Dublin's Own, The Fighting

Last Friday night Matt and I headed into the city center to support a friend of ours whose band just released their first EP. The band is called The Fighting and we know the front man, Len and the lead guitar player, Chris. Both of these guys go to my church. In addition to this Len also just happens to be the beau of my good friend, Catrin the Welshie.

We saw Len play one time before this at house gig where it was just him and his acoustic guitar. This gig at the pub was much different as it was the full band and they rocked the hizzy fo shizzy! During the concert Len even gave a shout out to Matt for his recent birthday. It was really fun to see a band we actually know. They are really talented and have some great songs. To hear some good ol' Dublin rock n' roll check out their myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/thefighting. You can also go to itunes and purchase their new EP. Enjoy!

Vienna

After spending a few days in Prague with Jamie and Steven the four of us hopped a train to Austria's capital city of Vienna. Vienna is a beautiful city but sadly much more modern than I expected it to be. The experience of this city can be summed up in a few words: Mozart, music, Opera, Lipizzaner's, and Habsurgs. While here we walked around the city center via the Ringstrasse, toured the Hofburg and Schonbrunn Palaces, saw some great live outdoor music concerts, saw the Lipizzaner stables, and enjoyed many a brat and wienerschnitzel. This was all good fun but the highlight of Vienna has to be the Opera! Though I am not an opera fan my Rick Steve's guide said standing room tickets for 3 euro were available at each show for the person who wants to see what the Opera is like. I figured when in Vienna one must go to the Opera. So we dropped in on "Tosca." We stood at the very top but we could see the stage and to my surprise there were little screens above our heads which displayed the words in English which the singers were singing. Seeing the Opera live and being able to understand it was a really cool experience. We could have stayed the whole time but our feet and backs were so sore and tired that we stayed only stayed for one act- about 50 minutes. The Opera was by far my favorite experience in Vienna and is worth a try for even the most skeptical. I would have loved to see the Lipizzaners as well but they were not performing or practicing during our lightening trip to Vienna- bummer!

Prague

In April my oldest sister Jamie and her husband Steven came to visit us. This was their first trip out of the US. While they were here the four of us went to Prague and Vienna. While in Prague we visited the Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, the Jewish Quarter, the main square with the Astronomical Clock and Cathedrals, and the Bethlehem Chapel which was the church of the great Reformer, John Hus. Prague is a beautiful city as you will see in the pictures. It was also a fun place to eat as we enjoyed lots of goulash, dumplings, and Czech beer.