Weekend in Dublin: Arrival

Say what you want about Ryanair, but when the hubby comes home and says he heard we could get to Dublin and back for about $25, I get on the internet. And it was true! Of course, it ended up being closer to $80 for the two of us because we wanted to check a bag, but hey, that's still a pretty awesome deal. Top it off with using some credit card points for the hotel and there is just no good reason not to pack up and head to Dublin for the weekend.

We left Friday after work and getting there was so simple. Ryanair is bare bones, but they've got their processes down to a science so it was easy loading, on time departure and smooth sailing. A good airport express bus took us to within a block of our hotel and we were soon ready for some dinner.

We found a cute little bistro just down the street from our hotel and ended up with a true Irish experience.

• Guinness & Smithwicks to drink
• Guinness beef stew - yummy comfort food at it's best
• Guinness chocolate mousse for dessert - so good!

Not a bad way to start off our adventure.

Hmmm, thought I had a photo of that mousse as well . . . must have gobbled it down too fast! 

6-month Check In

We arrived in Bristol on 15 July - 6 months already! Time has flown so I thought it would be a good time to take stock on the experience.

Things I love:

• The easy-going and casual atmosphere of the city - reminds me of Madison where you can dress up or wear jeans to the fanciest of restaurants. A real treat after the hyper-sparkle of Dubai where I always felt I had to be in full make-up even to run to the grocery store.
• Pork and alcohol everywhere. This is actually part of a much bigger love of complete democracy and freedom. Live and let live suits me so much better.
• Budget airlines!! I was very sad to leave my airline discount, but it turns out that with the budget carriers, we can still travel cheaply. And so much faster. What a treat to live in Europe and be able to jet off to Dublin for a weekend.
• The weather! I know, it sounds crazy, but I love the rain and the green and the frost on my car windows in the morning and the fact that I need a jacket and gloves. I'm sure it will wear off in time, but so far, I'm still loving it.
• The language. I really get a kick out of learning new words and phrases for things. Cracks me up every time.
• The history and the culture. Everywhere you look there's an old church or bridge or cobbled street. It's so cute and quaint here I have to pinch myself at times. And even with all the old, you can still find a sparkly new mall or hotel with a nice restaurant when you need a newness fix. 
• Friendly folk. I was a bit worried as I've always heard the Brits are a bit more aloof than us Americans. Well, that is true, but not so aloof that you don't feel welcome. Maybe it's Bristol vs. London, but we've found the general public to be very friendly and warm. And thank goodness for that!

Things I'm still getting used to:

• The traffic is really appalling. Congested, smelly, slow and frustrating. And don't even get me started on public transport - what a nightmare! There are a number of construction projects underway to help alleviate the problem - let's see. I have a feeling I may never get used to this one.
• And related to that - driving on the left. I've gotten pretty good at this, but still struggle with correctly estimating the size of my car when parking. I'm so used to judging distance using the left side of the car, and when you drive on the left, you really need to use the right side instead. Still working on this one, but luckily, no dents or scrapes yet.
• Taxes! Yeah, we haven't really even started these yet, and they're sure to be an adventure this year with UAE, US and UK all in the mix. Luckily, we'll have some help sorting it all out through Brian's company.

So, at 6 months am I still happy with the move? Oh yes! and looking forward to the next 6 to see what additional adventures we'll have.

Christmas in Wisconsin - 2017

Home for the holidays. It had been 6 years since we celebrated Christmas in Wisconsin and what a different experience from the sands of Abu Dhabi! We headed home on Christmas eve day and stayed for about 10 days. It was a great week of family, friends and lots of American food and traditions. There really is no place like home.

The snow out my brother's back porch. It slowly melted the whole week we were there, but at least we got to shovel and snow blow their driveway Christmas morning.

Brian showing his nieces the engineering basics of that small chair.

The Hollfelder clan.

At little vino at our favourite steak place in Madison.

The drive to Minnesota to spend New Year's with friends.

The great Manhattan tasting project on New Year's eve.

More snow and ice in northern Wisconsin.

It actually snowed!!

I love snow. I always have. And I miss it. So imagine how disappointed I was to find out that after moving to Bristol from Abu Dhabi, Bristol doesn't get any snow. Well, I was told, we get snow about once every 5 years or so, but it doesn't stay long and creates chaos because we're not equipped for it.

Ah, so there is a chance that it could snow? So I prayed and prayed and on Friday the 13th, mother nature presented a gift. A lovely little snowfall around 6am. I didn't even realise until I stepped out the door to head to work. It was gorgeous.  A light dusting on everything and completely undisturbed that early in our neighborhood.

By the time I got to work (about 45 minutes later) most of it was melted, but my smile stayed all day long. It snowed in Bristol and I have the photos to prove it. Thanks mother nature.

Christmas in Bristol - 2017

I know, I know, I'm terribly late, but oh well. I was too busy having fun during the Christmas season! We actually went home (WI USA) for the Christmas/New Year week, but were in Bristol until Christmas eve. Here are a few of the British traditions we noticed.

Happy Christmas:
Unlike the US where everything has become so politically correct that no one can celebrate anything, the UK embraces Christmas fully including wishing everyone a Happy Christmas, whether they celebrate or not. I'd much prefer we all wish each other everything when it comes up instead of celebrating nothing and creating watered down phrases like Happy Holidays. But hey, that's just me. And Britain apparently - the schools have Christmas concerts, our offices have trees and the University put on a Carol service, which was a multi-denominational service the week before Christmas celebrating the many traditions surrounding the birth of Jesus. (some that he's the son of god, some that he's a prophet ...) Below is the hall the service was held in - not a church, but one of the main halls of the University. And yes, it was over one of my lunch hours!! :)

Office lunches:
Speaking of lunches, another big British tradition is the office Christmas lunch. The team goes out (or is taken out) to a restaurant nearby that serves a set menu you sign up for in advance. Lots of food and lots of alcohol. Ours started at noon and ended at ... So all during the month of December, you can find tipsy office workers wandering the streets around 5pm. Very funny.

Christmas crackers:
One tradition you'll find at those lunches and on Christmas day in many British households are Christmas crackers. This tradition is a bit harder to understand for those of us not brought up British. The photo below shows what they look like. You pull the two ends and it makes a crack and inside you'll find a flimsy paper hat, a ridiculously cheap toy (think cereal box quality) and a really lame joke (think Bazooka gum wrapper). And that's it. You are expected to wear the hat through the remainder of lunch, tell the joke and groan at the appropriate time, and try to figure out what the toy actually is before throwing it in the bin.

Christmas markets and fayres:
In an earlier post, I wrote about our trip to the Christmas market in Bath. They are everywhere and a favourite European tradition.

Skating rinks:
In addition to the markets, large shopping centres also seem to set up ice skating rinks for the month. Yes, I know we have them back home, but they are natural and because it's so cold. These ice rinks need to be created with refrigeration because the temps really don't get and certainly don't stay cold enough for an ice rink. You then buy a ticket for a 30 or 45 min time slot. You can rent skates as well. Most are just a small round area, but if it's all ya got ...

Here are a few other photos of Christmas in Bristol for you to enjoy.