Thanksgiving 2010

We had a proper Thanksgiving celebration, thanks to the canned pumpkin that was smuggled in from Oregon.  We had trouble finding turkey, but eventually found a boned and rolled turkey breast from our local butcher.  In the end, we successfully managed to feed seven people.  I was the only American, and although everyone had celebrated Thanksgiving at least once before, most had never had pumpkin pie.  I had heard rumors that Europeans don't like to eat this squash for dessert, but by the end of the night everyone agreed that they like it.

We forgot to take photos of most of the meal, but managed to get a photo with some of the leftovers.

Grand Canal Docks on the way to the grocery store

Grand Canal Docks

Ireland, Poland, USA, Denmark, Italy and Germany represent

Leftovers

Wheels

We finally got ourselves a set of wheels to cart us around this fine island. The whole acquisition process was long and dire, and we won't bore you with details, but here is the result. It has a grinding clutch, a leaky radiator and the lights are somewhat - what should we call it, temperamental. But despair not, because the steering wheel has red stitching, the engine roars like a dragon, and best of all, the finish is black! What more could one possibly want?

We still need to decide on a name - and yes, we do welcome suggestions. Tradition dictates something Nordic, with previous members being Boerre, Solveig, and Bjoerg, but we might just go crazy and choose a Celtic name this time.

Malahide to Portmarnock

Last Sunday, we walked from Malahide to Portmarnock, a lovely hike we had already done in the other direction in the summer. It was a lot of fun, even if the weather took a turn for the worse towards the end. All of a sudden things turned dark, and the wind propelled heavy rain drops right into our faces. We hurried to the train station and to our warm home.

Malahide harbour in the background, weather still nice and spirits high.

Another worthwhile manner of spending one's Sunday.

Wind picking up a bit on the beach.

A storm is brewing.

And this was the last photo we were able to take. Trust us, the rest of the walk was also very nice, only cold and wet.

Bull Island

On Sunday we went for a walk on Bull Island on the north side of Dublin Bay.  The island is fairly recent as it was inadvertently created by natural siltation after construction of the sea walls of Dublin Port.  Now it's a nice place for a walk and very popular with kite surfers on windy days.

Bridge to Bull Island

View of Howth Head from Bull Island