The perfect Easter break

We're just back from our latest trip to Ireland. This time we went for just over a week and it was perfect as it meant I had time to properly catch up with everyone but it also allowed for plenty of family and chill out time! The weather also played along and we only had one rainy day!

Easter is a great time to visit Dublin I find and because of the public holidays I didn't need to take that much from my annual leave. The weather is also nice this time of year and tourist attractions aren't as crazy busy as they might be during the Summer months.

I was chatting to a Spanish girl recently who lives in Dublin and she was saying that people working abroad should be allocated extra days off to cover trips back to their home countries. It can be tricky when you live abroad as you don't want to spend all your annual leave visiting your home country as you might also like to go for a proper holiday. So I liked her suggestion!

Though in fairness the amount of annual leave is really great in Germany; you get nearly six weeks off in the year and there are lots of public holidays! The only problem is that the public holidays aren't very spread out and if they happen to fall on a weekend then you just lose them.

The GerMann had been complaining recently that we never get to do that much sightseeing during our trips to Ireland, so this time we left Dublin and spent three days in a hotel in Wicklow, south of Dublin, commonly known as the garden of Ireland. We stayed in a place called Brooklodge and it was fantastic, with a lovely spa where we spent two mornings and I got a very relaxing full body massage.

The breakfast there was delicious (organic porridge with honey, full Irish breakfast, scrambled eggs and salmon) and the restaurant food, though pricey, was also great. They primarily serve healthy organic food and even have their chickens freely walking around the place!

We visited Parnell house and gardens, where one of the leading Irish political leaders lived, one one afternoon and enjoyed some lovely walks there and later on went to a 7-foot high maze which was also fun.

We went for lunch in Dun Laoghaire and then walked along the coast, which was just beautiful. And of course we found the time to indulge in afternoon tea! And apart from that we dined in lots of good restaurants and ate yummy chocolate eggs (including a huge Guiness flavoured chocolate easter egg!). On Easter Sunday itself we went to mass and chatted to the priest who married us and jokingly asked if we are "still married?" which gave us all a chuckle.

We are hoping to plan another trip back to Ireland in August so looking forward to that!

Dublin Easter break

Over Easter the GerMann and I went to Dublin for a week's trip. As usual I had a great time catching up with friends and spending time with my family. Homesickness always hits me strongly just after returning to Germany after trips back though - I tend to find the first few days settling into my German life again difficult. I asked some of my other expat friends about it and they all feel exactly the same. Wonder if it'll ever get easier! It's crazy to think I'll be living here 4 years this July. Doesn't really feel that long!

The one thing I do try to remind myself when bad homesickness hits is that visiting Dublin for a week's holiday is still a lot different to living there. Of course it's lovely checking out new restaurants with friends or relaxing with my family, or going on trips and not having to work or get up early - you are on the total holiday vibe. So you are seeing things through rose-tinted spectacles and in their best light basically. We were also incredibly lucky with the weather that week, it was perfect and sunny nearly every day. During the trip we were out and about most of the time. Some of the highlights: dinner in Gallagher's Bistro followed by drinks in The Long Stone pub, another night cocktails and dancing in Dakota, afternoon tea & cake in the Mellow Fig, a relaxed evening in Il Baccaro Temple Bar, walking Kiliney hill on a beautiful sunny day, scones in the Royal Marine hotel and a long liquid lunch at La Planca.

I'm really hoping this will be the year that more friends from home will visit us as I would love to show them around and go on trips here! Every time I met up with someone I emphasised that they are welcome to visit, that we have plenty of room in our apartment and that it's really lovely here in the Summertime with lots of fun things to do (beautiful lakes to swim in, beer gardens for the long warm evenings, visiting medieval castles...) and it normally stays nice well into October which is also a great time (Oktoberfest, wine tasting, cycle trips..). Everyone I mentioned it to seemed keen to visit and two friends have already started looking up flights and asking about possibly dates. My family are also planning to visit us this year. Can't wait! Had great laughs with my sister when we bought bought Dirnls and wore them to the Oktoberfest last year! The GerMann refused to wear lederhosen but maybe this time we can convince him!

Colourful eggs hanging from the trees, it must be Easter!

Germans get really into celebrating Easter. They buy all these colourful painted eggs and hang them up in their garden. They also buy bunny pictures and statues and put them up around the house. And everywhere you go, people are wishing you a "Frohes Ostern" -happy Easter. It is normally a time for families to get together and enjoy a big meal, typically lamb. And they even buy each other presents. It is a little like a lower key Christmas!

Disappointingly though in my eyes anyway, they don't have Easter eggs! I'm talking about the big Cadbury's chocolate ones. What they have instead are chocolate covered rabbits. They also have some little chocolate eggs with cream inside, a little bit like Cadbury's cream eggs, though not as tasty!



I am delighted that Spring is here. It's a time for new beginnings and without going into too much detail, my job situation has recently improved a lot. I am still working in IT but I have had a career change in the industry into web development, which I am loving. Career wise, I also realise that I am enjoying more opportunities than I would be if I was still living in Dublin, where unfortunately the job situation is still pretty bad, from what I hear. It is times like this that I am glad to have emigrated to Germany.