Αθήνα

Well, the secret is not a secret any more. We've told everyone we know that I interviewed for a position in Athens. Sadly, after all the build up and anticipation over the whole thing it looks like we won't be moving after all. Our experience there was great. The weather is amazing and reminded us a lot of Arizona (cactus and all). Athens is of course on the Mediterranean coast which I guess means it is like Arizona with a beach! The food was amazing and the ancient sites just sit in the center of the city over looking the "new" Athens. Athens is jam packed with people. The roads are insane and this is after they have cut city center traffic by half with even/odd license plate driving days. It still has it's Greek charm. We had a drink at a restaurant one evening and inside they had live music and everyone eating there was joining in with the Greek dancing. We could still end up there but if nothing else we'll be going back for holiday.

Obamania

I've spent the last 3 days of this week being congratulated by one person after another on my new president. My only response is, "he's not my president!" There aren't too many people with whom I can have an engaging conversation at work. On Monday one of the doctors was saying she loves Obama and thinks he'll be the best thing to ever happen to America. When asked why, what makes him great, I got the same answer I seem to get from everyone over here. "He's brilliant, such an eloquent speaker, gives people hope." While I don't argue with the fact that effective leadership involves intelligence, powerful oration and the ability to motivate and inspire I think the fact that to what end that leader may direct us is infinitely more important. That question never gets answered over here.

The infatuation may be short lived. The front page of Thursday's paper reported of the upwards of 100,000 jobs that could be lost in Ireland when Obama's tax plan takes effect. Currently, companies the operate over-seas receive tax breaks but Obama wants to bring jobs home and plans to make it fiscally impossible for companies to continue operating over-seas. This will not only effect American economics as companies will not be able to afford the labor force it currently employs and will consequently suffer losses in productivity but the economies of some of the poorest countries where the majority of employment is via American contracting. Think of India where AOL, DELL and other technical support is routed through. It would be a devastation from which those people could not recover. And if you think tech support is bad now then wait until you have a 2 hour que on the phone because of the cuts in personal. That is just one example and probably not even the best one.

On a side note. Dana's been talking to a lot of foreigners trying to learn English and met some Iranians. To her shock they told her that they love George W. Bush and where hoping McCain would be elected because they thought he'd be like Bush. They said all the Iranian people loved Bush. Funny, that's not what you here on BBC or CNN.

Barcelona

I've been trying to find a new site to host our slide shows so I've been delayed in posting my Barcelona pics. Barca is visually very stunning. The city is known as much for its architecture as anything else. The famous architect Gaudi designed and built a number of buildings around town and then started the Gaudi Cathedral called Sagrada Familia. He died before it was finished and the city has employed builders and artists to finish this mammoth cathedral. It is very odd because each part is different because it has been designed by different people. It is hard to get a feel for that through pictures but take my word for it...it's weird! Some pictures of his other buildings are included as well and hopefully you can get an idea of the odd shapes and designs he employed.

Barca is all about shopping. Paris is the only city that compares. The main pedestrian street La Ramblas was covered with street performers and shops. The food was quite good and we found some good tapas and paella. The best part was the weather! Shorts and T-shirts everyday. So nice!

We took a cable car ride, saw an old Catalan castle and strolled down the harbour. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

Closure

As you've probably seen on Dana's blog we just got back from Manchester for a weekend in which I received my final certification to practice in the U.K. and Ireland. I've spent the last year working toward all my post grad certs and now the pressure is finally off. I have to admit that all my hard work went into my American board exams and fortunately it paid off for my GB and Ireland exams as well. Manchester was a cool city. We pretty much love everywhere we go in the UK. It is odd how it can have such a different feel than Ireland when they are so close, but hey, look at Florida and Mississippi!
What Dana said of the bittersweet feelings about Ireland is true. I feel like this is home (especially when we've been travelling so much) and now the thought of leaving brings mixed emotions. My interview is set for November 19th and Dana has managed to tell everyone except her family so for all of you who know the secret location...DON'T TELL!!

Cha..Cha...Chili's!

It is amazing what you appreciate when you are away from home for so long. We just discovered that Chili's (yes the chain) has a restaurant newly opened in Belfast. That was last weekend, and today we went. Yes we drove 110 miles to eat at Chili's. That's not all...3 other people also made the trip and 3 others living in the North met us there. They had all been to Chili's in the States during a missions trip and once we found out there was one within driving distance we organized and went! It was amazing and exactly like home...including the service (which is quite novel in Ireland). Well, that's our current excitement.

Scotland...again

We made trip number 2 to Scotland to visit Edinburgh and travel North to Loch Ness and Inverness. We got to see a lot of the Highlands which is a beautiful unique landscape. You may be shocked by what you see in some of our Loch Ness photos. I'm working on selling them on eBay as we speak!

Bordeaux

I've had some trouble with uploading our videos but finally here is Bordeaux. This is one of the areas of France I wanted to visit the most. We flew into La Rochelle and took a 2 1/2 hour train ride inland to Bordeaux. I didn't realize that Bordeaux was the 5th largest city in France but with all of its grand architecture and populace it didn't have the busy feeling you get from most big cities. The French people there were much friendlier than those in Paris as well. We took an amazing wine tour while we were there. The city existed simply as a wine producing region full of chateaus with owners, buyers, workers and sellers of wine. We started off in an old chateau that has been converted into a museum. We learned about the history of the region as well as how wine is produced, aged and stored. That ended with a wine tasting of a white and red wine from the region. We then walked through the area where the many of the chateau owners and buyers lived, many of which are still owned as family estates in the heart of the city. We then had lunch at this little whole in the wall place that you would never find out on your own. We had an excellent meal, lots of wine and access to a cheese room (see photos) with over 150 type of cheese some of which were mold city! We then went out to the region of Saint Emilion, the oldest vineyard region in the area. We took a tour of a working chateau complete with a wine tasting. Bordeaux is a must for wine lovers in my opinion. It was a great trip and now instead of rambling on any longer I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Restocking

My mom is here and she brought with her some goodies! Here are some of my favorites.

Happy Anniversary

Today is our 1 year anniversary in Ireland. It is a strange thought because it feels like yesterday that we packed up our lives and moved out here and yet it seems like we've been here a lot longer than a year. When we decided to move we wanted to take in as much of Europe as we could and below is a map of where we've been this past year. We'll be adding 2 and possibly 3 more locations before the New Year. There are so many places to go and see that we have no plans of slowing down. Next year we hope to visit Northern Africa, Maldives, Greece, Israel and hopefully more of Europe. If any of that sounds good let us know and we'll be glad to coordinate!


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From here to there

For those of you we haven't talked to real recently and who don't religiously check my calendar we have a few trips coming up. They're kind of in rapid succession. Next week we're back to France this time exploring the famous wine region of Bordeaux with a day at La Rochelle which is supposed to be beautiful. Next we're going back to Edinburgh with my Mom. If you've ever been there you'll know why there wasn't any arm twisting to get us to visit again. In October we are going to visit another famous port city, this time in Spain! Barcelona will complete our "planned" European trips for the year but there is a chance we'll get to Copenhagen in November if I get to go to a work conference there. That's life here as we know it.

America the beautiful

Pete has made an excellent and maybe somewhat over-looked point. America, with all its faults, is still the greatest country in the world and I'm still proud to call it mine. We have privileges and rights other countries fear and envy. Russia is in the news again for being everything that America is not. Thank God for that! I think we all wish America would return to the original ideals that founded it and maybe someday it will be completely unrecognizable. For the time being bring on the compliments and criticism allowed by our great constitution.

Song of the week

Here is a new song. It is a cover by the New Frontiers. It isn't sophisticated technically or lyrically but it has something appealing about it. Hope you like.

NewFrontiers- Look...

Damage control

They say you should never discuss religion or politics amongst friends, however I think we're all friendly enough to avoid being butt-hurt.

First, I think Obama will be a good leader some day if he completely changes every view he holds. He lives in an anti-white, anti-capitalist "Utopia" that is frankly...dangerous. Can you really believe that the pastor he had been relying on for guidance and truth suddenly fell off the deep end and started preaching America the white devil for the first time in 20years? Sounds a little familiar...like something that comes out of extremist mosques all over the world. He actually has a Che Guevara flag in one of his campaign offices...a revolutionary??? Try another mass murdering communist.

Ryan, the "Hitler vs Stalin" comparison is hardly applicable and all though I don't think Ron Paul is completely wack (although I'll NEVER respect a man that believes 9/11 was our fault...we can get into a "man is responsible for his own actions"/"terrorists simply want to terrorize and send the world back into the 7th century where fear rules") I know he will not win the election. Do you really think that economically and socially the country will be in the same place regardless of who gets elected? I tend to agree that the president has relatively little power compared with congress and the judicial system. McCain actually hit it on the head when he said that one of the greatest weapons of the U.S. president is the bully pulpit and I believe he will stand up and say what needs to be said to leaders around the world while Obama will studder along with no conviction. The rest may be up for grabs.

As a side note, the U.S. is not a welfare state. Not yet anyway, and you had better hope that the socialism that is preached by liberal democrats (like Obama) never comes to be. I have seen some of the real evil that sneaks in with all the government control over every aspect of society. Ryan, I hope you're wrong about America being lost...but I wouldn't bet on it.

McCain

Last night we watched the McCain v Obama interview at Saddleback. I was a little worried before watching it that I would be even more skeptical about McCain but it turned out to be quite the opposite. Obama looked like a lost puppy about to be run over by a freight train every time he was asked a question. To be honest I'm not sure he completely answered any question that was posed to him relying on his rhetoric to get him through the interview. I mean, when asked who is one of the three wisest people he knows that he would rely heavily on in his administration, Obama actually said his grandmother...seriously. McCain on the other hand had answers so fast that Rick Warren didn't have time to complete the question on many occasions. I particularly liked McCain's stand on taxes, drilling for oil and greater school choice. McCain also has a little something called a sense of humor (see the bear DNA joke...really funny!) I did find a sound bite that should convince you to vote for McCain if all those other reasons fail. See below.

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U.S.A.

This may be the most amazing swim in Olympic history. What makes it better is that the anchor swimmer for France guaranteed they would "smash" the Americans. I don't know if you've seen this (I don't know how you could have missed it by now), but just in case.

...more Germany

More from our latest expedition to Germany. These are just some various sites we saw and some pictures from inside a couple of the castles that we were able to tour. As most of you know we ended our trip in Mainz which just happened to be holding a beer festival. I mean, what's a visit to Germany without a beer festival??...am I right? Hopefully you are getting excited about seeing Germany because you might just be able to twist our arms to go back.

Castles and fairytales

We are back from Germany and here is my first slide show. We took so many pictures it was hard to narrow down what I wanted to show so I think I'll just keep making slide shows until I run out of good pictures! This was from our trip down the Rhine river. I tried to keep everything in order and added some shots from the river side towns and vineyards along with the castles of course. Dana usually does a better job of describing our trips so I'll let you read her account of our weekend. I'll just say that this part of Germany was beautiful. I always think of it as part of the old Eastern European block with its impoverished, war ravaged buildings and cities. From what I've seen of cities like Berlin and Munich I'm sure that impression would be somewhat reinforced but the Rhine river valley is fairytale Germany. We enjoyed touring some of the castles (we have 16 more for anyone that wants to join us!), enjoyed the small villages, relaxed on the cruise and even took in a beer festival! Wunderbar! Hope you enjoy the pictures.

For Mother Nancy

Sorry about the delay! Here is Ray Lamontagne who's music I have been a fan of for the last couple of years. He doesn't get a lot of play time but he is quite a good singer songwriter.

The Bourne Disappearance

As the charade that is the Zimbabwe elections now enters the "counting" phase I have one question...where is Jason Bourne? Mugabe has proven himself to be nothing more than a junkyard dog ready to rip the flesh from anyone he deems an intruder into his world of power and money. There are nearly constant news images of opposition supporters who have been tortured or slaughtered for having the courage to stand up for democracy and yet the West has done nothing. Gordon Brown has threatened to ban the Zimbabwe cricket team from play in Britain and has had talks with Tesco, a major food chain, to stop selling to the country demonstrating the stark contrast with his predecessor's action over talk policies. The U.S. is no doubt caught in a catch 22over the international anti-violence/anti-action stance all the while calling on America to "do something." I want to know where Jason Bourne has been all these months. Surely Mugabe can simply have an accident or be killed by a member of his own staff right? So Jason if you're listening, the people of Zimbabwe need you.

Song(s) of the Week

This song of the week is more like artist of the week, but there are 2 artists. Really it's just play whatever I want of the week. As you know we saw Clapton last weekend (awesome!) so here are a couple of songs he played as tribute to that great event. Also included are 2 songs off the new Augustana album. I really like these guys as they fit neatly into my taste of solemn pseudo-indi rock or something like that. They have a good sound. You can preview their entire album on their website here and if you order on iTunes you get a free acoustic version of Sweet and Low.

Age old problem

I'm under the impression that I've hit another milestone (30 years on Earth) and since I've looked 30 for some time now and I'll probably never act it, I figure now is as good a time as any. I think middle age is now 40 so at least I'm not included in that label yet but I will admit that I already miss being 20 something. This is turning out to be quite an event over here though. My boss took us out to eat at a restaurant her nephew is the head chef at and included are some crude cell phone pictures we took. Mine is a rib eye with ox cheek won-tons, mashed potatoes and breaded broccoli. I had a tomato salad with rare South American tomatoes that are only produced by some Dutch company now. Dana had a stuffed chicken with sweet potatoes. The desert picture is of a pineapple parfait with a sort of honey lace decor on top of it. I actually tried black pudding and sting ray. I can now turn down black pudding as an experienced taster but the ray was surprisingly good. It was quality and presentation rolled into one. Felicimo!

Dana has gotten me amongst many other things, a trip to Portugal to watch one of the Portugal World Cup qualifying games at the end of the summer and a chance to see one of the world's best players Cristiano Ronaldo in person! We planned for my birthday some time ago to see Eric Clapton who played last night at Malahide Castle. The weather was menacing for the first part of the night but cleared to make a beautiful evening. Clapton mixed some classics in with his new songs and it was a pleasure to watch one of the music legends live. Here is another very crude phone video which won't do it justice.


Thanks to everyone for their cards and gifts. I only wish that I could have received them in person.

For my one and only

I've counted and we've been to 8 countries in the 10 months we've been here. That's not too bad! We've seen Edinburgh castle, the Colosseum, Eiffel Tower and Big Ben to name a few of the great sites. I've come to believe that what makes it all special is not where I've been and what I've seen but who I was able to share it with. All of these places have been unforgettable and what has made it so is my travel partner. So I wanted to pay her a little tribute and thank her for sharing this great adventure with me...plus tell her I love her along the way.

Turks!

We've been back from Turkey a few days now and after processing the trip and trying to tell everyone how my holiday was I think I've figured out what the trip was all about. I originally wanted to go to Greece this summer as a birthday gift to myself but after deliberation and concurrence with Ryan and Yunuen we decided on Western Turkey. I have to admit that I didn't know much about what I was getting into and I was a little scared of being an American in a predominantly Muslim country.

Kusadasi is a tourist town for lack of a better description on the West coast. It is near to a number of the ancient cities such as Ephesus, Didyma and Priene to name a few. While in town you are accosted by shop workers trying anything (especially the question, "where you from?") to start a conversation with you and get you into their stores. We talked to a few Turks who explained the situation to us which is basically that they work in Kusadasi for 6 months during "high" season around 15 hours/day, 7 days/week. Once you get the hang of just walking down the street you get a chance to talk to a few of them. Yusuf is the owner of a hookah bar near the bus pick up in town that we spent almost every night with. He was one of the nicest people we met, always with a smile and he even put American service to shame. Med was another young man who worked at our hotel and had brain teasers for us every time we saw him. Yunuen jokingly said we have more friends in Turkey than in Ireland and sadly, at least for a week, that was true.

We saw a number of great sites, my favorite being the library at Ephesus. We spent time on the beach and even took a boat cruise for a day. Really the trip meant a lot to me for several reasons. Obviously having Ryan and Yunuen along made it a lot more fun. Ryan and I smoked more cigars that week than I had the six months prior! I also learned to be weary of presuppositions about other people. The Turks were some of the friendlies most welcoming people we've met and I would have never gone if my travel companions hadn't wanted to go. That would have been a shame on a number of levels, but mostly because I wouldn't have learned this one valuable lesson. Surely Eastern Turkey would have been a different experience (or so I assume)...well, I guess it's a lesson that I'm "learning."

Song of the Week

This is turning into more like the song of the month so I'll try to be more consistent. The Kaiser Chiefs are probably over played now in the States but it is still a fun song to listen to.

Ruby

kaiserchiefs_ruby_...

Irish Flat #2

We are finally ready to post some pictures of our new flat. We are actually "sorted" and the place is feeling like home. We've loads more space and an extra bedroom (hint, hint). We are the top floor of a 4 story building which gives us a lot of light (2 skylights) and windows galore and a sweet view off our balcony. Green/blue carpet (not so good) is one of the drawbacks but we have a bike shed and quiet streets. We could hear the Springsteen concert the last couple of nights which was pretty cool. The cats are...well, cats and don't need much encouragement to settle in. Hopefully the calendar will fill up with visitors. See you soon.

Cambridge

We just got back from a few days with the Brits. I took what may be my last written exam...ever! I won't have any scores for 6-8 weeks but at this point I don't really care about that. We were in London for a couple of days then we took a 45 min train trip up to Cambridge to see one of my mates. Mike and I went through perfusion school together and he's now working for a company that has designed a new heart transport machine that could double the length of time a transplanted heart can be in transport. Well he was in Cambridge so we used the excuse to swing up there and say hi. See Dana's blog for sweet slide shows.

For Liam

This is my contribution to welcome back Liam. I call it the French pastry chef but I'm sure there are more appropriate names. Anyway...good to know you're back Liam. Welcome back to the good ol' U.S.A. from your mates in Ireland.

One day at a time

This has been a bit of a roller coaster week. First, we found out that we were being evicted from our apartment. The owner has decided to sell the building and gave us 28 days to get out. That sucked! Dana got hard to work and got us 10 viewings over the next 2 days and we found a new pad...Woo Hoo! It is a bit further from work and the gym but it is a "penthouse" 2 bedroom with a balcony and a fire place (pictures coming soon). Two days later I got my exam results from the boards I took earlier this month. Fortunately I passed both exams which certifies me as a clinical perfusionist (CCP). I do have quite a bit of preparing to do before my Irish exams in 3 weeks during which time we'll be moving so I'm a little concerned but we continue to push on.

On the road again...

Our next big trip is planned! We're heading to the Aegean coast of Turkey to a town called Kusadasi. It is smack dab in the center of the "historic" region of Turkey and offers some of the more ancient sites of the Persian, Greek and Roman cultures. We are very excited because it is not only a chance to so some serious site seeing but we will be right on the coast with what look like some beautiful beaches. R-E-L-A-X!
Ryan and Yunuen will be meeting us in Dublin before we head off so you can bet there will be some serious spades lessons going on. This is our most "exotic" trip yet and will prepare us for some of our planned holidays in Israel and Africa.

Here's what's up

I've been pretty bad about keeping my blog up to date. Here's what's been happening over here in the emerald isle. I took my American board exams a couple of weeks ago (which most of you know already) and I have to admit that it was probably the most difficult exam I've ever taken. I had been preparing for the last several months but you can still (evidently) feel under-prepared when you sit down and read the questions for the first time. I have my Irish exams next month which is a completely different in format and, from what I can tell, content. I guess I'd better get back to studying.

Ryan and Yunuen are coming out in June for round 2 which will be mainly consumed by a visit to Turkey (yes, the country). We are super excited to see them again and take another adventurous trip. I have to use up my vacation time. Somehow through my visits to Rome, London, Paris, Western Ireland (twice) and the U.S. I've only used 2 of my 25 vacation days. It's a tough life, but someone has to do it!

Other than that I can't say there is much new to report. I have a 50 capacity humidor that has about 85 cigars in it so I'd better get busy. With that I'll sign off...until next time.

Back home from...home

I'm back in Dublin from my whirlwind trip home to Tucson. It was a perfect time of year to visit with the temperature in the mid-80's the entire week. I do wish I'd been able to stay longer and enjoy it after all my errands were done and it would have been nice to have brought Dana along as well. I brought home a suitcase of goodies including some special gifts from Ryan (picture included!) Thanks to everyone who was able to spend time with me and to everyone who offered even though I just ran out of time. On a bright note, I think Spring has arrived. It has been quite warm the last two days and the gale force winds have subsided.

I've been able to update our visitor calender. Ryan and Yunuen are coming in June. YES! I have to go practice my spades.

Oh Daddy!

My dad told me one of the funniest stories I've heard in a long time last night. He has a whole slew of dogs (I use that term loosely as the are dachshunds and smaller than Sharptooth) that surround him in his sleep and all have their designated sleeping spots. I guess he has been having some pretty crazy dreams lately involving hand-to-hand combat and the like. The other night he woke up and was attacking and he thinks, trying to bite one of his dogs! All he can remember is that in his dream he was fighting some guy and when he woke up he had the dog pinned to the bed. You probably have to have an intimate knowledge of my dad and his relationship with his dogs to fully appreciate the hysterical humor in all this. It actually sounds quite horrible but from my position I couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably! I mean UNCONTROLLABLY!

It'll be great to be home in a couple of weeks and see everyone. I think it'll be a while before I let my dad live this one down.

Song of the Week

Here is an oldie. I don't know for sure whether this is Men at Work or if someone covered them but the voice sounds very close. One thing I am sure about - this is pretty sweet!

men at work - down...

Photos

Jordan 2
Jordan 1
Egypt
Norway
Belgium
Florence
Venice
Athens
Barcelona
Scotland 2
Bordeaux
Rhine River
Turkey
London
Paris
Ring of Kerry
Rome #3
Rome #2
Rome #1
Edinburgh
Belfast
Newcastle

Friday Night

Last night was a big relief. We had both had a busy week where Dana took the final exam for her current class and I had to give two talks at a meeting for cardiac professionals in Dublin. This all culminated in a night at the beer garden with a Guinness and a cigar. I smoked one of my remaining two Conga Black Pearls and Dana had a 5 Vegas Miami. I'm working on converting her to the cigar from her cigarillos as I think for a woman to enjoy as good cigar is both sophisticated and sexy! Congratulations to my missus for all her hard work and acing her class!

Song of the week

The song of the week is an oldie. I picked it in celebration of the fact that we are going to see Clapton at Malahide Castle in June. SWEET!!!

Before You Accuse ...

London

Hello London! We made our first trip to the UK's Big Apple. Big Ben, Parliament, British Museum, Tower of London, eating, shopping, it was all there. I'd say it is a place that we could go back to again (to live?). In fact, we'll be back in May so I'm sure this is going to be the first of many London slideshows.

Traveling

Check out this sweet slideshow!

Old Paris!

We've just returned from our big traveling adventure having seen more of the West coast of Ireland and jetting across the pond to London before taking the train under the channel to Paris. We have a TON of pictures and the slide shows will probably be trickling out over the next week or so.

The trip was a blast. Regan and Pete (my sister and brother-in-laws) came for a visit and with all we saw I'm sure they got their money's worth. Here is some of what we saw in Paris. I tried to keep the main attractions together so you'd know what you were looking at. They include: Notre-Dame, Eiffel Tower, Champs-Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre and more. The whole time we were there it reminded me of one of my favorite movies (it won't be hard to figure out which one!). Enjoy!

Superbowl

I have been continually surprised at the amount of American sports on television over here. This weekend alone I was able to watch the Arizona basketball game and the Superbowl. Neither turned out as I had hoped so I'll just leave it at that. We don't get the commercials, however, which is normal a good thing except during the Superbowl. Fear not, everything is online! Here is my favorite!

Song of the Week

The song of the week has turned into a song of the month but I'll try to get a little more consistent. This is Griffin House. He's a folky rhythm guitarist with what sounds like Johnny Cash/Bob Dylan influences. This song is called Only Love Remainsand is simple in it's progressions but attractively smooth and easy on the ears. Check him out. He's got a number of good albums.

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Purrr

Today my Mom went home after a 2 week visit. It was really nice having her stay with us as we had been accustomed to being able to see her on a regular basis. We got to do a bit of traveling, show her around Dublin, hang out around the house and eat...a lot! She also brought us the best gift...our purrrrrs! They are back to normal after the long trip and I think they did remarkably well. Now we are sharing our bed again with a couple of bed-hogs!

West Side!

This weekend we took our first road trip in Ireland. After a couple of hours you really get used to driving on the "wrong" side of the road. We headed West through several small towns and villages stopping at the Rock of Cashel (an old 4th century castle) along the way. Or final destination was Killarney where we stopped at the Muckross House and saw the house and gardens. From there we tackled the Ring of Kerry which is about 100miles of spectacular scenery. We started off up through the mountains in the Kerry National Park and then went around the peninsula before cutting back across to Dublin. These pictures are just a few of the countryside and coastline. Dana will probably be posting some of the castle and house fairly soon. It was great to get out of Dublin and see "proper" Ireland. It really is as beautiful as everyone says. Truly breathtaking.

One more from Rome

Here is one last show from Roma from me. We saw many spectacular fountains during our stay and took some pictures of a few of them. There are several shots from the famous Trevi fountains among others. Enjoy!

Roman Forum

The Roman Forum, or Forum Romanum, was the center of Roman antiquity. Commercial, political, religious and legal proceedings all took place in the small valley at the foot of the Palatine Hill. The Senate building is directly across from the forum which held shops and markets. The area held temples to Saturn, Jupiter, Agustus and Julius Caesar among others. The main street connecting the Flavian Amphitheater to the Capitol was called the Via Secra or Sacred Road. At each end of the road is a large arch way one of which was erected to celebrate Emporer Titus' victory over Jerusalem. The Temple of Vesta was considered one of the most important because it was dedicated to the goddess Vesta who was the protectress of family. It held the Vestal Virgins who guarded the eternal flame which was to represent the eternal life of Rome. The virgins were chosen by the Pontifex Maximus between the ages of 6 and 10 and had fulfill 30 years of chastity and vigilance over the flame. They were held in the highest esteem and were given a huge dowry by the Senate; however, if they failed their punishment was harsh. If the flame went out or they were untrue to their vow of chastity they were buried alive with a loaf of bread and a lamp.

After Constantine many of the buildings were taken down or converted to churches and even today a few of them still stand.

The Colosseum

The Colosseum is one of the great remaining historical artifacts and sits literally in the center of a bustling modern city. It stands as the embodiment of ancient Roman culture. Construction started in 70 A.D. on the site of Nero's imperial gardens and originally carried the name Flavian Amphitheater after the family that built it. In front stood a 30 meter tall statue of Nero made from bronze and gold that was called the Colossus of Nero and is what eventually led to the nickname Colosseum. Each person was issued a clay "ticket" and each entrance was numbered leading to a section that had numbered seats that each entrant was assigned to. The entire outer face was constructed of marble with marble statues filling each outlook from the upper levels. Canals were in place to fill the floor with water for naval battles (which didn't work very well) after which the floor was reconstructed to have a sand covered wooden floor over a series of passageways and rooms to bring gladiators and animals out through elevators and various trap doors. The sophistication and beauty of the Colosseum is breathtaking and demonstrates the advances the Romans had achieved. The other side of Roman culture is also evident. Upon its opening there were 100 days of "games" where 5000 animals were killed. Slaves would fight trained gladiators and be slaughtered. Rebels who wouldn't join the army and martyrs were led out to be devoured by lions and all to a raucous crowd. It is eerie to look and know that the floor was covered with sand to absorb the blood so it didn't rot the wood. Rome was certainly something to behold.