September 22, 2007

Today we celebrated a year of marriage. We slept in a tiny bit later - but still managed to make it to breakfast around 8.30. We exchanged gifts before breakfast. Aidan gave me earrings from Tiffanys that matched the necklace that he gave me at the rehearsal dinner. I gave him the beginnings of his US Dollar Coin collection. After breakfast (again with classical music) we headed to Fanueil Hall. Everything opened at 10am so we went to the Rose Kennedy Rose Garden and walked around the aquarium area. At 10 we weent to the Bostix booth to get half price tickets to see 'The 39 Steps'. We then explored the stores in and around Quincy Market. After that we walked to Downtown Crossing. It has changed so much. It was upsetting to see Filene's closed. Thankfully there are still a few places there that I remembered.We picked up lunch from McDonalds (including the fruit and walnut pack) and walked across to Boston Commons to eat. We were serenaded by a guy playing the flute and he was pretty good. We also watched all of the squirrels - there were so many and they come right up to you. We then walked through the Frog Pond (it was empty - ice skating starts Nov 15) and through to the Public Gardens. I got a few pictures of the swans from the dock were the Swan Boats used to depart. I was so impressed by the roses in the Public Gardens. So beautiful! We then walked down Newbury Street and visited a few stores, including Filene's Basement. When we got back to the guest house it was already time to leave for the Hatch Shell.We walked down BEacon Street to Arlington and then across the Arthur Fiedler Footbridge. There was a Blues Festival going on so there were many people on blankets and chairs. We boarded our gondola and learned about the mechanics of the boat. The 2 gondolas that they have are handmade from venice and were in service on the Grand Canal for many years. It was so comfortable. We had champagne, cheese and crackers and chocolates. I took so many pictures of the Charles River, Cambridge, Boston and the sailboats/kayaks/etc. We also had Andrea Botcelli playing in the background. We had to kiss under every bridge as well - fun!!!!! 50 minutes seemed to fly by and before we knew it we were disembarking. It was superb and I highly recommend it because it was so romantic.We caught the T back to the guest house, showered and changed for dinner and the theatre. We ate at Brasserie on Huntington Avenue. It was lovely. The service was superb and there was way too much food. It tasted devine though. We then walked to the Boston University Theatre (Hntington Theatre) to see 'The 39 Steps'. I thoroughly enjoyed it. There were only 4 cast members and they were amazing. Only the male lead played one part. The female lead played 3 and the other 2 males played too many characters to count. It was a comedy that also included references to many other Hitchcock movies. It was just so clever! It will be moving to Broadway in January so I'm glad we got to see it. After the show we headed back to the guest house where we intend to crash shortly. A long weekend is not enough time to enjoy all Boston and Massachusetts has to offer.

September 21, 2007

It has been a busy yet relaxing day. I got up early to watch the end of a DVD (Failure to Launch) and then went back to sleep until about 8.30. We then went down for breakfast in the lounge. It was so cool to see other guests having their breakfast while talking or reading the Boston Globe. We sat near the fireplace and ate while listening to classical music.... nice....We decided to do the Gray Line Trolley tour so we caught the T to Copley and then ended up walking down Huntington to the Colonnade. We waited so long that we decided to stay on the trolley for the full 2 hour tour. We saw a bit of everything from the USS Constitution to Boston Common to MIT to Beacon Hill and the Theatre District. The guide told some great stories and I think we may visit Boston Common and Fanueil Hall tomorrow.We got off and decided to go to lunch. We got sidetracked because we walked around the Market at Copley Square and ended up going to a 45 minute Organ Concert at Trinity Church. The 3 pieces played were wonderful and the church was stunning. We then went to shops starting at the Westin. We spent a bit of time in Tiffanys looking at their new diamond cut and some of their eternity bands. We then went to Saks Fifth Avenue and I did it..... yes I FINALLY purchased a pair of black leather Christian Louboutin pumps (on sale!!!!!). I smiled all the way through lunch at Pizza Regina.We returned to our homebase and then jumped in the car and went to Babson. It was as lovely as I remembered. I visited with Bob Wagner in Admissions and then I should Aidan around Olin. We then drove through Wellsley and headed to the Natick shopping area. We did a bit of shopping before heading down Rt 9 E towards the Atrium Mall. We met Carrie and Peter and had a few Bermuda goodies for them. Dinner was great and we got to catch up. Carrie got a group picture that I will have to get a copy for my vacation scrapbook. Carrie looked great - really chic!!!We headed back to the city but got a bit lost and before you knew it we were at Harvard Square (yes, we got pretty far off course). We finally got back to Boston and went for a walk from our guest house, to Newbury Street, up to the Boston Commons and then back along Newbury Street and back to the guesthouse. It was a nice 1.5 hour walk with great window shopping! Well, we've reserved our gondola ride for 4.30 tomorrow afternoon and we're going to see 'The 39 Steps' at the Huntington Theatre tomorrow night!

September 20, 2007

We've had a fun afternoon and evening thus far. We had a really pleasant flight on JetBlue. I actually wish we booked JetBlue for our December trip to NY. We landed early and Logan was just as busy as I remembered it. While we waited for our bags I emailed our parents and texted Saffron & George. Then it was off to pick up the rental car.The traffic was light which made getting through the Summner Tunnel and onto Storrow Drive easy. We had a bit of trouble finding the guest house on Bay Street. It was one way so we were looking for 9 and ended up at 23 in no time. We went back down Comm Ave and after two attempts found parking. The Gryphon House is so beautiful. It is the brownstone of my dreams. Our room is so open and bright. I truly feel on vacation here!We went for a 2 hour walk from our guest house (a bit up from Miles Standish Hall at BU), down to Cleveland Circle and back up to Coolidge Corner. My feet were killing me! We had dinner at my favorite Japanese Restaurant. We did a hot pot where you put vegs and meat into the pot of broth and then when it is cooked you dish out the food and the broth and eat it. It was sublime!!!! We ate way too much. We then went to Trader Joes and Walgreens for supplies.We are going to spend the evening watching a movie after I test out the bath. We also need to think about which tour we're goig to do tomorrow. and I think we're going to go on a gondola ride on the Charles River on Saturday!!!!! This is too cool!!!!!

June 22, 2007

Today marks 9 months of marriage! After a very difficult May with the loss of Loreley and Deaglan we just slipped into June and hoped that life would get back to normal. Business is picking up for Aidan and I am close to the end of my second-last course before I have to do the dissertation. We had a relaxing trip to Dublin after Brendan and Suzie's wedding and we're grateful for that as we were able to regroup and figure out what comes next.On a brighter note, we adopted a new kitten on June 16th. Artemis Penelope is a pure white terror. She is more vocal than Matthias has been in his whole 8 months in our home. Still, they have taken to each other and we are enjoying the antics of a kitten in the house. I look forward to seeing how she will grow up!

May 31, 2007

We definitely had a very different holiday day today. We drove to the bike shop at University College, Dublin in Stillorgan and rented two bicycles. As part of the deal, you receive a map and a course. And so we headed off down the cycle path beside the N11 to the Ramada Hotel and turned left down to the coast. There we cycled the coastal path through a park and then along the breakwater by the railway to Sandy Cove and Blackrock village. There we passed the Royal Irish Yacht Club, the Royal St. George Yacht Club and the Irish National Yacht Club and on to the sea port. There was a very large ferry for Holyhead departing as we arrived in the port of Dun Laoghaire. We cycled to the end of the pier and back and had some fun with a sundial. You can see this on our photos. We then continued along the coast road towards Dalkey. It was about this point where I observed that the Irish Sea must be sloped as we seemed to travel most of the journey uphill and still end up at sea level after each incline. We cycled around the James Joyce Tower and into the centre of Dalkey, where we stopped and had lunch at the Queen’s Pub. Following this we continued along the Vico Road which took us around the ritzy part of town – it seemed everyone had a Mercedes. It was a very, very long steep hill. We were overtaken by a Ferrari on the way up. Apparently this is the “Beverly Hills” of Ireland and we passed houses owned by The Edge and Bono of U2, Enya and Eddie Irvine of racing car fame. We then travelled back via a slightly different route to Dalkey and Blackrock and then up the hill and back to UCD. The whole journey took from 10:30 until 3pm. Following this we travelled back into Dublin and went to Trinity College, Dublin to the old library where we saw the Book of Kells, copies of the four gospels written in illuminated script in about AD800 as well as the books of Armagh and of Mulling. Then we went for a bit of a wander around the shopping areas, before heading back to the hotel for a relaxing meal at O’Connell’s and an easy night. We are very much looking forward to meeting Aidan's cousins tomorrow evening.

May 30, 2007

The day started off not so bad. There were a few showers around. We headed out around 10:30 to do our “grand tour of Co. Wicklow”. The driving was quite easy and we made our way to Blessington. We stopped for a few minutes to have a look around, but it started to rain quite heavily so we went back to the car and continued on. We took the small road out to Valleymount and stopped a couple of times for pictures. In Valleymount we visited the church and walked down to the lakeshore. Once again a shower came over, so we left there and carried on into the mountains and through the Wicklow Gap to Glendalough. Unfortunately, due to the light showers and part fog, we were unable to see very far, but what we could see was exceedingly picturesque. It was in Glendalough that we had a very nice lunch in the Wicklow Heather Restaurant. Whilst there, we found a couple of newspaper articles dating back to 1952 when the Blessington valley was flooded, which made for interesting reading. The lunch was extremely good. We then carried on through Kilmacurragh and Rathdrum, stopping off at the Woolen Mill, where we picked up a couple of Aran wool sweaters. Then on through Glenealy and Rathnew and a detour out to Wicklow town. From here we drove up the coast road through Newcastle, Kilcoole and Bray and ended up in Dublin right on rush hour.In the evening we visited the Merry Ploughboy pub just south of the city and were treated to a show of Irish music and dancing following a very good meal.

May 29, 2007

We finally managed to make up our mind on which sightseeing tour to take yesterday. We caught the 10.15 shuttle into the city center and had a taste of Irish humour. The bus driver was crazy! We were laughing our heads off as he drove through the city with his "non-tourguide" commentary. At one point he had the bus racing another bus in order to cut it off to allow us to get onto the actual tour. the new bus was packed so we were dropped off at the tourism center shop to catch another bus. We took this opportunity to buy our bus passes and get a little something to eat.When we finally boaarded the tour bus we climbed on the second level but sat in the covered area. It was sunny and somewhat warm but there was a breeze so I was better off under the shelter. We went along the full route first to hear the commentary. Again, the 2 busdrivers that we had during the loop were hilarious. We learned about the history of Dublin, local jokes and their personal observations (perhaps the funniest of the lot). We then decided to get off at the Guiness Storehouse. It was a good tour and the highlight was the Gravity Bar where you got a free pint of Guiness while taking in a 360 degree view of Dublin. We then jumped on the bus (again we sat on the top level but this time outside) and rode to O'Connell Street. We walked to Trinity College with the intention of seeing the Book of Kells but the line was too long. Instead we went to LUSH for a few bath ballistics and then along Nassau Street to look at the Irish crafts, crystal, wollens and jewelry. It was then time to eat so back to Bewleys on Grafton Street for some really good pizza. We went back to the hotel to allow me to complete some homework. Aidan called his cousin and tentative arrangements were made for Thursday. We also booked dinner and an Irish dancing show for this evening. All that was left was to find something to do for the evening at hand. We decided to go to the cinema on Purnell street to see Pirates of the Caribbean. The tickets cost almost 20 euro and a regular popcorn and two drinks cost about 11 euro - good lord! The commercials before the movie were silly, as expected. We enjoyed the movie. No, it's not the most serious of content but it is not supposed to be. Listening to critics is a waste of time. It was a few hours of mindless entertainment and I enjoyed watching it. After the movie we went to Eddie Rockets - it was basically Johnny Rockets with a different name (I noticed the same with TJ Maxx, which is TK Maxx over here). We had a good dinner and then caught a taxi back to the hotel. We got yet another fascinating taxi driver - granted the taxi driver that we had going to the cinema was the best yet. We ended the evening with me doing more homework. It just doesn't end...