It's raining in Rapid City

flickr photo link: <USA, Oct 07>

It's raining in Rapid City, South Dakota. We stopped for dinner this evening at Red Lobster on the I-90, where dinner comes in 3 sizes - big, bigger & biggest, much like the eager patrons. Clare ran across the wet carpark to Target (none in Ireland!) to buy some clothes, while I waited in the restaurant lobby with the buzzer that vibrates when your table is ready. About 25 minutes later it went off, and we chose our delicious seafood meals & cocktails, which came in the same gigantic sizes as the meals (my strawberry Lobsterita was exceptional!) We had a friendly table visit from the manager, Kent French, who wanted to talk to the only Australians in town that night and told us he was a world "clapping" champion, video here. Nice guy! I finished up my Lobsterita as the people on the next table were offered another plate of endless shrimp... We drove back across the hills to our lovely hotel, the Holiday Inn Express Keystone (about US $58/nt) and hit the sack.

We'd started the previous day collecting our Hertz Rental Car at Denver Airport. Flicked on the Sat Nav and headed north on the I-25 past Loveland & Fort Collins, Colorado - with huge RV sales yards and shopping malls on the highway. Traffic thinned out as we entered Wyoming. We stopped for food nr. Cheyenne - BIG food & huge trucks in the parking lot with gun racks & "hunter" bumper stickers. This was the real American homeland - wide open spaces and about as far away from Washington DC or Seattle as you can get! It was getting dark as we kept going north, eventually climbing in elevation as we left Wyoming and entered the far southwest corner of South Dakota (our forth state for the day!) We got to Keystone late that night.

When it comes to blurbs about tourist towns, sometimes the local tourist authorities put it best, so here you go: Keystone... The “Home of Mount Rushmore” and truly a “City of Gold”. Rich in gold mining history the quaint town of Keystone is just two miles from Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Once a gold mining boomtown and later the location of the monumental carving of Mount Rushmore, Keystone was also the adult home of Carrie Ingalls of “Little House on the Prairie” fame. With all this to offer who needs more? But there is a lot more. There are historic and Presidential museums where you can learn about the history of Mount Rushmore, Gutzon Borglum – Sculptor of Mount Rushmore, United States Presidents, Keystone and Carrie Ingalls. An alpine slide and Tramway with great views of Mount Rushmore and the surrounding area; an actual gold mine that you can tour and then learn to pan for gold; a Historic 1880 Train ride that takes you through some of the most beautiful Black Hills scenery around; beautiful caves that boast some of the largest formations around, and a Historic Walking tour that takes you on a trip back in time!

It was well & truly off season in Keystone and things were really quiet. We waited a while for service in the local diner to get some breakfast. Then straight up to Mount Rushmore (annual parking pass US $8). An attractive family of rocky mountain goats were munching on the plants in the multi-storey carpark (this place was really built for summer crowds). We took lots of photos of course. Mount Rushmore is suitably impressive like all the pictures you see, but we were told the nearby Crazy Horse Monument was better, although it has decades of blasting and chiselling to go before any sign of completion. Anyway, we did the little walking circuit under the Presidents' faces and admired this patriotic salute to all things American. Time to move on.

We headed down from the Black Hills towards Badlands National Park and made stops on the way, firstly to talk to a rancher, Ken Wilson, who had 5,000 head of cattle on 40,000 acres. We'd stopped at the end of his driveway to take some pics of the fall foliage. Like so many other friendly people we came across, I guess they were happy to chat with anyone that stopped, especially Australians! At the next settlement (ghost town!) of Scenic, Clare was given a little history by a first nation guy sitting outside the local store. The glory days of Scenic had long since passed, and this was literally a tumbleweed town where we expected to see Wylie Coyote chasing the roadrunner down the street with some Acme TNT. We gave the guy a few bucks and carried on.

The weather was doing weird things as we drive across the amazingly flat South Dakota landscape towards Badlands. The towns out here along the I-90 started to resemble what you might imagine of the American "outback" - dusty, trailer park homes, quite rundown, etc. We established pretty quickly we definitely wouldn't want to live out here. This is the area where America once kept it's "Minuteman" longrange nuclear missiles, but the vistor centre was closed so we moved on. The open air Prairie Homestead along the road was also closed for the season (it looked abandoned), so we scaled the fences to take a look around. Lots of cute prairie dogs popping their heads out of their burrows. We tore off into Badlands and made a few scenic stops along the way. Thick cloud had moved across now, and any hint of the fabulous colours that this area is famous for were well and truly washed out. But the views were still amazing and it was worth the drive. Rain & darkness were falling as we took the I-90 back into Rapid City, past Ellsworth Air Force Base, more trailer park homes and finally to our table at the Red Lobster... God Bless America!

Elvis does his stuff

flickr photo link: <USA, Oct 07>
After a couple of days in Las Vegas, we'd settled in. Well, as much as having Bloody Mary's for breakfast is settling in to anywhere. Hey, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas! Our hotel room facing the strip had a wonderful view, but absorbed the full cacophony of wailing sirens 24 hours a day and sightseeing helicopters returning to the nearby Airport in a constant stream like the evacuation of Saigon. Nice. We soon met Mahia & Trent (and various friends & family members) and started planning some little activities, all leading up to their afternoon wedding at "A Little White Chapel" at the other end of the strip. We all hit the factory outlet stores (outstanding value for clothes & shoes) and a bunch of us had a very entertaining time at the Madame Tussauds Las Vegas. We poked some good fun at George Bush and got a great pic with Elvis (the first of our Elvis experiences). This was located at The Venetian, which, while spectacular in it's own right (along with other Vegas casinos), does not replicate Italy. As much as I can be a philistine of fine arts, even I can see the value in visiting the real historical places in our world (like Italy), versus the Las Vegas or theme park version. In the mean time, Clare was enjoying the poolside cocktails and catching up on yet more work. We had a brilliant 2nd Anniversay dinner at Sushi Roku Las Vegas at Caesars Palace. After missing sushi in Ireland this was truly superb - sashimi, soft-shell crab, lobster, yet more cocktails, etc... in a "Blade Runner" Meets Ginza interior design... A bit dark for reading the menu but all very good with friendly service.
The afternoon of the wedding rolled around, and we all made our way to "A Little White Chapel" for the ultimate Las Vegas wedding. I knew this place had old movie star folklore, but it was far smaller and pokier than one might have expected - but all part of the experience. We eventually filed into the small chapel (would fit maybe 20 people max.) and an Elvis impersonator opened the proceedings with "Viva Las Vegas", followed by another quick number while the webcam was activated... Australia, you're live! Mahia wore a red Chinese dress with Trent in a black suit. The wedding celebrant was a funny little lady - not sure if there was much scripting to it all. Vows were exchanged, another famous number from Elvis, a few photos, and things were wrapped up. As the next wedding started inside, we all congregrated outside watching the girls on the swings over the road under the giant NUDE sign. We took the a stretch limo ride back to the Excalibur, with the driver telling us about his most famous customers. That night we ventured out through more smoky casino floors to "Gonzalez Y Gonzalez" at New York New York for plastic souvenir yardglasses filled with frozen margaritas (I still have mine!) and obscenely large plates of Mexican food. Very Las Vegas...
The next morning we braved our way through the TSA security processing and had breakfast at the Airport. I had my final win on the slots (Star Wars), and we flew off to Denver with United Airlines. That's enough of Vegas for another few years!

Viva Las Vegas!

USA blogs, October 2007:
1. Viva Las Vegas!
2. Elvis does his stuff
3. It's raining in Rapid City
4. South Dakota to Wyoming
5. Devils Tower Wyoming
6. The world of Yellowstone...
7. Your friendly Wyoming law enforcement...
8. New York, New York...

flickr photo link: <USA, Oct 07>
15 Oct 07 CO127 DUB/EWR 1045/1305
15 Oct 07 CO1468 EWR/LAS 1615/1847
19 Oct 07 UA1610 LAS/DEN 1100/1356
26 Oct 07 CO629 DEN/EWR 1225/1810
27 Oct 07 CO126 EWR/DUB 2155/0825+1
Well here we are at the centre of decadence in the western world, and Las Vegas is still well and truly living up to the hype! From the astonishingly huge themed casinos to the endless magic & Cirque Du Soleil shows, Vegas is still pulling them in thanks to slick marketing and a genuine wow factor. We're staying at Excalibur (around US $100/nt but varies massively), and with 4,008 rooms this is the 7th largest hotel in the world. Thankfully, we don't think it's quite full right now! Punters play in the smoky air-conditioned comfort of the casino floor (more than 100,000 square feet) and feed money into the slot machines, then retreat to the myriad of food options including 24 hour McDonald's & Krispy Kreme Donuts, etc, etc. Clare and I have successfully avoided the junk however, and had some some of the best sushi we've ever had at Suski Roku, where everything is flown in daily (more in the next update). So each casino is a slight variation of the next - the outside might be Caesar's or Venetian or Paris, etc. and the rooms might be more plush, but the same smoky darkness and bling-bling machines dominate every design.
I find Vegas very interesting as I first came here in my travel industry days (early 90's). Many of the older casinos have been demolished, leaving huge dusty sites along the strip, and the city is well and truly in the grips of another casino building boom. Everything being built seems to appeal to a hip new demographic, which seems strange as the average age of visitor this week seems like 50+. Certainly the "family" pitch which existed a few years back seems to have disappeared, with less fun park rides now, replaced by more designer shops and casino floor space. Gambling revenues are still the key to the existence of this city. People stroll along the strip each night with their souvenir cups filled to the brim with frozen margaritas, while hordes of marketing canvassers flog time share with "free" shows and cards for call girls. But sorry, no such thing as free round here. And of course once you get away from the strip you quickly see a more real side to Vegas, cookie-cutter apartment blocks sprawled across the desert floor to support the 100's of 1000's of low income service workers here.
Now we're in Vegas as my friends Mahia & Trent are getting married here. So more on that in the next blog update. Bye for now!

..// Shadee Acres \\.. 2004

Photo Link: <..// Shadee Acres \\.. 2004 photos>
Video Link: <YouTube video... "Welcome To Shadee Acres">
With Halloween 2007 coming up fast (Halloween is REALLY big in Ireland), it was time to get the old stuff onto flickr... so here are some great memories from 2004 - the "Shadee Acres" Halloween Party at Wavell Heights...

Always trust the local guy

A gentle mist has descended tonight. That was after the soft rain today. There was really great trad music on the car radio as I took an early evening dash to Tesco's to buy some lightbulbs, to replace all the one's in our apartment that simultaneously blew this week... But apart from the lightbulbs blowing, it's been a good week, where Clare and I have both been quite busy. I suppose it's taken us a while in Ireland, but between Clare's work, and my involvement now in photography & trips with the Hash and other things going on, we feel like we 'belong' a bit more than before. We're constantly learning (and it does take time), how things work here, and there's somewhat a sense of community emerging in Annagassan too.
So the trusty Nissan Almera has got a few more miles left in her yet, according to the local mechanic at Dunleer who installed a new radiator for just 180 Euros (which is an absolute bargain I can tell you - I was quoted 100 Euros just to get the car towed out of Dunleer!) Now she drives better than before - mmm, I guess that swiss cheese radiator may have been causing problems for a while (in hindsight). While going through my own car "withdrawal", I rented a car for a week from Budget for 100 Euros. A great little black 5 door Polo that went quite fast on the motorway (hhmm). If you're planning on coming to the UK or Ireland and renting a car, you must, must check out this site - http://www.travelsupermarket.com/. This seems to be THE BEST price comparison site in Europe for car rental, hotels, flights, etc. Even flights from the UK to Australia can be compared here. Clare's boss couldn't believe that you could rent a car for a week for 100 Euros (about AUD 160) - and that was all inclusive too, no catches. I don't think you'd get a car for a week in Brisbane for that. But when it comes to travel bargains, of course nothing really beats Ryanair over here, where you can regularly get 20 Euro return flights to London (well under AUD 40) - that's the TOTAL fare!
Got some good feedback on my 6 photos at the photo comp the other night. There was some really great beginner work, needless to say I didn't win (I didn't expect to), but my highest scoring photo was Siena Window, which I think got a 9 (out of 10) from one of the judges. My 6 entries were pretty much 'point and shoot' efforts, and while the quality of cameras are improving and everyone is becoming an expert, you still need to know about the basics of photography - composition, light, shutter speeds, etc. So I have lots of learning to do. Sorry no new photos to add to this blog tonight, as I haven't had the time to take any more!
Only 2 weeks to go before the Australian Leprachaun's hit Vegas & Wyoming...

Tales of the week...

(photo credit: http://www.ruralgateway.org.uk/)

Autumn is well and truly upon us. The days are brilliant blue sky but it gets positively frosty as darkness falls. The grit trucks were out on the motorway last night and the temperature was 4.7c on our bedroom windowsill this morning, so it's time to rug up for winter. The fireworks places on the border have cranked up too, and shops are stocked with Halloween stuff. The whole fireworks thing is really weird as you're likely to hear the whiz and bang of a rocket being let off at any time, any place, from now till New Year!
The radiator in my car literally disintegrated late last week. I was driving up the M1 onramp about 10 minutes from home when steam started billowing out. There wasn't just one hole in it... it looked more like a smashed up honeycomb (eg. LOTS of holes!) So I managed to coast and hop the car down to a small town called Dunleer (about 1km away), then took the bus to Swords instead. We found the local mechanic on the weekend by asking people outside the pub. So that's where the old Nissan Almera is this week... Well, it does have 147,000 miles on the clock so we're looking at the options of getting a newer car, and I've got a rental car for the week in the meantime.
Clare has been in Dublin all week for the World Seafood Congress 07. Busy, busy, perhaps finding time for a tipple of rum or two with the Aussie visitors in the evening!
Not so many tractors on the road this week as the National Ploughing Championships are on (the equivalent of the Ekka in Brisbane). Loads of exhibitors, trade village & food and of course LOTS OF PLOUGHING! Couldn't see it for myself as they have it midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday) and we definitely don't get a holiday for it!
Bye all.

Planning, planning...

Colorado, Wyoming... Too many miles? I just can't help planning, and Google Maps makes it too easy. Got to see Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower, etc, etc... Clare says one day she's going to book a trip for us that will be truly spontaneous and unplanned... What the?

Change Of Season...

Just a quick update this week, as we really didn't do a whole lot over the last weekend. Even the pub was quiet on Friday night. Clare is still working away furiously on her MBA, and I'm really getting into photography, having joined the Drogheda Photographic Club and getting my entries together for my first competition (for new or non-advanced photographers!) Those 6 entries are blogged directly from flickr following this post, which reminds me I really need to take some more Irish Pub Of The Week photos (I've fallen way, way behind with those), but I might also be helping out with a bit of an experimental photographic project in Drogheda in the next couple of weeks too...
On the homefront, the leaves are starting to fall from the trees and it hit 5 degrees the other morning. Signs of the months to come, after such a great summer (ok, an Irish summer!) The cockle pickers have been digging away on the Annagassan mudflats at low tide. We're pretty sure it's a commercial operation, and the workers are bussed in from somewhere. Starting to make plans for Christmas, etc.
Trust all is good in Brisbane town or wherever you are right now!

Angel

Angel
Originally uploaded by clare&joe

Barajas

Barajas
Originally uploaded by clare&joe

HCMC Kid

HCMC Kid
Originally uploaded by clare&joe

Siena Window

Siena Window
Originally uploaded by clare&joe

Stream

Stream
Originally uploaded by clare&joe

Tube

Tube
Originally uploaded by clare&joe

Mystery Bus HHH

BBQ "On The Rocks" at The Saltings, Annagassan
(please click on this photo for a larger version)

Photo Link: <Dublin HHH (Mystery Bus Trip), 09 Sep 07 photos>
Time: 2pm Sunday afternoon; Location: the end of a lane somewhere in the backblocks of County Down, Northern Ireland (bandit country until a few years back); Problem: have you ever attempted a 3 point turn in a 35 seater bus in a narrow country lane? Perhaps not. But the enthusiasm of the hashers (possibly alcohol fuelled) got us through, even though "Bernie The Bus" (our driver) had a little trouble finding the reverse gear (crunch)... This was our Mystery Bus trip to Mullingar, which of course didn't go anywhere near Mullingar. But Clare and I knew one of the destinations very well (as we helped to set the trail), but that was still to come later in the day...
Chris & Shay came up to Annagassan on Friday night so we started the weekend with another trad session at The Glyde Inn. A couple of different musicians turned up and the music was excellent as always, with some brilliant blues too. Saturday morning and Chris & Shay left to set the first trail (the location of which was kept secret from us of course). When they returned later in the day, Clare and I learned the finer points of Hash trail setting, using shredded paper, flour and chalk...

The Annagassan trail started on the road coming into the village from Castlebellingham: false trail on the seashore, up the hill (onto the rath), past the hay bales and the water tower, down the hill, false trail to the end of the harbour wall, under the bridge, along the river, over a stile and across a cow paddock (be careful of the electric fence), across a harvested wheat field, false trail along the esplanade, clamber down the rocks, along the beach, diversion around the pub... (exhausted yet?), finally ending up in front of The Saltings. I think we did a good job! After we set the trail we headed down to Parnell St (Dublin) for some Asian food. Clare had crab and said it was one of the best meals she's had in Ireland! We stayed the night at Chris & Shay's place, so we could board the mystery bus with everyone else on Sunday morning...

Everyone made it to the bus (10am'ish) and we headed north out of Dublin taking plenty of diversions along the way including Ballymun (keep going driver) & 360˚ loops around roundabouts, etc. but still ended up on the M1. We took bets on Slane or Carlingford but steamed right past those motorway exits and were soon in Northern Ireland where we took a left turn through Jonesborough (the locals were not amused by our coach squeezing through the market day traffic). We finally reached Hawthorn Hill Forest (Slieve Gullion) for the first trail of the day. After the trail (and beer & snacks), we boarded the bus again and promptly got lost (refer to paragraph 1!) Finally followed a kind driver out of the woods, toilet stop at Camlough, diesel stop at Dundalk, then onto Annagassan where we quickly kicked off the second trail (refer to paragraph 3!)

This was all followed by a BBQ on the rocks right in front of our building. Then we waved everyone goodbye as they drove back to Dublin (well after 6pm I think). There was still a case of beer left at that stage. Another great hash adventure.

flickr photo updates

Just a few more flickr photo updates. We now have 2,309 photos online with thousands of individual picture views. This was really pushed along by our Rolling Stones pics. I've also joined the nearby Drogheda Photographic Club in the hope of enhancing my skills!
So these photo folders all had major updates in the last week or so:
Photo Link: <2007... A year in Annagassan>
Photo Link: <Aviation at DUB Airport 07>
Photo Link: <Clare's USA Trip 99> (getting lots of comments on these)
Photo Link: <New York, Oct 03>
Photo Link: <Our Top 20 Most Interesting Pics>
Bye.

Photography Nut (and Movie Nut)...

Making hay while the sun shines in Annagassan, 02 Sep 07

(please click on this photo for a larger version)

While Clare is slaving away on her MBA, Joe is doing a bit of a personal project (instead of watching 200 channels of nothing on Sky TV)... to get ALL of our digital photos into flickr (they go back to 2001, with some scanned from earlier too)... My first digital camera was a little 1 Megapixel Kodak (please don't ask how much it cost back then). That camera has gone to Phoebe now (my niece), but I'm sure it ended up in a dusty box somewhere. Of course it could be used as a good paperweight. Anyway, flickr is probably about the best online community I've found yet (with the possible exception of the Sydney planespotters!) You receive (and give) feedback on photos, and they have meet-ups too. You start to learn a lot about what makes a good photograph (or maybe what everyone thinks is good photography!)

So we have another album online now:
Photo Link: <New York, October 2003 photos>
This was part of a bigger trip we took back then, and I'll put the rest up soon.
Also putting some movie reviews onto the SBS Movie Show website (at their invitation), so look out for me - it's a good website to visit too if you want to know what's on at the movies.
Bye from Joe & Clare.

Photo updates from 2001

We've uploaded 3 sets of photos from 2001 into flickr:
Photo Link: <Vietnam (colour), July-August 2001 photos>
Photo Link: <Vietnam Black & White, July-August 2001 photos>
Photo Link: <Long Tan Memorial, Vietnam, 18 August 2001 photos>
-----
All quiet in Ireland this week. Not much to report!

Movie Review - The Bourne Ultimatum

Movie Review - The Bourne Ultimatum (on my Movie-Nut Blog).

The last word from The Rolling Stones...

Our review of the Rolling Stones at Slane Castle is finished now...
Slane was one of the last shows of their 2005-2007 world tour (they ended up in London). Will they be back? The last word today from website PR-inside.com...
THE ROLLING STONES WILL 'NEVER QUIT'
ROLLING STONE RONNIE WOOD has laughed off reports the legendary band are planning to quit touring - insisting they will carry on performing until they drop. It was recently claimed the band's current A Bigger Bang Tour would be their last, because bandmembers Sir Mick Jagger, 64, Keith Richards, 63, Charlie Watts, 66, and Wood, 60, will be too old to hit the road again. But the guitarist insists, "We need a rest, but of course we will tour again. We'll never stop."
So there you have it!

Glyde Inn trad music...

Trad music at The Glyde Inn, Annagassan (YouTube video)

Video Link: <YouTube video of trad music at The Glyde Inn>
The music at our local, The Glyde Inn Annagassan was just outstanding last night. Particularly "Dirty Old Town" with the harmonica ending... WOW! (sorry we didn't record that one)... but we did record another 6 minute clip (uploaded on YouTube) - Now it's really NOT visually stunning, but have a listen and the clip maybe gives a sense of the depth of talent here on Friday night's now - there were 2 fiddles, 3 guitars, harmonicas & squeeze box and the French sax guy by the end of the night... Brilliant. My ability to capture these sounds (and vision) is limited to my little 4MP digital camera (designed for happy snaps), so I know the sound quality ain't great. Clare discovered a new bottle of rum behind the bar, but apparently it's pretty special and will probably never get opened while we're here. So Clare will tolerate the "Captain Morgan" for now... and I will be content with a pint of cider or two. Thanks Connor...
It's been much warmer here in the last few days. Much less rain. Good. Bye then...

1 year of blogging...

Annagassan Boat Harbour, Sunset, 08 Jul 07
(please click on this photo for a larger version)

Our blog was started up on 23 August 2006... so 1 year has gone by. Thanks for all the hits and please keep looking in. We're constantly adding new things to the site - the latest is "snap shots" which adds a visual preview to all of our links, and allows you to look through our flickr photos without going into flickr in full size.
Please feel free to leave comments on the blog at any time, by clicking on "comments" (underlined) at the bottom of each blog entry - it's really simple to do and you can write anything you like - honestly! (and we'll get inspiration from your messages)
Thanks for looking in from time to time...

I Can't Get No Satisfaction (Part 3)

Top: The rain comes pouring down at Slane
Bottom: The fireworks finale to the Rolling Stones concert
(please click on either of these photos for a larger version)

Photo Link: <Rolling Stones photos>
Rolling Stones "A Bigger Bang" Review:
Saturday 18 August 2007, 8.55pm - 10.50pm (plus fireworks till 11pm)
Full Set List: Start Me Up; You Got Me Rocking; Rough Justice; All Down The Line; Dead Flowers; You Can't Always Get What You Want; Midnight Rambler; I'll Go Crazy; Tumbling Dice (with band introductions); You Got The Silver (Keith); I Wanna Hold You (Keith); Miss You (moving to B-stage); It's Only Rock'n Roll (B-stage); Satisfaction (B-stage); Honky Tonk Women (moving back to main stage); Sympathy For The Devil; Paint It Black; Jumping Jack Flash; Brown Sugar (encore); fireworks close...
The Day: So here we were, on the top of a double decker bus at the Drogheda bus depot (20 minutes from Slane) with rain pouring down the windows. It really didn't look good. The bus drivers were hanging around smoking, Stones fans were thin on the ground and punters were jumping off the bus to get McDonalds from over the road. What a beautiful day for an outdoor concert! Eventually we had enough people on board to leave and pulled out towards Slane. Everyone let out a cheer and our pilgrimage began. Slane is a pretty small place, and vehicle access was blocked from all directions. So the bus dropped us before the River Boyne bridge. At the first security checkpoint (manned by the Garda), everyone was hanging around drinking their cans of lager (but you could still get alcohol through if you planned well!) The river was buzzing with inflatable boats ready to swoop on people trying to make an illegal swim to the castle grounds - loads of high-vis jackets everywhere. Across the bridge, we went through the second security checkpoint (more bag checks) but again the checks were pretty cursory - I think years of Bluesfest visits have honed our skills in contraband smuggling. Then down a long, muddy path that seemed to go forever. At this point, you gained a real understanding of the need for wellington boots at concerts & festivals in Ireland (you really need them!) The Slane concert venue is a large amphitheatre, right in front of the castle, going down to the river (the castle is actually quite small). We found our way to the E2 seating block then went to explore. Lots of food vans - 80% of them serving chips and curry sauce... Quite a limited choice at the bar - but ok if you like Heineken for €5 a cup. We bought a couple of t-shirts at €30 each (nothing like a bit of concert merchandising), but gave the programmes a miss (too steep at €15 each). So we sat and watched the crowd build. Clare marked some papers, then the rain came down (hoods up) and I thought for a moment the stage would actually disappear into the cloud... but it didn't. Helicopters buzzed in and out in what seemed like a constant stream for hours. The warm-up acts were fairly lacklusture - there was no doubt this was the Stones show, and they wanted to keep everything else low key. By this point the crowd was well and truly into the Heineken and blokes had discovered the joy of mud-sliding down the drenched embankments... This carried on for a while with much whooping and hollering until the security guys put an end to the fun. The rain eventually stopped, the grounds had really filled up now, the light started to fade, and the stage was all set...
The Show: With a huge wall of lights & video and a burst of fireworks, the Stones started the show with Start Me Up. Binoculars came in handy as the stage was quite distant for us, but the design and use of video throughout the grounds gave everyone a good view. Apparently the set list was almost identical to their last show at Slane back in 1982 - highlights: You Can't Always Get What You Want, Miss You, It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It), Paint It Black, Jumping Jack Flash... Keith Richards sang a couple of numbers too. At the half way point in the show the amazing stage design came into play - a "chunk" of the stage lifted up and moved along a track into the middle of the crowd. From there, they had the whole crowd singing along to Satisfation, then on with Honky Tonk Woman, and more of their really classic numbers (the second half of the show was probably more familiar and memorable than the first, especially for first-timers like us). Mick Jagger was constantly taking jackets off, then putting them back on. He ended up wearing a long coat and scarf (a chilly wind had come up!) All in all, a really great show.
Our Thoughts:
- Lots of the crowd seemed to be just interested in drinking and covering themselves in mud - I can understand the drinking, but the mud must be an Irish thing. We don't think a lot of people were there just for the music.
- When the Stones finally came on, the crowd seemed, well, somewhat lacking. There was applause and some cheering, but nothing like the level we expected (not like other concerts we've been to in Australia, etc.)
- The whole gig was incredibly produced and rehearsed (obviously they play very similar sets at all their shows), but there was some interaction with the crowd. I don't think you can expect too much more from a band that's played around the world for so many years.
- A little gripe, and I've seen this many times, is people streaming out at the first sign of the end of the show. LOADS of people were streaming out before the Stones came back for their (short) encore. At U2 in Brisbane last year (ANZ Stadium), again loads of people had left before U2 played 2 long encores with some of their best hits. I know some people want to get the first bus, but what a waste to leave early!
Check out all the photos from the day on flickr - they're getting LOTS of hits! We're starting to think there's quite a few people out there searching for pics of wellington boots !?!

Technorati

Technorati Profile
We have joined Technorati, which is bound to propel our blog into stardom... Yeah right! :)

Dublin HHH - Leixlip

Photo Link: <Dublin HHH - 19 Aug 07 photos>
Went on a walk around the scenic town of Leixlip, County Kildare (West Dublin) this afternoon. The temperature hit 21c - Wow! (according to the weather oracle, which is the temperature readout in the Peugeot!) Just a few photos will be added shortly (the camera ran out of batteries) So the weather seems to be changing - maybe for the better...

I Can't Get No Satisfaction (Part 2)

Mick Jagger (stock photo)

This weekend we move from Viking re-enactments to the Rolling Stones... Weather forecast: wellington boots and raincoats :(

The concert is held in the grounds of Slane Castle, a smallish village in County Meath. It would be something akin to having a massive concert (70,000+) at say, Samford, or perhaps even Maleny, with the same type of road capacity - although the lanes here are far narrower than in Australia. No wonder the locals were having temporary fencing installed in front of their homes when I drove through last weekend. I think the best thing for them might be to move out for the weekend. The venue backs onto the River Boyne which is "dangerously swollen" at the moment according to the head honcho at the Castle. I don't doubt him on that! Apparently people have drowned in years gone by in a vain attempt to cross the river and gain free entry to the grounds - perhaps too high a price to pay to see Madonna or REM, but there you are. So, we've decided to go by bus. Thus avoiding our car being stuck in a mudbog to rival the Byron Bay Bluesfest on the best of rainy years. More reports after we've seen Mick Jagger strut his stuff.

Viking Festival at Annagassan

Sword fighting action at the Viking Festival, Annagassan

(please click on this photo for a larger version)

Viking Festival Night at The Glyde Inn (YouTube video).

Not the best sound quality but sums up the atmosphere on the night!

Photo Link: <Viking Festival photos>
Video Link: <YouTube video of Viking Festival Night>
This weekend we had Jackson Allan (John Allan's son) to stay with us for a break from the rigors of Dublin living. So of course we went down the local for the usual Friday night trad session, and we heard about the Annagassan Viking Festival. What Viking Festival!? Apparently a full size Viking boat had tried to get into our local fishing harbour that day, but the boat was too big, so they went to Clogherhead (the next village along) instead - where they have a full size port with deep water access. This boat was sailed/rowed to Ireland by a Danish crew - it took them 7 weeks via Norway, the Shetlands & Orkney Islands. So on Saturday afternoon we checked out the Viking boat at Clogherhead and saw some quite large grey seals chasing fish that people were catching. Back in Annagassan, the Viking Festival was well underway in a local cow paddock. Trad music, Irish dancing, a chip van, Viking sword fights, etc, etc. They had history tours of the village and Clare got all the info about Vikings living here in the year 836 AD. All good fun for the village, and the Master of Ceremonies was dressed as a Roman Centurion - not sure what that was all about!

East End

(please click on either of these photos for a larger version)

flickr photo link: <London photos>

Hi all, we were back in London again for the Irish (summer) long weekend, 04-06 Aug. Raining as we left Dublin, raining as we returned to Dublin, but London was fine and got to 30c on Sunday. Nice. We stayed at Aldgate East (East London) - like a different country. It's called Bangla town - all the Bangladeshi's live there. Totally unreno'd, filth everywhere but full of buildings from the 1850's and before - having techno raves, outdoor bbq's, ferals selling their belongings at a night street market, brilliant graffiti, even found a Banksy in a back lane on a Jack the Ripper walk. Also did about 7 photographic shows as well as lunch at Wholefoods - the worlds best supermarket. Then on Monday we sped over to Notting Hill to find someone who knew what Eggs Benedict and Iced Coffee was. Checked out the local real estate - couldn't afford to rent a dog box there - would take our entire salaries and more. Could just afford a bedsit in Bangla town though. And we were almost in the middle of a West Ham vs Roma football riot outside Aldgate East Tube Station. And Clare took part in a "Down with Mugabe" rally outside the Zimbabwe Embassy. All the pics from the weekend are online.

Hello again

Irish Pub of the Week #8 - Katie Macs, Ballycastle. Trad music in County Mayo.

(please click on this photo for a larger version)

Some more updates this weekend...

Photo Link: <Tuscany photos> (all 288 of them, we'll have to edit them down!)

Photo Link: <Mum & Dad's Ireland photos #1> (from June)

Photo Link: <Mum & Dad's Ireland photos #2> (from June)

Also, 2 of our Berlin photos (from Christmas) were selected for inclusion in the "Schmap" online Berlin Guide (Deutsche Oper) - Photo 1 / Photo 2

Well, Clare has been in Ireland for 1 year and 1 month now, and Joe has been here for 7 months. So here's a bit of a "State of the Union" (village!) update from us... (a few picture links in here)

Clare… “Not much sign of the summer yet. Last summer (2006), the weather here was magnificent and I had heaps of visitors & wrote a lot more emails. My Mum, Ken, Joe, Kiwi Liz, Gina & Mike and Glen & Simon all came to visit. Even went crew sailing very regularly all summer at the Royal Irish Yacht Club (Dublin) as well as a few Hash House Harriers weekend trips. Chris Irvine is living in Ireland now, and so is sailing this season (I only got a look in last year as Chris was working in Belarus). Now I’m writing the thesis for my MBA, I’m really knuckling down. I completed 2 subjects last year – hopefully it will all be finished by this November. Joe’s parents, Sue & Dave have been here for the month of June (photos) – we had some good trips out, and I’ve just finished a batch of blog stories about our Tuscany trip and Connemara weekend. Tracy also came over from Baghdad last November for the Aussie Rugby match. She’s currently living in Mossman, FNQ - converting the Mossman sugar mill into an organic chocolate processing factory, whilst living in a solar powered hut in the rainforest overlooking the beach. The complete opposite of the green zone in Baghdad, this time last year! Tracy has handed in the final, final version of her masters on mud crabs.”

The biggest change from this time last year is where we’re living now – Annagassan. This is a one street fishing village where everyone knows the names of all the dogs and what they’re all up to. Our ex-carpark dog “Pigsy” (proper name D4), was captured by the Louth dog catchers, but rescued by his owner who lives in a large house in the village. So now from time to time we take D4 out for a walk along the seafront. I think they’re taking better care of him now. The pub (The Glyde Inn) has great “trad music” sessions on Friday nights. So we’re becoming semi-regulars on Friday nights now. We’ve even taken an Aussie flag and a fake cork hat to put behind the bar, but somebody already flogged the cork hat! If it’s sunny (God forbid) we even have a beach (well sort of, but not like Straddie or even Bribie Island!) Clare is forever running outside and taking pics of “weather” as Joe describes it – sunsets, clouds, storms and the ever changing scenery of Dundalk Bay. We’ll try and post some of those pictures soon.

We have an incredible view (and ever changing) view of Dundalk Bay and the Cooley Mountains from the big front window in our apartment. Just this weekend we’ve seen fishing boats trawling just off from the pub (about 60 metres offshore) and sailing boats about 200 metres from the shore. Annagassan was founded by the Vikings coming to raid, rape and pillage the nearby Monasteries, ie. Book of Kells and all that good stuff. But Clare found out the other week that the “Rath” (manmade hill) across the River Glyde was most likely built, not by Vikings or Celts, but by the people before who built Newgrange a long, long time ago!

We haven't really gone out of our way to find history – just the normal tourist stuff so far. Yeah, and Clare’s had audits on estates that date back to AD 462! (In Northern Ireland, quite close to a couple of our favourite walking spots like Castle Ward, Strangford Lough & Tollymore Forest Park - we love County Down :) After Clare finally finishes the MBA thesis, hopefully around Oct/Nov, she’ll have the time to really look into her own family history on both sides. She's concluded that even though it’s through her Dad’s mother that she has an Irish passport, he is SOOOOO German, and not at all Irish, whilst her Mum, who is technically at least 75% Irish but without access to a passport, is SOOOOO Irish in many ways. Her Dad’s family is actually only Irish since the late 1700’s when they came from France, as Huguenot protestant refugees to Cork. So not Irish and not Catholic – so much for all those family “histories!”

We’re off for a long weekend in London 04-06 August. Hope everyone is enjoying the Brissie winter! Don't forget we warmly welcome all visitors (Oh, and we have the best Guinness in the world!)

Lots of updates...

Irish Pub of the Week #7 - O'Donoghue's Dublin. Nice atmosphere, but bloody expensive drinks (1 pint of Guinness + 1 rum & coke was over €12 / AUD 18)

(please click on this photo for a larger version)

Just a quick update to the blog. We've made loads of major updates recently, mainly finishing off some of our recent stories:
The Connemara Jig (from May)

A week in Tuscany - Part 1 (from June)

A week in Tuscany - Part 2 (from June)

Red Dress Run (photos, from July)

Also been doing lots of updates to our main Flickr photo site, now that Yahoo photos has disappeared from the net. Bye for now.

I'll see you on the beach

3 images from Saving Private Ryan scenes filmed in Ireland.

(please click on any of these photos for a larger version)

Photo Link: <Curracloe Beach photos>

"I'll see you on the beach", as quoted by Tom Hanks in the opening of Saving Private Ryan (1998), right before they land on Omaha Beach...

Movie location pilgrimages can be fun – I’ve stood on top of King’s Canyon (Priscilla, Queen of the Desert), we’ve been to Katz’s Deli in New York (When Harry Met Sally), and this coming October we’re planning on driving to the Devils Tower in Wyoming (Close Encounters of the Third Kind). But Saving Private Ryan has always been a favourite of mine, and a few years back I got to see Omaha Beach for real when I took a ferry trip from Portsmouth to Cherbourg and explored the Normandy region.
So yesterday (Sunday) I went for a drive down to Ballinesker Beach (part of Curracloe Beach), County Wexford. This is where they filmed the incredible first 30-40 minutes or so (the Omaha Beach scenes), of Saving Private Ryan. Steven Spielberg’s locations team surveyed virtually every inch of coastline in Western Europe and decided that Ballinesker/Curracloe was the beach that most closely resembled Omaha Beach in France, a preserved and protected historical monument that could not be filmed on. So this beach and local area are quite famous now, and reminders can still be found that the filming took place there. All of the opening scenes of the film were made here - the landing craft, water & beach scenes, as well as the fighting to the dune tops with 2 massive German pillboxes, machine gun nests and trenches, etc. (this was all built on top of the dunes). Then the entire area was rehabilitated and turned back exactly the way it was.
So what can you see today? Well, if you start at the Ballinesker Beach carpark, you'll find a large "Saving Private Ryan" sign that shows the area of movie filming. There are no physical traces left in the dune tops except for some stairs going up to the area where a massive German pillbox was built facing the beach. There are also some tarmac paths left in the dune tops. In terms of props, the only thing left is a landing craft in the grounds of the nearby Curracloe Holiday Villas, which is open to the public. In Curracloe village, 4km away, an exhibition is currently running in Furlong's "Omaha Beach Restaurant" (Furlongs was frequented by the cast and crew seeking a Guinness during the filming!) A large number of photos are displayed around the walls of the restaurant, along with some other memorabilia from the making of the movie.
Sunday was cool, around 14c, with cloudy skies. This, of course, is Summer in Ireland so you don’t need to worry about high temperatures. Some kids (brave souls) were actually swimming, but I wondered along the beach taking photos and trying to figure out which escarpment or hilltop section was the “gap” that Tom Hanks and crew finally seized from the Germans. I eventually found the sandy path/stairs into a gully, with a bluff above that looked really familiar from the movie, with a small tarmac path (big enough for vehicles), ending nearby. I'm sure this is where some of the crucial scenes took place.
There's quite a bit of information on the net about the making of Saving Private Ryan in this area. June 2007 was the 10th anniversary of the filming taking place, so I found a couple of articles that were interesting...
(1)
Curracloe Beach. Also known as Omaha Beach. This is where the first thirty minutes of Saving Private Ryan were filmed. The location scouters evidently felt that it was the closest thing to the beaches of Normandy that they'd find outside, well, Normandy. Curracloe is actually a lot smaller than the Normandy beaches, with no large area of swampland before the bluffs, but it did a passable imitation on film.
I found out about the filming by accident, before the publicity machine started. The producers had laid a helpful trail of little pointy signs with DW on them all the way from the main Wexford-Dublin road, to help crew. On a lonely impulse of delight, we followed the signs one day to a small caravan park just off the beach, where there were all lots of locked caravans with exciting and provocative signs like 'Special Effects' and 'Film Editing' in the windows. So DW stood for DreamWorks, I suppose.
There was great excitement in Wexford and Curracloe at having Hollywood bigshots like Spielberg and Hanks in town - not that they were physically in town, they were staying at the most expensive hotel within a helicopter's range. Apparently they brought obscene amounts of money to the town, so that's okay.

We saw the beach transformed. They put up huge wooden Xs, the type used to stop the boats from coming in to shore, and cut away a section of cliff to build one of the bunkers in. This was a wooden constructions aged to look like concrete, and is sadly no longer there. Only the steps up to it remain. During filming one whole end of the beach was cordoned off, but there was no obstacle to stop us from gathering and gawping at all the nice explosions and maimings. One of the landing craft was given to the caravan park next to the beach; it stands in pride of place next to the tennis courts.
I've swam in the sea at Curracloe since I was a nipper, so it was a strange experience to see it run red with the blood of American soldiers. With the jerky, hand-held quality of the beach scene, it's difficult to make out familiar features of the beach. But there's one scene, after the invasion has been successful, when Tom Hanks is standing on the bluffs looking down at the boats, soldiers and balloons saying something like 'That's quite a view' and I can say: 'That's my beach!'
One of my friends, son of an FCA [Local defense force. ] soldier (oh yes, those were Irish soldiers dying messily for your Celluloid pleasure) was on a landing craft with all the haggard-looking soldiers, mugging unashamedly at the camera. Strangely, his film debut seems to have ended up on the cutting-room floor...
(2)
Wednesday June 06 2007
The 10th anniversary of the filming of Saving Private Ryan will be celebrated with an exhibition in Furlong's Omaha Beach Restaurant in Curracloe on June 27. The exhibition of photographs and memorablia will open on the day that filming started on Curracloe Beach in 1997 and will be on public view during the summer.
(3)
Wexford Echo - 10th anniversary of Saving Private Ryan 5/31/2007 - 12:11:38 PM
THE TENTH anniversary of the filming of Saving Private Ryan in County Wexford will be marked by a series of events next month. A group was formed last year to put in place a commemoration for the summer of 2007. Called, ‘Locating Private Ryan,’ the group comprises John Michael Murphy, John Billington, Stephen Eustace, Pat Furlong, Jimmy Lacey and Martin Mc Cool. The primary aim of ‘Locating Private Ryan’ is to promote Wexford as the primary film location of Saving Private Ryan. An elaborate commemoration has now been planned for Wednesday 27th June – the 10th anniversary of the first day of filming on Curracloe Beach. The focal point for the anniversary events will be Omaha Beach Restaurant/Furlong’s Pub in Curracloe village. It was felt that this venue has symbolic value as it is a lasting legacy of the filming of Saving Private Ryan locally, being named as it was in tribute to the filming of the D-Day landing on the beach nearby. In the film, Curracloe Beach stood in for Omaha Beach after Steven Spielberg’s locations team surveyed virtually every inch of coastline in western Europe and decided that Curracloe was the beach that most closely resembled Omaha Beach in France, a preserved and protected historical monument that could not be filmed on. As Saving Private Ryan recreated the disaster of the Omaha Beach landing, it was fitting that the only building in County Wexford to be named in tribute to the filming should be named so. Pat Furlong, frontman of Omaha Beach Restaurant, felt that this was the most fitting name for their premises which opened in 2001 to preserve the legacy of the filming as an important event in the history of the area. “We were going to call it the ’98 Bar originally, but it was not finished in time for that anniversary so, bearing in mind that the film about the Omaha Beach landing was made here, we decided to call it the Omaha Beach Restaurant instead,” Mr. Furlong said. The Furlongs have many fond memories of the filming of Saving Private Ryan at Curracloe. According to the publican, Furlong’s Pub was packed most days during filming between 1.00 and 2.00 p.m., then activity would subside, before the place came to life again at 5p.m. Many famous names and faces turned up in Furlong’s during the shooting, including Steven Spielberg, clad in baseball cap, sunglasses and denims One of Mr. Furlong’s best memories of the filming on Curracloe was the 41st birthday of Tom Hanks which fell during the Wexford shoot of Saving Private Ryan on 9th July 1997. A special request was received at Furlong’s Pub from Tom Hanks’ secretary for a barrel of beer. Pat Furlong recalls: “It was Tom Hanks’ birthday and they wanted me to bring a barrel of beer along. His secretary came up to the pub and asked for a keg of beer. Instead of giving them a keg of Guinness, which could not be poured out, I said, ‘I’ll tell you what I’ll do – I’ll give you 41 cans of Guinness’. So I gave them 41 cans of draught, one for each year of Tom Hanks’ life. So they got the Guinness and they sent me back a signed autograph from Tom Hanks.” According to Mr. Furlong, the coming of Saving Private Ryan to Wexford was a fantastic boost for Curracloe, and the main reason he offers for this is the advent of 3—phase electricity in the area: “We were waiting about ten years for 3-phase electricity in Curracloe. With the coming of Saving Private Ryan, it finally came to Curracloe. Cloney’s put it in for petrol. You could say that Saving Private Ryan brought 3-phase electricity here.” On the evening of 27th June, at 7.30 p.m., there will be the launch of a Saving Private Ryan commemorative exhibition featuring war gear and uniforms used in the film and many other items which will revive the memories of the film being made here ten years ago. A letter sent by Tom Hanks to the ‘Locating Private Ryan’ group this year will also be visible to the public for the first time.

Dublin HHH - Red Dress Run

Photo Link: <Dublin HHH - Red Dress Run photos>
We went on the Red Dress Run with the Dublin Hashers today. I think the pictures pretty much sum it all up!

The rain

I've been watching a dam. Well I call it a dam anyway. It's right next to the M1 motorway, nestled into a hill on the northern side on the Boyne Valley, on my way to work. The water level was pretty high over winter. Then the fishing season started and every morning keen fishermen were evenly spaced around the edge with their rods dangling in the water. Then, at some point, someone let the plug out, literally, and the dam drained away to nothing (I have no idea how you pull out the plug in a dam!) Overnight, the water was suddenly gone, and grass took over. Now June has seen some serious rain in Ireland. Heavy, heavy rain in short bursts, but lots of them. Not soft rain like usual for Ireland, but more like the way I remember how it rained in Brisbane in the 1980's, when you got soaked in 3 seconds. So every day, the water level in this dam is getting higher and higher, and I think soon it'll be back to the level it was over winter. So, this dam has gone from full, to empty, and is getting close to being full again in a matter of weeks. Silent Valley Reservoir, in the Mourne Mountains has an amazing spillway like a giant plughole too. A huge concrete tube leading down a channel carved into acres of carefully levelled green slopes, ready to take the spill that might just happen one day when it doesn't stop raining. I for one want to see the water flowing down that massive plughole. It'd be a pretty incredible sight. Not sure if they'll send me a "spillway alert" on my mobile though, so I'll probably miss it anyway. Just up the road in Northern Ireland, we saw playing fields and ASDA carparks completely submerged. Fenceposts cutting through paddocks where cows would need snorkels. This is a wet, wet place. You get used to it, you don't notice it, but you just think of how much Australia (and lots of other places) need this rain so, so badly. The sort of rain where you've gotta pull out the plug in your dam then let it fill up again. You wish.
Took a few more pics at Dublin Airport on Sunday too, against very stormy skies (and rain of course). Geeky I know, but something I don't think I'll ever tire of.

(please click on any of these photos for a larger version)

Finnair OH-LVC A319, Sunday Afternoon

My Travel G-OMYA A320, in stormy skies

Ryanair EI-DHI B737, with nice wing vapour

Girjet EC-JTN B757, charter operator based in Barcelona

Summer in Ireland

Views of Summer in Ireland

(please click on this mosaic for a larger version - from top left to bottom right: cow jam at Newgrange; the River Boyne; seagull; Kilmainham Jail Dublin; Annagassan Fishing Harbour; King John's Castle Carlingford)

Well, it's summer in Ireland. My parents are here for about 3 weeks, touring all around Ireland during the weeks and spending the weekends with Clare and I. So we're hitting the tourist trail and doing some new stuff, some old stuff, and discovering some new places. The temperature has even hit about 26c, but only for an hour or two on a couple of days. Then it went back to cool, rainy days, so you learn to make the most of what you get. We've been to Newgrange again, so different to our visit on the winter solstice last year (nb. link to our story from then - we've been officially published on the Newgrange website!) We've been on the double decker bus tour round Dublin. We've driven around the countryside - a lot! And perhaps one of the best things, the Friday night "trad music" session at our local pub is well and truly up and running and really quite good.

Clare says "I'm finally staying at home on a wet (driving rain and wind) summer day to at least get my MBA thesis proposal done. Not progressing well at all. Just too many things happening at work and at home. I'm behind with my blog stories too! It reached 21-26c for most of last week, the weekend and this week until yesterday. People were lying on the beach in togs, swimming and attempting to boogie board (with no surf). It was still 19c at 11.30pm at night. Complete record. People were sitting on our small beach (mud flat) with deck chairs and togs and eskies on Sunday. Blue skies and extremely hot by Irish standards. Sue and Dave (Joe's parents) were still wearing jumpers as it was 21c! It's actually howling wind and pouring rain from 4 directions at once tonight. Just totally pissing down here for the last few hours. Our front window was bending visibly in the wind and air pressure. Lets hope the sunny weather comes back It's really lovely when it comes! I had a deer slaughtering factory audit this week, on an estate that has the date AD462 on its crest. I questioned Peter (my boss) about this, asking how can the estate be from before St. Patrick’s time? Peter said that St. Patrick was a slave, so someone had to enslave him and since that happened in Downpatrick where this estate is, whoever owned this estate in AD 462 probably enslaved St. Patrick! Turned out to be true - it was the estate where St. Patrick had been enslaved in 500AD or similar. How's that for some history?"

Joe says "We get light until almost 11pm now, unless it's raining buckets and the clouds have blocked the sun. People here are complaining about the humidity - try a summer week in Queensland! I'm back at work now after our trip to Italy, which was so, so good. We're going back to London again for the bank holiday weekend in August - still plenty of bargain seats on Ryanair. Hope you're having a nice winter in Australia!"

A week in Tuscany - Part 2

Photo Link: <Tuscany photos>
A week in Tuscany - Part 2... (this is a pretty long blog entry, our longest story so far). You'll need to allow a few minutes for this one!
Tuesday means day of rest... We had mascarpone and gorgonzola over crusty bread for breakfast. Yummy!!! Then we headed off to the local CO-OP Supermarket in Radda to fill our fridge and cupboard with supplies (AWESOME pesto!) And it just bucketed down - like 4pm on a November afternoon in Brisbane. We'd all had enough of touristing in hill towns for a day, so we chose to stay at home (reading, taking photos, lying around the villa) whilst Chris & Shay walked through the countryside for 4 hrs and eventually got to Radda. Hmmm, I think there may have been some navigation issues there! We found them in the gelateria in Radda, and joined them there!
Wednesday means Siena... We got up at what seemed like the crack of dawn for the Siena Markets - not really farmers markets as in France though. The markets are one of the largest in Tuscany and surround the Fortezza Medicea. Lesson to be learned – DO NOT try and drive into Siena on a Wednesday (Market Day) – it’s probably difficult at the best of times, but after an hour of negotiating our way around the morning traffic and Italian traffic cops waving us on, we eventually found an illegal park well outside the city walls. It didn’t end up being too far from the town anyway (thanks to the Fontebranda escalator), and we were soon in the heart of gothic Siena with it’s amazing steep cobbled laneways and buildings crammed with history & tradition. The markets had loads of clothing, fabrics, household & leather goods at cheap Euro prices. And we eventually found the small food section, which was very good and fresh, it has to be said. The cappucino at Cafe Nannini (€1.10 – various locations in Siena), was very good. Strolled around then had a round of 4 drinks (about €18) at one of the terrace cafes on Piazza Del Campo, the very centre of tourist Siena. Joe checked out the Torture Museum (€8): "this series of slightly dank old chambers off a steep cobbled laneway made you glad you weren't around back then – full of suitably nasty implements and spooky music."
Siena is a true walled city, even today the vast majority of the town lives behind the walls, all 53,000 of them. The plague hit in 1348 and took out 100,000 people. The city has always been in competition with Rome, and then Florence for power and control. Clare gave the tower (Torre del Mangia, 102 metres) a miss here, but we did see:
- Piazzo del Campo
- Battistero di san Giovanni
- Santa Maria Della Scala
- Museo Archeologico
- Palazzo Chigo-Saracini
- Oratorio di Santa Caterina della Notte (Oratory of St Catherine of the night)
There is just so much to see in Siena and everything is within walking distance & very little effort (once you've parked your car and are within the city walls). We would go back in a flash. The best place we saw was the Santa Maria Della Scala, founded in the 1100's as a hospice for pilgrims, and a working hospital for 1000 years (until the 1990's), but now a museum/art gallery with a difference. The halls on the entry level have frescos depicting activity in the hospital in the 1400-1500's. Amazing. The old artworks & collectables include a large painting of Herod and the slaughter of the innocents, quite barbaric. Then you descend into the many floors below (with sloping tunnels), which include the Museo Archeologico and the Oratorio di Santa Caterina della Notte, amongst many other chapels and churches of secret societies. Clare: "St Catherines head is in a glass case down there (in the Oratario di Santa Caterina della Notte), and it's quite creepy with a very real ‘presence’ - I felt that her spirit (soul?) was there as well." We got sooooo soaked walking back to the car. We roasted a free range chook for dinner, with all the trimmings (Slow Food)... with some more Chianti Classico vino!
Thursday means Volterra... Volterra was founded by the Etruscan (ie. Tuscan) people long before the Romans got organised. The Romans didn't take the town until 260BC. It also took the Florentine empire in the 1360’s a long while to conquer them - the extreme geography certainly helped. Their heyday was in the middle ages though. The town (village?) is so interesting and has so many shops with interesting things to buy & restaurants full of yummy food. And the place didn't seem overrun by tourists either. A few buses piled in after lunch but still you hardly noticed them - not like San Gimignano, Siena or Florence. So many churches and chapels, all with doors open, and free. Even after days of churches these were all very interesting and each one different to the one before, Clare: "I couldn’t even start to describe all of the architecture styles, variations and eras (I think epochs would be more accurate here)." There's also a Roman theatre (pretty intact), one of the best Etruscan museums in Italy (all local findings) and would you believe a 14th Century jail that is still working today and has armed guards walking the walls between the turrets!!! Joe: "Volterra had an emphasis on the gothic, with yet another torture museum, to shops full of fake gargoyle statues, knives & Samurai swords and other dungeons/dragons related items. I even bought a great moulded skull with drink coasters embedded in the head... A nice touch for Halloween!" All up, a truly excellent way to spend the day. The weather held out as well, and we returned to the villa for a lamb bbq in the courtyard with appetisers, salads, many, many side dishes, and probably a dessert and definitely a few cheeses as well. And of course, a range of wines and spirits for each course.
Friday means Florence... We braved the elements and staggering volume of tourists and hit Florence (it had to be done!) Much to our surprise we had very few navigational issues and even less parking issues, but we did hit weather issues. So we strolled from our carpark into Florence at a reasonably early hour, carefully avoiding Gucci & Prada, and the tourist cafes with 5 Euro pizza slices, and we decided to join the queue (about an hour) for The Uffizi Gallery. We chatted with a student from Melbourne while we were waiting. Was it worth it? Clare: "Well we've seen the Medici family art collection now - but really I much preferred Catherine the Great's collection (The Hermitage in St Petersburg) and everything we saw in Madrid (and we didn't see everything in Madrid, art wise, by a long shot). The medieval artists were just so limited in the subject matter (seemingly about 4 topics all up) and styles (two styles - medieval church art and Medici portraits) and materials used (oil). Bring on the Renaissance and the Impressionists ASAP!" Joe: "Look, I like art as much as the next man, but the Uffizi was full of cherubs, angels, dying Saints, etc, etc. Call me an art heathen but lot of blokes were just ducking for the exit door here. Give me some Andy Warhol - you can only take so much medieval art!" Yet another bloody storm hit within minutes of getting out of the Uffizi, but we'd found the Trattoria Anita by then, way down a dark side street beyond the many Florentine tourists, just in the nick of time. Local food at local prices. In the afternoon we checked out the streets of Florence and took silly photos with the David replica, etc, etc. Chris & Shay got further afield in Florence and saw the original David statue at Galleria dell'Accademia (there are a number of copies), and went up the dome of the Duomo (Cathedral). Joe convinced Clare not to even try that one due to elevation issues (maybe she needs some therapy). For dinner we tried the nearest village and had some very traditional local fare at the Ristorante Malborghetto in Lecchi. Our final night at the villa :(
Saturday means "Disney" Pisa & Ryan's Lair... We cleared out quite early and hit the road (Pi-Fi highway) heading for The Leaning Tower of Pisa. Most of a Disney cruise liner (the first one EVER to Europe) had the same idea. So the Americans, fresh from their Mickey Mouse breakfast buffet, were pursued by quite literally a tribe of illegal immigrant watch sellers flogging fake Rolexes (they must have been bussed in from Florence). So here we were at Pisa, surrounded by a million people. The tower is leaning quite amazingly, and well worth a look, although there isn't a whole lot else to see in Pisa. So we went and found a pizza instead. After some hijinks trying to fill up the Alfa with diesel (during a whopping great storm), we finally got to the airport, right in the town. Joe very, very nearly missed the Ryanair flight back to Dublin!!! (too much daydreaming) Clare had to get the crew to page him and 11 others who were missing. It has to be said that the flight hadn't come up on the board inside the terminal, BUT STILL - bloody lucky Joe, the plane would have gone without you - it was Ryanair after all!
We give Italy 10 out of 10. And without a shadow of a doubt, the best food in the world!