Great Sugarloaf, Wicklow Mountains

I honestly don't remember how long I've wanted to climb the Sugarloaf, but it could be as much as 8-9 years. Anyway, last Sunday I was able to tick that off my To Do list. Yay!

And a glorious Sunday it was too! We went there around 1, and had a bit of a time finding a way to get close to the mountain. I had found some tips on the web, which none of us could remember. All we knew was that there probably wasn't a car park. And there wasn't. There was just a looooong line of cars parked along the wee road running along the southern foot of the mountain.

Great Sugarloaf looks very tall and majestic when you come from the north, because there is a bit of a valley in front of it that you drive through. But once you drive around to the southern side, you're already going up a good bit, so the actual distance is not bad at all. There were a great many families with kids of all ages there, enjoying the day, and the views from the top, so that gives you a good idea about the ease of the climb. It's really only the last little bit before the top that requires a bit of effort.

It took us less than an hour to get up, which includes little breaks on the way to enjoy the view. We got quite warm as well, and were removing gloves and hats before long. It was a pretty hazy day, so some of the surrounding mountains were vanishing in the mists in a most lovely fashion. I love picking out landmarks, and so was very happy when I found Powerscourt House in nearby Enniskerry. Powerscourt House has the most amazing gardens which are laid out with a perfect view of Great Sugarloaf.

Of course, you could also see the neighbouring Little Sugarloaf, which stood between us and Bray Head, and beyond that the Irish Sea.

The line of cars we left behind us on the road looked like a row of pearls, with the sun gleaming off them, quite pretty I must say. On our way down we took a bit of a ramble around the knee of Great Sugarloaf, which extends to the west, and were back down after roughly 2 hours. Not bad at all! And our timing was good as well - as we were coming down the mountain, the 'after dinner' crowd were ascending in droves...

Now That's What I Call An Ice Rink - Eindhoven Ijssportcentrum

Speed skating is HUGE in the Netherlands, so I'm guessing this is not actually an unusual size rink, but I've sure never seen a 400m ice track before, much less skated on one. But now, I have :) I was there over the weekend, in case you're wondering....

And it was glorious! Very unlike any of the stamp-sized (in comparison) 3-month ice rinks that can be found around Dublin City, where they simply let people onto the ice until noone can actually move forward very much. There's a reason why I have not been skating on any of the Dublin rinks for the last few years. There's no room to actually skate and you constantly run the risk of being dragged down by some fledgling skater losing their balance. People, good thing that you're coming out to skate, but if you don't know what you're doing, stay near the barrier, please!

So, back to the Eindhoven Ijssportcentrum. There was a timer, counting seconds 1- 60 the whole time, so that you could time your rounds, which I did - 1 minute 25 seconds, at an okay pace. I would have loved to try sprinting the whole way, but I couldn't because:

a) too many people
b) dull blades
c) not enough stamina

The rink used to be completely open to the elements, but now it's semi-covered, as you can see in the picture.

Weather Gods Fighting?

Walking home yesterday, listening to Cara Dillon, it started to snow. Lovely big flakes coming down from the dark sky. Then I heard some rumbling noise, and realised it was thunder. Utterly surreal! There was no lightning and the snow had stopped by the time I got home, but this has to be the freakiest 10 minutes of weather I have yet to experience in Ireland.....

Mezzotono - Christmas Carols in Dublin

Over the last 3 months I have been part of a wee choir (very informal) rehearsing Christmas Carols in 4 voices, to sing them in Dublin city centre among other places. We're called Mezzotono, which means 'half note' in Italian (most of the members are from Italy, and Italian is the language of music anyway).

Last year we rehearsed for this purpose as well, but never got to sing in town, because we left it too late, and people were then going home for Christmas etc. There's only a handful of us, so we don't have a lot of volume to draw on, but it's easier to organise and do impromptu things than with a truckload of people.

So, this year we began in September, with a plan. We had the same songs we did last year, plus some new ones, in exciting arrangements that came up during the course of autumn. Our repertoire is as follows, all arranged for soprano, alto, tenor and bass. (Just in case you're curious - I sing the soprano bits).

Adeste Fideles (sung in Latin, also widely known in English as Come All Ye Faithful)
Hark The Herald Angels Sing
Joy To The World
Deck The Halls
We Wish You A Merry Christmas
Silent Night (a verse sung in each of the languages German, Irish and English)
The First Noel
Jingle Bells
Winter Wonderland
O Tannenbaum (sung in German)
On Christmas Night
God Rest You Merry Gentlemen

I will never forget the first moment we all sang together last year, after everyone learning their various voices for Adeste Fideles. The harmonies and beauty of the thing were so amazing - I had completely forgotten the power of singing together in a group like that! How soothing it is to create something together like that - perfect antidote to stress! Now, I don't think Adeste Fideles is the most beautiful arrangement in our canon (it is pretty darn good, although On Christmas Night is better), but there's something special about it to me anyway, because it was the first one we sang.

Unfortunately, not all the singers made it out to sing in town, due to various reasons (weather being one of them), but 5 of us did go. We have now learned important lessons about wind, and about how noisy Grafton Street is, and how busy. How cold it can get when you're just standing still, and the importance of shelter. Lots of people noticed us, but only a few stopped to listen. One time a couple of people actually came over to join in, which was fun, and they sang along with us for a couple of tunes (melody voice only, mind you. Hehe). At least this year we did get to do what we set out to do and sing in town. :)

This is us, after a wonderful afternoon spent singing around Temple Bar and Grafton Street:

Concert Report - Bruce Springsteen & E Street Band, Odyssey Arena, Belfast, 15 December

It was amazing! Bruce owns that stage from the minute he sets foot on it, and it’s like he’s just having a party with a few thousand of his closest friends. I took a lot of pictures – will upload them all to Facebook later, when I get a chance. He’s great to just watch move around, throwing his arms in the air and jumping up and down with the beat. You can tell that these guys have played together for a long time, but they have the same thing U2 have – they can keep playing songs that are 30 years old, as if they were written yesterday – same energy.

There was a bride & groom in the audience, who had evidently come straight from their wedding reception to attend the gig. Bruce saluted them a couple of times, and towards the end Little Steven was conducting a whole little ‘conversation’ with the bride from the stage. Very funny.

Patti was still babysitting at home, so Soozie was singing with Bruce on Magic - I definitely did not mind - Soozie rocks! That duet was really great. Gave me goosebumps. The audience was singing along to most of the new songs, as well as the Rising songs, and for Born To Run everyone was just belting it out at the top of their lungs. Awesome. For Santa Claus Is Coming... Bruce put on this Santa Stetson that someone threw onstage – red with a white furry trim. He looked very cool in that! Clarence put on a normal Santa hat for his Ho-Ho-Ho’s. What a way to finish a gig! The crowd was great as well, not like we had last year in Dublin for the Seeger Sessions gig, where no-one on the floor moved.

To go back to the start for a bit : The trip up to Belfast on the bus was fine – I was running to catch the 3pm in Busáras, because of course the bus from Blanchardstown ended up taking ages. Walked from the bus station behind Europa Hotesl to the Odyssey Arena through a beautifully Christmas-lit Belfast city centre to the Odyssey Arena (see Facebook for more pictures). It was only 20 minutes or so – a lovely walk.

Belfast City Hall Christmas Lights:

Found my seat, which was in a great spot, and started talking to 2 sisters from Manchester sitting next to me – one of them turned out to be a U2 fan, the other was mad about Bruce. They’d both been at the second Croke Park gig 2 years ago. (That's U2 we're talking about here, ed.) We walked back to the Europa Hotel after the concert, where they were staying and just had time for a quick pint before I got on the bus back to Dublin at midnight.

And then, I thought I’d be clever and get off at the airport and get a taxi from there instead of trying to get a taxi from town. Turned out there weren’t any taxis at all in the airport. Nor anyone else for that matter – I’ve never seen the place so empty!! The only noises were the pedestrian light beeping and the security announcements. Scary biscuits. Turned out any taxis dropping people off at Departures were heading straight back into town without swinging by Arrivals. I got talking to a guy also looking for a taxi, so we went up to Departures and got a taxi within 2 minutes. He was going in the opposite direction, but we shared it anyway – just wanted to get home! In bed at 10 past 3, so not bad at all in the end. Very sleepy on Sunday...still am....zzzzz.....

Set List:
Radio Nowhere
No Surrender
Lonesome Day
Gypsy Biker
Magic
Reason To Believe
Because The Night
She's The One
Livin' In The Future
The Promised Land
Waitin' On A Sunny Day
The River
I'll Work For Your Love
Devil's Arcade
The Rising
Last To Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands

Encores:
Girls In Their Summer Clothes
Kitty's Back
Born To Run
Dancing In The Dark
American Land
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town