Dubliners for a week

Today was a cold drizzly day in Dublin. I need to get used to the frequent change in the weather. I am used to Florida weather where it is constantly hot, no guessing. I am glad I bought my trench coat with a hood. It has been so useful in the wind and having the hood for the rain. We were also able to use Connor's stroller rain cover.

Today we went back to the Museum of Archeology and saw the second floor. There were exhibits on Viking Ireland, Medieval Ireland, Egyptian artifacts, and bronze age Ireland. It was interesting and there were clothes they recovered from the bogs from medieval times. I'm amazed at all of the things they find in the bogs and how perfectly preserved they are. There are probably so many other items still left to discover in the bogs.

After the museum we went to a cozy cafe for a coffee break. The cafe made beautiful designs on top of of our drinks. I took a picture of the design on my hot chocolate.

Feeling energetic after our break, we walked to the Temple Bar area and went to Christ Church Cathedral, the oldest Medieval church in Dublin. We went inside and looked at the crypt and treasury. There is a mummified cat and mouse that they found stuck in the church organ on display. It seems the cat chased the mouse in the organ and they both got stuck in there. There was also a display from the Tudors series set. Some of the scenes from the Tudors was filmed in the cathedral.

After the cathedral we walked to St. Patrick's cathedral, the second oldest cathedral. It was closed so we let Connor play in the park next to it. Connor had a lot of fun running and trying to climb up and down the stairs in the park. All the parks here are so beautiful and bright green.

Can't believe it's only been a week since we arrived. I probably won't stop feeling like I am on vacation until I have to start work.

Here are some picture's from today:

First Saturday

Maybe we got some of the Irish luck because Connor let us sleep in this morning. We did laundry in the morning and then went out to go to the Museum of Natural History or the "Dead Zoo". All museums are free here. It was pretty interesting looking at all the different animals that they had on display. There were a lot of birds too. Connor liked walking around and pointing at the animals. There was a cabinet and drawers with surprises inside which was Connor's favorite thing in the museum. He loves trying to open the kitchen cabinets here and usually gets scolded so he loved that he could open and close the doors as much as he wanted. He's so funny. I have included a picture.

We then went on Grafton Street and found a cafe to eat lunch at outside. It was a sunny warm day in Dublin and a perfect day for being outside. Connor has started a phase where he screams whenever we sit down at a restaurant so it was fine for him to scream on the street versus inside the restaurant.

After eating we went to the Museum of Archeology (very close by to the natural history museum) and walked around the first floor before they closed. We'll probably go back tomorrow to see the second floor. I love that the museums are free. There were some neat exhibits especially the one on the bog bodies. The second floor has Egyptian artifacts so that should be interesting too.

After the museum closed we walked around trying to find a store that sold these clear rain and wind covers for the stroller. After the awful rain yesterday we definitely need one for our stroller. I would see these rain covers on all the other strollers we passed. Not really having any luck we went into the Disney store as a last resort and a sales person there suggested we go to the St. Stephens shopping center and go to a store called Argos. The shopping center is very bright and airy with glass ceilings and huge clocks. I included a picture below. We found a store called Mothers Care which sold baby products and they were out of stock of the baby jogger cover. We tried the Argos store which had generic covers and a unique storefront. There were a bunch of computers and Argos catalogs, a pay station, and a pick up counter. You look up the product you want in the catalog, search the computer to see if in stock, place the order, pay and then pick it up at the counter. They were also out of the cover we wanted. We did see that both stores had the items we wanted in stock at the Jervis shopping center down near O'Connell street across the river. So we trekked over to that area (took around 10-15 minutes) and saw that the Argos store already closed. Mothers Care was still open and thankfully had the cover in stock. It was great finding out where two of the shopping malls are. They seem like nice malls and the st. Stephens mall will be pretty close to our new place. It's nice learning more about our new city. I would like to meet some moms around here. Hopefully I can find a moms group or some moms in my office. Unfortunately moms group are always during a week day in the middle of the day which is not convenient for a working mom. All in all an eventful and productive day!

Day trip

It was Michael's birthday today! We took a day trip to Glendalough and Kilkinney. It was a full day trip and Glendalough was very beautiful and peaceful. It was the site of an ancient monastic settlement. It was a little hard with our stroller but we managed it. Unfortunately after we got on the bus to Kilkinney it started raining very hard. We got dropped off at Kilkinney castle and ate at the Hibernian inn. Then we took the walking tour in the pouring rain. Connor was good on the bus ride and I was really proud of him. But he started getting bored during the walking tour and was acting out. It is definitely hard to do a tour with a 14 month old. I really need to find a good babysitter. While it was a full day tour I would have liked more time in Kilkinney. I would like to rent a car sometime and drive there ourselves. It was fun but a packed day. I feel like everyday has been jammed pack. I hope we can take it easy this weekend. Here are some pics from Glendalough and Kilkinney:

Exhausted

I am so exhausted from today. We walked all over Dublin and then walked all over Dublin Zoo in Phoenix Park. Michael and I are now legal and both of us have GNIB cards. The process did not take too long. Tomorrow is Michael's birthday and we are taking a day trip to Glendalough and Kilkinney. Here is a pic of us at Dublin Zoo:

American tourists

It was a beautiful sunny day in Dublin today. Everyone here really loves the sunshine and many people were out in the parks, including us. We tried to get our GNIB card or Irish immigration card today but were missing some documents and will try again tomorrow.
We then did the tourist thing today and rode a city sightseeing hop on and hop off bus. We walked around Trinity College, saw Book of Kells, toured Guinness factory and had a beer at the Gravity bar. We also ate at a Japanese restaurant and let Connor run free at the playground at St. Stephens.

A few differences I have noticed from the US:
Something that has been hard for me with going to restaurants in Dublin with Connor is that most do not have high chairs. We have to keep him in his stroller while we eat and he gets easily bored that way.
You don't get refills here on your drinks, if you want a refill, you pay full price again. Also, you usually only get one napkin and that's it!
The Irish call strollers a buggy and diapers a nappy.
Nothing necessarily bad, just different things I've noticed.

Here are some pics from today:

Almost like home

I've heard from many people that clothes and food in Ireland are much more expensive than the US which made me really nervous. I also heard from people that the food tastes different here. I was also worried about finding baby food for Connor. I've been shopping for groceries at the local Tesco and Spar markets and the prices are pretty comparable to US prices if you're willing to buy Irish brands. I'm not snobby about things like that and why wouldn't I buy Irish brands since wouldnt't it be fresher? I also found jarred and premade baby food for Connor (not Gerber brand) but organic and for the same prices I was paying in the US at Target. I also saw Uncle Ben's and El Paso Taco brand. I walked through Grafton Street today and they have about the same stores we have in the US - no Ann Taylor though and the prices don't seem that high. Granted I think designer brands are more expensive than the US but I wasn't buying Gucci or Chanel on a frequent occurrence (or any occurrence really).

We bought a premade bacon and gruyere quiche and it was delicious! The food I've had at the restaurants have tasted the same as I remember in the US. Michael and I have been walking everywhere (my legs hurt everyday - but will get stronger) and I have seen Thai restaurants, burrito restaurants, Japanese restaurants, French restaurants, and Indian restaurants. I don't think I will really want for any food here.

Michael and I have already settled on a place to rent. It is a two bedroom on top of a Storefront with lots of character. It is right in the center of the city next to Merrion Square and St. Stephens Green. Only 10 minutes from where I work and where Michael works. Couldn't have found a better location. We are very excited. We also toured Connor's crèche and they have an on site chef. We received a copy of the monthly menu and I think Connor will eat better than me!

I will leave you with some pictures from St. Stephens Green:

We're finally here!

So it is my second day in Dublin! Yesterday we arrived in Dublin around 8 am in the morning (3 am Tampa time) , went through immigration, met our driver who drove us to The Gasworks building (our corporate apartments), and the whole family took a long nap. I think that goes against the jet lag handbook but we were all beat. Connor did fine on the flight, he slept for most of it but then was a little fussy - I think because the car seat was not as comfortable. We also went to the Merrion Park where Connor made friends with some puppies. We also viewed a rental property and ate at the Gingerman Pub (I had the fish and chips). Today Michael met with people at the office, got his PPS number (social security in US) and we walked on Grafton Street (pedestrian shopping street) and we viewed 2 rental properties and have 1 more to view tonight. Here are some pictures to add more color, unfortunately I can't organize the order on my Blogger app: