Evidentially the word Shannon is plural (in Swords, Ireland) as none of the signs we saw downtown today included an apostrophy.  After snapping some pictures of Shannons in Swords, we slurped down some soup at the pub.  Then we headed to the suburbs of Swords (to pick up a used chair I’d secured on http://www.adverts.ie).

 

It’s not the most comfortable office chair… I have to admit that on-line viewing leaves much to be desired.  But, I took it anyway as we’d made quite an effort to get there.  If it doesn’t suit for long stints at the computer, perhaps I can re-list it on Adverts.

We had rented a car–to use for our trip to western Ireland–and to make a few errands.  After our chair purchase, we found we had a couple of hours to spare before we needed to pick up my sister, Heather, at the airport.  We decided to make a quick trip to IKEA.  I was thrilled to find the same model of desk I use at home… it will fit snuggly in the corner of my living room and I can transform into a cafe table for use on the balcony in good weather.

Heather was surprised by coolness of the weather here.  She just spent a sweltering 16 days in drought-ridden Italy.  The mountainside across from her Spoleto lodgings went up in flames and burned for two straight days.  In Rome, she stayed with the hostellers I use on my student trips. Our friend Monti showed her around the city… including some hair-raising rides on the back of his motorcycle.  Glad I wasn’t there to see that!  Dave and I enjoyed a ride with him in his car and that was hair-raising enough for me!

Here, she’ll be borrowing sweaters.  She’ll also have to dig that umbrella from the depths of her suitcase.

After collecting Heather outside customs, we all hurried back to town to meet some people I’d hired to help clean the apartment.  They know a bit more about this particular job than I do.  The place feels much cozier now!

Sadly, though, I still haven’t figured out the sizing for the beds.  I keep buying sheets that don’t fit.  Two twin beds zip together to make one “super king,” but these are longer-than-normal twins and I can’t find anywhere to buy long twin (i.e., dorm) sheets.  I’ve learned all this through trial and error and I still lack some of the bedding I’d hoped to have in place before Heather arrived.  Dave and I will huddle together for warmth tonight.  If, of course, he ever finishes editing and comes to bed… people keep ordering new images.  They all want to enter an architectural design competition that closes soon and they need exceptional images (that he’s previously shot, was smart enough to bring with him, and now needs to edit).

Even though we’ve been intensely busy the past few days, we’ve stumbled across some interesting sights along the way.  There’s movie filming going on all across the city and a Notre Dave versus Navy football (!?!!?) game in Dublin this weekend that has brought in throngs of Americans.

We also spied the stable for a old-timey horse-drawn carriage.  I posted a photo (at the top of this blog) of the owner washing his horse last night.  We were walking to find a place recommended by Peter (from the Kildare Street Hotel).  I’m so glad to have his ideas… this funky little restaurant pub is quite close to where I live.  It has fascinating accouterments (such as the menus in the photos above).  You’ll notice that Dave got a little wet on our walk there.  He dried, eventually!

What we haven’t found yet–sorry Morgan–is Lucky Charms.  Despite having a large section seemingly devoted to Kellogg’s, the Fresh Market has no sign of such Charms.  We did locate readymade pancakes in the refrigerated section, however.  They’re available in either “American” or “French.”  As Morgan’s dad would say “Who’d a thunk?”  Certainly not me!