Forever Fall

Someone recently described the weather to me in Dublin as "Forever Fall". So true! Sometimes the way it rains is more like spring but on the whole and whole it is like Forever Fall here. And Fall just happens to be my favorite season...

Remember my post awhile back about my 16 Euro dirty martini at the Westin? Well, I've topped it! At the Four Seasons premium cocktails are 20 Euro, and a Silver Margarita with Patron is 25 Euro! Now, I know it's the Four Seasons but how crazy is that! I'll tell you one reason why, alcohol is so expensive over here because they have taxed it to the max. A bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey is cheaper in America than over here. In Ireland. Wrap your head around that one! I think it's because there is a high rate of alcoholism here so they think if they keep taxing it that people can't afford to buy it. But I don't think that's working, I think the Irish authorities are just going to have a high rate of homeless, broke alcoholics if they keep this up. 

Fair play to the Four Seasons though because the dirty martini was delicious. Now if only I could find good sushi I'd be in heaven here.

The gardens at the Four Seasons are lovely, check out this man snoozing on a rare warm and sunny day here in Dubs. He's actually a bronze statue but looks pretty real at first glance.

Another shot from when my parents came and visited. My dad and the Whyte's dog Brandy. They look good together don't ya think?

Friend Brandy Whyte on Facebook, he's been blowing up the newsfeeds lately.

Yet another Keating to hit up Eddie Whyte for lessons in shot gunnery. Eddie was kind enough to bring my little brother Greg shooting when he was here visiting me. Greg wants to know who was better, himself or Kevin. Eddie was very PC and said they were both good, and we'll have to have a shoot out to decide!
  

I've joined the National Aquatic Center's master swim team. It has been a real struggle getting back into lap swimming, but it's nice to have a coach to give you sets and times. Plus it's been fun to meet new people. Most of the team are triathletes who want to get better at swimming, ex-swimmers like me, or even open water swimmers (open water as in the ocean... like people who swim the English channel). In the summer the NAC masters team trains in the ocean in Portmarnock ,which is right next to Malahide. Can't wait to try that out. The picture below is from the paper and is a bunch of people doing the Liffey swim. As in the River Liffey that runs through the middle of the city. Similar to the Chicago River for all my Illinois people out there. I can't even decide which one is dirtier.

Peadar got up one morning at like 6AM to watch Ireland in the Rugby World Cup, since they were playing in New Zealand. Think he could get any closer to the TV?

A couple of swans in Grand Canal Quay...very different to the flooding that went down in the Quays this past week.

I found a mini-Peadar by the crosswalk coming home from work the other day. See the resemblance?

I was being touristy on my way out of town and took a pic of the ole Samuel Beckett Bridge. I will put together a little list of all the check box places you must see whilst visiting in Dubs.

News update: I have friends now! Well 2/3 girls below that are not me are related to Peadar so they have to be nice to me, but one isn't! Her name is Michelle Ryan and she is on the left in the red. Next to me on the right is Pad's cousin Fiona Whyte and his sister Catherine. Together we form the Dirty Thursday club which meets every second week for some shenanigans. Sometimes it's on Friday at which point it becomes the Frisky Friday club. Anyway, great girls, great times, can't wait for this week! :)

This blog has some old pictures (shame on me for not being on the ball, no pun intended) but a few weeks ago Peadar's Gaelic football club won the cup final. Mass drinking ensued.

Pad came home that night at like 3AM and "murdered" a block of cheese. I took about 10 pictures of him chowing down until he finally looked up, caught like a deer in the headlights!!

To sign off, Ciaran (pad's bro) and Jane (his GF and my friend) stayed over recently and played a little prank on me and Pad by creating a full blown image of a blackhawk hockey player in the bed. Luckily it didn't scare me, which it easily could have seeing as how I've been watching too many true crime shows on TV lately. :)

Happy (belated)  Halloween! 

XOXO

Amanda

Cheerio Parents!

Hello to all my friends and family around the world! Lots to update you on from the Keating/Whyte front. The Dub's won the All-Ireland Final, Peadar's parents and mine have met, we all lived to tell about it, we jet-skied the Irish Sea, and more.

To start you off with, check out a classy picture of my lovely boyfriend enjoying a glass of pino grigo after a hard won football match. Very manly ;)

Recently we went to a "blessing of the graves" which is an Irish Catholic tradition. Once a year the priest does a service in the graveyard by the church for all those who have passed on. It was very interesting as I had never been to anything like it. Everyone gathers around and there is a little trailer where the choir sings from and the mass is done on loudspeaker. I thought it was nice to dedicate some time to people who have died... it's comforting to know that even if you are gone you will still be remembered.

As I mentioned before, The Dubs (Dublin County Team) won the All-Ireland final, which is like the Superbowl of GAA. Below is a picture of Peadar and I getting breakfast into us before the game and a subsequent all-day session of celebrating! We got really good seats from Peadar's GAA club and were sitting in the Davin stand, which is like the endzone if you were comparing it to American football.

This past weekend my parents came into town, and we also had the wedding of Louise Whyte and Darragh Mannion. So the wedding ended up being where my parents and Peadar's parents met each other. Louise was kind enough to invite my parents to the "afters". Irish weddings are very different from American ones, they are a flat out party and the dancing and drinking continues until at least 6 in the morning usually. They are divided into two parts, 1) the wedding ceremony, drinks reception, and dinner and 2) the subsequent party of drinking and dancing, also called "the afters". You could theoretically be invited to a full wedding, or just the "afters". Since most weddings are well over 200 people here, it's a way to include people in the fun without having so shell out loads more money. 

 Since I am super pale these days (shouts out to Irish weather), I went for a spray tan the day before the wedding, and I didn't know you weren't supposed to shave your legs or put lotion on before you do that. So my tan ended up being reallly streaky... see picture below. 

It was a total nightmare, especially because ever since I moved here, I have been very aware of the fake tanning industry going on in this country (it's a basic requirement for women because there is very little UV action happening on this island) and am sometimes critical of others tan job. For example, when girls feet are overly tanned and orange and they look like they have a disease. Or the other day I saw a girl wearing shorts and she had very tan legs but pale arms. What the hell? There should be legislation regulating the fake tanning in this country. In Ireland, for a proper tan you either do it yourself (self-tan), or go to the salon where you have to get semi-naked and have some young one (judge you) and spray you down with an airbrush. There are no self-service booths like in the USA. Anyway, I came home freaking out, ready to actually not go to the wedding. But luckily Peadar worked some magic with a self-tanning mitt and evened things out. It looked fine the morning on the wedding. You can now add beautician to his long list of skills and talents: farmer, footballer, musician, beautician. Quadruple threat.

The bride Louise looked beautiful, in Ireland most of the brides I've seen have long traditional veils down the back to the floor and they don't wear them over their faces. The church was lovely, and all the guests had colorful outfits and swanky hair pieces.

 < Bridesmaids, not like the movie. More classy.

Later on in the night, about 3 AM, I was convinced Peadar needed to wear my headpiece and was harassing him for ages telling him he looked gorgeous. Doesn't he?

A pic of the parents, Peadar and I, also at 3 AM! Looking good, don't you think? ;) Anyway, so Kev and Suz meet Eddie and Mary and I think things went really well, considering the late hour and the cultural differences. It was surreal seeing everyone in the same place! Suz wanted to meet "as many Whytes as possible" and she was in the right place for that. I think she met about 150/230 people that was at that wedding, and quite literally almost the whole extended family - which is quite an accomplishment. And she will remember everyone's names too! Better than me anyway....

The castle we were at was Lough Rynn  and is a sister castle to Killronan, where Peadar's sister got married in March. This castle had the most amazing grounds and we took a little nature walk after the wedding and I felt like I was in the Secret Garden. Love that movie, btw.

Lastly, on Sunday, Peadar, Kevin and I went Jet-Skiing in the Irish Sea. It's hard to see in the picture below, but it was a cloudy and rainy day in Howth Harbour and I rented some 215 horsepower, huge, brand new jet skis from some semi-sketchy eastern Europeans. You can see the boat launch in the picture below.

Basically, these two guys were like, have you ever driven a jet-ski before? We were like yes... they said "Sign on dotted line so we not responsible if you die" and off we went! Now I have open-ocean jet-skied before in Maui, Hawaii, and there were some pretty big waves, but it was highly regulated and you generally had to drive around buoys in a big circle. Well this was completely unregulated! They basically said stay away from other boats, you can go all the way around Ireland's Eye, which is a big rock island, and have as much fun as you possibly can. Well we sure did! We were fighting the most massive waves ever and barely staying on our jet skis. I thought I was driving crazy then when we switched and Peadar started driving and I was on the back of ours, I was scared sh*tless! He almost threw us off in a major way! Good thing Mom was safe on dry land, having a glass of wine and reading her book at one of the restaurants. She would have died if she saw what we were up to. My friend Rachel Taggart would have absolutely loved this. It was pure adrenaline for a full hour. Kevin even managed to not listen to the easy-going guidelines, went to close to shore and beached himself, but he was lucky Peadar and another guy helped him push the jet ski back into the water. We wore wet-suits and weren't too cold, but next time we are taking a tube out behind the jet-ski, which is meant to be freaking freezing but a lot of fun. Not sure I would want to fall off the tube in the waves we were in though, it would be tough enough not to get swept away and get back on it! Serious adventure in Ireland....

More for you next week, I've got loads more pictures too!

XOXO

Keating

And I thought Chicago was the the Windy City...

Thursday, September 15th at 1:11, I just had one of those moments... I got a new office chair at work, and the seat is much shorter than my old one. I went to sit down and completely missed it and fell on the floor! It would have been totally embarrassing, but everyone was at lunch so no one saw! Well, it's embarrassing now that I have shared it with you. My rib cage, and head, actually hurt from the impact, haha. Regardless of injury, it's still funny. 

On Monday here it was the windiest day of my life in Ireland, gale force winds left over from Hurricane Kathy which never made landfall on the other side of the pond. Check out her path below:




Apparently hurricanes begin off the coast of Africa, travel up North America, then come full circle around to harass Ireland with their winds. People were like literally being blown around on the streets. Chicago is meant to be the Windy City, but Ireland as a country is entirely more windy than even the most intense wind tunnels in-between Chicago skyscrapers. But a little Chi-City trivia for you, the "Windy City" is not actually referring to the weather but to the "hot air" (i.e. exaggerations) the politicians exuded in the bid to have the World's Fair in Chicago in the late 1800's. It's also said to have began with a rivalry between Cincinnati and Chicago journalists taunting each other in the headlines of newspapers. But the true origin is often contested, as with most nicknames, it's hard to remember how or who started them. And since the weather is actually pretty windy in Chicago, the nickname stuck.

World's Fair Colombian Expedition in Chicago 1893

One nickname I wouldn't want is "Angel Faced Killer". Many of you have probably heard of Amanda Knox, the American exchange student (wrongly) being held in Italian prison along with 2 others for the murder of her UK roommate that occurred when they were both studying abroad in Perguia. After being in prison for 4 years, her appeal has finally been heard, and a decision about her acquittal could be made any day now. A naive, aloof, and with a flaky personality, Amanda did herself no favors in convincing the fantastical Italian authorities that she is innocent. But the DNA evidence does not lie. I am in the middle of a great new book, "The Fatal Gift of Beauty: Trials of Amanda Knox" by Nina Burleigh, an investigative journalist. After I ordered it and opened to the cover, I was thrilled to find that the author (another investigative journalist) of the book "The Monster of Florence" Douglas Preston had fully endorsed Nina's book. Monster of Florence is an amazing labor of effort that covers the Italian investigation and subsequent trials of various people in the case of a serial killer that stalked the hills of Tuscany in the 70's and 80s. The book reveals the numerous and frustrating flaws in the Italian justice system and the paranoid delusion of it's chief prosecutor, Giuliano Migini. I highly recommend these books as great reads, and interesting true stories, and a stark reminder to American and Irish citizens that you do not take your rights with you (as my mother, the lawyer, always use to tell me) when you leave the country. So be mindful of local policies, customs, and law when you go abroad, have adventures but be smart. Even in countries that are romanticized like Italy that appear 1st world, but actually have 2nd world justice and legal systems. I've seen too many episodes of Locked Up Abroad to be blase. Ever see Brokedown Palace?

On a lighter note, last weekend we went to a benefit at the GAA (remember, Gaelic football) club for a fellow that played football in the 90's who now has Motor Neuron Syndrome. I never mind knocking a few back for a good cause, and had never been inside the club house at Clan Muire (Peadar's local club) before. Surprise...the bar is made of potato boxes. Whyte Brothers potato boxes you better believe.

This was taken the night before Ireland played the USA in Rugby. I decided to support Ireland and wear my green dress, green nail polish, and then drink orange cocktails in order to support my new allegiance to Ireland with their national colors. It was Rugby so I didn't care. I still support the USA in matters more important.

See the WB etched into the box on the left hand side of the bar? That's a potato box from the farm.

Peadar heard today that he got tickets for the GAA final which is basically the Superbowl of GAA, and its Country Dublin vs. County Kerry, guess which team we'll be rooting for? "Com'on you boys in blue!" is the saying (Blue is Dublin's county color.) The whole town is buzzing in anticipation on Sunday's game. I'm taking Monday off. Guess why.

Amanda Lynch, Peadar, and I at a Dublin GAA game in '09

Catch ya on the flip side.

XOXO

Amanda

Snow Whyte and the 7 Dubs

Chimpy, Stumpy, Lumpy, Mushy, Fishy, Skippy, Slippy!

Sound Familiar? No, its not Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs, it's the Clan Mhuire Gaelic Football Team! No joke, those are just some of the nicknames you can hear roared and shouting from the sidelines.

Peadar plays Gaelic Football, which I can best describe to my American clan as a cross between soccer and rugby. But as any GAA fan will tell you, the Irish invented their sport first, long before the other 2 existed. Clan Mhuire is the local club, and there are like 22 divisions and his team plays in the 3rd one. Think like AAA baseball. (If you were wondering which nickname Peadar has, it's Krusty). 

We had a bunch of bbqs and events last weekend so I got my hair did. Took a funny makeup-less pic while I was all roller-ed up and thought I would share with all you fantastic people. Made a new friend at the hair salon (go me!) but she recently invited me to a vegan meet-up group and yoga class so I am not sure we are on the same page. But she was lovely all the same. 

My little brother Gregory is in town. Every time I hear his full name now I think of Talladega Nights and Jean Gerrard's boyfriend Gregory from France. Haha, well anyway, Greg goes by Greg, and he is in Dublin experiencing my cool life. So naturally, we took Greg to the Whyte Gun Club for a shooting lesson with Eddie (Pad's Dad). He did extremely well! Check him out in the storage locker below:

Eddie showed us this gun pictured above, and told us its net worth...get ready... $25,000 retail value. Apparently the more detailed the engraving and the better the metal and craftsmanship are the more $$ a gun is. Makes sense but still...that's a car, or a down payment on a house! Wonder who the lucky purchaser will be?

Pic: Greg and I out for an afternoon of clay pigeon and rabbit shooting.

On Tuesday we got down and touristy and went on a Viking Splash Tour. Similar to the Duck Tours in the Wisconsin Dells which we went on when we were little. (Greg and I both remembered those tours similarly, as one of the scariest, most awesome adventures of our youth!) They are the WW2 Army DUKWs that go on land and water. Our tour guide said ours had been documented as actually participating in D-Day. How cool is that? Our viking guide was really funny and had us roaring at unsuspecting victims on cell phones or reading maps at street corners. I would highly recco the tour as a fun way to see historic shiz in Dubs.

Pad, Greg and I are going to the GAA (Gaelic Football, come on now, remember above) semi-final in Croke Park, also known as Croker (love) on Saturday night. Dublin vs. Tyrone, should be a good one! (What do I know?! haha) 

XOXO

Keating 

Cars, Cows and Castles!!

Happy Wednesday Everyone! Meant to do a post right after the weekend but work has been very busy!

Well, let me give you some updates. This past Saturday Pad and I went autocross, where his cousins Dermot and Brendan race what is basically an off-road buggy for time against other cars in the Irish countryside. Check out a short video of Bren below:

Buggies lined up...

Team Whyte keeps it all in the family. Jimmy is the Coach and also happens to be their dad, Brothers Bren and Dermot drive as well as work on the car, and their 3 other brothers Hagen, Declan, and Barry serve as pit crew for them on race days!

Haha, Peadar and Dermot caught in the act of... helping a cuz out with the kink in his back!

I was more interested in checking out the cows then the cars...

Peadar looking fancy in my sunglasses at the race:

On Sunday we went for a lovely walk around Malahide, because the weather was so good!

We saw a group of kids windsurfing out on the estuary so we decided to sign up for lessons ourselves! We are going next weekend so I'll let you know how we do :)

We walked up to Malahide castle, which is about 10 minutes from our place. Like having a local pub or bar, in Ireland you can have a local castle! You can go to lunch here, take a tour, visit the parks and grounds, it's really a great spot. 

After our walk we went to go pick up our GAA tickets for the match from Phillo's house. He has two dogs, Clubber and Chopper. This is Chopper:

And Clubber. Doesn't Clubber look like "The Beast" from the Sandlot? 

At the actual game we sang the Irish National Anthem. And by "we", I mean Peadar. Doesn't Irish seem impossible to pronounce? For next game we are going to phonetically spell out the words so I can read it properly. I promise to post a copy here :) And some pics of Croke Park Stadium and the game.

Lastly, Peadar's sister Olive just announced she is expecting a baby! The first one in her family. Peadar is going to be an uncle... Uncle PadMan haha!

Cooking blog later this week, I promise.

XOXO, Amanda