Franklin Park Conservatory

At the end of July, my friend Emily and I took a trip to the Franklin Park Conservatory in Bexley, Ohio. The conservatory displays a huge variety of plants from different geographical locations and climate zones, as well as a collection of glass sculptures by the artist Dale Chihuly. What drew me to the venue this summer, was the exhibition of carnivorous plants. These species, in addition to their fascinating digestive processes, have some of the most unique and beautiful shapes and colors of any plants.

Click here to view a gallery of my images from the conservatory.

An Irish Adventure Part IV: The Little Town of Malahide

For the last few days of our trip, we took the Dublin train north to a tiny coastal town called Malahide. The town is mostly residential, an affluent suburb of Dublin, with two main roads that intersect to form a tiny village containing expensive boutiques, restaurants, and a few pubs. The town also contains a yacht club, golf courses and tennis courts. Although I'm not much for fine dining and country clubs, the quiet town was a welcome change from the noise and bustle of Dublin. There were also far fewer American tourists.



We made more than a few visits to Gibney's, one of the local pubs. My drink of choice, since I'm not much of a beer drinker, was a Jameson and ginger. I was particularly entertained by the tiny 6-ounce glass bottle of Shweppes they served it with.


Gibney's owns a nice little wine shop that's connected to the pub. The wine sellers were very knowledgeable and helped me pick out a good bottle of Cabernet.


Despite all the fantastic restaurants that Chris' mother and stepfather took us to, I'd have to say that my favorite meal on the trip was the tea and scones, served at the Grand Hotel where we stayed. Amazing.

An Irish Adventure Part III: Museum of Natural History

We spent one afternoon exploring some of the museums in Dublin. The National Museum of Ireland - Natural History is a rather small building, but it's packed wall to wall with displays of thousands of animal specimens, carefully arranged by taxonomic group. Walking amongst the glass cases you get a sense of being transported to previous era, perhaps the time of Linnaeus or Darwin. It was very different from any museum I've seen in the states.

Canidae (wolves, foxes, jackals) - Maned Wolf in center


Mammals of the World exhibit - That's a fin whale skeleton hanging from the ceiling.


Rodentia (rodents)


One of the many many avian cases - Most of these are Plovers (wading birds indigenous to Ireland)


Hominidae (great apes)

Now then, where was I? Oh right, Ireland

I'm finally trying to get back to regular postings. The last month has been a hectic blur and a number of things kept me from sitting down long enough to write a coherent post - job-searching, house-hunting, finally practicing for my drivers' license, and spending several days at the hospital in Lancaster Ohio (do not want to do that again). I'm also starting my masters program next week, so a lot is going on. Unfortunately I now have quite a backlog of photos, but I'll start where I left off - in Ireland.


Part II: The Streets of Dublin

Dublin is a small, but busy city, full of colorful storefronts and apartment buildings. Many of the roads are brick or stone and there seem to be as many bicycles as cars on the streets. The river, Liffey, bisects the city from east to west. Here are a few of the sights I got tromping around while we explored the city.


Grafton Street (shopping district)



Cobble stone street in the Temple Bar district (lots of expensive bars and clubs)


The Liffey


Trinity Street (by Trinity College)



One of the many cyclists

An Irish Adventure

I left the country the last week of June to spend a week in Ireland with Chris and his family. It was a trip his mother had been wanting to take, having previously visited the country on business. Chris too had been to Ireland when he was very young and, with his family's strong Irish heritage, it's been a place he's wanted to visit again. Having no Irish ancestry myself (my family has its roots mainly in Eastern Europe), and very minimal knowledge of the country and its history, Ireland was not a place I had imagined visiting. When invited along, however, I was ecstatic. I have relished my previous trips to Europe - England and France - and was eager to see yet another side of it. I also looked forward to the experience of traveling with Chris and his family.

Part I: Pubs & Pints

We flew into Dublin, and spent the first 3 days of our trip exploring the city. Our first stop was O'Neill's Pub on Suffolk St, where we grabbed a pint (which served as my breakfast). I really enjoy the pub atmosphere, the dim light and dark wood. It feels friendly and relaxed.


Bartender taking a break


Sitting at the bar in O'Neill's


On tap at O'Neill's - I had Paulaner, a German wheat beer.



The classic, Guinness

A weekend on water

I ventured out of my usual environment last week when Chris and I drove to Battery Park Marina in Sandusky Ohio to spend the weekend with a friend, Krazno, and his family (and their fantastic dog) on their sailboat. Chris, who is working for the family this summer, has spent many weekends at The Boat, but this was my first time aboard and the first time in years that I had been on any manner of watercraft. In addition to the 4o-some-footer used as living quarters, the family also owns a few smaller boats, including a Boston Whaler and a Hobie Cat (catamaran).

I was a bit nervous when Krazno asked if I wanted to go for a ride on the Hobie Cat, but the weather was nice and the wind not very strong, so I decided to go for it. The ride was great - probably a bit tame for Krazno's taste, but perfect for my first time out. The best part was using the trapeze, which allows you to literally hang off the side of the boat. A wire comes out from a high point on the mast and hooks onto a harness that you wear. You then lean back off the side of the hull keeping your feet planted on the side. This technique is used practically to balance the force of the wind in the sails, keeping the boat level. It felt amazing to just hang out there with the wind and water in my face.

At night we took the big sailboat across the lake to Put-in-Bay. The ride took about two hours and we all sat on deck and watched the sun set and the stars come out.

Below are some of the shots from the weekend.

Below deck on the sailboat


Sun setting on the ride to Put-in-Bay


Main sail


Chris doing something on the boat - a lot of my weekend was spent trying not to be in the way.




People parasailing on the lake


Lounging on the boat


Spinnaker (aka Spinny) taking a nap on the boat

Back Home

I've been living at home for two weeks and have been enjoying many comforts I was without while in Chicago - free laundry, closet space, counter space, just space in general, a stocked fridge, a bathtub, television (yup, never had TV in Chicago), and ice cubes (no ice trays either). But the nicest part about being at home is having other people around. After living at home and in college dorms, it was weird coming home to an empty apartment and I never grew accustomed to it. So it's nice to be able to hear signs of life in the house - my dad whistling, catching bits of conversation as my mom walks around the house while she talks loudly on the phone, the eclectic selection of music blasting from my brother's room.

I'm also really appreciating the aesthetics of the house and the surrounding neighborhood. I'm realizing how much I missed all the green - the wooded backyard and all the grass. There's been quite a lot of rain this past week and so everything is very lush and damp. One day while sitting around the house I decided to get out my camera and take some shots around our yard.

Back of the house

Remnants of an old swing set


Tree house - The tree on which the structure was built is a few hundred years old and its branches were cut when it began to die just a few years ago. Obscuring the view of the tree is bamboo, which was planted by the previous owners who donated it to the Columbus Zoo when it used to house pandas. Now it just takes over the yard.


Rock bed - runs across the backyard and catches rain water from the drainpipes


Trees in the backyard