Fall is my favorite time of year, or so I thought until I moved to Ireland. It's a different ballgame here. There have been a few reminders of the fall season here in Dublin, but for the most part, I have to say that fall is my favorite time of year in the south (SC, TN, NC, etc), not Ireland.
I always look forward to what the fall brings in Charleston. I enjoy putting my pumpkins and mums out on the porch. I love the football games and tailgating, of course not as much for the sport as for the socializing, but still. I love the leaves changing colors and every year trying to decide when is the best weekend to get to the mountains to see the full effect. I love the fall brews of beers you can find in speciality shops and restaurants. I love that we tend to have great concerts in Charleston in the fall. We can usually count on Widespread Panic coming to town for a weekend. The fair stops in Ladson for a week. The Fall Festivals at churches and schools tend to take place on one Saturday or another. I love the start of oyster roasts (you must follow the "R" month rule for oysters), though I don't eat too many. I love the get togethers for Beaufort Boil (aka Frogmore stew). I love how finally, in the fall, you get a break from the oppressive heat in Charleston. It takes a good while to cool off, but when it finally does in the end of October beginning of November, it's worth the wait. It's so nice to pull out the jeans and sweaters that have been packed away for months. Of course it might be 80 degrees by Christmas, but it's what we are used to. Fall in the south is fantastic.
Fall in Dublin didn't seem to last but a week. The leaves started changing but for the most part, the colored leaves are in the street and the trees are still green. The parks all uprooted the plants that were growing and put down new flowers for the winter months. This is smart of course because you'll have beautiful blooms even through the winter (I'm assuming). There wasn't much decorating taking place for Halloween here until the weekend before it came. People put up their jack-o-lanterns but mostly windows were done up with those plastic peel and stick things. There were a few houses with spider webs or dangling ghosts, etc, but it's not like the decorations you see back home in the neighborhoods in Charleston. Granted, there aren't yards here so people make do I suppose. I was surprised to not see many trick-or-treaters out, but that could be because of where I live.
I think the thing that most surprises me is that BEFORE Halloween even came, Christmas decorations were going up. When Beth and I visited Dun Laoghaire on October 18, the Gresham hotel was already putting their outside decorations on the walls and the main street had up their light display. The main shopping street here, Grafton, has their lights up so it will create a winter wonderland walkway for shoppers. The shops at Kildare Village all had their holiday sales on and the windows all had reindeer cutouts stuck in them. Starbucks is already offering specials on their Christmas blends.
I know that in the states we have Thanksgiving which breaks up the time between Halloween and Christmas, but it's strange to jump from one to another. It's not super cold here yet, but looking at all the Christmas stuff out, you almost think there should be snow on the ground. I'm not sure why I have that in my mind, but it seems it would make more sense to me that way.
I certainly missed my summer in Charleston, even though I know it was ridiculously hot this year, but I've also missed my fall there. All of this of course goes with me missing home in general, because it's what I know. I am looking forward to actually seeing the displays lit here this Christmas and I hope I'll catch some carolers on Grafton Street. I have a feeling the city will be really pretty with all the festive decor.
It's been interesting to go through the last few months here in Dublin as all my previous European travel has taken place in the summer. This past April I came to check out things here in Dublin, but this is my first fall, or lack thereof, and my first winter ever in Europe. It will be nice to see how things are done here and if I'm lucky, I'll get to see some other parts of Europe this winter too.
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