Bono or Baaaa No

On our viking tour yesterday, in which we all boarded a Dukw, which was designed back in the 2nd world war to be a land and sea vehicle.  We go down close to the Docks and are fitted with some flotation devices and then we head into the Grand Canal.

U2's recording Studios which is actually call The Windmill Lane Studios, backs onto the Grand Canal so you get a nice view of it, now if you have read early stories I may have written about U2 or Bono, the Irish people really don't like him as a person, they love his music and will go and see his concert but the man himself is just not their favorite.  This is mainly put down to things he says or his antics.
Apparently Bono parks his Maserati inside the studio,(OMG I just googled that, and I see that Maseratti around all the time) okay so the wall which is now re-painted used to be a shrine to U2 with graffiti from people all over the world. Here is a photo

The tour guide on our tour, referred to him as thinking he was Jesus, he was going to build an apartment block on the other side of the canal to where the studios are, so that he could just walk across the water to work.

And I have heard many stories about how he basically expects people just to give him stuff or let him into places for free.  To top it one of the boy's in Em's class, his dad is Bono's body guard and they go around thinking they are God's gift to human kind, what with their holidays in the Hamptons and accompanying Bono and his family on their holidays.

Anyway to get back to the story, in the year 2000 Bono and U2 were granted "Freedom of the City of Dublin" by the Lord Mayor, which is a great honour anywhere in the world.  Nelson Mandela is also a precipitant of this award.   What does this award mean?  Well I quote now from the Dublin City Council's web page:

Freedom of the City of Dublin

The award of Freedom of the City of Dublin acknowledges the contribution of certain people to the life of our city. It also bestows honour to important visitors to Dublin.

No financial or other benefits are attached to the Freedom of the City. However it does carry significant prestige, as well as some interesting symbolic privileges and duties!

Recipients of this award may are referred to as a ‘Freeman’ or ‘Freewoman’ of Dublin. They are also Honorary Citizens of our city.

Ancient Privileges & Duties of a Freeman/Freewoman

Holders of the Freedom of Dublin have a number of ancient privileges and duties not applicable to ordinary citizens, some of which have little more than symbolic meaning in the modern world!

Privileges of a Freeman/Freewoman

• The right to bring goods into Dublin through the city gates, without paying customs duties.
• The right to pasture sheep on common ground within the city boundaries. This includes modern-day College Green (formerly Hoggen Green) and St.Stephen’s Green. (This right was exercised by Freeman ‘Bono’ of U2 in 2000!)
• The right to vote in municipal and parliamentary elections.

So of course what do Bono and the Edge do, they go and get a sheep and bring them to St. Stephens Green to Graze - the Irish public thought this was so lame and branded them laughing stocks of the City for a while! 

Duties of a Freeman/Freewoman

• Each Freeman/Freewoman has to be ready to defend the city from attack.
• A Freeman/Freewoman can be called on to join a city militia at short notice.
• According to a law passed in 1454, any merchant who becomes a Freeman/Freewoman must possess the following items:
• A coat of mail
• A bow
• A light helmet
• A sword of his/her own
• Freemen from all the other trade guilds must have a bow, arrows and a sword.
• A law passed in 1465, states that each Freeman/Freewoman has to provide himself/herself with a longbow (of his own length) made of yew, witch-hazel or ash. He/she must also have twelve arrows made of the same wood.

Now after their Sheep antics I wonder if they will adhere to the Duties of the City as well????

Our Viking Day Out in Dublin

So Em has a project to do and guess when it is due, yes Tuesday and like all kids she leaves everything till the last minute.  The only information we have is what we have managed to gather on the internet, so yesterday I booked tickets for the "Viking Splash Tour" and "Dublinia".

We didn't tell her we were going, so this morning we parked the car down Waterloo Road and trekked into town.  When we got to St. Stephens Green we first went to feed the ducks, Em saw the viking tour and asked if we could go, I then told her we were going.

It was so much fun, but it was oh so cold.  The driver has a wealth of knowledge about Dublin, some true and some fictional - but they all have a great sense of humor   I am going to do separate posts on some of the interesting features of the tour, so will not go into too much detail here, except to say it was money well spent!

The Driver explains to all the passengers about putting on their viking helmets, and then when we pass unsuspecting "Celts" we all look over the side and shout at the top of our voices "aaaaaaaaaaaarggggghhhhh" in real pirate fashion.  unsuspecting Celts are just random people walking along the street, concentrating on their own going on's.

We made a few people jump, got lots of smiles and waves and photos taken of us.  The tour was 90 minutes and part of it is on the Grand Canal, where we sail past U2's studios and the new Board Gais Energy Theater   Which I will talk about in another post.  

Cellphones and Cyclists

I have two pet hates when I am driving the first one being people talking on their Cell phones / Mobiles whilst driving and the second .... no not cyclist particularly but cyclist who do not obey the rules of the road.  I don't know how many times I have had to avoid knocking a cyclist down, because they weren't obeying the rules of the road.

Firstly I get really p*ssed off that I have to pay an exorbitant amount of road tax, and the roads are in such bad condition and the cyclist who have perfect cycle lanes on most main roads don't have to pay a cent, and to top it all they get a tax break for cycling to work, so the tax payer pays for 52% of their bicycle, provided they are on the higher tax bracket and they get away with only paying 48%.

The Garda (That is the police in Ireland) even have a neon sign going down Leeson street that reads: "GARDA WARNING:  CYCLISTS RED MEANS STOP, DON'T RISK IT!" but do they listen NO!  Going down Bagott street the other day I almost knocked a cyclist off his bike because he drove straight through a red, and then turned around and started swearing at me, so after he drove off, I drove up behind him and gave him a loud blast on my hooter and drove off - he got such a fright, and it gave me such pleasure!

They also have their designated cycle lanes but insist on overtaking other cyclists, which is fine - if they first look behind them for on coming cars, but they don't, they just pull out thinking they are invincible - and if I had to knock one down it would be my fault.  I firstly think cyclist should get a license to say they know the rules of the road and secondly they should contribute towards the road system too!

I rambled on about the cyclist that I forgot to mention the cell phone users, well we have all seen them, those
that talk and those that text and in fact I am starting to hate cell phones, I mean we lived without them for so long and now, everywhere you go someone is talking on their phone, and I am sorry you can not concentrate on 2 things at the same time.  Cell phone drivers are worse than drunk drivers, at least drunk drivers are trying to concentrate on the road only!   Lock them up I say, and then confiscate their phones and ban them from using a cell phone for a year, you can give them an implant in their ears that gives them an electric shock if they talk into a cell phone, that should cure them!!!!

Okay that was my rant for the day!  

Eric Clapton - Swaziland 1989

A collegue was telling me at lunch time he is going to see Eric Clapton next week at the O2 in Dublin - I thought about seeing him, but honestly there are just too many concerts to see these days, but I was telling him about when I saw Eric Clapton in 1989 in Swaziland.

My BFF had gone to a Rock Concert with her brother the previous year in Zimbabwe to see, Bruce Springsteen, I was very jealous that I was not going with, she also came home with some amazing stories, that I will tell you about some day.  So when another friend of mine invited me to go with them to see Eric Clapton and a host of other bands in Swaziland, I jumped at the opportunity.

My friend and I were going with a mutual ex-boyfriends brother and his friend.  Well the friend that came with was a BIG marujana smoker and smoked in the car all the way up.  We left at about 10 a.m. on the Friday morning 21st of July 1989, the concert was on Saturday evening in Mbabane at the Somhole Stadium, it was the Kings Trust concert, basically a concert to celebrate King Mswatti II 21st birthday - he aparently had a private concert at the palace.

So we drove to Oshoek border and got through relatively easy, aparently that night and the next day there were 5 hour waits.  We had no accommodation, but a tent in the car and a couple of tins of tinned food, my friend had organized with some mates of hers that worked there that we could camp on their property or stay in the house, and this back in 1989 when there were no cell phones or email everything was done on trust and hope.

We eventually found the guys place, well the house that they stayed in was so filthy that we even decided it was not worth using the toilet as we did not know what we would catch, so we really roughed if for the week-end. 

I don't remember too much detail but remember it was an awesome week-end, I am going to go and dig up my old photos and scan them in.  While searching the internet for any information about the concert I came across this newspaper article which describes everything to a T.

Travelling back on Sunday, we decided to go through Piggs Peak as again there was a 5-8 hour wait at Oshoek border post, which was probably a wise move.  We got back and I had to have 3 baths to get rids of the dirt, and my husband wants to know why I don't like camping!

 If you can't read the article I have posted here, here is the link which should be a lot clearer: http://samusicheritage.wordpress.com/2012/07/01/swazi-rock/

44 Best Bodyweight Exercises Ever for Women - Leigh Lowery

Autumn in South Africa

You always know that Winter is just around the corner in South Africa when you see the Cosmos starting to bloom.  It grows wild along the side of the road and in huge fields, one of the most beautiful wild flowers you will every see.

I took these photographs on the way to Hartebeespoort Dam, thought I would throw in some typical South African scenes too.

Good Friends

I am so lucky to have some of the most amazing friends in the world, even though I only get to see them every couple of years they are never far away!!!!  Love you all!

Beautiful South Africa - Kwandabele

I wanted to share so photographs I took going through to visit my mother in Kwandebele at the beginning of April ...

South Africa is such a varied, beautiful vast country!

Visitors

A tale of two Cities

After recently returning from a trip Home, I remembered I had written this post about the 2 cities I have lived in one for over 3 decades being Johannesburg and now in Dublin, I did not publish at the time so am posting it now.

A tale of 2 cities – Dublin / Johannesburg

I love History and sometimes wonder why I didn't take an interest earlier in life, but they say it’s never too late to learn new things.

I love reading stuff about Dublin as it’s the city where I now live; it is so old and interesting the city is over 1000 years old, and compared to the city where I grew up, Johannesburg is not even 200 years old yet.  However I think Johannesburg in its short life still has a BIG history.

DUBLIN – 988 A.D.

Dublin (pron.: /ˈdʌblɨn/; locally /ˈdʊbᵊlən/; Irish: Baile Átha Cliath, meaning "town of the hurdled ford", pronounced [blʲaˈklʲiə] or Áth Cliath, [aː klʲiə], occasionally Duibhlinn) is the capital and most populous city of Ireland. The English name for the city is derived from the Irish name Dubhlinn, meaning "black pool". Dublin is situated near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and the centre of the Dublin Region.

 Originally founded as a Viking settlement, it evolved into the Kingdom of Dublin and became the island's principal city following the Norman invasion. The city expanded rapidly from the 17th century; it was briefly the second largest city in the British Empire and the fifth largest in Europe. Dublin entered a period of stagnation following the Act of Union of 1800, but it remained the economic centre for most of the island. Following the partition of Ireland in 1922, the new parliament, the Oireachtas, was located in Leinster House. Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State and later the Republic of Ireland.

Dublin was established as a Viking settlement in the 9th century and, despite a number of rebellions by the native Irish, it remained largely under Viking control until the Norman invasion of Ireland was launched from Wales in 1169. The King of Leinster, Diarmait Mac Murchada, enlisted the help of Strongbow, the Earl of Pembroke, to conquer Dublin. Following Mac Murrough’s death, Strongbow declared himself King of Leinster after gaining control of the city. In response to Strongbow's successful invasion, King Henry II of England reaffirmed his sovereignty by mounting a larger invasion in 1171 and pronouncing himself Lord of Ireland. Around this time, the county of the City of Dublin was established along with certain liberties adjacent to the city proper. This continued down to 1840 when the Barony of Dublin City was separated from the Barony of Dublin. Since 2001, both baronies have been redesignated the City of Dublin.

FACTS ABOUT DUBLIN

Population:   1.3 Million (2011)

Area:                 115 Square kilometres

Location:        The city is sited on the estuary of the River Liffey. This river empties into Dublin Bay which opens onto the Irish Sea.  To the south, Dublin is bordered by a low mountain range.

Climate:        Average summer temperatures: 16C to 20C

Average winter temperatures: 4C to 7C

Average annual rainfall: 840 mm / 33 inches

How many cities called Dublin are there in the world?                   

19 – There are 12 cities called Dublin in the USA, 6 in Australia and of course 1 in Ireland.

JOHANNESBURG – 1886 A.D.

Johannesburg was formed almost 900 years after Dublin ...

Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg, Joni, eGoli or Joeys, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa. The city is one of the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the world, and is also the world's largest city not situated on a river, lake, or coastline. It claims to be the lightning capital of the world, though this title is also claimed by others.

Gold was discovered in the 1880s and triggered the gold rush. Gold was initially discovered some 400 km to the east of present-day Johannesburg, in Barberton. Gold prospectors soon discovered that there were even richer gold reefs in the Witwatersrand. Gold was discovered at Langlaagte, Johannesburg in 1886.

Johannesburg was a dusty settlement some 55 km from the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR) capital which was Pretoria. The town—named after two surveyors employed by the ZAR, Johannes Meyer and Johannes Rissik—was much the same as any small prospecting settlement, but, as word spread, people flocked to the area from all other regions of the country, as well as from North America, the United Kingdom and Europe. Like many late 19th century mining towns, Johannesburg was a rough and disorganized place, populated by white miners from other continents, African tribesmen recruited to perform unskilled mine work, African women beer brewers who cooked for and sold beer to the black migrant workers, a very large number of European prostitutes, gangsters, impoverished Afrikaners, tradesmen, and Zulu "AmaWasha," Zulu men who surprisingly dominated laundry work.  As the value of control of the land increased, tensions developed between the Boer government in Pretoria and the British, culminating in the Jameson Raid that ended in fiasco at Doornkop in January 1896 and the Second Boer War (1899–1902) that saw British forces under Lord Roberts occupy the city on 30 May 1900 after a series of battles to the south of its then-limits.

FACTS ABOUT Johannesburg:

Population:   2.4 Million  

Area:                 1,100 Square kilometres

Location:        Johannesburg is 2,000m above sea level.  Nearest Major Harbor is Durban some 600 km’s away.

Climate:        Johannesburg has an average of 12 hours of sunlight a day.            Summer temperatures range from about 25 degrees centigrade up to a max of about 38.

Winters are temperate and dry with no rainfall and crisp, clear days. The winter runs from May – August. Evenings and early mornings can get quite cold with temperatures ranging from 0 degrees centigrade up to a max of around 22. Daytime temperatures average at around 15 degrees centigrade.

How many cities called Johannesburg are there in the world?                

There is 1 other city in the world called Johannesburg, and quite freaky how similar names pop into this bit of information from Wikipedia

Johannesburg is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kern County, California, in a mining district of the Rand Mountains. Johannesburg is located 1 mile (1.6 km) east-northeast of Randsburg,[3] at an elevation of 3517 feet (1072 m).[2] The terminus of the Randsburg Railway was here from 1897 to 1933. The population was 172 at the 2010 census, down from 176 at the 2000 census. Johannesburg is divided from the neighboring community of Randsburg by a ridge. The town is frequently referred to as "Jo-burg" by locals and frequent visitors to the northwest Mojave.

So seems to “Not be” the only Jo-burg in the world, with or without the apostrophe J

Another Interesting Read: 

http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/ca/johannesburg.html

http://karakullake.blogspot.ie/2010/02/johannesburg-california.html

Facts about Johannesburg

 1.            Even though Johannesburg is well over 120 years old (founded on 4 October 1886 during the gold rush), it is still one of the youngest major cities in the world.

2.            There is only one other city on the continent that is bigger than Joburg, and that is the bustling metropolis of Cairo in Egypt. Johannesburg is the second biggest city on Africa.

3.            The Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital is the largest acute hospital in the world, with 2 964 beds, is the only public hospital serving the 3.5 million people in Soweto, Johannesburg.

4.            Johannesburg is the world’s biggest man-made forest, with over 10 million trees. This number is set to grow, as City Parks launched the Greening Soweto project in 2006, with the goal of planting an extra 200 000 trees in the famous township. Not only do Joburg’s trees combat the greenhouse effect, they help reduce noise in this ‘urban jungle’.

5.            Johannesburg is the world's largest city not built on a coastline, or on a lake or river. That’s why Joburg is also called the world’s biggest ‘dry port’. More than half of the cargo that arrives through the ports of Durban and Cape Town arrives at the container terminal at City Deep.

6.            With the rich archaeological site known as the Cradle of Humankind on the outskirts of the city, it’s not surprising that 40% of the planet’s human ancestor fossils have been discovered in the Jo’burg area.

7.            At 269m high, the Hillbrow Tower is the tallest structure in Johannesburg. It used to have a revolving restaurant at the top, before it was closed down in 1981 for safety reasons. It is a prominent feature in the city’s beautiful skyline.

8.            The Johannesburg Zoo based in Parktown, is over 100 years old, and houses the only two polar bears in Africa – Geebee (who came from Canada) and Wang (who came from Japan).

9.            OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg – named after the famous former leader of the African National Congress – is the biggest and busiest airport on the continent of Africa. It is estimated that 28 million passengers pass through its terminals every year.

10.          While Johannesburg has a reputation as one of the most dangerous cities in the world, it takes an average of only 60 seconds for police to respond to a crime scene in the central business district (CBD). There is a CCTV system that covers every street corner and scanning vehicle licence plates.

11.          There is also a Johannesburg in California, although it only has a population of 176 people (2000 census). It was named by miners who had worked in the gold mines of Johannesburg, South Africa.

12.          It takes one-minute longer to boil an egg in Johannesburg than it does in the coastal cities of Cape Town and Durban. This is because Joburg is 2000m above sea level, and the air is not as dense.

13.          The Shaft of Terror, located at the popular amusement park of Gold Reef City, is a vertical-drop roller coaster that has the distinction of being the tallest and fastest roller coaster in Africa. It has a 47-metre drop, and a G force of over 6 Gs!

14.          Johannesburg is the home of Kwaito music, a catchy genre of African house music that was born in the 90s and has become a South African phenomenon. It is most famous for its catchy lyrics that embody post-apartheid township culture.

15.          While Johannesburg is also known as the City of Gold, or ‘eGoli’ because of its beginnings as a gold-mining town, it is known fondly to locals by the shortened ‘Joburg’, or now more popularly as ‘Jozi’

Expat Blog Interview

My Interview was published today!   Here is the link if you want to read it - "Meet Derrick & Rose"

Eden Bar and Grill

I have so many things I want to blog about, but it is just finding the time - Anyway I thought I would quickly tell you about the Eden bar & Grill where I met my ex-EBS mates for dinner the other night!   We had an early bird dinner which was absolutely awesome, 3 courses for €24 - well worth it, the food was outstanding!

The ambiance was great too, they had a really cool band playing "Bob Dylan" type songs it really is worth a visit if you are in town!

Am I menopausal or just tired of cr@p ?

I found lately I just can't tolerate Bullsh!t, there was an incident at a friends birthday on Saturday which had me fuming, but as much as I wanted to tell her how much cr@p she was talking, I kept my mouth shut because it was her birthday (I will still blog about this). 

I always remember my friends mom saying when she got to my age how there is no excuse for incompetence and the more people speak up the less we will have to accept bad service or whatever it was, and my friend and I would get so embarrassed and walk away.

Well this morning I did something that I though I would never do, I had Em in the car and on the way to school we had not had breakfast, so decided to stop at our favorite coffee shop "Coffee2go" on Mespil road and then also go into the florist to see if we could get some loose flowers - They were having "Shakespeare day" at school today and she was dressed like a fairy from "A midsummer nights dream".  Anyway as I was about to park the car in baggott street, a young boy who was across the road did a U turn and drove straight into the parking I was reversing into! 

Em was mortified as I undid my safety belt stepped out of the car, walked up to his window and started shouting at him, well the stupid Skanger was not going to move, so I eventually got back into my car and went around the block, parking on a double yellow line.

My poor child said to me:  "Mommy, please promise me you won't ever do that again if I am in the car!" ... lol

Anger Management?!!?  - but as I drove away I felt a little bit liberated, I wished I had just reversed into him like Kathy Bates in "Fried Green Tomatoes"

 

My Blog post on Expat blog

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