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Showing posts from July, 2009

Dublin Airport Sleepover

Here are the reasons why we, a decent, law abiding family of four, decided to sleep at Dublin Airport. The first Lufthansa flight from Dublin was scheduled very early in the morning, with the check in starting at 5. This meant we had to get up at 4. The four of us exceeded the capacity of the rooms in most of the hotels in the airport area (children stop being children at the age of twelve in European hotels!) so we were supposed to book two rooms at a price that definitely exceeded the money we were willing to spend for such a short stay. There might be other people sleeping at the airport so we won't be standing out. If we get arrested, we'll sheepishly apologise and promise not to do that ever again, after which they might let us go find a room, well, two rooms in the nearest hotel. But it turned out to be an awesome experience, which we shared with people of all ages from different parts of the world. We ended up at a Starbucks on the third floor, where there are large armc

The hottest destination in the Mediterranean this summer

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This is my 100th post so I'm going to write about my fave destination, the Croatian Adriatic. It's definitely the hottest destination this and every summer for different reasons . This is our little house. I absolutely adore the palms and the pink oleanders. Let the photos speak of the beauty of my favourite sea:

Dublin Photos

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Here are some photos we took in Dublin .

Dublin

Dia duit! The weather on our trip was unbelievably good for April. Every single day it was sunny with occasional showers. That is, until we arrived in Dublin. Actually the first evening was fine, but the rain that started in the morning didn't stop for three days and it was cold and windy and grey all the time. The city itself is bigger than I imagined, or read about it. It is compact and easily walkable, but not when it's raining incessantly. What impressed me most was the striking Memorial to the Great Irish Famine, a poignant testament to one of the greatest tragedies in the history of Ireland. The Trinity College Library is also very impressive with its rare books and manuscript collections. It brought to mind my visit to St. Gallen, Switzerland, where there is an equally beautiful, although much smaller library, where we were made to put some huge slippers on our shoes. As a sensible shopaholic ( can these two words even go together?) I can't but mention Grafton Street

Kilkenny

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Yes, it's a beer, and a very good one, indeed. But it's also a charming medieval city, and although I spent only a couple of hours there, I think it's the nicest city in Ireland. It's small, it's walkable, with beautiful well-preserved buildings and a splendid castle overlooking the River Nore. The streets, called slips, are narrow, which, come to think of it, reminds me of little towns on the Adriatic coast and its islands. Butter Slip, one of the smallest in the city, is named after the butter stalls that lined this alley. Kilkenny was named after a 6th century monk St Canice. Kil or kill means church in Irish. For those interested in learning Irish , Dia duit means hello.