Day 2 in Ireland

Day 2 in Ireland, and I've concluded I didn't bring enough warm clothes. It's something like 42 degrees Fahrenheit with whipping wind that makes it feel 10 degrees colder, and my Florida blood is thinning out. I knew I should have brought that coat!

From Dublin, we traveled west today -- to Connemara. Apparently we went to a bunch of other places too, but my short-term memory isn't serving me well. When I told Dubliners and others we were to go to Connemara, the reaction was all the same: "Hmmm... You'll be impressed." That I am, that I am.

Below are some snapshots of the day.

The stone crosses at Clonmacnoise, a 6th century monastery founded by St. Ciaran. It overlooks the River Shannon (not the Shannon River for all you Americans used to that word structure). Through the years, it was pillaged by vikings and the English. Like, over and over and over again. And each time, the monks would rebuild and rebuild.

Above is bog wood, a material that is literally centuries years old.

Today bog wood is used to formulate jewelry pieces like the ones above, among other creations.

A view of the exterior of the hotel, er, CASTLE, that I'm staying at tonight. Called Ballynahich Castle, it's currently owned by a Jacksonville, Fla., businessman.

Dublin, Ireland

I already have my lede for my pending article about my current trip to Ireland. Tell me what you think:

I've always wanted to find out more about my roots, my heritage. And to do so, I decided to go to Ireland...

There's more to it, but you'll just have to wait for the article. In the meantime, I can update you on what I did today.

Our tour guide, Pat Liddy, said one thing that will forever stick with me about Dubliners: "Drivers here tend to see pedestrians as targets, and they want to get them." Boy, did I learn the hard way. After a couple unsightly encounters with Audis and BMWs, I learned that I needed to stick with the Irish and cross when they cross.

Other than that, Dublin's been a great introduction to Ireland and its people. It's a pretty metropolitan town, and it doesn't hurt that I'm staying at a hotel just off Grafton Street, one of the city's most popular shopping spots.

The popular Grafton Street (behind all the people and flowers is my hotel, Westbury)

Irish thinker, author and quoter, Oscar Wilde

Trinity College, one of Ireland's most prestigious, is home to about 16,000 students and nearly the same quantity of bicycles.

Our tour guide, Pat Liddy, not surprisingly dressed like a true Irishman in a Burberry trench coat

On My Way

I forgot what day it was, but last week the "Today Show" had a segment on the dangers of posting your geographic status on Facebook and other forms of social media. For example, posting you're on your way to the Dolphins game, or about to walk into a concert, or something like that. They had a young adult female on the segment who spoke of her woes after posting she was at so-and-so place, basically alerting robbers (aka Facebook friends) that her place was empty.

You'd think I'd learn from that segment, right? Rarely do I post where I am at, but I feel compelled to share that: I. Am. Going. To. Ireland!!!

So for all those people looking to rob my place now that I've publicly posted my whereabouts, rest assured. You'd be wasting your time. There's not much for you to steal. Other than the two secondhand couches I got from Goodwill and my "renovated" entertainment center that my old roommate literally hacked the top off of (think "Dexter" when imagining my roomie's slaughter of the entertainment center's wood frame), the material items I'm leaving behind are, well, reflective of my own shopping habits: cheap.

Oh, but if you so dare think of trying me, I have insurance. And it comes in the form of a sub-180 pound boyfriend who's still recovering from major knee surgery. Yeah, son.

C'est Magnifique

I wish I was a better food writer. After you finish reading this blog, you probably will as well.

I won't do the food justice, nor the genius behind it, but I hope the team at L'Escalier at The Breakers in Palm Beach will forgive me for the below roundup of my recent dinner at the legendary restaurant.

Friday was my first time ever at The Breakers, and obviously my first time at L'Escalier. What a spectacle. Water was poured simultaneously into the glasses by the synchronized wait staff. The master sommelier, Juan Gomez, stopped by each table to discuss the pairings. Too bad everything he said was like Greek to me. Him trying to explain the science behind why he paired this wine with this meal as oppose to another one from the restaurant's vault of wines was like me trying to explain sentence syntax and the inverse pyramid to an illiterate. And yes, to Juan, I was clearly illiterate.

Someone at the Friday's dinner table summed it best: "I can't describe the food, but I know it tastes good." Ditto, I say. Ditto.

First course was a "caprese" salad. I use quotation marks around the word caprese solely because the L'Escalier menu did the same. I guess they were trying to say it wasn't really a caprese but instead a "caprese." Nonetheless, it was awesome. I don't know how they did it, but the white circular balls were mozzarella filled and literally exploded in your mouth after pressing your lips together. Don't worry, no deaths were reported at the dinner.

The Peekytoe Crab dish

Served with Argyros Assyrtiko, Santorini, Greece, 2008

Cauliflower Veloute

Served with Puligny-Montrachet "Vieilles Vignes," Vincent Girardin, Burgundy, France, 2006

Colorado Lamb

Served with Buil & Gine "Baboix," Montsant, Spain, 2006

Master sommelier Juan Gomez, one of two master sommeliers at The Breakers

The genius, chef de cuisine Gregory Vassos

Tator and Grandma Part II

While my camera work won't win me an Oscar or Pulitzer anytime soon, here's more footage and photos on Tator's day out with Grandma. I don't know who I fell in love with more: Tator or Grandma.

Tator and Grandma

For anyone's who's ever owned a pet, I'm told an indescribable sense of happiness comes from bonding with one. I'm told a pet - a dog in this case - makes you feel happy in no way a human ever could.

After dog-sitting my favorite four-legged friend, Tator, this past weekend, I can see why. There's something really awesome about a dog unexpectedly coming up to you and licking your face, putting his head on your lap, or barking when he feels you're threatened.

My boyfriend, Josh, and I took Tator to see Josh's 90-year-old grandmother this past weekend. She lives in Boynton Beach in an assisted living home, and we figured she could use a little four-legged loving. Grandma's still sharp, witty, mobile, happy and thoughtful, Josh and I felt Tator could break Grandma out of her normal routine at the assisted living home and, well, add a little excitement to an otherwise mundane Sunday.

For once, we were right. Grandma loved Tator. And, I'd like to think Tator loved Grandma.

The Quote

For this blog entry, here's a topic that has nothing yet everything to do about South Florida. Yesterday I read a quote from Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi. Who, you ask? Yeah, I didn't know him either until about a week ago.

Qureshi, a Pakistani, is one-half of men's doubles team that went all the way to the final of this year's U.S. Open. The finals, played on Sept. 10, had one of the best quotes I've heard in a while. When accepting the runner's up award, Qureshi was given the mike and an opportunity to address the 23,000 in the stands. Said Qureshi:

"There's a bad perception that Pakistan is a terrorist nation. We're a friendly, loving, caring people. We want peace as much as you guys. May god bless us all."

What makes the lil' speech even more impactful is that throughout this year Qureshi and his doubles partner Rohan Bopanna, from India, have been wearing the slogan "Stop War, Play Tennis" on their sweatshirts.

Whether or not sports is an appropriate platform for political talk, I'm not here to say. But in this case, I can appreciate Qureshi seizing this opportunity to speak in front of a crowd that saw so much disaster nine years ago. Call it political, call it brave, or just call it a person speaking about the elephant in the room. Either way, it was a message I'm happy to hear.