Vienna!

January 11, 2019 by Patricia Farmar

Welcome to Vienna Austria - one of my favorite cities in the world! This was my third time in Vienna, but my first time in the winter. It was COLD! But still so beautiful and historic. Something I noticed as soon as we arrived is that people know how to dress warm here. Everyone has a warm coat, scarf, boots, warm hat and gloves. They have an excellent transportation system that everyone uses, because like lots of European cities most people don’t have cars. And speaking of transportation systems, we are taking advantage of them in spades on every leg of this trip. Leaving Paris early in the morning we took the RER (suburban train) to Charles de Gaulle airport which worked out perfectly and got us there so quickly. We flew to Vienna and took the CAT (City Airport Train) right into the Old Town in 15 minutes for about 12 euros - way cheaper and faster than a taxi. Upon arriving in Old Town we purchased a 7 day unlimited transportation pass for about 16 euros that allowed us to ride buses, the metro and the trams throughout the area. Then we headed over to check into our Airbnb.

Cheryl and I did a lot of research prior to this trip, and Cheryl in particular really focused on Vienna. We arrived on Christmas Eve and knew in advance that the Viennese have a particular fondness for Christmas Eve and celebrate it even more than Christmas, so our plan was to arrive, eat a late lunch and buy some food supplies to get us through till Christmas Day when believe it or not many restaurants and all the museums are open. We were banking on shops being open till 4PM but by the time we got in to the Airbnb and out to find food it was 2PM, and we had trouble finding anything open. Keep in mind we left Paris early so hadn’t even had breakfast. Cheryl and I were trying to stay calm as Ava and Meredith were looking at us in horror - what are we going to do?!?! We ran around and luckily found a Mediterranean restaurant that I can’t even remember the name of that was open, and the food was really good - just not what we were expecting in Vienna. Chicken kabobs and hummus for everyone! Now what to do for the rest of the night? We sent the girls back to the apartment to get some rest and Cheryl and I started googling convenience stores etc. We walked to a few and they were already closed so finally stopped at a hotel and a sweet concierge told us our best bet was to take the metro to one of the bigger train stations and hopefully a convenience store would be open. Those unlimited passes are already coming in handy!

In our quest to find food we did get to see a little of Vienna. The Hofburg Palace and lots of pretty Christmas decorations. They look even better at night!

We took the metro to a big train station and did find their equivalent of a 7-11 minus gas. Pretty sure we were the only people in there not buying large amounts of alcohol. We grabbed whatever looked edible and headed back to the apartment to reassure the girls we wouldn’t starve. Nothing says Christmas Eve like Paprika Pringle’s and what we discovered are a national treasure - Wanner Cookies!

Yep that’s our Christmas Eve feast! It really wasn’t bad and now we’re all hooked on Paprika Pringle’s!

The Wanner cookies are amazing! They even have entire stores dedicated to the brand and special recipes you can make with them.

I might have even brought a few packages home with me. Chocolate hazelnut please!

Cheryl had researched churches in the area that had a midnight service and found us a wonderful one. The Augustinian Church is located right by the Hofburg Palace and is the church where the royal family were married and buried. We headed out in plenty of time to get good seats and got to see the gorgeous Christmas lights the entire way.

The church was beautiful and very old, and the music featured strings and brass. Oh and it was entirely in German! Of course it was! I admit I didn’t get much out of the sermon, but luckily the priest kept it to about 10 minutes.

The manger was quite large and my favorite was when the head priest carried the Baby Jesus in to start the mass.

Christmas Day! And we’re in Vienna! We had luckily gotten a reservation for brunch at the Cafe Museum so headed there in the rain. We were hoping for snow but no luck. The Cafe Museum was a traditional Viennese coffee shop/restaurant. Our spirits lifted immediately when we walked in and saw the huge case of pastries! And that in fact we did have a reservation and they escorted us to our table.

Another Viennese tradition - lots of available newspapers to peruse as you dine.

Top right is the special Edelweiss Torte! I went with the Mozart Torte. And always amazing coffee drinks😊

We were happy to see the rain had stopped by the time we were leaving, and as I mentioned the museums were open so we headed to our first one - Belvedere Palace. The palace was built by Prince Eugene of Savoy and is actually two palaces - the lower palace and the upper palace separated by beautiful gardens. The main draw is the upper palace which Prince Eugene used for entertaining. He had no heirs so the the country got it and turned it into a great art museum. It is best known for its collection of paintings by the artist Gustav Klimt.

The most famous painting in the museum is by Klimt and called The Kiss. Have you seen it?

This is not the real painting but very close. You can stand right next to this one and take a picture. And then go see the real thing.

There was a Christmas market right outside the palace so we headed there next. There is nothing not to love about the Christmas markets. Lots of great food, hot drinks and cute items to purchase. Cheryl and I loved the mulled hot wine. We drank lots of it. It is served in a cute ceramic mug that you put a deposit down on. You can keep the mug or return it and retrieve your deposit. Cheryl wanted to keep every mug so I had to council her often that she didn’t have room to bring them all home. But so tempting! Lots of the items are hand made. Christmas ornaments, snow globes, mittens, hats, socks, wooden items, tea, pretzels, candies, baked goods to name a few.

Lower left - delicious sausage we shared with mustard and freshly grated horseradish.

A few more Christmas market pictures because you can never see enough of them! When was the last time you were at a Wienerwurstelstand?

We didn’t have a dinner reservation but really wanted to eat at a famous restaurant we had read about called Cafe Landtmann. We hoped that if we went late we would be able to get in and our strategy worked. We got seated right away and had a great Christmas dinner!

How cool is that huge Chanel bottle projected on the building?!! Love it!

I had the goulash and Ava went for the wienerschnitzel. She had never had it and if not there then where? I think Meredith had salmon and risotto for Cheryl. All excellent!

And dessert of course! It’s Christmas people!

The dessert was called something like White Torte.  We all had a bite. — The dessert was called something like White Torte. We all had a bite.

Our last day in Vienna was the 26th so we had lots of ground to cover. The girls wanted to sleep in a little but Cheryl and I were up early and heading out to another great coffeehouse. Vienna is known for its coffee culture and I couldn’t love it more. Most of them have been there for decades and can be a little shabby, but it’s really part of the charm. Newspapers, great coffee, pastries, and a “take all the time you want” attitudes.

Love the petticoat lampshade on every light.

Cheryl and I fine tuning our plan for the day over coffee and croissants.

First on our list was St Stephen’s Cathedral. You can’t miss it as it sits right in the center of Vienna and it’s enormous. I have toured it before and definitely wanted the others to see all the exquisite details inside. The plan was to meet the girls there but it was not to be. The day after Christmas is a huge holiday in Austria - St Stephen’s Day - the patron saint of Austria. Cheryl and I entered a side door and found that the church was packed! A high mass was just getting started with a full choir and orchestra, and more priests in the entrance procession than I think are currently working in the United States! It was standing room only so we stayed for a bit to sneak glances around the church, but ended up leaving to meet the girls outside. We are pretty sure the Archbishop was there also. It could have been a Cardinal - definitely not the Pope.

We met the girls outside and headed to the Hofburg Treasury. This is a must see if you’re in Vienna. One of the world’s greatest collections of jewels, crowns, gowns and religious items. To really see it in the detail it deserves takes a couple of hours, which we didn’t have so we did the best we could.

Top left - crown of the Holy Roman Emporer, top right - The Imperial Cross. The cross directly on the right of the big cross is an actual piece of the cross Jesus was crucified on! Bottom right - coronation vestments for the Austrian Emporer and bot… — Top left - crown of the Holy Roman Emporer, top right - The Imperial Cross. The cross directly on the right of the big cross is an actual piece of *the* cross Jesus was crucified on! Bottom right - coronation vestments for the Austrian Emporer and bottom left - Cradle of the King of Rome.

The Treasury is located in one area of the Hofburg Palace but it’s a huge complex. There are lots of different museums located within the palace so you need to pick and choose how to spend your time.

Just a small piece of the Hofburg Palace Museums.

There were some more Christmas markets around the Palace so that’s where we headed next. More mulled wine please!

Top right was lunch. We shared spaetzle with cheese and fried onions - Yumm! Bottom right is Cheryl having a potato wedge snack and bottom left - a chocolate fondue booth.

Austrian version of Pizza Hut!

Beautiful background for the Christmas market.

We were full and shopped out so headed to our last museum of the day - The Kunsthistorisches Museum. Truly a world class art museum in an incredibly beautiful building built to house the Hofburg art collection in 1888. I had read about a special exhibit there put together by Wes Anderson and his wife Juman Malouf so that was the motivation for our visit.

We saw the Wes Anderson exhibit which was fun. They let him go through all the many museums in Vienna and pick anything he wanted for the exhibit so there were rooms that were put together focused on the color green. Another that was all animals, so definitely a different slant. One of my favorite artists is Caravaggio and they have a number of his pieces which was exciting for me. It’s a huge place and you could spend days there. The girls met us inside the museum and decided that a good idea was to have tea in the lovely cafe. Yes let’s!

The picture of me in the middle is with the largest emerald in the world - 2,680 karats to be exact! It’s usually in the Treasury but Wes put it into his green room. Huge! Bottom right - the girls having tea😊

Time to head to our dinner reservation. I had eaten at Restaurant Ofenloch the last time I was in Vienna and loved it, so had made a reservation there in advance. It’s on a cute little street close to the center of town, but a little off the main road. I hoped it was as good as I remembered and it was. We had a great meal and such a fun night.

Following the guy with the flowers to the restaurant. Such a pretty little street.

That’s it for Vienna! An amazing city! Next up Salzburg. One last pastry picture courtesy of Ava!

Paris!

January 04, 2019 by Patricia Farmar

I think I’m recovering from my jet lag! And what I mean by that is that I fell asleep in my office chair last night at 8PM and woke up at 9 to drag myself over to my very tiny couch and curl up uncomfortably and sleep till 10:30. Then waking to walk over to my bed and fall in without even brushing my teeth and sleep till 5AM. Definite progress! On to my Paris recap!

This was my 4th trip to Paris, and I love it more every time I’m there. Maybe because with every trip I feel more comfortable with where I am and where I’m going, plus there is just so much to see, do and eat! I had a tiny bit of concern going with the unrest that has been reported widely by the media, but luckily we found Paris to be calm and as beautiful as always, and certainly less crowded than we had expected - probably due to the level of concern there has been. The original intent of the trip was to meet my friend Cheryl and her two daughters in Paris for a few days, and then go on with them to Austria. When I started checking on flights since I have never been to Ireland and Aer Lingus (Irish Airline) was coming up as a one of the cheaper fares I for the heck of it priced flying first to Dublin and then on to Paris and found that it didn’t cost a dime more to make that stop for a few days in Dublin. So keep that in mind when you are looking at airfares. I like to use Google Flights because it gives you lots of options and you can easily compare prices - and it’s very easy to navigate.

I flew from Dublin to Paris and based on Cheryl’s excellent recommendation I took the suburban train formerly called the RER and now called Train-B (but lots of signs still say RER so it’s the same thing) to the city from Charles de Gaulle Airport. She and the girls had arrived the day before and took an Uber and it took an hour and a half to get to their hotel! The train takes 35 minutes and only costs something like 11 euros. I looked it up in my Rick Steves trusty travel guide and got off right where he told me to - Notre Dame. I walked up the stairs and look what I immediately saw!

We had rented an Airbnb in the Marais district (my new favorite area to stay in) and since my GPS said I was less than a mile away I decided to walk there and check out the neighborhood. Our Airbnb turned out to be fantastic! Much larger than we had expected and very clean and comfortable.

The cool door to our building and our “Oh So French” courtyard. Christmas trees being sold on the street and fresh flowers no matter how cold it is. Yes I’m in Paris!

Cheryl, Ava and Meredith arrived from the hotel they had stayed in the night before and after getting a little settled we headed out for some lunch. This was my first time really exploring the Marais area which is in the 3rd Arrondissement and it is wonderful. It has lots of great restaurants, shops, hotels and artistic sites like the Picasso Museum and the Pompidou Center. Ava has spent quite a bit of time in Paris so she suggested we head to one of the large department stores for a quick bite. Le BHV/Marais was close and we ended up having the perfect lunch there. That was a department store I hadn’t ever been to and it was huge. Even had a hardware department. Light bulbs anyone?? Their Christmas theme was Mary Poppins and the decorations were incredible. I took pictures of the amazing animated windows but they really didn’t come out well with the reflections, but trust me when I say the chimney sweeps were dancing on the rooftops!

A little browsing post lunch but no serious shopping. Saving that for another day.

We wanted to walk the entire Champ-Elysees from Place de la Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe before Saturday, because of the potential for demonstrations that have been occurring there on Saturdays. The Place de la Concorde is the largest square in Paris, and has a lot of historical significance. During the French Revolution the guillotine sat in this square and lots of people including Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI were beheaded there. There is a 3,300 year old obelisk there that marks the spot. In addition to being Paris’ grand boulevard the Champ-Elysees is also the finish line for the Tour de France.

Cheryl and I in front of the obelisk and you can see the Eiffel Tower in the background! And the beautiful Clark ladies!

Next we headed up the Champ-Elysees to browse the fancy stores, restaurants and see the beautiful Christmas lights. All ending up right across from the Arc de Triomphe. Unfortunately due to the demonstrations the Arc itself is closed. Normally you can go up to the very top - a spectacular view of the city and the street. We lucked out on weather. It was cloudy but fairly warm making it really easy to be out and about.

This was my first time in Paris over the holidays and the lights were magical! I love the streets with the Eiffel Tower lights!

We headed back to our apartment via the excellent public transportation system. We had purchased a couple of 10 packs of carnet tickets which are shareable and good for all the transportation in the central area of Paris. A bargain!

We walked just a few doors down from our apartment to an Italian restaurant that got great reviews on Yelp. It did not disappoint. The owner was adorable. It was pretty tiny inside and he promised us it was the best Italian food in Paris. I especially loved that the wine list was handwritten in a spiral notebook. Makes it easy to switch up your wine list when you discover something better. We all loved our food.

On to Day Two! Rule number one of traveling with someone is that you need to have similar interests and energy level. I had no reservations that Cheryl and I would travel well together, and day two proved it. We were on the go from early morning till late at night, and the only thing that stopped us from doing more was that the museums closed. Did I mention that the Paris Museum Pass is an absolute must purchase if you intend to go to at least 4 museums? Saves money and another very valuable resource - time. We each purchased the two day option (comes in 2, 4 and 6 day options) and definitely got our monies worth. It covers most of the main museums and sites in Paris and saves you from having to stand in line at every museum to buy a ticket, and then stand in another line to get in.

The girls wanted to sleep in a bit and meet us at our first stop Notre Dame at 10AM. That’s the opening time to get up to the Tower - covered on the museum pass and one of the best views of Paris. Cheryl and I headed out for coffee and croissants which is available about every 10 feet. And always delicious!

I love the contrast of the old and new. Scooters in Paris!

Our goal was to be in line for the Towers at 9:30 so we could hopefully be in one of the first groups to go up as they limit the number of people in each group because it’s not a very big space up there. It used to be just get there and line up and wait your turn, but we found out that now there is a time stamping kiosk where based on availability you reserve a time slot. You can’t book in advance of the day and you must go in person to get your reservation, but it does help you maximize your time waiting. We couldn’t get 4 spots for 10AM but were able to get 10:20 so when Ava and Meredith arrived right at 10 we had time to go across the street and get them coffee. At a busier time of year like summer you might have to settle for a much later time or even come back another day - but it worked out great for us!

Looks like the Clarks are behind bars but it’s actually just for safety in the Towers - such a spectacular view even on a cloudy day. Hello Eiffel Tower! Hello gargoyles!

It’s free to go into the main level of Notre Dame - just get in line and enter. That was next for us, and the Christmas decorations were beautiful.

Really puts you in the Christmas spirit! The pretty Clark ladies in front of the tree on the main alter😊

We have lots to do and see today so we are off to our next stop - almost right across the street to Saint-Chapelle. One of my favorite places in Paris it’s a 13th century Gothic chapel with the most amazing stained glass on the planet. Also covered on the Museum Pass (see already getting our monies worth) head in and right up to the second floor where there are more than 1,100 Bible scenes in light and glass - breathtaking! There used to be chairs all around the perimeter which are now gone. I guess people were lingering too long?

They do have some laminated guides that explain a number of the scenes but they are hard to get your hands on. Just enjoy it!

Next up The Louvre. Considered to be Europe’s oldest and greatest museum it’s a must if you haven’t been. It’s enormous and would take at least a week to see it all. Also covered by the Museum Pass. Since Cheryl, Ava and I had been a couple of times we just wanted Meredith to see it, and she was fine with just hitting the most famous pieces. It’s a small city underground with a great food court so we stopped there first for some lunch.

Outside the Louvre in front of the famous glass pyramid.

The art is incredible but I am always most fascinated by the building itself. I would love to take an architectural tour if available sometime.

Hello Mona! Always the most crowded and least impressive to me. But I’m not an expert. Also the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace.

Time for a break from museums so we headed to the famous tea house Angelina’s right across from the Tuileries Garden, the Royal Garden of the Louvre. Angelina’s is probably best known for its incredibly rich hot chocolate, which sounds good in December and not so good in April. The line to get in was huge so we just got it to-go and sipped as we walked across the garden and through some festive Christmas markets.

Next up one of my most favorite museums - L’Orangerie. Often missed when visiting Paris I highly recommend you take an hour - covered by the Museum Pass - and stop in. It’s the closest you will come to living in a Monet painting as the second floor was specifically built to showcase 8 Monet Water Lilies. The lower level houses the Walter-Guillaume Collection of fabulous Impressionist works by all the big names you know. I think there are about 135 pieces so definitely worth a stop.

Ava, Cheryl and Meredith in front of one of the Water Lilies upstairs.

The girls had done an impressive job up to this point of letting Cheryl and I dictate the day, but they decided shopping was the next most important thing on their list so we parted ways and Cheryl and I headed over to the Musee d’Orsay for our last museum stop of the day. Our last stop only because the museums were all closing at 6 and we were running out of time. We really wanted to stop at Rodin but not possible☹️And the d’Orsay is covered on the Museum Pass! Have I proven my point that the passs is a great value? It’s also important to plan your day based on geography. All of the spots we were at are within walking distance, so you’re not crisscrossing the city and best maximizing your time.

The d’Orsay is in an old train station so worth seeing just because it’s incredibly beautiful and has two huge clocks that overlook the Seine. The d’Orsay also has Europe’s most impressive collection of Impressionist works so what’s not to love about that?

Cheryl and I closed down the museum and then headed via the metro back to meet the girls in the Marais for dinner. There are lots of fun little restaurants in the area so we just walked around and found one we could get into right away. I don’t remember the name but I do remember I had a delicious salad. We were all just focused on our last event of the day which was a concert in a beautiful church called Eglise Saint Paul-Saint Louis. Cheryl and I had seen a poster when we were walking for breakfast and it sounded wonderful and tickets were still available. It was really great. We all enjoyed it immensely. The church was beautiful and all decorated for Christmas. The orchestra and soloist were very talented and they played Vivaldi and Chants de Noel - Christmas carols!

They don’t heat churches in Europe we found out so wear a warm coat and keep it on!

That was a full day even by my crazy standards so we promised the girls Day 3 would include a little more relaxation and shopping😊

We started with an awesome brunch at an old and historic restaurant called The Cafe St Regis. Located on the Ile St Louis which is the tiny island right across from Notre Dame. The waiters wear long white aprons and the food is amazing.

Meredith is happy because she gets a great meal!

Waffles, French Toast, Omelette, Cappuccino anyone?

We had one more museum on our list for the day, but took our time getting there and browsed the shops in the Marais. Did I mention the Marais is awesome? Here’s just a few of my favorite spots.

An awesome old school paper store - I love paper stores!

Such beautiful pastries! If only I could eat another bite!

Last museum in Paris for us is the new Picasso Museum conveniently located in the Marais. It’s a new museum but located in a gorgeous old mansion - not to repeat myself but some of these museums are worth it just to see the building. And covered on the Museum Pass! Even if you’re not a Picasso fan the museum is interesting in my opinion because you learn more about Picasso himself and his entire range of art versus just the style he is most famous for creating. He was an incredible classical artist before evolving his Cubism style.

One last word about the Museum Pass - and I swear I don’t get a commission on it! It’s important to be aware of the days each museum is open, because the pass must be used consecutively for the days you purchase. Many museums are closed on a Monday or Tuesday so you wouldn’t want to activate your pass on a Sunday and have museums on your list that were closed Monday. Plan ahead and be strategic.

Next up shopping! Paris as you can probably guess has incredible shopping, and some of the most amazing department stores in the world. Galleries Lafayette is definitely one of those department stores with a spectacular Tiffany ceiling over the cosmetic area. We headed there and because time was limited we separated and set a time and place to meet. Divide and conquer was our motto and it worked out great. The Christmas decorations were unreal including the biggest and most beautiful tree I’ve ever seen! It was also insanely crowded being that it was December 23rd. Getting on and off the escalators they actually had employees directing the crowds through a labyrinth to keep it flowing and prevent a catastrophe like falling dominos.

I had to pick tree or Tiffany ceiling to post and went with the tree.

I’m almost done! Thanks for hanging in on this very long post. We headed to the Montmartre area up on a hill overlooking Paris to try and have dinner at a restaurant Ava had heard great things about, but unfortunately they don’t take reservations and the wait to get in was over two hours. So while that was disappointing it did give us a chance to see something I had never seen before - The Moulin Rouge! Probably a much bigger deal when it opened in 1889 for the World’s Fair, a nightclub where girls danced the cancan. Very risqué in those days. Not sure what goes on in there now, but still fun to se from the outside.

We headed back to the Marais and ate at a cute brasserie right by the George Pompidou Center called Cafe Beaubourg. I finished my Paris stop with two classic French favorites, the Croque Monsieur and Crepes!

Well that was Paris. Loved it and had a great time. Next up we are off to Austria. First stop Vienna. Or as I like to call it - Pastry Heaven! Check back soon!

Happy New Year!

January 01, 2019 by Patricia Farmar

Belated Christmas wishes and Happy New Year! Today is one of my favorite days of the year, and at its most basic level it might just be because I love having a brand new calendar in front of me. And yes I do mean an old school paper calendar/planner.

I just returned from my last trip of my amazing “Gap” year, and what an incredible year it has been. It exceeded my expectations and as I reflect on all I got to see and do this year I am overwhelmed at my good fortune. My goal was to travel about half of the time, and when I totaled up my travel it came to 165 days which is 45% of the year. I couldn’t have done this without my absolutely wonderful friends and family. Family and friends that traveled with me and/or hosted me in their homes all over the country. My goal was to cover the four corners of the US and places in between, and explore a number of areas outside of our borders - mission accomplished! Here’s a quick recap:

January - Southern California, Lake Geneva Wi and Chicago

February - Cancun, Florida (both coasts)

March - San Antonio for the Final 4

April To May - Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia

June - Seattle, Portland and Bend, Oregon

July - Chicago and Lake Geneva, WI

August - New York City

October - Minneapolis, Chicago and LaSalle-Peru (my hometown)

October To November - India

December - Tampa FL, Dublin, Paris, Vienna and Salzburg

I got to spend time with Tom, Keeley, Matt and Anna - all together twice this year, and multiple times with one couple or the other. I got to see each of my brothers and their spouses three times this year, and connect with so many wonderful friends around the country. I can’t thank you all enough for helping make this year one I will never forget.

Speaking of my kids they are doing great. Tom is still enjoying New York City and has a wonderful girlfriend Anna that we all really love. Keeley and Matt moved to Chicago in May, and are both enjoying the city and their new jobs. Selfishly I love having them closer and it’s one of the reasons I have been in Chicago so many times this year.

When I think back to my 20 year old self and the plans I had for my life I am surprised at how different my life and my journey have been. It’s a different life but no less wonderful. I’ve gotten to do things that I never even dreamed were possible, and I’m not done yet!

Instead of resolutions every year I like to pick a theme for my year. I try to make it one word - this past year it was “Just Do It” which is clearly not one word - but it fit my goals and I loved it. This year my theme is Silence. What that means to me is to slow down a bit. I am the kind of person that when my feet hit the floor every morning I am off and running - sometimes literally. I love checking things off my massive to-do list and rarely even sit down to watch TV. I saw a quote from Buddha that inspired me.

“Silence is an empty space. Space is the home of the awakened mind.”

So I’m going to start with 10 minutes a day where I will just sit and be quiet and just see what fills that space. And yes it is on my to-do list so I will take great pleasure in checking it off everyday😊

My theme 2 years ago was Read, and that has given me great pleasure. The public library has become a good friend to me. My goal this year was 30 books and I exceeded that by 5, so I guess I set my goal too low. My top 3 favorite books were -

“Before We Were Yours” by Lisa Wingate

”Shantaram” by Gregory David Roberts

“Summer Wives” by Beatriz Williams

I loved them all but “Shantaram” is an epic novel set in India, and was really insiteful for me to have a better understanding of the people of India prior to taking my trip there in the fall.

I’m looking forward to spending a little more time in KC this year. The last three months of 2018 I was gone most of the time and frankly I’m a little tired. Well I returned yesterday so it might in fact just be jet lag. Still so many places I want to see, or go back and see again! Like Austria! I just returned from Vienna and Salzburg and I will be getting around to writing about them in detail soon. We were there for Christmas and right up until New Years. There was an abundance of pig and mushroom items visible, so I did a little research and found out that in Austria the 🐷 and 🍄 are considered to be good luck, much like the 🍀 in Ireland. So I bought this adorable mug to bring home and hope it brings me all good things in 2019! Wishing you all the same!

Dublin - Day 3

December 20, 2018 by Patricia Farmar

The weather has been so great here but nothing lasts forever. I expected rain and today we got it - but just a little. Nothing like a Midwest downpour. More like a Seattle mist. Is that normal? I’m not sure but it didn’t stop me from doing what I planned.

First I headed for breakfast to a place that was recommended to me on Grafton St. It’s called Bewley’s Oriental Cafe but it was all Irish in there. Had a delicious scone with clotted cream and a latte.

Very pretty inside with stained glass windows.

Next I did a walking tour from the O’Connell Bridge north of the river using my good friend Rick Steves travel guide. He never disappoints me and you can move at your own pace. The River Liffey runs through Dublin and divides the city in half. I have spent the majority of my time south of the river as most tourists do, but there is a lot of history north as well. The bridge is named after Daniel O’Connell who I have mentioned on both previous posts. Famous for being one of the key organizers of the Revolution of 1916. So of course there is a statue of him on the north side of the bridge. There are a number of statues on the walk but I’ll just hit the highlights. You also walk by the General Post Office where the Proclamation of Irish Independence was read in 1916, and then by The Spire which is basically 398 feet of stainless steel that no one likes. It cost a lot of money and really has no purpose so there are quite a few pet names for it - none of them flattering.

Clockwise from the top left - O’Connell Bridge, statue of Daniel O’Connell, General Post Office and the Spire.

Next a walk through the Moore Street Markets where the locals shop. Many of the shops have been staffed by the same families for decades. Definitely had a different feel than south of the river. A stop at St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral to say a prayer and light a votive. Pro is for provisional because it’s being used as a Catholic Cathedral but is really just a parish church. Contrary to what you might think Ireland is not very Catholic anymore. The dominant religion is Anglican and both big Cathedrals that used to be Catholic are now Anglican - Christ Church Cathedral that I was at yesterday and St. Patrick’s Cathedral which unfortunately I didn’t make it to today.

Moore St. Markets and St. Mary’s Pro-Cathedral

Gate Theatre where Orson Welles, Geraldine Fitzgerald and James Mason had their professional debuts.

Last spot on the tour was the Garden of Remembrance. It honors the victims of the 1916 Rising because it was where the rebel leaders were held before being transferred to Kilmainham Gaol. The park was dedicated in 1966 on the 50th anniversary of the revolt. The pool is in the shape of a cross and there is a beautiful statue at one end called Children of Lir.

The Irish flag flies above the statue. Green for Catholics, Orange for Protestants and White for Peace to live together.

Conveniently right across the street from the garden is the Hugh Lane Gallery - an art museum I really wanted to see. It was started by Sir Hugh Lane who was an art dealer, and it’s just the right size to spend a nice hour browsing some really great art. They have a few pieces of artists you would recognize, and they have an exact replica of the studio of Francis Bacon in addition to a number of his completed and partially completed works. They didn’t allow pictures so you’ll have to take my word for it.

After the museum I headed south back over the bridge and walked through the Temple Bar area of town. Dublin and Temple Bar are pretty much synonymous if you talk to anyone that’s been to Dublin, so I figured I should at least walk through the area. It was pretty quiet in the middle of the afternoon but I hear it can get wild at night. Lots of bars, restaurants and live music. It’s very quaint with cobbled narrow streets and I can’t even guess how much Guinness is consumed in an average night there. I’ll save that for my next trip to Dublin.

My last stop of the day was at Dublin Castle and the Chester Beatty Library. You have to walk through a little bit of the castle to get to the library, and I heard the castle tour wasn’t that great so headed right to the library. The library was really the highlight of the day for me. Alfred Charles Beatty is actually from the United States, and made his money from mining. He lived in England for many years but fell in love with Ireland and retired to Dublin. His hobby was collecting rare ancient manuscripts and beautifully illustrated books from around the world. Much of his collection is religious in nature - Christian, Moslem, Buddhist etc. His collection includes 1,800 year old manuscripts and some of the original letters of Paul! Mind blowing! That’s A.D. 180-200. And I got to see them! I’m still so excited about it. I love books and writing and paper so much - and to think I went there as almost an afterthought. Paul’s letters were written on papyrus and it was really thick - the original paper obviously. No pictures of course but so incredible.

A few pics of the castle as I was walking through to get to the library. And the library is free!

And finally I ate a real meal! I actually had a hard time finding a spot for just one person. With holiday festivities in high season everywhere my hotel recommended was packed. But it was cute because everywhere I went they apologized and sent me to a place they recommended and said to use their name. Anyway finally place number 4 was packed but did have a bar I could eat at and they went really out of their way to be so kind to me. The manager and various other servers kept asking me how I was doing and if everything was ok. Maybe they just felt sorry for me but who cares. The food was delicious! It was called Bull & Castle and I had delicious roast chicken with Parmesan polenta. Glass of wine and all is good in my world.

I am intrigued by the blue bottle of Gunpowder Irish Gin.

So that was my day. Dublin has been amazing! I know many people come here and spend their time in the great pubs which is fine, but there are also so many great historic sites to see, and I’m leaving knowing so much more about the history of this great place. Tomorrow I’m off to my second destination of the trip. Check back soon and see where in the world is Patti!

Dublin - Day 2

December 19, 2018 by Patricia Farmar

I had a full list of places to get to today, and inspite of not getting a very good nights sleep (jet lag I curse you) I was determined to cover lots of ground - and I did! No secret that I love museums so I had three on my list. First up The Book of Kells in the Trinity College Library. Maybe not technically a museum but it felt like one. The Book of Kells is a 1200 year old version of the four gospels elaborately inked and illustrated by a group of monks, considered by many to be the finest piece of art from the Dark Ages. It’s written on calf skin and while you do get to see it in the exhibit no pictures are allowed. In the room preceding the actual book there is a great exhibit walking you through the process and details which helps you understand what an amazing book it is. The intricacy is incredible.

Trinity College and bottom left is an example of a page from the Book of Kells.

The other part of the exhibit is seeing what is called The Long Room of the Old Library. It was built between 1712 and 1732 and is nearly 200 feet long. It contains over 200,000 books, most of them very old. The central walkway is lined with marble busts of famous philosophers and writers, some of them dating back to the 1700’s.

Do you see there is no J in the row of letters on the bookshelf? The Latin alphabet has no J - I learned that today.

Next on my list - The National Museum of Archeology . This museum shows off the treasures of Ireland from the Stone Age to modern times. I also learned a lot about what a bog really is, and that because of the composition, things are naturally preserved better than they would be normally, including dead bodies - of which I saw a few😳 I also learned that there is a reason leprechauns look for a pot of gold. Ireland doesn’t have much in the way of natural gold so all the more reason to look for it I suppose. (I made up the part about the leprechauns but the other part is true.) The building itself was really beautiful too.

I decided not to take any pictures of the dead preserved bodies - you’re welcome!

My third and last Museum was The National Gallery of Ireland. Did I mention all the National Museums are free? And everything I did today was in a very compact area so easy to walk between all the sites. This is their museum of art, and I loved it. They had some really great collections and the building has recently been redone and was gorgeous. While they had works by Monet, Picasso, Caravaggio etc, they had a large collection of the Irish painter Jack Yeats that was impressive.

Right across the street from the National Gallery is a pretty little park called Merrion Square. Built in 1762 it is surrounded on three sides by elegant Georgian houses all distinguished with colorful doors - the somewhat famous Doors of Dublin. I had read about them and loved seeing them. Some of the houses have had famous owners. The top right blue door #58 housed Daniel O’Connell one of the key figures in the Revolution of 1916 that was jailed and executed at Kilmainham Gaol. Bottom right black door was owned by William Butler Yeats the poet and playwright.

In the square there is a cool statue of Oscar Wilde lounging. I walked through the park to check it out.

Next I walked down the street to St Stephen’s Green. Kind of like the Central Park of Dublin. The park got its start in 1664, and has a great history ever since then through the revolutions and now in more peaceful times. Even though it was overcast and chilly there were lots of people eating lunch on benches and walking through the park.

Next up a little window shopping on Grafton Street. They have closed Grafton to all but pedestrians and there are lots of great shops and restaurants lining it from Trinity College down to St Stephens Green. Since Christmas will be here soon it was very busy and lots of people out and about.

Last but not least I headed to Christ Church Cathedral to hear a free concert by the Cathedral Girls Choir. What a nice way to wrap up a busy fun day. The Cathedral occupies the same site as the first wooden church built in 1030 and is huge and Victorian in design. Pictures aren’t allowed during the concert - they actually don’t call it a concert - they call it an Evensong. It is really a religious service with lots of beautiful singing.

This picture is just one small piece of the huge church.

Inside the church after the service was finished.

You might be wondering - is she not eating? Well I’m not doing a great job of stopping for meals. I had so much I wanted to see today that I just grabbed snacks when I needed to revive myself. But contrary to what I had heard I would say Dublin appears to have some great food. I got some recommendations from people that work at the hotel and I’m hoping to actually go get a decent meal tomorrow. I have added it to my list!

Well that’s it for today. So far Dublin has exceeded my expectations as an amazing place. The people are so nice and it’s been really easy to find my way around - except for the one time I kind of went in a circle tonight😊 I need some sleep!