Lost in Sweden

The first thing we do after our arrival in springish Dublin after a really smooth and nice flight and transfer to the city wit the Airlink bus, is to have a good Fish’n Chips lunch. It wasn’t the usual kind that’s normally served in a newspaper, but a very posh one, where you could choose the kind of fish you wanted and how you would like it done. Very tasty but nothing to get overly excited about. We  continue our way through town and in the Temple bar district we really get that Guinness appetite.

 

 

David had recommended the Café en Seine which is a mixture of Café, bar and restaurant in a style mix of art nouveau French and a bit of Irish. Very nice and very special!

 

 

Afterwards we continue strolling through town but hit the sac quite early as we are tired from travelling. Our room is unfortunately freezing cold and J is to long for the bed so that his feet are sticking out! Poor guy that really affected his mood!

 

After a good Irish breakfast we decide to use the sunny weather for a little trip to the Irish coast. Howth is accessible with a commuter train from Dublin and as close as we can get to the REAL Irish coast.

 

 

 

 

It’s very windy and cold so that we don’t walk around there for too long. After returning to the city we think that a visit to the Jameson distillery would be a good way to warm up again, and when I volunteered for Whiskey testing I definitely got all warm inside.

 

 

I even got a certificate with my name on and everything! J enjoyed the place as well in spite of not getting to volunteer. Afterwards we stroll around and do some shopping, get a nice Starbucks Frappuchino and hang out in the park until it gets too chilly. Now it’s time for dinner and another pint of Guinness at TGIF! It’s amazing how Guinness tastes so much better in Dublin, it either doesn’t travel well or it’s true that they don’t pasteurize it and it therefore tastes smoother. I love the creamy foam, it’s a lot creamier in Dublin as well!

 

Wednesday already marks our last day on the Emerald island!

 

 

 

 

We take a long stroll through town to see all the interesting parts of it, like Trinity college

 

 

and take the chance to learn more about Irish history when doing a tour through the city hall exhibition

 

 

and of course won’t leave without having seen the Guinness storehouse. It’s fairly interesting as you learn quite a bit about the brewing but the whole place really resembles a big entertainment center and is just a bit too much for me. We enjoy the view over Dublin from the Gravity bar

 

 

 before we hang out at the park with another Frappuchino again. At 6 pm it’s time to pick up our bags at the hotel and to proceed to the airport from which we get the 9 pm flight to Leeds!  Dave and Chris are picking us up and we have a great evening catching up. At 2 am we count 3 empty wine bottles…

They are quite hidden and I would have never expected them in such an industrial town as Leeds. After another pint at the river we go home to freshen up and when Chris comes back from work we treat the two of them to an Indian meal! There is nothing better than Indian food in England, haha! The place was quite hip, with a huge bar area and this gimmick Naan bread, which can be quite disturbing and hence needs to be eaten quickly! Yummy!

The place reminds me a bit of  Sausalitos in Germany but the Indian way!

The next morning starts out with a good brunch again and after that we take the train to York.

An old friend of J had been working with the restoration of the York Minster and had shown us some really interesting details in the portals when we visited them nine years ago. We tried to find those again but didn’t succeed. After visiting the minster we took a stroll on the city walls and through the beautiful cute town center,

had the obligatory cappuccino and pint and then returned back to Leeds where Chris was cooking us a fantastic dinner of Filet of beef and mashed sweet potatoes! A wonderful meal in great company! On Saturday we had an easy morning again and then hit the road to visit the beautiful Yorkshire countryside!

It’s wonderful with all the walled in fields and the sheep and little lambs on the hills…so ENGLAND to me!

We walk around the area a bit and enjoy the sunshine whenever it doesn’t hail.

In the evening Chris prepares one of his famous Risottos and we have a great dinner party with some more college friends of David. The joy comes to an abrupt end though when Chris decides to serve us some Chinese spirit that he was given by a business partner last time he’d been to China. We were all instantly feeling really sick, yuck! Honestly when we cleaned the glasses the next day it still smelled like petrol or something. 

On Sunday morning we wake up to the most interesting days of all. We start the day for once with a more continental style breakfast with croissants and then drive to Fulneck, a Moravian settlement founded by Members of the Moravian church in 1744. This village where Chris comes from  is on the british heritage list. In between the many snow showers David shows us around the village; everything is really special and full of history. We also get to attend the Lovefeast, a special church service at the Moravian church. It is quite impressive as the whole service is really personal. The lady on duty to hand out the bread and cup of tea during the service is dressed in the traditional Moravian clothes that remind me a bit of Amish clothes. After the service we even get to go up to the church attic to which Chris has a key. 250 years of wallpaper history…it’s really interesting to check out all the hidden treasures. After church we go back to Chris’ Moms house where the boys are preparing a real English Sunday roast. We have our meal in the wonderfully English decocarated dining room and are first served Yorkshire pudding with gravy, then lamb with mintsauce, baked potatoe and veggies and last but not least a Christmas pudding that Davids Mom had made. It is a wonderful, special meal and we all enjoy ourselves immensely. Chris’ Mom had invited one of her friends over and the whole dinner feels as if we would be right in the middle of “Dinner for One” So, so lovely!

 

 

Sunday night is unfortunately already our last night in Yorkshire, on Monday morning we are taking the train from Leeds down to Oxford.

 

We arrive around lunchtime and our first stop is the Starbucks at the Bordersbookstore. Oh how I love that (and miss it now for that matter). Our colleagues arrive around 3 pm and we all meet up our hotel the Oxford University club for a short meeting. After that it’s time to explore the city a bit until we meet up

with our English colleagues at a cute old English pub and then go for a good Indian meal. What could be more appropriate! We go to bed quite early to be fit for the early meeting the next day. In the afternoon we are booked for a tour behind the scenes at Christchurch college.

I can really recommend that one! We have the perfect stereotype of English gentleman as a guide and you finally get to peek behind the many otherwise closed gates in Oxford. Christchurch college was home to the author of “Alice in Wonderland” and we recognize many places that have a connection to the stories. The dining hall served as a model for the one in the Harry Potter movies and every other corner of this college is also just bursting of history!

After this awesome guided tour we have free time to go shopping, more sightseeing or whatever we want to do. We decide to climb up the church tower of St Mary’s to take in the birds eye view over the spires of Oxford.

 

We stroll a bit more through town and the parks until it’s time to meet up again for tapas and lot’s of Sangria.

Pretty tired from a great spring day in the sun we have one last pint at the pub and then go back to the hotel.

Wednesday already marks our last day in England. Our boss spontaniously decides to skip the planned meeting and instead let us enjoy the beautiful spring day only too well aware that we will have to wait several weeks until the Swedish spring will have come that far.

After lunch we have to hit the road towards Stanstead. But the trip is far from hasslefree. First we get lost, then we have to pay a damage fee for a flying stone mark. When handing out our Chek’n’go boarding passes our boss realizes that he had forgotten his in the printer. He has to check in again and luckily makes the flight – since it’s delayed. But that fact doesn’t stop the police and customes to hold us up in drug controles. At 11 pm we finally arrive at home and fall asleep in an instant after a really great time in England!