A new home, a new school

We moved into our new home last Friday and so we spent much of the weekend settling in and unpacking. As I've mentioned our house is in Dun Laoghaire, which is a suburb about 20 minutes south of the centre of Dublin. It is right on the harbour and is where the ferry comes in from Holyhead in Wales. There are many lighthouses around, one of which we can see blinking at us from our bedroom window at night! It's great being just a short walk away from Dun Laoghaire village and all the shops as well as the harbour. There are also some great markets on here each Sunday.

We are in an old Georgian house, complete with its own coloured door! The house is quite big and used to operate as a B&B. The girls now have their own rooms. It will be a shock to the system for them next year going back to sharing a small room with single beds!

Our house

Pia's bedroom (top) and Ella's bedroom

Pia and Ella also started at their new school on Monday - cutting out 2 weeks of their summer holidays. However, I have assured them that they will make up for it in the summer here when they will have 2 full months off in July and August. They were quite excited to start school on Monday and so far they have enjoyed the 3 days of school they have had so far. They do about 45 minutes of Gaelic every day and have been able to come home each day with a few phrases in Gaelic - Ella's favourite goes something like this: "is chocolate suskornya on ordu" - that is how it's pronounced anyway. I have no idea how it would be written and neither does she!She's not 100% sure what is means either but she thinks it has something to do with lining up! Pia's phrases are : Taw may am way (I am outside) and Taw may es jug (I am inside). She even practises by moving in and out of the kitchen door! So it's good to see that the Irish language is still alive and well! Tomorrow they also have their first Irish dancing lesson during sport time so I expect there to be plenty of dancing at home tomorrow night!

 Pia and Ella in their school uniforms on their first day of school.

Leaving for school in the dark (and cold)!

We have bought a second-hand car but haven't been able to pick it up yet so at the moment the girls and I are catching the DART (the train) to school in the mornings - leaving while it is still dark and catching a peak-hour train to school have been new experiences for us! The girls' school is in Booterstown, which is 4 stops away (about 10mins) and then we have a 10min walk to the school. Once we have a car, we will probably end up driving.

Today, I decided that I would see how I went walking back home after dropping the girls at school (I am needing the exercise!!). It took me about 1 hour and 20 minutes, although I did take a few wrong turns and then had to double back so it would probably take about an hour if I walked the most direct route. It was nice to explore the suburbs of Blackrock and Monkstown on my walk home. Monkstown, especially, I found extremely impressive with its huge church (Church of Ireland) in the main street and then I came along the ruins of Monkstown castle. It's not everyday you happen to walk past an old castle on your way home! This castle was originally built in the 13th century by monks who wanted to protect the area they were living in (hence: Monkstown). What is left of the castle today though is the more 'modern' additions from the late 14th or 15th centuries. It was beautiful to see it just standing there on a street corner!

Three views of Monkstown Church (above)

 

The ruins of Monkstown Castle - I did enjoy finding a castle on my walk back home!

Once we are a bit more settled on the home and school front we will get back into exploring the sights of Dublin and its surrounds. James and I have also been busy this week with the mundane (and sometimes very frustrating) aspects of registering with immigration, obtaining a PPS number (like your social security / government number) and organising car insurance (not an easy task!). Hopefully next week, we'll have seen something more exciting than the inside of a government office.