UMTravels

After arriving in Dublin – well, at least at Jeff and Mindi’s place though no Jeff (aka Mork) – made pleasantries and went to bed for a 5-hour nap, which by the way is exactly what you are not supposed to do to help with your jetlag….I have other tricks up my sleeve for that. Awake at 5 while Mindi is on her daily work call – time for a little Knob Creek and seltzer:

Yes, weird ice “cubes” more like ice stalactites. The gin is waiting for Mindi’s G&T after her call.

Mindi works at home so I’ll be able to see lots of her this trip – and more importantly (for continued invitations) be able to cook our meals in.

Since I’ve visited before I know where all the closest markets are and they have a “veg” delivery service all we really need is some protein and some wine. Got the protein for tonight and tomorrow around the corner at the Halal market (no pork!). But before that we need to restock the wine rack – and no, not with this which made me CRINGE:

The first evening’s meal was marinated chicken bits in a semi-spicy curry sauce with a bunch of the “one their last day” vegetables…

And the incomparable Mindi waiting for me in the dining nook:

An evening of drinking was enough to get me to sleep through the evening until 10ish the next morning – we were both running a little slow.

Today’s outing is a new hairdo for Mindi – her monthly appointment. While that’s going on I wander the streets, pick up supplies like booze and diet soda and stumble into a gay bar – the big purple thing – called The George. No time to really go in, and I can only imagine a gay bar at 2pm in the afternoon – though it would have given me a place to sit. As I learned from the website later, at 2pm they would have been just opening so it would have been me and the bartender most likely:

And a couple of doors down, another place I should have tried but didn’t. Pitt Bro’s BBQ which apparently uses American-built smokers. I seem to have read something in an advert (as the Brits say) about these folks – even before stumbling across them:

My motto is that if you see everything on your trip you have no excuse to come back. Guess I need to ask Mindi when she is getting her hair done again. That would make the afternoon:

• Lunch at Pitt Bro’s BBQ
• A drink at The George
• Grocery shopping as Dunnes
• Meet up with Mindi

After Mindi’s hair was finished – she had a little shopping to do…at the Celtic Whiskey Shop – and this is only ONE wall – the even had a hallway filled with small bottling’s in minis – too tempting.

Here is the one that Mindi picked up for Jeff’s birthday – only EU125 ($168 at today’s exchange)

The salesman had ME at Madeira Cask aged. One of 377 bottles made just for this shop.

Tonight’s dinner is a lemon pesto roast chicken on a bed of root vegetables:

While that is going I worked on a little ratatouille for tomorrow night’s dinner – to be tossed with greens in an oil and balsamic dressing:

Got to use those vegetables before they expire.

Can you see why I get invited back? Especially since after the meal it was pulling off all the remaining chicken to make chicken salad out of for tomorrow’s lunch – and stock for the freezer:

Well, stock for cooking and chicken vegetable base – just add noodles.

Another late evening of staying up way past midnight shooting the shit – didn’t get out of bed until noon today, so breakfast was definitely brunch but without the Bloody Maries or bubbles. More like cheesy scrambled eggs with oven re-roasted root vegetables:

Got an email mid-day from the Groom (Pucci) saying that Aisling was going to be out tonight on the traditional Irish “Hen’s Night” and that he was free….off to the Halal butcher go I as we’d just had another batch of “veg” delivered (even though I wasn’t through with last weeks). Tonight’s meal in honor of the groom is an American BBQ dinner with a Mediterranean Flare: Grilled lamb chops (yes, these ex-pat Dubliners have a charcoal Weber), served with a zucchini-based tzatzkiki sauce, and the ratatouille and garden greens with olive oil and balsamic. Didn’t get a pretty picture of it before, but here is the during:

And in the background you see a bottle of 1994 Mondovi Cabernet Sauvignon… that didn’t survive the move from the states too well – the cork was shot. I had to strain it through a paper towel. It really was about TEN years beyond its prime… luckily we had another bottle handy.

Oddly not corked, just no fruit left – it wasn’t their Reserve which might have still been drinkable. This one was slated to drink between 2002 and 2008… 6 year ago. It was well after midnight when we stuffed the groom into a cab, not exactly knowing the address he was headed for but he knew the area and the street. Luckily he DID make it home in one piece.

And just to get us off the food track for a minute or two – the house where I’m staying:

And the back yard with the Weber:

Before you know it – the last supper has arrived. Walked a little further afield today to get pork for dinner and supplies for the trip – tonight’s meal are pork cutlets in chili-garlic sauce, cucumbers in yogurt, and the standard salad we’ve come to love:

After dinner it was off to the neighbor’s – Paul and Mary who remembered me from my last visit… a VERY LATE NIGHT of chatting and playing with the dog – Paul didn’t get in from the airport until after midnight and Mini and I didn’t leave until around 3am – and then talked back at the house for another hour:

Even with the late night, I still had time for a final meal – Heavos Rancheros that I’d prepped the night before so the eggs could soak into the corn tortillas…

Too bad I’m leaving for the train station at the same time that Mork, I mean Jeff his headed home from the airport. Guess we’ll have to just have drinks when they are in Seattle in August.

Before I knew it I was on the train to Bray to catch a cab to the wedding venue – more on that in the next post.

See what I look like with not enough sleep. At least we all ate well in Dublin.

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Got into London at 6am. I immediately headed into the Arrivals Lounge for the Star Alliance — judging from some of the signage in the shower, it used to be a British Airways lounge.

Nice to be able to shower and change into a fresh shirt after a long day of travelling….makes you feel human again.

The BMI flight was on time, even early getting into Dublin where Mindi was to meet me. That was when the real trouble happened. I didn’t have her number and she couldn’t find me.

It was noon (I got in at 10:15) before I got an email from Jeff with directions to give the cab driver so I could get to the house. It was simple after that (except that the cash machine only wanted to spit out 50 Euro notes.

Spend the afternoon chatting with Mindi (Jeff was still a work) before settling in for a two hour nap, which I really needed only getting an hour of sleep on the plane to London and 1/2 hour on the flight into Dublin.

By the time I was awake, Jeff was home and it was time for cocktails while Mindi took a conference call.

Dinner tonight was out for Lebanese food — yummy. Try out the Rotan Cafe at 31 South Richmond Street in Dublin. No wine with dinner but after a couple of cocktails at home I didn’t really need it.

Evening ended with a nightcap, a couple of blog entries, and slinking off to bed.

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Happy birthday to me and greetings from Dublin, Ireland.

A little work in the morning (sorry Swanda, couldn’t help myself) and then off on today’s adventure — the Guiness Storehouse. What? Basically a “listed building” that Guiness couldn’t tear down to make a modern factory so they turned it into an “edutainment” center with a cool 7th floor circular bar with some of the best views in the city and a free pint of Guiness (after you paid your 15 Euro to get in).

Here is today’s photo — me at the distillery with a cute guy in the background. It was one of those “electronic postcard” kiosk thingees:

I walked to the brewery from Mindi and Jeff”s place — handy. If you want to see the really shitty video from the “mixing room” which is the top floor, this would be it:

Grabbed a quick sandwich on the way back to t house and a nap soon followed.

Dinner tonight was stunning. A little Italian place on the canal called Nonna Valentina.We all went for the 3 course 30 Euro meal — and started with a bottle of Prosecco followed by a Montepuciano red. One of the nicest birthday meals I’ve ever had. Thanks Jeff and Mindi!

Back at the house we were all like beached seals — having eaten more than we should. And two of us have to get up early in the morning tomorrow for my tour of the West Coast. Thanks Mindi for running me to the train.

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Visitors from Ireland, visitors from Tokyo – it was a busy time at Uncle Markie’s Home For Wayward Tourists. The first to arrive were Jeff and Mindi – though Jeff only for drinks from 10PM-1AM with Mindi’s brother as she got sick on the flight from Dublin. Sorry, no pictures of the drunken festivities – though it did wreak havoc with y packing for the Denver trip which was in the middle of all these visits, and hence why Jeff came over late at night – because it was the only night that we’d be in town the same day, and he didn’t want a repeat of when I was in Ireland last month I was headed south to the wedding as he was cabbing in from the airport.

The day after I got back from Denver, Tokyo Dave showed up – at least I got pictures of that! Dinner Saturday night was at Swanda’s place. Here are MY pictures:

And here is Swanda’s picture of the event – clearly we know who is the better blogger:

That is TRULY a GREAT photograph of the two of us.

Sunday night’s dinner I did a little better when Mindi (ex-pat from Ireland), Anne (ex-workmate), and Tokyo Dave (ex-pat from Tokyo) joined me for a flank steak dinner:

Tokyo Dave was staying at my place, and after he’d decamped for the airport on Monday I found a t-shirt and underwear left behind, and then got a message that he was missing his work iPhone5 as well. Apparently enough sleep wasn’t part of anyone’s holiday plan – both Mindy and Anne arrived for dinner a wee bit hungover from the previous night. Ah, the life of travelers. I’ll have to try that sometime myself.

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Let me start by saying – this was a QUICK trip. Just two nights in the Caribbean, plus a day of travel on each end. But it is my friend Anne’s 45th birthday, and I could find some frequent flier mile flights…. Here is the itinerary:

That would be the Sunday night (after work) red-eye Seattle to Miami, then the morning flight to St. Martin – the return flight is an early morning (7:30am) from St. Martin to Miami, Miami to Tampa, Tampa to Dallas, and then Dallas to Seattle. The return routing was to maximize the number of First Class legs (two, rather than one). 47,500 miles and about $80 in fees using my Alaska Airlines miles to book all these American Airlines flights.

Flights down were good – I’d packed “refreshments” and had the middle seat open on both legs (a modern miracle these days!):

Yes, someone finally did show up for the window seat and then bitched about “so many rules” – she needed to put her bags up above since she was in the bulkhead – and she was the last person on the plane. Thank god she slept the entire flight. No food service, and only two drink runs – but I’d bulked up in the Alaska Board Room in Seattle that closed just about the time I needed to head to the gate.

And my three hour flight to St. Martin (French Side, Sint Maarteen – Dutch Side) after a most unsatisfactory quick Nathan’s Hot Dog with sauerkraut for breakfast (bottom of the bun was hard as a rock). Luckily, when I arrived in St. Martin this is what awaited me in the lobby…

Maybe I should have gone for the Subway that was next door…a quick small burger and time to grab a cab to the condo that the girls just checked into. Mindi (who flew in from Dublin, Ireland) doesn’t know I’m coming. Side note – Sint Maarten has that Caribbean/Mexico feel – but being a Dutch protectorate (the side I’m staying on) there is great signage, and even a taxi zone rate chart that the cab drivers association publishes.

Nothing like showing up at the door with a “booze delivery”. Here is the place we are staying:

Although, if you do a 180 degree shot behind you…you see this…

Yes, that would be the jet I arrived on headed back to Miami. The terminal is on the other side of the runway – but the place is really quite, with all the condos blocking the noise on the beach just outside the back door…

And the inside of the place is nice as well – and the couch look comfortable, which is good because that’s where I’m bunking for the next two nights:

Upstairs there are two bedrooms and two baths, with a half bath on the main level – sweet place.

And we have a fabulous deck with a BBQ! Hello cooking in!

But before we can BBQ, we have to hit the road (thanks Anne for renting a car!) to get the girls lunch (weirdly enough, at a different Burger King) and pick up groceries for the condo:

Several hundred dollars later we have food, mixers, rum, coconut syrup – all the things for a perfect vacation….but first, some ocean time – and the girls afterwards….

This is Anne’s 45^th birthday ramble – having just finished 10 years at Amazon she has 2 months off to recharge – she bought my condo in Cabo San Lucas so she will have another week sometime before the end of the year. I like the condo, but it was too far from the grocery stores, and the kitchen too small to cook all the things I like on holiday. And it was a full floating week, Saturday to Saturday, which with my work schedule that would mean taking two weekends off (annoying my business partner).

Speaking of condo cooking…. Our dinner:

That would be a couple of racks of ribs off the grill – a nice salad, some asparagus, and, of course, mas vino tinto. Opps, that was Spanish, not Dutch.

Day Two on the island is a circular road trip of the island to Phillipsburg and around the island through Marigot and back home.

Here are some photos of our adventure:

And lunch at a fabulous outdoor café on the beach:

Guess we can’t do a Naked Lunch…but the lunch we did get was wonderful. Mindi has the goat cheese salad…

I went for the conch stew which came with some fried plantains, a little salad and some dirty rice….

Anne went for the half chicken, which also came with the plantains a little salad and a scalloped potato dish…

No cheap, but yummy. Iguana was on the menu as well – but I couldn’t help thinking about Josh’s Igauna. But they are plentiful on the island….

Marigot is famous for its traffic jams – at all times of the day, but today wasn’t too bad:

And yes, this is the main “highway” through town.

Back to the condo for our late afternoon lounging around in an out of the water. We came to the conclusion that we really needed a house boy to refill our drinks without having to get out of the ocean. Here is the cocktail view:

And some silly selfies….

Our place even comes with Beach Dogs…Dora and Bruno (Dora pictured):

On our circle tour we picked up some steaks for dinner – moved the BBQ around to get better lighting on it – yummy.

Great food, great company, but I have an early flight (7:30am) in the morning for my four leg flight home.

As for my airport breakfast – MUCH better than my Nathan’s Dog in Miami on the way down:

That’s a REAL breakfast, including salad and hot sauce.

Sint Maarteen to Miami on time, Maimi to Tampa on time, both in Coach. Starting with Tampa to Dallas I’m in First for the rest of the way home – as you can tell from this photo….

And a decent snack:

Got to Dallas for my long layover – the other ones were less than an hour and a half – which in Miami included time for me to get through customs. Thank goodness for Global Entry – a machine rather than a line. Easy Peasy. Luckily in Dallas I have access to the Delta Sky Club which is located in the same terminal as Alaska who I’m flying home.

And my office in the lounge:

Two different soups, salads, vegies/dips, free drinks, not bad.

Oddly, no pictures of my seat, the food, the drink on the last leg (Dallas to Seattle) – I think tiredness is catching up with me, but I did find a final silly selfie on my phone, from one of the legs of my trip:

Bathroom mirror shot.

Home before midnight….barely.

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Today is “tour” day. This means that both Mindi and I are up “butt early” — what time is “butt early”? 6am and to the train station by 6:40am for a 7:10am train from Dublin to Galway. Ick.

I grabbed a sandwich and a Diet Coke in the train station as I’d heard the food on-board wasn’t that great — and from what I saw on the trolley, I’d believe that — personally I was sleeping for half the trip even though we were going through the Irish version  of Kentucky’s Blue Grass area of horse breeding.

By a little after 10am we were on the bus — the one person from the train that was part of my tour — and 19 other’s assembled in Galway. Nice new train from Hyundai of South Korea:

One of the highlights of the day trip was the Kylemore Abbey. I didn’t opt for the extra 8 Euro ticket to the tour the walled garden and the Abbey proper. I thought eating, shopping reading and relaxing was the better way to go. Here is a stunning shot of the Abbey from across the lake:

Yeah, I think I could live there assuming I had staff. Scares me to think what it would cost to heat.

Lots of photo stops on the trip, so here is the scrolling bar:

Back in Galway after the tour I finally located an “off-license” store — that’s Irish and British for liquor store — so I could restock Jeff and Mindi’s bar (one of my tips for being a good house guest, the subject of a blog post in the next couple of days).

Got back to the train station around 9pm and took a 10 Euro taxi home to have night caps with the kids.

Looking forward to a full night’s sleep.

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Yep. This is where I woke up this morning… no, not in the front yard, but upstairs in the back bedroom.

Mindi advised me on waking that the kitchen was a bit bare, with toast and an apple the best bets. I returned to the living room with a quesadilla, there by cleaning out the refrigerator of several bits of leftovers – two tortillas, some cheese, some salsa, a half an avocado…. So yes, grocery shopping is on the agenda.

First stop is Timgad – the Hallal grocery just around the corner. They have expanded their selection since I was here last.

8 small lamb chops, cream, Diet Coke®, eggs, but the salad fixings didn’t look good. So off to the local Spar we go…

Not known for there veggie selection, at least they have nice bags of rocket salad along with a couple of half-baked rolls, and a little dessert and we are out the door. Of course, I fogot one important item since we are entertaining one of Jeff’s co-workers tonight…. ICE. One more stop.

It didn’t hurt that there was a pretty lad standing about in front of the place.

Got lots of compliments on the dinner – used the bag of beans and the two random carrots to steam up some veg to go with the lamb (cleaning two more items from the fridge). Of course we all stayed up way too late… but fun was had, wine and whiskey (and vodka tonics for Mindi) devoured.

I think I have my sea legs back.

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It’s a snowy day in front of the computer today. I need to finalize travel plans for tomorrow for a quickie trip to Portland courtesy of Fluffernutter, book Puerto Valarta for January to spend a week with my priest and his hottie boyfriend, build a web-site for HypnoStevein Portland, write a recommendation for Mindi on LinkedIn, and tackle the to-do list sitting on my desk for Events and Adventures.

And that snow I was talking about?

Dinner tonight is at Jeff and Marvin’s place on the hill (assuming I can get up it — I’ll be taking the mommy van with it’s 4 wheel drive). This will be the first dinner with them in about a decade. Apparently he is no longer pissed off at me. I can only guess at the gourmet meal planned — he is a hell of a chef.

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As all my stories start, another day, another lounge. This time the British Airways Terraces Lounge at Sea-Tac:

And that would be my plane off to the left. Aer Lingus this trip!

I was a little surprised at the VERY LIGHT load up in Business Class – 4 or 5 seats out of 20+. Wow.

Nice views from the window:

And then the parade of food begins….

Add a little music…

And, of course, some sleep.

This trip is all about taking time off, hanging out with friends, sleeping, working through life’s decisions…

Yes, I brought some of my Princess Gin to share.

But no trip to Ireland is complete without a distillery tour!

And then the tasting…

And more drinking – we came via cab.

We had the Old (New Market) Fashioned, made with this German liquer:

Damn tasty. Picked up a bottle when I got home!

Was surprised to find a can of Calmato in Jeff and Mindi’s beverage fridge – it didn’t last long:

Much food and festivities over the week…

On an odd side note – the power went out my last day, so THAT was amusing. Fortunately, they have a gas hob (and an American-style BBQ) so we didn’t starve (or go without coffee).

Far too soon it was time to leave, for yet, another lounge:

And onto the plane…

And a little pre-landing snack…

Unlike my direct flight from Seattle to Dublin, my return is via Boston for an overnight with Jill and her wonderful view condo.

Moved my flight to later in the day so we could have a lovely lunch out…

So much fun!!!

But back, to another lounge after lunch…

And back on the final leg…

Well, that was a fun jaunt.

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It may have been a lay flat bed in Business to get here, but it’s still an overnight flight, and I don’t sleep well on planes without help (Scotch and Ambien).

Chatted with Mindi, had a little toast, kicked off my shoes, threw my feet up onto the couch, and I was out for five hours.

Jeff got home around 2:30 in the afternoon from prison (he was on some group visit) and tried rousting me – it didn’t work. Got up in time for cocktails!

Jeff and I popped out for supplies before they started whipping up dinner (bangers and mash), and we must have been having fun because the food pics I have start in the morning with a scramble made from eggs and leftover bangers, along with potato pancakes from the leftover mash:

In the past, I’ve been the one doing the cooking – but apparently my skills have rubbed off on them.

Dinner was a lovely roast…

A humorous photo of their microwave – which housed the butter, sugar, and other things that their raucous cat Marvin tends to knock to the floor, and or eat.

Had Jeff not suggested a distillery tour on my final day in Dublin, might not have left the neighborhood – the goal being “catching up” rather than “seeing the sites”.

We even had a version of a Caesar (a Bloody Mary made with Clamato), though it was Gin rather than Vodka for our pre-distillery meal.

Off to the distillery we go!

The Teeling Distillery is the first new distillery to be built in Dublin proper in 125 years. AND we have a hipster tour guide (Rory):

Lovely way to spend a bit of the afternoon, especially when it comes with a big tasting at the end:

An odd sign on our route home:

And some interesting products in the grocery:

Had a bit of a nap before dinner, and started clearing out some of Jeff’s whiskies that only had a bit left…one from Ireland:

One from Germany:

And one from India:

The final dinner of my visit was a Chicken Picata made with green olives rather than capers (because that’s what we had) and carrots sautéed in butter and Christmas spices with a little Drambuie:

A wonderful meal to finish a visit.

Tomorrow, off very early for the next leg.

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Off again – this time on a 10-day holiday. That would be LONG for me. Off to Ireland and England to visit friends and maybe explore a new thing or two.

And for those of you with questions about why I book all those “mileage runs”, it’s so I can use my miles to fly my international trips sitting up front.

But first, I have to get there – two chunks: Seattle to Philadelphia in Alaska First, then Philadelphia to Dublin in American Business.

Settled in with my Tablet and cocktails.

Followed by breakfast….

Tasty!

Long layover in Philadelphia, where I found a Lego Liberty Bell…

…on the way to the Admirals Club to enjoy some scratch-made guacamole (and booze, and soup).

Soon enough, onto the red-eye flight to Dublin…

That would be the Cole Haan Amenity Kit.

And then the food service starts…

Later, I had them fire up the espresso machine for an espresso and Amaretto. Wish I’d have gotten a better picture:

Before I put the lay flat bed in the lounger position to watch a couple of 80’s movies, including fast times at Ridgemont High.

Only a six-hour flight, so before you know it, MORE FOOD – in the form of breakfast!

I’d requested Champagne with my breakfast…and since I was the only one, they just left the bottle with me!

Even managed to get a picture of the crew rest area on this Airbus A330:

Sadly, I didn’t get through the bottle…it was still there AFTER we landed, still with a quarter to a third of a bottle left. Guess I needed help to finish it.

Time to grab a cab and head to Jeff and Mindi’s place in the city.

More tomorrow.

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Well – it’s another early day – luckily my buddy Ray is in town to get me to the airport at a little after five for my three-hop to Dublin for Mark Pucci’s wedding:

• Seattle-Portland (Coach)
• Portland-Atlanta (Business)
• Atlanta-Dublin (Business)

Left the house a little after 5am, and here is a selfie of what I look like at that hour (with an Alaska 737 with Disney livery in the background):

Looking a little “gruff” – but then again, the bar doesn’t open until 6am – time for a couple of bagels with cream cheese. I’m looking a little better in Portland, and another Red Baron (bubbles and cranberry):

And yes, that’s my plane, which I thought was a 737-400 because it didn’t have the winglets that the majority of Alaska’ fleet has. Turns out that it’s a 737-900 that is in the middle of renovations – the new Recaro seats in the back and no hard divider between First and Coach – apparently they haven’t gotten the curtains installed yet since the current divider seems to be blue painters tape. Classy. I wonder if it’s the same on as in this YouTube video? LINK

But my seat is comfortable (notice the lack of divider):

I tried reading my current book – but it’s more of a page-stoner than a page-burner. I picked it up several trips ago at Compass Books in the San Francisco Airport on their remainder stack. The book is Pornographia, by Polish author Witold Gombrowicz. This is a new translation direct from the Polish. The previous edition was translated from Polish to French and then from French to English. Not a good idea.

I should say, tried and failed – at least so far. I hate travelling with hardback book (even when skinny) and then not reading it. It reminds me of the six weeks touring Europe while at Evergreen trying to get through Lewis Ferdinand Celine’s Journey To The End Of The Night.

Instead it was the call of dinner and reruns:

That would be The Big Bang Theory and:

• Farro Salad
• Warm Dinner Roll
• Blackened Chicken
• Creamy Polenta
• Creamed Spinach
• Chuckanut Huckleberry Cheese Cake

And both of their red wines to sample. I’ll give the book until the end of the trip and then it’s getting left behind, read or unread.

Got to Atlanta with enough time to walk across the airport, do some duty-free shopping and head to the lounge for a couple of drinks. Between my United Gold and my Alaska Board Room membership I’m pretty much covered. It did amaze me that the Knob Creek (at 100 proof) was the same prices as the Jack Daniels (80 proof). In stores there is a big difference in price:

Nice international lounge in Atlanta:

Even opted for a quick shower:

And I needed it since it is another 6+ hour flight before I get to Dublin.

The plane boss, the plane (as Tattoo would say on Fantasy Island):

That would be a 767-300 and what the business-class seats look like:

My two movies for this leg (before I got into the reruns) were classics – which is what I’m seeming to revert to in my on plane movie watching:

Started with Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and moved onto Breakfast At Tiffany’s. I’d forgotten how light-hearted Ferris was and the dark themes of Breakfast.

With a two-hour delay (mechanical) out of Atlanta I was almost done with Ferris (and pleading for more champagne) by the time we took off. It was with dinner that I watched Audrey:

• Shrimp with avocado
  
• Mixed greens with cranberries, pecans and feta cheese
• Squash soup
  
• Beef tenderloin (amazing tender that loin) with Béarnaise sauce, buttered asparagus, lobster macaroni and cheese
  
• Some cheese and sweets for dessert
  
  

I passed on the ice cream sundae (second shelf) because before you knew it some more reruns and little naptime:

About 90 minutes before landing it was breakfast time:

• Seasonal fresh fruit
• Portobello mushroom omelet with asparagus, potato wedges and bacon

I was actually impressed with bacon since you know everything is reheated. So much for the diet.

There was a curious thing about the meal service…the silverware was magnetized and you could do amazing balancing tricks with the cutlery:

One of the things that I like about flying into Dublin is the “low key” entrance form you fill out:

They don’t even ask for your passport number. And it’s quick when you are on the ground, especially if you are in seat 1A and they are disembarking from the front door.

By 11:30 or so (should have been 9:30 or so) I was at Mindy and Jeff’s – sadly only Mindy as Jeff (aka Mork) was in the states for “management training”. The perils of becoming a General Manager for a tech company.

Chatted for a bit with Mindi before heading upstairs for a 5-hour nap, waking just in time to start working on that duty-free Knob Creek.

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Breakfast out this morning… at Noshington just up the Circular…

Now I can say that I’ve had a proper Irish breakfast with poached eggs on dark bread, the requisite broiled tomato and some home fries. It was a big enough breakfast that it held me until dinner with the neighbors two doors down.

The original plan was for dinner at Jeff and Mindi’s place, but changed as their 1.5 year old is going through a bit of a cranky phase, though you wouldn’t know it as she went to bed right as we got there and stayed down for the entire noisy time.

The noise might have come from one bottle of Prosecco, three bottles of red (or was it four), a bottle of 15-year-old Havana Club rum and half a bottle of Jameson. We brought a Greek Salad (stretched from last night’s salad) and some of the booze. They made a lovely garlic bread and a Putenesca style pasta dish.

But really, to bed again at 3am – and tomorrow I have to get up at 7:30am to catch the train to Belfast.

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It was a very slow day around the house after last night’s festivities… Jeff was late to work, Mindi still in her jammies at 4 in the afternoon, me taking an afternoon nap on the couch after doing the shopping for tonight’s dinner at Ennis Meats about a fifteen minute walk from Lullymore Lane.

With a refrigerator the size of the one at my old church (under counter) shopping becomes a daily routine, and luckily the guys at Ennis Meats do some pre-prepped stuff that makes it easy – tonight is the Pork Fillet stuffed with organic walnuts and apricots. Add a Greek salad and you have a wonderful meal, and for once, some leftovers!

Tonight’s big event is a premiere of the new Matt Damon flick (yes, I went to a movie… in a theatre) that is part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival (JDIFF). The Adjustment Bureau.

It’s a sort of Men in Black twisted thriller love story… as they say, “genre busting” – well, that’s what the director said in the Q&A afterwards. This was the European premiere, opens in the US March 4^th.

A couple of glasses of wine at the neighbors after they movie (tickets were courtesy of her) and much chat about her new job which will take her to the new country of South Sudan, which led to frequent flier talk which led to convertibles in Rome, her other office site along with Washington, DC. Why does this sound appealing?

And why was I up until 3am?

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Arrive Dublin 6:45… on the curb with Mindy the Amazing at 7:30… and she ISN’T a morning person.

I love visiting Jeff and Mindi… I get to take over their kitchen for such things as eggs and toast for breakfast followed by a shit, shower, shave, and a four hour nap.

But here is my day in pictures:

PRE-Dinner…at CrackChicken, a”pop-up” restaurant (only open for three months in a super cheap vacant storefront) which I forgot to grab the menu from.. damn

Post Dinner chicken bone pile. Total tab for three with a bottle of wine and 2 beers… 55 Euro. Not bad.

The mad crush at the bar before the cabaret:

And a video of part of the performance:

Then cabbed it back to the house for a couple of nightcaps while talking of the days to come. Sorry for the quality of the shots – dark bar, camera phone, you see the problems.

Belfast mini-trip has been moved from tomorrow to Sunday when Ian has he day off.

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If you take out all the time changes, I got up at 7pm on Tuesday night, and flew until Wednesday night at 9:30pm. Ouch!

First flight – Dublin to Frankfurt (THANKS Mindi for getting up a 4am to take me to the airport). Running late, but not enough to miss my connection. Breakfast on-board was a roll, some fruit, some yogurt — a little light. Flight time should have been 1.5 hours, but with delays getting into Frankfurt-Mein, 2+ hours.

Frankfurt airport — what a mess, totally in the middle of being renovated. Add to that the shear size and the need to change terminals, you’ve got a mess even if you have two hours between flights (think buses to a plane parked on the tarmac). Snack at the Red Carpet Club First Class Lounge (complete with showers, but I did that before I left Dublin).

Second flight – Frankfurt to Washington, DC. 8.5 hours. Only four of us up front, meaning that there were 4 or 5 unused seats — which it’s odd since I had to book 6 months in advance to get a frequent flier seat. Dinner?

• Teriyaki duck breast with ricotta and spinach egg flan with a soy-ginger sauce
• Creamy corn soup
• Fresh seasonal greens with cherry tomatoes, radishes and croutons
• Grilled filet mignon (over cooked) with bordelaise mushroom sauce served with roast potato wedges (a little greasy), overcooked asparagus and carrots.
• Ice cream sundae as they seemed to be out of the promised cheese selection

Lunch was a cold platter of  smoked salmon, honey ham, salami, asparagus, egg wedge and dinner roll.

Washington, DC airport – flight on time, but oddly enough with all the international flights coming into IAD, there are no shower facilities in the Red Carpet Rooms.

Third flight – Washington, DC – Seattle. Flight running late but but it had two choices for dinner, some pasta dish in tomato sauce and the chicken tika which is what I had. Long gone are the days when that flight would have the ice cream trolley go down the aisle.

Home at 9:30pm. In bed by 10:30.

[? ? ? and who knows since I stopped taking Alli last week]

So much for today’s plan of doing the Hop On/Hop Off tourist bus today. Can you say cold,

wet, and drippy?

I was out of bed at my usual time on this trip… 10am. That’s a little late (by two hours)

for me, but it allows both Jeff and Mindi to get through their morning routine without me

clogging up the one bathroom in the house. Maybe that should be another “good houseguest”

tip.

With the rain coming down in buckets I settled into the couch and cleaned up email with my

morning coffee. A shower, then some breakfast, and it was still raining.

By noon I was back in bed for a nap, hoping the weather would clear. Not.

I’m cooking in again tonight — with supplies from the Halal grocery and butcher on the

corner (and I still got cold and wet!). For under 6 Euro I got 3 leg/thigh chunks of

chicken, three tomatoes, three peaches, and a cucumber. Tonights meal?

Starter: Ripe peach slices wrapped in prosuitto
Salad: Greek-style salad of tomatoes, cucumbers and crumbly cheese
Main: Broiled chicken in a pesto sauce

And today’s picture is of their lovely house in Dublin.

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Anyone who reads this blog knows how much I travel.

Today I experienced a flight delay like no other. We had a plane, the weather was good, we had all the crew we needed and we were making a quick stop to pick up more passengers when the aircraft was hijacked/commandeered, what ever you’d like to call it when suddenly “operations” says they need this aircraft elsewhere IN THE MIDDLE OF SCHEDULED SERVICE.

Needless to say the 5 Pound voucher an hour after being trapped on the cigar tube AND AN HOUR BACK IN THE WAITING ROOM after we’d already gotten our snacks didn’t help.

So, here is the f**king plane that didn’t get me to Dublin close to on time:

There is no excuse for delaying 23 people for three hours just so you can move 50 other people around from another city.

Now that my pissing match is delayed until I write the nasty letter….

Let’s go back to my lovely holiday, and here is the latest scroller bar with some great pictures of Plymouth and the moors — and the occasional sheep:

The one positive note from delay — the chance to chat up a ginger lad who is a  bank examiner at 23. Made the delay totally worth it… and hopefully there will an ongoing connection via email. I’m hoping it’s more than any gay stranger in a port/storm/delay.

Through the joys of international text messaging Mindy and Jeff have been notified of my lateness.

On the way home (and before presents) we head for a pub called “The Barge“.

They were out of the duck so I went for the lamb — what seemed to be a whole lamb. Damn I’m stuffed.

Back at the house presents were distributed — 3 pints of various Cornwall stout beers for Jeff, a bottle of Plymouth Gin for Mindi and the remainder of the 114.2 proof single malt scotch for me.

And the scotch died tonight. Time to replenish the booze tomorrow on my grocery run.

Ready for my own bed.

[? ? ? feeling like a cow]

A lazy morning around the house with Mark. Mark’s boyfriend Nigel is due later in the afternoon to join us for dinner, but first — today’s tourist activity.

The Plymouth Gin distillery in lovely old town Plymouth, England.

It was a lovely tour — in fact, I do believe that it ranks near the top of the distillery tours that I’ve taken — and that is quite a few.

A lovely tour guide, small group, one cutie, watered down nosing samples of the Plymouth Gin and a tipple of their Sloe Gin (which I was prepared to dislike but it was lovely, not the sweet stuff from the states) followed by a 1 pound off coupon and a chit for a free Gin and Tonic up in the Refectory Bar (which is worth a visit on its own).

I picked up a bottle of Plymouth Gin for Mindi to try (it really is good), and will get some for my mother to try as well since she’s looking for a new house gin (ever since the demise of Tanquarey Mallaca Gin some eight years ago). For myself I picked up a 35 pound bottle of 57.1% by volume single malt from the Chivas family of distilleries that they have a relation with. That’s my yummy sipping whiskey for the rest of the trip — hopefully there will be some for Jeff to try once I’m back in Dublin.

For today’s humorous photo we have:

By the time we were done sightseeing, Nigel had arrived at the house with his dog Doogie/Google (depending on the mood of owner or dog, not sure)…

Nigel’s mum had packed a ton of food so instead of roasting the chicken we’d bought we ploughed trough an amazing salted ham quiche and some salad. There is a whole additional pie, a cake, and a ton of other food that she sent along. I doubt we will starve.

Late in the evening we were joined by Nigel’s friend for a bit before they both left to do a little clubbing. After that dinner the two Mark’s were ready for their respective beds.

[?  ? ? — feeling like a cow]

Saint Mindi ran me to the airport this morning — me feeling a bit worse for wear from last night’s festivities. Got to the airport in plenty of time (yes, I know me to the airport early). It was your basic Dash 8-300 regional prop plane for the 1 hour flight to Plymouth. On the way back I fly through Newquay — seems they run a circle route all day.

Mark was at the airport to meet me, and off we went on a little jaunt around the countryside and up to the reservoir that serves Plymouth and the surrounding cities. We stopped a couple of times for pictures — the mores really were beautiful with the sun out.

Next stop was Saintbury’s Market for the remaining ingredients for tonights meal — which turns out to be very close to last night’s meal in that it’s a leg of lamb we got on special over a bed of roasted root vegetables — no salad tonight, just green beans, whiskey and wine.

It’s good to see Mark again — still trying to figure out when we were here last. It would have been with Jill, in the spring, when we also did Scotland, saw Pucci, and I went to the production of Equus in London.

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