Tag: love

Once

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I had never seen the movie or not even heard about the musical before Sean’s sister went to see it and I started to notice the ads on the buses. That’s quite strange because I really like musicals and also the movies which are full of music and that’s why I try to get myself acquainted with news about musicals. Somehow I managed to miss that one and even before we started to watch the movie I didn’t actually realise that it was happening in Dublin and it was a love story between a Chech girl and an Irish guy. If I had known that before I had probably watched the movie much before. But it’s always nice to discover that there are still a lot of nice things that you can do or see or read for the first time and that makes them much more special.

OnceWe started with the movie and two days later went to see the musical and I loved them both. I really loved the movie because I always love the movies which have been set in Dublin and it’s so nice to recognise all these places. It came out that I had heard some of the songs and I was very happy for the tickets that we got for a present. And this was my first time to go to the theatre in Dublin 🙂

Of course, I couldn’t miss the possibility to go on the stage, where they had their bar which was open before the show and during the intermission. And the show was really brilliant – all that music, cast and the whole stage which actually was the same all the time but with small details, they managed to change the places and made you believe that it took place in several different locations. All the cast was really amazing – I was even thinking that some of them must really be of Chech origin because they played the Chech music so authentically and even talked with an accent but looking them up from the program it seemed that they were all Irish. We both enjoyed it a lot and as the Cork people who were sitting behind us and told that they were doing it for the third time already, I’d love to do it once more one day.

Malahide Castle and Gardens

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It was my first time to visit Malahide Castle which is actually quite near to Dublin but you definitely need a car to get there. To light up the day, we made this trip on Sunday and it was a beautiful place to walk around and enjoy the nice weather. When the sisters are involved, we usually take a guided tour and we did the same this time as well.

It was the first time for me to use my brand new camera and I am not too experienced to do any magic with it yet but I hope that I can improve.

A Dublin Bay Prawn Festival

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One of my favourite places here is Howth and when we looked up the events calendar for St Patrick’s Day’s weekend we were happy to find that there was a Dublin Bay Prawn Festival going on in Howth. It’s something that cannot be missed, ok we had never done it but we both love seafood and of course Howth, so it was the only option to choose.

It’s easy to get to Howth from Dublin – you just have to get a train from Dublin Connolly Railway Station, by a return ticket and wait for a train and it takes about 20 minutes to get there. In 2014 we took a long hike on the rocks in Howth and already then promised to go back there as soon as possible but somehow it took a bit time. but it was worth to wait for it because the Festival was exactly what we expected it to be. When entering you could buy tokens for getting your seafood – 20 euros for three dishes on your choice and if it’s not enough as it was for us, you could buy the next round.

We started with the real Dublin Bay Prawns and they were big, fresh and tasty and there was a lot of them on the plate. the token system helped to avoid the queues because the sellers didn’t have to deal with change and they had only to gather the tokens and put the food on your plate and of course keep cooking the new portions because the crowds who had come to enjoy it despite the grey and a bit rainy weather, were huge.

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Then we continued with some nice squid rings and fritted tiger prawns which were really tasty and again so fresh that they almost melted in your mouth. Squid rings are one of my favourites but of course, they have to be fresh, not frozen which gives them a bit gummy taste.

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And then it was totally time for oysters. The last week in France I had a chance to be taught how to open the oysters and to be honest I had only tasted them once before that and then, of course, they were not caught on the same day or probably not even close. I wasn’t the best student at opening the oysters but I was quite good at eating them, anyway, it was very interesting to see how the professional French chefs opened them with such an easy and skill that you could only stare there with your mouth watering for the new one to be opened. and now, just a week after that I was again enjoying the oysters, this time the Dublin Bay oysters, or wherever they had caught them. The other photo is taken in France, whit some better students as I was – they were able to open the oyster 🙂

And we finished our delicious day with some mussels, something that is a must be in Dublin – you know the song of poor Molly Mallone who was selling her mussels and cockles alive, alive ohh. So with all my thoughts with poor Molly I was enjoying the last delicious seafood of the day and then we went and bought some monkfish from the small seafood shop on the pier – there are lots of them, besides the little seafood restaurants. and we will definitely come back in summer and do it again.

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And here you can see what we made with our monkfish on the next day. Monkfish is also one of my favourites and I found it out during my Dublin time.

My missed Valentine’s Day

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You can’t count on planes and weather but we still can count on each other even when it’s hard and the things don’t work out as we have planned. And that’s all that really counts. Even if I missed the Late Valentine’s Day, I can see how it could have been if the storm Doris hadn’t cut our wishes. It’s sad and sweet at the same time to see how well everything was planned and how much I was waited for. These are the pieces of what I would have got if I had managed to reach Dublin. And that’s exactly how the long-term relationships feel – probably more romantic because of the shortness of every moment that you can spend together in reality but sad as well because of the same reason.

That’s exactly what was waiting for me besides of all the plans that we had for this short weekend. But we just put it on the waiting list, whenever the time will come. Who said that the Valentine’s Day has to be in February – we will just make a new calendar for ourselves and one day we will have it all. I know it, that’s why I have already started to make the next plans. You have to make the work to fit into your life, not your life to fit into our work.

Waiting for my Valentine’s Day

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Valentine’s Day is a new holiday in Estonia and actually, we call it a Friend’s Day instead and it’s not so awfully romantic at all. The media has tried to sparkle it up a bit and present it as a romantic day but even among youth, it is still more a day when you make a small present for your friend perhaps and nothing else.

As I have worked as an English teacher for ages, I have always added Valentine’s Day to my lessons as an interesting culture example of English speaking countries and so for me, it has been a romantic day all the time. During the last years, it has stepped out of my English books and started to be a real Valentine’s Day for me as well. And I must admit, that I like it a lot. It’s nice to be someone’s Valentine and it’s nice to be remembered and spoiled with a cute present and feel loved. It’s actually so much more than just nice.

My Valentine’s gifts this year were very red, hearty and also sweet but that part I have eaten already. I especially liked that sharing everything with you because it’s exactly how I feel and it’s exactly how we really are. We like to share everything and that’s the best part of our relationship.

A long-term relationship, unfortunately, doesn’t let you be with your loved one every single time when there’s a romantic day. Maybe we are just two well-matching romantic halves but we have managed well so far – believing in each other, supporting and loving, and also missing, longing and loving, setting our Big Goals, planning, sitting at the airports, reading flight schedules for pleasure, dreaming and making wish lists for our travels and other dreams and having long chats on the Internet. That’s why my Valentine’s Card has two sides  – one for the life on the Internet, especially on FB messenger, the other for our times spent together, both have been good.

And now I am waiting for my Late Valentine’s Day in Dublin, just 4 days to go.

Nice Little Things

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Christmas time is full of nice little things that make it real and enjoyable. You just have to notice them and that’s why I wanted to write some of them here.

file_000-1The first time in my Dublin Christmas I had an opportunity to go to the Carol Service – unbelievable, that I didn’t do it before, especially in Dublin but somehow we just have missed it. Even this time it didn’t come up as a plan but we just found it on our way to the Christmas Market when Sean took me to see the church where he had sung as a school kid. It was a nice big Cathedral, very near to us and just on our way to the Christmas Market – St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral at Marlborough Street. When we entered the Cathedral a Boys’ Choir were rehearsing for their concert and they were so cute and nice that we changed our plans and stayed for the Carol Service which was just to begin after an hour. It was the best choice because the service was so nice and it was so good to listen to a Boys’ Choir  – a real Christmas feeling with Carols. After the service, I had a chance to shake hands with the priest and say thank you. It was really one of these nice small things and I am so happy that we both enjoyed it – we both have been singing in choirs, so why not 🙂

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After the service, we went to M&S to treat ourselves with some nice posh food and bought a big jar of partridge pateĂ© with pear chutney which I named “The Partridge on a Pear Tree”, and which was really delicious. M&S Food Shop is among My Little Nice things without any questions asked and I am looking forward what kind of delicatessen we will find for our New Years Eve.

And one more nice thing is to get Christmas Cards as a couple – probably something that you never think about if you have been a couple for a long time but still so nice to me. And actually, nowadays you don’t get too many Christmas Cards in envelopes any more.

We wish you a Merry Christmas

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That was exactly how Dublin welcomed me this time. When I stepped out from the airport exit door, a children’s’ choir with red elf hats was standing in front of me and singing Christmas Carols. I think it’s such a good idea to give the children a reason to learn the Christmas Carol,s and every visitor of Dublin a special feeling when entering the country. So I got my special feeling and afterward when I was walking in the town and doing some window shopping it really felt like Christmas. All the Christmas lights, decorations, shop windows, music, crowds of people and Christmas tree, a bit on a wrong place this time, but somehow a bit taller, or maybe it just seemed to me like that.It’s hard to describe how happy do I feel to be back again. And how much I like that I am able to feel how Christmas make me happy and light-hearted.

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12 Days till My Christmas

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As there are just 12 days left to my next trip to Dublin, this song seemed really suitable to upload. Hope that all these 12 days will bring me as much joy as for the one in the song. I can count the tickets to the Mamma Mia musical that I bought today for myself, my son and his girlfriend, as a partridge in a pear tree but taking the French teacher whom I’m going to meet tomorrow as two turtle doves can probably be much more difficult, I guess. Unless he’s going to bring me two good French wines 🙂

Yellow leaves and Christmas lights

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It’s always so nice to be back and feel that nothing hasn’t changed, only some things have appeared or disappeared and this time the Christmas lights had been lit just a few days ago. The lights in Grafton Street were turned on earlier but the lights on Henry Street had been turned on just at the weekend before I came. This time they had changed the lights and there was again something new and Dublin had got a bit different face for these Christmas. When I am coming back for the real Christmas I will definitely look around a bit more – do some window shopping and some real shopping, check the Tayto Crisps Sandwich display at Arnotts and visit the Christmas Markets all around the town, go to listen to the Christmas Carols, see the Luminosity Festival , the New Year Parade on the last day of the year and enjoy every single day of these weeks.

But despite the Christmas lights on the streets, the trees in front of our home were still yellow and it felt like in October. That’s OK for me – I will get snow in Estonia anyway if I want it or not 🙂

Haapsalus on hea

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Sitting on the terrace of Cafe Hugo on the Promenade

“Haapsalus on hea” means “It’s good in Haapsalu” and it’s the theme sentence of our town because it’s true.

Haapsalu is a really nice summer resort and it is hidden on the western coast of a small country – Estonia. Haapsalu has a long history and it was first mentioned in written documents in 1279. So that year has been considered the birth year of the town and in 2016 it celebrated its 735th anniversary. The main thing that reminds you that you are in historical town is the old Episcopal Castle which is also the venue for lots of well-known and amazing summer events.

Haapsalu became a summer resort in the middle of the 19th century when the local doctor Carl Abraham Hunnius discovered that the local sea mud had lots of treating ingredients in it and after some research, he founded the first sea mud spa in Haapsalu in 1825. In these days Estonia belonged under the rule of the Russian tzar and Haapsalu became the beloved place for the Russian nobility to prove their health and rest from their busy lifestyle. Because of that, the railway was built, and even if the trains are not in run anymore, we have the most beautiful old railway station, which platform was once the longest in Europe. That was the birth of the summer resort which is one of the most peaceful places in the world and still famous for its sea mud and spas.

Haapsalu Promenade
Haapsalu Kurhouse
The swans behind the Kurhouse
Haapsalu Promenade
Haapsalu Episcopal Castle
Haapsalu Episcopal Castle
Small Wiik – sunset
Haapsalu Promenade

In summer time the small town, with only about 10 000 inhabitants, is full of small street cafes, concerts, festivals and summer people, who might be the tourists, visiting the town for the first time, the youth who have been brought up here and come to enjoy the summer in their hometown, people who go to the islands and stop for a cup of coffee and tasty range of cakes in their favourite cafes, and lots of fans all over the world, who keep coming back, wherever their life takes them. The most well-known events are the Festivals of White Lady and August Blues, which have been held here for ages, but also the newcomers like the Street food Festival, Italian Wine Days, Yoga Festival, Old Music Festival and lots of others.

At Cafe Dietrich
The food is on fire, at Rapid Rabbit
Haapsalu Promenade and summer restaurant Kurhouse
Roosta beach
Haapsalu from the top of the Castle Tower

Did I say that we don’t have a train anymore, actually we have one and it takes you slowly through the whole town and introduces you with the sights where you can come back walking when you have taken your coffee and cake from your favourite cafe and ready to go and discover this seaside town on your own. The train is called Peetrike, which is a childhood nickname for Little Peter and it starts from the real old train station.

But if you really really like trains, then just turn around the corner, behind the Train Station, and have fun with the old engines which belong to the Haapsalu Railway Museum, which is located in the same building. We did it some years ago.

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