Sunshine on the Aran Islands

This past weekend was our first weekend trip with the new students. The plan was to head to Galway for Friday night, Saturday travelling through the Burren, on to the Cliffs of Moher, and then overnight in the small village of Doolin. Sunday was a ferry to Inis Mor (one of the Aran Islands) where the students were free to explore in their own way. So, it's the kind of trip that could be a complete washout in the event of rain.

But, the weather gods shined on us, boy did they ever! Each day was about 23oC and sunny and calm. Not a cloud in the sky. I even got a tan. Yep, a tan, in Ireland, in September!

The Aran Islands, when the sun is shining, must be one of the most beautiful, peaceful, scenic, cultural etc. places in Europe. Stone walls, abandoned churches, small villages, crashing waves....lovely. I'll post some pictures soon.

A Change in the Weather...

We're making some final preparations for our weekend trip to the west coast of Ireland. Lilly is on the phone to various B&Bs in Doolin to try and find a place for our bus driver to stay, but everything seems booked out. In questioning the fifth B&B 'is there something going on in Doolin this weekend', the response from the B&B owner made us laugh.

'The sun is shining'.

Only in Ireland.

Dublin's new IKEA

So, the long anticipated IKEA store opened in Dublin in late July. Apparently the store was ready months ago but the regional government hadn't done their part in finishing the roads leading to the store. Prior to this store opening, Dubs traveled in convoy to the store in Belfast, where the parking lot was filled with a good percentage of cars from the Republic.

Catherine and I had been trying to buy a new bed for a while now, and the Belfast store was either out of stock all the time or only had stock when we couldn't make it up there. So, we were resigned to waiting for the new Dublin store to open, even though prices are guaranteed to be much higher in Rip Off Ireland. We went out to the store a couple of Sundays ago....big mistake. Packed to the rafters with people who had never been to IKEA and didn't understand IKEA etiquette. You follow the arrows people, and don't block the main aisle. If you want to have a chinwag about how great the stuff is, please pull off to the side. Oh yeah, of course it was like a family outing as well, with several generations of Dubs blocking the aisles at the same time. And of course the bed we wanted was out of stock (somehow we still managed to spend €200 on things we didn't go there for).

So yesterday I took a rare day off work and took the bus to the store again, having called first to check the bed was in stock. The bus ride was an adventure in itself. First it goes through the leafy suburbs of Glasnevin, before traveling through the horror that is Ballymun. My god, people actually live there. Burned out buildings, graffiti everywhere, aimless youth just hanging around looking menacing. Grim grim place. At least they're starting to bulldoze it to start again after its been recognized as one of the worst social housing experiments in Europe.

Made is to IKEA, bought the bed, and now I'm sitting at home waiting for delivery. Then I just have to put the damn thing together!

Rail fiasco update

Here is an update on the causes of the near disaster on the northern Dublin commuter line. It looks like scour around the bridge piers is going to take the blame, but I stand by my semi-expert opinion that this doesn't happen overnight. Spotted apparently by some boy scouts but not Irish Rail. Somebody dropped the ball on this one and should pay with their job. Of course this being Ireland that won't happen, because we all know that 'it will be grand'.

As for replacement services for commuters, I must say that I am fairly impressed with Dublin Bus and the way they've picked up the slack. From 6:30 to 9:00 am there is an express bus from Skerries to Tara Street that takes about 50 minutes. Only about 10 minutes more than the rail commute, but certainly not as convenient a drop point for my office. Evening rush hour is similar, with good fast service but inconvenient pick up points. Oh well, I can deal with that for a few (six?) months.

My main beef is that there are no express buses in the evening after 7pm. So if I want to stay in town for dinner, a pint, or have to stay in town for work, I'm kind of screwed. A nearly 2 hour ride on the regular bus is the only option. Sigh. I think Paddy Power must be taking bets on when this will be operational again. I'll give 5:1 against it being operational before Christmas.

And another thing.....the 'apologies for the disruption' signs at the station sort of cover it when there is a 10 minute delay. But for a 6 month denial of service I expect something a bit more....well, apologetic.

Irish Rail....again.

I know it's been a while since I last posted, but things have been busy and I've had a trip to Vermont, Quebec, and Ontario to keep me from posting.

So, last night I was on the 6:15 departing Pearse Station heading for my stop in Skerries. At about 6:30 we pulled into Howth Junction and the driver came on with an announcement. 'The causeway at Malahide estuary has collapsed, this train terminates here and there will be no further trains'. Everyone chuckled, and I managed to find two other Skerries-bound passengers to share a €40 taxi home.

The seriousness of it only came to light when I got home and checked out the news on RTE. Apparently, a train driver heading south over the estuary at 6:20 noticed the track starting to collapse under his train. He managed to cross and stopped at Malahide to raise the alarm. My train, with me in the first carriage, would have been the next over the causeway had the other driver not noticed the problem. Now pictures have appeared on news sites, and it looks very, very serious indeed. Any train passing over that would have ended up in the drink.

Now the news indicates that it will take 3 months to repair, and of course I have absolutely no faith in Irish Rail to provide alternative commuting arrangements for any commuter north of Malahide. Stay tuned.

Race day

The post below was put up after the Friday practice at the Skerries 100. Now it's a few days after the Saturday race. Again, mega impressed by the skills and courage of these guys. Somebody told me that the big bikes reach speeds of 175 mph down the main stretch. Nuts. And the crowd, perched on embankments, also take major risks (I didn't....I managed to find protected areas).

Saturday morning was a bit rainy, so that slowed things down a bit but I managed to find a few great spots (on top of hedges basically) to watch the action. The crowd was out in full force, many sporting t-shirts commemorating Martin Finnegan, a local boy who died in a similar race last year. It dried up after noon and the later races, many of the big bikes, took place under dry conditions.

Overall a great day, and what a great event for little 'ol Skerries.

The Skerries 100 !

Big weekend in Skerries...it's the Skerries 100 motorcycle race. So the local Loughshinny Motorcycle Club holds the races every year, TT-style. The track is composed of various roads between Skerries and Lusk....you know the type, one lane each way with a massive hedge along the border. Winding, lots of blind bends, up and down, spectators standing beside the road....yep, perfect place for a motorcycle race. Only crazies need apply.

I went along to the practice sessions today. The first bikes out were the classic reconditioned ones....so I was very impressed with the speeds they managed on these winding roads. Quite crazy actually. And then the 750cc bikes came out, and I must say that I was blown away by the balls these riders have. These guys were doing about 140 mph down these narrow country roads, unbelievable. Here are a couple of pics from today, but they don't actually capture the speed.

The actual races are Saturday, and Catherine is coming along then. I know she'll think it another example of utter Irish madness.