Home Sweet Temporary Home

In anticipation of another year in Dublin, Lou and I couldn't wait to move into a new apartment with modern amenities. So after two years living in the dark ages, we now have a microwave, a non-college size refridgerator, bbq, tv, real heat, and a couch that fits two. However, after signing the lease we found out it would be short-lived, as Lou was offered a job in London the next day. So at least we'll be enjoying the comforts of a real home for the next two months.

Lot, Dordogne, St. Emilion, France

After living in Dublin for 18 months, a visit from the mother (both mothers but mine (Lou) is the one who visited!) was well overdue. Erin and I hadn't been to France at all in our time in Europe, so a trip to SW France, the Dordogne and Lot specifically (with a day to St. Emilion in Bordeaux), was just what the doctor ordered.

We choose to stay at Le Chevrefeuille, a remarkable B&B/Gite located near St. Cyprien (and about 15km from Sarlat) in the Dordogne. The Gite is owned by Ian and Sarah, a great British couple who left the fast-paced UK for the subdued French country-side (despite this slower-paced environment, their hours definitely haven't decreased). They cooked great dinners served on the gorgeous terrace. The fresh local ingredients made for great meals. I don't usually eat blue cheese but this was such good cheese I found myself picking the mold off the cheese!

The first day was to explore Lot, the sky was a dark blue and we got great use of our convertible rental. We used a great article from National Geographic traveler (In Search of the Perfect French Village - Nov 2007) as our guide to the villages. All the villages date back further than any other area in France, with villages from the middle ages and traces of civilization dating back 15,000 to 20,000 years as evidence by the numerous cave paintings around the region.

The first village was Martel, an old market village scattered with old stone towers and centered by a wooden market. In all the villages, we just aimlessly wandered and popped into churches, parks, and little shops.

After Martel, we hooked up with the Lot river, which meandered down a narrow road through a couple tiny villages and ultimately to the village of Carennac, an amazing villages with narrow lanes, great rooftops and an old stone church all along the river. This was my favorite village, the photo doesn't do the beauty of the village justice.

We grabbed lunch and ended used the afternoon to go to Loubressac, Autoire, St. Cere, and finally to Rocamadour. All the villages were remarkable and are truly the most beautiful villages in France and have rightfully earned that designation given by the French government.

Rocamadour is an old pilgrimage village that worshipers have been travelling to since the 1100's, often climbing on their knees up some 300 stairs on their knees to kiss the black virgin mary. The pic below makes you understand just how much devotion these pilgrim's have. This was also a spot many people stopped at on the trail to Santiago de Compostela, where we visited in May.

About halfway up the trek to the top of the cliff, there is a great church somehow built into the side of the limestone. VERY VERY cool.

The following day we set out early and spend the day in St. Emilion, a UNESCO heritage site that boasts beautiful streets, gourmet restaurants, and countless wine shops selling the famous St. Emilion Grand Cru (and Grand Cru Classe if your wallet can manage). The best site was one we hadn't known about before arriving, the hermitage of St. Emilion himself, an old cave where the monk settled for several years in the 800's. It was amazing to see the location he choose to pray in solitude, complete with plumbing (a natural spring) and AC (cold stones). Aside of the cave was an old chapel from the 1000's and Europe's largest monolithic church, attached to an ancient crypt. The church was awe-inspiring; a huge nave carved out of the rock by hand during the 1100's inspired by the crusades to the middle east. All the site were an impressive surprise and really complimented the beautiful wine village.

After touring the town and tasting a few amazing wines, we headed for a tour at Chateau Pressac, home to a beautiful manor and some decent wines. The chateau is situated on a plateau at the edge of the St. Emilion wine area and the tour of the vineyards and cellar were impressive. The wine wasn't great, but the wine we had in the village itself was hard to compete with.

We made it back safely and had a nice meal from Ian and Sarah again that night and slept soundly that night after all the wine!

The next day, market day at Sarlat, was perhaps the best of the trip. We arrived early to Sarlat and spend 3 hours wandering the beautiful streets, tasting, smelling and seeing great stands selling anything from copper pots, to crepes, to spices, handbags, sausages, cheese and veggies. All the locals had cute wicker baskets that they filled with the day's produce.

We picked up some Orangina, a baguette, fresh raspberries, expensive cheese, and some cured meat for a great lunch in the park overlooking the town. It was a great morning. EVERYONE should visit the Sarlat market, the setting is unforgettable.

Following Sarlat, we went to Domme and La Roque-Gageac. Both are also designated as la plus beax villages de France and rightfully deserve the designation. La Roque-Gageac was great as the village maximizes the little space between the Dordogne and the cliff side behind it, often utilizing the cliff as the inside wall of some of the buildings.

We took advantage of our personal patio and BBQ that night, making some delicious steaks and drinking too much local wine from Bergerac and Cahors.

The final morning on our way back to the airport, we visited Font de Game caves. The caves are home to dozens of cave paintings dating back 15,000 years. It was very different from the caves I visited with my study abroad group in 2001 (boy I'm old) as you don't have to walk in an hour with a light on your head (this one was a little bit more commercial), but both were amazing to see evidence of civilization way back then.

It was an amazing trip and helped Erin and I decide we haven't had enough of Europe yet. We have agreed to move to London for two more years before coming home. Ideally we would've gone back to MN this summer, but the job market was so slow that EY weren't keen to take a transfer. No big deal though, we will gladly explore a new, more vibrant city in London!!!

Edinburgh, Scotland

As Joelskie arrived in Dublin, we wanted to get his time in Europe rollin early and fast, so we booked a boys weekend away to Edinburgh two weekends ago. We flew out on a Saturday morning after having a late night on Friday in Dublin with his co-workers, so we weren't able to tap the Scottish beer until early afternoon. We arrived, checked into the Backpackers hostel (my first bonefide hostel in a while, but it was great and highly recommended), and hit the ground running, picking up Joel about 14 McGregor souvenirs at the kilt shop. We then began to walk the royal mile, a beautiful street that epitomises the amazing city buildings.
We hiked the mile and then up to a nearby hill with monuments and a great view of the city.

After our hike up the hill (Canton I think?), we went on the Mary King Close tour that showed us part of the underground city that was formally inhabited in the 1800's. Following the tour we went to the castle and had a nice tour with a guide who had great information and hated bagpipes! Below is the main square of the castle.

Following the castle I plotted out our Scottish pub tour (I take my job very seriously)...
We had an amazing dinner of mussels and fish and then set out on the crawl, hitting seven bars that night that started at Bow Bar as seen below. They had a really nice IPA on tap that was countered by the maltiness of the Scottish beer, one of the best I have ever had.

The next bar was the Blue Blazer, very local, good pints, nice people. Good times!

We went to a couple more and ended the night at Kay's bar, which is an old pub with great character that has old casks stacked on one side of the bar. Highly recommended as well!

The next morning (after a couple more bars and some pizza) we set out for some serious hiking, starting with Arthur's Seat, which was a nice (and strenuous hike) right outside the city center.

We walked all over town and to the harbor to this restaurant for lunch!

Afterwards, we made our way back to the city and up a really old tower-thingy that had commanding (the best views over the city). The old building are beautiful, especially with the different levels with the sunset hitting the different angles!

View of Edinburgh castle from the tower-thingy! [Writing this post at midnight as we leave for France tomorrow and I want to be caught up!]

After the tower we went back towards our hotel and stumbled upon a market at the nearby square (Grassmarket). The burgers were too good to pass up (before our tasty pulled pork sandwich from Oink (anyone in Edinburgh MUST go there, it is sooooo good!)!!!

After we picked up our luggage, we made one last pass down the royal mile, I think this is a great shot as there are virtually no cars and people in the shot.

Cala Gonone, Sardinia, Italy

The June bank holiday has brought us back to Italy for the third time since we moved to Dublin now almost 20 months ago...my time flies. This trip is different however, as we are off of mainland Italy on the beautiful island of Sardinia, a rugged landscape in the heart of the Mediterranean, boasting relaxation and the some of the most beautiful beaches and glowing blue waters in the world. Below is the beautiful village of Cala Gonone.

Our base for the 3 nights is Cala Gonone, a small fishing village that doesn't cater to the mega-yachting type that the Emerald Coast does about 2 hours up the coast, but a village that caters to many Sardinian's and Italians looking for a peaceful escape along with those in the know of these amazing beaches you are about to experience. We did the trip with our friends Katie and Rob, who have been good friends during our time in Dublin; this was also a trip celebrating their move back home to New York as their stint in Dublin is coming to a end later this month. Erin is especially sad as Katie and Erin got each other through the dark Dublin evenings waiting for the hubby's to get done with work. We arrived on Friday night near sunset and had a great dinner at the restaurant on the roof of our hotel, eating fish that was brought in by the fisherman earlier that day...it was dee-licious, especially washed down with some fresh Sardinian wine!

The following morning we woke up to an amazing morning with only a few clouds in the sky and the sun shimmering off the waters, bringing an amazing glow to the shallow waters near the shore. We rented a dingy for the day from one of the boat vendors and immediately set out to explore the beaches and confirm the rumors of these beautiful beaches only accessible by boat (or seriously strenuous hikes over mountains...we choose the more relaxing route). Erin was our boat captain and did a great job, especially as our first stop was to navigate the caves below and park inside to check out the grotto which boasted some pretty sweet stalactites and several kilometers of hiking into the caves. We made it in unscathed...good work Er!

There is the captain herself, with the beautiful cliffs and waters setting an unforgettable background.

Below was our first stop of the day, as we were driving along and spotted waters that honestly looked fake with about 10 feet of deserted pebble beach between the two hundred foot cliff and the idyllic blue waters.

Following a refreshing dip at the first beach, we went all the way down past several other beaches. Cala Luna is a popular beach that has the shape of a crescent moon (Luna is moon in Italian), next was Cala Sisine, set among two rock ridges whose high walls give the place a mountain-like atmosphere, Further on was Cala Mariolu where the seabed is incredibly transparent and two creeks are separated by a white rock promontory. Below is the coast line looking back at all the beaches.

It was really really hard to not stop at these, but we wanted to survey all the beaches before we choose the best one to settle in to. The last beach is Cala Goloritzè whose main characteristics are a small natural rock arch and a 400 foot high rock. This was the one. There were actually climbers scaling the rock, amazing but a little too extreme for me.......so we stuck to the water and found a nice rock to jump off. Please take note there was no photo-editing on this, just a filter to minimize the glare on the water. Pretty beautiful!Staying cool in the blue water. I didn't realize my colorful trunks would be drowned out by the amazingly blue water. This was without question the most beautiful beach I have ever been to, with just the white pebbles, the crystal electric blue water, with the natural rock arch and rock peak defining the landscape, we were very close to heaven. The beach itself was worth a flight to Alghero and drive across the island.

After all the swimming we returned back to the town and tooled around for a while, trying to find a place to have a nice dinner. The answer came to us when we went to a cute little spot and asked the host (and owner) if he had a menu and he laughed and said the fisherman catch different things everyday, so there is no menu. That was the place! It tuned out to be a great dinner on the terrace with the sounds of the ocean just down the hill from the restaurant. We washed down our fresh fish with a special local Sardinian wine called Noriolo, it was perfect!The next morning we were ready to do it all over again but the weather wasn't cooperating with us, with the overcast not creating the shimmering waters of the day before. So we hit the road and went to a couple small villages more inland. Below are the streets of Oliena, a cute town that has a wine coop where locals bring their grapes and make their own wine. Unfortunately it wasn't open on Sunday (not much was!). We then went on to Nouro, let's just advise not to go to Nouro, the town that is basically on a mountain has nice scenery, don't get us wrong, but driving in the town is more of a death wish than a relaxing excursion. We quickly went back to the hotel and had a good pizza before hanging out on the hotel terrace all day reading with an occasional coffee or gelato. Around 6pm we started our evening with a nice bottle of Prosecco.
The following day was a little nicer than the first, but after breakfast we said goodbye to Cala Gonone and made our way past Oresei and to Bidderosa beach, a welcoming beach that reminded us of a more beautiful Asseteague (Maryland) with beautiful white sands with dunes and rugged landscape setting the backdrop. We had about an hour of sunshine at the beach so Erin and I took advantage and did some body surfing in the cool waters.
We left the beach when the dark clouds rolled in and made our way to Alghero, a medieval fortified town that was really nice to walk in around and through. We had a last pizza dinner and walked around before saying goodbye to Sardinia, a trip we will never forget!

Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon is a very dynamic town complete with history, community, culture, great architecture, food, and of course, nightlife! The capital is made up of several different neighborhoods built on seven hills with quirky streets, streetside cafes where locals and tourists rub elbows and exchange cheers. Our hotel (la Florescente) was located in the Chiado neighborhood (between the Barrio Alto and Alfalma) located on a pedestrian street called Restauradores near the main square (great value and highly recommended). The first night we grabbed dinner at a guidebook recommended place in the Barrio Alto that was average (I don't remember it so I won't mention it). However, it gave us a good idea as to the vibe there and we determined we'd spend out last night on the trip there.

The next morning we woke up bright and early and Erin and I set off towards the Alfama district and our first stop was Monastery of São Vicente de Fora, with amazing cloisters, tiles, and even this cool underground water-thingy!

We basically had the place to ourselves as it had just opened so we wandered aimlessly for a while in the 12th century monastery (the current church dates to the 17th century).

The monastery also is the site of all the Portuguese kings tombs as seen below. When we went into the tombs we saw this site and we literally thought the statue that looks like a monk or nun praying at one of the tombs was real until we approached the side. Definitely eerie!

Following the church we went to the Castle of Sao Jorge, which occupies an amazing commanding position in the city and helped protect the city from the Moors in the middle ages. Walls surround the castle and date to 1375. You can walk along hundreds of yards of old walls and enjoy amazing views of the city. After that we did our favorite thing to do in Europe, walk the old town streets. Lisbon are some of the best we've experienced, with tiny alleys and whitewashed walls winding throughout the main hill in the town. It was great being able to observe the women in the district drying clothes between the buildings while talking to their neighbors about current events, the weather (always sunny), or maybe the tourists wandering in their backyard. These remarkable old women really added to the flavor in the district.

One of the other great features of the town are the old trolleys which aren't only for tourists and really add to the character of the city. We actually tried to pick one up but didn't realise it was closed at the stop we wanted. So we were subjected to taking photos from the outside (which was fine).

After grabbing some lunch we wandered to Belem, an area with a great monastery and monument to the sailors of the Portuguese exploration area. Vasco da Gama is in the front (Columbus is 3rd I think). Its a massive statue by the way.

Jerónimos Monastery is a historic monastery that is home to Vasco da Gama's tomb, along with a famous Portuguese poet whose name escapes me. The hermitage was founded by Henry the Navigator in 1450 and Vasco Da Gama spend the night praying here before departing to India in 1497. The church and cloisters were beautiful and we enjoyed strolling along the beautiful architecture.

Following the monastery we went to an amazing little pastry store for a local delicacy before meeting back up with Jeremy and Lissa for a pre-dinner drink in the Barrio Alto before having a nice little pizza dinner to wrap up a week of gluttony. Afterward we found a great bar with a celebrated bartender who concocted some amazing flaming shots for us that I never knew existed. Following some more drinks, dancing, a celebratory Cuban cigar and some port, it was time to say goodbye to Portugal, and close the book on one of the best trips yet!