driving across the pond is so different than driving in the states. obvious difference being that the driver's side is on the right rather than the left therefore one drives on the left.
also, and this lucky for me personally being my first time driving abroad: UK drivers are not road rage maniacs. in fact everyone seems to drive as a community; roads aren't always primo, traffic can be horrendous but hey, we're all in this together, so let's at the very least make everyone's driving experience today a good one. and this itself is AWESOME. no one rides your car's rear end for miles. everyone is fairly patient. no one cuts you off. everyone lets you merge. no one thinks they are entitled to make it through a light blocking oncoming traffic. it's just much more . . . civil.
example: though i learned to drive fairly well in the UK, i could not park for s#!%. don't know why, because it's not my regular car or perhaps the parking spaces are smaller than their US counterparts but nonetheless, parking proved difficult for me. at the sainsbury parking structure it took me 6 attempts to get the nissan note into my chosen parking space. even my 4 year old twins asked me why parking was taking me so long. and since lanes are narrow narrow, i was holding up traffic coming AND going. awesome.
after finally manouerving the car into the free space, i expected an angry mob of cars to drive past me with middle fingers shoved up against windows, profanties shouted through open or even closed windows by irate, red-faced drivers as well as the inevitable driver who likes to give you the long honk that says "you are a terrible driver and have thus ruined my day making me late. you suck".
nope. nada. zip. zilch. zero. not one single honk during the entire 6 tries.
every waiting driver/car drove past with me mouthing 1000 apologies and what i got in return was smiles and "no worries mate. cheers!" me: absolutely flabbergasted. because back in the states, every single one of those drivers who i held up with my awful parking skillz would have stopped, rolled down their window and given me a profanity laden tirade until they felt that i had sufficiently "paid" for wasting their precious time. then i would have been given the finger as they sped up and i ate dust. oh, you americans can learn something from this!
signage is also awesome on the UK motorways. enormous signs with even more humongous lettering letting you know a more calm traffic configuration lies ahead, that there are lanes merging from your left, that the motorway is shrinking to 2 lanes instead of 3, so sorry that, that your exit is coming up in 3 hatch marks, and that the rest stop ahead has a costa coffee.
their signage is so fantastic, i now wish i had the foresight to have documented some of the awesome, HUGE motorway signs i saw for your edification.
also, apolozies will abound when there are road improvements being made. i mean it really. the sign will actually say "sorry for the inconvenience". in the states, drivers are lucky to even be informed that there is some sort of road work going on ahead, delaying the drive in to work, school or wherever. usually, we're just in the dark on such matters, cursing all traffic ahead of us.
i left bristol (or b'tol as i have come to refer my adopted city. a name purloined from the M4 turnoff) with a clean driving record: no tickets, no pedestrian, biker or pet deaths, no popped left side tires, no left side of the car scrapes and no angry mob of bristolians cursing my awful driving skillz.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
muckross abbey is flooded
no, muckross is not a condition or affliction but an abbey, house and gardens in killarney, ireland.
before our visit to ireland, the southern region was just hammered with massive rainfall. many rivers, streams and whatnot flooding over, submerging a good deal of the irish countryside in a watery crypt. despite my fears of dying a watery death, we decided to proceed south to check out muckross anyways.
the road to muckross abbey was met with water all the way to road level with just the tops of the trees visible under i don't know how many feet of water. we parked the car on what we hoped was dry land or at least dry land until we could return to said rental car.
with much trepidation (at least on my part), we approached the abbey, which was now closed for the season (see previous post regarding how things close for the "season" over here), which seemed to be surrounded by what seemed to an unusually large amount of water that was constantly lapping up onto the shore and taking with it little pebbles back into it's depths.
showing no fear whatsoever (ah, the youth) the peanuts climbed on the abbey's ruins and watched various dogs scope the now flooded area out as well as leave "messages" for other passing pooches. all i could worry about was when the tide was coming in and would it engulf us all. see? my watery death thing is kinda constant, especially in an area that is just, in my opinion, swimming in ALOT of water.
luckily, we also wanted to check out the muckross house, so our watery visit to the abbey was quite short (phew).
note: we returned to the semi-submeged parking lot and the rental car was fine. as we drove off to the safety of muckross house, i couldn't help but think, geez babe, could you just drive a little bit faster? i mean if i were my husband, i would have hightailed it out of there a tad faster as you can never predict what water is going to do. better to be safe and dry than wet and sorry.
just sayin'.
before our visit to ireland, the southern region was just hammered with massive rainfall. many rivers, streams and whatnot flooding over, submerging a good deal of the irish countryside in a watery crypt. despite my fears of dying a watery death, we decided to proceed south to check out muckross anyways.
the road to muckross abbey was met with water all the way to road level with just the tops of the trees visible under i don't know how many feet of water. we parked the car on what we hoped was dry land or at least dry land until we could return to said rental car.
with much trepidation (at least on my part), we approached the abbey, which was now closed for the season (see previous post regarding how things close for the "season" over here), which seemed to be surrounded by what seemed to an unusually large amount of water that was constantly lapping up onto the shore and taking with it little pebbles back into it's depths.
showing no fear whatsoever (ah, the youth) the peanuts climbed on the abbey's ruins and watched various dogs scope the now flooded area out as well as leave "messages" for other passing pooches. all i could worry about was when the tide was coming in and would it engulf us all. see? my watery death thing is kinda constant, especially in an area that is just, in my opinion, swimming in ALOT of water.
luckily, we also wanted to check out the muckross house, so our watery visit to the abbey was quite short (phew).
note: we returned to the semi-submeged parking lot and the rental car was fine. as we drove off to the safety of muckross house, i couldn't help but think, geez babe, could you just drive a little bit faster? i mean if i were my husband, i would have hightailed it out of there a tad faster as you can never predict what water is going to do. better to be safe and dry than wet and sorry.
just sayin'.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
also missing
so there are a few more products i am missing from our stint over in b'tol:
- flash bathroom cleaner - smells like fresh laundry & does an unbelievable job on shower muck
- fairy dish soap - in the pink grapefruit & mint combination. prompts the question: why do all the dish soaps in the US smell so awful when the dish soaps abroad (UK, italy & france) smell so amazingly awesome?
- molton brown lipsheers - especially the snapdragon color. bonnie knows what i mean
- vaseline rosy lips - awesome lippy with just the right amount of pink plus supa dupa moisturizing. waaaaaaaaaaaaay better than the rosebud stuff from sephora
- hotel chocolate - really need i say more?
- leg warmers
- arm warmers
- small portions of foodstuffs, like cucumbers and mayonnaise because, really do i need an irrationally large tub of mayo?
- flash bathroom cleaner - smells like fresh laundry & does an unbelievable job on shower muck
- fairy dish soap - in the pink grapefruit & mint combination. prompts the question: why do all the dish soaps in the US smell so awful when the dish soaps abroad (UK, italy & france) smell so amazingly awesome?
- molton brown lipsheers - especially the snapdragon color. bonnie knows what i mean
- vaseline rosy lips - awesome lippy with just the right amount of pink plus supa dupa moisturizing. waaaaaaaaaaaaay better than the rosebud stuff from sephora
- hotel chocolate - really need i say more?
- leg warmers
- arm warmers
- small portions of foodstuffs, like cucumbers and mayonnaise because, really do i need an irrationally large tub of mayo?
curly wurly update
those delicious braided caramel and chocolate bars of goodness, AKA curly wurly, are now available stateside.
apparently in my absence, the kraft corporation (KFT for those of you versed in the stock market), known the world over for it's fine cheese products, acquired the cadbury chocolate (CBY).
on the upside, more cadbury products will be available for the american masses to consume, giving hershery's a real run for it's money. cadbury offerings, including my beloved curly wurly bar which has been spotted in the san francisco area as well as nearby santa monica.
yum.
the cliffs of moher
one winding, confusing, foggy 2 hour drive later, we arrive at the cliffs of moher. it's only about 3:30pm and we are already losing what small shaft of sunlight we were rationed for the day.
we hustle everyone out of the car and into coats, gloves and hats and make a mad dash for th cliffs.
apparently, both the cliffs of moher gift shoppe and cafe have decided to let the sun dictate the hours of business and since the sun is shuttin' it down, both venues are following suit. so the hot chocolate i envisioned myself holding while walking and admiring the cliffs will not come to fruitition. there will be no warm hands either on this particular visit to the cliffs.
the cliffs are breathtaking. they rise up out of the atlantic out of nowhere. astounishing. amazing. absolute gorgeousness. mother nature rocks.
a word about b & bs
so apparently, if you have an extra room in your house in ireland, the business to go into is b & b's. which for the uninitiated, are bed and breakfasts.
by the number of bed and breakfast accommodations we spied on any and all outings in ireland, every house seems to have a sign out front, declaring it a b & b. and i mean, every house on the block. perhaps the o'leary, mulligan and gallagher kids all went off to university this year and now their parents are renting those kids' rooms to tourists on their way to visit the cliffs of moher.
by the number of bed and breakfast accommodations we spied on any and all outings in ireland, every house seems to have a sign out front, declaring it a b & b. and i mean, every house on the block. perhaps the o'leary, mulligan and gallagher kids all went off to university this year and now their parents are renting those kids' rooms to tourists on their way to visit the cliffs of moher.
dillion's pub, somewhere on the way to the cliffs of moher
so having abandoned bunratty castle in record time, we are now on to our next destination: the stunning cliffs of moher. not the comedian either.
but there are tummies grumblin', which means it's time for lunch. and we, of course are in the middle of nowhere and have no idea where or what would be a good stop for food.
we come across this little town with 2 pubs, a convenience store and a parking lot.
the first pub has a menu completely in gaelic so we move on to the next place, across the (tiny) street, called dillon's.
dillon's is absolutely jumping for a saturday afternoon. the pub across the street looks very sad and lonely by comparison. i think the entirely-in-gaelic menu probably can account for some of that. we have had relatively good luck with pub food so we decide that dillon's pub is the pub for us. plus the dillon's pub menu is in english. a definite plus.
we discover that dillon's pub is so lively today because they are hosting a wake. i hope my wake is a joyous and fun filled as this recently deceased folk's. despite the filled to the brimness that is dillon's pub, the staff is so accomodating and a group of men clear their table so we can sit and eat. this would never happen in LA. i tried to share a table to with a thinning haired guy at starbuck's recently who said that he needed the entire table for some, ahem, meeting and despite there being 1 extra chair, said that sharing was out of the question. so i cursed his meeting and hoped that success would continue to elude him. but that's another story for another day. we're in ireland!
pub menus tend to be on the small side as far as range of eats offerings and we see the dillon's is no different. but today they have a roast special, fish and chips and a soup du jour. all of which sound perfect for this cold irish day. i get the amazing fish and chips while joe opts for the roast special which consists of 4 large slices of beef, mashed potatoes, boiled potatoes, some cooked carrots, gravy and bread. all of our food arrives pipingly hot and is just about the most delish meal we've had. the kids have chicken fingers (of course) with chips (those are french fries to you and me) with mini-sausages, which are disdainfully tossed aside by my children but lucky for us because they are damn good.
bellies afull with irish pub goodness, we waddle back to the parking lot across the street to continue our road trip to the cliffs of moher.
but there are tummies grumblin', which means it's time for lunch. and we, of course are in the middle of nowhere and have no idea where or what would be a good stop for food.
we come across this little town with 2 pubs, a convenience store and a parking lot.
the first pub has a menu completely in gaelic so we move on to the next place, across the (tiny) street, called dillon's.
dillon's is absolutely jumping for a saturday afternoon. the pub across the street looks very sad and lonely by comparison. i think the entirely-in-gaelic menu probably can account for some of that. we have had relatively good luck with pub food so we decide that dillon's pub is the pub for us. plus the dillon's pub menu is in english. a definite plus.
we discover that dillon's pub is so lively today because they are hosting a wake. i hope my wake is a joyous and fun filled as this recently deceased folk's. despite the filled to the brimness that is dillon's pub, the staff is so accomodating and a group of men clear their table so we can sit and eat. this would never happen in LA. i tried to share a table to with a thinning haired guy at starbuck's recently who said that he needed the entire table for some, ahem, meeting and despite there being 1 extra chair, said that sharing was out of the question. so i cursed his meeting and hoped that success would continue to elude him. but that's another story for another day. we're in ireland!
pub menus tend to be on the small side as far as range of eats offerings and we see the dillon's is no different. but today they have a roast special, fish and chips and a soup du jour. all of which sound perfect for this cold irish day. i get the amazing fish and chips while joe opts for the roast special which consists of 4 large slices of beef, mashed potatoes, boiled potatoes, some cooked carrots, gravy and bread. all of our food arrives pipingly hot and is just about the most delish meal we've had. the kids have chicken fingers (of course) with chips (those are french fries to you and me) with mini-sausages, which are disdainfully tossed aside by my children but lucky for us because they are damn good.
bellies afull with irish pub goodness, we waddle back to the parking lot across the street to continue our road trip to the cliffs of moher.
bunratty castle is . . . a castle
so picking up right where i left off, ireland.
ireland is beyond green. they don't call it the emerald isle for nothin'. the green and the fog seem to go on forever.
so it's now saturday. we're in ireland. with 2 four year olds who could care less about castles, abbeys, guinness or the absolute greenness of ireland. so we decide to head out to a castle. we spotted bunratty castle on the drive from the airport and it's literally 2 miles from our hotel. perfect. so off we go.
we, unfortunately, forget that dignan is claustrophobic and that gemma does not like to walk flat surfaces, hills, stairs or anything these days. we get a quick scope of the place but gemma refuses to let either of us go on the castle tour. i think she may be just tired from the strenuous one hour flight over from b'tol but hearing that girl whine and cry does not a vacation make. so bunratty castle, despite it's glorious irish history, is a bust for the strassers. except for the bunratty castle gift shop, which my children seem to love because it's filled to the hilt with every irish tchotchke one can imagine. and they want one, if not 2 of everything in there. of course.
one score from the bunratty castle gift shoppe, would be the guinness caramel filled dark chocolate bar, because i haven't waxed poetic about chocolate enough lately. hershey bar thin, this boasts 0.2% genuine guinness goodness in every bar. not to mention caramel and dark chocolate. delish but a little skimpy on the caramel and not much, if any, beer taste at all. we were hoping to knock the little ones out as we plan to drive to the cliffs of moher, which are about 2 hours away by car. so no luck on that. probably enough sugar content in the pieces we gave them to cancel out any alcohol effects the chocolate may have had. which means they are tired and wired - an awesome combination for a road trip if i ever heard one.
ireland is beyond green. they don't call it the emerald isle for nothin'. the green and the fog seem to go on forever.
so it's now saturday. we're in ireland. with 2 four year olds who could care less about castles, abbeys, guinness or the absolute greenness of ireland. so we decide to head out to a castle. we spotted bunratty castle on the drive from the airport and it's literally 2 miles from our hotel. perfect. so off we go.
we, unfortunately, forget that dignan is claustrophobic and that gemma does not like to walk flat surfaces, hills, stairs or anything these days. we get a quick scope of the place but gemma refuses to let either of us go on the castle tour. i think she may be just tired from the strenuous one hour flight over from b'tol but hearing that girl whine and cry does not a vacation make. so bunratty castle, despite it's glorious irish history, is a bust for the strassers. except for the bunratty castle gift shop, which my children seem to love because it's filled to the hilt with every irish tchotchke one can imagine. and they want one, if not 2 of everything in there. of course.
one score from the bunratty castle gift shoppe, would be the guinness caramel filled dark chocolate bar, because i haven't waxed poetic about chocolate enough lately. hershey bar thin, this boasts 0.2% genuine guinness goodness in every bar. not to mention caramel and dark chocolate. delish but a little skimpy on the caramel and not much, if any, beer taste at all. we were hoping to knock the little ones out as we plan to drive to the cliffs of moher, which are about 2 hours away by car. so no luck on that. probably enough sugar content in the pieces we gave them to cancel out any alcohol effects the chocolate may have had. which means they are tired and wired - an awesome combination for a road trip if i ever heard one.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
since we were in paris right before heading home for california, we didn't get the chance to wish everyone a happy 2010!
2010 sounds so futuristic, even back here in the states. i hope i am right in thinking it's 2010 and it's not really 2007 or something mundane like that.
2010 sounds so futuristic, even back here in the states. i hope i am right in thinking it's 2010 and it's not really 2007 or something mundane like that.
missing b'tol
and cumberland sausages, sainsbury's dark chocolate bars, sunday roasts, crisp clean air, chicken tikka masala, farm fresh cider, farm fresh cheese and red seedless grapes from spain. and now that i am driving here again, i really do like driving on the left and roundabouts. plus drivers here are awful. as in manners, that is.
no curly wurlys you ask? didn't you love those, shellaine? why yes, i did. so much in fact, i brought back 10 of those babies and are rationing them out on a weekly basis. so i am not missing those.
yet.
no curly wurlys you ask? didn't you love those, shellaine? why yes, i did. so much in fact, i brought back 10 of those babies and are rationing them out on a weekly basis. so i am not missing those.
yet.
so
um, we're home. yup, we're back stateside these days.
but guess what? the blogness continues! because i did not get to blog about everything in real time, i am going to be blogging about everything that happened with the foresight of hindsight. or something to that effect.
i promise to try to keep it entertaining. and today, i downloaded all the pics off our camera, so you have that to look forward to even if you don't want to read my commentary on everything, there will be pretty pictures to look at.
ooooh. aaaah.
but guess what? the blogness continues! because i did not get to blog about everything in real time, i am going to be blogging about everything that happened with the foresight of hindsight. or something to that effect.
i promise to try to keep it entertaining. and today, i downloaded all the pics off our camera, so you have that to look forward to even if you don't want to read my commentary on everything, there will be pretty pictures to look at.
ooooh. aaaah.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
