Thanks to Paul S. Henderson's March Challenge "Tell me the most unique or special place you have lived", I've been reminiscing and digging around in my memory box. I've lived in and visited quite a few special places but the most unique had to be that time when I lived in the "Hollywood Hills of Ireland".
"The Hollywood Hills of Ireland" refers to the Killiney neighborhood in Dublin County where Enya and members of U2 live. In the mid-90s I acquired the bragging rights to "Bono was my neighbor once". Briefly, but still... Bono was my neighbor once.
How did that happen you ask? After I graduated from High School I decided to explore the world a bit more and ended up in the suburbs of Dublin. I got a job as a live-in Nanny [with one awesome family] that also allowed me to take some classes at a Language School and at University College Dublin as well as travel all over Ireland. The family I stayed with decided to go ahead with a major renovation (major as in adding on a 2nd story to their home and relocating the kitchen to a different part of the house) and when there was literally no roof over our heads, we all moved-in with the grandparents.
The grandparents house, or mini-mansion I should say, was in Killiney, the "Hollywood Hills of Ireland". Sadly, I don't remember too much about the actual home but that it was grand with a front staircase and back staircase, many, many bedrooms & baths, gated and with magnificent grounds.
I also remember walking around the neighborhood completely oblivious to the fact that Bono was currently my neighbor. When I returned from my walk, grandpa asked me if I had run into Bono by any chance.
I wondered for a few days (that was pre-let's-just-Google-everything) if the family just enjoyed teasing me or if Bono did indeed live there (he did).
I never did run into him. Bummer! But, nevertheless, that time when I lived in the "Hollywood Hills of Ireland" was not only one of the most special, it also gave me the bragging rights to "Bono was my neighbor once".
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