Monday, August 30, 2010

Lovey Dovey


So on Sunday August 29th we all celebrated my parent's 30th wedding anniversary by having a vow renewal ceremony in Hathersage, about 20 minutes from Sheffield. It was at the St. Michael and All Angels church, and it was picture perfect. 

The whole morning was rainy, and as a friend of mine told me rain is actually lucky on a day like that. And fair enough, by the time we got to the church the skies had cleared up and it was absolutely gorgeous.


The ceremony was wonderful. Everyone who was supposed to show up did, and the canon who led the ceremony was fantastic. The whole thing was really focused on love and how pure and valuable it is, and how lucky my parents are to have found and kept it for so long.


Both my sister and I shared a role in the renewal as my sister recited this verse from the Bible on love. It was truly beautiful and very fitting.

I Corinthians 13: 4-13

Love is patient;
love is kind
love is not envious or boastful or rude.

It does not insist on its own way;
it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, 
but rejoices in the truth.

It bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things.

Love never ends.

For now we see in a mirror, dimly,
but then we will see face to face.
Now I know only in part;
then I will know fully,
even as I have been fully known.

And now faith, hope and love abide;
these three;
and the greatest of these is love.

Afterwards, since I was basically the best man, I gave the rings to the canon to give to my parents. Although there was some difficulty in getting the rings out, it was still an honor to be a part of the whole thing. I guess. No it really was. Both of my parents were beaming the whole time.




The canon gave my parents this traditional heart that is made in the county they got married in. The whole thing was very unique and personal.



Showin' off their new rings. Silver and white gold with celtic bands and a claddagh symbol in the middle.



They were obviously pissed off the whole time.

All the girlies. From left to right: Louisa, Michelle, Anne, Rose, Penny, Me Mum, Alison, Elise, Janice, Sue, and Linda. And then hiding behind Sue is Louisa's mom, Carol. Bugger.
I have quite a few more photos on the way like of all the guys and the whole fam damily outside the church but since I was in em I couldn't get any with my camera. We also got a group photo but that'll be coming at another time cause it wasn't with my camera either.
Mumsy with Ben and Janice.
Yup, it's STILL pretty.

And afterwards we went to a pub just down the road and had a fantastic lunch with everyone.
My dad had his lovely Yorkshire cap on.
Most of us had the carvery, which is basically an all you can eat of amazingness. Roast beef, roast potatoes, chicken, turkey, stuffing, four types of gravy, cabbage, yorkshire pudding and all sorts of other things. It was incredible.


During the lunch our Irish friend Alison gave a typical Irish toast and it was wonderful. Couple of quotes included "As you slide down the bannister of life, may the splinters never point the wrong way" and "May all your ups and downs come only in the bedroom." My mum and dad also gave a heartfelt and then I was pressure into giving it. Totally unprepared and caught off guard I don't really remember what I said but supposedly it was alright.
Mumsy-pants throwing the bouquet which Anne caught.
Everyone pretending to enjoy themselves.
Took a short walk up the road and got some gorgeous views of the area. ISNT IT PURTY?!?!@@!






And then we all headed back to the hotel and collapsed. Elise and I stayed in the rest of the night, got room service, enjoyed the awesome room and I took a fantastic lavender bath. Yes, I'm posh. But it really was a fantastic day and to be all sentimental and cheesy, my parents definitely deserved it.




Sunday, August 29, 2010

Short blog about the beginning of Sheffield

So we left Dublin and flew into London, rented a car, and drove (crawled through traffic) all the way to Sheffield. We arrived at our hotel, the fantastic Copthorne which is right next to the stadium where the Blades play. And if you know my mom, this is no mistake. But yeah it's pretty much the nicest place I've stayed, and I'd be alright if this was my house.

Amazing forest mural, flat screen, floor lighting...

BEDS ARE SO COMFY

So the next day we went into a wonderful town called Bakewell. I'd been there before, but it's a lovely country town that is the maker of the original Bakewell tart, an amazing pastry dessert.


Loved the name of the shop below...


So quaint.
And then we did lots of errand shopping and running around and meeting people for the big event... the wedding vow renewal!! Coming soon...


The Emerald Isle

So after spending a couple days in the city we decided to go out and see some true Irish countryside.

DISCLAIMER: Yes, these places actually exist. These are not paintings, nor did I steal them from Google. You can trust me. They are real.

For the most part I'll just let the photos speak for themselves as there isn't much more to say except how beautiful and breathtaking these places were. 

First we went to a town called Glendalough, a beautiful old village surrounded by rolling hills and streams. Its main attraction is an ancient graveyard, absolutely stunning. And this is where I smelled the freshest air ever. I have never gotten out of a car and immediately noticed a difference in the air. It was crisp, clean, fresh. A far cry from the cities I've been in recently and especially at home. 
Thomas Kinkade ain't got nothin on this.

A freakin' harp player!!












Yup, that actually happens.



We then went to a place called Powers Court Waterfall, a gorgeous area with a stunning waterfall at the heart of it.




SO CUTE. His name was Ozzy.






Elise wondering why on earth it isn't dead and brown.



So that was that!! It really was beautiful. I can't say it enough. Breathtaking.

Afterwards we went back into the city just in time for the Literary Pub Crawl. I know, sounds ironic. But we kept hearing about it and had to try it out. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the guide, but basically we would go from pub to pub around the city and the guide (along with an accomplice every now and then) would talk about famous Irish authors (Joyce, Wilde, Shaw) along with reciting parts of their plays or poems. It really was a different but wonderful experience, being in the pubs and hearing the words of those who sat in them many years ago. Dublin is a place full of culture, and they treasure it deeply.

Trinity College
Talking to Andrew, the brother of our friend Alison, with Bulmers at the ready.

And that was Ireland! My mother kept asking what I thought of Dublin, and for most of the time the only word I could come up with was "interesting." It's truly different both from what I was expecting and from any other city I've been to. I knew it was going to be small as I had heard that from many people. I didn't expect it to have a small town mentality, though. The city has still not been fully developed, and this is a reflection of the repression that was put on the city for so many years. To see a city so worn yet so strong in its passion and will to be free was fascinating. The people were absolutely wonderful. Kind and welcoming with a dark sense of humor. But something that haunted with me was that I really could see where so many of the traits that run in my family originate from. Intense defense mechanisms, strong opinions, conversations sprinkled with arguments, and of course the humor. Definitely interesting to see where it all stems from, and fascinating to know that it's still going strong as you all know. 

And now for a little anecdote to finish this off to really show what the Irish are like. We were pulling our rental car into the lot, and we spoke to the man trying to figure out where to put it. He simply said in a thick accent, "just put it in between those two cars there, no need to make a fuss about it as long as you don't hit any of em."

Thanks all for reading!!!


A city of struggle...


So we had a good night’s sleep and got up to head over to meet at a pub in the middle of Dublin for a 1916 rebel tour. Going into the thing I didn’t have much knowledge about 1916, only that it was a year of significant importance for the Irish. We met our tour guide, Lorkin, who was the typical Irishman. Wicked sense of humor, wonderfully kind, and always had a story to tell you. He didn’t want any video taken of him but I sneaked some audio of him so you could all get of an idea of how he spoke:



Yeah so that's obviously me.

So then we started the tour and the entire thing was fascinating. As a brief rundown, there were 16 or so main leaders of the Irish rebellion movement, going against the unfair English rule that had governed them up until that time. So the tour took us around the city, showing us where the battles had taken place as a result of this movement in the year 1916.

I love when old buildings reflect in the windows of new ones.

The amount of passion and pride the Irish have in their land and their people is extremely infectious. Hearing about these people going against an army that was far more prepared and ready than they were, and knew they would most likely get jailed or die for their cause, was truly inspiring. They didn’t even have access to weapons because the British didn’t allow it. The whole thing was very eye opening and gave an insight into the city that was necessary to understanding it.

Note the bullet hole above her left breast. Yes, it's actually a bullet hole.




As always, Oscar knows all the answers.

At the end of the tour I realized that I was in a city that had been through an amount of struggle and repression that I had never seen before. At least that had never been as tangible to me. You could see it in the buildings, the streets, the faces of the people. It’s a country of hardship, but that’s part of its charm.

"The great appear great because we are on our knees: Let Us Rise." A plaque I found fitting for the entire city.


The controversial Justice statue at the Dublin castle. 1) She doesn't wear a blindfold. 2) Her back is to the city of Ireland. 3) Her sword is drawn. 4) She is holding the scale as if it's someone's dirty laundry. So much for justice.

We then went down O’Connell Street, a long street with a bunch of shops and things like that. And music. They love and cherish music over there, and it’s easily seen as there are singers and musicians all over the place.


And THEN I got to see a statue of one of my idols, THE Oscar Wilde.

We had an interesting conversation...

It was a proud moment for me. They had a beautiful statue surrounded with pedestals that had a good amount of his best quotes engraved on them...



"There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." Brilliance.

I was in heaven. 




A chalk drawing that I thought was beautiful and showed the spirit of the city. 

Then we made our way down to the Guinness Storehouse, where Guinness is made. And who knew that the making of beer could be so fascinating.


The museum was actually extremely well done and in a beautiful building that had the world’s biggest pint glass in the center of it, 7 stories high. Gradually we made our way to the top to the “gravity bar” where we had a complimentary pint of Guinness and beautiful views of Dublin. Not being the biggest fan of Guinness, I had a few sips and just enjoyed the atmosphere. However I must say it was the best pint of it I had ever tasted, for whatever that’s worth.






We then ended the night at a crappy but LED-filled so therefore kind of cool pub!!



And that was that! But at the end of the night we were absolutely knackered, so the next day was dedicated to the calm and beautiful Irish countryside.....