A Brief Hello to Dublin Castle

Recently we stopped by Dublin Castle. It is only a short walk away, across the Liffey River. Colette's parents let us know about a sand sculpture exhibition going on there so we decided to check it out. This is only one of the sculptures the Duthain Dealbh team created. To see more, check out the my Flickr account. While we were resting our feet on a concrete bench at the edge of the central courtyard, and large group of people gathered next to us. Their tour guide began explaining historical bits about the castle. We just looked at each other, grinned in realization, and then proceeded to stare straight ahead and listen in on the presentation. The guide was really lively and skilled. When the group moved on to another location in the courtyard, we causally joined in the migration. I learned all kinds of interesting things about the site (much of which I admittedly don't remember) . I do however remember one thing. The guide said that Francis Shackleton was connected to the theft of the Irish Crown Jewels. I didn't even know that Ernest Shackleton (a favorite historical figure of mine... captain of the ill-fated Endurance voyage) had a brother! Anyways, here is a picture of our stolen tour. After they left the castle, we decided to let them go on their merry way. It was an interesting diversion though,to say the least.

Happy Birthday to Me...

Yep, it seems that I am now 22. Huh... how did that happen? Anyhoo, I was made the recipient of some lovely Celtic-design cards (special thanks to Barbara and Brian for the wonderful card and phone call) and few other very thoughtful odds and ends (including a magazine from Canada! lol). Col's mom and dad came over for a visit yesterday and they brought a colossal cake with them. It was very very good (actual cream and jam and such!) and it seems that our sweet tooths will be satisfied for some time to come (big cake, little fridge... it's quite the thing to see...). We had a lovely evening with them. As the Irish say, it was good craic.

We took a few photos (go figure) so feel free to check those out if you wish. A wave and thank you to Angele and Jennifer for the emails. And Michael. :) And a friendly wave to the other August birthday in the family. :) There are still a few balloons bouncing around the place. Yey! Bouncy! *scampers off to cause boot them around a bit*

Aww...

It seems that someone who checks here all the time is getting frustrated that I haven't been as diligent as they has been. There are some new photos at my Flickr account, including an album containing photos of a visit to the Netherlands. So, have a quick thumb-through of those and I promise to be back here again soon. :)