Onward to England...

After taking the train through France, mom and dad hit the ferry from Callais to Dover...

(Photos courtesy of John & Kay O'Connor)

The Cliffs of Dover...

Dad decided to rent a car and try his hand at driving on the other side of the road...Mom will never be the same!

Stonehenge...Mom and dad started the routine of waking up at 5 in the morning while in Europe. They decided not to waste any time and hit Stonehenge by 5:30a. Arrived and was able to take pictures while the sun was rising...Pure Beauty!

Safety first in England...

To the ferry from Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire Harbour...sleepy time!

Arrival into Dun Laoghaire harbour...greeted by their sweet, sweet daughter! Mom was SO pleased that I would be the only one allowed to drive from this point forward!

Mom and Dad in Germany...

Mom and Dad were cool enough to get their passports, plan their itinerary and fly across the big blue ocean to tour through the part of Germany near where my dad was stationed while serving in the military (way back in the day). It was a bit of a walk down memory lane as well as a slap in the face to see how things have changed in the past 33 years! (photos courtesy John & Kay O'Connor)

Safe arrival into Frankfurt...let the adventures begin!

Dad was very pleased that mom was able to experience a true "continental breakfast". Apparently the cold cereal and donut selection at the Days Inn doesn't qualify...and the first of MANY food shots. I wonder where I get my foodie side?

the set up for the "candid" shot...

proper Goulash...

A German man recommended mom and dad try nuremburgers, which he said were the best german sausages. They are similar to NYC hot dogs in that you find the best ones from the street vendors. They were lucky and ran into a vendor at the train station. The picture below is a fancy version of the nuremburger, but it gives you an idea of how tasty they were!

Mmmm....tasty!

Action Shot...

While in Germany, they visited Dachau, the concentration camp our Polish Priest from Esmond, ND survived during WWII...

Brandi Carlile...

Headed to the Academy on Lower Abbey St. to see Brandi Carlile in concert last night. As Chris knows, I don't love concerts (mostly the standing really hurts my back), but when it's a band/artist that I love, I will suffer through, b/c if I really love their music, I completely forget about my back. As was the case last night. The opener was a band out of Bath, England called "The Kill It Kids" or something like that...(2nd picture). I thought the lead singer was a girl until this deep voice started singing...I looked around for the source of the voice only to realize it was indeed a male! The keyboardist had an amazing voice...very strong! This was their first real concert gig...so they were quite nervous...but I think they will do well for themselves.

As for Brandi...AMAZING! She is not only a talented artist, but a fabulous entertainer! Great stories, excellent audience participation (as I love) and played a good mix of old, current and new music! I highly recommend seeing her in concert if you get a chance in the future! Her popular album is "The Story" and their new album comes out in October (in the states).

Late Morning Lullaby...

Greystones to Bray cliffwalk...

Chris took me on a guided tour of the cliff walk from Greystones to Bray this morning! Here are a few pictures...the first is an abandoned hotel and restaurant at the start of the walk. It's a prime location, but needs a lot of work...I hope it doesn't go to waste and someone buys it up!

The second picture is of Sugarloaf Mountain in the background! You can see Wales from the top on a clear day. Next is the pack of ladybugs hanging out on some weeds. There were so many of them along the trail!

Chris and I are going to head back to do the walk again in September (perhaps with Pawl), as all the blackberry bushes we came across will be primed for munching (fourth picture)...they were a bit tart today!

If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend this walk. Start in Greystones instead of Bray, as there is a lot of construction and less pleasing features on the Greystones end due to halted construction of the new harbor, but once you get past that, it's all beauty. Plus there are tons of tasty restaurants to greet you with traditional Irish food on the seafront in Bray!

The 9 foot garden...

Here are the lovely cherry and moneymaker tomatoes just wishing they were red...some days I ask each of my tomato plants if they are thinking about ripening their many, many tomatoes...so far they haven't responded!

Besides the bad lighting, I believe you can see the tomato plants are damn near touching the ceiling of our kitchen...I swear I am not feeding them plant steriods! They just keep growing and growing. Now, if only they would turn out some red tomatoes!

Chris' orchid is still going strong as well. Just when we thought we got all the blossoms we were going to get this season it started growing more. There are 4 more making their way into life...two on each branch!