city mouse synopsis Day 5 "our last day..."

well today (10/16) was our last full day of our trip. we started out with a fabulous traditional irish breakfast at the b&b. dolores, our host, said the breakfast included waffles so we were really excited. alas, they were just potatos (again) disguised as waffles. good thing country mouse didn't put syrup all over them. then we walked into galway to the little pedestrian street with all the pubs and shops to do a little shopping...
**side note: this is the same place we came to last night to have dinner and go to a pub. after blogging we were walking around the pubs trying to find one with good music (about 10 pm) and some grub. we found one that looked promising so we headed toward it when a group of irish guys stopped us and said, "you don't want to go in there." "why not?" we said. "a red-headed american girl in an irish pub? you'll get eaten alive..." said the irishman. "WHAT???" we said. we never did figure out what they were talking about. or how they knew we were american.
anyway, we found another pub called The Queys (pronounced Keys) and went it. an awesome irish band was playing traditional music so we bellied up to the bar and ordered.....yes, you guessed it: a guiness. and friends, the statement i am about to make is true: we drank it. all of it. (granted it was only a 1/2 pint and we shared it, but we did it.) a very proud accomplishment in my book of life.
after breaking the bank we headed out of town to the Connemarra, a national park. we drove along hte coastal road and stopped randomly to take pictures. at one point we stopped along this rocky beach and i did a little temporary art installation in the sand. then we headed inland and drove toward the mountain ranges. at one point we turned the bend and there was the beautiful old abbey. there were lots of lakes, and sheep dotting the mountiansides, and, at points, the roadside. then as were were driving down this stretch of road there was a shepherd with a flock of sheep, about 150 or so, just marching down the road toward us! it was seriously the coolest thing ever. and i got a video of it!! (i will try and post that too, however that requires me trying to figure out how to work my computer...) we finally started heading back across the counrty at about 7pm and made pretty good time. we arrived in dublin a little after 10 but got lost (big shocker) trying to find were our hotel was AND to make matters worse our gas light was on. which was pretty much stressing me out becasue i kept having visions of us being stranded along the side of the road and not having a clue where we were... we pulled off at an exit to get gas and as it turns out it was really a blessing that we stopped because we had already gone too far and didn't know it. finally wer got turned around and eventually found our hotel.

the flight home went smoothly and we arrived in one piece (or minus a piece in my case), with lots of goodies, a million memories, a couple more stamps in our passports, and a rejuvinated spirit.

it was one hell of a trip counrty mouse. thanks for making it so memorable!

stay tuned for pictures to be posted, and more information on our next adventure: 2 Mice in Peru, coming this spring.

peace and blessings, city mouse

Country Mouse Synopsis Day Five

Notes of Importance:
1. When the sign says "To let" it is not a sign for the toilet with the i missing. By the way, the toilets in Ireland are superb compared to the ones in Italy.
2. I got a hat with ear flaps and mittens today. It'll go with my scarf made from the yarn I bought in Florence. I'm very happy with that.
3. My two favorite men in Ireland were #1 the man at the winery and #2 the bartender at the Quays Bar. City Mouse says it's because they gave me alcohol but I say its because they were friendly and funny.
4. The City Mouse made it to the speed limit and exceeded it for the first time today. Yes friends, Nicole Moore can drive below the speed limit. . . at least in Ireland.
5. When you see a great photograph worthy scene and you rapidly back up to shoot it, take heed of the large cement curb behind you and maybe don't run your rental car into it. All was well however, no visual damage.
6. In Ireland, the sheep roam the mountainsides and roadsides. They are spray painted with pink and blue dots. While you are looking at one sheep off to the side of the road, there may be a whole flock coming up the road toward your car. Make sure to test your bakes before heading out.
7. I've heard more American pop music in Ireland than I've heard in the U.S. for the past year. Even some music my sister would be proud of. I heard the new Maroon 5 and Avril Lavine songs for the first time and I really liked Hey there Delilah, which is now the theme song of our trip because we heard it so often.
8. So as in Ennis and Galway we got lost on our way back into Dublin. We were also out of gas. Don't ever run out of gas when you have no idea where you are or where the next gas station is- it'll give you an ulcer. Thank God for the lady who we probably scared to death at 10:00p.m. outside her apartment building who gave us directions. Because really, what were we going to do if we ran out? Call dad and ask him to bring some? No phone, dark, no idea where to go- that would have sucked.
9. So I'm super glad I made sure I had camera insurance before I left because right during the awesome sheep flocking toward our car experience my lens stopped working. No joke, the one time during the trip I was taking a picture of action instead of scenery and my camera won't work. So I missed most of it. Had a little panic attack for awhile while I thought it was the whole camera but discovered it was just the Autofocus function and if I press on the lens while taking a picture it'll still shoot, just not focus. (When I got home my dad told me that insurance doesn't cover things like the camera just breaking, so I guess it still sucks that my lens doesn't work.)
10. We ran across this beautiful Abbey today, on the side of a mountain and beside a lake. . . it just appeared all of a sudden. The Connemara (I'm not sure that I'm spelling it right, but it's a national park on the west side of Ireland) was beautiful, mountains and rocks and sheep. I think Ireland is absolutely gorgeous.

city mouse day 4 (monday) a.k.a "A 2 Rainbow Holiday"

ok, today was pretty much a top-notch awesome day. we started out having breakfast at our b&b on the farm (which by the way i didn;t get off to a good start with the lady who ran it because apparently we were supposed to arrive by 6 sharp, although she never told me that there was any specific arrival time, and because there is nothing resembling a street sign in the whole of ireland we did, indeed get lost and we didn;t find it until 9:30. sooo sorry miss joan quinn. i didn;t mean to ruin you life by being 3 .5 hours late. anyways...) it was raining this morning and i have photos of country mouse trying to jump out the window. actually i have a video of it. hmmm...i smell a YouTube. then we drove south to bunratty and went to a winery. had some delicious Mead--honeywine- and then headed back into the town of ennis to check it out. then the sun came out and so did country mouses sunny disposition so we headed out to the atlantic coast to the cliffs of mohr (pronounced 'moore'). on the way we stopped in a little village at a grocery store and got stuff for a picnic. the cliffs were incredible. you hike up to the viewing area. just off to the side of the tourism center was a path leading around the top edge of the cliffs and a rather large sign that said RESTRICTED AREA. of course we went on it. you could walk along these narrow paths along the edge of the cliff which was about 640 ft. above the ocean. completely terrifying and absolutely amazing. it was really windy but we found a little grassy spot off the path and had our picnic. yes folks, country and i had lunch today upon a cliff overlooking the atlantic ocean...what did you do for lunch today? we watched a storm come in off the sea, then we climbed another cliff up to a castle. stunning. as soon as the weather broke there was a beautiful rainbow. (the second of our trip! we saw one on us30 on the way to chicago.) after that we took the coast route along the ocean, stopping along the way if we saw something cool to take pictures of, i.e. a graveyard, rocky cliffs, beaches, sheep, horses.... we arrived this evening in galway, a college town and we are about to hit a pub that was recommended by our very very kind b&b owner, bernard. (i'd like to give a shout out to bernard who drove into town tonight to pick us up when we couldn't find where the heck he was located. again, ireland has something against roadsigns and street signs...) today was a glorious adventure!
Praise God for his beautiful work, city mouse

p.s. things i've learned on this trip:

1. I LOVE DRIVING ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD!!!! and i pretty much rock at it.
2. i love roundabouts. i wish we had them more in the US.
3. i'm pretty sure country mouse has narcolepsy. the girl can fall asleep anywhere...in a pub..in a shop...in the car passing the most beautiful scenery ever...she could probably fall asleep standing on one leg while getting a root canal.

Country Mouse Synopsis Day Four

Notes of Importance:
1. Today was the best day yet! Give Country Mouse the outdoors, some cliffs, ocean waves, fresh air, blue skies (even if they're just occasional), green grass, a picnic, an apple tart, wine, sheep, graveyards, coastal roads, stone walls and a bit of rain (the bit part is important) and she is a happy girl.

2. Top day of film shooting with 9 rolls and the day's not over yet folks!

3. No matter how hard you try, you can not get sheep to move where you want them. . . you can take pictures before breakfast, during breakfast, after breakfast, hanging out the window and as you're leaving but still. . . it'll either be raining or the sheep will be too far away. But I still like sheep.

4. Wine. Wine will always make the day better. Even if it's raining and you're drinking it before 11:00 a.m the sun will come out and the rain will dry up. Irish moonshine however cannot be considered good by anyone. (Although I hope Ryan Lemon likes it)

5. What better place in the world could there be to have a picnic of cheese, tomatoes, turkey, bread, Club Pomengranate, and apple pie than the Cliffs of Moher? No where. Even though you're half afraid the whole time that you're going to blow off.

6. I ate a piece of cheese today the size of texas. And half of an apple pie.

7. So when you see a wall of rain coming toward you across the ocean and you're standing on cliffs 640ft. high what do you do? You take more pictures of course!

8. When getting directions from an Irish Man in Friar Tuck's fast food joint, make sure he knows which church you need directions from and what side of the church you're located on or you might end up in Lissycassie instead of at your Bed and Breakfast. And your Bed and Breakfast lady might not like you very well if you show up at 9:30 p.m.

9. We have seen two rainbows on our trip. One on the way to the airport and one today at the Cliffs of Moher. So awesome. Had to decide between taking 20 more pictures of the cliffs or turning around and taking some of the rainbow. Doesn't that imply something about a pot of gold?

10. Bernard. Nice man. Again, we could not find the bed and breakfast and he drove to find us and lead us in. Of course, no regular person could find his bed and breakfast with the directions given us- only an Irishman could. Because once again I will point out that the Irish do not believe in road signs.

Now we're off to try the Guiness again- but with some black currant syrup. Hope all of you are well. Country Mouse.

city mouse day 3 (sunday)

today was a day of little victories. little vicory #1: getting the car out of the rental place with out killing anyone. we were clearly having some struggles but the car rental guy was nice enough to get in, drive us across the way to a gas station to get us started and walk back to his office. all in all the driving went quite well. l.v.#2: we didn't get lost trying to get out of the city. l.v.#3: we have many random and fun off-road excursions ( didn't go off the road, we just stopped wherever we felt like along the way.) i think the radio stations here kinda stink. they only play abba, phil collins, the eagles, and elton john over and over again. only one time did i forget that i was supposed to be ont he other side of the road...we were pulling over for a car to pass us and i pulled off to the right. he gave us the crappiest stare and i couldn't figure out why...duh. lots else happened but my internet time will soon run out so i will save the stories for later. tonight we are in Ennis which is completely cool. oh yeah, almost forgot... some old gentleman at lunch today asked me if summer was my daughter. now i'm depressed.

peace and blessings, city mouse

Country Mouse Synopsis Day Three

Notes of Importance:
1. Road Rules: Driving etiquette is different in Ireland. Apparently you just pull out in front of people and they don't seem to mind, there are no left or right turns just round-abouts, there are no road signs and cars take turns going down narrow roads and even when you're driving down the wrong side of a narrow street people don't honk- they just look at you funny.
2. Traffic Calming = Split Lanes (we think), Loose Chippings= Gravel, Diversion = Detour (this one was somewhat important)
3. Country mouse has to agree with City Mouse that it is only by the grace of God that we made it across the country today. I don't know how many times I was a bit confused on the direction we should go and then everything worked out alright.
4. The Mice want to give a shout out to mom Z because she is the only one emailing them.
5. Country Mouse likes potatoes, but she doesn't want to eat any for a few weeks after she returns home.
6. Country Mouse thinks her grandma must be Irish because she likes to eat like the Irish.
7. Apparently Country Mouse looks 12. This is in no way an insult to City Mouse who is not her mother.
8. Ireland has crazy skies like the skies over Winona Lake before a storm. And purple moutains. And sheep. And cool stone fences. And really soft green grass. And castles and cool stone structures all over.
9. Taking pictures in a graveyard should by no means be considered by anyone as creepy.
10. Country Mouse has irregular shaped ears because she cannot seem to fit earplugs in them.

city mouse synopsis day 2

apparently i snored AND talked in my sleep last night so counrty mouse got no shut-eye and had to sustain herself with lattes today. we've been going for a long time today. breakfast at the hotel was awesome. wierd, but awesome. went to trinity college, saw lots of cool churches, more shopping, and spent an unnatural amount of time at the Guiness Brewery (shipe, i did this for you). i even tried a beer. well, if you mean by "tried"- smelled a beer and made a face, then i did that. counrty mouse actuall drank about 1/4 inch of hers. i was impressed. tonight we have reservations at a fancy place with live irish dancing and music. all in all a good day. *and bonus, i didn't loose any more teeth. (or any other body parts for that matter.)
love, city mouse

p.s. temporary oral surgery (done on myself since counrty mouse whimped out) went pretty well. next time any of you need some inexpensive dental work done, give me a call.

Country Mouse Synopsis Day Two

Notes of Importance:
1. Country Mouse does not like Guiness- not even in Ireland and no matter how hard she tried.
2. Country Mouse will admit that city mouse was right when recommending that the credit card company be called before using the card in another country.
3. Baked Beans for breakfast?
4. Country Mouse learned a lot about the Book of Kells and Guiness today. Hmmm. I am now well rounded.
5. Country Mouse loves European breakfast Lattes. Ahhhh.
6. The Dublin Castle is not red (inside joke).
7. Country Mouse does not like crowds. Especially when she is trying to educate herself about the Book of Kells, scribes, pigments, and vellum. . .
8. European mustard is spicy.
9. The Irish must like Avril Lavine and the Police.
10. Country mouse is ready for the country.

Love, The Country Mouse

Country Mouse Synopsis Day One

Notes of importance:
1. City mouse's tooth fell out
2. Europeans do not sweeten their lattes- even if they're called Sugar Daddy Latte
3. I love shopping with money that looks like play money (Euros)
4. Brent Wilcoxson should look into flower markets in the Village. I'm sure European women get more flowers than American women.
5. Ireland is gray.
6. Country mouse should drink more coffee because city mouse just caught country mouse sleeping -on film-in a store while city mouse was shopping.
7. Country mouse is very sorry but she left all of Aaron's recommendations in the car- she was trying to save space by elminating two sheets of paper.
8. Country mouse's father will be very proud- her checked baggage only weighed 19.5 lbs. (See no. 7)
9. I love potatoes.
10. Country mouse (and city mouse) is looking forward to trying a Guiness tomorrow at the brewery.

Love to you all (And congrats to Priscilla)- Country Mouse
PS. Country mouse hates city traffic and lots of people. But Dublin is still cool.

city mouse synopsis of day 1

unusally quick plane trip with yummy food. love the accents! love the redheads!

so countrty mouse and i had lunch this afternoon at a pub in temple bar... as she was enjoying her potato and leak soup and i my fish and chips, i bit into what i thought was a fish bone....as it turns out my tooth cracked in half and fell out! i am not joking. seriously folks i am walking around dublin with half a tooth on the top side. it's rediculous. after a quick trip to the pharmacy i am now the proud owner of a do-it-yourself-temporary-crown/cavity-filler-kit. and this evening country mouse will be performing a little do-it-yourself-oral-surgery. wish us luck. all in all we are haveing a great time. a lovely lovely day.

much love, city mouse (a.k.a. toothless).

hello from across the sea...

to our moms,

we have arrived safely.

love, the mice