Our friends, Judy and Mark, left Dublin this morning.  They were worried about the flight because they were routed through New York and the flights just started operating into JFK yesterday since the hurricane on Monday.  Looks like a real mess in New York, but I checked and they got off OK.  I have only heard from one of my relatives but I'm hoping all is well with the nieces and nephews who make that area home.  I'd say they have other fish to fry this week than checking email. 

We went to the Cork Jazz Festival last weekend.  We met Judy and Mark there on Friday.  They left Dublin on the Sunday before and visited Sligo and Galway on their own.  They really enjoyed that part of the trip too.  This is turning out to be the best arrangement for visits, for folks to arrive in Dublin and spend a few days here, then go off on their own, and to get back together for the last few days.  Previously we did that with friends from Wisconsin.  It helps us to see more parts of the country as well.

The Jazz Festival was just great.  We saw about six different bands and only one was bad. We had a great apartment right in the center of things and so were able to take our time in the morning and do our own breakfast.  In addition to the music, we did two self guided walking tours around Cork and a side trip one evening to Kinsale.  The latter turned out no so good because we left Cork late in the afternoon on the bus and planned to have dinner there, then take in a pub and take the last bus back to Cork at 10:20.  Well, that last bus never came and we had to take a cab.  For me, it was a really bad cab ride and the worst part of our stay because the driver wouldn't turn off the bomp, bomp music he had on the radio. His one concession was to turn it down but then all we heard was the base, even worse! At one point he said that we hired the driver, not the car!  I was really steamed by the end of that 40 Euro, 45-minute ride.  Alan, who was sitting in the front, said he thought he didn't know how to turn it off!  I've asked most cab drivers to turn off the radio and never had this problem before, but I've learned my lesson, I'm going to ask before I get in the cab.

I'm just about to finish a survey I've completed for the Community Foundation of Ireland, a replication of a Canada-wide study called "Vital Signs" in which people across the country answered questions about the quality of life here in Ireland.  I'm pretty excited to be involved in this study and think it should get some good press since it's the first one done in Ireland and a lot people answered.  I'm really delighted to have gotten to be part of this.  Naturally, I'm doing the analysis and the Exec of the Foundation is doing the talking.  I have to present it to her tomorrow.  Explaining the results in a way that she can be confident is the second most favorite thing for me.  By far, the most favorite is doing the analysis.  I really like this work!

On Monday, Alan and I are taking a trip to Holland. We will stay in an apartment in Amsterdam.  This time I am hoping to also do to Delft, the Rijksmuseum and The Hermitage which is housing the Van Gogh collection while that museum is closed.  The last two times we were in Amsterdam the Rijksmuseum has been closed so I'm looking forward to that in particular.  When we return we will have a few days before our dear friend Dorothy comes for several weeks, including Thanksgiving.  We're planning an American Thanksgiving with her and some of the Irish folks we have become friendly with here.  I'm looking forward to it. 

It's a beautiful sunny day today but I have to work!  Still, October has been just beautiful here, dry and crisp.  In fact, Judy and Mark didn't see any day of rain during their whole trip, only a few light sprinkles in Cork on Sunday, amazing for Ireland.  I would recommend that people think about Ireland in the fall rather than the summer, it's so beautiful, and summer is the rainy season, as we learned first hand this year.