Out for an early morning run with my friend Aisling. We meet at 7 am and run for 30-40 minutes - she's just starting out and meeting her is the only reason I'll get myself out of bed while it's still dark. One reward for us on that particular morning was a gorgeous sunrise and the silhouettes of these fisherman at the end of the pier. I'm not sure if they camp out all night up here, or what. A beautiful sight to see though.
A week prior, two of my most beloved family members - Margarete & Siegfried (Siegi) - arrived in Dublin. I mean honestly, these are two of my most favorite human beings who have ever lived. To put it mildly and with restraint, they have led two of the most epic lives I have ever encountered.
We met them in the city that evening and brought back a couple of their suitcases that they didn't want to lug on their 7 day bus tour of the country. They had a whirlwind tour, seeing the periphery of this entire island in 7 days (C.I.E. tours - very famous here and they highly, highly recommend them). And keep in mind, this is a couple in their late 70s....just on the verge of 80. And I kid you not, they can run circles around Wayne and I. We're a fairly fit couple of 30-something's and yet these two....had us exhausted! Several days I had to take nap when the two of them were out touring.
Example #1: They returned from their 7-day whirlwind tour of the country on a Monday evening. At 9 am the next day, they boarded a train to meet me in Dun Laoghaire. I met them at the train station and asked if they would like to have a nap, or some tea. (given they had just been on a non-stop 7 day tour, staying in a different hotel each night)
They say to me, "Oh no, what about that hike you told us about - to Bray head - can we go there?" I was flabbergasted. And so, we went inside to pack a small lunch and before 10 am, we were on the train, heading south to Bray. And this is no small outing - especially if you're 78. This involves a 1 (or 1 1/2) mile walk from the train station, to the actual mountain. Then there the ascent. (and the entire return trip back)
Ok, now we made it to the base of the mountain - coats off - all warmed up.
(you can just barely see large cross at the tippy top - that's our destination)
Norah and Margarete left us in the dust on the way up. They just motored right up the mountain.
Notice Margarete looks like she's eating an ice-cream sandwich. No, that's the gargantuan chunk of brie she stole (*borrowed*) from breakfast at the hotel that morning. So funny! These two can teach you about surviving on less, very quickly. They have travel worked out to an exact and perfect science. You should see their suitcases and the amount of plastic bags they have to hold everything. They are brilliant.
Siegi pushing Norah in the swing
Another beautiful evening walk in Dun Laoghaire - (back when it was mild!)
As usual with these two, we picked their brains about all their life stories - we heard about Margarete living in Egypt for a few years, their trek from Germany to Canada with nothing, their jobs in Montreal and then B.C., and the move to Seattle. (with an impromptu 6-month move to the Big Island of Hawaii where they lived in tents in a plot of forest and worked odd jobs.) During this trip we realized Margarete speaks a total of 8 languages. EIGHT. Including Latin and Arabic.
A walk down to the Tuesday evening running group (just dropping Wayne off) for one of his last runs before the marathon.
Norah and Siegi making paper airplanes one morning before school (Siegi used to be an engineer for helicopters back in Germany in the 1950s and then for Boeing in Seattle in the late-1960s)
Getting a famous Teddy's ice cream on the East Pier
Out for an evening ice cream on the East Pier - just across the road from us.
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