Loose Change

A day that started off with loose change, and ended with Loose Change. Peadar had his first day off in over 6 weeks last Sunday, so we decided to make a day of it. Taking the idea of "saving for a rainy day" literally, we raided our New Tractor Fund jar full of change (after filtering out the American and British coinage) and went for a day out on the town.

The first thing Peadar wanted to do was see the Phil Lynott (lead singer from Thin Lizzy) exhibition in St. Stephens Green. Phil was a (half) black signer from Dublin in the 70's, a true novelty of the era. He was raised by his single mum, who kept all of his letters and notebooks and photos from when we was younger, which were available for viewing. It was an interesting display of Rock 'N Roll.

The next stop was Saba for Thai food and Saki. They had a good selection of gluten-free offerings, which was great for me. I have decided to start another blog that will cover places to eat GF in Dublin, for all of my fellow Coeliacs/ Celiacs out there. It's almost ready to be launched, so I'll keep you updated. 

For dessert we went to Fallon & Byrne, which is kind of like a Whole Foods. There is a wine bar, gourmet deli, grocery store, and even a fancy restaurant upstairs. Pad and I got glasses of port, Eton Mess (my new favorite dessert, besides pavlova, that I have been introduced to in Ireland), and the Sunday Independent. We then spent an hour discussing: why everyone is going topless (Rosanna Davidson, Kate Middleton), why how much people leave in their wills get published in the paper, about how teachers now have to work 40 hours a week (the horror!), and what is the story with government employees viewing copious amounts of porn at work! 

 

Then things got extra touristy when we hit-up Gogarty's for some live Irish music and whiskey. This is probably the most tourist-centric pub in Dublin, and is full of non-Irish people, but is nevertheless a must see on your tour of Dublin. Located in Temple Bar.

I get asked a lot how Peadar and I met. I was studying abroad at Dublin City University in Ireland in 2008, and my American friends and I wanted to watch the Superbowl. It is on really late on a Sunday, so only a few pubs show it, and the pub pictured below, Buskers in Temple Bar, happened to be one of them. Pad's football team also went there for a night out, and the rest is history. Check out an authentic picture of the actual night Peadar and I met. And then 4.5 years later, our 3rd time being back.

 In 2008, with Ciaran, Pad's bro...

UPDATE: New pic of Pad and I the night we met:

...and in 2012, all in love and shiz.

After that, believe it or not the party continued on the train back to Malahide, and into our local pub Gibney's for one more cheeky pint. The band "Loose Change" was playing their usual Sunday night gig, a perfect ending to our grand day out. 

I have lined myself up a very busy fall, as I am a new volunteer coach for the Special Olympics swim team, the NAC Sharks! I have also joined the St.Vincents water polo team (shouts out to K8 the G8, Snorkel, & Moni Babi from WVHS). It remains to be seen whether I will actually survive the training sessions and play in actual matches, especially since I am still swimming with the NAC Masters team, but I'm trying.

And everyone... don't forget, It's Friday. 

Lots of Love.

Keato

Sunglasses and Umbrellas :)

Hi Everyone!
Please forgive me for not posting sooner, it has been a crazy few weeks for Peadar and I in Dublin and beyond, lots of adventures and pictures to share with you all! 

Peadar heard on the radio the other day that Ireland is having it's coldest summer in 40 years, but I heard today that “People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy,”  a quote from Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Either he is right and I am really happy, or Ireland isn't so cold after all!  I took 

this picture before a business lunch in Grand Canal Quay, and I thought it was a lovely day. 

Now, that being said, the #1 lesson I have learned since arriving in Ireland, is bring an umbrella and sunglasses with you at all times wherever you are in the this country. It may look like the brightest, nicest day ever outside, and 20 minutes later you could be "caught out" (as they call it here) in the pouring rain. So don't get caught out! Bring your umbrella! Sometimes it's pouring rain when you leave the house, and you think to yourself, "Oh! There's no way I am going to need sunglasses today." You would be wrong. You'll be on the train 10 minutes later with the sun shining in your face and you won't be able to read the newspaper without them :) Just some friendly advice for my future visitors to the Emerald Isle! Pack both, always.

There is a coffee shop down the street from the office that can always put a smile on your face with a designer latte. Everytime is a different design, the barista this week told me I looked in love, so made me a "love fern". How to lose a guy in 10 days anyone?

We had a photo shoot at the office this week, mostly professional head shots of the owners and things like that, but as quirky photographers always do, he wanted a "fun shot" and convinced the guys to get on tiny chairs in a window well, because it looked like a box, and our company is called "boxPAY". Funny!

2 weekends ago we went windsurfing and had a 4th of July BBQ, which I will tell you about below, but that Saturday I went to to Galway for the evening with Jane (Peadar's brother Ciaran's girlfriend) and her friend Liz (A Dublin Rose contestant!) Galway is a quintessential costal Irish town, there is always good craic (fun) and  is a great weekend destination.

We had great weather and we able to sit outside and drink some wine. The girls and I are pictured below:

That Sunday we had a big group of people go windsurfing! Below Bren and Pad are getting suited up for the lesson:

Peadar's cousin Brendan, Peadar's sister Catherine's husband Jay, and me! Can you keep up with all the relations?

So the story with windsurfing is that is was really fun, I was able to get up and get going pretty good across the water...with one minor problem! I can't turn! I could only surf the one direction...way out into estuary. Every time I tried to surf back, I just kept going further out. Eventually the instructor had to come rescue me, he surfed my sailboard back and I paddle-boarded back in!

After windsurfing we had a solid 4th of July BBQ, complete with props thank you Amanda Lynch for the lovely USA care package! I made all my Irish friends listen to country music and kept saying "God Bless America!" to everyone. Not sure how amused they were :)

I recently bought a deep fat fryer in a charity auction, and Peadar brings home fresh potatoes every week (benefits of dating a potato farmer! whoop whoop!) which = fresh homemade chips for the BBQ. As a reminder in Ireland french fries are called chips and usually served thick-cut style, and potato chips are called crisps. Anyway they were delish!

So as some of you may know, since I have arrived in Dublin, I have been on the hunt for a dirty vodka martini. Olives are not used as a garnish in bars in Ireland, so it is really hard to find the brine necessary to make the cocktail. You especially wouldn't get a barman in a country pub to make you one.

Anyway, I had a business networking event at The Mint Bar in the Westin Dublin. They had the biggest selection of vodka I have ever seen in a bar in Dublin. Pictured below is Rain, a favorite of mine, distilled 7x from corn and completely organic. Also there is Chopin, a great potato vodka.

Anyway, the barman had no trouble making me a dry dirty vodka martini straight up with Chopin vodka. It was delicious, but they did not fill the glass up all the way, which was a concern of mine considering....

They were 16.50 Euro a pop! That's a $25 cocktail for all you American readers!!!!

Lastly, I have been getting much better at looking the right way crossing the street, particularly thanks so painted signs like the one below, but I still press "1" in elevators when I want to go the street level. In Ireland, the 1st floor is what us Americans would consider the 2nd floor, and so on and so on. 

Press "G" if you want to get out of a building. FYI.

XOXO,

Amanda