Winter wonderland.

Hello,

Well we're in holiday limbo a bit as we've only 6 weeks left in Galway and the big trip is starting to be a bit of a distraction. It's just as well we have a distraction though because it's pretty darn cold here and any distraction from the wet and dark is a welcome change.

The one time it was cold but we didn't mind was in the first week of the new year when the cold bought snow. It was an exciting couple of hours and then the every present rain washed it away. It only snows here every few years so everyone got a bit of a buzz out of it, even the locals.



Em walked to work in a snow storm.



Our apartment walkway covered.



The city looking clean for once!



It hasn't snowed again since but hail is quite common and can be expected every few days. I like dramatic weather so while it's cold it's all good fun.

Happy summer you kiwi's, I hope you're enjoying the good weather as much as I'm enjoying the bad.

Love,
Aimee.

Christmas in Edinburgh

Well hello there and Happy New Year!

While we rang in the new year in fairly standard style at the local pub here in Galway we had an altogether more spectacular Christmas holiday in Edinburgh.



We went to Edinburgh not only to see Scotland but also to visit our buddy Rupe, pictured above in "the meadows" with Emmett. Rupe was a great sport and a fantastic guide who fair nearly wore us out with his determination to show us all of Edinburgh, especially the scary bits!



This is the meadows, a sort of green belt between our hostel and the city, it was cold as the thick frost clearly shows.



So our first tourist stop was the castle. Edinburgh castle is not just an old fortress it's also the home of the war memorial and a couple of museums. We were even there at 1pm, when every day a canon is fired to tell the people of Edinburgh what the time is. In one of the castle towers are the Scotish crown jewels which are really cool and look just like crown jewels in story books. The crown even has that ring of white fur around the bottom of it and everything.



Inside the castle grounds.



Looking up at the castle from inside the lower walls.



Emmett in his Dr. Who t-shirt by a tardis.

So on one of our first nights we all went on a ghost tour of the South bridge vaults. The vaults are the areas under the south bridge that were walled in some rediculous amount of time ago. Anyway at first the vaults were considered good property but then it rained and it turned out they leaked. So they became an underground nasty place where all sorts of bad/poor/sad/mean/icky/illegal stuff happened. And now they're considered haunted, we didn't see any ghosts, still scared the pants offa me though. Less scary but almost cooler was Mary King's close, an entire street simply built over the top of and perfectly preserved below the city council buildings.



Well it got really cold, the canal iced over but alas no snow.





Swanning around, haha.



Well with the sun setting before 4pm each day we had a great deal of evening time. Here we were walking through Santa's petting zoo area (he had real reindeer that he fed) and the castle looked really pretty so we took a couple of pics.





This is Advocates close (a close is like an ally or a side street) the scene of a famous murder, and a pretty picture.



I sorta fell in love with the German Christmas market and it's mulled wine stall... The markets were really cool and sold all sorts of festive stuff, like tree decorations and wooden toys. They also sold German Christmas food like stollen (fruit cake) and german sausage.



OK very exciting was going ice skating on Christmas Eve under Edinburgh castle. Emmett was not keen so Rup and I had a great time while he took pictures. As you can see in the picture below we were naturals.







On Christmas eve evening we went to the Saint Giles Cathedral Carols service, opening line "there will be no more than 8 hymns" - spoil sports. Anyway the 8 we were allowed to sing were very nice and it was good fun.

Christmas day came clear and frosty and it was over to Rupert's for lots of good food and wine.



Christmas group shot.



Spectacular Christmas dinner, many thanks to the chef.



On Boxing day Emmett was a little worst for wear so Rup and I climbed Arthur's seat, it's a hill that overlooks Edinburgh. It was really cool but as the picture shows also very windy. Then Rupe decided we'd climb down shunning any pre-made paths so we had a great time scrambling down a steep hillface. I'm serious it was great, how often past the age of 12 do you get to scoot down a hill on your backside?



Then on our last day we went to see the royal yacht Brittania. The royal family really are something else, a yacht with over 200 staff and as pictured a Bentley on board in case anywhere they landed didn't have a vehicle suitable for them.

So Christmas was great and Edinburgh should you ever get the chance is fantastic. We did so much more than I've even mentioned here and we could have stayed longer easily and still been entertained.

So Merry Christmas and Happy New year (we hope to see you all in it!)
Love,
Aimee and Emmett.

An Irish Christmas

Well from no entries in ages to 2 in one day!

Today we had Mary around after mass for an Irish Christmas dinner. Mainly it was an excuse to drink on a Sunday and for Emmett to roast a duck. The duck was delicious and it was a great way to spend an afternoon.



Emmett carving his duck delight.



After dinner we all went for a walk through town to photograph the Christmas lights. The lights are hung all through town and many businesses have their own lights as well making the main shopping streets very festive indeed.





I really like the angel photo.





So from Galway in all it's glory, although it's been said many times, many ways, daidi na nollag to you!

Aimee and Emmett

Looking spiffing for Christmas

Hello and a merry Christmas season to you all!

We're great, Christmas is coming and we can't wait to get to Edinburgh as we're totally ready for a break. And judging by his duty free request so is Richard.

I took the picture below a couple of nights ago, we need to take a few more as like the giant tree the whole town is covered in lights.



Town is actually really pretty, and so is Emmett because he has a new haircut. Based on what he calls his "no one knows me here" theory he let me cut his hair. So I've never cut hair before but it turns out I've a bit a natural talent for it because I think he looks quite good.



The whole thing started with a serious case of the nervous giggles, neither of us really thought this was good idea. Emmett kept saying things like "that's not how hairdressers do it" and "careful" and putting his glasses on to check on things. All this made me laugh more.



In the end though I was starting to look quite professional in my technique, even Emmett thought so. And the end result...







Ta Da! What a handsome husband!

A very spiffing Christmas to you all!

Aimee and Emmett

(Hello,

Long time no news! Well generally all we've been up to is working and trying to stay warm, so to break the monotony we took a weekend to Cork. We know we're supposed to make the most of every trip and all but really all we did was wander around, shop and drink (moderately). We could have kissed the Blarney stone but hanging upside down from the top of a castle in the rain is not our idea of fun so we skipped it.

What we did see of Cork was great, very much the Wellington of Ireland if there is one. Many more coffee and independent shops than Galway and well worth the 4 hour bus trip.



The alleys and streets had their Christmas threads on. Cork had lots of little nooks and crannies to explore and shelter in.



Cork (unlike Galway) has hills, the hill streets are lined with houses mostly painted in pastel colours. If the street curved then so did the house fronts, kinda like a giant maze.



A nice view of the city, we were pretty lucky with the weather it was cold (Emmett's teeth were chattering at on stage) but mostly dry.



Cork is a port city and the river Lee runs through it. Or you could say the city gets in the way of the river as the CBD is between two channels of the river.



These crazy lads were out in the cold rowing boats with what appeared to be very inefficient oars.

So we liked Cork, probably if we were here for longer we'd make a second trip but it has to be said that on our time line it's unlikely. We found a pub owned by Kiwis and drank listening to Che fu on the forst night. And on the second found a pub with a mystical spring that brewed it's own tasty beers (the pub brewed the beer, not the spring). All and all a great place and a great relaxing weekend!

Birthday blog, well not really - it's the day after.

Well I had a birthday, and what a birthday. I started it on NZ time and finished it on Irish time so it lasted a whopping 37 hours, Emmett was a good husband and played along nicely. He even took me shopping on Saturday before the whole thing started for a gift, what a gem.



Me! 25 years old and looking remarkably similar to when I was only 24. I'm wearing the hat and gloves from Christine and Paul, they're very warm and I like telling people they're made from possum fur.



This is the watch Emmett bought for me, perfect as like all my watches it's too big and matches nothing!

I also got a card from home and chocies from the boss and one of the families at work. All and all not bad at all.

Love the now old,
Aimee

Halloween

Howdy folks,

Well if you thought Halloween was an American holiday you've obviously never spent the 31st of October in Ireland. Halloween is a big deal here and like a really big fancy dress party it's very hard to watch everyone get ready and not dress up yourself. We didn't dress up but we did get into the spirit of it slightly by making jackolanterns. When I say we, I mean me, our new friend Erin from Perth and our jackolantern expert Audrey from Canada.



Our pumpkin party, Audrey is the one digging in while Erin sorts the seeds from the pulp. We then roasted the seeds but it didn't really work, it was fun though.



This is my jackolantern, I went for a classic pumpkin face. Not bad for a first attempt.



Audrey's pumpkin was covered in stars and a moon, mine only had four stars but they were very patriotic.



After a few days the pumpkins shrivelled and my scary face looked even cooler, it was however time to throw him in the bin.

So next time it's halloween and you think you can't enjoy it because it's American rubbish, just think of it as Irish craic instead. I know we will.

Aimee