Ireland - Dublin 1

On Friday, April 25th, we packed light and headed for Toronto airport. After a relatively painless jaunt, we parked at Viscount and caught the tram to Terminal 3. After meeting up with the Harrows, we settled in to await our late evening Westjet overnight flight to Dublin.

Landing around 10am Dublin time (+5 hours), we were met by our friendly shuttle driver Jay and whisked downtown to our accommodations, along with some local pointers and Gaelic lessons along the way. He also encouraged us to seek out the "blonde with the long black dress". Our shared apartment for three crazy nights was perfectly situated, just on the south side of the River Liffey at O'Connell Bridge and walking distance to a lot of fun and history.

After dropping our bags, we set out to explore the city, first on foot and then via hop on hop off bus. Forcing ourselves to stay up and adjust to the time change, our second wind led to shopping and pub hopping. We hit the Temple Bar area and also had a great lunch at Gallagher's Boxty, which we recognized from Somebody Feed Phil. Walking back to the apartment, we made a grocery run at Tesco's to stock up the room.

We did an organized walking tour with a guide, and explored St. Stephen's Green and Trinity College, though sadly the Longroom was currently emptied of books for some renovations. Next time. He also took us to other parts of the downtown and described the history, politics, religion, and the philanthropy of the Guinness family that has so ingrained their brand loyalty in the people.

A few pints were sampled throughout the day, along with some live music in the evenings. The Porterhouse had been recommended by a good friend that lived in Dublin, and it did not disappoint. For the second evening, we experienced the Gravedigger ghostbus tour, which took us to several haunted locations including Kilmainham Gaol, St. Audoen's Church and Glasnevin Cemetery. 

After our great experience in London last year, we were sadly disappointed with this one....though it was definitely memorable! The B.O. in the bus alone was haunting enough. But the actors tried real hard to keep the mood and we gave them points for that. After they returned us to College Green, we stopped for another pint at Doyle's pub before turning in for the night.

Our apartment (middle building) from across the river

O'Connell Bridge over the River Liffey

Seeing the city atop the Do Dublin Hop On Hop Off

Phoenix Park

Republic of Ireland!

Molly Malone

Temple Bar!

Splitting the G at Fitzgerald's pub

Great lunch at Gallagher's Boxty

Beautiful stroll through St. Stephen's Green

Courtyard at Trinity College

   The Porterhouse Pub

Beautiful interior at The Porterhouse

The Spire of Dublin - aka The Monument of Light (or the Stiffey by the Liffey!)

Gravedigger ghostbus tour

Twilight over Glasnevin Cemetery

More March Marching On

March continued doing its thing, deviating back and forth between Spring and some late winter weather. On a particularly windy day, both strong and from exactly the wrong direction, the roof tin on the garage started flapping and bending, threatening to tear a whole sheet off from the eaves right up to the peak. I could only reach the bottom corner, and only when the wind subsided enough that the flap slammed back down onto the roof.

I climbed as high as I could go (did I mention how windy it was?) with Jane securing the ladder, and did my best with little leverage to hammer some nails into rotten boards and pulled nail holes. It held about as long as it took me to climb down. In the end, I managed to affix two sturdy clamps along the edge, and they miraculously held for two days until someone more capable (and better equipped) arrived to properly fasten the metal back down. Crisis averted.

We broke the van out of captivity, and Jane took it to the local rec centre....and forgot to turn off the lights while she swam for two hours. Dead battery. Luckily that annual CAA membership came in handy and they arrived promptly to get her going again. He also really loved the van!

With better weather we made an overdue run to Kingston area for some family visits.

The next weekend we were visited by Keith, Ashley and Kristen. Originally, we were supposed to go over to Detroit for a Red Wings-Bruins game, but we cancelled in light of all the political tension. We opted to stay local instead, and they rented a nice Airbnb not far away where we could hang out (sans cats) and use as a base camp to show them the area. 

We hit The Grove in Kingsville for lunch, then carried on to Amherstburg to explore Fort Malden, Navy Yard Park, and some shops. On the way back, we visited Point Pelee National Park to walk the marsh boardwalk, climb the new observation tower, and make the sandy hike out to The Tip. It was a great visit, but unfortunately they had to head back into the ice storms that were ravaging central and eastern Ontario - thick layer of ice on everything, trees down, power out for days. They grabbed a few generators here, to take back there and help out a few people without heat or power.

Sketchy Reno Co. and the Saga of the Flapping Roof Tin

Spring Bloom

CAA to the rescue!

Jane making butter for Burt's Birthday!

Someone loves his packing paper

Amherstburg sculpture - how timely!

Security turned fowl at Fort Malden

Touring the boardwalk at Pelee National Park

Climbing the Observation Tower...

...for a view of The Tip of mainland Canada!

Jane's dizzying descent

Walking out to The Tip

Local Airbnb for weekend visitors

Our friends loading up the car for the trip back into the State of Emergency!

Concerts and Sprung?

We were excited to have a few big rock shows lined up for back to back weekends at the casino. In late February, we hit Caesar's with John and Julie to see The Glorious Sons. Given the questionable road conditions and a chance to visit, we opted to get a room and stay even though we don't live far away.

We arrived nice and early to take full advantage of the hotel and casino, and had drinks and appetizers at Spago while waiting for John and Julie. Given their later arrival, they found themselves in an increasingly long check-in line that snaked around the lobby and according to our server was the longest line they had seen. Once checked in, they joined us for a nice Spago dinner before the show.

The openers were The Raffouls, consisting mainly of Billy and Peter, nephews to local rock legend Jody Raffoul. He even appeared and joined them on stage for the last few tunes. Then The Glorious Sons hit the stage and brought the house down - including Brett's antics and vocals - what a great show!

Trip prep continued as we booked tours, buses, ferries and trains - among other things - all while trying to spread things out over different months on the credit card bill. We also ordered some waterproof shoes from a company in Vancouver (Vessi), and started wearing them on walks down at the park to break them in. We even broke the van out of the garage after a few months on the shelf.

A week later, we were back in Windsor as spring continued springing. We met up with Megan for an early dinner at Eastwood's along the river, before walking back to the casino for the show. Royal Tusk from Edmonton was a heavy opening band, before headliners Thornley and Big Wreck came out. We also met a nice couple from Ohio who made the trek. Sadly, before leaving home they felt the need to google whether Canadians hated Americans at the moment (see Trump, Tariffs, Annexation, etc.).

For those that know, they are two bands with the same lead singer, guitarist and songwriter - so basically they did a full set from each of the two bands' catalogues. They even trash-talked the "other" band during the individual sets. Thirty years in, and Ian Thornley can definitely still bring the vocals!

What an incredible week of rock music. Good for the soul, and just what the doctor ordered these days with all the chaos going on in the world.

International view from the Augustus Tower

Appetizers at Spago

Packed house at Caesar's for The Glorious Sons

Great show!

Brett brings the vocals!

Breaking in the new Vessi shoes down at the Park

Dinner at Eastwood's before Big Wreck

Royal Tusk opens for Big Wreck/Thornley

Thornley brings the rock...

...and Big Wreck brings it home!

Spring appears here to stay in early March

Vincent and his Elvis sneer - he may need another toof pulled!