Peace Bridge (25 June 11)

Friday, July 29, 2011

28 July: Cars 2


Hi. It's M. I went to the movie Cars 2. I liked both Cars movies but they were very different because in Cars it could happen except for the cars talking and in Cars 2 it has a lot of James Bond-like stuff.

Mom and I joked that the previews were almost as good as the movie. The best 2 were Puss in Boots, where the narrator says "Nothing can distract him from his brave quest" and then he starts chasing a spot of light around, and then there was a short Toy Story film. In the short film, Barbie and Ken try to stow away to Hawaii and after failing, the other toys make pretend Hawaii. When they spread the sand, Buzz says in Spanish "We removed the poop from the kitty litter" and then Mrs. Potato Head says "Oh, Spanish is such a beautiful language"!

We had dinner at Gary and Laura's. They both work at Seagate like Daddy.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

26 July: Costa Colouring Contest


It's M. At Costa I was enjoying a Peach Fruit Cooler when a worker put a colouring page on our table and said "We're having a colouring contest"! I will name what there was on the page, where it was positioned and what colour I made it.(In order they will be regular, bold, italics). The chart is below:
Mammoth near the right edge, walking brown, tusks yellow
Sloth bottom middle, walking with arms swinging green
Sabertooth behind the sloth orange
Mountain behind all animals light pink
Smoothie falling off mountain red, straw purple

22 Jul: British Museum


We got an early start Friday morning and were at the British Museum when http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifit opened. The Museum has excellent multimedia tours for kids, with a separate commentary at each object for adults. We did the Roman Britain (my favorite), Africa, and Middle East tours. M found an owl carving at the gift shop. The owl was based on an Athenian coin and we were able to locate the coin in the money exhibit.

On Saturday 23 July, we went to Greenwich, as M wrote, and on Sunday we headed back to Derry. On both days, we also fit in short trips to the Princess of Wales memorial playground in Kensington Gardens. Yesterday and today have been pretty quiet. But tomorrow night we are going to see the US U-18 soccer team play Mexico in the Northern Ireland Milk Cup. What luck to be able to see the US National team... while we're in Northern Ireland!

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21 July: Tower Bridge, South Bank, and the London Eye


In the morning, we went to the Tower Bridge. On the way, we saw one of the remaining bits of London's Roman wall and the outside of the Tower of London. The exhibit in Tower Bridge was great. It included a description of the crowding that necessitated building the bridge and some of the competing designs, as well as a history of bridge building in the world.

After the bridge, we walked along the South Bank and stumbled on a street festival. M especially liked seeing the acrobats. After lunch at Giraffe, we took a ride on the London Eye. We had ridden the Eye in 2008, but M didn't remember it. The view of Westminster and the Houses of Parliament from the Eye is beautiful. M found a copy of "The London Eye Mystery" by Siobhan Dowd at the hotel and was glad to have it to read while we waited in line for our ride on the Eye. M recommends the book, "it was very good."

For dinner, we went to our favorite Prince Edward Pub in Bayswater.

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23 July: Greenwich



Hi. It's me, M and my 5th post is about Greenwich, which hosts the
Prime Meridian (right).
It was fun to have one foot on each side of the world. Minneapolis's
location is at 44 degrees, 59 minutes north, 93 degrees, 16 minutes west. (Just for comparison, Greenwich is at 52 degrees, 32 minutes north, 0 degrees, 0 minutes east/west). After that, we saw some time/longitude/latitude exhibits. After that, we went to the planetarium and saw a show. The show said that there are 553,170 known asteroids in space. Then we went to the Greenwich Market. I got an owl who will be named either Roberto or Luca. The last pic is right and below.

20 Jul: Kew Gardens


On Wednesday morning, we headed to the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew. Our first stop was the Xstrata Treetop Walkway, where we climbed 117 steps to the 59 foot high loop over part of the gardens. I held on tight when the wind caused the walkway to sway but the view was beautiful.

M liked playing at the "Climbers and Creepers" playground and the badger dens, where he met some other kids and played hide and seek. We walked across Sackler's Crossing, where we watched a peacock and listened to his call, saw the California redwoods, and got caught in a brief rain shower at the Chinese pagoda and Japanese gateway.

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19 Jul: Harry Potter

We saw the last Harry Potter movie the way it is meant to be seen... in London!

We flew from Belfast to London. After checking into our favorite hotel and getting lunch at a nearby pub, we went to see the movie. I think that this was my favorite of the movies.

We picked up salads and sandwiches to eat at the hotel for dinner and watched "The Story of Maths" on BBC 4.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

16 July: Tower Museum

We're spending the weekend in Derry, after being on the road the last few. The weather is rainy and very cold (13 C, 55 F) so we decided to go to the Tower Museum. M and I went the first week we were here but Steve hadn't been yet. Also there is a temporary exhibit on megaliths in Northern Ireland that Steve and I wanted to see.

The temporary exhibit is developed by a local Young Archeologists Club and had great information about the different types of megalithic tombs, which include court tombs, stone circles, and passage tombs. The types are classified by the number of chambers, shapes of the chambers, and court tombs have an uncovered u-shaped court in front.

A staff member at the Museum built wooden models that can be taken apart and rebuilt. M enjoyed building the tombs.

Once we entered the permanent "Story of Derry" exhibit, a staff member showed us a tomb that had been found near Derry and moved to the museum. In the tomb's cover, he showed us a face carved into the stone. Can you see it?

At the end of the "Story of Derry exhibit," there is a table with blocks that look like the city walls and the buildings within the walls. M played with the blocks and built the High Cross Town that he wrote about in his post today.

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16 July: High Cross Town, UK (Tower Museum)

Hello to all in my fourth post!! (This is M). We went to the Tower Museum (more on that from Mom) and at the end there was a wooden village with a temple/church and castle inside wooden walls!! You were allowed to move everything around... so I did and made High Cross Town! It's one of the few UK towns to have democracy since the Middle Ages. In High Cross Town, the houses were closer to the walls so that everything was protected. There are three regions, which are Kildare, Ulacht and Napoleon. What I think should be the top 5 attractions in High Cross Town:

5. "Airborne Albus"
Description:
A cannon on top of the city walls. Closest to the south entrance, it gets its name from the period which it sat on top of the south entrance, which was 1552-1975.

4. The Southwest Point Museum
Description:
One of the six lookouts on the walls, it no longer remains one (a lookout) but a museum, mainly showing High Cross Town from 1489 (when it reached 1,003 people) to 1975 (end of the famines and Airborne Albus's reign).

3. The Citizen House
Description:
The house where the citizens and current government come together to decide important decisions (and, every decade, to recap it all). They first came together in 1481 and will celebrate their 250th meeting in 2015 when they choose the new president!!

2. Bri Temple
Description:
This is where from 1975 to the present day they worship Zeus (yes, they believe in the Greek gods and yes, this is 73 feet in the air and overlooking the sky). Why 1975? When the famines ended, they thought it was Zeus that stopped Hades (the famines) and ever since have worshipped him. (Bri means Power).

1. Border Castle
Description:
A castle that was built in 1399 (finished in 1481) that represents High Cross Town united together. It has Kildare's flag (green with a blue cross like the Scottish flag), Ulacht's flag (red with a white stripe), Napoleon's flag (yellow with a black canary), HCT (High Cross Town)'s flag (green with a white stripe and a black canary) and the UK flag. The 30-minute tour is totally worth it! The prices are: Adult=£10.00 Senior=£7.50 Child (u17)=£5.00 Family=£19.99.

Mom has some stuff (see way, way above this). Next from me: 5th post!! Woo-hoo!

8-13 July: Dublin by Droid



After I finished our Dublin posts, I realized I had even more photos on my phone. Here are the best of them.

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Friday, July 15, 2011

15 July: Buncrana


M and I drove to Buncrana this morning. M played at the playground and then we walked down to the beach. We found a soccer ball on the beach and M kicked it up and down the beach while I collected seashells. We didn't bring the ball home, in case its owner came back to reclaim it. We walked down the street to the Buncrana Castle but the Castle isn't open to the public, so we just walked around the grounds before heading back to the car.

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14 July: Solo Cissokho

M and I drove to Letterkenny in Donegal to see Solo Cissokho, a seventh-generation griot storyteller and kora player from Senegal. Solo is performing in a couple of places in Donegal as part of the Earagail Arts Festival, a two week, countywide arts festival. Only about 40 people turned out for the storyteller. He asked that kids sit on the floor at the front of the auditorium and M was only one of five kids to sit in front. Solo engaged the audience, teaching us to say hello in Swahili ("Jambu") and asking each of the kids his/her name. The kids each also had a turn playing the kora, which is a handmade instrument similar to a guitar, but with 23 strings. M liked playing the kora.

I couldn't take pictures, as the theater was dark. But here is a video of Solo Cisskho performing in Oslo in 2008.

12 July: Megalithic tombs at Knowth and Newgrange


On Tuesday we took a tour bus out to the megalithic sites at Newgrange and Knowth. Steve and I were expecting only to have time to see one of the sites but were pleasantly surprised to find out that we could see both. We went to Knowth first. Our guide explained that the site had been used by four groups: around 3000-2000 BC, during the Iron Age (around early centuries A.D), during the Early Christian period (8-12th century), and during the Norman era (12-14th century). During the Norman period, the land was used by a monastery that farmed 35,000 acres around Knowth. The Normans also built tunnels through the mounds and M and I got to climb through one of the tunnels.

After Knowth, we went to Newgrange. Newgrange looks much different than Knowth, in that most of the site is one large monument, rather than many smaller ones at Knowth, and is older (5000 years old). The guide described the work to build Newgrange is thought to have taken 80 years, at a time when people lived only about 30 years, and that the builders dragged the large rocks along the river and then 4km (2.5 miles) uphill to the site. It took 80 workers 4 days to move one of the rocks up to the site! There is a single path into the monument, which allows sunlight to enter for just 17 minutes a day and only on the days around the winter solstice. Our guide used electric lights to demonstrate what the light would look like at the solstice. There is a lottery to pick people who get to bring a guest and come see the monument on one of the days near the solstice. Steve and I each filled out a lottery ticket, but with 50 winners out of 30,000 entrants each year, we aren't holding our breath.

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We found out that the Tower Museum has an exhibit on megalithics in Northern Ireland! I think we'll try to get there this weekend.

10 July: GAA Leinster Final


It's me, M! I went to the GAA Leinster Final between Dublin and Wexford at Croake Park. Dublin won 2-12 to 1-12 (18 to 15). This means that they will play in the All-Ireland Semi-final. Maybe I should explain a little of Gaelic Football. You can run with the ball five steps but then you have to bounce it. If you run another five steps you need to kick it to yourself (or pass it.) The scoring: at each end of the field there are American football-like goal posts (only different because there is not one post in the middle; instead two spread out like the posts on top.) Kick it through the top and you get a point, scored as 0-01. Kick it through the bottom (and past the keeper) and you get a goal, worth three points and scored as 1-00.

Wexford came really, really close. One of their players scored 0-07! However, they have one fatal flaw. In both of Dublin's goals their keeper was totally out of position. Sorry, Wexford! (for this and the next paragraph.)

I got some cool souvenirs! They were an "Ath Calith" (Dublin) flag and a scarf bearing "The Dubs" at each end.

It wasn't just the seniors (and souvenirs), though. The minors also played. I don't remember the score (we only saw the last 5 minutes) but Dublin beat Meath something like 3-18 to 2-15.

That's all from me today. However, you should keep watching. Although I am done, Mom is just getting started...

Thursday, July 14, 2011

11 July: Dublin

We started Monday morning at Trinity College, where we saw the Book of Kells and its accompanying display "Turning Darkness into Light." M liked seeing the Irish Ogham language and learning a few Latin words. We all liked the poem Pangur Bán:

I and Pangur Ban, my cat,
'Tis a like task we are at;
Hunting mice is his delight,
Hunting words I sit all night.

Better far than praise of men
'Tis to sit with book and pen;
Pangur bears me no ill will;
He, too, plies his simple skill.

'Tis a merry thing to see
At our task how glad are we,
When at home we sit and find
Entertainment to our mind.

Oftentimes a mouse will stray
Into the hero Pangur's way;
Oftentimes my keen thought set
Takes a meaning in its net.

'Gainst the wall he sets his eye
Full and fierce and sharp and sly;
'Gainst the wall of knowledge I
All my little wisdom try.

When a mouse darts from its den.
O how glad is Pangur then!
O what gladness do I prove
When I solve the doubts I love!

So in peace our tasks we ply,
Pangur Ban, my cat and I;
In our arts we find our bliss,
I have mine, and he has his.

Practice every day has made
Pangur perfect in his trade ;
I get wisdom day and night,
Turning Darkness into light.'

from http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/poetry/PangurBan.html

The Wikipedia article on Pangur Ban also notes that there is a cat named Pangur Ban in the 2009 movie "The Book of Kells."


Monday afternoon we took a tour of Dublin Castle, which was first a Norman fortification, then the seat of English government in Ireland and, after 1922, a ceremonial seat for Irish government and state functions. The original Dublin Castle was built in 1204 and survived until a fire destroyed most of the castle in 1673. The current castle was built after the fire on the same site. As part of the tour, we were able to see an excavation of the original castle walls and tower, under a neighboring building.

10 July: Dublin


We spent Sunday morning walking through Merrion Square and St Stephen's Green. M liked the playground at St Stephen's and watching the finches in Merrion Square. Merrion Square also had statues of Oscar Wilde and Bernardo O'Higgins.

Late in the morning, we split up: M and Steve headed to Croake Park to see a Gaelic football game and I caught the DART (light rail) to Dun Laoghaire*.

Gaelic football, according to the hotel bartender, is like a cross between Australian Rules football and rugby. The game that M and Steve saw was the Leinster (central Ireland) final and home team Dublin won their sixth consecutive Leinster title. M tells me that Dublin's win means that they will play in the All-Ireland semifinal. This coming Sunday, Derry plays Donegal for the Ulster final and their shot at the All-Ireland semifinal. I think I know what the guys will be watching on Sunday afternoon.

I went to Dun Laoghaire to see the James Joyce museum, which is located in the Martello tower that Joyce used as a setting for parts of Ulysses. Unfortunately, the museum changed its hours and wasn't open on Sunday. Instead I walked the beach, watched a sailboat race, and enjoyed a smoked salmon crepe from the Sunday open air market.

*Laoghaire was also the name of a character in a series of books I read this spring. I had all kinds of mental pronunciations for her name, but was surprised to find out that Laoghaire is simply pronounced "Leery."

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

8-9 July: Dublin (evening flight and first day)

We decided to take advantage of Steve having 12 July off from work (for the Northern Ireland holiday for the Battle of the Boyne) and go to Dublin for 5 nights. We flew out on Friday evening and back this morning (Wed 13 Jul). Steve took a little teasing at work for us splurging on airline tickets for what would have been a 3-4 hour drive. But we were glad to be able to arrive Friday evening and stay Tuesday night without Steve having to take Wednesday off. The flights were just 30 minutes. None of us had ever been in such empty planes: there were only 7 passengers on the flight to Dublin and just 4 of us coming back, even though the planes seated 68 and 32, respectively. The customs officer in Dublin told us that often there was only one passenger on the flight!

After arriving Friday night, we took a bus to the hotel, got a quick sandwich for supper, and went to sleep to be ready to get an early start Saturday. On Saturday morning, we walked along the river and through Temple Bar. We then went to Dublinia, a museum about the Viking and Medieval periods in Dublin's history. M loved Dublinia! He took notes for himself, especially about the Viking runic alphabet.

Dublinia is next door to Christ Church, a Gothic church that occupies the same site as the first church in Dublin (c. 1070). I was excited to learn that Christ Church has been used for filming some of the church scenes in "The Tudors" and the wedding costumes worn by Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Henry VIII) and Annabelle Wallis (Jane Seymour) were on display!

We walked back to Temple Bar for lunch and stumbled upon the open air book market. I was tempted to shop the books, but Steve reminded me of the baggage weight limits and I contented myself with photos of books to add to my "to read" list.

Continuing the day's theme, we walked to the National Museum's History and Archeology. M always loves the kids' activity sheets available at European museums and the National Museum's Viking sheet was no exception. His favorite activity was to draw a Viking shield. Finding his favorite object, though, was difficult and Steve and I rested on a bench while he checked back to narrow down the list.

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And, to close, here's a shout out to my favorite radio station BBC R2, which just finished playing an "oldies" set that included the Stones' "Paint it Black," America's "Horse with No Name," and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." I love that the radio stations here don't stick to a single genre or format. I am discovering, or in today's case, rediscovering lots of great music.

Friday, July 8, 2011

8 July: Recap of Soccer Camp



Hallo, it's M! I had a great time at soccer camp! We played the Mini World Cup today to end it all.





My Career Stats:
Goals: 3
Assists: 3
World Cup Assists: 1
Matches: 35
Starts: 32
World Cup Matches: 5
Club: Oranges=7 matches
Greens=23 matches
National Team: Holland=4 matches
Northern Ireland=1 match (sub on)
The Mini World Cup was made up of Argentina, Northern Ireland and Holland. I think either Northern Ireland or Holland won it all.

I got a Nutty Krust goodie bag for participating. Along with some other things, it had a loaf of bread and a funny sticker that said "Do you know the Muffin Man?"


Thursday, July 7, 2011

7 July: Top of the Hill Park


After I dropped M off at soccer camp this morning, I drove up to Top of the Hill park, where a taxi driver had recommended we go to take pictures of the city. What a beautiful view! I walked the park for about half an hour, taking loads of photos looking down on Derry.

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M continues to enjoy soccer camp and promises an update after tomorrow's mini-world cup! And then we are off to Dublin for a long weekend.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

6 Jul: Rainbow


We didn't see a leprechaun or a pot of gold, but we did see the rainbow.

Monday, July 4, 2011

4 July: Happy Independence Day!

Happy 4th of July to everyone at home!

The 4th isn't a holiday here, not even for Americans at Seagate. But Steve reports that the Seagate cafeteria decorated for the 4th and served hot dogs and other barbecue foods for lunch. There was even a band playing in the corner.

M started soccer school today and was excited to write his first post about it. I am sure he will have more to report as the week goes on.

We have our own barbecue planned for tonight. Here are the fixings.


No fireworks, though.

1-3 Jul 11: Sligo and Galway

Our weekend started Thursday night, when we met another Seagate ex-pat family for dinner and another visit to the Grianan of Aileach.

Steve took Friday off from work and we drove to Sligo, on the west coast, stopping at the Yeats Tavern in Drumcliff for lunch. We arrived in time for the 3pm show at the Irish Raptor Centre. The show lasted a full hour and included many raptors flying right over the audience -- close enough that M and I even felt talons across our ears and forehead! The Himalayan vulture was one of our favorites. He is 3 years old, weighs 10 kilos (22 lbs), and has a wingspan of 3m (9 feet)! Flying is tough if you are that big and he tried to "cheat," hopping from trainer to trainer to get his chicken treats. I always like the owls and we were allowed to pet the back of one of the owls, so soft.

After the raptor show, we checked into our hotel and walked into the town center for dinner. After dinner, we walked more and looked at the abbey ruins through the gate. The abbey was built in the 1280s.

Saturday morning we got an early start and drove to the Carrowmore megalithic cemetery. We enjoyed walking among the tombs and through one of the larger ones. From Carrowmore, we could see Knocknanera, the legendary tomb of mythical Queen Maeve.

We drove south from Carrowmore and were surprised at how much flatter the land is south of Sligo, not the rugged rolling hills we're used to in the north part of Ireland. We arrived in Galway mid-afternoon. Galway is a vibrant town with a large pedestrian shopping area. It's also the first spot we've visited where we've seen crowds of tourists (and mostly American tourists). I bought some yarn made in Donegal at a yarn shop in the pedestrian mall.

Sunday morning we drove home so Steve and M could rest before heading back to work and to soccer camp, respectively.

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p.s. thanks to M for teaching me how the spell check in Blogger works.

4 Jul 11: M talks about soccer school


M here. Today I started soccer camp. I was put with 13 other boys between the ages of 8-10 and we kicked off by practicing dribbling skills.



Then we got to the really fun part: matches. I was wearing my USA jersey. I was picked by the Oranges, so I was just wearing the orange bib after that. The Oranges lineup was this: M (me), M (a different one), L, A and J. L was the tallest person on the team. A is from Vancouver! We played 7 matches and we won 5 and drew 2. Our record was almost 5-1-1, but I slotted a last-second goal to keep us at 5-2-0. Here is how it happened. I had the ball from a cross. I used my new Nike T90s to boot the ball up. Too high, I thought. The goalkeeper thought so too. He stayed on the left. The ball went and went - and flew into the upper-right hand corner! Goal!!!!! And there's the whistle! 2-2. A draw!

My Nike T90s (pictured below) are fabulous! They fit me perfectly and are worn by EPL stars Wayne Rooney and Fernando Torres plus Yaya Toure, who scored the FA Cup winner! Can't wait until Tuesday for another day of camp!