october 26 – november 3, 2000

welcome to erick & shannon’s honeymoon site! come along with us on an eight day adventure into the emerald isle.  here you will find pictures and highlights of the best honeymoon ever as well as what we feel are three unique honeymoon experiences.

shannon will be joining us as a narrator for this tour. her comments will be in fun and happy burgundy while mine will remain in the drab orangey orangeness.

make sure you check out the links for more info.

let the adventure begin!

(enter swirling fog and leprechaun music...)

 

friday, october 27
(we left on the 26th but because it’s an 11 hour flight and the time difference, we arrived around noon on the 27th.)

(11 hours on an international flight is like 11 dog years which is 77 people years which adds up to be a tour of the seventh level of hell)


here is erick in a tiny little car with the steering wheel on the wrong side.  well, wrong to us anyway! it was definitely an adventure driving on the opposite side of the road - and irish drivers are very aggressive.  pedestrians will just run out in the road.  it was like a video game. erick did great though.  we only got flipped off once by a driver (twice by local children).

cultural difference #1 -

america - hit and run
ireland - hit and laugh (and possibly back up and hit again...)

this is the st. stephen's mall. right after we checked into the harcourt hotel (former home of george bernard shaw) we had to drive a few blocks (few miles..) away to the parking structure which was located at this mall.  while we were there, we decided to pick up the new u2 album that had been released that day! (might i add that my u2 cd has an extra track that the american version doesn't - so ha!) erick also found a number of other cds that, to us, were imports. it could be possible that we spent more on cds, souvenirs, and food then we did on the plane tickets to get over there. 

cultural difference #2 -

america - malls filled with annoying teenage girls
ireland - malls filled with annoying teenage girls with accents

 

 

saturday, october 28

the guinness factory – of course it was first on our list of “must-sees.” (while we were there, we actually saw the end of a rainbow. sadly, the gold legend is all a myth.......) the guinness family is a huge part of ireland's history lifestyle and economy. we spent a good part of the day there looking at all of their different advertisements, learning how they make the famous stout, and finding out it’s history with ireland. afterwards, they give you a free guinness in the pub downstairs. 

they say that the number of leprechauns that one sees in ireland is directly related to how many guinness' one drinks.


here is erick enjoying his guinness – he states that it is the best guinness he’s ever had.  i gave him mine as well.  i preferred a diet coke to liquid mud!

leprecahuns sited - 312 (ok, i'm joking - there were only 6...)

Unique honeymoon experience #1 - seeing the end of a rainbow IN Ireland.

we spent the rest of this day trying to get into trinity college to see the book of kells.  parking was hell.  (ha, you rhymed!) we gave up and went to dinner at the “world famous” restaurant in our hotel, g.b. shaw’s.  after that we decided to check out the dance club.  much different than american clubs!  imagine all of the people who aren’t cool enough (like me) to get into an american dance club.  now imagine them all twitching on a dance floor to really bad techno music.  (twitching is a fair word - i would say massive seizures) now i know why the world thinks all white people can’t dance…they went to ireland first.

   

sunday, october 29

i should preface this day by saying that we almost had to sleep in the car.  everyone told us that it was a piece of cake to find a place to stay in ireland so our thinking was to book the first two nights and then wing it the rest of the trip. oops, we didn’t know it was a bank holiday and there was also a marathon in town. (a bank holiday in ireland is like any other day but now there's an excuse to close everything down except pubs and hotels!) so because it was a holiday, every hotel and bed & breakfast in the county was filled.  erick decided we would splurge and stay at the clarence (a very posh hotel owned by u2). (it also contained the only comfortable bed in the entire country - more on that later, though)

we started this day by going back to trinity college to see the book of kells.  we had more time to search for parking this time. (god was shining his face on us - it only took half an hour to find a parking space.) here is erick standing at the entrance to the exhibit. we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside. (the book is very sensitive to the paparazzi...) the book of kells is an ancient handwritten illustrated collection of the four gospels. the intricate drawings inside took an incredible amount of work, even just to make the ink. (there was no adobe photoshop back then.) they carry an awesome history with them and it’s just amazing to see. (i found myself speechless for most of the exhibit) on our way out of the exhibit, they lead you through the long room, a historic and huge library.  you really have to be in the midst of it to appreciate it's magnitude.







this is part of the college campus. (one i was never kicked off of, believe it or not...) most of the architecture in ireland is like this - detailed, elegant, and romantic. ireland is predominantly catholic; you can see touches of their traditional faith everywhere.



after we saw the book of kells we went to st. stephen’s green. (contrary to popular belief, st. stephen actually wasn't green) this is the by far the most beautiful park we have ever seen and it’s right in the middle of dublin (which is fast-paced and busy - like l.a. with an accent!) this is me playing in the leaves because frankly, we just don’t see much of that in orange county! (i have to add that it just may be the cutest picture ever...)

i felt like i was on a different planet while we were in st. stephens green. then i went into a public restroom and got a big whiff of home.

here is the yeats memorial. (that's william butler yeats for you literary buffs.) there are memorials all over ireland, particularly in this park. also in the park are beautiful fountains and gardens, and a gazebo where we watched a group of people take irish dance lessons (which I guess to them would just be regular dance lessons). 

at one point, as we were near the yeats memorial, we could hear church bells in the distance. (i thought it was nature playing an ac/dc cover...) erick decided to capture me capturing the moment. (shannon was the final pokemon on my list - capture them all!) it was absolutely silent with the exception of the bells. it was very calm and was just sprinkling lightly. i remember thinking “how can anyone ever deny god’s existence when he’s so evident in places like this?”

 








here erick took an awesome picture of one of the paths within the park. he has a pretty good photographer’s eye and gets credit for the majority of these pictures. (i got that eye on ebay - it's actually ansel adams')

 

just take it all in - i'll shut up for awhile.

ha, i'm back! now let us return to my beautiful concrete metropolis!

 

after st. stephen’s green, we headed to grafton street which was just across the way. this is kind of like the irish 3rd & promenade. (that's in santa monica for all you foreign devils) there were a lot of different musicians on the street, which was fun. i think this group was actually playing a song from journey or something. (we also encountered a guy on the same street playing a didjeridoo. he may have been playing journey also...)

 

and now we break from our tour to bring you a steve perry moment.

thank you - now back to our regularly scheduled program 

 

 

this is the clarence hotel. (told you there'd be more!) it was the nicest hotel i had ever seen. they treat you like honored guests who deserve to be waited on hand and foot. (they may have recognized me from my oscar caliber work on the brady bunch movie...no joke, go rent it - look for the scruffy long-haired guy wearing an indians cap in the cafeteria scenes) they gave us a very nice bottle of champagne in honor of our marriage (don't tell customs - i smuggled it out of the country) we recently used it to celebrate our first married valentine’s day! (i saw a leprechaun then too...) this room was so nice that we decided to stay in the rest of the night and order room service. (we also stole all the pens, paper, soaps, shampoos, menus and anything else that wasn't tied down.)

 

the ha’ penny bridge (which i’m told is world-famous) was just outside the clarence. we took this picture on our way to get a cup of coffee. we had some time to kill while the valet was bringing our car around for the bellhop to pack up our stuff. (see how nice they are at the clarence?) (i think that hop stole some of my boxers...) standing at the midway part of this bridge was one of the coldest moments of the trip!

 

monday, october 30




we decided to spend two nights outside of dublin in a little town called malahide on the coast.  this is the little church in the tiny town.  when we got there, we were starved.  the only place we could find that served food was a dirty, smoky pub. they served ham & turkey sandwiches with butter instead of mayo or mustard. we’ve come to learn that butter on sandwiches is very common and pretty good. (yes, it is very common. no, it is not any good.) terrible for you but good nonetheless. (lies) (p.s. -  many people have asked us and no, they do not serve beer warm in ireland.  that’s a british thing.) (incidentally, warm beer is why britain lost the revolutionary war.)

now, a gratuitous nature shot

here is the irish sea, one block from the bed & breakfast that we stayed in. it was like something out of waking ned devine. (minus the old naked irish guy on a moped of course...)

 

here is my adorable husband (true) the day we arrived in malahide. after checking into the bed & breakfast (where we were served toast and coffee in our room by the cute little old man that ran the place), we decided to walk around the town. that didn’t take long but it was fun. it got very dark and gloomy and started to rain (this picture was taken around 4:30pm). we just kept walking in the rain because it was just too fun and romantic not to. (the second after this picture was taken, a great white shark jumped over the dock and grabbed me in his maw. for three days i lived in his belly until....oh wait that wasn't me it was jonah.) 

 

tuesday, october 31





the next day we decided to drive down the road to malahide castle, former home of the talbot family. we really enjoyed the tour and the history of the family. the youngest member of the talbot family is still alive today! they also believed that their castle was inhabited by a ghost named puck. (puck's approximately the size of mini me.) they created a door for him in the main dining hall. it was said that puck only appeared when he was displeased with something. (like the absence of track lighting.) his last known appearance was the day that the castle was sold. (puck can now be found on tour with spinal tap - he is a featured dancer during their theatrical version of "stonehenge.")

since the tour of the castle didn’t take long, we still had a whole day to enjoy. erick found a teeny little spot on the map called fourknocks passage grave. he thought that since it was halloween, it would be fun to check it out. it didn’t seem far and i figured it must be a good tourist spot since it was on the map so why not be adventurous. first of all, a short drive in ireland means only short distance, not short amount of time to get there. their maps and roads are extremely difficult to navigate!  and this place was certainly not in the midst of a big tourist spot. it was literally in the middle of nowhere. we drove along a series of two-lane roads which were tiny tiny tiny! literally, they would paint the word slow on the pavement and part of the word would be written on the next lane. that’s how small the roads are. huge trucks would come barreling past us and i don’t know how they didn’t hit us! it was cold and rainy and because of that, it was kind of dark. i had no idea where we were but erick claimed he did (i didn’t believe him but, wouldn’t you know it, he did!) we had to drive through a “dump site” to get to the passage. this was made clear by the big signs that said “danger, dump!” these signs were accompanied by pictures of men in gas masks and skulls with crossbones. (the universal sign for smelly pirates.) when we finally found the grave, there were four children standing at the steps (where did these kids come from? there was nothing nearby!!) one of them bowed very formally to us. (as well he should!) it was like something out of village of the damned or the bad seed. (that's village of the darned for you amish folks...) after finding a little spot to park in, we walked over to the passage (the children were leaving at this point but not before turning around to give us the finger. (i still have that finger - it's a nice addition to my collection.)






 these are the steps to the entrance of the passage. you can make out the long path you need to take to get to the tomb.

(note to other husbands - this is not the time to start making comments like, "you know, they would never find our bodies out here...)



this is the door to the tomb. as you can see, the entire tomb is a giant grass-covered ball. you can actually walk up these stone steps that are wedged into the side and stand on top of it. there are barred vents on the top that you can look down into the tomb through. (it also releases the scents of flatuating ghosts.)

the ball of light in the picture is either a reflection of the sun or elvis. i can't substantiate it but i believe the ball of light called me a "hunk o' burnin' love." you make the call.



 inside the tomb (which was 4,000 years old) were the remains and belongings of 65 adults and children. erick was brave and would have liked to go in. (hey, new fans are new fans...) i was so scared that i took a few pictures and said “we’re outta here!” i mean, it was halloween after all!  

this was unique honeymoon experience #2: visiting a 4,000 year old tomb on halloween.

   




driving away from the tomb we passed through a town called ballyboughal. this memorial says: 

“ballyboughal” (town of the staff) was the name given to the town in the c.1113, when ceallach, archbishop of armagh built the church and made grants of land around ballyboughal for the protection of the cachall iosa, so called as it was believed that it had been given by jesus to st. patrick. this staff was the most important relic of the time, and right up to the 16th century, hands were laid on it when oaths were taken. in c.1173 strongbow and his forces removed the staff to christchurch catherdral where it remained until 1538 when it was taken out with other relics and burnt during the reformation.

(who the heck typed in yellow - there's someone hiding on the site...)

cultural difference #3 - 

irish memorial - see above
american memorial - "this is the spot where zeke mccracken ate 72 lbs. of rump roast - pay homage."

 

when we got back to malahide, we went to dinner at a pub called smyths. this is where we saw actor steven rea (still crazy, crying game). erick and i are big fans of the movie still crazy so we had to go up and say so.  he was quite embarrassed and humble (and sloshy...) but allowed me to take a picture of him and erick together. we later found out that it was his birthday the day we ran in to him. (maybe that explains the sloshy.)

this was unique honeymoon experience #3: seeing an actor from one of our favorite movies in an out-of-the-way pub in a small town. 

 

Wednesday, November 1

two nights in malahide was plenty so we returned to dublin. (my concrete metropolis!) at this point we realized that driving in ireland is difficult and there was so much we wanted to see in dublin so we decided to stay there for the rest of the trip. after checking in to the parliament hotel, we went to the dublin zoo! we actually got a lot of sunshine on this day! (that means it only rained once) it was beautiful. for those of you that don’t know it, we love zoos. (my favorite exhibit is always the drummers...) this one is by far the best we’d ever been to!

dublin zoo is what’s known as a face-to-face zoo. (although we did see many animal butts...) unlike our zoos, the animals are not kept in far away pits and cages. they are behind glass walls so that you can walk right up to them. this tiger was our favorite. he was huge and beautiful and at this point had been playing with me like a kitten. (upon making the connection to cats, i immediately tried to kick him. i'm sure going to miss my leg...) i would stroke the glass and he would put his paw up to my hand! truly amazing creatures! 

this was unique honeymoon experience #4: playing with a tiger.

 

overheard near the polar bear cage -

"he sure doesn't do much. he must have already fed on a child."

 


this is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. i call it my “jane goodall” picture. this little guy (gal?) had the most beautiful eyes but also loved to pull down his bottom lip and show me all the corn he’d been storing up. (i told you i always loved the drummer exhibit!) 




the zoo was also an interactive zoo. there were games and activities that you could do to help you learn more about the animals.  here is erick learning to have the balance of a tiger. he did pretty good! (remaining in character, i later mauled some tourists.)



 here i am learning about monkeys. to know them, you have to really walk in their shoes, you know? (and replace their heads with your own...)

   



they also had a petting zoo, complete with most kinds of farm animals. this cow was a very vocal cow. he had the loudest moo ever! we wanted a picture of him mooing but he was camera shy. here is erick mocking the cow and giving him a little shove to see if he would moo. (i won with a sixth round t.k.o.)

 





 after the zoo, we went to st. patrick's cathedral. they say that every detail of this place was designed to bring you closer to god. this is absolutely true. this place could be described as nothing less than breathtaking. this is a stone that was found near the well where st. patrick baptized many of ireland’s people.

   



here i am admiring the chapel.  it was amazing to see such detail in something that was created so long ago. so much of ireland’s history was within this building.

 




this is one of the many stained-glass windows in the cathedral. it says “i am he that liveth and was dead.” the bottom says “he is not dead. he is risen.” again, erick gets credit for capturing the beauty and detail in this photograph.

cultural difference #4 -

ireland - architecture points to the glory and transcendence of god.
america - architecture points to the average salary of the congregation.

 

Thursday, November 2

we started this day out by going to temple bar. this is where bono and the boys grew up.  it’s much like our haight & ashbury or melrose. we stumbled upon a tiny music store that had tons of original demos and bootlegs from u2. erick entered his personal heaven. (my personal heaven took about $100 from me, too.) 




 after temple bar, we took a cab to the irish music hall of fame. what an awesome museum! you wear wireless headphones and walk through the museum. as you cross different boundaries you hear commentary on each exhibit. some of our favorites were u2 (of course), van morrison, the corrs, and thin lizzy. this cross was used in the opening scene of the video for in the name of the father. (a fine movie - i recommend it to you all.)


 


this was an exhibit of handprints from different irish drummers. as you can see, erick has the exact same size hand as larry mullen from u2. (i later matched my ego up to bono's - those matched too...)

   





here is bono’s macphisto outfit from the zooropa tour. one of our favorite exhibits.

let us all engage in a moment of silence as we gaze upon this holy relic...

 

 

   

nothing more need be said.

 

friday, november 3

i shall take over the writing now.

friday was departure day. first i took the long way to the airport. (fifteen minutes away turned into an hour...oops.) then we spent an hour waiting at the airport to check in. then an hour waiting for our flight. then ten hours in the air...

if it weren't for x-men, shanghai noon, and shaft i would have been very miserble. 

so we flew out at 12:30pm on friday and we returned to california at 3pm on friday. enter the lovely world that is jet lag for two days.

and we wouldn't change a second of it....

 

want to see how it all began? check out the wedding page!