London

The last leg of our trip was during 14-16 January 2011. This was the third capital city we had been to for the new year including Dublin and Paris. Our flight left Ireland from the airport in Shannon which is about 20 minutes outside of Limerick. We flew to London Heathrow airport and took the Tube into the city. Friday night was spent walking around the Edgware Road area and having dinner.

Saturday afternoon walking around the city, on the way to Hyde Park.

Big Red

Big horse head, near Marble Arch, Oxford St, Westminster, London.

Buckingham Palace

Old technology is still in use in London and a popular photo attraction.

Big Ben

London Eye on the Thames River

Going down the escalator at Piccadilly Circus tube stop.

One of the main reasons for stopping in London on the way back from Ireland was the opportunity to attend an English Premier League Football match. It worked out that one of the top clubs, Arsenal, was playing at West Ham United and we were able to get seats. I'm now also a member of the West Ham United FC support group. This means I get at least one email per week from the club manager explaining what happened in the last weeks match and how changes and improvements are coming next week. There are also emails for tickets to the FA Cup and merchandise sales. The most recent email today had a program to buy a Kid for a Quid, take a look at the text. http://www.whufcboxoffice.com/

"The FA Cup is important because it's the FA Cup. Of course our target is the league, and the most important thing is that. We'll do everything we can to succeed in the league. I am pleased the club has made our next league game against Birmingham Kids for a Quid. It is good to get the young supporters to the games. But it is also good to be involved in this cup."

Going to the match should have been a straight forward ride on the tube, change trains and another tube ride to the stop at Upton Park. That didn't happen, maintenance and a labor disagreement had closed some stations which meant we got to ride a double decker red bus to the Upton Park stop after riding on three different tube lines.

Game time at Boleyn Grounds home of West Ham United. We had to walk down Green Street to the pitch and were surrounded by enthusiastic fans hoping for a win over Arsenal, that didn't happen but it was a great experience. Final score 3-0, Arsenal. There was a movie made about some of the most enthusiastic fans of West Ham United called Green Street, which starred the guy who was a hobbit in the movie shot in New Zealand. I'm planning to watch it sometime soon.

After the match we walked back to the Upton park bus stop to wait on the bus. Since we had plenty of time we crossed the street and went to the Duke of Edinburgh pub, 299 Green St, London. It was full of West Ham supporters enjoyng a pint after the match.

Ireland

We were back home in Bratislava Wednesday night and left again on Friday afternoon for Dublin, Ireland.

Looking west toward the Samuel Beckett Bridge on The River Liffey.

Thug Life at

Custom House Quay on The Liffey River.

On the Sean O'Cassey Bridge looking west.

Alexandra looking at Oscar Wilde statue in St Stephen's Green.

Bedford Row, Temple Bar area, Dublin.

Street art in Temple Bar area.

There are many, many, many great pubs in Dublin. This one happens to be The Auld Dubliner. 24 Temple Bar, Dublin. We didn't go in as this was taken early Sunday morning, they were still washing down the street from the night before.

A Guinness a day is good for you, a little whisky and some Baily's Irish Cream also taste good.

Limerick Ireland, from our hotel room. Looking at the River Shannon and bridges.












The poor economic state of the country has made the real estate market open up.

Massey Ferguson tractor and cart in the Irish Folk Village at Bunratty, west of Limerick.

Bunratty Castle

Durty Nelly's and Bunratty Castle.

Irish Folk Village at Bunratty. Not a single pretty face on any of the sheep.

Cliffs of Moher, County Clare, Ireland voted one of the New 7 Wonders of the World.

The Cliffs of Moher are 710 feet above the sea at the highest point. Behind me to the west are Newfoundland and Labrador.

Paris for the New Year

Alexandra and I left Seattle on the 30 of December in the morning and flew to Philadelphia, PA there we change planes and flew to Paris. When we got to Paris it was the 31 of December, New Years Eve! After taking a train and the metro we arrived at our hotel and unpacked. Time to bring in the new year. Alexandra has family in Paris, so we spent the evening with them having dinner, playing music in the studio, drinking wine and finally bringing the new year. There was a jam session right up until 10 minutes to the new year. Champagne and cake to celebrate 2011!



Sight seeing around the city. The grave of James Morrison in Père Lachaise Cemetery .













The grave of Oscar Wilde in Père Lachaise Cemetery. See the post from Dublin for more of Oscar Wilde.
















Montmartre
















F is for funiculaire, Montmartre. Riding cost covered if you have a metro day pass.













Enjoying coffee and people watching in Montmartre.












Sunset from Montmartre.

Picture the top from the top of the Arc de Triomphe. Alexandra got a Eiffel Tower hat that lit up from a vendor at the base of the Eiffel Tower the day before. I saw a giant rat crawling around the base of the Eiffel Tower, sorry no picture.

Tunnel from Avenue des Champs-Élysées to Arc de Triomphe.

View of the Arc de Triomphe from Avenue des Champs-Élysées.

Musée du Louvre courtyard

Advertisement inside the metro tunnel for the Big Four tour of Europe.

Also a number of ads with Bob Sinclar, French DJ, selling headphones.

Inside the metro on the M2 line, heading to our hotel.

Street art by Invader. Also saw one of these in Montmartre by the funiculaire.

A number of pieces by Invader were featured in the movie Faites le mur/Exit Through the Gift Shop that we watched while in Paris.

CA for the holiday

We went back to San Jose and then to Seattle for the last two weeks of December. It was a busy trip, we had friends and family to see everyday while in San Jose.



This is what happens when you have a get together with friends and leave the camera out. Great pictures turn up on your camera! Thank you for the great pictures, stopping by to say hello and cleaning up Jeremy's house.

24 of December in Santa Cruz, CA.

Sunset on Dog Beach, Santa Cruz CA.

Christmas day was split between San Jose, CA and Seattle, WA. We went to church early in the morning, had presents and lunch then got on a plane to Seattle. Seattle was dinner and presents with Alisa and Paul.