Two weeks in Europe: London, Paris, Dublin, and smaller towns of Ireland.

Tuesday, 09/07/2010 through Sunday, 09/19/2010.

We are in Bozeman for the wedding of Daniel Fallou & Mandy Bendewald. We'll be flying back to Seattle on Labor Day and fly out to London early Tuesday morning. Keep checking this page during our honeymoon to keep up with us as we travel.

We've survived our 3 leg flights to New York, Iceland, & UK. We are staying with a friend in Richmond, Ashley. Logan & I went for a walk to a park and a couple of pubs after settling into the place. We just returned from dinner with Ashley at one of her favorite nearby neighborhood pubs. We are both exhausted from the jet lag but especially simply the lack of sleep as we don't sleep well on airplanes. Our 2 hour nap earlier was nice but we are looking forward to a full night sleep in a real bed. :-)

We spent the day in central London. We took the train with Ashley as she got off at her work stop and we continued into Waterloo Station. We walked past the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, St James Park, & Buckingham Palace. We stopped in to a pub for a light early lunch for a pint and a Ploughman's of cheese, ham, bread, pickled onion, & fruit. Pictures of food coming soon. We then walked to Piccadilly Circus and ate at a Pizza Express. Light beer and thin & crispy pizza to finish out our lunch. We returned back to the Thames River where we caught a Clipper down the river to Tower Pier. We toured inside of the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge Exhibition. We walked along the south side of the Thames passing numerous busy pubs until we found one with pleny of river side seating, good beer, and a fast fish & chips shop. We caught the train back home and are looking forward to another full night sleep.

We went into London again today and once aboard the train, we discovered that the LCD screen on our digital camera was badly cracked and unusable. From a few test pictures, the familiar lights, clicking, & shutter movement implied the pictures were still working. We were headed to a few different markets in Covent Garden and Camden. On the way, we stopped at the Irish pub Waxy O'Connor's in Chinatown where Eric ate steak & Guinness pie, beans, & mash and Logan ate Irish stew with soda bread. We made our way to Camden market which wasn't very fun having mostly tourist geared stuff for sale. We promptly found another pub to cool down and leave the craziness. We started walking west towards Regent's park and soon found ourselves at the ZSL London Zoo. After visiting several giraffes, flamingos, komodo dragons, camels, & penguins, we headed south to Victoria. Past the Marble Arch and Wellington Arch, we stepped into The Shakespeare Tavern and phoned Ashley to meet us for dinner. We were unable to get ahold of her so we decided to head back to Richmond to finish London where we started, The Red Cow for more fish & chips and a burger. As soon as we arrived home, I hooked the camera up to the laptop and we found all of the pictures turned out wonderfully. It's kind of like we have a camera that wasn't made in the last 15 years, we just take them and assume that they turn out fine.

Ashley fed us a quick English breakfast of sausages and toast before we all headed on the train to catch our Eurostar train through The Chunnel to Paris, France. Ashley got off the train at a stop before us to attend her day long Italian cooking class as we said our goodbyes. London was very fun and we saw a lot of it on foot as we like to do. We almost forgot, the whole time we were there, of the 20 or so bar menus we looked at while walking around, some of which we partook, many of them had the exact same menu but a different bar name. It was very strange.

The train ride through The Chunnel was fun with our salmon, meat, cheese, bread, & wine lunches. We felt pretty fancy. Paris is hard. It took us forever to find 1 of the 3 total ATMs in all of the Gaure de Nord Train Station. We were trying to purchase Metro tickets using a card but the card kept getting rejected because our US cards don't have the little microchip looking things in them that everyone in Europe is using these days. We took the Metro towards our hotel and checked in. The room is a bit small, as expected, but it had air conditioning, high pressure and hot water, and two beds we pushed together. We headed out along the Seine river towards the Eiffel Tower. Paris is nothing like London as far as we can tell. Everything in Paris is grey or brown, old, and built of masonry. We ate dinner at Bar Du Central having more meat, cheese, bread, & wine. A french man speaking some English and his son chatted with us briefly congratulating us on our new nuptials. We ended up at O'Brien's Irish Pub where we met three very friendly men that we spoke with for the rest of the evening. We agreed to meet them for brunch the following day.

We arose out of bed a bit late after having a fun filled yet late night. We walked across the bridge towards Concorde, along the Avenue de Champs-Elysees towards the Arc de Triomphe. We turned down a simple side street to our brunch destiation of Doobies. The food was wonderful served with coffee and orange juice. We conversed with two of the men from last night and a friend of theirs. They spoke of the beatiful women in Paris, their girlfiends and fiances, other regions of France, and rules on tipping. We said our goodbyes and ventured out again soon stopping at a Renault store for some wine and the end of the Grand Prix of Italy Formula 1 race and the Haagen Daaz store for some ice cream. We walked back the way we came splitting off to Jardin des Tuileries, the Musee Du Louvre, and Notre Dame. Funny note; there are very few public trash cans. Several times, we held empty water bottles waiting for recycling and napkins waiting to be disposed. We ate dinner at a little Italian place for pizza, penne, bread, olive oil, & vinegar. Another Irish pub for a nightcap and earlier to bed would round out the day. Paris restaurants and bars are much more expensive than in London and I am taking into account the exchange rate differences of £ and €.

We were intent on having sweets and coffee for breakfast this morning so we did exactly that. We returned to the Saint Michel area for tartes and caffe. We may have snuck in a ham and cheese baguette in as well. Speaking of baguettes; the sterotype of everyone in Paris walking around with a baguette, completely true, at least in the late afternoon and evening. We have been guilty a couple of times as well. We walked to the nearby Jardin des Plantes viewing limitless species of plants and trees. For lunch, flank steak, frites, meat, cheese, bread, & wine. Ashley from UK specifically warned us that if we ordered steak in Paris, it would be rare. Well, we forgot, and it was rare, but good. Oh yeah, and pate; Logan doesn't like it but I think it is pretty good. After lunch, we each got a cookie at a nearby bakery. As I took my last bite of cookie, I said to Logan "Oh man, I did not need that cookie, now I feel sick." Logan's response, "I'm sorry." My response, "Oh no, don't be sorry, I'm an adult, I know when to say no but the problem is, I usually say yes." We then ventured north to Opera Garnier, Le Moulin Rouge, and Basilique du Sacre Coeur that had a fantastic view of most of Paris from atop a hill. We walked back towards our hotel and found a spanish restaurant enjoying some simple sangria, tapas, & paella. We sit in our room now, sipping room service wine, assuring our trip details for the train to the airport in the morning, and checking some final details for Ireland. Ireland, the best for last!

We woke up and caught the RER light rail to Charles de Gaulle airport where we grabbed some quick cappuccinos, a croissant, sandwich, & shortbread. The flight to Dublin was quick; we didn't even get to finish our episode of Dexter. We grabbed our cute little Suzuki Swift as I repeated in my head, "Stay to the left, stay to the left.". We did happen to go to the wrong sides of the car, another thing Ashley had joked about previously. We made it into the city center, got a pint, and ate delicious 10oz burgers and garlic bread from Porterhouse brew pub in Temple Bar. After dumping our luggage at the hotel, we ventured out into the city. We walked by Dublin Castle, St Patrick's Cathedral, the Spire, and all around the River Liffey. The name Kavanagh is thick in Dublin, spelled correctly as well; K, no U. We popped in to several different random pubs for light snacks and beer. At Messers Maguire, another brew pub, we chatted with a guy having a pint that looked like Michael J Fox. He was a pretty nice guy and we got into a discussion with the bartender about the differences between stouts and porters. Apparently the Master Brewmaster happened to be at the end of the bar and informed us that the porter is a stout a bit overbrewed and as a result, usually higher in alcohol. She was from Boston and just got the job a few weeks before. She mentioned how she had worked in the past at a brewer where people could come in and brew their own batches of 20 gallons of beer and how the customers loved it. Food at a pub was a little less common and less diverse than London and Paris so we ended up back at the Porterhouse for vegetarian pumpkin lasagne, chicken satay, and more garlic bread. As we were ready to leave, a fantastic Irishman singer and guitarist, Colm Lynch, unknowingly convinced us to stay for his entire set until almost midnight. We bought both of his CDs and headed to the hotel to rest up for our drive west to Galway the next day. A few side notes: English mustard is like regular yellow mustard with horseradish; delicious. Everywhere we've been has powdered black pepper.

We ate a Full Irish Breakfast of sausages, bacon, potatoes, baked beans, eggs, & roasted tomatoes at the hotel before checking out and hittin' the ol' dusty trail towards Galway. Leaving Dublin was a bit confusing, but after cutting off one taxi, we made it. Driving from one end of Ireland to the other, we passed thousands of sheep, plenty of rock fences, & limitless fields of green. Galway is quite small with a population of only about 70,000 and very comfortable. At our first pub, Murty Rabbitt's, we had a pint, a BLT sandwich, a bowl atlantic chowder, & shepard's pie; delish! We hadn't booked a room for tonight so we asked the bartender and he pointed us the way to the street lined with B&Bs. We found one close to downtown with Wi-Fi, dropped off our luggage, parked the rental, and headed back downtown. We walked through Eyre Square and passed by Lynch's castle & arch, St Nicholas Church, Spanish Arch, walked up and down Friar's river, and near the Cathedral. We stopped into a few different pubs for beers including Murphy's Bar. We ventured into The King's Head for an Irish Platter of chicken goujon, onion rings, chips, pakoras, & sausages and 2 pints. We ended up at the Spanish Arch bar for some more chowder and soda bread. We stayed for several hours as the bar got busier and finished with some traditional Irish music. On our walk home, it sleeted. Everyone has been so kind in Ireland. Note: A guy bumping into Logan near the bar apologized at some point; "Sorry Miss; I keep bangin' off ya'". Up next, Doolin; specifically known for it's traditional Irish music. Oh...boy...

After another Full Irish Breakfast at our B&B including black & white pudding, yeah...that has blood as an ingredient we found out AFTER we ate, we headed towards Doolin. We've finally discovered the winding, narrow roads that we were promised. Not too bad, but a bit hairy especially when passing an oncoming tour bus or petrol truck. We pretty much just stop the car as far over as possible and let them do their best. We stopped for a pint and a panini in Lisdoonvarna at the Irish Arms. Everything is so green except for the rock fences, white sheep, and the few rock covered hills.

Our B&B, the Sea View House, is just beautiful. Our hosts, Darra, Nyle, & their dog Lucy, suggested that we go to Gus O'Connor's Pub for the music from 4:00pm to 7:00pm. We dropped off some laundry, 10 € per load, then headed that way for an early pint on our way to the beach. The wind was blowing quite hard, the sun was shining brightly, the waves were crashing, and the views were perfect. Back to the pub for the music, deep fried brie, & chowder. The music session was uniquely wonderful mixed with Irish men from the audience telling stories, singing songs alone, & telling jokes. This early in the day, the crowd was almost entirely older Irish people. The feeling of togetherness in the pub was unparalleled. We picked up our freshly folded laundry and headed on to McGann's Pub for more chowder, fish an chips, & the best and biggest lamb shank we have ever eaten. As the 9:30pm music began, a couple of sisters and their mother joined our table. We spoke of our wedding and honeymoon, their travels, their mother's overuse of the words "precious" and "gorgeous", & one sister's first taste of Guinness. Note: Don't be afraid of Eric's Euro-honeymoon beard, it's okay to like it.

We awoke to our breakfast of french toast & country cheeses and spoke with the other guests of the B&B. We asked Darra's opinion on the Doolin Cave and the Cliffs of Moher. She said that we had to do them both, the cliffs from a boat on the water. We finished up and headed out to the 11:00am tour of the cave. We were the only 2 on the tour this early in the morning so our guide took us in. It was a pretty quick walk down 125 steps and about 100 meters of crouching tunnel towards the main cave room. There we saw the great 23.5ft long, 1/2 a million year old magnificent stalactite hanging from the center of the nearly flat roofed room by itself like a chandelier in a mansion dining room. It was fun to be there to experience how unique this formation really is, especially in this tiny Irish town. Back to the pub for our ritual pint and a quick lunch before our 3:00pm water tour of the cliffs. They were quite a sight as well seeming an order of magnitude more immense every second the boat got closer. Back to Gus O'Connor's Pub for the 4:00pm music which was just as spectacular as the previous day. While walking to a new pub, McDermott's, a helicopter came out of nowhere, flew right over our heads, and landed in the field next to us. Once again, back to McGann's Pub for lamb shank again, crab claws & pasta. Music again meeting and sitting with several fun groups of people all night. The first people were a couple having friends and/or family from MT and a son named Logan. Next, were two couples from Ireland just one county away. Eric was offered some snuff, which he tried out of respect for the offer while being told the secret to marriage was being able to say, "Yes dear, yes dear, yes dear" even if you and your wife are both thinking much worse thoughts. Michael Slattery and Eric spoke about his different farming related businesses. A few other couples we had seen at music sessions before and one whom Eric had saved from falling over on the boat even bought us a drink. A last couple from Bainbridge Island would finish the night at this pub. After leaving the bar, on our walk home, we ran into a group of younger men from a few towns away "havin' a crack" (good time). We joined Paddy, Nyle, Roy, & others for a last pint, a few pictures, & plenty of bullshitting.

Another pair of Full Irish breakfasts and a brief goodbye sent us on our way back to Dublin for our final day before the flight back to Seattle. We stopped at a Saturday market having some a bagel, brownie, cookie, some coffee, & and a bit of music. Getting into Dublin to our room for the night was a relief as most of the hotels were all full due to a rugby game. We ended up staying at Herberton Apartments which are several newly constructed apartment buildings. It turns out that our room was brand new and it was a bit strange staying in an empty two bedroom condo for one night. Someone the day before told us that Ireland has approximately 435,000 unoccupied homes so that explains why the apartment is pretty much a hotel. We decided to go to the Guinness Storehouse & Brewery as it was just down the street. We wandered through the seven story building to the top for our complimentary beer and the 360 degree view of Dublin. We finished the evening early with pints, burgers, onion rings, & garlic toast again at Porterhouse, pints at Messers Maguire, & our Irish apartment for sleepy time.

We made it back to Seattle. Mike & Cathy Dooley picked us up from the airport and took us to their house for some food and booze to help us relax and unwind from the trip. The flights home were fairly uneventful with the exception of a fire alarm going off in the Dublin airport for a few minutes restricting our movement towards our gate temporarily. We had so much fun on our trip and admit that we loved Ireland the most due to it's laid back environment, numerous wonderful locals, great pubs, & beautiful countryside. The best thing about leaving Europe is returning again someday. We hope you've enjoyed this blog to share in the memory of our trip.