Emily and Maeve enjoying the cruise down the Rhine River		 The  Irish Connection Fifth Edition
February 09, 2007

The McNamara Family Visit Germany

 

Failte!!! 

 
The autumn has descended upon Dublin. The sun is starting to disappear much more rapidly, that is when the sun decides to come out from behind the rain clouds. You probably read about the floods in the UK. Ireland also got hit pretty badly but I think this country is much more use to it.  
The girls are all doing well and they have really taken to school. Maeve has started being good for our babysitter Sarah, so Becky and I can now go out again. It is nice to have an adult conversation once in awhile. Now Becky just needs to find an adult to have the conversation with. We have found a nice restaurant in our town of Blackrock called Dali’s. We have been there three times in the last six weeks, and it is quite good.  


Hiking with the Girls in the Wicklow Mountains

I have not been around the house during the week lately with Becky and the kids. GSX has required me to work to late at night. How I miss the exchange hours of old? There is nothing like the 3:57pm out of Hoboken with a Railhead dog and a beer. To makeup for my absence at home I have subjected the kids to Family day on the weekends. This means we spend the day touring around someplace in the Dublin area. The kids pretty much whine most of the time, but Becky and I are enjoying ourselves, especially if the sun is out we spend the time in the Wicklow Mountains walking around. You have to take advantage of the sun when you get it.  

At the end October we went to Germany for five days. It was my first time in a foreign country that doesn’t speak English. (This does not include Edison, NJ). We arrived into Dusseldorf on Friday evening and checked into the hotel and proceeded to immerse ourselves in the culture by watching Toy Story 2 on pay per view. We woke up Saturday and planned to tour around Dusseldorf, and then we would take the train to Cologne. Our plans were change as numerous citizens told us not to go to town centre because of “demonstrations”. When we inquired further about these “demonstrations”, they told us that between 5 and 10 thousand skinheads were expected in town to protest the immigration of foreigners. We had to go to town centre anyway to catch the train to Cologne so we figured it was 9:30am in the morning and the skinheads would still be sleeping. We arrived at the train station and there was a big police presences but no skinheads, so we left for Cologne. Cologne is a beautiful city with so much history. The Romans originally settled it. Cologne means “colony”. The main attraction of the city is the “Dom” cathedral (left), which dates back to 1250AD. It is the biggest church I have ever seen. The kids enjoyed a tour of a chocolate museum, which is located on the banks of the Rhine. The city has an unbelievable infrastructure of trains, subways, and light rail traversing everywhere. The people of Germany seem a little reserve or stand offish, but maybe it’s the sight of two crazy yanks with four kids in tow coming at them. After Cologne we travelled on the ICE train to Frankfurt. It was a beautiful train ride along the banks of the Meim River. It took about three hours. We didn’t see too much of Frankfurt because we arrived late in the day, but Frankfurt is the closet thing to a modern US city with its skyscrapers. We spent one night in Frankfurt and flew back to Dublin the next morning, but not before some crazy German streaked in front of our hotel as we were leaving. Nobody ever really needs to see a naked German prancing around at 9 in the morning. The girls thought it was hysterical, and I just tried to cover the girls’ eyes. That was pretty funny by itself.

Well that’s it for now. Maybe by the time I a write new update the US will have picked it’s President. It is no fun being in a foreign country when the US looks so ridiculous, but I put up with it.  

Have patients we are downloading more great pictures. 


The girls in front of the Dom in Cologne


A Roman Arch that dates back to 50 B.C.


Ruins of St Kevin's Church in Glendalough


The girls cruising down the Rhine. Definitely not as warm as the weather looks

Emily, Bridget, Grace, and Maeve at the Upper Lake in Glendalough
Emily in front of the Chocalate fountain at Schokoladen Chocolate Museum. Not a ompalompa in sight anywhere

 

 

So Long!
Irish Connection