I just reread my last post and want to start with the outcome on the weekend long buzzing of the smoke detector.  It blasted continuously from Friday morning until 11 a.m. on Monday.  I called the management company first thing Monday morning and was told that the unit is let by the American Embassy but there is no one residing at the moment and neither the owner nor the management company felt that they could enter because of the embassy connection.  At 11 a.m. it went off and I went to our shared porch to await the person who turned it off.  It was "Frank," an embassy employee in charge of facilities.  He assured me that he didn't work on weekends and thus the problem, although he also assured me that it was the management company or the owner that was responsible "at the weekend," not him.  This response touches on the two most maddening aspects of Ireland:  first, "at the weekend" means nothing will get done, and second, if anyone can point to an unnamed entity, not associated with them, that's the culprit.  Any further discussion with the person with whom you are dealing about responsibility, or how to rectify the problem in the future is futile.  In short, "Frank" will deal with any problem like this if it happens during his work hours, otherwise it's not his problem.

But, on the much more pleasant things...

Mary and I met for a relatively short walk the following day and made plans for the much longer walk we took yesterday with 7 of our group of 14 that will be doing the Santiago de Compostella in September.  We met in Firhouse outside Dublin (at a pub of course).  To my dismay, since I took the once-an-hour bus to our meeting place, Firhouse consists only of this pub (Mortons) and it doesn't open until noon on Sunday.  I got there at 10:45 expecting a quaint little village and a leisurely breakfast while I awaited the rest of the group at noon.  It was a little chilly and gray so I intercepted a dog walker and found that there was a supermarket with a little cafe attached about a mile away.  I legged it there and had a coffee and breakfast, so I added another two miles to the 12 miles that were planned.

After the group assembled at noon we walked along the Dodder River for almost all of those 12 miles, reaching the Grand Canal near the city center at about 4:30, including an hour long stop for lunch at about mile 7.  Then I walked another mile home from there, for a total of about 15 miles.  It was a glorious walk.  Three of the group were new to me, including Marguerite, a good friend of Mary's and the organizer of this outing.  She did a wonderful job as leader and had previously walked parts of the route over successive outings with her husband, Brendan.  Brendan will be coming along on the Compostella walk but wasn't present yesterday.  It was all women.  We only had little spatterings of rain, otherwise a beautiful day for walking, not too hot, not too cold.  The river was so thriving with wildlife, it was hard to believe that we were on the fringes of the city the whole time.  The group was great and we all had about the same walking pace.  For a first run of about our daily duration in Spain it couldn't have been better.  I will be able to do three more walks with parts of the group before leaving for the states on July 29th for our first visit there since taking up residence in Dublin. 

In other good news, Alan has had a story published in Flash Fiction, which is available in paper through Amazon in the States but only electronically here in Ireland.  Here's a link to his story, it's a very sweet one about the passing of his grandmother. 

http://www.flash-fiction-world.com/the-end1.html

He's about to submit a book-length of short stories to a competition here in Ireland with about 12 really good stories and the great poem he wrote about my brother, which I copied in this blog previously.  He's really happy with his writer's group and I have to say I'm impressed with his productivity since joining it.  

I'm preparing for my next adventure when I will travel to County Clare for a week long set dance workshop in Miltown Malbay starting on July 7: http://www.willieclancyfestival.com/ .  I'm doing this one on my own but I have confidence that the Irish will come through once again in their friendly and welcoming style and after the first day, I will have made at least one new friend.  The people, that's by far, the best thing about Ireland, so the little irritations about which I started this post are insignificant compared to the joys of living among them. 

I've been entertaining a relative of an American friend this week.  Dyana arrived on Wednesday and we started fast because she's only here for 5 nights.  I am just amazed at her pluck in coming all the way here from Washington state for such a short amount of time.  I've tried to help her pack in as much as possible in this short time.

We started right away with a tour of Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin scheduled for 2 p.m. on the day she arrived.  After a short nap, she seemed ready to go.  I was disappointed in the tour because the guide was just awful, he spoke in a very soft voice and didn't really want to go into any of the history of the cathedral.  It was one that was taken from the Catholic church during the Cromwell period and given to the Church of Ireland, basically the Episcopals and a protestant satellite of the Church of England.  It was like he thought that he couldn't acknowledge the well known history.  It was ridiculous, several times he said "we won't go there" like it was a big secret.  But, we did get up into the bell tower, which is not on the regular tour of the church so that was nice.  I also learned that Strongbow was buried there. But I learned from this post now that he's not really there, a factoid the guide apparently didn't know:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_de_Clare,_2nd_Earl_of_Pembroke.  Anyway, it's a beautiful place, it's right in the center of town, it's got a lot of history surrounding it, including the earliest Viking village in Dublin so there was still a lot to see. I mistakenly thought that Johnathan Swift was buried there but he's at St. Patrick's Cathedral, another of the churches that was given to the Church of Ireland during the reformation. 

The following day, Thursday, we went on a rail/coach tour of Galway and Connemara.  After a train trip across the country we spent a nice afternoon and evening in Galway and then a bus trip the following day in Galway and Connemara.  It was very warm and the bus had very poor AC, very poor repair in general because there were some loose belts and anytime we were outside while it was running we could hear that distinctive screech of loose belts.  Also, the video didn't work.  The guide was not the best either, it was clear he'd done this tour daily for a looong time, he repeated himself a lot.  Still it was a beautiful ride and we saw a lot.  I also got some good ideas for our week in Connemara in September, including a must revisit to Lenane and to Kylemore Abbey.  There are lots of monoliths and stones nearby.  Dyana brought beautiful weather with her and it's been in the 80's since she arrived. She's also an excellent photographer and I will post some of her pictures as soon as I receive them from her.

On our return on Saturday, we discovered that the unit next to us, now vacant, had the smoke detector activated for the previous 12 hours.  It's now Sunday evening and after the battery ran out, it's now a constant signal that the battery needs replacing, so that's hard wired and won't stop until the owner arrives to replace the now dead battery.  This is the second time during our sojourn in Ireland where we have learned that NO ONE pays attention to alarms and if they go off in vacant units, cars, stores, whatever.  Everyone in the vicinity suffers until the owner or the management company comes to address the problem, and the WILL NOT do that on the weekend.  There must have been more stringent regulation on this in the USA because if there weren't some pretty strict rules there, the place we lived in DC would have had the same problem.  I called the management company "emergency" number last night and was told there wasn't much to be done because they weren't sure they had the owner's contact information "at the weekend".  From the start of our tenure here "at the weekend" is the kiss of death.  If anything happens "at the weekend" you are on your own till Monday and that's that.  The alarm still sounds, I'm doing my best to remain calm. 

We will have one more day in Dublin and then Dyana leaves on Tuesday morning.  I resume my long walks with Mary on Tuesday in preparation for our walk in September on the Santiago de Campostela. 

This is the weekend of the June "bank holiday." I know I've covered bank holidays in the past, but a recap for you Yanks.  In Ireland, the work days off are not in commemoration of anything, just called "bank holidays."  People really take them seriously and don't do anything on these days.  I know last week it was Memorial Day in the States and this kinda corresponds with that, although it's only about 50 degrees here today, so not exactly the beginning of summer.

We have had some good weather, 70's and sunny, this past week.  On Thursday, I walked for over 7 miles by the sea with my friend Mary.  We are "in training" for a 110 km walk we've planned in early September on the Santiago de Compostela in Spain http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_de_Compostela .  That's about 66 miles we will do over 7 days.  In 2004 Alan and I walked across Holland (63 miles over 5 days), it was harder than I expected although just 10-15 miles a day, but the days got harder and harder as the time went on.  This time I'm working up to it.  One thing I've learned is that one day of 10 miles is not the same as 10 miles on successive days. 

Tuesday will be the final performance of "Dance Across Dublin," the dance performance I've been working on with a troupe of 26 oldsters.  We did one performance in the Hugh Lane Museum, another at the Axis Theatre, another at the Irish Film Institute and this final one in Meeting House Square, the only outdoor venue on the list, hopefully it won't rain.  It's been fun, but a lot of work and I'll be glad when it's over.

Our new digs in Ballsbridge are working out just fine.  It's much closer to the city center and I've been happy with all that we can walk to easily from here.  The biking is better too, plus we have a terrace and the outdoor space is nice.  We are trying to grow tomatoes and a little kitchen garden there, but the weather is really not cooperating.  We've had to take the tomatoes and basil inside.  We're both hoping for one tomato before we leave for the States on July 29th!  If that happens, we will have spent only about 20 Euro (about $25) for it!  Fortunately other investments have been doing better.

We have a visitor next week.  A friend that I worked with at ASAE was supposed to come with her niece but our friend had to cancel and the niece (Dyana) is coming on her own.  She and I will go to Galway the day after she arrives for a train/coach tour of Galway Bay, Connemara, The Burren and the Cliffs of Moher.  It will be a whirlwind tour for Dyana but it will be a great help to me in deciding on what to focus upon when we spend our week in September with friends in a house in Connemara.  Dyana is coming all the way from Oregon and only staying for 5 days!  I feel really responsible for helping her to pack in as much as she possibly can during this short visit.

Set dancing classes on Tuesday have ceased for the summer hiatus, but I've signed up for the Willie Clancy Workshop week in Clare the first week in June.  I'm going on my own, the first time in years that I've traveled for pleasure alone.  I've arranged to stay in someone's house in Milltown Malbay, the place where the annual workshop is held.  Their slogan is "the home of traditional Irish music" http://www.visitmiltownmalbay.ie/ . 

This should be interesting.  All I know about the host is that they are 2 miles from the town and have a room available.  I got the connection from the organizer so I don't think there will be any ax murders happening, but still it will be an adventure.    This is going to be a pretty intense week with instruction from 9 to 1 every day. I'm very much looking forward to it.

So, all in all, a busy time.