Irish Update from Lord and Lady Smith

We just touched down in London-town after an incredible six days in Ireland. Since we're a few days behind on blogging and have a lot to cover, I’ll get into the highlights right away …

We pulled out of Killarney early in the A.M. to drive the “Ring of Kerry” after a long night of pints with our new tour bus friends from Canada and, as fate would have it, NJ/Pennsylvania. Another note about the night before – as we walked down to a pub to get the night started, the first thing we heard was a familiar tune being played by a street performer. “Country Roads, Take Me Home” … clearly there are Mountaineers everywhere!

Back to the tour … first stop was to see the “sheep dog trials” with shepherd Brendan Ferris, who would give us a rad presentation on how he trains his dogs to keep control of the flock. For those who don’t know, Ireland is full of sheep – thousands of them – so having these sheep dogs to keep control of things is a necessity. Yes, I took video:

We stopped a few times along the Ring of Kerry, which is basically a tourist route that provides excellent scenic views, like these ones:

We went out for a drink or three in Killarney on Saturday night but turned in early so we could rest up for the stunning Cliffs of Moher on Sunday.

Unfortunately, this would be the biggest disappointment of our trip – but to no fault of anyone’s but Mother Nature. Irish weather is quite unpredictable, and we found out the tough way … below is what the Cliffs typically look like, and under that is what we saw. Bummer.

We left the Cliffs and were off to Bunratty Castle, another authentic castle which now hosts medieval banquets and is home to a “folk park” with re-enactors. We have these types of shows in the States, as you know, but none of them are actually held in a real freaking castle.

Still a little bummed out from the “Misty Cliffs Incident,” we clearly had no idea what was in store for us. After entering the castle to the welcome room, and being served some mead, our hilarious tour guide Dave Yates comes to us and says, “So, ya ever been a guinea pig? Have ya?” Brandi and I instantly had the “oh shit” look on our face – we knew what was coming. A second later, a dude wearing tights who looked like a jester or something approached us and asked if we wanted to be the “Lord” and “Lady” of the banquet. I guess you can’t pass up a chance to be royalty for an evening, and before you know it, we were ushered off into the banquet room before the rest of the party, given wooden crowns, and this guy got to sit in a throne seat. Told you I was feeling more eloquent after getting Blarney Stoned.

We had a blast at the dinner, which was full of singing, harp-playing, jokes, etc. Food was pretty good too, and in typical Medieval Times style, we weren’t allowed to use utensils.

We finished the night at the Durty Nelly Pub with our tour bus friends. We also made friends with the locals and jammed out to a mix of Irish and U.S. songs played by a young dude with an acoustic guitar. The Irish definitely know how to liven up a bar atmosphere much better than Americans … the entire bar is practically singing at the top of their lungs and clapping. It’s a hell of a good time. Oh yeah, this was actually hanging from the roof of the pub - Brandi freaked out. (I mean, Dan Rooney IS the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland).

That’s all for today … tomorrow’s post will focus on the trip back to Dublin and our incredibly awesome day with our wonderful Irish cousin Maureen (now a blog reader!!) and family.

Gotta go – we’re plotting our domination of London right now.

-B&B

Shot of Irish Brandi

What’s up Americans?! It’s Brandi!

So my grandma always says to me “Brandi, you don’t miss a beat.” This is in reference to my attention to detail. And I’m talking about those little details that others don’t see. So while Brady gets you all “historified,” I’ll tell you about the other stuff.

Brandi’s Ireland Observations:

Let me start out with my favorite one – The Ireland National Anthem. Did you know that a lot of bars close the night with this song? Can you imagine being in America and ending the night with “Oh say can you seeeee?” Lol.

One of my FAVORITE things about Ireland is the bright colored architecture. All of the building doors are bold reds, pinks, yellows and blues – just to name a few. In some towns, even the whole building is painted colorfully! I’m pretty sure that they use the bold paints because of the lack of sunlight here. If you thought Pittsburgh weather was dreary, you ain’t seen Ireland!

 A store that I would like to own one day – pub & crafts!

So I like to iron. I tried to being clothes that wouldn’t wrinkle too much, but still they need a press. However, these Irish irons are WACKY! Look at this – the ironing board plugs in!!! If your iron breaks you need to buy a new board and iron!

Speaking of everyday appliances, for some reason the shower/tubs here are pretty high off the ground (a big step) and then there is the toilets. Many of the toilets do not have handles to flush. There are buttons to push. A small button for a lighter flush and a bigger one for a “number two” lol. All of our hotels have been super nice, but one night we walked into a room and could not figure out how to keep the lights on. We’d hit the switch, but then they would go out. Well, you need to keep your room key in this little wall pocket.

Hanging out with my “sheeps.”

We’ve made many friends on this trip with all different types of backgrounds. A couple around 40 from Canada, a mother and daughter from Belgium, a 77-year-old retired police officer and a couple our age from PA (Penn State grads). In total, there were 24 people on our bus. We also met some U.S. military people in a bar last night who were escorting some senators back from Baghdad. They were in Ireland on a layover for a night!

Some other random updates:
• As Brady mentioned, I did NOT kiss the Blarney Stone. It’s said to give people the gift of gab. I figured that I didn’t need that.
• I think I’ve consumed a beer and some form of potato dish each day since I’ve arrived.
• No leprechaun sightings.
• Note that when you look at our pictures, I really did pack more than two outfits. Looking back on the photos, it looks like I was here for one really long day. It’s cold people and I only packed one coat and one pair of boots!
• I had a really distorted vision of castles. I blame it on Disney.

Finally, not sure why I didn’t realize in advance that Ireland isn’t the best vacation spot for a lady who is allergic to grass and mold (and has frizzy hair). Let’s just say when I meet people on our tour bus, I say “I’m the girl with the cough.”

Oh and when your tour guide/bus driver asks if you want to be embarrassed, be prepared to have a good laugh. We will update you on that soon.

Ireland Update: Days 1 and 2

Greetings from across the pond!

It’s only been two days but we’re already in freaking love with this country. The landscape is unreal, the history is obviously rich, and the people are completely awesome.

We kicked off the trip slowly, as we arrived in the Dublin airport and had to wait two hours for a transfer, and then another two hours for an available room at our hotel. But after a crucial one-hour power nap, Brandi and I hopped on our CIE tour bus to check out the city of Dublin. We were immediately struck by the diverse color patterns in the Georgian-style buildings (Brandi will cover Irish style and architecture in a later blog post), especially the doors.

The scheduled first stop on the tour, the Dublin Castle, was unexpectedly shut down for the day because Irish president Mary McAleese was visiting, so we settled for a visit to historic Trinity College in the city center. The highlight of the visit was seeing the Book of Kells, an 8^th century manuscript containing the four Gospels of the New Testament, written in lavishly decorated calligraphy-style text. We then walked through The Long Room of the Old Library, which was easily the coolest and oldest library room I’ve ever been in. It featured Ireland’s oldest harp (the country’s national symbol) and more recently is said to be the inspiration for the Jedi Library of the Star Wars prequel series.

We wrapped up our tour of the city and later that evening, visited the Merry Ploughboy 20 minutes outside of the city to eat some grub and jam out to traditional Irish music and dancing. My personal favorite was the dude who played the Bodhran, which is an Irish drum.

After a good night’s sleep, we were ready to dominate Day 2. We set off from our Dublin hotel for Killarney, with a few key stops along the way. Ireland has thousands of killer pubs – the true inspiration for any American bar which calls itself an “Irish pub” – and our first visit to one came two hours into the trip in Portlaoise. I was psyched for my first “official” Irish Coffee – a combo of coffee, Jameson whiskey, and topped with cream – and it didn’t disappoint. Then, almost like it was a movie or something, we chatted with a local poet named Pierce about Irish sports like hurling, “long puck,” and rugby, and how all related to various social classes in Ireland. The bartender even let us take this photo behind the bar … nicest people in the world. 

Then, it was off to the Blarney Castle to “kiss the brick,” as our rad tour guide Dave Yates explained. For those not familiar with the Blarney Stone, read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blarney_Stone. So Brandi and I trekked our way up the medieval castle (the first one we’d ever seen in person) in its narrow, dark and damp stairwell.

Finally at the top after 100 steps or so, I indeed kissed the brick (Brandi passed – she wasn’t feeling it) like millions have before to, as legend has it, gain the “gift of eloquence.” I gotta say, I’m feeling pretty damn eloquent, so it must’ve worked.

After eating lunch and perusing the Blarney shop, we made our way to the fantastic town of Killarney for dinner, drinks, and a new hotel for the next two nights.

Check back in later for more updates from the Emerald Isle!!  

Euro-Blogging

Hello peoples. Right now I’m writing to you from the Charlotte Airport, fittingly enough in a NASCAR-themed bar. Mullets and mustaches everywhere in here … it’s fantastic.

Our flight leaves in approximately one hour, so I figured this is a good time to kick off the Brandi and Brady 2011 National Lampoon’s European Vacation Blog … whew, that’s a long title.

We will be chronicling our adventures in Ireland and London (and possibly Paris) over the next 10 days.

We’ll try and post every day, but if you don’t see a post – it’s probably because we had a bit too much Guinness that evening.

So check back in for more updates, photos, commentary, potatoes, Beatles, and much, much more.

CHEERS!!

-B and B Music Factory

Date-a-versary

Today is August 22.

It's a little known date in the BrandiBrady relationship. It's the date when we basically started offically dating, or as Brandi's dad says "going together." Boy, if we only knew where things would be "going" in the last eight years!

Anyways, I decided to pull some pictures out of the archives of our first "date." You see, from working together and then hanging out after work hours, we really didn't have a "first date." But I (Brandi) did ask Brady to the Chi Omega formal in April or May of 2003. Our co-workers knew about this little date, so they asked us to take a photojournal of the night.

The night started out with a pre-party at my college mansion - 408 Forest Ave. This is the house on a "good" day. Note that the camera angle is straight.

We participated in some drinking games as a warm up. I did my own hair and wore my sister's homecoming dress. Brady wore a suit and a blue shirt. Can you believe it! I blue shirt! (Note the cameo of Lynn Lai's buttox).

Then we headed to the famous Hotel Morgan (the neon letters are always burnt out and it reads "Hot Organ" LOL).

So there you have it. Our first "date." Eight years ago!

It's Your Anniversary, Isn't It?

On Sunday, June 26th, we celebrated our first wedding anniversary with what we like to call "Brandi* + Brady Day O' Fun."

We started the morning out with brunch at the Grand Concourse - the site of our rehersal dinner. This is a MUST DO in Pittsburgh. The food is delicious AND they have an antique doughnut machine that makes them fresh and $3.50 bloody mary's and mimosas!

After a glorious meal, we headed to the Pittsburgh Zoo. Going to the Zoo was one of our favorite things to do in Chicago, so it was great see some of our favorite animals.


Let's just say that our animal friends in Pittsburgh were feeling a little frisky during our trip. "Woodn't" you know that elephants eat wood?

Monkeys engaging in some romantic action.

We're keeping things PG here, but let's just say that this bear did a little "scratch n' sniff" twice while we were present.

In the words of Brady, "I like the Pittsburgh Penguins." - lol.

Bowling was next up on the schedule, but we found out that it wasn't open until 6. So we took our talents elsewhere - to the putt putt course. How fitting was it that the theme of this course was animals!

Lions and tigers and elephants, oh my!

After Brandi* pulled a Rory McIlroy and bombed the back five, Brady won by 4 strokes. Our golfing didn't stop there. We then went over to the driving range and hit some balls.

After a wonderful dinner at Ditka's, we then headed to the Bonkowski's to eat our wedding cake. Armed with our cake cutter, we opened the 365-day-old box to find...

Our cake. If you look close at the top, you will see a green streak that just may be mold. To the far right of that, you'll see where I dipped my finger in for a taste. Let's just say it was not good.

For all of those out there about to get married, see below for the directions on the proper way to freeze your cake!

Well there you have it! Our day-long celebration of our first year of marriage! We look forward to many more great years and many more great blog posts ; )

10...9...8...It's Smithkowski Anniversary Eve!

On the eve of our first wedding anniversary, we wanted to reflect about the weekend celebration that was.

It really was so great to see all of our friends and family in one room for the first and probably the last time all together. We loved seeing the New Jersey people become BFF with the Pittsburgh folk. We loved watching our aunts become instant friends. We loved hearing stories about all of the alcohol and cookies consumed. The battle wounds earned. The Patron shots shot.

But one story that we really loved and still love to this day is that of our dear friends, Lauren & Ramy.

Lauren is Brandi’s friend and Ramy is Brady’s friend – both friendships dating back to the early high school years. While Lauren doesn’t recall all the details, she met Ramy during our wedding weekend and immediately dubbed him her “fiancé.” Typically that would scare a dude away, but something sparked between these two and they’ve been dating ever since.

So cheers to you, Ramy & Lauren on your one-year meeting anniversary!

Here’s our favorite picture of your courtship.