Dublin with the McCormacks

We had the special treat during this last trip to get to meet up with the McCormack clan while they were in Dublin for the girls' Spring Break. Carol and Paul are my sister and brother-in-law and they have 3 beautiful daughters who are three (of our five) lovely nieces. Paul was born and raised in Dublin and his mother still lives there so we were blessed to get to see Grandma Mary as well on our visit.

With some careful coordination (and lies, as Susan was quick to point out) on Carol's part, we were able to surprise the girls with our arrival. I hate that we didn't capture their surprised faces as the door opened but I will certainly never forget it. Their sweet faces went from confusion, to shock, to sheer joy in about 30 seconds. We were quickly tackled with hugs in the doorway. "Aunt Katie and Uncle Jim!!" I wouldn't trade those moments for anything.

When I moved to DC in 2006, Carol was pregnant with Susan, the oldest. So, my seven years in DC were filled with watching these beautiful girls grow up. Jim and I even lived with them for a month after our wedding when we were waiting to move out to California. It has been hard being away from them for the past two years but we were lucky that they visited us in Monterey and so glad to see them in Dublin. Hopefully we will see them again before we move back to the states. Thank goodness for today's technology where we can see pictures and videos regularly. It really helps us feel connected across the miles.

Thank you McCormack clan for including us on your Spring Break! It was wonderful to see you!

We went to visit Tom Tom's grave (Paul's dad) at the most beautiful old cemetery in Dublin. It was a really special experience.

It was a solemn place for a morning visit but really special for the girls to get to see where their grandfather is buried.

We took a little day drive to the coast to a charming little town where we had lunch at a coffee shop. Too bad it was so windy. We would have liked to walk to the end of the pier and explore more. Cecilia has gotten so big! She was attached to my hand pretty much the whole 48 hours.

Cecilia enjoying a "99" vanilla soft serve ice cream cone with a chocolate flake stuck in the side. This was one of Paul's favorite treats growing up. It was fun that he shared with us!

Susan, Anne, Paul, Jim and I went on a walking tour around Dublin with Paul as our tour guide. It was pretty great to be shown around by someone who grew up there! Here we are on the campus of Trinity University where the Book of Kells is housed.

Unfortunately, in the end, we weren't able to get a picture of us with all three girls but this one of us with Susan turned out great. It was such a special time to get to see the McCormack family after a year apart. We miss them greatly and can't wait until our next adventure together!

Regional Travels and Beyond

In the middle of March, Jim and I took a driving and flying grand excursion around Europe. We traveled from Podgorica to Sarajevo to Zagreb where we left our car and flew to Dublin to meet the McCormacks. From Dublin we flew to Prague to meet with fellow Olmsted scholars and then back to Zagreb to get our car. Before we drove back to Podgorica we spent a night in Mostar, Bosnia. Overall it was a two week adventure full of fun, family, friends and travel!
 
Our first stop was Sarajevo, Bosnia. We arrived in the afternoon and checked in with the Knoxs. Jim was in class at DLI with David and April Knox who now live in Sarajevo. It was so great to spend the evening with dear friends. They were great enough to show us around town and also to give us a place to stay for the evening. They took us out to a yummy Bosnian Asian fusion dinner after we did a little walking tour of downtown Sarajevo. I forgot my camera so I only got iPhone pics. Sarajevo is definitely a city we plan to visit again for longer than just one night.

This is the Latin Bridge where the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria happened which is considered the start of World War I.

From Sarajevo, we took the beautiful drive on to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. Zagreb was fantastically beautiful. It had a lot of Austro-Hungarian Empire influence and thus absolutely beautiful architecture. We really liked Zagreb and plan to be back there, especially to visit our Olmsted friends, the Marshalls, once they arrive this summer and also our friends Senad and Sanja! I can't wait to keep up with the Marshalls Zagreb adventures and experiences once they arrive, on Amanda's beautiful blog.

This is an art gallery that is in the middle of a beautiful green square.

There are little outdoor cafes everywhere and these blue trams crisscross through the city.

There are several squares throughout the city that have statues and fountains.

The fruit and vegetables at the outdoor farmers market, Dolac were so beautiful!

Fresh lettuce in every color!

Beside the farmers market, there were locals selling their wares.

St. Mark's church has the most original roof tiles I've ever seen!

When we left Zagreb, we flew to Dublin. More on the visit with the McCormacks in another post, stay tuned...

From Dublin, we flew to Prague. I certainly see what all the hype is about with Prague. It is quite a romantic city! We were so excited to meet up with Olmsted friends there for the Prague Half-Marathon. Neither Jim or I planned to run but used this excuse to make it up to a city we've had on our list for some time. It was great to reconnect with a few scholars, Raisa and Mike, and meet several new ones, Mike and Carly. Carly and her husband Andres were kind enough to let those of us who weren't running, hang out in their beautiful apartment. It was on the race route which made for quite a view! After the race, we grilled with the other scholars at their apartment. We also had the surprise treat to run into more friends from DLI, Brian and Christine Devlin. Brian and Christine live in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Christine keeps an amazing blog that is full of delicious recipes and also some of their region and travels. We plan on making a trip to visit them soon!

Blustery day on King Charles Bridge.

So many runners!

We had the great fortune to cross paths with Jim's brother, Phillip and his friend Jared while in Prague. It was so great to see family! We're really grateful that they met up with us. The boys are in front of the cathedral at Prague Castle.

There were Easter Markets set up in the square that were almost as elaborate as the Christmas Markets in Germany!

We even had the great luck to get to see Turner Harrison, a dear friend from High School days, while in Prague. It was so fun to see a friendly Nashville face from a long time ago. Hopefully we will meet again while we both still live in Europe!

On our flight from Prague to Zagreb, we had a 7 hour layover in Belgrade. The Andersons picked us up at the airport and took us to a fantastic lunch on the river. After lunch we went on a really interesting "Underground Belgrade" tour. It was the best way I could ever think to spend a layover, and it was great to see the Andersons again!

From Zagreb, we drive to Mostar, Bosnia for the night. Mostar is a lovely little town that saw a lot of fighting during the war in the 90s. We would highly recommend it as a spot to visit in the Balkans to appreciate the beauty and culture and also have a little more insight into the Homeland War. Overall, we learned a lot about our region on this adventure and are appreciating where we live more and more.

This 16th Century bridge was destroyed during the war and recently rebuilt and named a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Bosnia is a primarily Muslim country and the city is peppered with mosque minarets. We heard the calls to prayer several times a day.

We had lunch with with Senad and Sanja while they were on their drive back to Zagreb. We will miss these sweet friends!

Here's Jim in front of the bridge. In the warm weather months, experienced bridge divers perch on the bride and collect money. Once they've gotten enough and gathered a crowd, they jump! We saw a guy acting like he was going to make the leap, but I guess he never collected enough and didn't ever jump for us. Maybe next time!

Until next time,
The Adventuring Armstrongs