. Everything in that town revolves around three main streets. Harbor,

Newport Blvd, and 17th street. Everyone lived worked, shopped and dined, right around there.

 We visited out favorite revolving sushi bar twice, and had home cooked breakfast from Carl and my sister. We skyped my mom who was snowed in in New Mexico,

and had a great time trying out the taco trucks at the Orange County fairgrounds. The music was loud, the company was good, and the food was typical for food

trucks. Pretty good.
 
Morgan liked the fried chicken slider with mashed potatos and gravy on it. I enjoyed the PB & J with sliced bananas slider, though I'm pretty sure I can just

buy some hawaiian bread and make thenm at home. Maybe I will..
 
We also went over to Joshua tree to sneak in a side visit to Morgan's fmaily who was in the area visiting his brother. It was a tiny dusty town, but it

seemed cute enough, There was a pretty darn good NY pizza place. Their large pizza really was LARGE.

   After a day, we went back to Orange county to squeeze in more friends, babies and relatives, and then headed up to hollywood to see Danielle and Anne. We

went to the farmers market there and enjoyed some salty caramel lattes, and though the crepe place smelled amazing, the line was pretty long so we got some

greek food that was YUMMY. and Maybe healthier. We have decided to make January 6 pack ab month.so Wish us luck.

 Leaving Hollywood around 1pm, the traffic was smooth and since we made excellent time, we stopped off in Solvang. It had very cute architecture, but  it was

very touristy. Lots of older people with grandkids, people with cameras, and overpriced junk. We did pop into a cuckoo clock shop with an overly helpful

woman opening every jewlery case we passed. She made us a little cuckoo. Also, there was a Danish pastry shop that smelled like a cross between a gym and a

chocolate shop. We left without tasting..

  Next stop is San Luis Obispo to see Stephanie and have some dinner on the way home. We left a little earlier than planned, but I think it will be nice to

be home on New Year's night. :)

Happy New Year everyone! Any good resolutions out there?

Thanksgiving in Arizona with the Pre-Inlaws

Arizona is about a 12 hour drive from our place in Oakland.. We left after I finished work, (and finished packing) at around 7or 830pm.. We drove all night. I kept trying to think of the drive like I did in Ireland, all scenery. ..and that worked sometimes. But really, it's pretty flat and brown. Or  maybe that's jsutbecause of the extra hour an a half in LA..

 At least the company was  nice, if a little sleepy. One day we will stop arguing about driving in the left lane the whole time.. haha

 We made it in one piece, and it was as I remembered it,

new looking and pretty with stones and cactus decorations everywhere instead of grass. Everything kind of adobe colored.

It is nice to see how different the styles are from California to Arizona.

 The was a pool at hi parents house, but it was much to cold to go into, sadly..  but there was a hot-tub TOO. and that was great.

 The next day when thanksgiving rolled around lazily, my parents came over to visit and cook, and they brought their big galloping puppy dog, Rosco, to play with all the other animals.

 Everybody seemed to get along well,  Cats, Dogs, and Parents. Once I was stuffed as full as I could be on marshmallow toppped yams. I also had turkey and pie and stuff..

 Had  a great time seeing everyone together, including a brother of Morgan's I hadn't met yet, and his wife, home from the military.




  I had to catch a flight back home the next day to get to work on time, so I missed getting to see his other brother and his husband, but a few days later, all the siblings got together up north. (and I got to play "magic" for the first time.)












 I do have to say, the plane  was much nicer than the car ride, and I didn't envy my fancy-boyfriend-fiance the drive home.
 Here we are though, safe and sound. He is headed home from work as I type, and bringing me a meatball sub. It doesn't get much better than that!

 I am looking forward to making the Christmas trip down to orange county to see my half of the family! Only 7 hours. After Arizona, it will be a snap. :)

Souveniring!

We cut out of work a little early on Friday to see the downtown of San José and get some lunch and souvenirs for the trip home. We headed to a little cafe called Kalá that had amazing salads, sandwiches, and desserts. I had all three and was suitably stuffed by the time we left. My personal highlight was definitely the basil crème brûleé. Ever since my amazing awakening to strawberry and basil during entrepreneurial month last year when I had french toast with Yaz, I haven't been able to dispense with basil as a great pair with sweet foods. Note to self–must make more basily things. 

It rained a little bit on the metal corrugated roof that covered the patio at which we ate and the sound was almost exactly like one of those touristy rain sticks you can buy. I see, now, why they're so popular and available everywhere. Oh yeah, every one here uses corrugated metal for everything. Apparently you can just pop a slab of this stuff on your house and call it a roof. It's deafening, but de-facto standard here. It's kind of amazing, and I keep thinking how easy it would be to build a house out of the stuff, provided it never needed to keep warm in the winter. I think tropical weather makes people lazy. 

We decided to go to the mall to look for souvenirs, and hit the supermarket first. The prices are about the same as the US, and we got a lot of decent stuff for the prices. The mall, itself, when we got out there, was enormous. I've been to big malls in SF, and this one put them to shame. It was 3 levels in places, and had shops stretching pretty much as far as the eye could see. I think the number of shops actually rivals the great mall in Milpitas. Not so great anymore, are you? 

The evening was topped off with talk of politics and rum, and the real adventure began the next day, when we got up at 3:30 am to head out.

Work work work all the time

So many things around me are in English that it's easy to forget I'm in a foreign country, and not just in Hawaii or San Diego. The differences can be subtle, though, like trying to turn on the water in the morning. My whole life, I've known that the handle marked C is the one for cold water. And, apparently, I always check to make sure the other one says H just in case they both say C or whatever. When I look over and see an F, I'm drawn out of my Americanocentric views and reminded that we speak a different language here, and I'm a visitor. I like that feeling.

We took a bus to the office, which was an experience in itself. The speed with which things change from high class to poverty is astounding. After the interesting drive, we were brought up to the 4th floor of a fairly new building. The weather was decent, warm, though a little humid. The presentations went well, the team seemed to really get what we were saying to them.

During the presentations, the rain really started to kick in, and due to the metal roof on the building, the whole place echoed with the noise that only a tropical torrential rain can produce. Couple that with the thunder and lightning, and I definitely felt like I was in a different country. And, as if the weather wasn't enough to remind me that we're in a tropical paradise with volcanoes and hot springs nearby, the whole building shook with a minor earthquake, too. What more could you ask from a first day in a new country?

The talking went a little longer than I'd hoped, but by the end of the day, people were about ready to build ads, so I guess that's a success and tomorrow should be fun and interesting. By the time the day was over, the storm had cleared and the sun came out to show us a gorgeous sunset.

We headed home, where I had a nice gin and tonic, got an amazing seafood platter for dinner, and then finished up a project I was supposed to complete today. Once that was done, I relaxed in the hot tub for a while, and here I am, winding down, enjoying the spacious, clean hotel room. The cleaning staff even extra-organized all of my toiletries for me. I had them somewhat structured, but they took the time to lay them out on a towel and space them evenly. Now that's service.

Costa Rica, the Co-Star I Can't Ignore

About 4 months ago, my company came to me and said, "How would you like to go to Costa Rica to help us teach a company to use the software you write?" After I finished choking on my coffee and nearly strangling the man to say yes, I didn't think it would actually happen. Who gets to go to Costa Rica for work? Yet, here I am, right on the heels of my Ireland vacation, preparing for my first day teaching Costa Ricans how to use the thing I build. I hope it goes well.

The plane flight down was half good, half bad. I sprung for better seats on United, and then connected to Continental. They were bought by United, and so I assumed the quality would be comparable. The plane was comparable, but the service was light years away. I hadn't been asked for seating preference at the time of purchase, so I figured I'd be okay when I got to the airport. If I hadn't picked a seat, nobody had, and I could be early and grab one the day of.

While nobody had picked a seat, it wasn't due to timing. It seems that you can't choose your seat on Continental flights? The entire time, people were milling about the cabin, visiting their loved ones, trying to stretch their legs near someone they knew. I suppose they had us over a barrel when it came to us needing a flight, but isn't this something that's been solved for a long time?

Despite the cramped conditions and strange "burrito" they served on the plane, we landed, and the door opened to the humid, slightly sticky feel of a tropical country. We were greeted by the man with whom we'll be working, and he drove us to the hotel. We relaxed for a bit, got a light dinner, wandered the hotel and eventually passed out.

The hotel was built in the middle of an active coffee plantation, something Costa Rica is known for. The place is nice. The hotel has accents of spanish style everywhere, the people are really friendly, and everything's been easy so far. If their shower is tall enough to wash my hair, this is going to be the nicest room I've stayed in since the castle room Eli rented us in Makree.

Jet Blue, thy name is so so

Well, that was an experiment in futility. I decided that because I'd never flown jetblue before that I'd give it a shot. The people weren't the nicest, the terminal wasn't the nicest, the price wasn't the best, but hey, people say it's great right?

Yes, the seat was slightly bigger than the normal economy seats I've sat in, and they assured me at the gate that I'd be fine. And, to be fair, when I got off the plan, the pilot did ask me how I did, as he had been there for the initial talk to the lady behind the counter. I didn't have the heart to ask him "Ever sat in a seat with too little legroom for an hour?"

Ultimately, I shouldn't really complain about this too much. Tall people get breaks in various places and plane flights are one of the ways in which we pay for it, but it's not just an inconvenience to me. The person in front of me is incapable of reclining when my knees can't move out of the way. The person next to me often has a knee that encroaches on their space. It's in everyone's best interest to treat me as handicapped and just seat me in a bulkhead.

City of Angels

We left SF last night and drove through the night to Hollywood. We narrowly missed an accident in San Jose, then took 152 to the 5. Traffic was decently light for most of the drive though people were taking up the left lanes for no reason. Why do people do that? Maybe I'll never know.

Los Angeles is a little different than Ireland. The major highways in Ireland seem like tiny streets here by comparison. The people in Ireland also drive in a much more... interpretive way. The streets weren't designed with cars in mind and so people have to drive half in your lane or park half on the sidewalk. You do that in LA, you'd die.

We're working a gig at a mansion, getting painted up as entertainment for the guests of a Halloween party tonight but first, we're off to silverlake to pick up the engagement ring I owe a certain fiancée. We'll be sure to post pictures as soon as we can.

Sunday, I fly home on jet blue for the first time, I will let you know how it goes, then on Tuesday, I fly to Costa Rica for work, another adventure for sure.

United airlines - best airline ever.

When we landed on chicago, we had a big carry on full of liquid, and we had to go to another terminal and so had to go back through security . But, you can't bring liquid through security.. Are lingua told us that there was no way we would be able to bring the stuff we purchased at the airport in Dublin through to United air. So we hurried to try and check it if possible, figuring we might have to buy a suitcase, and pay to check it. If they even had suitcases available, and would let us check it. Well, not only did they let us check it, they gave us a box. And padding, and taped it up with fragile stickers. On top of that, they didn't even charge us. On the way to the gate we bought a pretzel that was only supposed to come work one topping, but they lady gave us the other one too , yay! Then at the gate the lady changed our seats so Morgan could have more leg room, and then pour us together, and then didn't charge us 90 bucks for the upgrade! Inside the plane, there was a backup in the line and we were stuck waiting by the flight attendents kitchen, we smiled, at them and the guy said here you go, and handed me a bonus cup of juice! I got to watch Captain America, and the Green l Lantern, which I wanted to see, but not enough to pay for,and our fragile box was waiting for us when we came out. Now we are riding the bart home instead of paying the hundred dollar can fare. And now, we are home safe and sound! remain

The adventure continues

We got through security support fast and easy.. didn't even have to take our shoes off, but then! Customs! I got through okay, but they room Morgan into the room with the mirrored doors.   "To pay a duty tax" hope its not a booty tax! Haha. But, actually, I do hope we make our flight. The last lady out here had  been waiting for her man for 25 min! min

..well it all worked out okay .. Morgan came out and then we went through another round of security. And now we are finally waiting for our flight. Watching a baby lick the window in front of us. Phew! See you soon!

End of the road

Here we are camped out in our last hotel, right next to the airport. I can't believe its almost over ! :c  we are having a quick bottle of humid foreign extra, just before we go down to dinner. Did you know.. in one week exactly, fiance hours toCosta Rica?? Is for work, but he can't do that until after we go down to LA for a job together. (And my engagement ring) maybe I can get him to blog about it. I work I could go along too! Looking forward to seeing all my friends and family down south, and up north! Wish us a safe uncramped flight back!
Passepartout out!

Clontarf

Hello, hello! Yesterday we drove all the way back into Dublin, to a little place called clontarf.
We tried to stop in a couple malls on the way to do some shopping, but they were not open till 1 or 2  because it was Sunday! I guess everyone was in church? Eventually we made made our way to castle clontarf, where we stayed the night. It was different from the last castle.. much more trendy, and fancy. But not so original. The first was may have been a but crumbly but it had real charm. This one is just another hotel.. with castle designs. It's still cool, but the other one is definitely my favorite. Though this one is the biggest bed we have come across and maybe the most comfortable. I have to day, I suspected this country would not be Morgan sized but DANG. Corridors, doors, chairs, beds, showers.. lotta laughing ans making due . This was the days place he could stretch out. Today we plan to see the historical hill of Tara. A site associated with king ship rituals. There is a stone of destiny. If a wouldbe king fulfilled all of his challenges, and was a true king, when torched by him, the stone world let out 3 ringing roars that could be heard all throughout Ireland.

And then possibly  to the Jameson factory.

It strange to think that this is our last real day here. Tomorrow we leave for Chicago. How will I ever adjust to driving on the other side of the again? Where will I find jeffer cakes? At least I get to keep the fiance  I found here.

Belfast

At first we thought Belfast was kinda burning. Not a lot of shops.. we got a nap in. Then we went out for Thai food (sticky rise desdert!) and found a club of young people dancing and drinking..we kept looking cause the club scene is not really my thing. Pop music.. meh. We found a little club called "the royal"

it looked closed from the outside,but once we pushed through the doors, disco lights and lounge music blaring, or was a while different place. We ordered drinks at the bar,but the bartender understood me a lot better than Morgan,for whatever reason.then people started to say things like..been here before? And grin. turns out it waa a super local bar and evetyone knew everyone. They were all impressed with Morgan's height and we manage lots of friends. We say down at a table and just kept making friend.they wanted to give us the thumbs up,know where we were from,tell us they had been to Vegas, and hills peter hams meaningfully. All of them.. haha. Them the music changed to karaoke. Again, ALL country and oldies. Amazing. Then this guy who looked like a mob don waved us over and garbled at us.he was taking our hands and thumb-upping us so we kept smiling. And nodding. Colin bought us a don't of whiskey each, and was Berri friendly. Edmond was very drunk but very friendly, and Alex "hurricane" Higgins, the people champ of pool was all over the walls. On our way out,we couldn't leave because the owner insisted on buying us more whisky. What the heck, why not? He apparently loves Vegas, bud light line in alUMInum cans, and Americans. Everyone was great and I spent the whole time laughing and smiling. Also! I met a lovely may in the bathroom. 40s ? Mini dress and tights . She was ruling the extra risk of time paper around get hand in case there wasn't amount in the stalls . (seemed like a smart idea to me.. I followed suit)she smiled at me, then started to Bang on the door and yell. "hurry up girls"!! At the two stalls.then she started to dance a little and banged and yelled again "hey! Get the fuck out of there ! I can't hold it anymore !"Bang bang bang. She ended up knowing both girls, or being drunk enough to smack them on the shoulders. When I came out, she had her door open, while in full view , and said "jaysus you're fast! I'm still going." I told her I was afraid to keep anyone waiting! It wad awesome. The cabby we rode home with ended up being a best mate of the son of the guy who owned the pub. He showed us pics of his three month old son. It was a fantastic evening. Morgan's Irish accent gets stronger when he's been drinking, by the way. Haha.. goodnight!

Giants causeway

Was absolutely my favorite scenic location so far.

We tried to go to bushmills, but we were5 Minn to late. They wouldn't even let us in the gift shop. Sad face

Or GPS system shut down down though as Doon as we cruised over into modern Ireland, so that was... Fun? Ahem. We found out hotel.. and our room was really  lavender!  But very comfy. Actually it was pretty. The hotel was very nice. food was good too, and they had a photo album of the hotel being built up from this old derelict..

They let us sneak behind the bar to take the short cut to our room. One thing I have noticed here is that a lot of the shower heads are up really tall, so Morgan thinks he isn't going to have to duck to get his head wet, but then sneakily, some of the bath tubs are way taller on the inside, so you get fooled.
Ballyrobin country hotel did have a raised tub, but the shower was still the highest so far.. the Irish must be used to the feeling of rain!

In the morning, we got up early and headed to Belfast. We both think so far, that the towns are not as care and the people not as friendly as the south. It send a but gloomy over here in the uk. But, maybe its just 'cause we got up early..
We are checked in and about to take a nap, shop maybe that will give us a fresh perspective. :)

Galway squared

2 days in Galway! At the Eyre Square
Hotel. It wad am okay hotel.. like many of the places we stayed, it had a double bed and a twin. Galway is similar to Dublin. One way streets.  So we spent a good chunk of time searching for the parking lot.. of our hotel.. it was separate. Then we got some food. And passed out. It was a nice little place with terrific sea chowder.
The next day, we backtracked to the cliffs of moher. Beautiful!! Morgan convinced me to go over the "danger you will die fence" and we got some fantastic views.  I was waiting to be arrested, but sure enough no one came. But I did fall of a cliff and die. Superman saved me though.
On the way home despite the signs that said *food all day*, we couldn't any. We ended up at the Irish arms. Good food With a very charming host. He even did his best to make me a white russian . I've been able to get a few  of those, though when I once tried to order a whiskey sour, I got the strangest look. Like I was psychotic. Ha. After that we caught a showingg of real steel. The movie was okay. Hugh jackman  was hot . Fun fight scenes. Then back to our room to sleep. All that hiking and falling off cliffs makes you tired I guess.

Sligo!

Today! Horseback riding over beaches, bogs, and freeways! ! It was so great, then we checked in to the beautiful castle Markree.

It is PHENOMENAL. Just to get to reception we had to go through hallways and archways and up two flight of stairs. They was a lift, but then you would have missed the chandeliers and animal heads on the wall. Our room had champagne and strawberries waiting. (I planned ahead) and a view of the garden and fountains.

15 minutes to dinner,and I'm pretty excited for hot food. the riding was over really beautiful scenery of course.. You can't beat climbing up hills and running down them on horseback. Over sand and rocks and in the water, I loved it but it sure was cold!! ..and 2 hours long. By the time we were done, I could barely feel my feet!

Back at the castle we warmed up by crawling over every inch we could find. They told us that the castle was our castle for the night and we took them at their word. hidden stair cases, rooms under stairs, secret churches. We opened every unlocked door we found, and climb every set of stairs in the place.. And we even talked the front desk/barman/cook into letting us borrow the key to the very top attic room. Number 32. so we could take a look.
It was super fun!

Delicious dinner,then a pint in the hotel best when we met some guess from London three to film Irish hotspots for a promotional video. They filled us in on the hotel ghost stories.

Apparently in the room next to ours someone jumped out a single with his daughter in his arms, or.. killed his 6 kids? This castle was the kind to make you unsure whether or not you believe in ghost stories.. haha.

But we lived through the night, and are headed for northen Ireland. So, we will have to switch from euros to pounds! A couple in a restaurant told us how they didn't know about the change over, and they couldn't find any where to eat because no one would  take cards or euros! So to gain pounds, we will have to gain pounds?

Put a Cork in it!

We went to Cork right after Cahir..

And, Blarney castle was amazing! I could have taken a million pictures! In fact, I might've ! Haha.
It was so tall, and had all these amazing stair wells, and it had a murder hole!
I am pretending to pee down it.
There were signs posted every where to tell what the room wad for,and who stayed there, and it wad self guided. I love finding funny holes in the mal that you can barely see that turn out to be passageways. Found one of those at Cahir too that led to another hidden prison cell. You don't want to be in the cell that it's a down a good passage!
We got to the castle very shortly before closing, so we had to scamper around quickly. I was snapping pictures like mad when a tiny little man from 2 or 3 floors up yelled down that we'd better hurry up and get up there! So we ran up the stairs and up and up. There was another couple up there and the lady was saying that she was really too afraid of heights and she just couldn't hang up side down over the edge of the castle and kiss the stone. She thought maybe if she saw someone else do it first. So I jumped up. The old man cradled me in his arms and slid me over the edge. There were rails to hold on to, so I really wasn't scared.. and afterward looking down, they have an iron cage now. you couldn't fall off if you wanted to. Morgans turn! The old man held him too. He didn't seem nervous at all. Who's afraid of heights? Not us. (The lady ended up doing it too.) The top of the castle was amazing..you could see down several floors (since the roof was missing in the middle), and the view
Of the landscape was so many shades of green!!
We had to go, but on the way out, we stopped at the poison garden!

 No eating, touching, or smelling! Then to Darby o'gills hotel. We had some internet in the bar, along with a pint or two, and listened to the locals burst out acapella. To country music . That's all they played on the jukebox too . It was great. Very entertaining. :D Next stop galway!

Going, going, Galway!

Today, we had a three  hour drive...

Or  it might have been if we hadn't stopped off a million times. 
Also the weather was nutty. In the morning it was sunny when we look out, but by the time we got to the door, it was hailing, then rain, sun, rain, sun, windwindwind.. I bought water proof shoes today! My other 2 pairs were water logged.

We went to a to grocery store  for jam and bread, and cheese and salami.
Road trip food.

 Then! We went to the burren! I saw some horses.. they walked over like they were going to come right to me and stay Hiiii... But they stopped short. Cheaters.


It was gorgeous. What else can I say? You are going to get tired of hearing it.
I said to Morgan today, why are we going to a specific scenic place? The whole place is scenic!! 
But it was worth it.

 We did this crazy winding one lane road that had a speed limit of 80 km per hour. The shrubs were so high on either side, it wad like Google was taking us out to be killed. It just kept going! It was a fun little adventure.

   

Crazy rocks, and lakes everywhere. Check out his panoramas.
When we did get back on the road, I saw some kind of graveyard churchy looking thing.
So we pulled over.

We hopped over some fences and found rapunzels tower! It had no way in! Unless you had a 20 foot ladder.

Turns out it was for monks, to defend against invaders. There was a very touching grave yard, dating back to 1100s. It was well kept with flowers and decorations. Some of the graves were so old, they no longer said anything.








 

We saw a sign that said we could see the caretaker to get the key to get into the Abby for 5 euros. So we wandered across the street, and knocked on someone's door.. a tiny lady just gave us this key to borrow!

The inside wasn't as cool as the outside, but I did discover that the arch I posed in was apparently for pooping on.. 

 








one hour later we were in the bustling one way streets of Galway. Who puts their parking lot down the block from the hotel??

 Now we are safe and warm in the hotel room, all full from a very nice dinner.. talking about when to set a wedding date..!