Alaska, and a short lived return to blogging!

flickr photo link: <Alaska, Sep 09>
flickr photo link: <Seattle & LA, Sep 09>
It's been a while now, so thanks to everyone that keeps reading the blog - I know by the stats that people are still reading it... so there you go. We still need to finish loads of stories from 2006-2008, especially our travels in Europe at the end of 08. So maybe one day we'll get back to those. So here we are, blogging "Ohdundalk" from Brisbane, Australia... What the hell, the name has stuck, so we'll keep it. And off we go on our latest trip to Alaska, Sep 09...
Day 1 – Brisbane to LAX, to Seattle
At Brisbane International, we heard those magic words at the check-in, “Good news, you’ve been upgraded to Business Class”... And so it was, we flew non-stop to LAX on our super smooth V Australia 777 with Moet Chandon, a 3 hour meal service, oodles of movie choices on a massive fold out screen and fully flat beds complete with black pyjamas - VERY nice! The only down side of V Australia (being such a young airline) is that they don't the ingredients for a proper bloody mary, and only have OP Bundy... So we gave our feedback. Great doonahs (duvets) though! Customs at LAX was pretty easy as they kept shuffling us from longer to shorter lines. We connected onto Virgin America to Seattle, which was smooth & uneventful. They have a very groovy check-in area with mood lighting and music playing. Got to Seattle (Airport), showered and kipped at the Ramada. Later on we got up and walked around the neighbourhood, past the local cemetery, Mexican restaurant & Subway of course. We found the light rail station and caught a train to downtown Seattle. Got off and walked towards Pike Place. It was dark, pretty cool & windy, with only a few tourists about. We settled on Cutters Bayhouse for dinner. Very nice - loads of crab on the menu (and possibly the most expensive meal on our holiday). Walking back to the station, Ben rang and we met up with him for drinks at a French Bistro on 1st Ave. Snoozed back at the Ramada.
Day 2 – Seattle to Anchorage
Anchorage was smaller, perhaps quieter than expected. After landing with Continental from Seattle (maybe 60% full), we got upgraded into a mammoth Ford Expedition 4WD with Hertz (I ALWAYS seem to get upgraded with Hertz in the USA!) We stayed at the Anchorage Grand Hotel (505 W 2nd Ave), with self contained suites overlooking the railroad yards. We drove over to Fort Kincaid to search for our first wildlife, and Clare soon discovered a pretty tame moose than allowed itself to be patted. Later on we read the ‘nature’ literature that said you should never approach a moose - they're very dangerous and attacked a lot of people each year by kicking them and stomping on them. Well we think the moose in Kincaid Park just wanted snacks, like carrots or similar. Anchorage in early evening was a ghost town. We bought up some souvenirs (the only shops still open in town), and went to a great little Cajun place (Gumbo Shack) for dinner. We couldn’t help but notice the homeless everywhere in downtown Anchorage. The hotel suite was just fine inside, but we hardly slept that night due to the constant and needless train tooting from the station & yards below. Passenger & freight trains to the ‘outside’ (Canada & Lower 48 USA). Take note of those tripadvisor reviews!
Day 3 – Blackstone Bay Sea Kayaking, Whittier
Quite early on Tuesday morning, we got back in the massive 4WD, and left Anchorage for Whittier. At Beluga Point, we saw a small pod of Beluga Whales swimming upstream chasing spawning salmon. We quickly passed Girdwood, for Portage Glacier, and lined up for the single lane tunnel through to Whittier ($12), which opens for 15 minutes in each direction, once an hour. We were soon away with Alaska Sea Kayakers on our excellent trip to Blackstone Bay, possibly our best day trip in Alaska. The clouds were still hanging low but the day was warming up already. We caught a fast charter boat out to Blackstone Bay (about 40 mins) with the other kayakers (3 paying passengers, 1 guide for the day & 2 other guides taking the last trip of the season). The mist was lifting and we saw quite a few sea otters - small groups of them ‘rafted’ together basking on top of the water. They were so cute we forgot to take many pics, but got one of the 2nd group we saw. The boat dropped us and the kayaks off on a stoney beach and we kitted up and got the safety briefing on how to kayak & how to survive an ‘eskimo roll’ and try to minimise the hypothermia (sea kayaking for dummies!) Of course we didn’t need to use this knowledge - the weather was utterly perfect all day. It took us a while to coordinate the 2 sets of paddles - in time - and the steering gears at the back. We visited waterfalls, were followed by harbour seals, floated amongst small ‘icebergs’ and pack ice up to the glaciers. We saw a few bald eagles in the trees at lunch. The lunch was great - a picnic on the grass above a stoney beach with icebergs sitting on it. The small insects did drive us rather mad though. Then a second glacier after lunch - sitting in the pack ice was much colder than at the first one. Clare wasn't as comfortable sitting in the kayak as she had been on the way up - seemed like one of the insects had bitten her on the back and it was driving her mad as she couldn't scratch it. While trying to get to her gloves, she accidentaly dropped her watch into the fjord. Now the sea otters can tell the time! We saw loads of harbour seals and the glaciers up close, with the thunder of cracking sounds but no actual ‘calving’ - which is probably good as you feel really small sitting in a kayak facing the glacier. We paddled off to the third glacier and got off. Joe and the blokes walked up to the touch the ice face. Clare sat on a boulder waiting for a a bear to come down to the creek. But it didn’t some, the bugs came instead and swarmed Clare. The charter boat came back to the beach, and we headed back to Whittier. The guides were departing shortly for Colorado for work in the ski season. So after 9 1/2 hours, we were back at the wharf - what a fantastic trip. We had some dinner at the fish shack and as we got to the hotel (Inn at Whittier), the rain had started.
Day 4 – 26 Glacier Cruise, Whittier, then Cooper Landing
Just pissing down. Low cloud, wind and constant rain. Totally greyness. We slept well and late. We were both exhausted after 9 hrs of paddling the day before. We had plenty of time to potter around with breakfast and then to meander around the village and take pics – waterfalls thundering down from the glacier above Whitter, and the 2 buldings in town. 90% of the town lives in one building- the xxxxx building. Then the other building is abandoned – the Buckner Building. The town was bulit for the US Army in the 1940’s and was isolated from the rest of the state until the 1980’s. The Army built a rail tunnel in the 1940’s but it wasn’t converted to road until 2000 or so. Before the tunnel the only way in as over the glacier or air-very small planes. The railways bought the town off the Army and now it is a major freight station- rail/boat connections.

Got onto the cruise in pouring rain. Saw mist, clouds, rain and wind. I slept a good way up the fjiord. Saw otters and seals around the glaciers. We got right up close to the ice face on 4 glaciers and saw some decent ice packs and proper icebergs. This was also the last cruise of the season and all the crew were going back to Iowa or Idaho for college.

Drove off onto Coopers Landing at the Kenai River. The sun came out and shone onto the autumn leaves in the forest. No more animals, despite looking for moose and bears. Other than the forests the are reminded us strongly of the 12 Bens area of Connermarra in western Ireland.

Found our fishing lodge (Drifters Lodge www.......)- great little cabin overlooking the Kenai River. And then went back to the Kingfisher Lodge for a wonderful dinner and wine.

Day 4 – Fishing, Cooper Landing

Got up early and was kitted up with waders ect and pushed the boat out at Coopers Landing onto the Kenai River and drifted downstream. No motors were allowed only rowing and drifting. We were aiming for Coho ( or silver) salmon and trout. It has rained all night but stopped before we left and didn’t start again until we got back to the cabin.

It was the best days fishing I have ever had. I lost count of how many trout we both caught. And they were huge. We caught both Dolly Varden and Rainbow trout. Joe particularly caught some huge fish. But we couldn’t keep the trout as some were too small, too big and all were gourging on salmon eggs and so were not good eating. We were using flys and drifting the lines downstream the boat floated down as well. Over some white water rapids. Not really that dangerous but fun. We got off the boat 3 times onto banks of side streams to use the ‘spinners’ and try to co-oerse the resting Coho salmon into biting our lines, as we could keep them to eat. They were on the way up to spawn, but they stop eating when they hit the freshwater and then have to travel upstream for 85 miles to spawn and then die. So we saw loads of red Sockeye salmon spawning and dying all along the river. Even caught a couple. Didn’t get a Coho landed though. Saw more bald eagles including one with a salmon in its feet flying over us and many seagulls of all sizes eating the rotting stinking salmon carcases on the banks and sandbars. The forests were in full colours but we saw no bears. People were telling us about the bears they saw yesterday, swimming across the river an hour before ect ect ...

Great day. Great fishing, great accomadation and dining. Even got to the laundry to do a spot of washing before dinner. The guides here said they would stay till the end of the trout season- early Oct- and were off to Hawaii to bar-tend for winter.

Day 5 – Cooper Landing to Seward, MS Ryndam.

Had breakfast over the river watching the mist and clouds rise above the forest. Slowly drove to Seward stopping for more mist and cloud pics and hoping for bears detours- Bear Creek, Bear Crossing and Bear River. But no bears at all. Did another glacier visit- Exit Glacier. This glacier is melting really fast. Walked up to the face- but not allowed to touch it. More alledged bears in the woods. Did see the faeces piles proving not all bears shit in the woods- some shit next to the berry bush on the glacier walk.

Drove onto Seward and returned the giant 4wd after visitng the local supermarket for some smoked salmon and chips for lunch. Board the ship and dumped all the luggage and caught the bus back down to town and visited the Sea Life Centre- aquariams for birds, mammals and fish. But no otters at the moment. Joe missed the life boat drill and then I slept for a while while Joe explored the boat and saw some otters playing next to the boat as we left. Went off for a Clive Owen movie after dinner.

Day 6 – Hubbard Glacier

Were at sea all day. I spoilt myself and had a massage after a late breakfast and a kitchen tour. Joe went to the gym and walked the decks. In the mid afternoon we arrived at the Hubbard Glacier. You might think that we had already seen a lot of Alaskan glaciers and maybe had had enough. No, each is different. This one was just huge. This time we saw some decent calvings- where the ice chunks fall off and make a big splash. I spent the time to get the exposure right and used all lenses. Even got some decent pics of seals on icebergs. Saw loads of them floating about. Did get cold though in the rain.

Some facts and figures about this glacier:
This is the largest tidewater glacier in Nth America- 76 miles long. This is one of the only glaciers that is growing not shrinking. Soon it might close the sea entrance to Russel Fjord and will create a dam and stop access to a fishing village and trap any salmon, seals and whales in the damn.

That night we had dinner in the formal resturant and had 3 courses of lobster dishes. The ship has some great Oregon and Washington State Pinot Noirs and Merlots. Then off to the latest Russel Crowe movie.

Between the flight over and the ship I have really caught up with some of the latest movies and hope to see a few more on the way back- especially the Aussie ones- Bilboa for sure. Saw ‘Sampson and Deliah’ on Virgen. That was confronting. Takes an effort to get thru as it is almost totally in an Aboriginal language and the story is so confronting. Just can’t see what the solution is to the town camps and outstation problems in central Australia.


Day 7 – Sitka

It’s a dark & dreary afternoon in Sitka, Alaska. The Phillipino Barmen are mixing 2 for 1 margaritas for the Happy Hour in the Crows Nest, as the MS Ryndam slowly spins in the harbour before heading out to sea. Our first few days in Alaska saw brilliant weather, but things are turning towards winter now... Sitka is on an island and cut off from the rest of the country except by boat. It was settled by the Russians in 1804 and was the Russian capital of Alaska before they sold it to the Americans in 1867. It continued to be the American Alaskan capital until 1913 when it was moved to Junea.

Wandered about town. Ended up in the bookstore as usual and bought a few interesting items for Xmas gifts. I went up to the old Russian cemetery and Block house (wooden fort) and then thru the back streets back to the Russian Orthodox church (St Michael’s 1848) to see the icons ect. Then met up with Joe to do a tour thru the Russian Bishops House. It was built in 1842 and and is fully restored with wallpaper, furniture and even a chapel full of icons. The building is a Russian style 2 story log cabin that is one of 4 surviving Russian colonial buildings in North America. It really shows the high standards of the Czars representive in Nth America. Opulent - is the only word possible to describe it all. Fully heated with doubleglazed windows and fine china to eat off.

Actually met a real live Alaskan who was not moving off for the winter but living full time in Sitka. The young lady at the Russian house who had a Norwegian great grandfather who came to Alaska and married a Tlingit (local Indian tribe) wife and her grandmother could speak Tlingit. Miserable weather. The marina was full of fishing boats.


Day 8 – White Pass, Skagway

Train trip up the hills along the gold rush route to Dawson- Klondike rush in 1897/1898 which was the richest gold strike in history by the end of it. Waterfalls, gorges with white water pools, forests of Sitka Spruce, Douglas Fir, Birch, Pine and Cottonwoods all the way up the train tracks that were built in 1898. We stopped at the Canadian border which was bleak and around 0C with very low cloud. And back down to town where I got off and ended up in the book store again and couldn’t be bothered to wait for 2 hours till the last tour of the Red Onion Saloon- gold rush brothel.

Saw 3 otters in the marina- full of yatchs, not fishing boats. A real tourist town but with a feel of a Northern Byron minus the beaches. Very hippyish. Most people were lierally packing their 4wds and loading up the skis and kayaks to head ‘outside’. A few were staying and couldn’t wait for the last boat to leave town. There is one road out to Whitehorse where the nearest, doctor, dentist and Walmart is.

Day 9 – Whale Watching & Dogs, Juneau

Junea is the Alaskan capital-just can’t see why myself. It was one the original gold rush towns – founded in 1880. Previous to this, of course, it was a Tlinget settlement.

Okay another wet cold day. My kayak trip was cancelled due to lack of interest and so Joe and I head off to a whale tour. Well Joe just couldn’t get into it- Hervey Bay apprently just pisses on the whales up here. Did see quite a few Humpbacks but they are just feeding themsleves up for the journey south and just popped up and down and don’t leap about or come up to the boat. More Bald eagles, Harbour seals and Stellar Sea Lions.

Then a quick lunch at the Red Dog Saloon and ready for our ‘dog tour’. We drove over to Douglas Island into the very wet rain forest. Aptyly named. The sled dogs were not Huskies as we were expecting. In fact, most looked like a motley mix of cross bred red cattle dogs, kelpies and dingos with a touch of greyhound. But still they could howl and run like the wind. A team of dogs sped our sled of 7 people around the muddy trails of the rainforest at a great speed and seemed to love it. There was 162 dogs in teams under a summer training regime preparing for the winter races including the Itarod race. Once again even the dogs were moving out for the winter season. But they were moving north to really get into the next level of training.

Day 10 – Bears by floatplane, Ketchikan

Utterly pouring rain and low clouds. We even thought we wouldn’t get off the ground here. But this trip had cost quite a bit and didn’t guarantee a bear. Hmmmm

Off we went and had a drive by tour of the town. Totally Alaskan as you imagine it. All wooden houses on stilts up a hill connected by board walks, full of forests with low clouds and fishing boats at the end of the street. Another town on an island, with no roads out. Just boats and float planes. Settled in 1887 as a salmon fishing town not a gold town.

Flew off to Neets Bay, which is actually on Revillagigedo Island near Misty Fjords National Monument. Certainly well named. The reason the bears come to Neets bay is to feast on the salmon, along with the harbour seals and Stellar Sea Lions and many species of birds. The salmon come here to spawn but don’t actually get to do that, as they herd themselves into races that takes them straight to the hatchery building. So their eggs and sperm are harvested by humans and then hatched and grown until they are big enough to be realeased into the sea again. So unlike salmon hatcheries I have seen in a number of countries the small salmon are not sent to a farm and fed in sea cages. They go out to sea as free salmon and swim around getting fat for 4 years and then swim back to Neets Bay. In the mean time fishing people, bears, eagles, sharks ect can catch them. About 15% of those released will actually swim back. Okay enough about salmon- I just can’t help myself.

This trip was about the bears and only the bears, despite the proximity of huge Stellar Sea lions flopping so close to shore. Yes we saw the bears- Black bears. First a Mother and baby, who ran up a tree with a salmon. Then a couple of small bears wandering around in and out of the forest and then sitting eating a dead salmon. Then a small bear called ‘Scrapy’ who literally ran past us and then stopped and looked up and saw us all a few meters away. So at this point despite all these bears, we had not one decent photo. The rain fall at Neets Bay is just massive and so the rain forest is just that, wet, wet and a bit more rain and dark. We had all of our wet weather gear on from Ireland.

Then as we were wandering back to the wharf where the sea plane was, a big male bear looking for a live salmon to catch literally crossed the path in front of us. We kept walking until we could stop and see him clearly- and get a decent photo out of the gloom of the forest. And he caught his salmon and then sat down and munched away completly ignoring us. 54 photos later I had a couple of decent pics of the bear ripping up his salmon with blood on his mouth.

All in all bloody brilliant.

Day 11 – Day at sea

Calm and clear today. So different from the past week of ‘Irish’ weather. We seem to be at sea-beyond the inside passage now.

Its Five O clock somewhere- yes here for happy hour- half price Pina Coladas.

Day 12 – Vancouver to Seattle
Perfect clear sunny day and warm. All packed up and very efficiently despatched off the Ryndam and onto the bus down to Seattle cross the border.

Okay at this point we have an unexpected detour, where I get a text message from work and after a few ph calls find that I will be working in and around Washington state for the next 2 weeks. So we spend the glorious sunny and warm weekend in Seattle and on Sunday Joe heads off to do yet another Disney Park- LA this time and I drive south to the Columbia River Gorge.

PS From Joe: God bless business class upgrades!
So last night, the flight was 100% full. The business class crew were really amazing – it was a slightly different experience again from our trip over. So we all got Bulgari personal packs (see, they DO have them!), and they gave out the black pyjamas to everyone and some people even changed before we took off! I had dinner and watched most of the Boat Rocking movie, then they made up my bed, then I woke up about 4 hours outside Brisbane – I think I slept for at least 6-7 hours, solidly… and the flight was 13 hours 10 mins! At one point last night (before I slept), I actually sat there looking at the purple lights thinking how unbelievable it all was – I had to pinch myself to make sure it was really happening. Amazing.

Post Seattle work trip:

Joe got back to Brisbane today. He was upgraded to business class trip as we both were on the way over. Betcha I end up in cattle class when I fly back. He has a CD of the best of our pics but the rest are on my laptop here. I will be back on Oct 13.
I am doing audits on apple and pear pack sheds. The pack sheds here are pretty amazing especially compared to Bundaberg ect I did one at Hood River town, right on the Columbia River, in the gorge.
I drove along the Columbia River in a huge gorge this morning and then turned into the mountains thru Indian reservations- all forests and hills- totally fire area. Just can’t understand why anyone would build houses there- doomed to burn. Then thru dry hills and plains just like Wyoming and then out into the Yakima Valley.
Snow all over Mt Hood today- 6000 ft mountain above the town I was staying in- Hood River. Weekend forecast is snow at 4500 ft and above- so 1500 m. Think that might be around here somehow.
Well in Yakima I have seen not just the usual small wooden houses, trailer park houses but also shanty towns !!!!!! There are small ‘cubby’ houses in peoples yards and spare yards. The small wooden houses in town are actually smaller than trailer houses at the edge of town. The whole Valley is just fruit farms and packing sheds. Trucks driving everywhere with bins of fruit on the back. In one town I had to stop on the hway when a bloke in a large mower drove across with mini trolleys of capsicums behind him. The town is very dry. I can smell bushfires but can’t see any smoke. I went across the road to the ‘well to do’ shopping centre for lunch and there was a bloke in the sandwich shop talking about a ph call at 4am about a raging fire near to town. I think he was a fire dept type but maybe not an actual fireman.
And the big show in town this week is the Fair- mini Ecka- and Rodeo on Friday night. I will go and get some clichéd pics, if I am not driving back to Hood River to meet up with Ben. I will have to check on the Mt Rainer arts festival re the snow level expected.
After turning off the hway into town it took me a while to find my hotel I drove around looking at all of the houses and shanties and then past the Fair. And when I found my hotel I thought – good, nice part of town- but after walking across the road to the shopping centre I realized that only the Target (large), nail shop, cut price hairdresser and local (not Subway) sub shop and small pizza hut was still open. The rest were shut up. Yeah and the bloody trains are around here again. Heard the tooting this arvo. Can’t actually see them though. Not sure if any part of this town is ‘good’.
It’s all a world away from Seattle and I am here for almost a week now.
I have bought the Pogues tickets for Sat.
Ate at Olive Garden tonight- so pretending to be ‘real’ Italian. All huge servings. I sent the salad that I didn’t know came with my order back- a giant bowl. But they did have a frozen limencello cocktail. Very very good. The options look bleak for the next week- Maccas, BK, Mexican and deep fried Fair Food. Vets (army people not animal doctors) and their families get in free to the Fair tonight. Big crowd down there.

Day 11 - San Sebastian, Pension Alemana

Click on the 2 mosaics for a slightly larger picture...

From top, left to right...

1. Graffiti, Salamanca
2. Le Petit Hotel, Salamanca
3. Motorway Driving
4. Motorway Driving, Northern Spain
5. Motorway Snow
6. Motorway Snow
7. Pension Alemana, San Sebastian (very nice little hotel)
8. Pension Alemana, San Sebastian

flickr photo link: <Spain, Dec 08>

They say that San Sebastian has the best tapas in Spain, and tonight we tried quite a few of them! Various tapas with smoked salmon & cream cheese, mini croissants with jamón & fromage, tapas with roquefort cheese & quince paste (and a walnut on top), salt cod, mini tarts with olive oil & glass eels, and grilled prawns, to name a few. Plus a couple of the local beers and a Havana Club & Coke for Clare. They do NOT use nip pourers here, so spirits are high.
Today was spent mainly driving, from Salamanda to San Sebastian past Valladolid, Burgos & Vitoria. We left around 10am and it took about 6 hours, starting in Wild West or Wyoming like open country, then through loads of snow covered areas with mountains & tunnels. They're raving about the snow on the news. The Swiss just get on with things when it snows, but the Spanish get stuck in centimetres, like the British, so things get rather excited. There was one motorway pass that looked to be getting rather hairy, but we cleared it, and were soon descending through some very green but quite industrial valleys in the Basque Country, into San Sebastian. I should point out that the motorways here are pretty exceptional too.
The Garmin lady helped us find our hotel, Pension Alemana (recommended by the Lonely Planet), which is rather comfortable, right near the esplanade, and has internet access, thus the update tonight! Tomorrow, we'll explore San Sebastian further then mosey along the coast to Bilbao...

Day 6 - Parallel Worlds

Tonight we're staying at the Formule 1 Genève Aéroport Ferney Voltaire, which is actually in France, not Switzerland. Like most Formule 1's, this is 100% low rent - Clare says even on the scale of Formule 1's this is especially low rent, as she's never had to share the bathroom with prostitutes before. Yes, this is the sort of place where you just come to rest your head, and if you see crime scene tape outside a room, you just walk past quickly - you see nothing, hear nothing. More on that later. We'd started the day with breakfast at our lovely hotel in Zermatt, before checking out, taking the train back down the valley to Täsch with a load of noisy kids, then driving west along the Valais (the central Rhône Valley in Switzerland). The temperatures in the valley hit -7c along the way, so we didn't stop much except to take a few photos, then to pick up some snacks at the Migros "MMM" Supermarket at Aigle/Chablais Centre. Migros Supermarkets come in 3 sizes - M, MM & MMM, so this was one of the big ones! It had the most incredible setting on the valley floor between the Chablais & Bernese Alps. Then we drove along the attractive southern shore of Lac Léman (Lake Geneva), over the French border, via Évian-les-Bains, back over the Swiss Border, into Geneva past all the expensive design houses, shops & banks, past the United Nations and WTO, etc, etc. Finally past the airport and back over the French border again to this 'less than salubrious' location on the edge of respectability in Geneva!
Somewhere, deep below our location right here are the tunnels of the CERN Large Hadron Collider, where they hope to recreate the big bang. Along the street here, we went to the Buffalo Grill, first observed in Lausanne Crissier (on the first day of our trip), and something akin to the Lonestar Steakhouse in Australia. Not bad, but not brilliant either. We shouldn't have expected much from a cocktail that was only 2 Euros more than a Coke... And back here at the F1, this other business is being conducted... which brings us to the subject of parallel worlds, and how these worlds might intersect or even collide at some stage, when the scientists, far below ground, come up for a steak, or engage in some other business here at the F1. Yes, parallel worlds exist here...
In the early hours of Friday morning, we fly to Portugal...

Day 5 – Zermatt, Hotel Mirabeau, alpine residence, wellness & spa

Today was pretty slothful. Clare had a massage and read the Guardian. I took a train ride up to Gornergrat for even better views of the Matterhorn. Staff were buzzing around preparing the ski slopes for the season opening that coming weekend. We used the spa in the late afternoon, although I couldn’t stand the steam room for more than a couple of minutes, and you won’t get me in the sauna. Still, it was fun. We had a rum & coke at the bar before dinner. Colonel Mustard was there again, with his waxed moustache, and his well groomed wife dripping with jewellery. We guessed they were German. Sepp Julen was schmoozing with a French group before dinner and all was good with the world (well, in Zermatt anyway). Clare got 2 chocolates on her pillow. Zzz...

Day 4 – Zermatt, Hotel Mirabeau, alpine residence, wellness & spa

The Swiss do amazing tunnels, and bridges, and trains, etc, etc. Some of the tunnels were being done around 1890, before WW1, in times of global mass migration. Yes, the Swiss were having a jolly good time opening up their health resorts, and making fondue, while many places on our planet were quite inhospitable. Today we took the Lötschbergtunnel from Kandersteg to Goppenstein (towards Zermatt). This was a drive-on, drive-off car tunnel that took about 20 minutes. You sit in your car, and plunge into darkness at high speed which is quite disconcerting at first, but moves you under the Alps with incredible efficiency. Of course now, they’ve recently completed another tunnel (the Lötschberg-Basistunnel), right under the Lötschbergtunnel, which is even longer and even more efficient. How very Swiss.
Zermatt is a car free town, so you park your car at Täsch, just down the valley, and take a shuttle train up. You can even park your trolley full of luggage on the train. Again, incredibly efficient. Something about all this efficiency reminded me of Disneyland – I get the feeling Walt modelled the whole thing on Switzerland!
Now, the "Hotel Mirabeau, alpine residence, wellness & spa". Quite a mouthful that. This was the biggest treat on this “End of Europe” fling. I’d booked a package with room, breakfast, dinner and spa treatments included. This was the sort of place where there were slippers & robes in the cupboard, lovely white doonahs, a well stocked mini-bar and a full view of the Matterhorn. Even candles in the bathroom. They call themselves 4 star, but I might even call it 5. Clare had a facial in the spa while I took some snaps of the Matterhorn. The dinner was 5 course – rather superb. The hotel owner, Sepp Julen came to our table to ask how things were, which was a nice touch. When we returned to our room our bed had been turned down with chocolates on the pillows. Zermatt twinkled like a fairy tale town under a blanket of thick snow. Nice...

Day 3 – Interlaken, Chalet Swiss Hotel

The snow was pretty thick and still falling in the morning as we made our way to the train station for our trip to the Jungfraujoch (Top of Europe). I’d done this journey twice before (in the late 80’s), so there was a sense of nostalgia I suppose. The front desk clerk at our hotel thought we were mad with the snowy conditions and tried to warn me off, but there was no use wasting the day. You take 3 trains to the top. The valleys were pure Ansell Adams pictures with cloud hanging over grey snow-laden trees and sheer rock walls. At the top, we ventured out into the snow. It was -17.5c. We felt like polar explorers. Then we went inside… quickly! We took a picnic lunch of bread, cheese & salami to save money. If we’d ever thought Ireland was expensive, it ain’t got nothin’ on Switzerland. We came back via Grindelwald where kids were people were snowblowing driveways and kids were playing with toboggans. Darkness was falling and the snow was turning slushy as our train pulled back into Interlaken...

Day 2 – Interlaken, Chalet Swiss Hotel

After Clare slept for 12 hours, we got back on the road. We stopped for some breakfast in Montreux, where I used my limited French skills to order some coffee and sandwiches, although pointing to the delicious cakes in the little patisserie was easier by far. Montreux has a faded charm that speaks of Arab money and bad 1970’s architecture mixed in with grand old palace hotels. Nothing special really. The snow was falling heavily as we headed out towards Interlaken. The mountain road via Les Mosses had been freshly ploughed, but the snow got thicker as we rose in altitude – lucky our car had snow tyres fitted. We stopped at a small village to buy some cheese and lunch stuff, while Clare spotted some huskies going back into their trailer after a morning of mushing.
The Chalet Swiss Hotel in Interlaken gave us our first taste of many hotels on this trip – almost completely empty at this time of year. Some might call us mad, but you get the pick of rooms! As per the weather forecast, the snow was falling very heavily (but silently) in the evening as we went for pizza and rosti at a strange little restaurant adorned in Marilyn Monroe paraphernalia. We had to tread really carefully, but it was quite magical. Won’t get many nights like this in Brisbane...

Day 1 - We've left the Green Isle!

We left Ireland today. At first light, this seemed unlikely considering the amount of luggage we still had in our possession (even after sending our cargo shipment). But Aer Lingus were considerate, and we made it through ok... We got the bond deposit back from our landlord in Annagassan - we'd cleaned it up pretty nicely and everything was perfect. We definitely had some mixed feelings as we drove out of Annagassan for the last time, but we knew this day would come. At some stage, we'll do a Top 10 (Good AND Bad!) of living in Ireland. We'd known all along that Annagassan was the best thing about Ireland. Well, for us anyway. So we were sad to leave.
There were some snowflakes as we landed in Geneva - quite exciting. Our rental car from Alamo/National was a great little Renault Clio hatchback/station wagon - really great for an "economy" car rental as we always do. Drove to Lausanne and stayed at the Ibis Crissier, located near motorways, but the Garmin lady guided us without too much fuss or driving into lakes, etc. You always know what you're gonna get with Ibis - not too nasty and not too posh either - something in-between, and this was no different. We took a walk around the old town and had an early dinner. The snow was coming down quite heavily as we drove back to the Ibis and zzz...

Goodbye Annagassan

...FAREWELL PARTY...

SATURDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2008

THE GLYDE INN, ANNAGASSAN, CO LOUTH, IRELAND

FROM ABOUT 9PM

MUSIC FROM CATHAL AND THE GROUP

Über Dusseldorf

NOW I know where Jerry Springer got his tv studio set from :)
Landschaftspark, Duisburg-Nord, Rhineland.
Post-industrial, apocalyptic Disneyland, without the rides. Or the cheesy grins.

flickr photo link: <Dusseldorf, 08-09 Nov 08>
08 Nov 08 FR2177 DUB/NRN 0915/1200
10 Nov 08 FR2176 NRN/DUB 0700/0745
As far as I can remember, I've never driven a Mini Cooper before. Especially not the new Mini Cooper, now lovingly crafted by BMW but faithful to the original British designs including the huge round dashboard instruments, etc. The boot is still tiny, but the Mini goes very fast on the Autobahn, although I was too gutless to take it much beyond 140kph. Especially when overtaking trucks full of chemicals as we headed south through the industrial Ruhr/North Rhine area towards Dusseldorf. Damn, it even has a 6 speed gearbox! The Garmin lady was onboard too, telling us to "exit left and stay left", or even "exit left, keep left and turn right"... Huh? She was also of no help when a small deer darted across the road near the airport, with shooters in hi-vis jackets in hot pursuit. Maybe that deer lived another day. And on Monday morning, Clare seemed almost willing to follow the Garmin lady into a 4 lane section of one way Autobahn traffic, the wrong way. Lucky I was driving :)
So we had a quick weekend in Germany to see our friends Gerald & Sandra, before we leave Europe (we'll have to call this "Clare & Joe's Farewell Europe Tour 2008"). Faultless & UBER CHEAP flights from Dublin to Dusseldorf-Weeze with Ryanair, Mini Cooper from Sixt Rentals, Uber German design at every turn, and of course brillliant food. Dusseldorf is a great city - smart & stylish, incredibly liveable, reasonably priced in many respects, nice places to walk & visit, and in the heart of Europe. On Saturday afternoon we checked out Landschaftspark, Duisberg-Nord - 200 hectares of industrial wasteland (ex chemical plant, glassworks, ironworks, etc.) We have some photos on flickr, and will add more when we get time. The Ruhr area is still dotted with massive industrial plants and smokestacks, both abandoned and active. Pretty amazing landscape. Back into town for the evening - a few local "Alt" beers in the very lively "Altstadt" (old town) and excellent food. Great cocktail bars. All far, far cheaper than Ireland of course. Dusseldorf is definitely a party town.
Had a great German breakfast on Sunday - bread rolls, meats & cheeses (definitely Clare's favourite), then checked out the "Media Harbour" area of renovated Rhine docklands - very funky architecture & design stores with €12,000 black & white leather chairs. Go wild! Yeah, right... New apartments & hotels are still going up here. Not sure when then slowdown will hit. Apart from the incredible interior design of Gerald & Sandra's apartment (think lots of glass & steel) and our Mini Cooper, our favourite design fitting of the weekend was the "Campari Light" in our little hotel room in Gerald & Sandra's apartment building. Very nice. Possibly Italian. But we're sure this could be easily recreated with a little imagination. Sounds like a challenge!

We were up again in the wee hours of Monday morning. Flew back to Dublin, temperature 5c, and straight into the M50 Motorway traffic for my last few days of work. Next report after our leaving party this weekend...

Orlando, Dingle & Other Stories

It's time for a bit of blogging. There is much to tell...
I went across to Orlando at the beginning of October for the shortest ever, carbon burning, crazy miles for crazy cheap prices trip to my favourite ever Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios. And if you want to ask me about the Dublin-Gatwick-Detroit-Orlando-Atlanta-Gatwick-Dublin flights, I'll tell you it was all worth it, even though the outbound journey took me almost 24 hours. From Thursday to Tuesday, not only did I fit in 2 nights at Halloween Horror Nights #18, but also a great night at "Howl-O-Scream" at Busch Gardens Tampa, an airboat trip in the Everglades, some factory outlet shoe shopping, and some lie-in time at the Doubletree Hotel Universal Studios, where they present you with a warm chocolate cookie at check-in time. My "economy" car rental was upgraded to a thumping red Ford Mustang, as per usual. That's what you get when they're asleep on the Hertz counter at 1am, on a typically steamy Orlando night (a taste of Brisbane in summer!) The scares were as good as ever, and so was Orlando, although they're hurting of course. For just 25 cents more you can supersize everything at Burger King, and for just a dollar more, they'll throw in a lakefront repo-home 5 miles from Disneyworld. There are bus tours daily - bring the cheque book (or the credit card!) I got 3 seats back on Delta from Atlanta to Gatwick, although I was sure the trolley dollies with the "Designing Women" southern drawl seemed determined to lock up the screaming kid in front of me as we crossed the coast of Canada :) Anyway, might not get back to Orlando for a few years now...
We're leaving Ireland quite soon. Nothing to do with the world financial disaster, but just an overall assessment that although there's a lot to love about Ireland, life in Australia is better. As well as the attraction of family & friends of course. We will miss Ireland, especially on those occasional horrible days when Brisbane peaks at 40c. We'll really miss the music, and our wonderful Viking Festival too. But it's time to go back now - to sort out our real estate and see if we can find ourselves a house and do some more fun things. We've both resigned, and are in our final weeks of work here.
What this also means is that by the end of this year, ohdundalk will come to an end too. I think blogging needs to have a specific purpose - and ohdundalk doesn't really work in the suburbs of Brisbane. Perhaps we'll eventually have another blog with a new purpose, but until then, this blog will end (after we tidy up all the loose ends and put up ALL the photos) - and will serve as a record of our experiences from 2006 until the end of 2008. We have loads and loads of media to sort out from this time, both word (written & yet unwritten) and photos. I have a book to finish, and I hope a couple of shots might even end up on our walls next year!
So we leave Ireland in late November - one last big bang party at The Glyde Inn (last drinks please), then over to Switzerland for 6 nights including Interlaken & Zermatt. A little nostalgia from my 1989 travel agent days! Then across to Porto and down to Steve & Meg in the hills of Portugal, then up to San Sebastian, Bilbao, Northern Spain & Galicia. Eventually back to London, then Qantas back to OZ on the pre-Christmas frequent flyer special - oxygen masks frequently dropping via Singapore & Melbourne. We have some plans - just a few, and we'll take things as they come in this mad world.
Finally, but by no means last - we just got back from a weekend in Dingle with Dave, Libby & Zach. I suppose there was a touch of melancholy as with Dingle, we felt like we'd left the best of Ireland till last. Absolutely spectacular, especially the end of the peninsula overlooking Great Blasket. Of course it rained for a whole day. Not just rain but movie special effects rain, blasting in all directions driven by the turbine of Atlantic winds. Dingle was rugged, amazing and geared up for tourism - good food, scenery, music, Guinness (in no particular order). However, we will say, directly from the mouths of our Australian visitors that prices in Ireland are now officially "horrifying" with the drop of the Aussie Dollar and the amazing strength of the Euro (what does the world see in the Euro?) This has made an average B&B room over A$120, a tank of fuel well over A$100, a simple meal over A$80. Currencies will fluctuate of course, and the Aussie will come back, but right now, all we can do is to issue a pretty big warning to all imminent & potential visitors. Get ready to open your wallet, and if you choose to convert, please don't be of a nervous disposition! Yikes...
Loads of photos will be posted soon, and we might even expand on these stories a little more.

Southwest Ireland

Hi all,
Clare and her mum are back from their big trip round Southwest Ireland, so here are some photo updates:
flickr photo link: <Ring of Kerry, Sep 08>
flickr photo link: <Ring of Beara, Sep 08>
flickr photo link: <Sheep's Head & Mizen Head, Sep 08>
flickr photo link: <Cashel & St Kevins, Sep 08>
Enjoy. Bye.

Irish Pub of the Week #15

Irish Pub of the Week #15, "The Lobster" on the esplanade at Waterville, right at the end of the Ring of Kerry. We didn't have a pint here, but the sight of the giant plastic lobster clutching the creamy guinness caught my eye, so we had to stop for a quick snap. I trust they might do some good seafood here. Rock Lobster...

The Ring of Kerry

flickr photo link: <Ring of Kerry, Sep 08>
The view from the road that runs along the ridge of Valentia Island must be quite good. So too, the view from the cliff walk, leading from the car park beside the craft shop where they sell the Skellig Chocolates. The view from the slate mine with the "Mary" grotto must also be great, perched high above the Atlantic. Yes, it must be quite a view. Possibly spectacular. But here on Valentia Island, along with everywhere else at this end of the famous Ring Of Kerry, we saw nothing. Nothing that is, but cloud, fog, mist & rain - in no specific order. I think the travelling preacher who ran the Old Schoolhouse B&B at Ballinskelligs summed it all up when he said they'd had one dry day in nine weeks, yes, that's 1 dry day in 9 weeks. Mmm. So between full Irish breakfasts outside Killarney & Ballinskelligs, then (Joe) making the 6.30pm Sunday train from Cork to Dublin, we saw lots & lots of rain:
pouring rain in Killarney while Clare searched for the "official" tourist office (and I parked on double yellow lines, but the Garda still ignored me);
easing rain as we drove around Caragh Lake (one of the most attractive parts of the Ring of Kerry we actually saw!);
light rain as Clare ran into the Centra at Cahersiveen seeking the free Bonnie Tyler CD from the Irish Daily Mail (the poor girl had no idea who Bonnie Tyler was);
increasing rain as we took the car ferry to Valentia Island before a complete whiteout descended upon us;
light rain (and fog), but who cares about the weather, as we tasted the Skelligs Chocolates with the other Aussies at the weenie little factory at St. Finian's Bay (mighty good!)
variable fog, cloud & showers most of the following day - Mary statue in the cloud; cyclists racing in the cloud; lush forests with dripping rain...
Clare and her mum have gone on to other parts south/southwest this week (and apparently the weather has significantly improved), while I returned to Dublin on the train and it rained ALL the way across Ireland... The train had dark blue reflective/frosted windows, but every now and then you could see the drips pouring down, and people standing at crossings and stations with umbrellas, as we flew past. And in Dublin - absolutely pouring; vast sheets of wet blasted at a sharp angle like special effects for Noah's Ark The Movie. More reports next week.

Lost in Carrickmacross

Mannan Castle required a lot of imagination. Perched on a hill above a golf course in Monaghan, it was nothing but a bunch of rocks, loosely scattered and smothered in vegetation, and some big ditches. More like Pan's Labyrinth than King Arthur. I half expected a stick insect to land on Clare and start making strange clicking sounds. Either that or a watery tart lobbing a scimitar at us from the "deep pool", the sight of which our guide tempted us with, but we never actually laid our eyes on. And me, I ripped my jeans on the barbed wire strategically placed at the entry gate. Yes, the golf course didn't seem too keen on welcoming visitors up here, but the 'clahs' (County Louth Archaeological And Historical Society) were a hardy bunch (of mainly pensioners) and we'd joined them on this Sunday afternoon of discovery around Carrickmacross.
Clare had tempted me earlier with "Do you want to go and see a workhouse?", to which I foolishly replied yes. Ooh, a spooky old workhouse... "Please Sir, can I have some more?..." and all that good old stuff. Little did I know that I would also have to: survey the stained glass windows at St. Josephs (2.30pm); check out the ruins of the local graveyard whilst listening to stories of haunting the local drunks (4.00pm); climb the hill to the forementioned Mannon Castle (5.30pm); then join the convoy of pensioners pulled up on the N2 as traffic raced past - but they had the sense to wait for someone to lead the way while Clare and I blasted ahead, and promptly got lost in Carrickmacross.
All the chocolate digestives had been snapped up when we finally made it to the workhouse around 7.30pm. The pensioners were already seated with their cups of tea while we watched a powerpoint presentation about the famine and all things history related. Of course the afternoon wasn't really supposed to go on this long, but the enthusiasm of this little historical society stretched things out rather. The workhouse wasn't at all spooky in the end, but rather a complete renovation job funded by the crossborder peace initiative. After the sobering stories of the famine and mass migration, Clare and I rushed back to The Lisdoo in Dundalk for some substenance in the form of beef & guinness pies, which they do rather nicely. Yes, things have certainly changed in Ireland.

Mrs Todd's Shortcut

Back Road (Paul Grecian Photography)

Hell, it ain't one of ours, but this photo just fits the story!

So, my office has finally moved now - from Clonskeagh in Southern Dublin, to the green fields of Leixlip in Western Dublin. We're now on a "campus" - perhaps a term loosely used in this case. This "campus" of large grey lego block buildings, ring roads and munching rabbits on the lawns is slightly reminiscent of the Epcot Centre at Walt Disney World in the early 90's - all slightly dated, massive cafeteria with double sided till stations, built ahead of it's time but facing an uncertain future in Ireland as the Celtic Tiger recedes from growling to miaowing. A super long corridor (over 1km) connects the buildings and allows you to peer through windows onto factory floors with robot arms filling ink cartridges, whilst browsing art & memorabilia along the walls. Elderly gents from the executive board smile down at you from large pics in the lobby. I expected Walt Disney to be there alongside them!
Leixlip is a tough place to get to from Annagassan. The main reason for this is the access from the god-awful M50 Motorway (if you can call it a motorway), the fabulous Dublin ringroad. The road authorities in Ireland have the gall to put a 2 Euro charge on this road, even though it resembles a car park most of the time, or a total construction site, or both. The M50 is a dismal, crappy and soul destroying road with only 1 guarantee - daily gridlock... easily the equivalent of the worst road in whichever city YOU live in... So from Annagassan, I'd normally take the M1 (toll), to the M50 (toll), to the N4... and into the campus. However, I've quickly discovered backroads... country roads... the little roads that represent the old Dublin, the old Ireland, when few cars took to the roads and the concepts of commuting to business parks and satellite towns were completely foreign. So thanks to Google Maps and my trusty Garmin Lady, I fly down the M1, off at Drogheda, onto the Duleek Road, past the huge concrete plant, across the N2 for a couple of kms, through the village of Ratoath, past Fairyhouse Racecourse, onto the old N3, take a right turn at Clonee, along the backlanes to the back of Leixlip, through the village, over the N4, into the campus past the munching rabbits... I'm sure this set of shortcuts could even be perfected further. My new route reduces my toll payments... you keep moving (more or less)... you see people & places... you take some corners at high speeds, go past about 3 Lidl Supermarkets and too many pubs to count.
Stephen King published a short story many years back called "Mrs Todd's Shortcut"... the fictional tale of Mrs Todd, who's obsessed with finding shortcuts. At one point, right after Mrs Todd has made an impossibly short trip down to Castle Rock, the narrator finds some things stuck to the sides and front of her car that aren't of this world. Dangerous things. Things with teeth. The routes Mrs. Todd is driving aren't for the faint of heart. Enough said.

Comparing London Airports...

photo from The Anglo American

We have 5 blog entries about London:
1. Comparing London Airports... August 08
2. Grey old Janury... January 08
3. East End August 07
4. London Calling! March 07
5. London and ipods... October 06

Well, we've sure racked up some air miles in Europe now, particularly through the UK, where Clare & I have now frequented the departure lounges of these airports between us: Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted, Southampton, East Midlands, Leeds/Bradford & Edinburgh... (not sure if Belfast City & Belfast International count too!) So Clare happened to be writing an email to a colleague (and some of our friends) about London Airports, with a little comparison guide. Here it is:
1) Heathrow (24kms west of London): Coming from Australia – you’ll probably come here, probably to T3 or T4 (in fact, you’ll have no choice but to come here!) AVOID T5 (mainly British Airways flights) like the plague if you want to keep your bags. We try and do everything to avoid this one. Every time something goes wrong at Heathrow - snow/strikes/breakdowns/fog, one minor slip up and the whole thing grinds to a halt, literally. And then it takes days to recover. It is just like what you see on television. The levels of security just keep changing here. I think they are taking pictures of you now like the US does. The US does eye checks, finger prints and a series of questions that they match to previous entries. Note that if you have 2 passports they are matching your answers to your passport number not name. Joe got caught on that one. Lots of long haul international flights, at often competitive prices (if you get the right deals, http://www.airline-network.co.uk/) but UK domestic and European flights from here are generally quite expensive. The Underground (Tube) into Central London is a lot cheaper than the Heathrow Express to Paddington, but you have to carry your luggage down there, which can be a real hassle – and it takes ages into Central London.
2) Gatwick (46km south of London): This is actually our favourite London airport. This is very easy to get to via the underground/train lines from Victoria Station in Central London (around 30 mins from Gatwick to Victoria). When we go to London for a daytrip, this is where we try and fly to if possible (the 10 Euro fares!) Both Ryanair & Aer Lingus fly here from Dublin so we get a lot of choice. The pain here is not the actual security but the ‘kids’ before the security section who make you have one bag and not extra bits ie. one handbag and absolutely nothing else, not a laptop bag, shopping bag or a packet of sandwiches. Which is ridiculous since the airlines and security let you have a handbag and a laptop bag. So other than the kids in yellow shirts, there never seem to be too many queues there (when we’ve been there!), and far less of the general stress of Heathrow or Dublin.
3) Luton (48km north of London): Not really London, but the main London airport for EasyJet, a few Ryanair flights and other boozed up charter airlines like Monarch & Thomas Cook. Staffed by kids - yes really - who barely know what a non EU passport is. Security used to be a piece of cake there and for a while they were trialling a weird machine (like a cat scan) that apparently can see thru your clothes. Still, gets you thru quite fast. This is the airport that was used by the ‘Airline’ reality TV show (EasyJet), ie. lots of people who only take a package trip to Spain once a year and have no idea - they turn up without their passports, etc, etc. My husband loves them (airport TV shows) so we know them all. And his aunt lives close by (Luton) so we have used this a fair bit. Trains to Kings Cross, London Bridge (more expensive than the Gatwick trains), and various coaches to Victoria Station, etc.
4) Stansted (48km north-east of London): Quite a well organised airport out in the countryside, but again with a lot of throughput (this is the main Ryanair Airport for London). Good shopping and food options compared with all other London airports. You often have to come here for connections to other parts of Europe - like Norway, etc, and Ryanair fly to different destinations from here (than Dublin). Bit of a distance from London – they have trains to East London (which we haven’t used before), and coaches to Victoria Station, etc. We tend to get car rental from here. Gatwick is way more convenient though. Security here always wants you to take your shoes off and belts, etc. I rarely have to take my shoes off at any airport except this one.

None of these airports have dogs to do anything. Everything would move faster if they did. They also don’t do ‘residue’ tests like they have had in Oz for years now.

Now, the airlines:
http://www.ryanair.com/
The low fares might initially look attractive, and they are if you follow all the rules and keep the cost of ‘extras’ down – but coming from OZ, be aware of the following:
1) You can’t do online check-in unless you have an EU Passport, so you must choose the airport check-in option (which costs extra) if you’re Aussie.

2) If you pay for a baggage check-in, you’ll get a 15kg allowance, not 20kg, definitely not compatible with coming off Qantas or Singapore Airlines, etc.
3) They WILL charge you for every extra kilo over 15 kilos. The Ryanair check-in staff at all their airports are outsourced contractors, and they get commission on every extra that gets billed. There is absolutely no negotiation with Ryanair staff over luggage.
4) No seating allocation = the running of the bulls. If you’re at a European Airport late at night waiting for a Ryanair flight, expect a stampede as the flight lands and prepares for take-off again.
5) If you do get left high and dry by Ryanair (and honestly, it hasn’t happened to us yet), and you’re in a hurry to get home, then you’ll have to get your credit card out and start paying your way back on normal airlines. That’s the price you pay for the cheap Ryanair fares.

For all that, I will say however, that every Ryanair flight has got us there, consistently, and pretty much on time. Don't be scared off - they are damn cheap if you're hunting for a bargain.

http://www.easyjet.com/
Don’t have too much to say on them, did a return trip from London to Athens in 2005. Their reputation is certainly less cheesy than Ryanair. Their initial fares might look more than Ryanair but are worth considering, and they go to some different places. No seating allocation. From what I remember, their crews are a bit more professional than Ryanair.
http://www.flybmi.com/
Worth comparing with Aer Lingus on the Heathrow-Dublin sectors, as they don’t charge extra for baggage, etc. Seating allocation is done.

Annagassan Viking Festival 2008

flickr photo link: <Annagassan Viking Festival 2008>
Well, the festival is over. Everything went incredibly well, and as Ireland currently gurgles under the deluge of the century, someone upstairs was definitely shining down on Annagassan in good favour. Apart from a few short showers, we escaped completely unscathed. We think possibly 2000 people came through the village over the 2 days, and the highlight at the end of the festival was the burning of the monastery on the beach next to the harbour. There were moments of genuine theatre as the vikings fired their flaming arrows trying to set the thing alight. Then alight it was... once the fire got going it was fierce! This was framed by the most incredible rainbow across Dundalk Bay. The vikings, of course, were brilliant. Jesper even took an injury in the final battle on Sunday afternoon. The viking village was brilliant too. They made it their own for the 2 days. Conor and the volunteers did a great job, from set up to fund raising, conducting history tours and doing their best to control the car parking! There are too many people to mention. And the website (http://www.annagassanvikingfestival.com/) got a good mention by the politican who opened the festival.
There were great (long) nights in the pub, where sadly we had to leave around midnight Sunday as the village took turns singing songs with Cathal, Patricia & the other musicians. Simply great community & great craic - Ireland at it's best & most awe-inspiring. Unfortunately we don't have many photos of our own as Clare & I were literally run off our feet from Friday evening to Sunday evening, but there is another site with photos - Derek Tuite Photography, Saturday & Sunday, and we did manage to get some photos of the burning of the monastery on Sunday evening. Perhaps Clare will write some words too...

A Tale of 2 Two Towns

31st Annual Ballyshannon

Folk & Traditional Music Festival

YouTube Clip (1): The Homes of Donegal - Paul Brady 1985, written by Seán MacBride
YouTube Clip (2): Ballyshannon Folk Festival

The Homes of Donegal (Seán MacBride).

"I've just stepped in to see you all
I'll only stay a while
I want to see how you're gettin' on
I want to see you smile.
I'm happy to be back again
I greet you big and small
For there's no place else on Earth just like
The Homes of Donegal."

This weekend at Ballyshannon, we were treated to 2 brilliant and emotional renditions of this classic Irish ballad. The first, on Saturday night, by political songstress Eleanor McEvoy (and very nicely done), and the second, on Sunday night, by the incredibly talented Jim McKee, with a literally breathtaking finale by PJ McDonald on the whistle. It drew gasps and cheers from the packed audience – vocals, guitar, cello & whistle soaring to heights of musical complexity & harmony. Beyond amazing really, especially for those of us that don’t play a note. It’s quite difficult to put the musical artists we saw this weekend in any sort of order. Suffice to say they were the absolute best of trad music that Ireland has to offer, no doubt. So we’ll write about them all, and we’ll put a few YouTube clips up, which might just offer a taste of our experiences, albeit in poor quality. More on all the music a little later…
Ballyshannon, in the southern most part of Donegal, is the birthplace of the poet, William Allingham and is one of Ireland's oldest towns. It’s pretty small - 2 main streets and loads of pubs, including Dicey Reilly’s & Finn McCool’s. This was so interesting because we haven’t actually seen these names in Ireland before although they’ve got huge international appeal as Irish theme pubs (Brisbane is saturated by them!) The publican of Dicey Reilly’s here in town is… you guessed it, Mr Dicey Reilly. He has brothers all over the world. Finn McCool’s would have to be one of the smallest pubs I’ve seen in Ireland - I guess his relatives went overseas too? So, plenty of creamy guinness, brilliant music, but a dearth of any decent food in the whole town unless you like average Chinese or bad takeaways. Sorry to be critical, but some of these Irish towns could do better. Anyway, we loved it.
We stayed in a Bundoran, a few kilometres down the road, with a spectacular mountainous backdrop. But if ever there was a tale of 2 towns, it would be right here. Contrary to the slick advertising from the local tourist authorities, Bundoran was tacky and somewhat rundown. I guess we should have taken note of the Lonely Planet. Full of B&B’s, demountable holiday homes and trinket shops. Yes, it has surf beaches & golf courses, but the culinary highlight seemed like KFC on the main road, and the area around the funfair was rundown and boarded up. A white limo from the Circus Chicago did circuits of the town, blaring their pitch through loud speakers adding to the atmosphere of the whole place.
I suppose everything in life is relative. The kids in Australia might get to Coffs Harbour or Surfers for holiday, while the kids here get Bundoran or maybe Wexford, unless Mum & Dad can afford a trip to Spain. But if you grew up in Belfast or Derry, then Bundoran on a nice day would seem pretty good. I grew up in an English seaside town – Southsea. Amusement pier, funfair, pebble beaches, rock candy. The shutters come down in winter and the carnies leave town. But in Bundoran, it seemed like the shutters had already come down a long, long time ago and left the town to the Circus Chicago and the horrible themed pubs. Not good.
Our B&B – Marlboro House (Food, Rhythm & Booze), €70/nt, tried hard. The bed was ok, the service was ok, but the breakfast menu options were non-existent (contrary to their website) and the whole placed constantly reeked of deep frying (Michael, you really need some air extractors in the kitchen). On the Sunday night, a live band below our room continued until after 2am. The Polish blokes shouting & pissing in the carpark outside our window didn’t help either. Ok – that’s their business, and we didn’t mind too much. We were dog tired from being out all day and our trad music concert each night. But if either of our parents had been staying there, they would have been out of there like a shot. There’s no doubt that investment has been made in this property, and again, people might think we’re being critical, but little things like offering a breakfast choice for people who don’t want the “fry” – bacon, egg, sausage, etc. should be considered. For an establishment that’s setting out to prove their culinary excellence, perhaps they should offer some fruit or yoghurt, or just something else. It’s the simple things that might make all the difference and bring people back to Bundoran.
We did a little day tripping between music sessions, particularly to nearby Rossnowlagh with its wide sandy beach and excellent surfing conditions. A far, far better place for an Irish beach holiday than Bundoran! Hey, you can even drive your car onto the beach and set up your windbreak, but look out for those tides… We had lunch at the Smugglers Creek Inn, dating back to 1845, with an excellent bar menu (all seafood) - best meal of the weekend.

So, on with the music...

1. Mórga (majestic) - Headed up by Barry Brady on the accordion, this young 4 piece group created some truly amazing and sophisticated trad music, different from trad sounds we'd heard before... fantastic harmonies & almost hypnotic in some ways (some of their sets were up to 10 minutes long). With the accordian, banjo, fiddle & bodhran, I think it might have been one of their first 'big' gigs, and they turned up at Ballyshannon with no CD, which was a pity as we would have bought one or two! In a way, they set the high standard for the festival, as they were the first of 9 acts across 3 nights at the Abbey Theatre. Luckily Mórga had 2 further sessions down at the Bridgend Pub, as they were well worth a second listen.

2. Eleanor Shanley - When confronted by the prospect of a "female singer of Irish ballads", Clare and I wondered if we could possibly bolt for the door to sit this one out, but we decided that might look a bit bad. Our feelings were confirmed when Eleanor took to the stage and started belting out her tunes (and stories) of how she 'd been "done wrong", in genuine Dolly Parton style. Much too close to country & western for our liking and it went on for too long. Sorry Eleanor, you're just not our cup of tea. This was our only real disappointment at the festival.

3. Dervish - Dervish took to the stage with deserved acclaim & applause. They've been around since 1989, and their trad sounds have a rich sophistication yet being competely exclusive, much due to the amazing vocals of Cathy Jordan.

"Dervish concert performances are a myriad of tones and moods ranging from high energy tunes, played with fluidity and intuitiveness, to beautifully measured songs, from charming lyrics of life and love, to inspiring melodies that lift audiences from their seats. All the elements are drawn together by Cathy Jordan's masterful stage presence. Her stories to the songs and her interaction with the audience draws people into the music in a way very few performers can achieve."

Well known in Ireland & internationally, Dervish were the only group at the festival we'd really heard of before (and in fact, we had one of their CD's), so the sound was familar yet inspiring all the same. The tracks from their new album (Travelling Show) were great and prompted us to buy a signed copy after the show. This brilliant and polished show rounded off night one at Ballyshannon, and we could already see how (and hear) how this festival was held in reverence by the artists who played here.

4. Téada - kicking off night 2 in style, Téada had a great trad sound. Much like Mórga & Dervish, their harmonies of instruments (fiddle, button accordion, flute, guitar/bouzouki & bodhrán) produced a seamless & pure Celtic sound. Definitely a step well above the average pub trad session sound. Looking at their group website, they're very well travelled and probably have more exposure overseas than in Ireland, where they remain relatively unknown (we certainly couldn't find any of their CD's in music shops when we went looking recently).

Fields of Gold

Fields of Gold
Originally uploaded by clare&joe