Euro Free

Erin and I have done our fair share of complaining lately about how expensive Dublin is. Literally, we thought that people were joking when they told us that DC doesn't have anything on Dublin prices. But, alas, it is the truth. So.....the last couple weekends we have challenged ourselves to get creative and think outside the box to find euro-free, entertaining things to do.

Along with the 20 friends of Katie, Rob, and Strauss, Bruce Springstein came to Dublin for a few shows, which our friends and friends of friends of friends all went to. Given that I didn't know that Bruce played Born in the USA, we opted out of the tickets. However, curiousity got the best of us as we could hear the show from our apartment. On Friday we wandered towards the show, first in a park where we had seclusion on a bench, we kept on towards the RDS and sat right outside the door along the canal with about 25 other people. At about 10pm, the security guards are released for the night and they either left or left to watch the show. As such, all those listening from outside made our way into the show and caught the last 45 minutes. It was actually a great show and we even heard glory days, it reminded me of my reign playing four-square in 5th grade. The show was great, the price was greatness.

In addition, Joel moved to town for a 6-week internship on Saturday. Following a nice walk with the wife in the Temple bar food market (sick olive bar) and around town, we had dinner with Joel and met up with the usual suspects for a few drinks. The following day we did about 5-7 hours of trekking the city with Joel to welcome him to the pricey, yet humble, friendly, and comfortable town.

I also went golfing about a month ago and didn't get a chance to post a photo or two. Strauss, myself, Cormac, and Eoin went to Druid's Heath near the coast and the Wicklow mountains.

Off to Italia!!

B-Riv's Been Der

The week before our trip to Morocco we shared a crazy time with the infamous BRiv who spontaneously came to Dublin. Seriously, we encourage all of our friends to be more like him. First, consume many a beverages on St. Patrick's Day; two, decide that there would be nothing better than to enjoy a fresh Guinness in a real pub; three, realize that you have two friends that could make such an opportunity happen; four, leave said party to purchase online ticket to Dublin, and lastly, return to said party to continue festivities. Entire process = 5 minutes. Brett did miss a critical part of the process, which would be to check to make sure that we were around (luckily, we were), but for an unbeatable price, sometimes you just have to take a chance.

Brett was blessed with the most beautiful Irish weather we have seen since moving here....60's and sunny everyday. We took the DART to our favorite local seaside town, Howth, and then also did a hike to Kilkenny Park, which is perched upon a mountain top and overlooks towns along the coast below. We also spent many nights out at the pub and had a good time as evidenced by the Ben Der video posted earlier.

We'll throw up a few pictures later......its later:

We had one misty afternoon, on a hike to Killenny from Dalkey (recommended), it was fairly clear out and these thick, really low clouds rolled in from Wales like the front line of an army, and before you know it we could only see 40 feet in front of us, as evidenced by the last pic.

Marrakech, Morocco

T.I.A....

We finally did it, after two cancelled flights that we had to rebook and probably the most extensive planning, we had our long weekend in Morocco. David, Erin, myself, and Rob travelled to Marrakech for the bank holiday weekend for a new and worthwhile experience. Apologies to Jessica, who couldn't make it down for the weekend...we missed you! We got in at around 1am on Thursday night after three flights (you can see the lengths we had to go to get there) and wandered through what looked like a dodgy part of the Medina (old town) to our Riad. The next morning we found out that it was a very key location that paid dividends for the whole trip. Our Riad (Dar El Souk) was quaint and beautiful. Each room was decorated very nicely and there was a small pool for dipping your feet into on the bottom terrace, tables and chairs overlooking the courtyard for each room, and amazing terrace on the roof that we had breakfast on each morning.

When Rob got in from London, we embarked with a guide and explored the souks for the day, as well as visited a Koranic school from the 11th or 12th century where up to 700 students once studied the Koran. It was one of the most unique buildings I have ever seen, beautiful Moorish architecture.

We wandered through the souks all afternoon; they are a labyrinth of hundreds of shops where the locals harrass you to death. I think if they just let you look, you might actually buy something. The souks were unlike anything we have ever seen, little passageways with a new surprise at every corner. Very cool!

Following the school, we had an amazing lunch (€18 for all four of us, fresh olives, bread, meat, hot sauce....very yummy)! We walked around a little more and then parted ways with our guide. While David and Rob went to the Hammam, Erin and I hiked across town to a cute ice cream store. We have the blisters (moreso Erin) to prove the walking that took place. The new part of town was nice, but I would stick to the old town if limited on time.
After getting lost on the way home, we made it to dinner at Cafe Arabe, an amazing Moroccan restaurant in the Medina. The tagines and Moroccan wine were supurb. The desert was excellent as well. After dinner we went to a club outside of town and met some hard working Moroccan women. Drinks were expensive, but the Mojitos were tasty.

The next morning we got up bright and early and went to Essouria, a coastal seaside town about 2.5 hours from Marrakech. The town was very different from Marrakech, with white-washed walls overlooking the sea from a fortified village. It was amazing!

Notice the Octopus in this man's left hand.

For lunch in Essouria, we went near the port to about 25 stands where the fish are still squirming and you get to pick out your favorite one! I think I am allergic to shrimp as the jumbo prawn didn't agree with me, but the 6 lb sea bass winked at me before they put him on the grill. We got back from Essouria and headed to Jamaa El Fna, the Moroccan night market where about 100 vendors sell food for the masses. Stand One by BIG MOMMA definitely serves up the best dish on the square, definitely good eats for about €3 each. The following day, Erin and I spent most of the day wandering around different mosques, ancient buildings, and historic landmarks, enjoying the 90+ degree weather. We got a few goodies from a ceramic vendor (the only merchant in Marrakech who doesn't haggle you, pricing his goods already low) and Erin gave me a personal hammam for my birthday. We enjoyed sunset from our terrace with a bottle of Moroccan wine before heading to dinner at a beautiful restaurant! The trip was terrific, we loved every minute of it and give our first trip to Africa high five!!