The Rames family arrived in Ireland on the 24th of August. We're missing a few of our family with Radley, Tuna, Charlotte and Steeeve not able to join us. The great comfort we have is that they are all under the great care of people we love and trust. Radley and Tuna will join us in December and Steeeve will stay with our friends Beth and Sam until we arrive back with his girlfriend. Yes, you read that correctly. We plan to acquire an Irish lass of a guinea pig and expat her to the U.S. to live out her life with some type of arranged marriage. It's the master plan of JJ's and at this point, there's not much questioning related to the plan. Charlotte will stay with the Moore's for what we can only imagine are her golden years as an 8 year old goldfish must be about 209 in human years.
We've been here for about 10 days, so I'll give you our top 10 list of experiences.
1. Moved into our temporary house in Ballsbridge, which is a close neighborhood to the city center (about 15 minute walk from the heart of Dublin. Our house is a bit small, but 4 bedroom temporary apartments are tough to come by. Who needs them anyway as all three have decided to shack up in the small bedroom with 2 single beds. Rod has chosen the floor. It's a great location with one great neighbor! (On our list of "Must do once in a lifetime" items, check off: Live right next door to a major sporting complex.) Yes, our home for the next few weeks is Aviva Stadium. Home to the Irish National Rugby team and host to many other major events. So far, we've had an Ireland/England rugby match, an Ireland Rugby open training session, and a Slovakia/Ireland football match.
2. Enrolled the kids in school. Rod and JJ will be going to (St. Mary's Boys National School of Booterstown) and Grace will be going to Our Lady of Mercy Convent School, also in Booterstown. They are very good schools in a great area that we are going to be living in.
3. Speaking of living in: Our new digs are going to be in Booterstown. It will be about 8 minutes walk to Grace's school with another 7 to the boys school. Here's the address, but we aren't expecting Christmas cards: 7 Hampton Park, St. Helen's Woods, Booterstown, Dublin 14. It's a semi-detached house (read: duplex) with a nice small garden (read: back yard). We are VERY excited to move in on the 16th. Hopefully, by then, we will have the furniture on the way as it is unfurnished and we didn't bring any furniture. Yes, Virginia, there is an IKEA in Dublin and we found it TODAY!!! Pictures of the house to come.
4. Were officially accepted into the country by completing the mandatory tests required of all prospective immigrants to ANY country: standing/sitting in queues (read: lines), getting numbers, filling out paperwork (BLOCK LETTERS IN IRELAND), and paying money. We were able to do all these to such a level they accepted us.
5. Did the requisite tourist stops at such Dublin landmarks as the Guinness Brewery, Trinity College (yes, Martha did get to see the Book of Kells and lecture the family on them), Dublin Castle, St. Stephen's Green (read: Great big garden - see above), and Grafton Street. Mind you this was all done on foot. Martha's pedometer read somewhere about 7 miles. Joe's repeated comment that day: "Why would you want to ride a bus when it's so nice out and everything is so close?"
6. Mastered the public transportation system. OK, mastered might be a strong term, but we have managed to log many trips on the DART (read: rail system for commuters) and Dublin Bus (JJ and Grace can check of their "Must do once in a lifetime" item marked: Ride a double decker bus)
7. Hosted our first visitors from Duvall WA. Vijay and Bairavi Raghavan along with their two kids Vaibhav and Teju vacationed in Ireland and stopped by to share dinner . It had been a long time since we were able to meet up with them in Redmond, so it was ironic that we both had to come to Ireland to make it happen. It was a great time and the kids picked right back up from their previous encounters while Mom's and Dad's enjoyed dinner at an Indian / Irish fusion pub. (Read: curried mashed potatoes - No not really. They just had dishes from both countries.)
8. Bought all our books and uniforms for schools and contemplated filing for financial aid. Yes, uniforms are the rule here. Jumpers (read: sweaters), shirts, ties, wool pants, and black dress shoes. Pleated skirts, peter pan collar shirt, black socks/tights, and navy mary janes. They look sharp!! The book ritual was a new one for us as we had to acquire them like college and THEN had to cover them with adhesive contact paper to protect them. After 30+ books, we're no longer new to this ritual and will not be disappointed AT ALL if they move to eBooks.
9. Had our first days of school. Riding the train to school was a new experience and by the second day, Martha had figured out the schedule so we didn't have to get to school 30 minutes early.
10. Tested the Guinness consistency at a number of locations, including the Guinness brewery. And for all that know Martha, it didn't improve greatly from her perspective by drinking it closer to the source. Joe on the other hand is of the opinion that Guinness is better when consumed in Dublin. Please remember that as you plan your next European vacation destination. We're waiting with a cool one.
More to come.
We've been here for about 10 days, so I'll give you our top 10 list of experiences.
1. Moved into our temporary house in Ballsbridge, which is a close neighborhood to the city center (about 15 minute walk from the heart of Dublin. Our house is a bit small, but 4 bedroom temporary apartments are tough to come by. Who needs them anyway as all three have decided to shack up in the small bedroom with 2 single beds. Rod has chosen the floor. It's a great location with one great neighbor! (On our list of "Must do once in a lifetime" items, check off: Live right next door to a major sporting complex.) Yes, our home for the next few weeks is Aviva Stadium. Home to the Irish National Rugby team and host to many other major events. So far, we've had an Ireland/England rugby match, an Ireland Rugby open training session, and a Slovakia/Ireland football match.
3. Speaking of living in: Our new digs are going to be in Booterstown. It will be about 8 minutes walk to Grace's school with another 7 to the boys school. Here's the address, but we aren't expecting Christmas cards: 7 Hampton Park, St. Helen's Woods, Booterstown, Dublin 14. It's a semi-detached house (read: duplex) with a nice small garden (read: back yard). We are VERY excited to move in on the 16th. Hopefully, by then, we will have the furniture on the way as it is unfurnished and we didn't bring any furniture. Yes, Virginia, there is an IKEA in Dublin and we found it TODAY!!! Pictures of the house to come.
4. Were officially accepted into the country by completing the mandatory tests required of all prospective immigrants to ANY country: standing/sitting in queues (read: lines), getting numbers, filling out paperwork (BLOCK LETTERS IN IRELAND), and paying money. We were able to do all these to such a level they accepted us.
5. Did the requisite tourist stops at such Dublin landmarks as the Guinness Brewery, Trinity College (yes, Martha did get to see the Book of Kells and lecture the family on them), Dublin Castle, St. Stephen's Green (read: Great big garden - see above), and Grafton Street. Mind you this was all done on foot. Martha's pedometer read somewhere about 7 miles. Joe's repeated comment that day: "Why would you want to ride a bus when it's so nice out and everything is so close?"
6. Mastered the public transportation system. OK, mastered might be a strong term, but we have managed to log many trips on the DART (read: rail system for commuters) and Dublin Bus (JJ and Grace can check of their "Must do once in a lifetime" item marked: Ride a double decker bus)
7. Hosted our first visitors from Duvall WA. Vijay and Bairavi Raghavan along with their two kids Vaibhav and Teju vacationed in Ireland and stopped by to share dinner . It had been a long time since we were able to meet up with them in Redmond, so it was ironic that we both had to come to Ireland to make it happen. It was a great time and the kids picked right back up from their previous encounters while Mom's and Dad's enjoyed dinner at an Indian / Irish fusion pub. (Read: curried mashed potatoes - No not really. They just had dishes from both countries.)
8. Bought all our books and uniforms for schools and contemplated filing for financial aid. Yes, uniforms are the rule here. Jumpers (read: sweaters), shirts, ties, wool pants, and black dress shoes. Pleated skirts, peter pan collar shirt, black socks/tights, and navy mary janes. They look sharp!! The book ritual was a new one for us as we had to acquire them like college and THEN had to cover them with adhesive contact paper to protect them. After 30+ books, we're no longer new to this ritual and will not be disappointed AT ALL if they move to eBooks.
9. Had our first days of school. Riding the train to school was a new experience and by the second day, Martha had figured out the schedule so we didn't have to get to school 30 minutes early.
More to come.
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