Friday, November 14, 2008

A Long Week

This was one of those Sunday-to-Friday travel weeks. I'm home now but too mentally fatigued to say anything cogent. So for now, here are some photos from the trip.

Dublin:















































Cork





























Birmingham:





































































































7 comments:

Unknown said...

Very nice. Did you go to the Birmingham public library? I read that it's on the top ten list of unflattering buildings.

Craig Bob said...

I walked past it on the way to that Christmas festival. And yes, it is pretty unflattering because it's situated among all of those classic buildings and streets you see in the photos.

JBlog said...

Didn't spend much time in Birmingham itself when I was there 15+ years ago.

But there are some positively lovely areas outside of the city though -- Coventry, Stratford, etc.

Great food, wonderful people.

Craig Bob said...

Yes, very friendly folks indeed. And that Christmas festival in the photos is actually called the "German Market." Evidently, it is put on by real, live Germans who relocate to Birmingham for several weeks leading up to Christmas. I couldn't help but be struck by the picture of reconciliation - given the role Germany played in Birmingham during the Battle of Britain.

JBlog said...

"Evidently, it is put on by real, live Germans who relocate to Birmingham for several weeks leading up to Christmas."

I suspect they're just prepping for the invasion -- Operation Sealion II.

Strike at the industrial heartland first and then spread out from there.

Craig Bob said...

Yeah but from a Christmas festival base? It just seems so, I don't know, passive aggressive for an invasion.

Cheyenna said...

I love Ireland. And one of your pictures reminded me of something that our waiter said our first night there.

When asked why it was that you couldn't purchase alcohol until 11 am he went on to discuss the fact that on Sunday and Thursday nights bars quit serving at 11 pm and that it was the law. We were all perplexed as here alcohol can be served from 6 am to 2 am. He said, in a charming Irish accent,

"People just weren't turning up to work Mondays and Fridays. It was costing the Irish economy millions."

Probably one of my favorite quotes.