Dublin: Week 3

Just a few photos for now. Update later. 

Dublin: Cooking for Two and Penny Pinching

Marisol and I have been on a slightly tight budget since we have been in Dublin. Not so tight that we can't enjoy ourselves or anything, but tight meaning my habits (especially) of eating/dining out like I usually do back at home have been reduced significantly. Therefore, it is necessary that we must cook something for ourselves to save money and spend it on things that do count such as alcohol (just kidding, or am I???), my snack cravings and late night taxi rides if we are out because buses stop running around 11pm. Just kidding! 

We are both still waiting (for what seems like forever) on some funding for the trip/program so once that comes in, along with my reimbursements, it is ON. We want to fly out to either Barcelona, Italy or Prague. I would LOVE to go to Italy, but when I last checked, fares were pretty expensive. Perhaps, I will let Ryan Air decide my holiday getaway once those checks get in. Definitely going outside of Dublin is a must as well. 

So far we have been pretty good and go to the grocery store once a week evenly splitting the bill. Remember I mentioned that you need to BYOB (bring your own bag) when you go to the grocery store or pay for a flimsy little plastic  bag??? Well, every week I have been bringing along my little roller hand-carry with us to load our groceries in. At first I felt awkward carrying that thing around, but when I see people at the check-out carrying lots of little bags and heaving them away, carefully trying to not spill things, I let out a nice big smile knowing that we can zip that baby away with ease and find time to stroll around the mall a bit and pick up a smoothie to take with us on the walk back home. 

Last week I cooked up my favorite 20 minute meatloaf and Marisol made some delicious rice to accompany the ground chuck. That 1 1/4 pound chuck yielded 6 oval sized patties to provide us 3 meals. Not bad. An odd thing is their tomato sauce here. For some reason, their tomato sauce comes with "Italian" chopped tomatoes. The recipe just needs plain tomato sauce and I couldn't find anything without the chopped stuff. I did also buy tomato puree which guess what?? It was pretty much the equivalent to the tomato sauce back at home. The pureed one home is much thicker but every day here has  been "the more you know" kind of thing. 

Sometimes we don't always eat full meals and have been managing on snacks and ham and cheese sandwiches or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Oh yeah, we have been having a lot of fruit and fiber cereal from Tesco which is soooo good. I'm almost tempted to bring some boxes home but I'd rather bring excess of new clothes instead from shopping trips.

What I have been cooking a lot of is the chicken broccoli casserole my brother's girlfriend, Anna (recipe she got from Christine) makes at home. I usually just help her prepare it but here I have been making it every week and it is so good and Marisol loves it. Usually  Anna makes it using a 13 X 9 inch pan, but we don't have that kind of luxury (heck, we don't even have a spatula!) so we have been using the little individual sized foil containers we saved from our chinese take away during week 1.

Can't you just see how green we have become since arriving here???

It works out well because that way we can make it and have our own pans to eat from. 

The broccoli chicken casserole is easy to make using a few basic ingredients and it is delicious. All you need it white rice (we have been using Tesco brand boil-a-bag long grain - great invention!!!), shredded chicken breast, steamed broccoli, cream of mushroom + mayo + curry powder for the sauce, and grated cheddar cheese to top. You then let it bake in the oven until the cheese melts since everything is already cooked. YUM.

I had intended to do a tutorial but after everything was cooked and ready to be layered and thrown in the oven that idea was tossed out the window because we just couldn't wait to chow down. Maybe next time. 

Not the cutest thing in the world but it sure taste DELICIOUS!!! Actually, the mini-sized containers actually do it make it cute.

I wanted to take photos of it side by side, but as you can see, we couldn't wait to eat it.
The "kitchen" shelf above Marisol's desk in her room.

I'll also post one on the 20 minute meatloaf when I have time. Being in Dublin sparked my creative side in terms of cooking based on what we have left in our fridge. Hahaha. For instance, I made eggs (eggies) in a blanket today for breakfast. Turned out very good. 

Dublin: Week 2 - IMMA and Pub

IMMA (Irish Museum of Modern Art)

The Royal Hospital building houses the IMMA and was designed by Sir William Robinson in 1684 for the Duke of Ormonde as a home for retired soldiers. It remained a home until 1927 and was restored in the 1980s. In 1991 it opened as the IMMA. This was definitely a favorite of mine, but let me tell you a little story.

So... the IMMA was our one main reason to venture out that day. It was FREE (keyword) and looked like a cool spot to check out and go. But with all the hop-on-hop-off stuff going on, our stop 24 at IMMA seemed so far away from say, Trinity College at stop 4 where we spent a considerable time walking around and gawking at the Book of Kells. By the time we arrived at the IMMA, we were in desperate need for caffeine and sweets so we hit up the lovely cafe at the IMMA and ordered 2 lattes with one chocolate chip cookie (delicious!!!) for me and one double fudge brownie topped with mini chocolate chips (delicious!) for Marisol. 

See how happy we are we finally fulfilled our java and chocolate craving and relaxed for a moment?

I am happy!
I am happy too!

Super CUTE cafe with delicious coffee and snacks.

Because of our need for java and snackies and our overall laid back approach, we missed entrance to the museum by like 10 minutes. :( Well, we definitely plan on returning at an earlier time. But for now, I would like to leave you with these photos that were taken outside in the courtyard on our way to the cafe!

Entrance to the IMMA

Please follow signs!

Verrrry interesting! How does one create?

We are late and missed last entry. Look at the time! They close at 5:30 PM!Update: the time is wrong on the clock pictured, please disregard! No one advanced it one hour. 

"What am I?" I have no clue what this is since we were rushing to the cafe and just snapping away, but it reminded me of all my pets. :(

Oliver St. John Gogarty Pub

After the IMMA fell through, we hopped on the bus one last time and went back to Temple Bar now starving in search of ANY ethnic restaurant. As we were about to give into American food, we saw peeking from a corner the word "Thai". We were beyond excited and almost ran to the restaurant where we satisfied our bellies with pad thai and spring rolls. Yum. Feeling content in satisfying our ethnic food cravings we walked down the street and heard the blaring sounds of Michael Jackson songs. No hesitation, that was good enough for us to stop by. The place was packed and practically everyone in that full house was singing at the top of their lungs to all the songs they were playing. It was the most random mix of music from Michael Jackson, The Beatles, Tom Jones' Delilah to U2 (who were due in town for a concert the following week), and just other very random songs. 

Please no hating, so haters to the corner. No Guinness for me that night because I was really really full from the Thai food. I stuck to vodka all night. Clear drinks for me when I am full! Hey, I have discipline! 

Our very nice German father and daughter neighbors sitting next to us. The father accompanied his daughter while she scoped out schools around the area. I believe this was their last night in town.

Our friends that night although they left fairly early.
Next to us was not one, but 2 major celebrations. The guy dressed up as a vintage styled woman was celebrating his bachelor party. And the woman on right from Wales was kicking off her 50th birthday with a bang. She had bobby socks on that looked cute on her!

I am certain that no female was involved in the application of his makeup. All he needed was just a kabuki brush to blend in the blush and maybe a belt for his dress. 

Dublin: Week 2 - Dublin Castle and Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus Tour

Dublin Castle

What is evident from my and Marisol's photos are the two different architectural styles of the castle. At first sight of the castle, it didn't take a non-art major to think "what the hell is going on with this castle?" or "There is some crazy stuff going on here!" because the buildings just don't match. Well, what I found out from the tour was that the Dublin Castle used to be the headquarters of British rule for more than 700 years or something like that. There is very little of the o.g. structure remaining except for an area that contains the Garda (Police) Museum. And amid all the government offices you will see a wide tower that sticks out like a big, fat sore thumb that immediately made me think of Rapunzel being locked in a similar tower letting her golden hair down for her prince. Not only was Rapunzel very healthy with strong roots and hair, but you gotta hand it to those German Brothers Grimm because they sure knew how to create a story like that! Anyway, those government offices really masks that the castle used to be a Viking fortress!!!

Enter to Dublin Castle


1-2-3, we are all different looking!!!

Lady Justice. There was always controversy about Lady J during British control. Her back is turned to the city and she is not blindfolded.
I am below you on your right Lady Justice. Are you biased?!?!?
Marisol is on her left.

There's our bus!!! Please wait for us!!!

Passing by Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin's oldest building founded circa 1030 by King Sitric.

My cute lil' fair-haired, fair-skinned friend smiles big for me. I tell ya' kids love me!

St. Patrick's Cathedral

St. Patrick's Cathedral. This is the National Cathedral for the Church of Ireland (Anglican) Community in Ireland. Cathedral was built by the 1st Anglo-Norman Bishop, John Comyn in 1192, on the site of a little wooden church dedicated to St. Patrick. Gulliver's Travels author, Jonathon Swift is buried here.

Farewell!

Dublin: Week 2 - Trinity College

Hello!

Follow me as I make my journey into Trinity College. I will lead of course.

I have a slew of photos from my 2nd week in Dublin that I will post and divide in parts. 

I will start from the bottom blog post with Trinity College and up to the top ending the night. Very typical of how I like to dress myself/choose outfits: dress from bottom to top meaning, I select outfits based on what pair of heels/flats/sandals/boots/etc I want to use for that particular day or night. It has been effective thus far. If it's not broken, why fix it, right?! So I shall apply my choice of dressing strategy for my blog posting. Hooray!

Actually, they were ALL taken on the one day we decided to do the brilliant hop-on-hop-off bus tour through the city center. And for most obvious reasons, I do happen to be wearing the same outfit you know! We started off the day around 12pm (yes, I like to sleep in and take my time!) and did a whole bunch of things ending the night at can you guess where??? No, really, guess!!! What would a night in Dublin be without ending a nice long day at a pub! I'd question your sanity, possibly thought processes and good ol' common sense if you thought otherwise, no, really I would. 

We didn't have time to stop at all the places in the bus tour we wanted to, but hey, that's for another time and post, I'm certain. 

Ladies and gentlemen, I now present my recap of Week 2 in Dublin starting with Trinity College.

Trinity College

Right smack in the center of the hustle and bustle of modern Dublin lies Trinity College. The oldest university in Ireland houses the Book of Kells, which is arguably one of the most beautifully illuminated manuscripts in the world. The college was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I. 

Book of Kells

The Book of Kells (along with other ancient illuminated manuscripts) are housed in the darkened treasury on the ground floor of Trinity College. It is a superbly illustrated transcription of the Gospels written on vellum. Monastatic scribes demonstrated highly imaginative sublime art with figures of humans and animals and intricate Celtic patterns. 

Story was that the book was discovered in Kells town and was created by four Irish monks off the coast of Scotland who were escaping the Vikings that invaded Ireland. They completed the book in Kells hence the name. 

I sure would not have wanted to be on his bad side during his time! His essence was definitely captured in the statue. I wouldn't know whether to hide or pack his tobacco pipe for him! 

Why look o'er yonder what beholds us?!

My, what big door to match your big windows you have!

Captivated by the magnificent ebony double doors did I dare wait with eagerness that someone will hear my calls and knocks.

But alas, like all other things, my desires were not heard so I resort to abandoning my position as the faithful abiding and serving citizen I am and proceed to turn the knob (which by the way, was a knob of such height! ) anxious to plead out loud, "Please let this good citizen enter through these majestic ebony doors so that I can fulfill my curious senses to find what may lie behind those doors!" Yup, didn't work. 
As I relinquished my hopes in having the ebony doors open, the brave and determined Marisol makes similar attempts at the door.  
Marisol turning the golden knob only to be disappointed that no one can hear our calls.

The Book of Kells this way over my face and you will find the entrance. The only photo I could take indicative of my visit to The Book of Kells since photos were not allowed. Boo-hoo :( The Book of Kells is really something ultra spectacular to see. 

Sitting in front of Trinity College.

Still sitting and rotating to the right about 20 degrees.

Allo to you too my sweet teeny-bopper friends passing by.
My view of Grafton Street while waiting for the green hop-on-hop-off tour bus.