Deeeelish!

We went to lunch the other day to a little place at the port of Naples...it just doesn't get any fresher than this!!

Happy Halloween!

We wish you all a creepy and spooky Halloween!!

1 Year ago today...

I can't believe it, but it's been a year already since I retired from the Navy!  Time really does fly when you're having fun!

All work and no play....

Stu played hooky today, so we decided to take a quick day trip up to Rome to see a few sights we haven't been to together....

First up, the Spanish Steps.  I couldn't believe the amount of people that were there on a Wednesday afternoon at the end of October!  I guess they were playing hooky too!

If you look really, really close you can see me in the middle of everyone waving...  Very Audrey Hepburn...well almost!

At the base of the steps is the fountain called Fontana della Barcaccia ("Fountain of the Old Boat"), built in 1627-29. According to an unlikely legend, Pope Urban VIII had the fountain installed after he had been impressed by a boat brought here by a flood of the Tiber river.

The monumental stairway of 138 steps was built in 1723–1725.

Time for a gelato break!

UMMMMMMMMM!

The Trevi Fountain (Italian: Fontana di Trevi) is a fountain in the Trevi rione. Standing 85 feet high and 65 feet wide, it is the largest Baroque fountain in the city.

The backdrop for the fountain is the Palazzo Poli. Taming of the waters is the theme of the gigantic scheme that tumbles forward, mixing water and rockwork, and filling the small square. Tritons guide Oceanus' shell chariot, taming seahorses.

In the center is superimposed a robustly modelled triumphal arch. The center niche or exedra framing Oceanus has free-standing columns for maximal light-and-shade. In the niches flanking Oceanus, Abundance spills water from her urn and Salubrity holds a cup from which a snake drinks. Above, bas reliefs illustrate the Roman origin of the aqueducts.

It was a beautiful day and of course we tossed our coins into the fountain to ensure a return visit!!

Sorrento Sunday

What a beautiful day!! After a week of nothing but rain it was so nice to see the sun! So off we went to Sorrento, which is along the Amalfi Coast and is about 45 convenient minutes away from us!

Mt Vesuvius from across the bay.

We stopped along the way to take some pictures... gorgeous!

This is the main piazza

Outdoor cafes and restaurants everywhere.

Not sure what exactly this is, or was, but it's in a ravine way below street level.

There is just a little trickle of water flowing now.

After some shopping we stopped for lunch...

The wall next to our table was solid tufo stone, amazing!

Lunch, as always, was great and we ate way too much!

This is my new inlaid wood jewlery box.  Sorrento is famous for their inlaid wood products.

Dublin Day 3

We were up and out early, wandering the streets.  This is a city with a sense of humor, check out the signs in some of the windows of restaurants we ran into...

Get in here and eat!

Ummmmm, nothing like a good bowl of gruel!

St Patrick's Cathedral - brought to you by Bailey's Irish Cream...You have to love this country!

Saint Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, also known as The National Cathedral was founded in 1191, is the larger than Christ’s Church, and the largest church in Ireland.

Inside the cathedral

Now off to tour the Guinness factory!

 

The bar maid put a cute little shamrock in my foam...now that's talent!

A lovely day for a Guinness!

The view from The Gravity Bar looking out towards Trinity College.

In 1759, at the age of 34, Arthur Guinness signed a 9000-year lease for the St. James's Gate Brewery, Dublin, at an annual rent of £45. The brewery was only 4 acres in size, disused, and had little brewing equipment. But in only 10 years, despite competition from imported English beers, Arthur began to export his beer to England.  Smart guy!

This is a new one to me...but really, how bad can it be???

Dublin Day 2

For our first full day in Dublin, we decided to do a tour.  But it wasn't just any tour, it was a New Dublin tour.  These are run through out Europe and the guides are starving students and work only for tips, so they are always really entertaining. 

Dublin Castle was first founded as a major defensive work on the orders of King John of England in 1204.

The Chapel Royal was completed in 1814. 

Stu in front of the Coach House in the Castle gardens.

This is the original place of the dubh linn, the dark pool.  In ancient times the river Dodder made a pool here before flowing into the Liffey. Here the Vikings decided to settle. The Dodder today is a memory and has long been confined to a subterranean canal (or sewer). The lines in the grass symbolize the serpents that were in the pool.

The glass eyes on the serpents heads are used as reflectors for the castle helo pad.

Christ Church Cathedral or The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, commonly known as Christ Church, in Dublin is the elder of the city's two medieval cathedrals, the other being St. Patrick's Cathedral.

The Penal laws were enstated to displace Catholicism as the majority religion in Ireland. The main intended effect of the Penal Laws was to ease the conversion or dispossession of the landed Catholic population. In 1641 Catholics had owned 60% of land in Ireland and by 1776 Catholic land ownership in Ireland stood at only 5%. So for Catholics in Ireland it was a kind of reverse prohibition. If you were out with the family on a Sunday morning all dressed up, and you were stopped by the police, you would have to convince them that you were taking your 5 year old out for his morning pint.

When the Penal laws were in place you would have to enter the church through a secret door in the Adam and Eve Pub in front of the church.

The Church of the Immaculate Conception (The Adam and Eve Church)

We stopped about half way through the tour for a "pint break"... They Czech Inn, but they don't Czech out!

The Temple Bar section, with lots of restaurants and of course pubs.

Before the Ha'penny Bridge was built in 1866 there were seven ferries, operated by a William Walsh, across the Liffey. The ferries were in a bad condition and Walsh was informed that he had to either fix them or build a bridge. Walsh chose the latter option and was granted the right to extract a ha'penny toll from anyone crossing it for 100 years. Initially the toll charge was based, not on the cost of construction, but to match the charges levied by the ferries it replaced.

What??  Where are they going to go?  I'm sure there are a lot of people in the US that would like to know.

Trinity College Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", and is the only constituent college of the University of Dublin.

Trinity is Ireland's oldest university.

Theobald Wolfe Tone, commonly known as Wolfe Tone, was a leading figure in the United Irishmen Irish independence movement and is regarded as the father of Irish republicanism. He died from a wound that he received after being sentenced to death for his part in the Irish Rebellion of 1798 — whether self-inflicted or otherwise remains under debate — at any rate, it deprived him of the chance to appeal his death sentence.

Apparently, grabbing his crotch will ensure good luck with Irish men…I wonder how this guy did!

A statue entitled “Famine”

The Great Famine, was a period of mass starvation, disease and emigration in Ireland between 1845 and 1852 during which the island's population dropped by 20–25 percent. Approximately one million people died and a million more emigrated from Ireland's shores. The proximate cause of famine was a potato disease commonly known as potato blight. Although blight ravaged potato crops throughout Europe during the 1840s, the impact and human cost in Ireland—where a third of the population was entirely dependent on the potato for food—was exacerbated by a host of political, social and economic factors which remain the subject of historical debate.

St Stephen's Green Park

These "butt boxes" were all over the place.  We didn't see that many people smoking, but then the price of a pack would (should) make anyone quit.  We saw a pack for €8.50!  That's over $10 for ONE pack!!

We stopped for lunch after the tour, and were we ever ready for a break!  Over 4 hours of walking, but what a great tour!  The pub we went to, had tables where you can pour your own pint!  Too cool! 

Stu was so anxious to give it a try, he knocked the Carlsburg header off...

But, all is well...we won't tell anyone!

After lunch and a pint or two, we started off on a pub crawl of our own...

This is the Foggy Dew Pub

Next up the Oliver St John Gogarty Pub, live Irish music!  Great!

 

Back at the hotel, this is their version of the "Do Not Disturb" sign, I like theirs...