Key West

We holiday in Key West, Florida every year.  You may have heard of Key West, it is the last of a chain of islands off the coast of the USA.  The island is the most southernmost point in the States but it is actually closer to Cuba then to the mainland of America.  It is 90 miles from Cuba (by boat) and 150 miles drive from Miami - the chain of the Florida Keys are joined by bridges from island to island (or key to key).

For such a small island (4 miles by 2 miles) it is surprisingly historic.  Ernest Hemingway lived in Key West for awhile along with Tennessee Williams and Robert Frost.  You can visit the house that Hemingway lived in with his wife Pauline.  It is a really interesting tour and the polydactyl cats living on the grounds are quite a sight!

President Truman managed to base himself in Key West for much of his presidential term.  The house that he lived in is now a museum and I thoroughly recommend a visit.  I think I have been to see it 4 times and each time I learnt something new!

There are lots of other sights to see in Key West including the Southernmost Point, The Key West Lighthouse, The Butterfly Conservatory along with numerous art galleries.

Nightlife in Key West is mainly based on Duval Street and also along the bight.  There are so many different different bars that there is something for just about everyone.  I went to the Green Parrot Bar with my parents to watch a Blue Grass band which was a lot of fun. Sloppy Joes where Hemingway hung out also plays a mix of music with performers coming from all over the country to play here.

While on the island, we love to bike around checking out the sights and also getting out on the water and doing some fishing.  Nothing beats coming home and throwing your freshly caught fish on the bbq and having a cocktail while cooking dinner!

Probably my favourite thing about Key West is the choice of restaurants.  I love the fact that there are very few chain restaurants in Key West and an amazing selection of fresh seafood restaurants, little small quaint charming restaurants and also rough and ready casual eateries.  All serving up great food and wine!  My two favourite restaurants are 7 Fish and Santiago's Bodega.  We also (surprisingly!) love the vegetarian cafe in KW - great healthy food in a very chilled out venue with very friendly staff.

If you do ever get to Key West my recommendation on where to stay is either in one of the cute B&B's in old town or to rent a cute conchy cottage through Historic Hideaways.

All in all I think Key West is a place unlike any other and I think you need to visit to see what it is like to vacation in Paradise!!!

Here's something further to read about Key West.

O'Stillman Cup

This weekend the O'Stillman Cup was played in Dublin.  Team Ireland played against Team USA.  Happily the cup was won by Ireland!  The American players were fantastic, great squash players and a lot of fun.

Here are a few pics from the weekend -

Paws up little monsters!

Wow! Wow! Wow! 

We went to see Lady Gaga last night. She was just amazing.  We had a (monsters) ball at the concert! It was just great - check out this review

I still can't decide which song she did best. I'm torn between Judas and Alejandro but Just Dance was awesome too!  In fact the whole show was amazing.  A real spectacle, an over the top show everything you would expect from a popstar of Gaga's calibre!  

I took some photos but they did not come out very well as we were very far back :-(

Here's a video that I put up on Youtube.  Apols for the poor quality. 

Can't believe the concert has been and done, I was looking forward to it for the whole Summer.  I wonder when she will be back again?!

Tonight's the night!!

Lady Gaga is playing tonight in the Aviva!!  

Can't wait!! I found it hard to get to sleep last night because I was so excited ;-) 

Busy day today, Ciaran is playing in the O'Stillman Cup and his game is at 4.30pm.  Before that we are going to pick up an 11am yoga class.  Here's the website for the O'Stillman Cup.  It is the first time it has been played and it seems like it is going well.

A walk by the canal

I brought my Smart Car for a service to Grattan Motors today.  It was a lovely morning and as I walked home along the canal I took a few pictures of the surroundings.

Grattan Motors is next door to Ken Lawford Motors where I bought my car.  It is located on Grattan Bridge at Harold's Cross.

Lock's Restaurant is facing on to the canal.  It looks so nice.  I have seen it all lit up at night time and it is really atmospheric.  We must go for a meal there some time!

This cool 1981 VW Beetle was parked near Lock's Restaurant.  

Here is La Touche bridge (built 1791) at Portobello. 

Looking up towards Rathmines, you can see the green dome of the Mary Immaculate, Refuge of Sinner's Church. 

                                  A cute little boardwalk!

It was a nice little walk - just over a mile and a half to our house.  When I was picking up my car later that day I picked up a Dublin Bike and cycled down to the garage which was just as nice as the earlier walk!

This canal is called the Grand Canal.  The other canal in Dublin is the Royal Canal and my parents live right beside that one!

Aren't these sunflowers great?  They are in a garden in a house up the road from me.  I love them!

Dublin Yoga!

I've started practising Yoga again.  There is a great little studio around the corner from us.  We walked down to it last night but tonight I cycled as I was a little tight for time coming from work.  I'm still very much getting used to the different types of yoga and I really miss the heat of Bikram.  

I find Bikram Yoga far more physical and because of the endurance you need it actually becomes more meditative as you need to really concentrate on your body and how much you can do (or not do in my case!)  But as I said this is a nice studio so I will stick with it for awhile.  They also do Pilates so I will probably give that ago too. 

By the way I think there has been a serious turn in the weather......winter is on it's way but for the positive my weekend has started already as I am finished work until Monday. Chilling out with a glass of wine now while we watch "The Good Wife" on boxset on UPC Demand, life is good! 

Gaga is coming!!!

Lady Gaga is playing in Dublin this Saturday in the Aviva Stadium.  There are rumours that there is already a fan queuing outside!!!

We had a busy weekend so I plan to take it easy for the concert.  Ciaran has a game of squash at some stage during the day.  There are a team of Americans coming over to play in his club - unfortunately we will miss the event dinner because we will be at Gaga.  Not that I mind that!!!

I have a busy week ahead of me but am off work on Friday.  I then need to drop my car in to the garage to get serviced on Friday.  It's all go but then I can relax and enjoy the show on Saturday night!!  I'm planning to hang out with my twin sister during the day on Saturday with my twin which will be nice too.....

I wonder will she do a Bikram Yoga class while she is here?  If she does, she may go to the Ringsend Studio - Colin Farrell was back in Ireland a few weeks ago and he went here with his sister.  Maybe I should do a few classes and see if I can bump in to her!

I should mention that we ate in Tribeca on Saturday evening - I still reckon it is the best burger in Ranelagh.  Ciaran got the wings which everyone raves about but he thought they were just average. He will probably get the burger next time.  I do like this place, it has got a great atmosphere.  For dessert we shared a baked cheesecake which was surprisingly good as I don't normally like cheesecake.