Tall Ships Festival 2012...

Chad and I were lucky enough to be in Dublin during the Tall Ships Festival.  We were even more lucky that it happened right outside our front door.  Literally for the last 4 days we have been surrounded by festival!  The fun has all been in honor of the Tall Ships Race that had it's last port of call in Dublin.

Our neighborhood has been bustling all week with sailors, tourists and locals all wanting to see the ships and enjoy the attractions. There was tons of food, goods for sale, street performers, concerts, kids activities and more.  It was like being in the middle of a pirate movie!! There were ships from all over the world (all though no American ships). 

Other than food and a couple of t-shirts I managed to not go crazy buying up all the cute things they had for sale!  Chad and I MAY have had chocolate fondue with strawberries every day for dessert though!! They were sooooo good.

Freshly made sausages

Hand made wool goods

Baked goods

Yummy chocolate fondue they would pour over strawberries, marshmallows and other good stuff!

People watching kept me pretty busy while Chad was at work.  I could have stayed out there for hours watching all the kids run around or the sailors standing on their boats. I was the creepy lady taking pictures of random people but I didn't mind.

The potato farmers booth....little bit of John Deer : ) 

This kiddo was so cute!!

Nothing better as a kid than a cool hat and some cotton candy

NO texting while sailing please!

So sweet

Some kind of junk band

Today was the last day of the festival which means no more chocolate fondue : ( but today our first guests arrived!! Serena and Dave are here!!

Can't wait to show these two Dublin and explore a little more of Ireland with them!

Random Stuff

It's been good to be back "home" after a few weeks on the road. Here are just a few pictures from the past week to show you what I have been up to.

There is a small grocery store across the street from our apartment and I often run over there for last minute dinner stuff, snacks, etc. Well much to my surprise I stumbled across some Mississippi BBQ sauce : ) Who would think you could find a little bit of MS in Dublin, Ireland....Well, sadly when you looked at the back it was made in Ohio!! False advertising if you ask me.

This next picture was actually taken a few weeks ago but I forgot to post it.   Did you know they named cars after me over here...Ok, ok, so the actual brand is Megane and it's French but still!  They are all over the place.

Earlier in the week I met a new friend for lunch in the city and then decided I would do a little shopping.  My last stop was a fairly large shopping center with a few department stores I wanted to check out.  I desperately needed a bathroom and this point and when I found one the pic below is what I saw....SERIOUSLY, you are gonna charge me 20 cents to pee in your bathroom.  Yep, they had an attendant and a sign.  Luckily I had change in my purse or we could have had a bigger issue.  Similar to this, the grocery stores here charge you 1 euro to "rent a shopping cart" and charge you per plastic bag (unless you bring your own).  You get your money back when you return the cart to the proper location which makes me feel a little better about that though....no money came out when I flushed the toilet!!

I have been attempting to cook us healthy dinners most nights while also trying out a few new recipes.  This week we had Chicken Rolantini (I forgot to get a pic) and Sweet and Fiery Pork Tenderloin with Mango Salsa courtesy of skinnytaste.com. Both were excellent and I am in love with her blog and recipes.  So far everything I have made from her site has been really good.

Sweet and Fiery Pork with Mango Salsa, sugar snap peas and rice

This was last nights dinner....chicken stir fry with onions, sugar snap peas, bok choy,  carrots, baby corn, broccoli and lo mein.  Didn't really have a recipe for this one. Sorta fly by the seat of my pants concoction but it came out pretty good : )

The Tall Ships Festival started today and is happening literally steps from our front door. More on this to come....but Chad and I have been wondering how they would get the ships into the Liffey (big river that flows out the the ocean) with all the bridges in place.  The bridges didn't look like they would move at all. Well the other night I captured the answer.  The first pick below is the view of the bridge in place....The white harp looking thing is pointing towards our apartment.  The second pick is from our balcony and shows that the bridge has turned 90 degrees.  Mystery solved!

Little preview of Tall Ships Festival 

 Chad and I plan to really explore the festival this weekend and then I'm sure I will have tons to show and tell! In the mean time I am enjoying watching all the sailors walk around town. 

Barcelona...Part Tres

On our third day in Barcelona we did the most touristy thing possible....we took a bus tour. Yep, a big red double decker bus full of camera holding tourists. We had been told by multiple people that it was the "only way to see it all".  I would say they were right! The tour allowed us to hop on and hop off at each stop and spend as much time exploring each sight as we wanted.  We got on the bus around 9:30 am and headed off to our first location.

First stop, La Sagrada Familia.  This church was designed by Antoni Gaudi, a famous Spanish architect/artist, and began construction in 1883. Sadly, in 1926 Gaudi was hit by a tram and passed away. At that time the project was only 15-20% complete.  It is still incomplete today and scheduled to be completed in 2026, the centennial of Gaudi's death. 

The structure is unlike any I have ever seen. It has 3 sides which are all very different. The Nativity Facade was the first completed and most "Gaudi influenced". The work is very intricate and detailed...almost like it was sculpted out of clay.  The west side is the Passion Facade and is very stark, simple and has sharp lines. The southern side has yet to be built and will be called the Glory Facade.

The Passion Facade

The Nativity Facade

Looks like the building was made of dripping wax

 When we got there the line was sooooo long it wrapped 2/3 of the way around the building. We decided seeing it from the outside was better than wasting the day standing in line to go inside. FYI you can apparently buy tickets online and bypass the masses. That would have been good to know!!

So we hopped back on the bus and made our way to the next stop....a hospital.  To be honest I was not excited to stop here.  I mean how exciting could a hospital tour be? Chad wanted to see it though and I am so glad we went. This may have been my favorite stop.  The buildings are currently undergoing restoration and they are still giving tours to raise funds.  We had to gear up in orange vests and hard hats since we were on a construction site.

Hot stuff!!!

Dont' I look thrilled : ) 

To give you a little background, the Hospital of the Holy Cross and Saint Paul was originally founded in 1401.  It was later moved and the current structures were built in 1901.  Until 2009 it served as a functioning hospital.  True to most of Barcelona's early architecture the buildings were amazing.  All of the surfaces/walls/ceilings are covered with hand painted ceramic tiles. This was apparently for cleanliness - so they could all be scrubbed from top to bottom.  If you had to be in a hospital at least this one was beautiful to look at. The hospital is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and will be restored just as it was but used for offices.

Front entrance to the hospital

Ceiling inside the hallway - all ceramic tiles

One of the operating rooms.  The windows were milk glass so you couldn't see inside.

Communal hospital room where 20 patient beds would have been

On site there was also an amazing Chapel. The front was very plain (all though it looked great to me) as apparently they ran out of money when they were building it. The ceiling was also unpainted/plain for the same reason.

Gorgeous stained glass windows and columns

Mosaic above the doors

One of the two pulpits

After the hospital we hopped back on the bus and headed to another Gaudi masterpiece, Park Guell.  This was a originally planned to be an upscale housing development with homes designed by Gaudi....however the idea didn't really catch on.  There were 60 lots planned out but only two homes were ever built, one of which was Gaudi's.  The park is high up in the hills and has a gorgeous view of Barcelona.

The main pavillion....it was busy!!

One of the houses

Mosaic ceiling

View of Barcelona from the pavillion

Little parrot friend : )

After Park Guell we were both hot and tired. In true American fashion we stopped at Hard Rock Cafe for lunch.  I know, I know, we were in Barcelona....whatever it was soooo good!!! 

 
 Phew....that was a long post. Our last 2 days in Barcelona we went back to the beach and shopping and I didn't take any pictures. We had a blast Barcelona but were ready to get back to cooler temps in Ireland!!