We're Back !

Well we're finally moved in our new apartment and back online !


Our apartment is in the building directly behind the very convenient tram/streetcar in this picture.


This past weekend was chocked full of action, first and foremost a lacrosse double header vs. visiting American NCAA Div 2 Catawba College. Unfortunately Dublin Lacrosse lost both games ( 13-8, 12-9) but they were both close games and everyone had a great time.

Information on this game and all Dublin Lacrosse events can be found at the Dublin Lacrosse Website

I've mentioned Hurling on the blog before, you know... the game where guys run around with wooden clubs.

After the lacrosse game on Saturday, players and coaches from both teams went to Croke Park in Dublin for the All-Ireland Hurling Quarter Finals...and boy was it awesome.

Croke Park is the biggest stadium in Ireland. It has a seating capacity of 80,000 !

The atmosphere is electric ! There were 3 games in a row on Saturday. Players play for their counties as opposed to organized independent teams. All these young lads are sporting their Tipperary colors, unfortunately for them Tip was upset by Wexford.

We were all rooting for Wexford, especially UCD Lacrosse Captain Paddy O'Leary (far right) who wore his Wexford jersey and didn't stop smiling until the next day.

.
In between games the band comes out, you can see the flags of the counties playing in the next match at the back of the band. This game was also awesome, Kilkenny vs Galway. Kilkenny came out on top in a high scoring match.

More frequent blog posts to come now that we're moved in.

-Chris

Home sweet home...

Greeting and salutations from the newest Chez Arnold. Please forgive the recent lack of activity on the ol' blog, but moving has taken up much time, effort and energy. The new place is great and we are settling in as best we can. Internet, however, is sporadic at the moment, and may remain so for a week or two.
So in an emergency call the cell phones
Chris: 011-353-86-334-6678
Kelly 011-353-86-330-3336

And if there's no real emergency but you have the overwhelming urge to contact us, send a letter, postcard or owl to:

Iveagh Court Apt 16
Harcourt lane
Dublin 2 IE

-k.

p.s. the new place has two bedroom and two bathrooms....start booking your tickets people.

See everybody in a couple of days....

Ah, the problems of temporary retirement...

The books keep piling up...


...no matter how you stack 'em, it's clear I am ripping through them too fast for my storage capabilities and my budget. Can anyone recommend a nice, thick, juicy page turner? Something long and complicated but addicting, that'll keep me occupied a wee bit longer than usual?

And before sister Helen gets a chance to ask, I'll state that I am trying to join the local library but can't until we get a more permanent address in Dublin. Something we're working on today in fact....stay tuned.

-k.

Awwwww

The Hub brought me flowers today.
:)

-k.

Somewhere over the Rainbow

We saw our very first rainbow in Ireland the other day. I snapped this picture really quickly because it was raining. It is amazing how brilliant the colors were.

Coincidentally, we were about to go on a trip that was similar to going from Kansas to Oz

Belfast, capitol of Northern Ireland and seat of many of the Troubles and unrest that has plagued Ireland for centuries.

I took this picture of some of the local tough guys in Belfast.

Ok, so they are really the Munchkins from the Lollipop Guild who welcome Dorothy to Oz...but tell me they dont look Irish !

We took a pleasant 2 hour train ride from Dublin to Belfast, and then took a bus tour of the city.
Some of the more fascinating stuff of course came as we drove through the different Unionist & Republican (Protestant & Catholic) neighborhoods with their barbed wire barricades and surreal political murals

Tribute to Bobby Sands

Sinn Fein party HQ

Republican / Catholic memorial in the Falls Road neighborhood

above -Memorial to the Hunger Strikers

Republicans want Northern Ireland to be part of the Republic of Ireland, and not part of Great Britain. They consider themselves Irish and are generally Catholic.

Unionists want Northern Ireland to remain part of Great Britain. They are descendants of the English & Scots who came to Ireland during the Plantation and are generally Protestants.

There has been peace in Ireland since the Good Friday agreement of 1998

It still feels like an uneasy peace, there are still barbed wire fences & barricades between neighborhoods.

Murals serve as constant reminders of many years of unrest.

They still put up new murals, like this one about Iraq, Bush & Oil

I cant imagine living in a place totally slathered with propaganda.

The 36th Ulster Division - A division made up entirely of Loyalist Irish during World War I. They suffered 80% casualties at the Battle of the Somme.

Notice the tower in the background. The British Army had towers around with cameras to keep watch on the different troubled areas. The British Army moved out for good just three years ago.

The old courthouse, where criminals & political prisoners were tried.

and the jail where they were kept

Our trip to Northern Ireland wasnt all doom & gloom...more pics to come in another post

The landscape of Ireland is breathtaking

Although we didn't find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow...we did find a cup of tea, which on a chilly Irish day, is just as good.

-Chris

Vanity, thy name is Kelly...

Notice anything different?
No?

How about now??
Need to see more?

That's right peeps, you guessed it, I've started using styling wax in my hair.

-k.

Oh Canada

July 1st marked Canada's 140th anniversary as a self governing country.
Sort of.

Whatever the case, we were lucky enough to have some Canadian friends to celebrate with. (Read: drink Moosehead with.)

Kelly & Ashley.

Poutine - Canadian comfort food - more info here

Sean & Chris, representin' in funny hats.

Visitors!!

Dontchya just love when friends of friends become your friends?
A couple weeks ago we were lucky enough to make some new friends!!

sidebar: doesn't the word friends sound weird after you say it a bunch? I start doubting my spelling skills, questioning the "ie" placement...maybe it should be an "ei?" Freinds? No, that's not right.
friends. frenz. friends.
Hmmm.
When you make a lot of friends at once...is it a friendzy?
When your friends get burnt... do they become frieds?
The mind wanders strange places when you don't work. Anywho, cheers to new friends!!

Chris, Kelly, Sabrina & Max below

Sabrina and Max celebrated his high school graduation with a trip to Edinburgh, Dublin & Paris. Nice!!!
It was a real pleasure getting to know you guys, thanks for letting us be part of your grand tour.

As it was only our third week in country I am not sure we were the best people for the job, but we did our best to show them some of the Dub's sights nonetheless.
In case you guys didn't get pictures of all the pubs, ahem, sights, we showed you, we went a couple days later and got them in the light of day.

Also cause we missed you :)

Above we have The Auld Dubliner, The Temple Bar and Oliver St. John Gogerty's.

There was dinner at the Elephant & Castle, who gets the award for cutest logo

There was traditional music as several of the above, but we only managed to snap a shot of this trim trio at The Purty Kitchen, aka Bad Bobs. These guys did a great mix of acoustic rockers and traditional Irish songs.

Max, Sabrina & Christian at The Purty Kitchen, where we met up with S & M (teehee) after their day of sight seeing and our day of lacrosse.