Top 10 Things I Miss

Michael and I were talking and he asked me what I missed most about the US.  My first answer was a no-brainer but then it got me thinking of what else I missed.  Outside of missing friends and family which is a given, there were a few other things I missed, so I decided to make a list of the other things.  Granted, living in Ireland has its perks and I am loving my life, but I can't help but miss some of the conveniences of home.

Top 10 Things I Miss Most About The US

1. Full size washer and dryer... that works.
    Our washer and dryer here is tiny... tiny! We can fit maybe 1/3 of what we could fit in a US washer  
    and dryer.  The dryer takes forever to dry and won't work if the load is too heavy.  So, we end up 
    hanging everything up to dry, which takes around 3 days.  Some of our clothes end up smelling 
    funny and feeling like sandpaper. Our laundry hamper is always full no matter what we do.  

2.  High chairs in all restaurants
    Majority of restaurants here do not have high chairs.  Some have told me they don't allow babies. 
    Some will say they don't have a high chair and they don't allow the buggy which means you have to 
    hold your squirming toddler as you (try to) eat - NOT WORTH IT.  Its been somewhat discouraging 
    finding restaurants that are toddler friendly.  

3. Target, Walmart, Stores open pass 7pm
     I miss options and convenience.  There are not a lot of store options here in the city center and   
     when you find one, they don't always have what you need or much variety.  So, you end up having 
     to go to 3 different stores. The stores close early and the prices are higher than the US, especially 
     since there's a 23% VAT on purchases.

4.  Sales racks
     Sales racks are far and few in between in the stores I have been to.  I think the only time I saw a 
     sales rack was in the outlet mall I went to.  In most of the other clothing stores, I have yet to see a 
     sales rack which is unheard of to me.  I would always shop at the sales racks in the US.  Clothes 
     were so cheap back home!

5.  Banks that open before 10 and after 4
     Yeah, so banks here open at 10 am and close at 4 pm with an hour lunch in between.  You also 
     have to conduct your bank business at your designated branch, you can't go to another branch to 
     do any business outside of withdrawing or depositing money.  If you want to set up a direct deposit, 
     you need to submit a form to your branch.  

6.  Trash bins
      Trash is only picked up where I live once a week.  We have to leave it out on the street with a waste 
      sticker on it or they won't take it.  The waste sticker costs 3.50 Euros each! I have to go to the post 
      office and buy these waste stickers for each of my trash bags.  It can get pretty costly and without a 
      dumpster, the trash piles up quick.  Remember, I do have a toddler in diapers.  

7.  Petite clothing stores
     I have seen one store with a petite clothing section here.  I have yet to actually find my actual size.  I 
    do have plenty of clothes, so its not a big deal, but when I go shopping I can't find clothes that fit me.  
    I will have to be resigned to the fact that if I buy pants or skirts I will have to get them altered.  I used 
    to shop at Ann Taylor or Ann Taylor Loft for my clothes as their petite clothes fit me perfectly but 
    alas, no stores in Europe.

8.  Elevators
     Elevators are also very far and few in between.  A lot of places we go to have stairs.  Our apartment 
     has stairs and no elevator.  It can be pretty hard getting around with our buggy going up and down 
     stairs.  If I'm alone with Connor and the buggy and there is a place with stairs, I just avoid it and 
     leave as its too hard for me to carry everything up and down the stairs.

9.  Sink with one faucet in the bathroom
     So, we have seen this a lot.  Our apartment has this too.  Our bathroom sink has two faucets, one 
     for hot water and one for cold water.  You have to do some strange finagling to get warm water.  I 
     guess you could just plug up the sink and fill it with both, but man that takes a long time!  

10. Free refills, more than one napkin
      Ok, ok, we came from the land of excess.  But we do miss getting free refills on drinks and being 
      able to get more than one napkin at a restaurant.  We are paying the same price as we did in the 
      US, but you are definitely getting less.  

To be sure, a lot of these things are to be expected.  I am not whining about these things but thought it would be interesting to share the differences from my perspective.  Ireland has a lot of great things to and I might devote a blog post on that in the future!

In Brugge & Brussels

Chocolate, waffles, mussels, beer, and fries pretty much sums up our trip to Brugge and Brussels.  

We took a 3 day trip to Belgium and had a great time.  The weather was nice and the scenery was beautiful. Brugge is a picturesque town full of medieval buildings. It still looks like what it did in medieval times. We flew into Brussels and took a train from Brussels into Brugge.  The train ride was close to an hour long.  There is a train station in the Brussels airport so getting to Brugge was very easy. Our hotel was very close to the Grand Market at Hotel Prinsenhof.  It was central and close to the attractions.  Brugge is a walking city and our hotel provided us with a free two hour walking tour that showed us the main sites.  There are many bridges and canals through out the city and we also took a boat tour of the city on the second day.

At the Brussels airport

On the evening of the second day, we took the train back to Brussels and had dinner there.  We also stayed close to the Grand Place and were able to walk to the main sites.  Strangely enough, there was a Mexico festival in the Grand Place when we were there with Mexican food, music and dancing. 

We had mussels for dinner two of the nights and they were very delicious.  I didn't think I liked mussels but since they are a delicacy in Belgium we decided to try it in Brugge and couldn't get enough.  Even Connor had a few.

In Brussels we walked around the city and saw the Mannekin Pis. We also went to the Grand Palace on Sunday and there was a organic food festival with farm animals.  Connor had fun petting the animals and also tasting the free food samples.

It was a great trip and I highly recommend seeing both cities.  Here are a few pictures from our trip.

Brugge train station

Brugge grand market

Brugge city hall

Brugge medieval buildings

I would have been tall in medieval times

Best chocolate in Brugge

Contents of the bag

Halve Maan Brewery

Enjoying the beer

Enjoying the waffles

Basillica of the Precious Blood (they believe they have a vial of Jesus' blood which you can look at)

Connor enjoying some Belgium cheese

Connor on the boat tour

Dog asleep in a window as seen from our boat tour

Brussels Central Train station

Brussels main square

Mannekin Pis! I thought he was bigger!

Mussels - Before

Mussels - After

Rubbing the hand for good luck

At the Grand Palace

Mary and Child statue by Michaelangelo - the only one outside of Italy

Waffle display

In the grand place

Next trips

We started planning our next trips!

Brussels and Brugge Belgium this Friday-Sunday.

Budapest two Fridays from now.

And the adventure continues....

Paris Day 3

We started our Sunday in Paris by packing our suitcases and then having breakfast at a bakery near our hotel.  Our flight was not until 9:40 PM so we had plenty of time. During our cruise on the Bataeu marche, the guide pointed out the different bridges in Paris where couples have locked their love through padlocks on the wire bridges.  The first time I saw one of those bridges I mistakenly thought that the locks were gold leaf designs on the bridges.  But on closer inspection, they were the numerous locks glinting in the sun.  We went around the stores to find a padlock and only found a small gold one.  However, it had 3 keys, so one for Michael, Connor, and I.  The tradition is to write on the lock, lock it on the bridge and throw away the key in the river - hence sealing your love forever in Paris. 

On our way to one of the bridges on the Seine, we came across a random little park with benches shaped like open books and a towering fountain. 


Connor trying to climb one of the book benches



Connor running around in the park

Connor loves fountains so we stopped in the park to let him run around and play. He was fascinated with the fountain and liked chasing the pigeons that were gathered around.  

You can see the delight in his face over the fountain



"What's that?" Connor's favorite phrase right now

He then came across a aluminum panel on the floor of the park that made noise every time he stepped on it so he played there for a while. 


Our lock and keys - one for each of us

We then reached one of the bridges and found a good place to put our lock.  We each took turns throwing away our key and I'm curious if it will be there when we come back again.  

Our lock on the bridge



Michael throwing his key



Connor helping me throw my key



Cheesy family picture :-D



Looking at our lock

Admiring the locks on the bridge

After the bridge we went to the Tuileries Garden next to the Lourve Museum.  A lot of people were relaxing around the many squares in the gardens so we decided to sit in the chairs and just enjoy the breeze and the view.  Connor was already taking a nap so the whole family took a little nap in the outdoors.  It was wonderful. 



Relaxing

When everyone woke up, we went to the Place de la Concorde which was the place of the guillotine executions.  There is a fountain, statues and an obelisk in its place. 



You can also see right to the Arc de Triomphe from the Place de la Concorde. 


Looking at the different bridges along the Seine



In front of Pont Alexandre III bridge - most famous bridge in Paris

Pont Alexandre III Bridge

We went back to the Eiffel tower area and brought Connor to play in one of the playgrounds.


Fun at the playground

We walked around some more and then took the metro back to our hotel around 6:30 to take a bus from the hotel to the airport. I was surprised at how little restaurants were in the Paris airport but maybe we were in a small terminal.  We got some food from a little stand and ate at our gate.  There was a nice little play area for kids next to our gate so Connor had some more fun there.  We were thinking Connor would sleep on the flight back but he refused to sleep during the whole flight.  I think it had to do with the airplane having the cabin lights on during the entire flight. 
We caught the Aircoach from the Dublin airport to Merrion Square and walked a few minutes to our apartment.  The Aircoach stop is right next to our doorstep.  I was pretty exhausted after our flight and we went right to sleep and it was back to work and daycare the next day.

The trip was fantastic and we definitely want to go back again while we are here.  Maybe we can go back to Paris a few more times.  I really love the city and the relaxing life style.  If I had all the money that I needed and could live anywhere in the world, I would definitely be living in Paris. 

Au revoir (for now), my friends!

Paris Day 2

It was wonderful waking up in beautiful Paris in our little room on Day 2.  We went out and picked a little cafe next to our hotel and had croissants with jelly, cafe creme and orange juice.  Connor liked the croissants too and inadvertantly fed a few of the pigeons with his crumbs.  It was nice sitting outside enjoying the sunny weather. 


Cafes next to our hotel

After breakfast, we took a walk to the Luxembourg Gardens or Jardin du Luxembourg as the French call it. The Gardens are the second largest public park in Paris.  There is a palace on the grounds with a few ponds, fountains, statues, and beautiful flowers and trees.  It is my favorite park in Paris and a great place to relax and enjoy life.  They even have chairs all over the park that are designed so that you can sit and put your feet up.  

Palace at Luxembourg Gardens



In front of a statue at Luxembourg Gardens

 

Going up and down the stairs



 Connor had  great time in the gardens and loved going up and down the stairs.  A few people would stop and talk to him in French because he was so determined.  I had no idea what they said but I could tell they thought it was cute.  There were also ponies that children could ride in the park and Connor really wanted to touch their tails. 

After the gardens, we took the metro to the Eiffel Tower. 





On the metro

We went to the great lawn in front of the Eiffel and took pictures. 

Connor ran all around the lawn and would not sit still for any pictures.  He was also hungry and in most of the pictures, he's either got a cookie in his hand or in his mouth.  There were a lot of people on the lawn and a lot of people making out on the lawn.  I think most of them were oblivious that they were in a public place - or maybe not.  This was also the start of the wedding sightings that we saw all over Paris that day.  I think we saw atleast 8 weddings as we were walking around. 



Posing with his cookie



Giving his signature "look"



We left the Eiffel Tower and Connor fell asleep in his buggy, which meant Michael and I could eat peacefully at a cafe for lunch.  Hooray! 

Our wonderful French lunch at a cafe

After lunch we walked to the Arc de Triomphe and took a few more pictures.  We didn't cross the roundabout because you have to go down stairs and under the street to get to the Arc and it would have been hard with our buggy.

We walked from the Arc down the Champs Elysees and saw a few photo shoots along the avenue.  We decided to walk next to the Seine with Connor who had a ball looking at the different bridges.  There is a bridge with a bunch of faces and he kept pointing at the faces. 


Pointing at the faces



We walked down the Seine until we reached Pont Neuf and took a cruise down the Seine on a bateau-mouche.  The one we chose had a speaker that narrated in both English and French and pointed out all the famous sights and different bridges.  It was interesting and a great way to get your bearings around the city.  I would recommend doing this on the first night. 


On the bataeu marche

After the boat ride, we got some take out and ate our food in front of Notre Dame.  We also went into Notre Dame but there was only candle light on inside.  The cathedral looked eerie and spiritual at the same time. 



In front of Notre Dame at night

Once we were full, we headed back to our hotel and had a good nights sleep!


Seine River at night