Fatal Freeze Numbs Europe

After reading the headlines in the complimentary issue of USA Today; I realize I'm lucky to be here.  Sitting in the lobby of the Comfort Inn Suites at JFK, waiting for the shuttle to take me back to the airport, I'm on the tail end of my commute back to Washington D.C.  My quick visit to Kate before the holidays coinciding nicely with a large winter storm that has taken northern Europe by surprise.
Yesterday's nightmare at Dublin airport some how substantiated by the printed word before me... my own 12 hour wait at  Dublin's airport,  a paltry comparison to some of the other scenarios captured in today's news.  Traveling stand-by is nerve racking even in the best of circumstances... throw mother nature's climate disrupted fury in the mix and you've got a recipe for an anxious, yet inactive day.  It does however, give me time to reflect on the wonderful time shared with Kate.


 Kate met me at a hotel near the train station where we had a nice lunch and ditched the bags, to head down town for a beauty treatment...the perfect mother- daughter activity.

She and Eion (pronounced Owen) have just moved to a new flat that's absolutely adorable.  It's a bit further out than the old apt. (a fact very much noticed on the day we had to walk home from down-town due to the weather related shut down of public transit).  Kate took a couple of days off from her job at a major department store to spend some quality time with her mother....YAHOO...!

Preparing to head out into the cold.

   We didn't arrive at the new flat until dusk... my initial viewing of the neighborhood a picturesque one because of the snow.  We spent the next couple of days shopping, laughing, eating, and catching up on each other's lives.  We tried to do some sight seeing, but the public transit was basically paralyzed by the weather and before too long, we were forced into a local pub for some famous Irish hospitality.

 While shopping we found some killer snow boots for Kate, even though it never snows in Dublin.  They add a fearlessness to her step that is worth every centime. We spent some quality time in the new apartment.  There's a warm comfortable feel to the place and it was easy to settle in with a nice cup of tea and solve all the world's problems.

Liffey River

Ireland looked different under this layer of whiteness. It's as though some one's gone in and erased all the color.  I'm glad to have had the chance to witness the change from the usual multiple shades of green.  And  more thankful to have been able to leave while the snow was still unique and pristine.  Because I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon and become a nuisance.  But for now... just in time for Christmas...and from a distance... I think it's kind of cool.

Baile Atha Cliath means Dublin in modern Irish

For more photos go to Picasa album by clicking on small photo below:

Visit to Ireland Winter 2010