Sightseeing in Berlin

Berlin was a very interesting city. Much of it was destroyed in WWII. It was odd to be in a city that’s full of history and not see signs of it.

One aspect of Berlin that caught our attention was a line of cobblestones about a foot wide, embedded in the concrete sidewalks and asphalt roads. Wandering around the city, you’d see this line of cobblestones again and again.

The cobblestones mark where the Berlin Wall used to be. So we’d step over this line of cobblestones and move from West Berlin to East Berlin. As we learned, hundreds of people died trying to make that crossing, and we could step back and forth dozens of times in a few days.


This is the Brandenburg Gate, which was used as a symbol by the Nazis. The Berlin Wall ran just in front of this monument. 

February 2005: Working in Berlin

We flewto Berlin for a work event and a few days of sightseeing. At the awards ceremony Erin won an award and got to go up on stage and shake hands with the Vice President of EMEA Enterprise. It was nice for her to get some recognition and the 19 inch flat panel TV she won is pretty nice.

We also had a great opportunity to interact with our co-workers. Settling in at work has gone well but as we're in very individual roles, we have few chances to interact with members of our team. We've been out with them every night.


This is Erin and I with our manager.

From Galway to the Cliffs of Mohar

That Sunday we drove from Galway out to the Cliffs of Mohar. The drive was beautiful but a little disturbing, as the roads were the width of a country lane and we’re barreling along at 50mph. The roads were bordered by high hedges on each side, and Erin got frightened when a cow stuck its head through the hedge on her side as we were driving past.


We’d been told that everyone has to visit the Cliffs, and once we arrived we weren’t disappointed. Imagine it’s about 35 degrees out, the wind is about 60 mph, and you’re standing at the top of cliffs that are a sheer drop down to the wind-torn sea.

For fans of "The Princess Bride," these cliffs were actually used as the Cliffs of Despair in the movie!

Erin spent a lot of time trying not to be blown away. It’s an awe-inspiring place, and we had a clear day to enjoy it. You feel almost like you are at the edge of the world. You stand there and look down and you are 660 feet above the sea and it is a straight drop down. Unbelievably breathtaking! 

Our Second Trip in January: Galway, Ireland

Next we spent a Saturday in Galway, which is about 200 miles away on the west coast. Galway’s a college town that’s solidly middle-class, so good bars, clubs, and stores are scattered all over the place. By Irish standards it's a substantial city, but since it only has about 60,000 people, by American standards it's a smallish town. That was a blessing because it was easy to wander around.

It’s very historic with a medieval town layout and pubs that are a few hundred years old. It's the largest town where Gaelic is regularly spoken -- Gaelic is the original language of Ireland, and is similar to Breton and Welsh.

We listened to a traditional music session in a pub after spending a day putzing around, shopping and exploring.

We had a good time and look forward to going back in the summer to explore the area, which is very beautiful. We think it’s one of our favorite cities.



The harbour is full of swans. There were hundreds of them swimming around having a good time.

Our First Trip in January 2005: Bristol, England

Then we went to Bristol, on the southwest coast of England, to visit Ben, one of Brian’s old friends from graduate school. As you might expect, we had crummy weather – cold and snowy until the last day, when it cleared up. We spent the weekend wandering around pubs, sightseeing, and exploring Bristol, which is an old port city. It's clearly an interesting place and has a different vibe than other English cities.


We also horsed around a little. This photo is taken by the Clifden Suspension Bridge, which is one of the earliest suspension bridges still used for traffic. Ben thought Brian was going to throw him over the fence!

Our First Christmas in Dun Laoghaire

Once back in Ireland we spent Christmas in our new home in Dun Laoghaire (pronounced Dun Leery, in case you wondered).

Erin made a traditional Christmas dinner with all the trimmings. Brian quickly grew tired of leftovers since Erin over did the food. We were swimming in turkey, dressing, green bean casserole, etc. If you've ever had a turkey milkshake, you understand why Brian was tired.

However, everything turned out well and Erin was very proud of herself for doing a first-rate job (not that Brian had any doubts). We celebrated Christmas together, just the two of us.


As you can see, we have a Playskool creche scene. One of these years we're going to buy a proper creche scene, maybe in Italy or France, but for now this one does the job and it's cute.

Glassmaking in Venice

Here’s a photo of Brian learning to make glass. We’re in one of the traditional glass foundries on Murano, a Venetian island that’s famous for glassmaking. They've been making glass there for over a thousand years. The beaches outside the city are made of nothing but broken shards of glass, which makes them amazingly beautiful.



The glass maestro is standing behind Brian, and probably laughing a little bit because Brian’s staying pretty far away from the furnace – it was literally white hot! Brian's a little envious of the maestro's job -- it's not glamourous or lucrative, but there's something about being a part of a tradition that's a millenium old that's very appealing.

The maestro proceeded to make a glass deer in front of our eyes, using nothing but a lump of molten glass and a pair of tongs. The way he was so assured with his tools was also pretty amazing. It's fascinating to watch someone create a work of art with the same comfort and assurance we have when putting on our shoes.

Honeymoon in Venice

As you know, we’ve been traveling almost nonstop since we got married. First we flew to Italy for our honeymoon in Venice. We were still fighting the coughs we caught before our wedding, but the city was calm, peaceful and beautiful with Christmas decorations everywhere.

It’s an ancient city, something different around every corner, but it’s little more than a tourist destination nowadays. Three hundred years ago, Venice had 300,000 people, and today it has 60,000 people.

All the history is fascinating, but there’s something a little sad about it too. The entire city is slowly sinking into the sea, and huge sums of money are being spent to prop it up. All around Venice there are palaces that are boarded up and vacant because the lower levels are permamently flooded. Hopefully they’ll sort out the sinking problem before it all disappears. I've been asked why I picked Venice for our honeymoon, and I said that it was the only place I could think of that's a fitting backdrop for Erin's beauty.