My 2 Favourite Lucky Charms

 See what I did there?   

                                  The last time I was in California, it was in March.  I went to visit Sabrina and Declan in their new home in Oceanside.  Sabrina and Declan had recently moved from Cork, Ireland to San Diego.   Well..... it was supposed to be San Diego but because the job offer didn't go thru - or something like that - Declan ended up getting a job in Irvine.  So Oceanside turned out to be much closer to work.  

Anyway, when I got to their place, they ended up telling me that they were going to go back to Ireland come this August.  They were going to be going to 2 weddings.  Declan's older bother was getting married and one of his best friends was also getting married.  It ended up being a long "vacation" for them.  6 weeks of which 4 of them was on-line work.  

I got excited to hear that they were going to be going back to Ireland for part of the summer and I said to them that I would love to come and visit.  But as we got closer to August, Sabrina said that she would love to come to Copenhagen.  Oh, I was so excited about that.  I think it was going to be Sabrina's 5th time here in Copenhagen and it would be the first time for Declan.

I kept an eye on the flight plan and as they were landing, I was getting into my car.  It's just a 13 minute drive to the airport.  They only had carry-on luggage so we should be, in theory, able to meet in front of the airport at the same time.  But as I am cruising along the motorway to the airport, traffic is stopped and backed up in the opposite direction - at 11:40 at night.  What the heck!  When I got off of the motorway, the traffic on the surface street was so packed, no cars were moving even an inch.  It was like a movie.  It was impossible for me to get to the parking lot. So I pulled into the hotel just across the street from the terminal.  

What was taking them so long to come out - I wondered.  "We're almost there", was the text message on Whatsapp.  I wrote: I am across the street parked smack in front of the hotel door.  Walk this way - and I sent Sabrina a video pointing the way to get to where I was waiting.  I keep laughing at my video.  But it was just seconds after I hit the "send" button that Sabrina and Declan came walking out of the hotel lobby.  Somebody had told them where the shortcut was at.  You can actually walk to the hotel lobby from the airport without having to step 1 foot outside.

What took so long was that I had totally forgotten that Sabrina was traveling on an US passport. By the time we got to my apartment, it was around 1:00 in the morning.  I made some soup and served it with toasted bread roll and butter.  

Since they were here for only 2 full days, we got a lot of walking and boating packed in. Luckily the weather was amazing.... the first day.  Here now are a few photos that I snapped on our walk along the harbor.

The Royal Library

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Taking a cool break on a hot day.

The Plads (square) was used primarily as a wharf for ships in 1735.  In 1747 the area was used by The Royal Greenland Trade Department.  Eventually the area was named Greenlandic Merchant Plads.  In 1802 the area became acquired by the captain and merchant named Hans Krøyer and is now named after him.

From our resting spot we could see this:

 a ship sailing thru the open bridge.

And this:

The Kissing bridge takes about 1½ minutes to close. 

I captured most of the closing 

and sped it up to just a few seconds.

Once we were ready to get up and continue our walk, we crossed over the Kissing bridge.  I snapped a few pix of Sabrina and Declan on the bridge.

The Royal Play House in the background.

Way in the back is the Royal Opera House.
To the right is Denmark's most expensive real-estate.
Private apartments -
they don't actually seem to have that Wow! effect

Once we cross the bridge, 

Nyhavn is there to welcome us with bright 

colours (oops, I did it again)

Once we past Nyhavn, I lead the way via part of Europe's longest walking street to the canal boats located just beyond Højbro Plads (High Bridge Square) and Gammel Strand (Old Beach) and across the street from the parliament building.  Here are a few pix from our boat ride. 

Sailing by the Church of Our Savior.
These photos were supposed to be video 
but silly me had the lens on "photo".

At the end of a very busy day full of sight-seeing, 

 we walked back to my place for a BBQ dinner.

The next day was a bit gloomy in the sky.  Sabrina wanted to hit up Christiania.  I don't really know it because Jens preferred me not to go there. Christiania is an intentional community/socialistic and anarchist commune in the Christianshavn neighbourhood (Oops - i did it yet again).  It began in 1971 as a squatted military base.  Its main selling street, Pusher Street, was famous for its open illegal trade of cannabis - hens Jens not wanting me to spend time there.  According to wikipedia, Chrisitania is considered to be the fourth largest tourist attraction in Copenhagen.  You can read more about it here.

Instead of walking all the way there, 

we sailed half the way via the harbor water bus.

They weren't into standing in front of the

camera so much so I had to act quick.

Here we are leaving.

I crack up at the sign.

But I don't think it is meant to be a joke.

There was a lot more walking so 

a refreshing break was in need.

Then we made a long walk to the Kings summer castle.  At the time when it was built in the early 1600s by King Christian IV, it was outside of the city walls.  Now it's considered the center of town.  This is where the royal crown and royal jewels are kept.  Click here to read more.

Our last big event was visiting Tivoli Gardens.  It was Declan's first time so you kind of have to go to Tivoli when visiting Copenhagen.  We walked around the gardens, ate dinner, and then we went on the roller coaster and tossed our cookies.

Thanks Sabrina and Declan for coming to town to visit this old man.  

I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

LUCK OF THE IRISH

The magical leprechauns have luckily allowed me to take a quick weekend trip to Ireland.  It's a place that I have been wanting to visit for quite a while.  Waterford, Ireland to be specific but that will have to wait until next time.  For now it was just the capital city for a whopping total of 48 hours spread out over 3 days.  This time I am here specifically to visit my brother's daughter, Sabrina. 

In 2010, as a graduation gift, Sabrina came out to Europe with her aunt and uncle from Wisconsin.  On their journey, they made a quick pit stop in Copenhagen.  That was all it took for Sabrina to be smitten by the travel bug.  This once quite and shy little girl is now out on her own discovering the world.  She has already seen several European countries and has even completed a couple of classes as a student in Italy.  At the moment, she is caring for 2 small children in the center of Dublin until her visa expires.

I contacted Sabrina on Messenger to hear which weekend was best for a visit.  She is off every weekend along with every second Monday.  I found the weekend that worked best for me according to her free time.  Likewise, I  booked myself a typical Irish hotel near Sabrina's apartment and along the river Liffey.

Sabrina told me that she would meet me at the bus stop.  Airport bus 747 - easy to remember - stops right at Christ Church Cathedral.  It the closest stop to her apartment and the one she uses when she needs to get to and from the airport.  With departures every 15 minutes and only €6, it's a bargain with convenience.   From the bus stop, Sabrina led the way to my hotel.  It was just a 5 minute walk.

When I stepped off the bus at Christ Church Cathedral, Sabrina saw me before my eye's could focus on this new adventure city.  Here she comes up the street with a big cardboard cup of java in hand, a bounce in her step and a big smile on her face that made me feel so welcome.

She knew exactly where the hotel was located and the quickest way to get there.  I arrived in the city at about 11 but check-in was at 2 in the afternoon or later.  The woman at the bar told me to just set my bag down and she will look after it until I come back.  I paid for the room, got the room key and then I was off to see the city with my own personal tour guide.

 I just arrived and dropped off my bag in the bar.  We crossed the river and snapped this pix while there was sunshine.  I have my windbreaker-sweater on and a light jacket over that.  I called Jens when I arrived at the DUB airport and he told me they were having the expected freak heat wave in Copenhagen.

 

 On messenger, Sabrina told me that when I arrived, she would take us to have brunch. I could hardly wait - seriously.  And here we are.  It was a very special moment for me.

 After brunch we walked to the world famous Temple Bar in the area of the city that goes by the same name.

 There is an endless amount of colorful buildings to snap and I shot many of them.

 Here we have just passed the entrance to a park called St. Stephan's Green.

 This is Christ Church Cathedral above and below on the right.  On the lower left is Dublina, a museum showing Viking Dublin and Medieval Dublin.

Just a standard street  lamp and corner statue.

 above - Dublina museum.
below -  The inside of Christ Church Cathedral.

One of the many colorful windows in the Cathedral.

 The catacombs under the church.

The fascinating arch connecting the museum and the cathedral.

 Here we are at Brazen Head - Ireland's oldest pub and it's just across the street from my hotel.

Be sure to click the link and check it out.

 I had no idea that the beer was black and that you had to let it settle for 2 to 3 minutes before drinking it.  When it settles, it goes from black to ugly dark brown. It looks like it's going to be a heavy brew but it's actually quite lite and rather tasty.

 Evening is upon us and I am doing my best to take in as many shots as possible while there is still a bit of light.

Sabrina asked me what I would like to eat tonight.  Here we are at a typical Irish restaurant.  They specialize in potato pancake which is what Sabrina ordered.  As I was reading the menu card, the different kinds of stews they offered sounded really special.  There was also a choice of 3 different kinds - so naturally........

 We pounded the pavement until 9 in the evening.  I had a busy day and an early start.  I just couldn't keep up with my very young niece.  I was still on Danish time and ready to turn in.  Of course now I am kicking myself in the butt for not going out with her to feel the theme of the Irish magic.
But one very odd thing we saw was this restaurant with rotating dishes.
I hope this video works on your end.  You can also view in full screen to better see the dishes go by.

 

Sabrina surly felt the Irish magic Saturday night because she arrived very late to breakfast at my hotel the next day.  But not a problem since it was raining and it gave me time to fill out the 4 post cards that I sent.  I called Jens in the morning and he bragged that he had to take off his jacket while walking the dog because it was just too warm.

I love museums but I love being outdoors even more so it has to be raining for me to step inside such a place like the Guinness Brewing Company tour.  After a stomach full of very tasty hotel breakfast food, we shot open our spring loaded umbrellas and Sabrina showed me the way to the Guinness Store House.  The price was a bit steep I thought but once inside you understand why.  It was very well worth it and quite interesting.  I snapped way too many pix here.

I'm not sure what this has to do with beer but we are in the advertising section.
A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.

There were several places where you could eat and taste a beer.  Sabrina suggested we wait until we get to the top.  Wow!  That was one of fancy sky beer-bar with a view that just doesn't quit.

 After the brew tour we head out to Sabrina's apartment.  This is the beginning of her neighbor which is just steps from Guinness.

 All that walking through the beer company made us hungry so we stopped at this really cute cake and coffee house called Queen of Tarts.

It's starting to clear up a bit so I'm ready with my camera again and snap anything with sunshine on it.

Above is the famous Temple Bar and below is Ha'penny Bridge.

 I love the old architecture so snap snap.

There are a lot of church's all over town but I didn't get the feeling that it was a holy roller kind of place.

Here is a statue of St. Somethingoranother, aka St. Whatshisface.

 This is the hotel I stayed at - very typical Irish.  My first choice was just down the street, closer to town and also along the river front but it had an Italian theme - I decided to go for the luck of the Irish and glad I did.

 More Irish food tonight please!  On Yelp, Sabrina found this fab restaurant that served fantastic food at a very affordable price.  Should have ordered the Guinness instead though.  They had a lot of wines to choose from and home made beers.  The beer was too fruity for me - if you can believe that.

So that's it.  Dublin came and gone in a flash.  It was great to see Sabrina again and I had a wonderful time with her.  On my last day, she had breakfast with me again at the hotel and then she walked me to the bus stop to go back to the airport.  On the bus, on the way back to the airport, I snapped a bunch of last impressions from the upper deck window.
Thanks Sabrina for giving this old man a wonderful tour of your town. 

 If you are interested, you can see all 109 photos here -
click on this home link
or
click on this direct link.

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