A Long Weekend in Dublin, Ireland

Before moving to Europe, I would never dream of flying to Dublin for 3 nights! But cheap tickets and a short flight made it a good possibility…of course we’d love to see the rest of Ireland, but this was a great opportunity.

We had a few ideas in mind but no firm plans, and things worked out great. The first night, we happened to walk past the theater 15 minutes before a show of “Riverdance” started! No budget tickets, but the performance was terrific. I’m glad that the high energy dances were interspersed with quieter music, singing, and videos of nature.

The first day, we looked at the line to get into the library to see the Book of Kells, and decided to not wait so long (if you can organize your days before the trip, get tickets online). But the second day we got there a bit earlier and there was no line at all. The Book was not as impressive as the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz (Germany), but the library upstairs took my breath away. It smelled so good, for those of you who love the fragrance of books!

We took a river “cruise”, just a short jaunt to the harbor and back. Across from the river boat docks was a phenomenal café with outstanding cakes and milkshakes- highly recommend The Sweetest Thing. Across from Trinity College was a salad bar take-out place called “Chopped”, for vegans, vegetarians, and health-conscious carnivores alike (you can add fish or meat to your salad or wrap). Finally, we liked “Cornucopia” so much that we returned the next day for more vegetarian casseroles, salads, and desserts.

There was a nifty organ concert on the 4^th of July in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. A video camera was hung over the organ so the audience could watch the two organ players throughout. We met the US Ambassador to Ireland briefly after the concert!

The hop-on-hop-off bus was interesting and brought us a bit further out of town for a glimpse of the suburbs, including the zoo. We had a picnic dinner in Merrion Square park, which was so relaxing and peaceful. There is lots of construction going on all over Dublin, so it was a louder and busy-er vacation than I would have liked, but definitely worth the trip to see another country.

4 Nights in Oslo, Norway

While most Europeans travel to the Mediterranean to bake in the sun during summer vacation, we really wanted to head north to cooler weather. No air conditioning at work or at home left us feeling clammy and grumpy (well, speaking for myself!), so we really enjoyed days in the 70’s in Norway.

Oslo is a walk-able city, with historic buildings, old and new ships, green spaces, and modern conveniences (shops, restaurants, speedy trains, etc.). We took a boat tour along the city coastline and down a fjord similar to the one outside of Stockholm. The Peace Museum highlighted the struggle for freedoms worldwide. We found a small vegetarian café behind City Hall, and I attended a super yoga class 1 metro stop outside of downtown.

We took a train ride to Lillehammer for one day, with amazing scenery during the 2 hours each way. It’s definitely worth a day trip during the summer… we heard that there is much more tourism during the winter months in Norway! Anyway, we went to a historic outdoor museum where we saw log cabins and talked with interpreters about life in the olden days. I am so grateful for my vacuum cleaner, microwave, and washing machine!

We rode the hop-on-hop-off bus through the suburbs to the polar ship (Fram) museum, which was very interesting. We had a nice lunch in the restaurant of the Opera House lobby, which looks like an iceberg (the Opera House, not the lobby or the restaurant).   

There is much more to see in Norway, and we recommend it highly. Here is a fish "sandwich"- you can see the full grain slice of bread on the bottom, with beets, herring, and potato. Insanely delicious!

Off the beaten path- Estonia

I am really glad that Tallinn was on the itinerary of our vacation last year. True confessions- I did not know much about Estonia---that said, I’d highly recommend it! After taking Segway tours in other cities over the years, we hoped to have a day of good weather at some point during this trip so we could see more of a place in a short time than we could on foot. Not only did we have sunshine, but we encountered 2 Segways for rent not 10 feet past the exit of the cruise ship terminal.

Our tour started by heading into the old town, and we zipped past other tourists panting up the steep hills for the spectacular views from the top. After the wheeled tour, we had lunch with a friend from Massachusetts who had moved there 2 weeks earlier! Like many European restaurants, there is plenty of meat to be had. Later on, we had stupendous hot chocolate at a courtyard café surrounded by cute shops.

We admired the hand-crafted items such as sweaters and linens. The architecture of many buildings, even the town walls, was neat, and there were several street musicians along the way. Estonia is allegedly the birthplace of “marzipan”, an almond paste candy that is used in Europe to decorate cakes and fill chocolates. We didn’t get any of the cutely designed candies, but passed many bakeries and street vendors selling roasted nuts.

We'd like to return for a longer visit!

Um, there’s no bridge across this river, GPS! (aka Rhine River Ruedesheim)

We had heard good things about a town called Rüdesheim, on the Rhine river, and decided on a day trip there. It looked to be about an hour away, maybe a bit more from the K-town area. The website for the river tours of castles was slightly confusing, but it looked like there were a bunch of choices, and we’d figure it out when we got there.

Alas, the car’s GPS tried to send us across a river without a bridge. Literally! As in, “turn right here.” Good thing there were some cars lined up and a large car ferry was approaching the river bank! The 5 Euro and change fare was collected once aboard, based on the number of people and type of vehicle. It was a short journey across the river, and we were on the outskirts of Rüdesheim. Street parking is limited, but we found a gaited (paid) lot by following “P” signs.

As we walked towards the river, we saw signs for an aerial tram up the hill. One option was to walk across the top of the hill after the tram ride, and then take a boat back, so we opted for that plan, which is called the “Ring” tour. The weather was a bit grey (surprise!), so the photos feel fuzzy, but the views were nice. You can see the tram in the lower left of the first photo with vineyards above, but it looks very small.

The walk through the woods across the top of the hill was very nice. We didn’t realize that the ride down the hill was a chair lift, like at ski mountains! It was a bit nerve-wracking to ride the chair lift facing outwards down a really steep slope, but we were safe and fine. We had lunch in the village while we waited for our boat to bring us back to Rüdesheim. The restaurant we chose had nice outdoor seating, albeit with smokers, and we found out later that the inside of the restaurant was filled with Americans! They brought our beverages with ice cubes, which I haven’t seen in about a year! You can see the chair lift between the red lines in the photo.

The half-hour boat ride back was nice, though next time we’d like to try the longer boat tour with stops at castles. We ambled back through town and drove home, once we safely crossed the river again on the ferry.

More Baked Fruit Oatmeal Breakfast

Five (5!) years ago, I saved yet another recipe page from the Boston Globe, and just now got around to trying and modifying it. The original recipe is detailed at in the Boston Globe Magazine.

I tried it exactly as outlined, but of course changed things up the second time! I like eating apples raw, but prefer to consume many other fruits with a spoon, so I thought it would be nice to keep my raw apples, and heat things up a bit differently for breakfast at home or at work. The first two photos are from the original recipe.

I remember my blackberry crisp fondly, but haven’t made it in a year, so decided to use blackberries with this oatmeal recipe. Here is the modified recipe:

Blend 2 cups oats (not instant) with 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder and a few grinds of salt (aka a pinch). Add 1 cup chopped pecans or other nut of your choice. Add 3 cups of berries or other cut up fruit.

In a separate bowl, whisk 3 eggs, 2 cups milk (I used skim), 1/3 cup brown sugar and ½ teaspoon brown sugar. If I make this again with apples in the fall, I’d use 3 cups of apples and 1 full teaspoon of cinnamon.

Add the milk/egg mixture to the oat mixture, stir, and pour into a greased baking dish. I used an 8x8 square dish one time and a round baking dish the other time. The timing of my current oven is not as accurate because the temperature knob does not allow me to set an exact degree in either C or F. I prefer my baked goods gently browned on top and done in the middle, so I kept my eye on the pan after 20 minutes and pushed gently on the top to ensure it was firm when I took it out. I had completely forgotten this post from four years ago, and will re-make the previous version again soon. This version was eggier/custardier, and felt smooth. I'll post a comparison.

Quiet time on purpose

I haven’t posted in a while, due in part to a short hospital scare and an un-vacation. The hospital situation is done and taken care of, but our vacation 2 days later was cancelled. We went on a few day trips instead, and were able to go to a vegetarian yoga retreat for 2 nights. The “stay-cation” idea was not as appealing to me, because I don’t want to eat out every meal in my own neighborhood, which means grocery shopping and cooking. I really tried to not do laundry for a week, but I don’t like looking at full hampers of dirty clothes, and I’d honestly rather just do the laundry instead of watching it pile up.

Jeff has been vegetarian for more than 6 months now, and it was a wonderful experience being somewhere that served only meat-free food. Most places are accommodating when Jeff asks for a dish without the meat, but we were very impressed with the creative foods served with the vegetables as the stars, not just the afterthoughts. It was a cell-phone free (gasp!!) kind of place- in public areas- so no photos of the food. No wifi, either, but our local phones let us check our email anyway…in the room only.

The yoga classes were very good, with the instructor from India teaching in German and accommodating the English speakers with instructions in our native language as well! The grounds were peaceful. There was a babbling brook, a breeze through the trees, happy birds, and the fragrance of lilacs. What a relief to go somewhere that encourages rest, quiet, and self-care. I’m grateful for the opportunity  to spend time a couple of hours away from home in a restorative environment.

Has anyone figured out a way to have a relaxing stay-cation without household chores on your mind?

Off the Beaten Path in Holland: Utrecht and the Keukenhof Gardens

This was not a bargain discount weekend trip, but it was a nice treat. Last year, Jeff took a bus tour which departed shortly after midnight from Kaiserslautern, visited the famous gardens by day, and returned on the bus shortly before midnight the same day! Oy! He recommended the destination so highly, but I kept asking if it was worth it to drive 5 hours each way to see some flowers? He said yes, and I suggested that we make an overnight of it.

We decided to skip Amsterdam, and stayed in De Bilt, a town next to Utrecht. For some reason, our drive times are always longer than what a computer route planner says, so it took us over 4 hours with 2 short breaks from K-town. After checking in to the hotel, we popped over to Utrecht for sight-seeing and dinner. We didn’t have a big lunch, so we had dinner first, and by the time we were done with that, all the stores were closed. I guess this is good for people who work in the stores, but we were disappointed to find everything shut down by 6pm. The architecture in Utrecht was very nice, and we walked along some canals. On our way back to the car, we found a huge department store that was closing in 10 minutes (7pm!). As we drove back to the hotel, we passed through De Bilt, and found several shops still open…didn’t buy any souvenirs but enjoyed the stroll.

We are used to getting up early in the morning for work every day, so it was easy to wake up without an alarm clock and get to the Keukenhof gardens early enough to avoid the legendary lines of people. There were already a bunch of tour busses and several dozen cars parked ahead of us, but we breezed in. Car parking 6 Euros per vehicle, adult admission 16 per person. I am fortunate that daffodils are my favorite flower, so while some people might have complained that the famous tulips were not yet fully in bloom, I was thrilled to see so many varieties of daffodils in all their glory. 

We elected to take the 45 minute boat tour along the canal (8 per person), which was interesting even though many tulips had not yet shown their colors. The gardens were beautifully designed. Don’t go if you allergic to hyacinths, as their fragrance perfumed the air. There were snack carts in several areas (fresh strawberries, waffles, ice cream), a few food trucks (sandwiches, smoothies), and cafeterias with soup to salad to hot entrees. According to the European culture, many people brought their own food and were picnicking on the abundant benches, so feel free to bring your own. 

The large building within the gardens had many tulips in bloom, along with hydrangeas, lilacs, and lilies. After 4 and ½ hours, we were ready to call it a day, and headed to the seashore, a quick drive away. How nice to see the ocean again, even with our jackets and shoes on!

We drove back to the hotel with a stop in the town of Gouda! Guess what was closing down just as we arrived shortly before 5 pm? Yep, the market, stores, and museums. So, get thee to Gouda and Utrecht way before 5pm! Again, the architecture was beautiful, and we strolled along some canals, then headed out.

After dinner at a greek restaurant in De Bilt, we returned to our hotel, passing happy cows (well, assuming that frolicking cows are happy), more canals, more flowers along the side of the road, and swans in the canals and on the meadows. The drive back to K-town the following day took us on another route (why? Don’t know), but it was quite scenic, with more sheep and horses.