[Tech Noir]

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[reason to believe]

. That OT title is a very accurate description

Speaking of deceased pets, it reminded me of another weird unexplainable incident I had after my cat died, but it's so difficult to describe, I'm sure it sounds if anyone hears it lol.

My favorite travel photo from outside of Bath, U.K

[Musickat18]

These pictures are crap, so don't say I didn't warn you.

This one is when we first got into the room, so you can get a feel for how large it is. It was 2 panels before TXF panel.



After each panel, as people left we'd move up. So then this was our view (not nearly so blurry in person. ) by the time TXF panel arrived.

[SannraB]

Hello everybody!
Leanne asked me to write a little about my trip to Ireland. So let's start :
I have been traveling for ten days, starting in Dublin, over Kilkenny, Cork, the West and finally Belfast.
Even though I’ve been to the UK many times before, the left-driving is always unusual for me at the beginning. But once I'm back to Germany, I’ve the same problem with the right-driving afterwards. So it’s just a matter of perspective .
Beside Belfast I knew no Irish town by then. Dublin, the capital, has a nice, turbulent downtown, even if the city is also somewhat confused. In the Temple Bar District you can go out very well, although it’s all bit pricey. Next door, in the so-called Liberties, you can visit the old city core. Near St. Patrick's Cathedral can be found frescoes of the famous children's book Gulliver's Travels. The Trinity University is really beautiful and has many interesting exhibitions. And those who love more to be in the nature shall visit the University Park. There you can find a bronze sculpture of Oscar Wilde, leaning casually against a rock.
Kilkenny is a really nice small town! The cityscape is gorgeous with many colorful houses and flowers everywhere. But the inhabitants don’t really like the “South Park” joke (“They have killed Kenny!”), they’ve heard it too often . The famous beer, which we know abroad as "Kilkenny Ale", is called "Smithwick's" there. You can tour the brewery. I would recommend a walk in the castle park, the castle is beautiful and there are many great pubs.
To be honest, I was a bit disappointed of the harbor-city Cork in the South. There is not much cultural to see, but you can do a bit of shopping and walk around in the streets.
Well worth seeing is the western part of Ireland, especially the towns Killarney and Doolin, at the Cliffs of Moher. Killarney is famous for its wool production, and you can buy great products there: Warm sheep's wool sweater, cardigans and many more.
Doolin alone is worth the trip. The place is very small, but you can make lovely walks. The Cliffs of Moher are a true natural spectacle. Very beautiful! Here you can truly relax and enjoy the Atlantic.
And finally: Belfast. Belfast is always a positive surprise for me. Many people say that the Northern Irish city is not that glamorous, but I find it very worth seeing and it’s more beautiful than Dublin IMO. It offers much when the sun is shining. One can go hiking in Cave Hill Country Park and you have a great view over the city from there (known from "The Fall"). The botanical garden is also very nice. Who likes to go shopping, should look at the pedestrian zone. It is very beautiful and really well designed. It’s very organized and not that big. Really great is the City Hall, which is architecturally simply fascinating! And who likes historical stuff, should look at the old prison in the Crumlin Road. The graffiti on many walls of the houses also reflect the history very well. Belfast is worth seeing!
In Ireland there is of course also lots of delicious food, although I must say that I missed the German bread (we have many types of bread here, also dark varieties)
Please try this in Ireland, it’s worth it!:
Ireland has much tasty fish! Try the mussels in whiskey cream sauce!
Bread and butter pudding (a sweet dish, there's nothing better!)
French toast with maple syrup
Milk Toffee cream (yummy!)

So, I hope you liked my “little” article. Feel free to ask anything.
Greetings Sandra

[reason to believe]

Rae - so you had to sit through two panels before the X-Files one? That's great you got so close up eventually. I think DD & GA looked really attractive during that panel. They way they hardly age seems like it's own X-File and it's kind of eye opening to see how male dominated the show was when Gillian is the only woman on the panel at all. And I was surprised even "baby William" appeared, lol

Sandra, thanks for that good, interesting read about what's around Ireland. I love hearing about the food recommendations. The bread and butter pudding sounds fabulous. French toast with maple syrup is something we have in Canada a lot too. Milk toffee cream? Is that for coffee? I was wondering how or why the Irish even watch South Park lol. The Gullivers travels frescoes sound neat. I love seeing all the artwork in the old buildings in Europe. Nothing like that in a new country like Canada. Graffiti in old prisons and castles fascinate me, just thinking about how long ago they really were when created. Are the museums free of charge like in London? I think I'd save money to buy their wool products if I went there just like if I go to Italy again, I plan to get a quality leather product, lol.

And what is the best thing to order in an Irish pub for a good Irish meal? Thanks for sharing and if you know he answers to my questions lol

[Musickat18]

Originally Posted by Babybuttoneyes (View Post) Rae - so you had to sit through two panels before the X-Files one? That's great you got so close up eventually. I think DD & GA looked really attractive during that panel. They way they hardly age seems like it's own X-File and it's kind of eye opening to see how male dominated the show was when Gillian is the only woman on the panel at all. And I was surprised even "baby William" appeared, lol

Yes, I had to sit through 2 panels, but only 1 was one I didn't care about. It worked out nicely that the Sherlock panel was in the same room, and right before, TXF panel.


Sannra, thanks for sharing! Sounds like you've had a great time.

[Tech Noir]

Rae, I can’t believe anybody would leave, knowing TXF panel was up next!!!

Sandra, YEEEESSSSS to the fish in Ireland! We ate some fried fish at a place that seemed like a fast food restaurant, but the fish was top notch! Then we went out for ice cream across the street even though we were freezing to death.
Thanks so much for sharing your article, Sandra!

Leanne, I bought a wool beanie in Ireland for about € 16.00, but well worth it. Later on when I went to Colorado I took my beanie and held on to it for dear life, even forgetting my purse in the rental car –and figuring out that mistake as the shuttle bus was arriving to the airport. :/ But I had my beanie!

When I can resize it, I'll post my black pudding dinner appetizer that I ate in Ireland.

If you have food dishes you wouldn’t mind posting, Sandra, we could live vicariously through you.

[reason to believe]

oops, did you lose the purse forever? Still have that beanie? There was a scary moment once when I got off the train to go to Venice and it wasn't until we were at the main dock past the station front that I couldn't find the money pouch I had all my money in! and I felt I left it on the train but didn't think I'd make it back to the train before it would leave, but then I did find it, whew. But it was a really scary anxiety feeling for a bit there!

I had some great fried fish in Holland, why does Europe do it better than in North America cause it seems like a simple thing to do, really.

And who does leave before a 20 year anniversary X-Files panel, really? Wow! Crazies, lol.

[Tech Noir]

Leanne, the shuttle drove me back to the car rental place, where I ran inside, then they sent me upstairs sprinting, then I dashed back downstairs, then I raced out in the middle of a thunderstorm trying to find the car, where some guy tried to help me locate it. I found my purse hanging where I had left it, then I rushed back to the shuttle bus holding up my capris by the waste since they were sliding off of me. By the time we reached the airport again the lines were humongous –just to get your ticket and check in your luggage. I asked if they could book us on a later flight, which they did. However that thunderstorm had delayed everything. We didn’t get home until one in the morning. The next morning bright and early, we had to pick up my mom from the airport, and the day after that we rented a car and drove to New Orleans where we were meeting up with some of my cousins for a small family reunion!

And yes, I still have the beanie. The texture of it is so different than any other beanie I own. I’ll love my beanie forever.

I forgot to mention that’s a cool pic you posted, Leanne. I also have some thatch roofed home pics I took in Ireland. I might post those tomorrow.

And yes the food is sooooo delicious in Europe. I always stock up on chocolate.

[~MelBelle~]

That's so awesome you got to see both Sherlock and TXF

TFTNT

[SannraB]

Hi together,

sure I can answer your questions

Milk Toffee Crème is a Crème and not something you do in a Coffee. The consistency is that of viscous Toffee. I love it over vanilla ice crème or fruit salad, but you can also do it on a piece of bread like jam.
Of course the Irish watch “South Park” . The series is known in Europe, not as well-known as “the Simpsons”, but it is. In my generation, everyone knows what it is.
The Graffiti in Belfast are really fascinating! They are not in prison, but spread to the walls of buildings all over the city. They reflect the history again, especially the 90s and the civil war between North and South Ireland. Belfast was then a very battered city.
No, the museums are usually not free, but they are also not expensive.
What to order in an Irish pub? Good question…mhmmm…Most pubs have rich dishes that you can eat well with beer. Hamburger and fast food (much fried stuff) is always available. Fish dishes are very tasty or shepherd's pie. This is a casserole of minced lamb and mashed potatoes. The steaks have a very good quality. The Irish beef is just as well known as the Argentine beef. And well, I`m a huge fan of the desserts: Bread and butter pudding, wonderful apples crumble or “Death by Chocolate” (a rich chocolate mousse mixed with brownies and toffee) are my favorites.

I hope this helped!

[Musickat18]

Originally Posted by ~MelBelle~ (View Post) That's so awesome you got to see both Sherlock and TXF TFTNT

It was amazing. And it was for season 3, so it was when everyone was going bonkers over how Sherlock survived. And they showed us a couple minutes of footage from ep 2. It was seriously one of the best days of my life. We left after the X-Files panel like we were floating on clouds.

[Tech Noir]

Rae, was it a one day event for you? Did you do anything else in San Diego?

Those dishes sound so tasty, Sandra!

Anybody have pics of some of the dishes you’ve eaten abroad. I used to think it was lame when I saw people photographing their food, but actually now I wish I had done that for every single meal I’ve eaten in a different country.

Here’s my black pudding appetizer.


P.S. I added a photo to the OT.

[Musickat18]

We were there for all 4 days. Friday was a bit of a wash though. I didn't get into the panels I wanted, but it was still fun. Thursday was Sherlock and TXF. Saturday we saw the How I Met Your Mother panel. Then we went back to the hotel to nap because we were going to be spending the night in line to see Doctor Who. It was both Matt Smith's last one and the year of the 50th Anniversary. We trekked over to Target to get provisions and sleeping bags and got there at 9 p.m. The panel was at noon the next day. And yet we were about 1000th in line We ended up actually sleeping for about an hour because we were on a sidewalk. But we made friends with the people in line next to us and had fun.

We saw more panels than that, but those were the ones we intentionally saw. Basically you got in the room when you got in the room and you had to sit through panels you maybe didn't care about until the one you wanted arrived. But it was still fun. Even if I didn't watch the show the feeling is electric in there. Everyone's just so happy to be there. SDCC was both the best and most exhausting experience of my life.

[Tech Noir]

Wow four days! So were you able to get into the Dr. Who panel or not????

Out of all the comic cons, the SDCC one seems like it would be the most chaotic but also the most memorable.