We were wandering about town one evening in Copenhagen. We had no set destination, but were enjoying the many people, restaurants, and plazas we encountered on each cobblestone street and alley. But we soon grew hungry, so our wandering grew more purposeful: we stopped to peruse menus. Unfortunately, the need to divide the currency listed by 5 did nothing to…
Yesterday, we made the requisite pilgrimage to the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen. It’s an indisputable tourist trap, made even more depressing by the need of most 13- to 30-year-old male visitors to have a photo of themselves groping her. The statue itself is located at the edge of the city, not far from a…
Copenhagen is expensive. Bibi’s Diner: Decent. This story is told elsewhere, but the food itself was solid. We had dolma, tomato/cucumber salad, broccoli salad, cabbage salad, and potato salad, plus something bread-like which I think was chick-pea-based. In that part of town, this seemed to be one of the only affordable places to eat. Aamanns: This was…
Royal Library Gardens: It was very relaxing to sit in here. Surprisingly devoid of crowds, it had some pretty trees, a fountain, a statue of Kierkegaard, and a lot of benches. Worth it. The Dome: There was a temporary art installation set up near the water, which looked like a transparent biodome. It was intended to convey a both…
I have been driving since my mid-teens, and I’ve always considered myself a good driver. Of course, I went through that phase that many young males do—where no speed is too fast—but I fortunately came through it mostly unscathed. I didn’t give a second thought to driving in Ireland. Driving on the left is difficult.…
Glendalough: An old monastic site, this place has church ruins, tower ruins, a river-like thing, and a lake. It’s certainly pretty, but not sure that it merits being singled out as the thing to see. The best part is the elevated wooden walkway on which you can stroll around the lake. And the sheep grazing…
Glendalough Hotel (Glendalough): Decent, especially for a tourist location. I had a fish cake, and B had spring rolls. Cafe Sol (Kilkenny): Our favorite! I had a quinoa/roasted veggie/pumpkin seed salad, and B had Guinness bangers and mash. Lombard St. Take Away (Waterford): Surprisingly decent. I had curry fries, and B had bacon and cheese…
13 things we weren’t expecting to be true about Ireland: Dublin In Dublin, they have a lot of signs which say ‘TO LET’ (meaning ‘for rent’), but they all look like they intended to say ‘TOILET’ and lost their ‘I.’ This is largely because the spacing between the two words is quite small. I even…
I’ve seen British-US English translators, but here’s a bit of an Irish dialec-tionary: Ramps: Speed bumps! They’re used somewhat differently though, making them seem more like a motor speedway device than a suburban fixture. Specifically, most US speed bumps are used in areas where the driver is going ~25 mph. In faster zones, American road designers seem…
There’s a lot to love about Ireland: excellent beer, good music, delicious food, pervasive greenery, beautiful old castles and churches, and much more. That’s not what this post is about. Instead, I’m going to tell you about what you’ll find around the house. In the Kitchen The refrigerators are much smaller than those in US.…