Raleigh = lush.

If one is going to come home off a stellar, divine, awesome, fun, beautiful, instructive, overall amazing time in Paris and Dublin, I’d have to say that arriving in the full bloom of a lush Carolina spring is not a bad way to do it. The weather today was absolutely teriific – and, likely due to the rain we had yesterday, it was actually less humid than usual. Glorious, glorious. The trees in our yard have once again plumped out with foliage to such a degree that one can’t see beyond our balcony, and when walking to work it is difficult to see oncoming cars exiting the I-440 off-ramp, as they are hidden by trees and shrubbery. Hence, it’s beautiful outside, but *slightly* more dangerous.

Awesomeness alert: there are honeysuckles blooming along the walk we take to work. Mmmmmmm, honeysuckles.

Outta Dublin, by a hair.

Some days, you know, they just start off on the wrong foot. If all’s well that ends well, however, then I’m all good and can probably forget the fact that I could have easily missed my flight out of Dublin this morning. However, I cannot ignore the factor of luck and maybe some karmic retribution in my having been saved from a travel-related debacle. Here’s what I like to think: because I showed un-Diane-like kindness in aiding a fellow traveler in navigating the Paris Métro three weeks ago, good travel vibes came to my aid in the form of my German roommate waking me up this morning to let me know my cab was waiting for me. Otherwise, I’d have overslept due to a battery malfunction in my alarm clock, and I’d be stuck in Dublin. A bad thing? Perhaps not… but in any event, it’s good to be back home as scheduled and reunited with my better half and our feline roommates. Ah, home.

Ballycastle.

Today I bid adieu to the Lofft kids and hopped on a bus for a 4 1/2 hour bus ride to the Atlantic coast of Ireland, in County Mayo. Some fellow painter friends are doing a residency program out in the windswept and rugged western side of Ireland, in a wee and charming little town. I was curious, so I thought it would be worth a grand total of 9 hours (round-trip) on a bus to check it out and to pay them a visit. I was not wrong, behold – extremely dramatic landscape ahead:

Alex and Hollis, in front of the sinkhole.

Some lovely sheep, grazing at the buffet:Some cows, doing the same, with Downpatrick Head far in the background.This is the highly dramatic and amazing Downpatrick Head, which looks like it is separating from Ireland and trying to float over towards America...More of the rocky coastline:It was totally, totally worth the trip.

Teaghlach.

We did more exploring of Dublin today, Kaff, Alex and me. As a treat to the painter in our group, we visited the Hugh Lane Gallery and the relocated and eerily preserved studio of Francis Bacon. Slobby, yet lovely:Not a cheery place to hang, overall pretty sobering: Kilmainham Gaol.Wines, spirits, Ireland.A view of Dublin from above, at the Guiness Storehouse:Cutest couple known to mankind:By the way, I think I may have found one of the (many?) reasons why British and Irish cuisine gets a bad rap; behold, Exhibit A:
"Brown sauce"-?? I mean, what the heck is that?? Sigh.
By the way, I sampled it to find out - and, well, it tastes brown. Decidedly.

Siúr.

Whoo! Caught up with my sister and brother-in-law, ready for some Dublin stuff. Yay Dublin! We lucked out with some crazily beautiful sunny warm weather – unusual for a place accustomed to much sogginess. Here are Kaff and Alex in goooorgeous St. Stephen’s Green:In case you were uncertain, this next one is the Temple Bar in the Temple Bar section of the city. Just to clarify. No confusion.
Alex took this one of Kaff and me on Grafton Street:
I think it's the ".com" on this that killed me:Poor little swan, picking through the garbage to feed itself on the River Liffey:More tomorrow.

On the loose in Dublin.

WHOOO Dublin!!

I must say, it's nice to be back in a country where I speak the language, and therefore can understand the clever wordplay in the advertisements. Very punny, indeed:

And this - finally, a coffee joint that tells it like it is:You may have noticed that I have a fondness for wig shops... I am especially fond of ones that tell me not to worry. OK! Not worried. I'm definitely not worried about there being any shortage of wigs, should I ever be in need.Here's a slice of some of Dublin’s charms. Charm away, little doors:Some ladies hanging out in Dublin:Travel can be exhausting. Found this guy on the lawn at Christchurch cathedral - it looked like a good idea, so I assumed a similar position on a nearby lawn (but kept my shirt on).

Le dernier jour.

Last night after getting back from Nuernberg I stayed over with the lovely Ms. Susan (aka Violette), who scored this sweet lorgnette – a quality accessory purchase of which I am most covetous - from the optics shop down the way on the Rue Lepic, observe:We both were out on on our separate journeys, however, by mid-morning today – she on to Angers, myself off to enjoy my very, very last (sniff) day in Paris before heading off to Dublin. Weeping and plodding through the city I went, including a pilgrimage to Le Paradis for their eeeeexcellent DIY (rather, mix it yourself – "MIY"-?) hot chocolate:By the way, this advisory was written on the back of the bathroom door at Le Paradis, I thought it was worth sharing with you all:I got one last look at lovely St. Merri, which has a new and interesting painting on its ceiling since the last time I was here:Okay. Onward to Dublin... au revoir, Paris, à la prochaine!