First snow, ice and hail, now no WATER! - 17th January 2010

Ok, to be fair, there hasn't been that much snow all over the country within the last 50 years. Nobody was prepared. So it was not surprising that it took days to have the streets gritted (as salt and sand ran out and with only 5 machines for an entire city, it was expectedly slow). And there are still people stuck in the mountains cut off supplies or others too far off from work to be able to make it there. Then we had floods again.

Now, we don't have water. Maybe, because people, obviously afraid of frozen water pipes, let the water tubs run, or because of broken pipes thanks to the icy conditions. However, the effect is the same, the water ran out.

And this is not funny at all. We are not in a desert. We are on an island, surrounded by water, with rivers all over the country! Maybe the ground is frozen... I actually don't care. I want the water back! I don't want to go to the gym (and let's hope they still do have water!) to have a shower. I don't want to buy extra-water at Tesco's to be able to cook rice or soup!

I think it is time to leave.

Sadly.

Winter in Dublin - January 9th and 10th 2010

I love snow. I admit I was a little sad about having missed winter and snow when going home over Christmas holidays, but I was rewarded with snow, hail and icy fog in Dublin. No need to mention that this country is not used to snow and icy roads, as it normally never snows. On the first day, the bus transport system broke down, the salt for the streets ran out too quickly and with only five machines to cover a whole city it took its while.

Now, its getting a little warmer, and the snow starts melting... It was supposed to snow again this weekend... Waiting... still waiting...

Oh, and my course was cancelled due to weather conditions.

Happy New Year - Snow in Sandymount

Ok, to be honest, it was snowing when I arrived yesterday too, but it was late... So I snatched my camera today to catch the snow...

Christmas Holiday in Munich - December 22nd through 31st

When I arrived, there was still some snow left. So, the very next day we went on a short walk along old paths. As expected, there were quite a few changes...

Christmas presents handed out, mass sung (quite successful this time... oh, and there was a butterfly attending too)... more walks on the next day, this time to the Allianz arena and our little old church.

Normally, our family comes over on the Stephen's Day, but this time it was on Sunday after mass and having sung at church. Food was wonderful, as always, but it took them quite a while to go... Family can be taunting.

On Monday, when everybody else ran into town after 4 days of celebrating, eating and being forced to walk instead of going shopping, Munich went shopping, and some, as we did, went to the museum to view the Mucha exhibition which was really wonderful. Afterwards, we passed the space where once the Süddeutsche Zeitung's building had been. The rest of the day I spent meeting friends and catching up...

The next day I spent with more catching up and... and hunting books with one bookshop gone and two others with not the books I was looking for. And I also walked by an underground station which had changed a lot: Münchener Freiheit. I do like the style above ground...

Yahoo! Christmas Party - December 12th 2009

Visit from Munich - December 6th 2009

We actually planned to go into the Guiness Brewery, however, we didn't. Instead, we walked to Temple Bar and O'Connell Street to get the girls some "real" fish and chips, before they had to head back to the airport...

Visit from Munich - December 5th 2009

We made a 5 star hotel our base and, after a short night headed for Howth on Saturday to check on the seals and to sea a lighthouse. Although the weather was not brilliant, in fact it was drizzling and very windy and cold, we climbed up the hill and walked until we could see the second lighthouse on the other side of Howth island. Hungry and freezing, we went to a fish restaurant at the pier and enjoyed a wonderful dinner.