A Tale of Two Nathans . . .

. . . and two siblings - all under one roof, that is.
The weekend after our Paris adventure, my brother Craig and his best friend Nathan arrived for a visit (we're talking mid-August now - I'm still about a month and a half behind). We spent the week with two Nathans in the house, yet somehow survived the confusion.
I was thrilled to have my brother visit - since he's living in Los Angeles, we don't get much face time these days. And as Nathan has become an extension of our family over the years (Christmas wouldn't be the same without a Nathan appearance), it only seemed natural that the two should explore Ireland together. What's more, these two are well-seasoned travelers together, so they were great guests. Driven by their inner sense of adventure, they purposefully navigated Dublin without the aid of maps - and managed to find their way back home every time, which is better than what I'd be able to do.

Craig and Nathan's visit included an in-depth exploration of the pubs in various parts of Ireland. The first stop entailed a pilgrimage to the all-hallowed house of Guinness, where they became the first visitors I've had to actually acquire seats at the Sky Bar - you have to be a little cut-throat to edge out all of the other people. Below, Nathan savors the victory with a celebratory toast to the camera:

The guys frequented the Temple Bar area of Dublin regularly throughout their visit. They also invested time in the social scenes of Belfast and Galway. The pubs afforded the opportunity to talk with plenty of locals as well as immigrants from all over Europe. They even had guys giving them beers on the train! My favorite story: during a foray in Galway, some high school kids lit a trash can on fire. Everyone calmly milled about the square, seemingly unaffected by the smoke and flames, until the fire squad eventually arrived to put it out.














In addition to bars, food was another element of interest for these two wily travelers. The guys were particularly fascinated by Irish pizza:














Intent on exploring Ireland beyond its social and culinary scene, the two also ventured upon the popular Irish pasttime of cliffwalking when they climbed Bray Head, a small mountain south of Dublin. The walk rewarded them with great views, as their photos demonstrate.








































These two were fun house guests - I enjoyed seeing Ireland through their eyes. All of the pictures from this post are Nathan's work. I'm putting some on Flickr as well, but if you'd like a little insight into the world of Craig and Nathan, take a gander at Nathan's photo site, complete with commentary that is guaranteed to amuse and delight:

http://picasaweb.google.com/nshipley/NathanAndCraigGoToIreland

Summertime in Paris

I want to start this off by wishing Nate a happy birthday! We're back to being the same age again - cause for us both to celebrate!
Now - on to August! The very weekend after we returned from London, we set out again for Paris, taking advantage of a three-day Bank Holiday weekend. Once again, the trip was much too quick to be able to appreciate the city the way we wanted to, but we packed our schedule and tried our best to partake in the joie de vivre that the French are so renowned for. We even decided to cash in on some hotel points and stay in a fancy hotel on the Champs Elysees. Tres chic!



Although both of us had been to Paris before, I had never been able to climb the Arc de Triomphe - and as it's one of my favorite monuments, I felt it was necessary, so that was the first project on our visit. As we are now at an age when we can appreciate the Louvre, we took the time to give its famous works a proper study, as Nate demonstrates in the photograph below. (We did eventually find the real Mona Lisa, but it took a while!)
Our first evening was spent enjoying dinner at an outdoor cafe, followed by an evening ascent up the Eiffel Tower - I don't know when the sparkly lights were installed, but they look awesome, and I'm so glad the picture above shows them!


Our second day entailed a loooooooong wait to climb the steps of Notre Dame. My mom had told me we could walk amongst the gargoyles, so my curiousity was piqued. Plus I wanted to continue my ongoing quest to challenge my fear of heights. The heights were not as difficult as we thought they'd be, and the views from the top of the church were amazing.




During our final afternoon, we trekked out to the Sacre Coeur Basilica - a place neither of us had been. It was beautiful, and we're glad we did it, but we were exhausted by the end of the journey, so probably didn't appreciate it as much as we could have. We capped off the evening with another leisurely outdoor dinner and a walk down the Champs Elysees.
The weather was perfect for such a busy weekend, and we returned back to Dublin exhausted but happy with our trip. Even though this was my third "quick trip" to Paris (the two previous ones were back in high school), there were many experiences, like climbing Notre Dame, that I'd always wanted to try, but never had enough time for. We now feel as though we've done the sightseer's side of Paris properly - so if we make it back again, we're ready to explore a deeper side of the city.

Beefeaters and Birthdays

This blog covers the last week in July:
The day before Pat returned to the states (the last blog’s topic), I hopped a plane to London. Nate followed after finishing up the work week and spending one last evening with his brother. We had a lot to celebrate during our trip to London! For starters, we had our next group of visitors in from the states - Brandy and Jen, from Nate's hometown stomping grounds (pictured above). We also met up with Tucker, a friend from college (pictured with Brandy below), and his wife Kerri. In addition to my (gulp) 29th birthday, we were also celebrating Brandy's birthday, Tucker's new job and new house, and Jen's recent wedding!



I met up with Brandy and Jen earlier in the week in order to fit in some classic London sightseeing. We kicked the festivities off with a trip up the London Eye - timed perfectly, at sunset! The next day was spent at Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and the ultimate piece de resistance - a performance of Antony and Cleopatra at the Globe Theater! I was in my element, melting in the heat, but enraptured by the opportunity to watch a work of Shakespeare in his original theater - a replica of course, but that's the best we can ask for after 400 years in a fire-prone city!



During our final days in London, we ate lots of food, shopped at Camden market, ate more food, took in a little history at the Museum of London, gawked at Dali's works in the Tate Modern art museum . . . and ate more food. Tucker and Kerri really know how to entertain a group – we ate more incredible food that week than we've probably had throughout our stay here. We've promised to return their hospitality when they visit us in Dublin - we have a high standard to live up to!

The Days are Just Packed

More picture issues - the following pics will be replaced whenever I receive more from our two visitors. I mistakenly left my camera behind during this visit, so I'm dependent on them to help fill the gap. Anyhow . . . .
No rest for the weary! Five days after our return from Greece and Cyprus in mid-July, we had our next pair of visitors. Nate’s brother Pat joined us for a quick visit to Dublin along with Nate’s former roommate Matt. The entire trip was planned about three weeks prior, making for a whirlwind of an experience all around. Matt flew in from Budapest, taking a break from his incredible new job that took him to Hungary for almost a month – he explored Europe a fair amount on his own throughout July.
I was the lone representative of the female gender during this recent foray – and I quickly realized it had been a long time since that had happened in a large group, as the conversation often leaned toward beer, sports, and commentary on the local ladies our friend Matt had encountered during his newest experiences abroad. Ask me about it sometime if you like, but I don't recommend it! :)
Matt headed back to Budapest after the weekend, but Pat stayed on to explore a little more of Dublin. The pictures from this post are from the one time I had my camera with me - during a trip to Newgrange, an ancient burial site during Ireland's pre-Christian era. Check out the pic of the rather phallic protrusion in the middle of the field - that's the crowning site for Ireland's ancient kings.

























One of the week's unexpected highlights was when Pat and I stumbled onto a great Irish music session in one of the Dublin pubs. These guys were great – a fiddler, guitarist and accordion player made up the group, but they had a table full of buddies who would pick up an instrument and join in from time to time. They even had a guy playing the spoons. When the music ended officially, the guys weren’t in the mood to pack up, so a group of them hunkered down into a corner and continued playing some impromptu tunes. Not bad for a random Tuesday night!