The City That Never Sleeps

~ view of Chrysler Building and Brooklyn Bridge ~

New York, New York

I want to wake up in the city that never sleeps,

To find I’m king of the hill, top of the heap,

These little town blues,

Are melting away,

I’ll make a brand new start of it,

In old New York,

If I can make it there,

I can make it anywhere,

It’s up to you, New York, New York

(My all time favourite by Frank Sinatra)

~ you can see a glimpse of Central Park at the top of the pic ~

I believe it when they say the Empire State Building is a legend.

I was blown away with the spectacular view of New York City.

And it’s no wonder people do the craziest things up there,

we certainly felt like Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks for a while

~ top right of photo : Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island ~

ps : the photos were taken with my digital ixus hence the sub-par quality

How Do You Like Your Mr Potato Head ?

Remember how we all had a favourite toy when we were young ?

He was hooked on Transformers. I loved my Rainbow Brite, Cabbage Patch Kid and Strawberry Shortcake doll. (Yes, I was a very greedy child and I still keep them well hidden away from my nieces till today)

But didn’t we all grow up with Mr Potato Head ?

A couple of months back, I received a voucher from Borders and wanted to get something for him.

There were no Transformers (It is a bookstore after all, Duh !), so I bought him this.

It made a perfect anniversary gift.

Don’t you love this version of OPTIMASH PRIME ?

All Good Things Must Come To An End

Photo : O’Reily Hall, UCD. Our graduation was held in this hall.

Looking at these photos bring back many old memories.

When we were there, it felt like forever and we wanted it to end.

But now looking back, those years were actually the best years of our lives.

How I wish we could turn back time. Sigh.

Goodbyes will always hurt and pictures will never replace the feeling of being there.

It was really hard saying goodbye to this place but all good things must come to an end.

‘ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END’

There is an end to everything, to good things as well. The proverb dates back to about 1374 (Chaucer) and first attested in the United States around 1680.

I smell something fishy.

It was Easter weekend and the weather forecast had predicted cold wintry showers in the east. So it was definitely not a good idea to head that way. However, for the southwest it was patchy clouds with bursts of sunshine and so it would be wise to make our way to a place called ….

We had very high hopes that the weather would be all bright and sunny once we reached there. We had heard a lot about Kinsale which is also known as the ‘Gourmet Capital Of Ireland’ .

Kinsale is such a beautiful town with a harbour full of sailboats.

As we were driving around the harbour, we found our ourselves at the beach with lovely views of the Celtic Sea. I can imagine this place being jam packed with people during summer.

With the sun shining we parked our car and made our way into town . The town was filled with bright painted shopfronts, narrow winding streets and endless rows of cafes and restaurants. One of course must not leave Kinsale without having a bite at…

The breaded scampi and mussels was lipsmackingly delicious. The interior was elegant, bright and stylishly simple. It was no doubt Fishy Fishy Cafe received a Bridgestone Award for one of the 100 best places to eat in Ireland. Definitely worth returning for a second time!

Simply Captivating

photo: view of lake windermere and the lakeland fells

I learnt about Beatrix Potter and her love for Lake District after watching ‘Miss Potter’. And now after watching a BBC2 documentary on the telly last night, I have just discovered another great English author by the name of Alfred Wainwright. His name does ring a bell just like Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, William Butler Yeats and the like. (No, I shall not include JK Rowling in the list) What I didn’t know was, he too had a passion for the Lake District.

Wainwright’s ‘Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells’ was his most famous masterpiece. What he did was inspiring as at the age of 23, he saved enough money for a week’s walking holiday in the lake district. His love affair with the lake district started when he climbed one of the hills in Windermere and witnessed the beauty of the lakeland fells. From his walks, he illustrated and handwrote many colourful guides of the fells. This has been the bible of all true fellwalkers for the past 40 years.

We both have never been walkers but watching the documentary did make it look like a whole lot of fun and something worth doing. We should probably concentrate on easier routes and Slievenamon Mountain may be a good start for beginners like us. The locals in Tipperary talk so much about Slievenamon Mountain that we’re just waiting for the right time.

When we were there, we both took the easy way of exploring Lake District by taking a cruise around lake windermere. More serious tourists however come here on a walking experience to explore the 214 fells which is also known as the ‘Wainwrights’. Did I tell you that as of Nov 2007, only 495 people completed the wainwrights? It would be a dream to do the 190 mile ‘Coast to Coast Walk’ which is the most popular amongst walkers. This is probably the best way of doing it. You’d probably need a week and 3 days is definitely not enough.

We also enjoyed sitting by the lake having fish and chips and checking out local crafts at the many souvenir shops. We did get quite a handful to bring home as gifts. Amazingly the birds were friendly too

So you see, it only took one hour of BBC to inspire me to write this. He thinks Im too easily influenced by the media. Heheh.

Finally, I can only say is that the Lake District is SIMPLY CAPTIVATING!

ps : The National Trust has certainly done a good job on preserving one of mother nature’s greatest gift

Aquae Sulis Minerva

Temple of Aquae Sulis Minerva

Although I’m mad about bunnies, he on the other hand loves ancient civilizations specifically the roman empire. Does that make us complete opposites of each other? And is that why they say ‘opposites attract’? Probably.

It was rather fascinating seeing the roman baths right in front of my very eyes. I do know a tad bit about aqueducts and baths thanks to the history channel. But that’s about it. Ask me more, I think I would rather stay quiet than make a fool of myself.

Roman baths back then played a huge part in day to day life in ancient Rome. The Romans used it as a gathering point to socialize and of course, for bathing. I think in some ways it resembles modern spas and healthclubs.

There were many types of baths, showing how advanced they were i.e; caldarium (hot bath), tepidarium (warm bath) and frigidarium (cold bath). They used it in succession, first the hot bath to sweat off their dirt then off to the warm bath before ending it with a cold dip. I think the Romans had too much time on their hands to actually have 3 types of baths and wouldn’t your body go all wrinkly?

The Roman temple in bath is dedicated to Sulis Minerva. Sulis was a goddess of healing and water, while Minerva was the Roman goddess of war, wisdom and crafts. Therefore, the 2 may have been associated with the craft of healing.

So that’s that. Enough for today. I think I’ve just been romanised (if there is such a word) .

ps : I think it’s better you stick to your Transformers. It makes so much more sense.

My Little Obsession

I think my obsession with Peter Rabbit took me a bit overboard after watching ‘Miss Potter’. It didnt help that Renee Zellweger played the role of Beatrix Potter so brilliantly ! Oh and Ewan McGregor? Simply divine. I have always been fascinated by Peter Rabbit – how cute can a little bunny be with a little jacket and shoes ?

I have been to Lake District twice before and I never knew that this was home to Peter Rabbit and his friends. And what more, there was a whole world dedicated to this little bunny.

So what did we do ? You guessed it , we packed our bags and off we went to ‘World of Beatrix Potter’

Bunnies, bunnies and more bunnies everywhere !

All bunnies were brought to life, very enchanting and surreal.

Thank you Miss Potter for opening my eyes.

Thank you Beatrix Potter for making me feel young again with your lovely tales.

Thank you Honey for benjamin bunny and taking me there.

ps : Oh, dont worry. I still love my handbags and shoes.

Another day, another castle !

If you are wondering, no, I am not obsessed with castles. Many a times we have passed through this little town called Cahir on our way to Cork and we could not understand why there was always such a big crowd.

Despite the bus load of tourists, we never stepped foot in Cahir Castle. So last weekend we made it a point to see it for ourselves. Unfortunately it was late evening and we could not make it for the guided tour. So off we went taking photos of the exterior part of the castle.

I do not know much about the history behind it but here is what I managed to gather.

‘Cahir Castle is one of the largest and best preserved castles in Ireland.’

‘Originally built in the 13th century on a site of an earlier native fortification called a cathair (stone fort), which gave its name to the place. The castle was granted to the powerful Butler family in late 14th century.’

It did not ‘wow’ me instantly but it has its own charm.

I have seen many other great castles like Edinburgh and Windsor ( I am still intrigued by ‘Windsor Castle’ after watching the weekly running documentary on BBC4. And can I count in Sleeping Beauty’s castle as one of my favourites too ? )

But it is great to have such a heritage in a little town like Cahir. It is great for the locals and I am sure they are truly proud of it!

You win!

Taken by a certain someone. Him trying to prove he’s better at photo taking than I am.

Read my previous entry on ‘ A little flower to brighten your day ‘ and you’d understand why.

What say you ?

River Suir

The River Suir is a river in Ireland that flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Waterford after a distance of 183 kilometers (114 miles). Popular with anglers, it holds plentiful reserves of brown trout and salmon

Remember I once wrote about a particular swiss cottage overlooking the River Suir ? Well, here I am putting up a few more photos we took of the River Suir which we had taken not too long ago.

The river that streams through Clonmel is the continuation of the river suir in Cahir. It was refreshing waking up to such a view as he once lived in an apartment (photo above) overlooking this river. His window was also great for people watching. But it was best for taking a stroll in the evenings while enjoying the calm river and beautiful green surroundings. What more the town was just a 5 minute walk from the river which was great if you’re longing for your favourite ice cream or indian takeaway. Pure bliss!

Wouldnt you just love to stroll here ?

And here