Almost Time to Go
posted on april 27, 2004, tag: me
Getting ready to go on vacation. I'm really excited, even if I don't fancy the idea of flying at all. I haven't flown in a really long time and I'm on edge at the idea of being on a plane for 6+ hours each way (plus the short flights back and forth to Dublin). Aside from that, though, I'm really excited to go.
In preparation for the trip I bought two spare batteries for my digital camera (since the one battery only lasts about an hour of taking constant pictures) and the Belkin iPod Media Reader. Since I only have a 256MB flash card and since I take full-resolution photos (150 fit on the card), the reader was the cheapest way to remove storage limits. This way, I can fill the flash card, dump the photos to my iPod, and keep taking pictures. Since I have a 15GB iPod (with about 10GB free), I'll be able to take thousands of pictures with a single flash card. And because the Belkin reader was only $99, I saved money compared to the hundreds I would have had to spend to get enough space in flash media.
Speaking of photos, I've got about 100 that I've yet to upload to the site. About 30 from two weekends ago when we went to McCarren park and about 70 from last weekend when we went to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. The latter set of pictures is especially lovely because it was a beautiful day and the flowers were all very colourful. Hopefully I can get around to it tonight, as I would like to have them up before I leave on Friday.
Oh, and if any of you have been to or live in either London or Dublin and know of anything we should see or do, feel free to post it here. I'd love to get some suggestions (especially for non-standard tourist things like "Go to Westminster Abbey").
Comments
There are 6 comments, comments are closed
Richard on 04/27/2004:
This is a great thread: link.
(I've escaped the ampersand in the href, so I don't know if the comment script will do it again...)
adam on 04/27/2004:
When you're in London, go to Camden market for great clothes, shoes and chinese spring rolls. In Dublin, I hear the Guinness factory is great, with a bar at the top overlooking the city.
adam
Buzz Andersen on 04/28/2004:
As a veteran of 5 trips to London (and 1 to Dublin), here are my recommendations:
London:
- Go to the top of St. Paul's to get a great view of the city.
- From St. Paul's walk across the Millennium Bridge and visit the Tate Modern.
- While you're on that side of the river, check out The Globe Theater (if you're into that sort of thing, which I am).
- Try to get into the House of Commons Strangers Gallery. Most Americans never realize that they can do this, but my friends and I were able to get in simply by waiting in line at the appropriate entrance. A word of advice if you try this, though—do not show up at the PM's question time (you will be unlikely to get in).
- I second the recommendation of Camden Market for interesting and offbeat shopping. Portobello Road is also pretty nice, but in a more conventional way.
- If you're into record shopping, check out Berwick Street in Soho (right off of Oxford Street, London's "main drag").
- It may sound really touristy, but I was really impressed with Donald Rumbelow's Jack the Ripper walk (http://www.jacktheripperwalk.com/). Make sure you get Rumbelow, though—he's a recognized expert on the subject and gives a great talk that provides an interesting glimpse into London history. You'll want to go back and immediately read Alan Moore's "From Hell."
Dublin:
- The Guinness Storehouse is indeed worth seeing. It's an surprisingly immersive multimedia extravaganza—as sort of theme park for beer. I have a photo here:
http://www.scifihifi.com/photos/ireland/dublin/guinness_small.jpg
- Although a lot of locals consider the place a drunken mad house and avoid it, the Temple Bar is still a fun place to hang out. The Bad Ass Cafe is somewhat famous, has decent food, and sports a bizarre pulley system for delivering orders.
- If you're looking for a really excellent meal, I really enjoyed Shanahan's on St. Stephen's Green (although you will probably want to make sure there are no vegetarians in your party :-).
- The Queen of Tarts in Dame Street is an excellent place for breakfast.
- The highlight of any trip to Ireland is really the people. Try to do things where you get to meet people, and you won't be disappointed.
Hope that helps!
Garrett on 04/28/2004:
Buzz—fantastic. I read a little about the Jack the Ripper walk the other day and was afraid to admit it sounded interesting. But, since you mentioned it, maybe I can deal with the fact that it is quite touristy. I'll remember Rumbelow.
Thanks for all the help, guys, I'm definitely going to use it. Anyone else?
Richard on 04/28/2004:
Dublin: I second the Guinness Storehouse recommendation. I also suggest happily wandering around Temple Bar - one place you must go to eat is Gallagher's Boxty House. If you end up going there, I sat on the long table by the window, round the corner right of the door :)
Buzz Andersen on 04/28/2004:
I second the boxty recommendation. Boxty is the bomb!