Shaking Hands with the Dead

Although I got a phone call from work, for a last minute change of shift, I still met up with Niamh for lunch and culture with a difference before work that evening. After our lunch in Wagamama's, we strolled across Stephen Green towards The Little Museum of Dublin. The museum tells the story of the city in the 20th Century. The museum is still fairly new, only been launched in 2011, after a public appeal for historic objects, with the generosity of the public generating over 5,000 artefacts today in the collection. The collection shows social, cultural and political history of modern Dublin. The museum is housed within a Georgian building and open every day, usually with an admission fee, however on Wednesday afternoons, they day we went, it was free, courtesy of Johnston Mooney and O'Brien bakeries. The latest addition to the museum, is the exhibition, U2: Made in Dublin, open on the second floor. The exhibition charts the story of the band from 1976 to present day, featuring musical rarities, signed albums, alongside items such as a Trabant car, and even a pack of U2 condoms. The museum was a different and interesting angle of modern Dublin and a must see for everyone.

After visiting the Little Museum, our next outing was to the dark spooky vaults of St Michan's church, which located in the vicinity of Jameson Distillery in Smithfield. Admission normally 5 euro, we got the concession price of 4 euro. The church is built on the site of an early Danish chapel from 1095, however the current structure dates from reconstruction in 1686, and is still possibly the only parish church on the north side of the Liffey surviving from a Viking foundation. Although the church exterior might seems dull and unimpressive, the interior boasts an organ dated 1727, on which Handel composed his Messiah. The vaults contain many mummified remains, which due to the walls containing limestone, has kept the air dry, creating ideal conditions for preservation. Among the preserved remains are the 400 year old body of a nun, the Shears brothers, Henry and John, who took part in the 1798 rebellion and a six and a half foot man popularly believed to have been a crusader, a body with its feet and right hand severed. One of the most unusual yet surreal things, I've ever done, was shaking the left hand of the crusader mummy. Our tour guide had us all in stitches, describing the history of the church and its vaults. This quirky, hidden away attraction is well worth a visit. 

To relax after work that night, following in my mother footsteps, spent a while entering competitions online. Luckily enough, the next day, I won tickets to a  movie preview and pre-screening party. So the night of the preview, +Niamh and myself went along to Thunder Road Cafe for the party, where there was free cocktail food and surprisingly for everyone an open bar, sure a jar or two had to be had. The preview itself, was for +Ride Along being hosted for by +UniversalPictures Ireland. The movie itself was quite funny, and sure what a better way to spend a Tuesday evening.

After our weekly visit to the Bingo and show, not sure if it was stupidity or pure +Oscars excitement, but managed to stay awake and watch the Oscars live, including being one of those that helped break twitter over Ellen's selfie. So after about 2 hours sleep, I begun the long journey home, despite the lack of sleep, it was great to see everyone and spend few days home. I some how managed while updating my ipad, dealing with Apple over an iTunes issue  and general messing about, I finally got the famous new iPhone working  myself. I don't think I've screamed or jumped that much in years. It was a reason to celebrate, like I ever need a reason of course. 

 

To finish my few days off, Niamh and me hopped on a Coast and Castle tour run by +Dublin Sightseeing. We managed to get it on Living Social for 9 euro each instead of 24. After a nice breakfast at Flanagan's for 5 euro, we called in next door to Dublin Bus, collected our tickets and jumped on our bus for the 11 am departure. Our tour guide Tom, was one hell of a character, telling us unusual stories of Dublin and singing en route up the North Coast to Malahide Castle. As part of the ticket, we got a 45 min private tour of one of Ireland's oldest castles, which is set on 250 acres of parkland, and was both a fortress and a private home for nearly 800 years. The Talbot family lived here from 1185 to 1973. After exploring the grounds of the castle, we went for coffee in Avoca, sitting outside near the walled gardens, where we noticed a beautiful peacock and robin. The day was turning into such a relaxing, scenic one and the beautiful weather which wasn't promised, didn't hurt either. 

       

After departing Malahide, the bus then begun it's journey along the coast from Malahide itself, towards our next port of call Howth, passing through Portmarnock, of course home to 2 famous golf courses and a Napoleonic Martello tower. Just before entering Howth, we saw Ireland's Eye in the distance, which is a small uninhibited island off the coast and we were able to see, the ruins of another Martello tower. We were barely off the bus, when we got to see 3 playful seals in the harbour, which neither Niamh nor myself seen any of our previous trips to the harbour. During our stop in the harbour, the sun came out to play, and were got a better view of Ireland's eye whilst sitting on the harbour wall. We decided to walk along the pier at the other side of the harbour, where we got amazing views of Dublin Bay and the Wicklow Mountains. To finish off tour and the North Coast, we continued our descent back towards the city, driving through Sutton, Clontaff and North Bull Island, a Natural Reserve and Bird Sanctuary, connected to the mainland by a wooden road bridge. Along the way, our guide Tom, indicated some beautiful spots and views of the Irish Sea, Dublin Bay, Dublin and Wicklow Mountains and of the city itself in the distance, highlighting the old Poolbeg power station and the Aviva. All the while, entertaining us with his stories  and singing. As we departed this tour bus, we hopped onto the hop on/ hop off bus, as a free city loop tour was included, as well as a ticket for a free Pat Liddy's walking tour, to use at a later date. To top off such a nice relaxing day, we finished it with dinner and drinks, which ended up being such a random funny night.   

To enjoy the sudden change in the weather, I revelled in the sun with a drive out to Dun Laoghaire Pier before heading up towards Glencullen. To continue enjoying the sun, the next day Niamh and myself, went for a nice leisurely cruise along the Liffey. We were lucky to get a discounted voucher for Liffey River Cruises on Living Social for €9 for both of us, instead of 28 euro. We hopped onto the Spirit of the Docklands boat for the 3.15 cruise, on Bachelor's walk.  The tour with guided commentary, glided under Dublin's historic bridges and gave an unique view of iconic buildings and lasted for approx. 45 mins, which travelled towards the O2 and Grand Canal Docklands areas, before the journey back to the boarding point. The tour was a fun, unique and interesting view of Dublin and it's Docklands.

Magic of Disney

After a relaxing week at home to see family and celebrate my birthday, I came back to Dublin and continued to celebrate and pack for France. So Niamh and I decided, sure why not, head to the George for Sunday bingo and show before heading to the airport. We left the club, bags in hand and boarded the Aircoach on Westmorland st for Terminal 1, the return bus ticket cost 12 euro each. As we had plenty of time before the check-in desks opened, we got comfy upstairs and surprise surprise I fell asleep, and Niamh took great pleasure in taking photos of me asleep and showing me when I woke up. Once we checked in, passed thru security, we had plenty of time for breakfast, we both agreed that the breakfast wasn't worth the money, oh well. We boarded the plane, and as there was plenty of space, Ryanair asked if we would move to the emergency exits to man the emergency doors. The flight itself was short, quiet and straightforward. After passport control, etc, we made our way to VEA coaches stop, that was transporting us to the resort, although it arrived late, we somehow managed to still arrive on schedule at our resort hotel, Sequoia lodge. As we arrived too early for check in, we just wanted to store our bags, however once our bags were X-rayed and dealt with the paperwork to collect our tickets for the parks and our Paris excursion, we got a pleasant surprise in that our room was ready, this was 12.30 and check in was meant to be 3pm. So after a quick change, we went to the hotel concierge to book a time for dinner that evening using one of our meal vouchers which we had prepaid online during the reservation. We decided to walk to the park from our hotel to check our the resort and Disney Village. On route we passed by Lake Disney, and through security and the x-rays again, entering the Village. First impression so far was, that Disneyland were very security conscience.

Once we entered the park, we were like children in a candy store, we immediately ran towards Sleeping Beauty Castle and had a little poke around, before heading to Frontierland and its rides before culminating with Big Thunder Mountain, although I personally enjoyed the ride, it had poor Niamh in tears, so to make it up to her we trekked to Fantasyland, and joined the 45 minute queue in the Princess Pavilion to meet and greet a Disney Princess, which was kept a surprise until we meet her.

Tiana from Princess and the Frog, was the Princess of the moment. We were both amazed how well she kept in character for the duration of our visit with her. As we both we in this meet and greet buzz, we decided to go and meet Mickey Mouse, as he was also in Fantasyland. Mickey was quite a cheeky mouse, which had both of us in stitches.  

As we had some time to kill before the Disney Magic on Parade, we followed  Alice's path through her Curious Labyrinth but beware of the wicked Queen of Hearts or it'd "off with your head". After we managed to evade the Queen, we got to the top of her castle, which gave a beautiful view of Fantasyland and the rest of the park. After nearly getting lost trying to leave the maze, we made our way towards Central Plaza on Main Street USA, just in time for start of the parade. 

Throughout the parade, the magic and wonder of Disney, was everywhere to be seen, it was surreal and can only be seen in person, to be totally appreciated. After the awe of the parade, washed over us, we went off exploring further around the park. At one stage, I attempted but failed to pull the sword of Excalibur from its stone. On route to Discoverland, we took a wrong turn, and ended up in the heart of Sleeping Beauty's Castle, in it's Dungeon, where we were lucky to escape the lurking dragon, which at 27 metres from head to tail is one of the largest Animatronic figure ever built. On our escape, we entered the castle and climbed the stone steps, entering Sleeping Beauty gallery, reading the story in lavishly illustrated books, rich tapestries and stained glass windows. Finally finding our way from Fantasyland, we happened upon, Snow White's Wishing Well, we couldn't resist but make a wish. 

We boarded our Star Cruiser aiding Buzz Lightyear and other Space Rangers defeat the Evil Emperor Zurg and save the universe through 360 degree spins, zapping enemy targets with our lasers gaining points. As I wanted to try Space Mountain: Mission 2, we strolled towards to the ride, but was closed for 30 or so minutes, so in the meanwhile, we entered the Mysteries of the Nautilus, which is a walkthrough attraction, which took us through various rooms of Captain Nemo's submarine from Jules Verne's 20,000 League Under the Sea. The attraction consists of 6 rooms, the Ballasts Compartment housing the treasure of Captain Nemo, which followed into the Captain's Room, The Charts Room, The Diving Chamber, The Engine Room and The Main Salon which is the heart of the Nautilus. In the Main Salon, the Captain's Organ which has a mirror above the keys, displays the reflection of Captain Nemo. One window opens on the ocean's depths and whilst we were staring out this window, a giant squid attacks which almost gave us a fright. Not sure what I was thinking after that, but when I saw that Space Mountain had reopened, I quickly joined the queue. I was nearly having second thoughts as I was being buckled into my seat, but had no time to reconsider, as the cannon blasted me faster than G-force speeds, through what actually felt like to space and back. At least I some how made it back in one piece. To continue on this space exploration, we entered the Star Tours attraction, passing through a droid workshop and said *# (Hi!) to R2D2 and then boarded our space shuttle which took us on a virtual thrilling reality ride to the Moon of Endor, and on the way, destroying the Empire's headquarters, on the Death Star. Lucky we had our safety belts on, as the ride was very bumpy. As we exited the ride, we made our way towards Central Plaza, to witness Disney Dreams, as we got out of Star Tours a tad later then we had planned, we missed the start of the show. Of what we saw, we were left in awe, and both agreed that the following night, we were determined to witness the display in it's entirety. Like everyone else, we made our way out of the parks, and back towards Disney Village, after a quick look around, we made our way back to our hotel and room, to rest for a few minutes before our dinner. It was a buffet style affair and our meal voucher included a soft drink. Neither of us could complain about the food in the Hunter's Grill, once we were stuffed, we decided to have an early night, as we were wrecked from all the travelling. Although we were ecstatic, with what we saw and did, we planned tad better for the next day. 

 As when you check in, you also are allocated seating times for breakfast during your stay. Our earliest start for breakfast was 7.30 on the Tuesday morning, although it just a continental affair, we both were content with what was on offer. We had plenty of time to prepare and get ready for the day, including booking dinner at Cafe Mickey after Disney Dreams through our concierge. We were very lucky that our hotel offered free WI-FI as only 2 other hotels offered this. We left early to go exploring in the village before the parks opened. We entered Walt Disney Studios, and made our way to the Toon Plaza in Toon Studio, it was then we realised that the park had opened early. As we were waiting to meet and greet various Disney Characters and had time to spare, we hopped on board on the Cars Race Rally with Flash McQueen on Route 66, waking up the town of Radiator Springs in the process. Upon exiting the ride, we joined the queue just in time to meet Mickey and then Buzz Lightyear. During our exploration of the studios, we met several characters some being very cheeky. I should have become aware then how my day was going to process. Although Mulan, Woody and Mushu made us as giddy as children, that was all gonna change, when out strolled Donald Duck, who was playful with Niamh, but nearly assaulted me, which had everyone around laughing, even me.

 The tone of the morning, that started in the Studios, continued in the Park, as the Disney characters seemed to have a kick out of assaulting me, in particular Goofy, Tigger and Eeyore, however my luck seem to change in form of Baloo from the Jungle Book in the rhythms of the jungle in Adventureland, when he gave me a hug. After this touching moment, we entered the city of Agrabah and Aladdin's Enchanted Passage which showcased series of scenes from the movie through window displays. To continue on this adventure through Adventureland, we walked towards Pirates of the Caribbean, where we encountered Peter Pan and Captain Hook and then entered a water ride through, a series of secret caverns that depicted the "pirate life". As we were a tad adventured out, we exited Adventureland and made our way through Fantasyland to the "its a small world" ride. The musical water ride consisted of a tour of the world through the use of 300 dolls that sing and dance to "its a small world" medley. Trust me although you exit the ride in awe, you'll be left humming the song for the rest of the day and as a result  will end up on that ride again.    

                       

 To cap off our meet n' greet for the day and a particular highlight for Niamh, was meeting Minnie Mouse and Pluto. As were back over in the Studios, I decided to finally get on ride that had eluded me for 15/16 years since our visit to Disney world in Florida, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. The ride is set in the once glamorous, now  eerie and abandoned Hollywood Tower Hotel, where you discover the mysteries surrounding the guests that fateful night back in October 31, 1939. When they warn you that nothing can prepare you for plunging 13 floors, they aren't lying, however on the upside, the views you witness each time before you plummet, over the studios are literally breathtaking. We managed this time to get a better position to watch the parade and enjoy it all the more. As we plenty of time before Night Time show, Disney Dreams!, we set off exploring what Fantasyland really had to offer. We began with Peter Pan's flight where we set sail in a flying Galleon over starlit London on a journey to Never land. Les Voyages de Pinocchio is a dark ride that leads you through the life of Pinocchio with the use of Pinocchio's lively puppet show, colours of Pleasure Island and clockwork frenzy of Gepetto's workshop which creates a energetic and enjoyable ride. Right next door is Blanche-Neighe et les Sept Nains, is a ride that follows the story of Snow White and how her woodland chums defeated the wicked queen. A tale with a Sneezy ending. As we just had enough time before they closed Fantasyland in preparation for Disney Dreams for a ride or two. We mounted our steeds on the Carrousel de Lancelot, and enjoyed as the merry-go-round brought us on an adventure through Lancelot's world. Before we were kicked out, we were lucky enough to have time to have a spin on Mad Hatter's Tea Cups whirling around in circles, which was childish fun. Once the dizziness left us, we strolled from Fantasyland into Adventureland and onto Captain Hook's Pirate Ship. After we fought Hook, we entered the lofty tree top retreat of the Swiss Family Robinson, walked through their living quarters. A wrong turn upon exiting this retreat, had us strolling us haunted passages and crossing suspension bridges to the pirates secret hide-out. At this hide-out, we eyed our escape from this haunted place into Wild West of Frontierland and finally to Central Plaza for our spot to witness Disney Dreams.

The night time show extravaganza of lights and colours, centers around the Sleeping Beauty Castle and follows the flights of fancy of Peter Pan's shadow who escaped to bring the rainbow reality of Disney Dreams to life. He weaves his way between timeless Disney stories, dashing through lasers, fantastic fountains and  peaking with a firework finale. This nighttime show is spectacular and unmissable. We make our way towards the Disney Village and Cafe Mickey. During our meal, we met Tigger, Eeyore, Mickey and Pluto. At some stage during our meal, Pluto turned and ended up assaulting me, catching his whiskers in my eye. Sure after the morning I had with Disney Characters, it was bound to end  this way.

Another early start for breakfast, after which we got ready and walked to Hotel New York, the pick up point for our Cityrama tour to Paris. We had a tour of Paris by coach with a personal audio guide detailing the history of the capital city and its major attractions. We stopped for lunch near the Lourve, and we went off exploring the locality, taking in the famous The Lourve Palace & the Pyramid and the nearby Tuileries Gardens. As we got captivated with the beauty of the surroundings, we had to literally run, to make it back in time, before our coach departed for the Eiffel Tower. The coach dropped us off at Pontoon 3 at Bateaux Parisiens, which is located near the foot of the Eiffel Tower, and also the location of the cruise along Seine, which we would take after our visit to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower. As we had a group pass, we were able to bypass the crowds and get the lift up. I remarked to Niamh, that this lift was scarier than the Tower of Terror, which in part could have been due to the stormy winds.After our panoramic views of Paris, we decided to descend downwards by the stairs, partly due to our experience in the lift up and the waiting crowds. On route down, we stopped off at level 1 to see different angles of the city and then continued our windy journey down. As we had some time to spare, we stopped off at a Crepe van, to get a quick bite to eat, before our cruise along the Seine, which was heaven in stark contrast to the expensive cold crepe and coffee, we had at lunch time by the Lourve. We were lucky enough to get good seats by the window, to enjoy the sights and historical buildings of Paris with a personal audio guide through out the 1 hr cruise. After we disembarked from the boat, we boarded our coach and made the journey back to the Disney resort and Hotel New York. We were lucky enough to remember to book our dinner reservation in New York Hotel for when we got back that morning. After we recovered from our food comas, we decided to head to our hotel's Redwood Bar, and have a nightcap, we both were shocked at the extortion prices, soft drinks and alcohol. So we just had a single beverage.

 Thursday was the day, we were determined to finally meet and greet, the characters which had eluded us so far. It all started with Duffy the bear, who we witnessed come out to the Town Square dancing and skipping, which was quirky and cute. Once we got our picture with Duffy, we dashed across the park into Fantasyland towards the Princess Pavilion. After almost waiting over an hour, overhearing about another parade in the other park and sweet taking the cast member directing the crowds, we got the Princess that Niamh really wanted to meet Princess Belle. Niamh was delighted and impressed by the look, manner and professionalism of the princess. We sprinted off again across the park, to meet the one character which I been dying to see, Winnie the Pooh. The hug that Winnie gave me, put a smile on my face and was a particular highlight. Before we headed to Studios, we made a detour to the rhythm of the jungle, and got to dance with King Louis.

 Our main goal, in the Studios Park, this time was to enjoy the rides and attractions, beginning with a pleasant surprise, when a ride that was meant to  be closed, was operating for a short period, Studio Tram Tour. The tram ride detours in the backlot of the studios, illustrating the secrets of how movies and TV shows are made. During the duration of the ride, we experience how it felt to be an actor at the centre of a drama such as bone shaking Catastrophe Canyon and then find out such special effects are created and finally see costumes, props and vehicles from classic Disney movies. On exiting the tram, we had time to go experience CineMagique, where the show draw the audience into the movies through a big screen adventure, where fantasy and reality come together, as if the movies have indeed come to life with action on and off scene as the audience soar from one classic movie scene to the next. We seemed to be making good time and managed to get a good viewpoint for the Disney's Stars 'n' Cars Parade. As we were tad peckish, we took out the food from Niamh's bag when we noticed one of the yogurts had burst all over the bag. We cleaned everything up and were done just before the parade started.

We had some time to kill before the Stunt show, I decided to try the Rock n Rollercoaster starring Aerosmith, where I was buckled-up, and as the music rocks through the 120 onboard speakers, we went from 0 to 100 km/h in less than 3 seconds and more G-forces than an astronaut experiences as the roller-coaster rolls into hairpin turns, jaw-dropping and over the top flips and in totally darkness. I exited the ride with tears falling down my cheeks, we crossed the lot for the Stunt Show Spectacular, where we sat in the grandstand and watched varies car and motorcycle stunts being filmed on an authentic village square set, as the bag guys slug it out with the good guys. It was only during the show, had Niamh realised she didn't have her phone, as soon as the show was over, we dashed back to the disabled toilet and by pure luck, her phone was still there. To wind down after all this excitement, we crossed over to Toon Studio and the Flying Carpets over Agrabah, as we boarded our colourful magic carpet, we were taken on a ride into a whole new world of fantasy over Agrabah. Before we left the Studio Park for Disneyland Park, we made a detour into the Art of Disney Animation, which described the history of Disney and animation techniques In the Drawn to Animation Theater, we saw how Disney artists bring animated characters to life.

As we re-entered Disneyland Park, we managed to see the Parade again, this time from a different angle. We decided to enjoy the singing styling of the 300 dolls, belting out the "its a small world" medley, transporting us yet again to another world. Seems, we weren't done with our aerial aerobatics for the day, as we swooped and soared with Dumbo the Flying Elephant, giving us a great view of the park. It was during the its a small world ride, that we were told about another aerial ride, Orbitron in Discoveryland. We boarded our space rocket ship and steered it through a galaxy of planets and constellation, which we found tad breezy, as the wind took a sudden turn. We decided to stay and watch the spectacular that is Disney Dreams. It didn't disappoint, every time we saw it, we both agreed, it seemed to get better, and we weren't sure how that was possible. We decided to head to Newport Bay Hotel for Dinner and use the last of our meal vouchers. On route back to our lodge, we diverted to Redwood bar in our hotel, for a quick beverage, getting comfy close to the fire burning in the magnificent stone fireplace.

Our final day in Disneyland, had come too quick, so after our breakfast, latest at 8 am, we finished packing and checked out. We stored our luggage in hotel, and made our way for our final adventure in the parks. Surprisingly enough, this was the first day, there was a massive queue, waiting to enter. Once the Disneyland park opened, we were in quite quickly and then boarded the Disneyland Railroad steam train ride at Main Street Station. The steam train ride passed by thrilling landscapes, as we journeyed from one land of adventure to the next before departing at the Discoveryland station. We were finished with our modes of transport, by hopping onto the Horse-Drawn streetcar. We leisurely rode down Main Street in a turn of the century streetcar pulled by a magnificent Percheron horse.

  

 After some further exploring through Disneyland Park, we made our final visit to Studios Park. Our adventure for the day, began with Animagique, where we travelled with  Mickey and Donald and friends into a world, where the magic of animation and imagination is real. In a black light fantasyland of mirrors and avant garde special effects, amazing puppets and Disney characters coming alive, and draws the audience into the magical poetry of Disney classics.

Once we exited, Animagique, we strolled over to the Production Courtyard, were we meet a few Disney Characters such as Cruella de Ville, Gaston and Remy from Ratatouille. With Stitch Live! in the vicinity, we gave this unique experience a try, where Stitch interacts by way of live impromptu chat with the audience through out of this world, real time animation which left everyone in Stitches. Still laughing,  we headed over to Toon Studio, where Niamh wanted to go on the Flying Carpets of Agrabah again.

To Finish our time in Disney, we watched the Stars n Cars Parade again, before getting a buffet lunch at Restaurant des Stars, set in the ambiance of the film Ratatouille, French cuisine. This was the first proper meal, we had to pay for since we arrived, costing 50 euro for both of us. The cuisine was delicious and we both made use of all you can eat element, as we had a long evening and night ahead of us. Just before we left, we got meet Remy and Linguini, we made the whole experience. We headed back to our hotel, to collect our luggage and then the shuttle to the bus station, where we got the VEA coach back to Paris Beauvais airport. The timing back to the airport was a tad annoying, as we arrived with over 4 plus hours to spare and nothing to do at the airport, as its nothing more than a shack. We were lucky in that we got chatting with a family from Northern Ireland, which kept us all entertained until we boarded the plane home. We arrived back into Dublin safely, and finally managed to get back to Niamh's just after 2.30 in the morning.