Cobh

After staying in Cork for one night, we took about a 20 minute train ride to Cobh (pronounced 'cove'). It is a beautiful little sleepy seaside town known for being the point where many people left for America during the potato famine.

St. Coleman's Cathedral on the hill.

The view from the cathedral.

Cork

We went to Cork and Cobh for our anniversary and the new year. We have a new found appreciation for Cork; it has a university feel as it is home to University College Cork, it's cheaper than Dublin, it is the 3rd largest city in Ireland (behind Dublin and Belfast), and has the 2nd largest natural port in the world (behind Australia).

A side street in Cork. There were so many cute little (affordable) bistros.

The former Beamish brewery. When tried to have a tour, we were told Heineken recently bought them out and they no longer give tours :(

Unfortunately we were in Cobh for the new year and were unable to attend "Freakscene" :)

Where we went for our anniversary dinner.

These Hillbilly's Fried Chicken restaurants are all over Cork; never tried it but got a picture.

Happy New Year!

We hope you have had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We accidentally left our camera at home when we went up to Belfast for Christmas, so we thought we'd post some pictures of Dublin at Christmas. Unfortunately I can't find a pitcure of Grafton Street, it was by far the most beautifully decorated.

The ferris wheel at Smithfield. It's not shown in these pictures, but they also have a skating rink where I went with work a while back.

The tree on O'Connell Street (changing color).

lunch with alan and pamela

Today we had lunch with Pamela and Alan who we've met at church. The view pictures are taken from the deck of their top floor condo/apartment. Absolutely gorgeous.

Here's Rob reading the paper with a glass of sherry.

After lunch, we went to their boat for a cup of coffee.

thanksgiving usa

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving last Thursday and are greatful for all the friends we have made while we've been in Dublin. 16 people ended up coming for dinner and we had a delicious spread of traditional Thanksgiving dishes. The stuffing I made was a particular success :) Here's the recipe, http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/000036moms_turkey_stuffing.php

Pictures from the day: Rob carving the turkey and Katie, the only other American (from Texas) is standing up. Katie is in the same master's program as Rob.

Baby Alastair and his mom Marilyn (from Canada) holding him. Rob's boss at work, Caroline, is on the right, and Siobhan is sitting in the cushy chair on the left.

pub tease

Rob and I had seen this pub from a distance on the bus and couldn't figure out how to get to it. We could see that it looked like it was behind the RTE campus (Ireland's radio and television service . . . also where U2 recorded their first album in '78), also near our house. Despite failed attempts in the past, we decided yesterday in the freezing cold, that we were going to find it. We walked through the RTE and sure enough, we found it! Only to discover it is a set for one of their TV shows. Instead of the pub, we went to the RTE canteen and got coffee for our cold walk home.

the yummiest scones

Ingredients:
200 g (7 oz) flour
175 g (6 oz) oats
4 Tablespoons sugar
2 dessertspoons baking powder (about the size of a heaping teaspoon is what I use)
1/2 teaspoon salt
75 g (3 oz) currants (I have also used candied cherries, and macadamia nuts and dried cranberries)
1 egg
125 g (4 1/2 oz) melted butter (this is what makes it, use the real stuff) :)
6 Tablespoons milk

Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 220 C
2. Lightly grease baking tray
3. Mix flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, salt and currants/fruit. Make a well with your dry ingredients.
4. Beat egg until frothy, stir in milk, and melted butter. Pour into well of dry ingredients.
5. Split dough in two portions. Form each portion into a thick circle about 2 cm or 3/4 in thick (I like to make the middle a little thicker than the outside). Cut each circle into 8 triangles and separate the triangles a bit.
6. Bake about 15 minutes.

Pre-Baking

Post-Baking
MMMM, good

UCD

This is the entrance to University College Dublin where Rob is studying Equality Studies and doing very well :) He just finished his first term of classes last Thursday and will be finished with all assignments on December the 15th. His department had their annual Christmas party at one of the lecturer's house last Friday night and we were told 2:30AM was early to go home . . . last year they stayed up until 5AM! Wow. We had a great time an managed to steer clear from the karaoke machine.

Powerscourt

I'm going to add a few posts to catch up on our latest happenings . . . here's the first:

Alastair and Lisa came to stay with us a few weekends ago and among other things, we went to Powerscourt. Slightly pricy to see a beautiful garden, but I think it's worth doing on a nice day.

http://www.powerscourt.ie/gardens/

Julie got a job!!

No more temp work, no more Gilmore Girls, no more days at home confirming that I won't be a stay at home mom . . . I got a job! I'll be a Deputy Manager with the Youth Advocate Programme (YAP). My role will be to manage/supervise 10 advocates who each work 1:1 with a youth and their family. The purpose of YAP is to provide wraparound service involving the community, family, and significant people in the youth's life in order to prevent the youth from landing in compulsory care (foster home, residential placement, etc.) I go in on Friday to fill out the paperwork and I am so excited :)