conference catch-all!

Alright, a bit of a photo dump post from me as I sit in this airport lounge (I'm posting this on the next morning, however) and await boarding a little more than an hour from now.  Shots from a conference that was!

There were many friends and colleagues there. 

And I felt that the work that we did together was productive, worthwhile, and that the non-work times were enjoyable.  Mocktails a few times in the hotel bar,

though with my dry January continuing and a very small conference and work to be done each night, I didn't spend late evenings down there.

I made it to no programs but to a few good speakers, and I applaud Cindy, the ALA president, for her work on leading us all this past weekend. 

I had a nice meal (but only ok food) at Latha (oxtail and essentially a macaroni and cheese). 

I had a nice meal (a loud setting and flirty but only ok service along with a tasty enough slab of meatloaf) at The Arrogant Butcher. 

I had a good mocktail,

great oysters,

and tasty chicken at Flour & Thyme.

I had the same hotel room for nine nights, but at least the view was pleasant!

I wore some outfits!

I met the "perfect man".

It was the last LibLearnX conference ever, sadly.  I mean, I always loved the old Midwinter meetings, and I loved that we could go to some different conference cities.  But we had to bring the LibLearnX experiment to an end, unaffordable as it was.  Ah well.

I will see folks at ALA Annual in Philadelphia, happily.  June!!

Ireland: final thoughts

A list of final thoughts for you all to finish off the Ireland blogging:

• The trip was excellent.  Very much worthwhile.  Loved it.  So glad I went.  A lot of what I encountered will stay with me.  I've captured that in previous blog entries.  But...

• Although we were able to engage with colleagues at multiple libraries, I still wanted more.  Greedy of me, I know, but I think it would have been especially good to sit down with colleagues at Trinity, for one.

• And maybe a little less time admiring old books and buildings as cool as they are to see.  Oh, don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVED seeing those things, but I found the tour of the library and conversation with colleagues at University College Dublin, where we didn't focus on the older things, to be so pertinent to my daily work.

• I would also rather have visited the National Library and maybe another academic library rather than see EPIC (sorry, EPIC).  Yes, I went to the National Library with others, but we saw a small part of the building and an exhibit free to the public.  I would have loved hearing from the librarians there about how they fulfill their mandate.
  

• And I would have liked to have met with Library Association of Ireland and CILIP leaders.

• I've commented on the tourism of conflict and strife.  Not my thing.  I understand why it was folded in, and I knew it would come up.  It didn't sit entirely comfortably with me for all that it was probably important to know and see.  Again, sorry.  But...

• There were so many awesome things!  The soda bread making was a real highlight of the non-library activities.  I also loved the Seamus Heaney HomePlace and Giant's Causeway.  I genuinely liked all of our non-library activities that followed our time visiting libraries.
  

• Dublin was by far the nicest city.  Really impressive.  I couldn't put my finger on it what it reminded me of, perhaps a sign that it really has its own identity.
  

• So awesome that I got to see Leigh again!  I posted to my doctoral cohort's dormant Facebook page, and folks were delighted and a little envious.

• The people I traveled with were wonderful.  I knew (and liked and respected) Camila beforehand (and, assuredly, it was a delight to get time with her in the group and one-on-one over breakfast a couple of mornings),
  
  
  but it was a real pleasure to travel with the others.  I so appreciated their different perspectives on the things we saw - the conversations in the bus and at the meals was very welcome.  I loved finding where our networks and experiences overlapped.  I hope I see them all again in various conferences or other opportunities.  So then, thank you to Anne, who was the one who ventured to dine and enjoy beverage with me a couple of times (Jean also came to the one cocktail bar!) and who kindly provided a lot of her own insights into Ireland from her background and travels. 
  
  
  Thank you to Kathleen, a fellow Canadian, who understood my own cultural viewpoint and who also shared my love for Starbucks. 
  
  
  Thank you Jean, not just for sliding your glass of wine at dinner to me so that I didn't need to buy my second glass, but also because you were so often delightful conversation quietly to the side of things. 
  
  
  Thank you to Mary Ann, the other Canadian with us, who also had such very good insights from a terrific career in academia to share on our various visits. 
  
  
  Thank you to Rachelle, one of the other two currently practicing academic librarians on the trip and someone I came to turn to more and more to hear her thoughts because I thought she was so very on point and so very witty. 
  
  
  Thank you to Denelle, our other academic colleague, who was so very thoughtful both in the sense of her contributions to the group being well-considered and in the sense that she was very aware of others and considerate of how they were doing. 
  
  
  Thank you to Dana, who was always so enthusiastic about the things that we were seeing and doing, lending such great energy to our group, especially welcome at the end of longer days when I know I was flagging. 
  
  
  Thank you to Prudence, a calm and warm presence, so easy to talk with, a happy and appreciative person who had to listen to my comments from the seat on the bus behind her and took the time to listen. 
  
  
  Thank you to Peter, my twin of sorts, a man who reminded me of my stepfather in good ways (no, I know, Peter - if you ever read this - you are not that much older than I!), and the one who constantly found the humour at the heart of things. 
  
  
  I cannot forget our guide, Des, who probably still doesn't quite know what to make of our almost-dozen and may never look at libraries and librarians again the same way. 
  
  
  He did well by us.  I did not get a shot of Bernard, our first driver, who was a very nice man, but I did get a shot of John, our second driver.  Picture an Irishman of a certain age (not too old, I'm NOT saying that), and you probably would think of John, a delight of a man, and quickly a welcome part of our troupe.
  
  
  

That was Ireland.  I would do another professional exchange trip with Camila or with Nanda, who worked with Camila to organize the travel around a suitable itinerary, again some time, depending on the location.  I'd want Conrad and Van to come along if they could.

Final verdict:  so glad I went.

Now then, on with the post-Ireland blogging.  No out-of-country trips planned until summer of next year, sorry!

Ireland trip day eight: Cliffs of Moher, Doolin, and Galway

Our last full day in Ireland.  Alas.

After several of these lengthier posts, I hardly know what to write any more.  How do real bloggers do it?  Ah well.  Let's look at a grey Sunday in Ireland that featured a drive to the Cliffs of Moher in the morning.

I don't have much to say about the Cliffs in terms of their geology or whether they have cultural significance.  They are impressive. 

A pity the weather wasn't all clear, blue skies for us.  In fact, it was a chilly day at the Cliffs, a wind cutting through us all and sending me scurrying to the comfort of the gift shop after getting some photos of the site.  A jaunty new hat for me! 

How that busker was managing up there in the cold was beyond me. 

He deserved all the coins he got.

From the Cliffs it was on to the home of a musician and his wife, an artist.  No art lessons, alas, but a performance of traditional Irish music by Christy Barry and his friend, James Devitt. 

A fiddle,

a flute,

a whistle,

spoons. 

Our tour guide, Des, and Peter (not me!) got up to dance at one point. 

A peat

fire burned, and we were served a light lunch while enjoying the tunes.  Our last cultural activity of the trip, and again I was gratified that this was in someone's home

and not in an impersonal center of some sort.  Yes, I know that they, like the sheepdogs demo and the soda bread making, are thriving tourist businesses and cater to folks like us.  It was just nice, though that it was in home and felt homey.

The afternoon ended in Galway with a chance to do some souvenir shopping in the city as well as a casual walking tour with Des pointing out sites of interest. 

It wasn't too far to walk to our dinner destination (and I loved the octopus across the street). 

A last group meal in Ireland for us.  McSwiggan's

was a nice choice - a comfortable setting, a good glass of cider for me for a change, and decent food.  Chicken liver pate, Irish stew, and banoffee pie for me.

I'm not sure what else I can say about the Sunday.  The scenery was excellent, to be sure, and the music was fun.  But the trip was ending, and I had to devote time after dinner to packing up all the souvenirs I had bought as well as dashing off some last postcards.  I think it was midnight by the time I got to bed.

Monday came, we ate breakfast at the hotel, and then most of us were in the bus to head to Shannon where we would depart from the airport. 

Already the group was splintered, and with only five of us aboard the same flight, it became all the more so.  A loooooong day ahead of airports and airplanes, and then it was over, and I was getting picked up by my two guys and Olive, ready to stare down a week of jet lag.