the giant's causeway

On our last day in Northern Ireland we went for a long walk along the coast to the Giant's Causeway. The day was calm and cool, and the scenery spectacular. We were stung by stinging nettles, clambered over barbed wire fences to dodge a landslide, got stomped at by an angry sheep and fell into thistle patches. It was super! The pillars of lava forming gigantic hexagonal stepping stones were pretty awesome too. 

sunset in northern ireland

The guy running Finn McCool's in Bushmills, on the doorstep of the Giant's Causeway, practically forced us out of the hostel to go and watch the sunset. I'm so glad he did.

belfast

On Sunday we drove to Belfast. Everyone was on holiday and the city had pretty much shut down, except for the taxi drivers. We did a political taxi tour with Harper Taxi Tours. Our taxi driver, Paddy, was informative and funny, and the experience was totally humbling. It was astonishing to see how close the Protestant Shankhill Road is to the Catholic Falls Road, and how high the wall around the Catholic area still is. In the midst of the many murals promoting republican or loyalist beliefs or demanding change and tolerance, we left our own little messages of peace.

dublin

On the Saturday after Paul Simon we slept in and missed out on the walking tours on offer in Dublin, so we did our own instead. We walked through St Stephen's Green, stumbled upon a film set at Trinity College (the BBC's Ripper Street, out in Autumn), bought some delicious treats at the Food Market in Temple Bar (the raw dark coconut slice was amazing), walked past Dublin Castle and took photos of angels for mum.

paul simon

On Friday the 13th I flew to Dublin to see Paul Simon with my sister. Growing up, Graceland was always on high rotation in our car's CD-stacker, so it was magic to see the 25th anniversary tour together. The concert came alive when Ladysmith Black Mambazo came on stage, with their glorious deep voices and dance moves. Paul had everyone out of their seats and dancing for You Can Call Me Al and rounded out the long set with an amazing acoustic version of The Sound of Silence. His youthful American voice sounds just like it did 25 years ago.

golf weekend in cambridgeshire

A couple of weekends ago we journeyed into the English countryside with some friends for a golf weekend. It was a total cliché: the boys played golf; the girls shopped and got manicures. It was so much fun.

It was so nice to be in Cambridge when the weather was warm and the sun was shining. Last time I was there it was below zero and I almost froze to death. Cambridgeshire is such a pretty and charming place, it's hard to believe it's less than an hour's train ride from London.

weekend (in dublin)

Bouquet Cocktail and Cockles and Mussels at Pichet

Argh! I'm so hopeless at getting these weekend posts up in a timely manner. So this is what we did last weekend: we went to Dublin to visit my friend whom I met when S and I spent a year working in Ireland. I have very fond memories of our time in Ireland, which I owe in large part to this girl. We would spend our Friday lunchtimes at the 'tea rooms' (small town Ireland is pretty old school), eating soft rolls and chocolate éclairs, and gossiping about work. Good times. It was great to see her again now that she's moved back to Dublin. We spent most of the weekend in Dun Laoghaire, a seaside suburb of Dublin, where she grew up. It was fun to see all the places and meet the people I've heard so much about.

We had gorgeous winter sunshine all weekend (rather unusual for Ireland) and spent as much time as possible outside. On Saturday we walked for miles (literally) around the coast; visiting the piers, stopping for cake in Dalkey, watching the crazy people swimming at 40 foot, climbing Killiney Hill, and making wishes on the wishing stone. That night we went and saw Tucan, an experimental instrumental band with a fantastic Irish sound, perform at Whelans.

We spent Sunday in my favourite way: wandering around the Dun Laoghaire farmer's market and eating. It was perfection (especially the Italian sausage hot dogs).