Last weekend we took a long weekend and went to Belfast and Dublin.
In Belfast, we stayed with Chris Hall, a friend of ours who works with Drew at EY in Manchester, and his parents, Liz and Sam (who live in Belfast). They were fantastic hosts!! Chris and Liz picked us up from the airport bright and early Saturday morning and took us around Northern Ireland to see the sights. We started by visiting the Giant's Causeway, a rock formation in the form of several octogonal spires that our guide told us were once hundreds of feet tall, but have worn down. Legend has it the Causeway was built by the giant Finn McCool so he could cross to Scotland and beat up his rival giant. You can even see his camel, boot, and chimney around the Causeway.
Then, we went for lunch in Portrush, a beautiful seaside town where many people go to vacation. Just outside of Portrush, we took a tour of the Bushmills distillery and sampled the whiskey. It was interesting to see all the barrells and hear about how the aging process works.
Finally,we went to Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. I must admit I was a little nervous going across the bridge, especially with Drew carrying Eli across one-handed! Around the bridge you can see beautiful views of the Irish coastline; just what we imagine when we think of Ireland.
The Halls were such lovely hosts. They had a car seat, high chair, and travel cott, all ready for little Eli and made us feel very much at home with their warm company. They also fed us amazing meals! Drew particularly enjoyed the Beef Wellington and we loved all the fresh produce from their gigantic garden.
On Sunday, we took the Belfast City bus tour and found the history of the city very interesting. We were able to see the wall that seperated the Unionist part of town from the Loyalist part and the murals painted by some of the activists. We also saw where the infamous Titanic was built; our guide was quick to point out that she was fine when she left Belfast!
After the bus tour we took the train to Dublin. Our first meal was traditional Irish fare: potato pancakes and dumplings, soda bread, corned beef and cabbage, and stew. We saw the two Cathedrals in Dublin: St. Patricks and Christ the King, Trinity College and the Book of Kells, and Kilmainham Jail.
Before we took off on Tuesday we enjoyed the National Gallery (including lesser known works by Picasso and Van Gogh) and we couldn't leave without partaking of a Guiness and an Irish Coffee (bet you can't guess who drank which). We also enjoyed our first taste of Mexican food since moving abroad. It wasn't bad, but we are looking forward to being home and making the rounds to our favorite places.
Over all, we very much enjoyed our time in Ireland. We especially enjoyed the countryside of Northern Ireland and would like to see more of the countryside in the south of Ireland someday.
Our next big adventure is a 7 night Eastern European cruise the first week in October. We will stay a long weekend in Rome and then head out to Messina, Sicily; Athens; Ephesus, Turkey; and Souda, Crete. If you have been to any of these places and have any advice on what to see/do or avoid, please let us know. Also, if you have any tips on cruising with a baby, we'd love to hear that, too. Thanks!!
The weekend before last, our dear friends John and Abby Kerber hosted us for a long weekend in Edinburgh. We spent quite a bit of time just hanging out with the Kerbers and did a little sight seeing as well. John and Drew got to go to the pub for a few pints and to catch the Manchester United game, but only after Abby and I got in an afternoon of shopping! Unfortunately Abby did most of the picture taking, so she isn't in any pictures!
Abby was so sweet to remember that Elijah's birthday is at the end of the month and surprised us with a little cake for him and some Scottish slippers. 
We did entirely too much while we were home to recap everything. Suffice it to say we spent loads of time with family and friends, ate a lot of good food (especially Mexican and BBQ), and soaked up the sun while we could. 
Then, we went for lunch in Portrush, a beautiful seaside town where many people go to vacation. Just outside of Portrush, we took a tour of the Bushmills distillery and sampled the whiskey. It was interesting to see all the barrells and hear about how the aging process works.
Over all, we very much enjoyed our time in Ireland. We especially enjoyed the countryside of Northern Ireland and would like to see more of the countryside in the south of Ireland someday.
1. Two controls for your shower. The first turns on the shower and controls pressure; the second controls temperature. This is brilliant because you set your water temperature once and you can turn the shower on and off without messing with it.
Monday we went into Carcassonne to see the Medievil City, which is completely walled-in, and even has a moat. After we took the audio tour of the castle in the Medievil City, we had a traditional French lunch (Duck Confit and Casoulette). Then, we went to Carcassonne Plage and enjoyed Eli's first beach experience! Unfortunately, the water was a little cold for him to spend much time in it.
On Tuesday, we went into Narbonne and checked out the Cathedral and walked around the city. We enjoyed another afternoon at the beach on the Mediterranian at Narbonne Plage. It was everyone's first time in the Mediterranian Sea (if you count wading in knee-deep); the beach was beautiful, but the water was too cold for Eli and mommy.
Wednesday we went into the village of Lagrasse, which was developed on the River Orbieu, around an abbey that was built in 799. It really is a lovely village with beautiful views and it was very refreshing to cool off with a wade in the river.
Perhaps the most awe-inspiring visit we made was to the Gorges of Galamus on Thursday. There is a hermitage built into the gorge with a chapel cut right out of the rock. It took us what seemed like ages on windy, narrow, mountain roads (that Drew likes to call horse trails) to get to the gorges, but the views were worth it once we arrived!
