Slainte!

Today is a very special day because it is the first birthday of my nephew, Max! I can't believe it's been one year already, he's walking now, saying a few words and has the most adorable personality. Below is a photo of him with his new race car. Happy Birthday Maximos!



Sooooo, our most recent trip was great because Eric and I were able to spend the entire trip with together! We received a phone call on Monday morning saying that we were flying to Palma de Mallorca! I've always wanted to go to Palma, but the best news was that we were getting a 7 hour layover! I'm not crazy for saying I was actually happy about getting such a long layover, I was estatic because our layover was in Dublin! I was SUPER excited and called my friends from college whom I hadn't seen in about five years! We finally arrived in Dublin around 11am on Tuesday and took a cab into the city centre. We ate at Lemon, a crepe restaurant that I used to frequent during my 6 month stay in Ireland. After breakfast, we headed straight to the pub for a pint of Guinness! It was just as good as I had remembered it. While at the pub, my friends Johnny and Brian stopped by to meet us in the Auld Dubliner! It was so nice to see them again. After some catching up, Johnny took us to see his new home, and also drove by the apartment I used to live in. I was happy that Eric was able to see my old stomping grounds and the college that I went to. On the way back to the airport, we stopped to see my friend Gillian at work. Although the trip was very fast, it was so wonderful to be able to see friends that I hadn't seen in years and to also go back to a place where I had so many wonderful memories.
When I boarded the plane to Palma, I promised myself that I wouldn't wait another five years to get back to Eire for another visit.

We arrived in Palma around 9pm and the handler drove us to our hotel. The hotel was BEAUTIFUL! It was deifnitely one of the nicest hotels I'd ever stayed in. Most of the bathroom was plated with gold, and it had heated towel racks. Even the curtains were powere by a push button and our balcony had a beautiful view of the harbor.













The next morning, we went downstairs for breakfast and the dining room had so many tables filled with amazing pasteries and hot foods that you could basically spend the day eating your way through it. Obviously I didn't have time for that. Eric and I were seated at a table next to some windows overlooking the water. That morning was extremely stormy and there was some very intense thunder and lightening (later on we found out our plane had been hit by lightening, though we didnt know it at the time). Breakfast was cozy, sipping our coffee, eating chocolate croissants and listening to the rain and thunder outside. That afternoon, we were on the plane heading to Rabat, Morocco...

Lisboa: Baixa & Bairro Alto

Last week, I was lucky enough to meet and take care of whom I believe to be one of the most influential persons in the last few decades of American history. I was scheduled for a trip that lasted one week, flying to various destinations around Europe. Unfortunately, the stopover at our first destination was much quicker than I thought it would be. I decided sleep was more imortant than seeing the sights of Amsterdam - plus our accomodations were closer to the airport and I couldn't bring myself to venture out of my hotel room in the rain.








After Amsterdam, we spent a few days in England in both Leeds and Luton, but the BEST part of the trip was ending up in Portugal! The city had amazing culture, interesting history and a beautiful language. We left our hotel for lunch, where we sat at the side of river, with a view of a bridge that looked very similar to the Golden Gate. There was also a view of the Cristo Rei monument (Christ the King) with his arms open, overlooking the city which also looked a lot like the monument in Brazil. We enjoyed some sangria, and a variety of tapas including cheese and crackers and garlic olives. After lunch, we decided to check out the Baixa (downtown) which is full of both older and modern restaurants and shops, built sometime in the 1700's. My favorite part of the city was the Bairro Alto, which is probably the most popular for tourists. It is in a central area of Lisbon and one of the oldest districts in the city. It is particularly known for its Fados, which are traditional Portuguese singing bars. There were also many trendy shops, restaurants, art galleries and clubs. We stopped into a bar called Lgare Cafe , where we tried some traditional Portuguese port wine.


















It was delicious! We were the only people in the bar, and pretty close to the only people walking around the streets. We discovered that the Portuguese don't come out to dinner and drinks until after 10pm! The streets were deserted and it seemed like we were the only ones around. Portugal is definitely a place I would like to go back to spend more time.