LONDON (pt. 2)!

Yet more highlights from our European vacation:

1.After leaving Budapest we flew (via Munich and London) to Dublin where we met up with our good friend Andrew Kincaid. We had a wonderful stay with him at his mother Constance's house and I finally got to see some of his old stomping grounds.

The first day there we toured the barren, beautiful, heather bog-covered Wicklow mountains south of the city. Andrew showed us some of the peaks he used to hike and drove us along winding roads that provided breathtaking views of valleys, waterfalls and-- of course -- sheep. We ended up at Glendalough monastary which dates from the 9th century and has an impressive round stone tower (for defense against Viking raiders) and an equally impressive old graveyard.

The next day Andrew-- author of a fine book on "Postcolonial Dublin"-- gave us a walking tour of the city itself, including showing us a number of the pomo finincial office towers that have helped make Ireland into the "Celtic Tiger" economic powerhouse all the neoliberals are raving about. I liked seeing Trinity, where Andrew and our friend Peter McAuley both went to school.

We also got a chance to spend some time at Dun Laoghaire, the main port town in the Dublin area. We walked along the harbor, lingering near the Sandycove swimming area and Martello tower which is the starting point for James Joyces's Ulysses.

While we were in Dublin we got to tip a few pints with Andrew's friend Conner and to spend some time with his mother Constance, who seemed especially happy to see the children (who she inexplicably believed were "well behaved"). We also got to see some of the ultra-kitchy "Rose of Tralee competition on TV; it's a sort of Irish-only beauty and talent show. (Apparently it is one of Andrew's favorite TV events of the year...)