Day 2 – Part 1

Posted July 16, 2012 by joebowker
Categories: Ireland, Travel

We headed out to the country side this morning to visit the ancient ruins of the Monastery at Glendalough founded by Saint Kevin in the 7th century. Today’s post is going to be divided in two. First part is about the trip to Glendalough.

It is amazing that these tour buses can navigate some of these narrow country roads. First stop was the ancient monastery founded by St Kevin at Glendalough. The monastery was founded in the 7th century AD.

Much of the site is wonderfully preserved.

Here are a few pictures:


And finally, you can’t have a tourist site without food. I give you a picture of a vendor with the name of “Kevin’s Cones”.


Tomorrow I will write about Guiness.

Joe

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Location:Glendalough

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Day 1 Dublin

Posted July 14, 2012 by joebowker
Categories: Ireland, Travel

Well we arrived. Got settled into our room. We had a short nap. Then we had an afternoon tour of Dublin starting at 2pm.

Here is a picture of our driver, Patrick. Nice Irish lad.


Patrick just did all of the driving while our guide did all of the talking. We had 29 souls on board, mostly older folks.

First stop was a look at some old Georgian townhouses. Here is a sample.


Then we went off to Trinity College to look at the Book of Kells. No photography inside of the exhibit. I learned that Saint Columbkille (The Catholic school that I went to as a child) was actually Saint Colum Cille. Richard and I always thought it was Saint Comical.

Here’s a few pictures from Trinity College. They were filming a movie in one of the quads, with people dressed in 18th century clothes.


Then we rode around some more. Stopped to shoot some exterior shots of St Patrick’s Cathedral.


One last thing before we crash and burn. Here is the beautiful view from our hotel.


Tomorrow we tour the Guiness plant in Dublin

Good night all.

Joe

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Location:Dublin

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Gate E3

Posted July 13, 2012 by joebowker
Categories: Ireland, Travel

Greetings from gate E3 at Logan Airport. We’re finally on our way to Ireland.

We’ve made excellent time so far. Trip from Plymouth to Logan express lot took about two hours. Woburn to Logan took 45 minutes. Through security in record time. Now we’ve got a two hour wait until boarding.

More later.

Joe

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Logan Airport

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Senator (Book Review)

Posted July 7, 2012 by joebowker
Categories: Books, Reviews
Tags: , ,

Senator is a fictional account of a Republican US Senator from Massachusetts written by Richard Bowker. Full disclosure, Richard Bowker is my brother. But to be fair, I paid full price for the Kindle version. Actually, I think I bought the hard cover version when it was first published back in the mid 1980’s.

Senator

Senator is the story of a young US Senator from Massachusetts who in the first chapter discovers that his mistress has been murdered. The plot thickens. It’s quite a mess for a Senator up for reelection.

The story unfold quickly as we discover the many characters and potential killers of the young reporter. Many times throughout the book, I had to remind myself that this was fiction. The murder adds a whole new dimension to the stresses of running for high political office.

So who killed Amanda? Was it his wife? His brother Danny? His old college roommate? One of his aides? I won’t tell, you’ll have to read the book.

Senator is the second of four books by Richard that have been e-published. Available both from Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble. Worth the price. Other books include “Pontiff”, “Replica” and “Dover Beach”

 

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No Time for Sergeants

Posted July 4, 2012 by joebowker
Categories: Movies, Reviews
Tags: , ,

In honor of the passing of Andy Griffiths yesterday,  we decided to watch “No Time for Sergeants” on Amazon Instant Video. (Also available on Netflix DVD)

No Time for Sergeants Poster

What a great movie. We laughed for almost the entire two hours. Andy Griffith plays the role of a country bumpkin drafted into the USAF. He manages to drive his sergeant crazy.

Don Knotts plays the part of a corporal whose job it is to test the recruits on manual dexterity. By the way, this was Don Knotts’ film debut.

In this film you can see the seeds of future characters like Gomer Pyle. And Jamie Farr has a bit part as the copilot on the training flight.

This was a film well worth seeing.

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Spiral Cut Hot Dogs

Posted July 4, 2012 by joebowker
Categories: Food
Tags: ,

Just in time for the fourth of July. I found the following tip for cooking hot dogs (or wieners) as some people might say. It’s real easy.

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Andy Griffith RIP

Posted July 3, 2012 by joebowker
Categories: Movies, Silly Stuff

Read that Andy Griffith passed away today. What a great talent.

Here’s a recording that he did back in 1953. Enjoy.

 

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Weather etc.

Posted July 3, 2012 by joebowker
Categories: Moving, Retirement

Time for an update. After seeing the national news and national weather maps, I begin to appreciate how nice it is her in NH. The south-east is sweltering with no power and no AC. Colorado and Utah are up in flames. And here in NH, it doesn’t get much higher than 80. We don’t have AC in the condo, and mostly we don’t need it. This morning’s temp was about 55 with ground fog. Warmed up to about 75 by mid-afternoon.

If it weren’t for the winter, this would be a nice place to retire. Last few days our routine was to go to the UPS store, then the deli next store for lunch, then across the common to pick up the mail at the Post Office. Sometimes we go to “Annie’s Overflow Cafe” for lunch. Sign over the door says “$5 charge for whining”. They have art work posted on the walls from local artists. My favorite is titled “Sit Free or Die”. (pictures of many NH outhouses). I have been tempted  to buy it. I don’t think that Mary K would appreciate the yankee humor.

Shipped the last of three boxes off to Mike. Sent stuff that we probably won’t need until we get to California. Should ease the pain of packing the Jeep. We did our grocery shopping today and we are all set for the Fourth of July. Nothing special planned. If it gets hot, we might find a movie in the afternoon.

We still need to catch up to Bill at Hebron Marine. He told us that the boat has been sold. So we will have a couple of checks to catch. Unfortunately, the closest B of A ATM is in Concord.

The trip to Ireland is all set. We will be in Ireland from 7/13 to 7/24. So stay cool. If you’re out west pray for rain. If you’re down south, I hope you get the power and AC back on. I know how hot it can be down south without AC.

Cheers,

Joe

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Ted

Posted July 1, 2012 by joebowker
Categories: Movies
Tags: ,

Okay, what do you do when it’s hot outside and you don’t have AC? You go to the movies, of course. Paula and I took a ride down to Meredith to see Seth McFarland’s movie “Ted”.

Ted Poster

Well worth the $12 for the two of us. BTW, matinees are generally cheap.

This was a movie of absolutely no social import, but it was funny. Seth MacFarland is the creator of “The Family Guy” on the Fox Channel. If a lot of foul language bother you, you shouldn’t see this movie.

The film was filmed in and around Boston. Lots of external shots of Boston landmarks. I kept wondering how Matt Damon’s character always managed to find a parking spot. Incredible.

Also, there a climax scene shot inside Fenway Park. I kept wondering how they managed to get inside the park and the lights just happened to be on. Never mind, just clear your mind and just accept that it was movie magic.

We then had a nice lunch at “The Mug” in Center Harbor. Next movie that Paula wants to see is “Magic Mike“. Probably a good movie for “Girls Nite Out”. Reviews say that Matthew McConaughey does an excellent job. We’ll probably do this one then I’ll drag her to Prometheus.

Magic Mike Poster

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Cat vs. Coin Box

Posted June 29, 2012 by joebowker
Categories: Silly Stuff
Tags:

And now for something totally unrelated to moving or retirement.

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