Kilkenny, Ireland

I had never heard the term "freezing fog" used in a weather forecast (as opposed to "warm" fog?), but that was what I read as we left Dublin early one Sunday morning in mid-February. Our destination: Kilkenny, which is a small city south of Dublin. I chose Kilkenny because of its proximity to Dublin and the fact that it is on the rail line and we were not planning on hiring a car. Since we only had two spare days in Ireland, the two hour train ride from Dublin would leave us plenty of time for exploring once we arrived in Kilkenny.

We walked a few blocks from the train station into the center of town and found the Hibernian Hotel. We stepped into the lobby with its rich red walls and hunter green accents that highlighted the beautiful mahogany woodwork around the registration desk.  We were greeted by the warm fireplace burning nearby. After checking in, we stayed long enough to take off the chill by having a pot of tea in the deep leather chairs next to the fireplace in the hotel pub and I thought to myself that is exactly what one should be doing on a freezing fog Sunday afternoon in Ireland.

The next stop was an obvious and definite choice: Kilkenny Castle. The castle was taken over by the State in 1969 and restored to look like a mid-19^th century home. It sits upon the River Nore and the stone structure dates back to the 13^th century. It had been the home to the powerful Butler family for over 600 years. The family received their surname as they were once butler to the King of England. The Long Gallery with its glass roof displays portraits of the former occupants. Directly across the street housed in the former stables is the Kilkenny Design Centre with their locally made goods. 

 The next two days we strolled around the main tourist sites such as 6^TH century St. Canice's Cathedral with its stained glass windows and walked through the graveyard with the ornate tombstones where we climbed its round tower for a view of the city. We left the cathedral and strolled the quaint High Street with its shops and pubs.

 We visited the Rothe House and Garden, the Tudor home of a former merchants and their 12 children in the early 1600's. The house is educational as to how the family lived and features a re-created vegetable and herb garden and orchard. In fact, a group of school children were on a tour and we listened as they received their lesson.

Kilkenny is a brew town, home of not only Kilkenny beer, but Smithwick's. Probably one of the most high-tech brewery tours around, The Smithwick's Experience talks you on an audiovisual tour of the Smithwick family and their brewery.
Another thing Kilkenny is known for is its music. Both of the evenings that we were in town, Sunday and Monday nights, we strolled from pub to pub to hear the local bands that ranged from a six-piece rock band to two guys with a guitar, flute and harmonica. My husband's favorite were the two old lads that played a mandolin and drum and paused for folk stories and poetry recitations in between sets.

 

We were sorry to leave on Tuesday morning, but glad that we had two days to experience life in Ireland outside of big-city Dublin.

More of Dublin

I had the luxury of two days in Dublin…alone. My husband was in meetings and this was the first one of his meetings where there wasn't another business associate's wife along to keep me company. And guess what? I loved being alone.

When I walked back to the city centre for the day, I meandered through alleyways going in whatever direction moved me. I stopped for a tour of Dublin castle, paying the extra 2 Euros for a guide. She was a cute Irish girl and told us a lot of Irish history that refreshed my memory that they broke from England in 1922.

The Throne

St. Patrick's Hall

A destination that I had in mind was the National Museum-Archeology. My favorite was a miniature Viking ship made entirely of gold.

I stumbled upon a food market and decided to stop for lunch when I saw a sandwich stand named The Ugly Duckling. On their board they listed a Pittsburgher and I asked where it got it name. I met the proprietors and Darragh and Derek explained that they had been to Giordano Brother in San Francisco (read my blog on Steelers Bars) and brought home the recipe for the Primanti sandwich…although theirs was nothing like either.  (Don't worry, I didn't eat this monster.)

Along the route, I came upon the Ha'Penny Bridge. It received its nickname from the fare once charged. When I arrived back at the hotel past 5:00 p.m. my husband asked what I did all day. My response: "whatever I felt like". I loved my day wandering through the streets of Dublin with no schedule and as much time to see whatever I chose.

Dublin, Ireland

I am now in Dublin as a guest at my husband's Confederation of European Baseball or CEB. We landed on Thursday morning and, as is our custom, we do not sleep but "hit the ground running".

Our hotel is a thirty minute walk into the city centre and it is just what we need to wake up our sleepy bones after the six hour flight. (Faster than normal due to a strong tailwind.) We walk right by Trinity College and decide to walk around the green quads and cobblestone campus and find their library. The main chamber of the Old Library is the Long Room. It contains 200,000 of the Library's oldest books in tall oak bookcases.

The main attraction, however, is decorated The Book of Kells. This is not one but several volumes of lavishly decorated manuscript of the four gospels, in Latin. The Book of Kells was presumably produced in the 9^th century by monks of Iona who labored over the rich calligraphy. Eventually, the manuscript was moved to Trinity College for safekeeping. They did not allow photography of the book, so see their website for further information and to view the artistry and details of the manuscript.Book of Kells
Our next stop was the Temple Bar area and, of course, the one and only Temple Bar. The narrow street is home to many restaurants and night clubs, but the most famous spot was this pub of the same name which was established in 1840. I was surprised that at 1:00 p.m. the bar had live music and many customers enjoying a pint. As you can see from the tap, they offered many fine beers but the overwhelming favorite that day was the black, stout Guinness.

Guinness is the pride and joy of the city of Dublin, so we headed over to the Guinness Storehouse for a tour of the factory. This site includes the original house of Guinness which began brewing here over 200 years ago. We took the tour that explains the brewing of Guinness and the history of Arthur Guinness who in 1759 signed a 9,000 year lease to take over the site.

Even though I have never drank a full beer in my life, I enjoyed the interactive displays where you can smell the ingredients used in the brewing process. At the tasting room, we were given small samples and I learned how to taste on the tip of your tongue, the back of your throat and then swallow and exhale through your nose. I managed one big gulp, and even enjoyed the taste after having viewed the process.

That night it was back to the Temple Bar area to find a pub called Boxty that was recommended to us by a young man who insisted that was where he would go for dinner. My husband had an Irish stew and I had a spicy coddle which is a traditional Dublin dish made with sausages, rashes, potatoes and vegetables.  Mine resembled stew made with chorizo that reminded me of my family's old-time Christmas soup.


With our bellies warm and full, we hiked the 30 minutes back to our hotel. We arrived at 9:00 p.m., having been awake all day and looking forward to a long sleep.

Shanghai

We touched down in Shanghai after an overnight flight from Phnom Penh, Cambodia in transit to Los Angeles….and eventually, back home. Our layover was eight hours and neither of us wanted to sit (or sleep) in the airport for that amount of time.
Luckily, China started issuing free 72 hour Visas for transient travelers a few years ago. We arrived at 6:00 a.m. and hoped to board the fast Maglev train to New Pudong.

 The first train, however, wasn't until 7:00 a.m. and since we cleared immigration so quickly, we waited in the cold train station shivering at the difference in temperature from our last stop in Phnom Penh only a few hours earlier.

Once on the train, it was a quick 10 minutes to Pudong where we transferred to the Shanghai subway. The Maglev travels as fast as 431 km, or 267 mph.  It was Thursday morning rush hour and I had never seen so many people at a subway station in my life.  At every stop a crowd of people pushed like a wave to enter and exit the subway cars. Inside, I was crushed up against other bodies, not even able to raise my arms to hold onto anything for balance.
We reached our destination, the famous Bund (meaning embankment) historical district. The European styled buildings along the western bank of the Huangpu River were once the business headquarters of Shanghai. Across the river is Pudong or New Pudong, with its shiny new skyscrapers.

After stopping for a hot cocoa, we crossed the river and headed for the Shanghai World Financial Center and its observation tower. It was a cloudy day, and the clouds passed below us impeding our view of the city. In between clouds, I was able to catch a photograph of the modern Oriental Pearl TV Tower and its landmark onion-shaped tower. 

 We were the only visitors at the observation center that morning probably because it was cold, cloudy and early. After embracing the view and snapping some photos, we returned to the Maglev and the airport and were on our way for the rest of the long journey home.

When was the LAST time you tried something for the FIRST time?

My sabbatical has been all about firsts. My first time to Spain, first time to Asia, first ride on a bullet train…and the list goes on. When I told people that I was taking a sabbatical from work, they all asked if I had to study something. My answer was a polite "No, I am a lawyer, not a teacher" and assumed everyone knew that lawyers were already pretty smart with all of our self-imposed reading and required continuing legal education.
Turns out, however, my sabbatical was a learning experience. I learned about new cultures, new religions and new foods. I awakened my senses. Learning is more than what you read in books. You need to hear it, see it, smell it, touch it, to understand what it is made of. Back at home I fall into the old familiar routines, but is that really living, or is it just existing?
All of this leads me to the background for my latest experience: eating my first grasshopper. I had never even heard of Angkor Wat until we decided to meet some friends at the end of my husband's business trip to Asia. Sally is well-traveled, having been to over 130 countries, and since she had not been to Cambodia, we decided we would meet in Phnom Penh. From there, we took a 10 passenger van (that had seats for 16) as a mini-bus to Siem Reap where Angkor is located. The five hour ride turned into seven due to heavy traffic and stand-stills due to construction crews. (They were working on a Sunday.) The clay road was hot and dusty, so much so that our driver had to stop twice to clean out the van's air filter. Everything was covered with a red dust. The van was red, kid's clothes were red, the playground equipment was red.

 
At our second stop, we browsed the roadside food stand. Set up high on a table away from the dusty road was a large silver wok that smelled delicious. Inside the vat was a stir-fry concoction of green onions, red chiles, and a sweet, sticky sauce. My friend bought a bag of these crunchy delicacies, and I was shocked to find out they were fried grasshoppers.

I watched in horror as my friend ate one after another, bragging to us how good they were. One by one everyone in our group was eating fried grasshoppers. They were all so brave, weren't they? Or maybe….they really tasted good after all?

Why not, I thought as I took one, pulled off the head and put the meaty body on my tounge. The spices were intriguing. I bit off a small piece and it tasted something like a roasted almond. Just at that moment our van driver honked for us to return to the van. I swallowed my small piece in a gulp, discarding the rest of the body on the dusty, red ground. We were back on the road again, and I had just eaten my FIRST grasshopper!

Angkor-Day Three

Angkor Thom

As I mentioned in my earlier blog on Angkor Wat, we purchased a three day pass when we arrived on late that first afternoon. Our first day we only had time to see one temple and a breathtaking sunset. Day Two was spent primarily at the iconic Angkor Wat followed by a short visit to the intentionally unrestored Ta Prohm. I was glad that we decided on a three day pass because it takes a minimum of three days to make your visit worthwhile, and I can see that a week would be ideal to see all of the temples which I believe number close to twenty.

Moat around Angkor Thom

On our third and last day, we attempted to conquer Angkor Thom, the largest of the ancient cities. The night before, we had driven across the avenue of Gods lining the bridge across Angkor Thom's moat and passed through its impressive S Gate with the four faces.

Avenue of Gods

S Gate

Our driver, Mr. Ro, suggested we hike the wall of this one corner of the temple so this is where we started out on our third day. We enjoyed the views of the moat from the high wall, and even managed to stop and pet the wild monkeys who were happy to drink from Frank's water bottle.

Once inside, we marveled at the carvings.  I stopped to have my photo taken so that I was nose-to-nose with a God.

We hustled around that day, climbing to the top of temples for the view.

We ended at Angkor Thom's famous Elephant Terrace.  This long terrace used for royal receptions got its modern name front he elephants carved along its wall.

The night before, we were actually inside the walled city of Angkor Thom to visit one of its temples, The Bayon.  This temple has one of the most religious backgrounds, having passed through different religious phases.  Each successive king, having his own religion, found it easier to remodel the temple than to erect a new temple.  We witnessed a wall of Buddhist guardians that were pulled out presumably for a new, Hindu King's reign.

Since we arrived late in the evening, the guard who was preparing to close for the night gave us a guided tour.  He had asked if we were Americans and mentioned that the U.S. was helping with the restoration of this temple, but that the crew had already gone home for the night.