My mom

It's 6:37am in Ireland. I had a terrible dream about my mom. She had such a hard life. I wish she was in Ireland with me so we could experience this together and I could give her a hug. I miss her terribly. I guess I'm not going back to sleep.

Day sixteen: Alone time and passport runaround

Irish folks are great. They're cheerful and friendly and generous. They're wonderfully wonderful. One thing, though...they're not good at giving directions. I'm just gonna put that out there. I asked a well-dressed man for directions to the police station and I was told, "Go down and around the bend and then go a bit down and further down and then make a left and then right and continue down." and then the bloody fellow ran away. What. The. Hell. I had to ask one person per block (went 15 blocks) if I was going in the right direction. Forty five minutes later, I arrived at the police station. No worries, Ireland. I'll be alright.

Anyway...

All the following photos were taken with my iPhone. No fancy pics today. l wanted to travel light, so I left the heavy camera at Joan's place.

Here's the bus I took into town:

Made my way over to the passport office:

I was told (by numerous employees) that I had all the paperwork that I needed to get my Irish passport. The next step was to fill out a passport form, get my photos signed and stamped by an officer at the police station (that's why I needed directions to the police station) and then come back and hand it all in. This was all stuff that I could do in a couple of hours, so I thought for sure I'd have the passport by the end of the week. But after three hours of running from office to station and back to office, I find out that I actually need to apply at the Irish Consulate in America. If I was a Dublin resident then I could've received the passport right away.

Oh well.

Spent the rest of the day moving from restaurant to restaurant. Ate lunch at an organic restaurant called The Farm:

Had tea and used the free WiFi at Boulevard Cafe:

Had a wheatgrass shot at Cornucopia. (No pic.) Then went back back to The Farm for dinner.

I've been spending a lot of time with family, so it was really nice to just do my own thing at my own pace for a day.

Tomorrow? I head over to my aunt, Marion's, castle. (Yes, she actually lives in a castle.) It has over 35 rooms. No joke.

Day fifteen: Kids!

Got up early to look into getting my Irish passport. I thought all I would need is my birth certificate (which shows that my father was Irish and that I was born in England) and my dad's birth certificate. I have both. But now I'm told that I *might* need my parent's marriage certificate, too.  Don't know for sure. My uncle, William (who lives in Dublin) is a lawyer, so he's gonna look into exactly what I'll need to make this happen.

Also...

Hung out with my cousin's kids today (and my uncle, William). Kids dig me. Probably has to do with the fact that I act like I'm 12 most of the time.

Here are the little ones:

And here's my (super-tall) uncle William:

My aunt, Joan, told me that I shouldn't carry my camera around town. Tons of people have lost their jobs in the past two years (14% unemployment in Ireland) and crime has really gone up. So when I go into town, she wants me to leave the camera at her house.

Please. 

If anyone tried to mug me I would give 'em a high kick to the jaw. (I have a very high kick.) I'm taking my camera! I'm from New York, Son. Please.

Day fourteen: Ireland

Ireland bound!

I left Shane's house at 8:30am. Got to the airport 30 minutes later. I was feeling kind of out of it in the cab and even at the airport. I mean, seriously, I've been going non-stop for the past 2 weeks and half the time I really don't know if I'm coming or going. I don't know what day it is, I have no clue what time it is, don't know if I'm supposed to be tired from jet lag or if I'm just tired because I'm...well...tired.

Anyway...blah to the blah.

I was excited to see the rest of my Irish family in their appropriate setting. I'm staying with my dad's sister, Joan, and her husband, Shamus. Joan is as maternal as they get. She will not let you lift a FINGER in her house (or even outside of her house). She takes care of you. She'll shop and cook for hours and serve you and tell stories and hug ya and tell you you look great even when you have smudged black eyeliner on your nose and drool on your chin and crust in your eyes. She's pretty amazing. Shamus ain't too shabby either. He's about as authentically cheerful as they get. I love 'em.

They met me at the Dublin airport and then quickly took me to a supermarket near their house to get my crazy healthy food. Here's Joan putting some "lovely bread" in a "lovely" bag. She calls most things lovely. : )

We got the groceries and then made our way over to their house. As soon as we walked in the door Joan started cooking. She made me broiled salmon with brussels sprouts, asparagus, and carrots. Even as I was eating she was asking if I needed anything. She kept bringing me different items that we had purchased (well, she purchased everything, she wouldn't let me pay for a thing) and every few minutes would ask, "Do you need anything, Jona? Some tea? Some nuts? Water? Boiled chicken?" She's too much. : )

After eating, her son, Brian (my other cousin), came over to say hello.

Here we are:

Brian lives in Ireland with his wife and three children. He's very warm and friendly and has a lovely Irish accent. The accent's not too too thick, though, because he lived in Seattle for a bunch of years.

I then asked Brian to take a photo of me, Shamus and Joan. Notice the weird "sexy" position I'm in. I totally was not intending on posing that way, but Joan quickly yelled out, "Jona, stand in front of me and cover up my belly!" and that's what I came up with on the spot:

Here's another awkward pose:

It looks like I have a bad back or something. Jesus.

Here's a photo of my dad:

My dad died in 1986. I only met him once when I was eleven-years-old. It was a strange encounter, but I'm glad I was able to meet him before he passed.

And here's my bedroom for the next week. (Notice my dad's artwork on the wall. He was heavy into crosses and crucifixion themes. Oy!)

That's it. I'm off to sleep now. Gotta get up early to make my way over to the passport office with Joan. I'm working on getting my Irish passport. I'll then have dual citizenship and be able to come and go anywhere in Europe without any hassle at all. Also means I'll be able come over and take advantage of the free health care whenever I please(!). : D

Until tomorrow...

Day thirteen: A friend and family

After I got back from Cambridge, I had a few hours to get the blog together and get ready to meet my friend at his place in Swiss Cottage (an area just a few tube stops away from Shane's place).

My friend's name is Carl. He's Irish and fun. He teaches English at a nearby High School. He's also working on his PHD in education. Good guy.

Anyway, here he is in his place:

 

We hung out for a few hours and chatted about nutrition the entire time. I kid you not. We watched a video called Food Matters and it was absolutely fascinating. I had a lovely time.

I then ran off at 7:45pm to meet the cousin and bro at a vegetarian restaurant on "Old Street." I met Shane, Mike (his boyfriend), and Aaron at the train station and then we walked over to the restaurant together. It was a brutal walk. The weather is terribly cold these days, but it's still not as cold as NYC, I suppose, so I should shut up. Fine.

Here's Shane and Mike at the veg place:

The restaurant's called Carnevale. T'was quite nice. It looked very plain (inside and out), but the food was amazing. The waiter was very attentive and treated us like we were in a fine dining establishment. (Hell yeah!)

Aaron was up all night drinking with some Italian friends at some techno club and showed up a tad bit hungover, so to make him feel a little more "balanced," he ordered a Bloody Mary.

He was still just as cheerful as ever:

We were all super-satisfied with our meals. Shane was super-duper-uper satisfied with his creme brulee. He was very upset when I asked him to stop eating it, so I could take a photo.

Here he is giving me the evil eye:

And that's pretty much it. Shane and I took three tubes and a bus to get back home. We made it back around midnight. I was in bed by 12:30pm.

Groovy? Groovy.

Day twelve: In Cambridge with Sam and Sara

I post all my blog entries on Facebook, so all my friends on there pretty much know everything that I've been up to the past couple of weeks. About a week ago, after reading one of the London entries, my friend Sam contacted me and asked if I'd like to visit him and his wife, Sara, in Cambridge and stay the night. Of course I said, "Hell yeah!" I had *completely* forgotten that they lived here! (Sam moved to England for work about a year ago. He's a climate research scientist.) So I was thrilled to be able to spend time with them and see their place.

I left Shane's house around 10am and made my way over to the tube and took it to the train (overground train, different from the tube). I then bought a round-trip ticket to Cambridge which cost me 30 pounds ($47).

Here's a shot of the busy King's Cross train station. Everyone's waiting around for the platform number to post...

I don't know where the hell everyone was going, but the station was packed. Jesus.

I had to make it over to Platform 9A. I found the train and got on. I was pleased to see cushioned seats and little table thingies!

The train took off just a few minutes later...

I made it to Cambridge in less than an hour. When I got off the train i took a cab to Sam and Sara's place. I was in their 'hood in less than five minutes...

And now....Sam and Sara!

After I dropped my bags off at their place (which I'll show you later), they took me on a long walk/tour of the Cambridge area/campus. It's gorgeous. I actually thought this area was prettier and more accessible than Oxford, but...I'm still glad I went to Oxford.

We walked through town...

And ended up at the Cambridge campus...

Sam and Sara are both (mostly) vegetarian, so they know all the cool underground veg spots all over town. This one is called the Rainbow Room...

And inside...

It wasn't smokey in there, it's just my camera lens got all fogged up and I didn't have a soft cloth to wipe it off, so I just let it be.

Here's pics of our food...

And my side salad...

I didn't get a pic of my actual entree, 'cause well...as soon as it arrived, I inhaled it in less than five minutes. I didn't have time to take a photo! I was hungry.

Here's Sara and I in post meal digestion stage...

As we were leaving I got a quick shot of Sam...

 

We walked back to the campus and they both continued showing me around. 

Here's a church we popped into...

 

I forgot to mention that Sara's a chef at the school. Here's the dining area...

Look at this cute little door! God help you if you're a large person. I mean, seriously, how the hell are the fat people getting out of this building?!

 

We then went back to their place to chill for a bit...

Oh and here's their house. (Take note: they're renting this place already furnished, 'cause they're only gonna be in London until April (or so), so...a lot of what you'll see is not really their taste.)

Anyway, here's the kitchen...

Here's the entrance...

There was a small dining area just outside of the kitchen, but it was too dark to capture it.

Here's the stairs going up to the living room and two bedrooms...

 

Here's their bedroom...

And here's the guest bedroom where I slept...

And here's the living area...

We did our own thing for a couple of hours and then headed out to get some Indian food.

We took a cab to the restaurant...

We ate a ton of curry and then went back to their place and played a game called "Banana." It's similar to Scrabble, but...different. (Look it up!) We played and watched TV at the same time.

By midnight, we were asleep.

I got up at 9am and made my way back to London by 11am.

It was really nice spending some time with them. Sam and Sara are great people. : )

Stay tuned for my next adventure...