TIME TRAVEL PIECE - London!!!!!

Let me take you back in time.....

to a time altogether much warmer than now...

...all the way back to October 2009

We dashed over to London for a very brief weekend (as we Europeans do (though most don't)) to catch up with our mate Chooka for 1 whole day! as he was in passing by London also very briefly as part of his whirlwind work-tour of Europe.
Brief it was, but great.

I hadn't been to London since i was a kid when my family and I were stranded there for a week... unable to catch our flight either to or from Spain...and having to go to Heathrow every day just on the off-chance we could fly out that day... I don't remember much though...all i really remember is Trafalgar Square complete with pigeons (which are no longer there! why, oh why??), Sitting in Hyde Park- very nice, seeing Punks (very exciting) and sadly, what is most imprinted on my memory - the appalling breakfast buffets in the hotel with mountains of aparantly edible food piled high as the eye could see....rubber fried eggs slipping and sliding off each other from the top of one mountain, and next to it another similarly high mountain of watery stomach-churning scrambled eggs... no doubt there were other such mountains of bacon and black pudding and the like... but I must have stopped recording these images as well as eating...

Of Course, things have improved enormously since those dark days of the early 80's... and in our b&b where we stayed this time... we were treated to a very nice breakfast.
Ivan had been to London more recently than myself... but he's not here to tell his story, just me.

So... There we met Chooka and spend 1 whole day together in London checking out the sights.
I was really amazed just how many people live and visit London.. It was overwhelming.. people e-ver-y-where. Perhaps, just a tad confrontational for the crowd-loving person that I am.

Looking back at the photos it was a coldish weekend but the sun was shining.

First up: Trafalgar Square.... Nelson's column and Mounting the Lion

Other sights..

Westminster Abbey (far too expensive to contemplate actually going inside)
Some big gates, and a guard.


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L-R : Big Ben, The London Eye and the Thames

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On a bridge over the Thames, near the Tate Modern

On our second day in London, after farewelling Chooka, we took ourselves off to Campden Market and a cruise in a canal boat.

Absolutely fantastic, both the market (amazing) and the canal trip (lovely)... Unfortunately we discovered the canal boat trip thing too late for Chooka to join us, although he would have loved it soo! A perfect contrast to the busy city-sight seeing of the previous day... and all together way better than the rather disappointing Notting Hill which we visited the with Chooka in an attempt to do something leisurely in the afternoon...
But Camden Market and the Canals are still there for next time... and are a real must if you haven't been before!! highly recommended. The boat took us through 1 lock too.. very vintage-cool. There we sat in our canal boat b/w 2 locks, waiting for the water level to rise... It all happened a lot slower than what i imagined, but every moment was quite exciting just the same.
The food stalls at the market were awesome, so much delicious food from all over the globe... yum! and then inside the market place (an old horse market)... Amazing... an antique/junk/bric a brac/vintage market of household goods, memorabilia, jewellery, art and clothing, the lot! a really amazing place.
Maybe next time, Chooka.

Here are the pics: Camden market, having a coffee by the canal, our boat the Jenny Wren

a very cold snap

we find ourselves back in dublin and in the midst of a 'very cold snap'....

So you can appreciate your summer even more, here is our own very different weather forecast for today: (just to compare, you know, for fun)

Today
Hail and snow showers in the east and southeast - some heavy, and giving further falls of snow in places there. Scattered wintry showers near the northwest and west coasts, with the risk of localised snowfall there also. Dry otherwise, with widespread sunshine, but with frost lingering in places. Highest temperatures between 0 and + 5 C.

Tonight
Widespread severe frost this evening and tonight, icy conditions in many areas. A few freezing fog patches also. Snow showers in the east and southeast dying out this evening and early tonight. Scattered wintry showers continuing near the northwest and west coasts, and extending to the southwest coast overnight also - even where these are of rain or sleet, they could increase the risk of ice. Temperatures below 0 C virtually everywhere, and reaching - 6 to - 8 C in places.

It is freezing indeed, we have had downfalls of light snow, hail, sleet, rain all just this morning... plus this 'freezing fog'..
Yes... 'freezing fog'... What the hell is it anyway?
My guess is as good as yours and yet, we have apparantly experienced it first hand...

So... as i find myself somewhat trapped inside the house, protecting myself from the elements, yet avoiding neccessary study.... with a curiosity for freezing fog and what it all means.... i decided to hit wikipedia and find out...
and... among all the other types of fog i hadn't heard of before, i found the one most relevant to us:

Freezing Fog:

Freezing fog occurs when liquid fog droplets freeze to surfaces, forming white soft or hard rime. This is very common on mountain tops which are exposed to low clouds. It is equivalent to freezing rain, and essentially the same as the ice that forms inside a freezer which is not of the "frostless" or "frost-free" type. The term "freezing fog" may also refer to fog where water vapor is super-cooled filling the air with small ice crystals similar to very light snow. It seems to make the fog "tangible", as if one could "grab a handful".

I shall resist the temptation to 'grab a handful'

and, for those who would like to know more,

Fog is a cloud that is in contact with the ground. A cloud may be considered partly fog; for example, the part of a cloud that is suspended in the air above the ground is not considered fog, whereas the part of the cloud that comes in contact with higher ground is considered fog.

so, there you go... i didn't know that either! cute!

Aussie Visitors -The Merriels!!

Hi peeps! long time, no blog. Those quickblogs sort of worked but i never finished the job properly and am now way out of date again...

So, here we are way back in september, after our sunny spanish holiday.... and doesn't that seem a world away now with the freezing temperatures in Dublin now! Today a cool 9 degrees, tomorrow a top of 7 ! and it's still only autumn, but that's just a technicality..

But back in September now ... well that was warm and sunny and suprisingly un-rainy... or at least it was the week that the Merriels were in the country....they kindly brought the sunny stable weather with them and departed with it again.. sadly true.

Our Friendly family of 4 (the most numerous troupe we have yet accommodated (very successfully we hope) stayed in Dublin with us for a few days as part of their Grand Tour of Europe's finest cities: London, Paris & ......Dublin.

L-R: Rob, Karen and us in St Stephen's Green ...

and Annie and Eleanor being top class tourists in Grafton street.

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L-R: Outside Stag's Head... Notice Ivan's new air-mattress pump, to ensure our guests were well catered for that night... mmm.... so organised.

Rob and Ivan enjoy a baby guinness at The Stag's Head

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L-R: Rob at Stag's Head

Annie and Eleanor checking out the Liffey River, with Ha'penny bridge in background... very very iconic... and...Just look at that Blue Sky!! (not that iconic, but nice just the same)

After Dublin-day, the gang then left to go exploring the south-west of Ireland...
Here is a small selection of photos from their combined cameras.... (all 4 of em)...

Not sure what all these places are excatly... but think Cork, Kerry and Clare.

L-R Possibly a view from the dingle peninsula in Kerry??, or somewhere on the Cork coast?

Magnificent Bantry House in Cork (still to see for us) and it's amazing vews

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L-R Some gorgeous Corkish view?

and... could be anywhere really, but pretty cute

This one I do know:

L-R: Unmistakably the Cliffs of Moher in co. Clare. (Annie & Eleanor and Rob)

This is definitely Eleanor at the dingle Peninsula... beautiful spot.

and that weather!

Ivan and I met up with the travelling family in Galway for the last weekend of their holiday...

and together, we all embarked on a boat (much bigger than what i first imagined) and headed for InisMor (InishMore) one of the Aran Islands (off the coast of Galway)... which proved much further than i had imagined and altogether much windier than anyone could ever have thought possible..

Now, these islands are something else...

Inis Mor is Irish for 'Big Island', to distinguish it from Inis Maan (middle island) and Inis Oirr (East Island)....

They are the rockiest, windiest spots in Ireland, and the competition is firce!

And one of the great sites on InishMore is the fort of Dun Aengus, which sits overlooking a 100 metre sheer cliff..... (and is thought to have been built in the 2nd century BC!)

Here she is:
L-R: Dun Aengus Fort

L-R Cliff edge snaps for everyone

Elsewhere on Inish More...taking a nap
L-R: Group photo with Island tour bus.

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On the boat back home...

We slowly made our way to Dublin the next day via Galway City, had a super night of cards and our friends were off the next morning... to continue their tour... next stop: London!

quick blogs 2: Summer Holiday in Sunny Spain

And...what Glorious weather it was.!
Such a nice change to the unpredictable dublin summer...
A strong dose of sun, beach and surf... food and lots of family..

Elena went up in August to see her parents and other family..and Ivan then joined them for a while.
Cousin Louise from Australia also joined us for a very few days, taking s short detour from her holiday in England.... But for some reason, I am missing some of my photos, and will have to ask Louise for copies. Sadly, I think i left them in Spain. :(

Anyways, here are some snaps from Tapia in the north of Spain, with my parents and cousins, and some of their little ones.

Elena and her mum at the Eligio del Horizonte sculpture (Praise of the Horizon), by Eduardo Chillida in Gijon (great city)
and... with parents on a day out in nearby Luarca

Marine museum at Luarca with Ivan and Louise- with 4 giant squids (mostly baby ones, like this one) and other strange and wonderful creatures.
For memory this baby giant squid was abou 13 metres long from tentacle-tip to 'tail'.
The spooky looking thing is actually a sting-ray skeleton..

Nearby Castropol- very small fishing village near Tapia (as seen from a little boat)

A trip along the coast with Ivan... Spectacular Cabo Vidio (Cape Vidio)
and then... back home to Dublin to await the eminent arrival of our very dear friends The Merriels and some unseasonally lovely stable weather!!!