23 August 2010
living the dream...?
alright, so this whole 5 weeks of holiday thing - it gets a little old after a while. mostly there's just a lot of feeling blah about doing things. however, the drought ended a couple nights ago. i landed a bit of a part time job that might work out to be something i can keep through the year - in fact, i'm pretty sure so long as i do a decent job of it, it already is one of those deals. want to know what it is? i bet you do! turns out i'm bartending here and there on the odd friday or saturday night at a camden town bar. so primary school teacher by day, bartender the odd night. i'm amused :)
04 June 2010
Amsterdam(age)
It's half-term again folks. These brits just can't work for more than 6 weeks it seems before needing a break. I understand though, because after the last 6 weeks of teaching, I was more than in need of a vacation. What better then to pack up a backpack and head to Amsterdam, Holland for 2 nights?
Culture in Amsterdam is definitely one to experience at least once. Everything taboo is right there in the open, and everyone's completely chill about it. In fact, it's just the norm.
This tale really does begin on Sunday night at a friend's birthday party. It was promised to be a messy night with drinks and karaoke. All things said, that sunday night definitely lived up to its expectations. For instance, I don't actually remember leaving to go home. I remember being there. I remember SOME of the end of the night...however I don't remember going up the stairs to leave. I don't remember leaving through the door. I remember being outside catching the cab home. I remember getting home. The rest - a wee bit hazy. So a good night. The pictures that surfaced in the following days say it all, to put it lightly.
So the plane took off at 3pm Monday - thought that'd be enough time to sober up and put the pieces of myself back in place. However - Monday's trek to the airport and then the subsequent hour spent there in search of food and coffee proved rather interesting. At least we made it on the plane! Both my flatmate who I was traveling with and myself were in rather rough shape at the airport, but a little bit of garbage intake from Burger King and Coke/Fanta put us right and we were off.
Landing in Amsterdam and trying to find the train into the city was our first Dutch challenge. We managed. The train dropped us off at Amsterdam Centraal train station, and then the real challenge began. First of all - the train station has two exits.....we obviously took the wrong one out and were confronted with scenery that I hadn't seen on the google maps pre-research view I had before....so that was a fun 5 minutes of "ummmm....so......WOW those are a lot of bicycles!.....where are we....and where do we go from here?"
Finally setting off in the right direction, we made our way towards the Flying Pig Downtown Hostel - and only really took about two wrong turns. This becomes amusing later on in the tale. Just trust me. SO, after all that, we checked in, dropped our bags, picked up what was going to be necessary, and set off to wander and see the city. Found some coffeeshops, had some coffee, and were back out on our way. Wandering in what seemed to be a direction that was away from our hostel, we ended up back on our street.....3 times.....it blew my mind. It always seemed like we were heading well away from where we were staying, but we always managed to get back to the starting place without even realizing we had turned off the path we were taking. Crazy Amsterdam streets all leading back to the same place. This was, we decided, going to be very handy in the end, because it meant that we could go and live it up a bit and be just fine making our way home. That assumption was mostly correct, though we did have the amusing thought that once we started to actually look for our hostel, we'd never actually find it again. Especially after becoming mildly impaired. It only took a wee bit of extra work.
The hostel itself was INCREDIBLE. There was a bar with VERY cheap drinks on the main level right when you go in with a comfy lounge room toward the back, pool tables, and chess boards. Very cool place. We almost had to force ourselves to leave it!
Tuesday was a later start to the day than we had anticipated. But we did dive right in to the nightlife the night before. That said, we weren't in too rough shape Tuesday morning. So we set off to visit some museums and some more coffeeshops, and a few pubs and places to eat as well. We managed to get to Anne Frank's house. That puts things into perspective. It was a really well put together museum, and the fact that they had preserved her room and the wall where she hung various pictures of famous people to make it seem less dreary....it was a little surreal, but in a good way. We also managed to visit the sex museum, vodka museum, and marijuana and hash museum. (See? Everything taboo is just right out there in the open in Amsterdam.) Also, the red-light district - that was just a strange space to be in. You're walking along BEAUTIFUL canals with amazing buildings, and in the windows there are women in very skimpy undies dancing, or even just standing there staring out at you. Different culture for sure.
We actually managed to find a rather cool pub in the red-light district though. There was a coffeeshop underneath, and upstairs/main floor there was a pub (with Guinness on tap, so I was a happy camper) with pool. So we wandered in there, had a few pints, and played some pool. It was fairly empty, so it was nice. No crowds. Actually, there were no real crowded areas anywhere in Amsterdam like we're used to living near Camden in London. Definitely a nice break from all that.
Anyways, Tuesday night, we found dinner (amazingly, because by the time we realized we were hungry, it was rather late and finding non-fast food was proving to be a challenge), then headed back to the hostel to have some drinks, meet a few travelers, and most importantly, play some more pool.
Wednesday wasn't much to write home about though - got up stupid-early, grabbed the train back to Schiphol Airport, and made our way back to the big smoke. All things said and done - t'was definitely a good trip!
And now for a few photographs....!
Culture in Amsterdam is definitely one to experience at least once. Everything taboo is right there in the open, and everyone's completely chill about it. In fact, it's just the norm.
This tale really does begin on Sunday night at a friend's birthday party. It was promised to be a messy night with drinks and karaoke. All things said, that sunday night definitely lived up to its expectations. For instance, I don't actually remember leaving to go home. I remember being there. I remember SOME of the end of the night...however I don't remember going up the stairs to leave. I don't remember leaving through the door. I remember being outside catching the cab home. I remember getting home. The rest - a wee bit hazy. So a good night. The pictures that surfaced in the following days say it all, to put it lightly.
So the plane took off at 3pm Monday - thought that'd be enough time to sober up and put the pieces of myself back in place. However - Monday's trek to the airport and then the subsequent hour spent there in search of food and coffee proved rather interesting. At least we made it on the plane! Both my flatmate who I was traveling with and myself were in rather rough shape at the airport, but a little bit of garbage intake from Burger King and Coke/Fanta put us right and we were off.
Landing in Amsterdam and trying to find the train into the city was our first Dutch challenge. We managed. The train dropped us off at Amsterdam Centraal train station, and then the real challenge began. First of all - the train station has two exits.....we obviously took the wrong one out and were confronted with scenery that I hadn't seen on the google maps pre-research view I had before....so that was a fun 5 minutes of "ummmm....so......WOW those are a lot of bicycles!.....where are we....and where do we go from here?"
Finally setting off in the right direction, we made our way towards the Flying Pig Downtown Hostel - and only really took about two wrong turns. This becomes amusing later on in the tale. Just trust me. SO, after all that, we checked in, dropped our bags, picked up what was going to be necessary, and set off to wander and see the city. Found some coffeeshops, had some coffee, and were back out on our way. Wandering in what seemed to be a direction that was away from our hostel, we ended up back on our street.....3 times.....it blew my mind. It always seemed like we were heading well away from where we were staying, but we always managed to get back to the starting place without even realizing we had turned off the path we were taking. Crazy Amsterdam streets all leading back to the same place. This was, we decided, going to be very handy in the end, because it meant that we could go and live it up a bit and be just fine making our way home. That assumption was mostly correct, though we did have the amusing thought that once we started to actually look for our hostel, we'd never actually find it again. Especially after becoming mildly impaired. It only took a wee bit of extra work.
The hostel itself was INCREDIBLE. There was a bar with VERY cheap drinks on the main level right when you go in with a comfy lounge room toward the back, pool tables, and chess boards. Very cool place. We almost had to force ourselves to leave it!
Tuesday was a later start to the day than we had anticipated. But we did dive right in to the nightlife the night before. That said, we weren't in too rough shape Tuesday morning. So we set off to visit some museums and some more coffeeshops, and a few pubs and places to eat as well. We managed to get to Anne Frank's house. That puts things into perspective. It was a really well put together museum, and the fact that they had preserved her room and the wall where she hung various pictures of famous people to make it seem less dreary....it was a little surreal, but in a good way. We also managed to visit the sex museum, vodka museum, and marijuana and hash museum. (See? Everything taboo is just right out there in the open in Amsterdam.) Also, the red-light district - that was just a strange space to be in. You're walking along BEAUTIFUL canals with amazing buildings, and in the windows there are women in very skimpy undies dancing, or even just standing there staring out at you. Different culture for sure.
We actually managed to find a rather cool pub in the red-light district though. There was a coffeeshop underneath, and upstairs/main floor there was a pub (with Guinness on tap, so I was a happy camper) with pool. So we wandered in there, had a few pints, and played some pool. It was fairly empty, so it was nice. No crowds. Actually, there were no real crowded areas anywhere in Amsterdam like we're used to living near Camden in London. Definitely a nice break from all that.
Anyways, Tuesday night, we found dinner (amazingly, because by the time we realized we were hungry, it was rather late and finding non-fast food was proving to be a challenge), then headed back to the hostel to have some drinks, meet a few travelers, and most importantly, play some more pool.
Wednesday wasn't much to write home about though - got up stupid-early, grabbed the train back to Schiphol Airport, and made our way back to the big smoke. All things said and done - t'was definitely a good trip!
And now for a few photographs....!
the hostel bar
Dam Square
kitty asleep in a coffeeshop
canal sunset
yup - we giggled at this a LOT
then i climbed in a shoe...
this was a restaurant apparently - we never went in though
a shopping mall (we think)
so many bikes!!
royal palace and scaffolding!
it's not me if there's no beer involved. still prefer guinness though
beautiful canal scenery
crazy staircase in abraxas coffeeshop
pubs + pool = grand!
happy campers!
11 April 2010
it's been two weeks
ok so not really two weeks. I'm one week into my two week vacation. Already I'm starting to feel the desire to go back to work. Since I work through an agency, my two weeks off mean that I don't get paid for two weeks. One week, last time there was a break, was fine. I could pay off my expenses of daily life like rent and food and all that joyful stuff. But with two weeks off, I have to make sure that I'm watching the budget as best I can so that I don't find myself going even more grey in the hair. So I'm not traveling to far-off lands this time around. I am staying within the English borders, it would appear. I just can't risk hidden costs or unexpected expenses when I don't have a paycheck coming into my account this or next friday. Last two-week break was a different story. It was Christmas, and I was at home in Canada doing things with friends and family.
I know that some people will look at me and think that I'm entirely wasting my time and resources while I'm here. I should be doing exciting things like flying around the continent, taking trains, trams, and cabs so that I can take in as much of Europe as I can while I have the time.
Thing is, Europe has hidden expenses. Like, when you're travelling, for example, you have to eat. And you usually have to eat out at an establishment of some sort. Since you're new and unaware of the hidden gems in this new area you're traveling around, you end up at the first place you see with a menu posted with something listed on it you would remotely consider eating. This isn't news. It's just the way the entire world of travel works. Then there's getting around. If you travel to a larger city, getting around by foot to see everything can be both tedious and horribly unpleasant if nature decides she's not going to co-operate and throw you some rain, snow, hail, or even blistering heat. So what do you do? You find a way to get around via wheels. Which costs you more money.
I'm not griping, whining, or complaining. I'm also not having financial troubles. In fact, I'm keeping myself quite easily afloat in terms of my money coming in and money going out. I have yet to resort to eating a steady diet of toast and refried beans. Though it came close for a while there in the last flat when expenses became more and more abundant with things being broken, and food being thrown out while I was on vacation.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm okay with not being a globetrotter this time 'round. I'm happy being where I am. And that's perfectly fine.
I know that some people will look at me and think that I'm entirely wasting my time and resources while I'm here. I should be doing exciting things like flying around the continent, taking trains, trams, and cabs so that I can take in as much of Europe as I can while I have the time.
Thing is, Europe has hidden expenses. Like, when you're travelling, for example, you have to eat. And you usually have to eat out at an establishment of some sort. Since you're new and unaware of the hidden gems in this new area you're traveling around, you end up at the first place you see with a menu posted with something listed on it you would remotely consider eating. This isn't news. It's just the way the entire world of travel works. Then there's getting around. If you travel to a larger city, getting around by foot to see everything can be both tedious and horribly unpleasant if nature decides she's not going to co-operate and throw you some rain, snow, hail, or even blistering heat. So what do you do? You find a way to get around via wheels. Which costs you more money.
I'm not griping, whining, or complaining. I'm also not having financial troubles. In fact, I'm keeping myself quite easily afloat in terms of my money coming in and money going out. I have yet to resort to eating a steady diet of toast and refried beans. Though it came close for a while there in the last flat when expenses became more and more abundant with things being broken, and food being thrown out while I was on vacation.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm okay with not being a globetrotter this time 'round. I'm happy being where I am. And that's perfectly fine.
04 April 2010
in your easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it.
Well happy easter, and all that to everyone. And to those who do not celebrate easter, happy another-normal-day.
To those of you who read this blog, then I suppose I'll update you on the latest goings-on. I've recently embarked on 2 weeks of holidays from work. Not necessarily holidays that are taking me to far-off lands or anything. But a holiday is a holiday. I commenced these holidays by moving to a new flat. The last one was just becoming too expensive to be reasonable to live there anymore. That and there were a few disagreements with the landlords that each of us had. So i took the initiative to up-root, throw all my stuff into bags, cases, and boxes, and trek across the city to a new dwelling. I can think of worse things that could and have happened.
So now I'm settled in and getting comfortable with new surroundings.
Open mics, I'm still playing at those. There's one tomorrow night in Angel at a theatre pub that I'm playing at nice and early at 820pm. I haven't been to that one yet. It's run by the same guy whose open mics I frequent at other venues in the city. So at least I know that the quality of the musicians will be top shelf.
I currently do not have internet at my flat. Nor do i know exactly when we're going to get the internet. it's been discussed. But nothing concrete as of yet. Just the "yeah. We should do something about that" type of thing. So how, you ask, am I communicating via cyberspace now?? WELL. The bar has free wireless. So I'm using that. Will be using it infrequently in this format likely for the next little while. So appologies come in advance if the updates and the responses are not as frequent.
On that note, I have a beer beside me, and I'm writing this up on a pacman table. One you can play. SO i may sign off for now and enjoy some retro arcade games and guinness.
-Sarah
To those of you who read this blog, then I suppose I'll update you on the latest goings-on. I've recently embarked on 2 weeks of holidays from work. Not necessarily holidays that are taking me to far-off lands or anything. But a holiday is a holiday. I commenced these holidays by moving to a new flat. The last one was just becoming too expensive to be reasonable to live there anymore. That and there were a few disagreements with the landlords that each of us had. So i took the initiative to up-root, throw all my stuff into bags, cases, and boxes, and trek across the city to a new dwelling. I can think of worse things that could and have happened.
So now I'm settled in and getting comfortable with new surroundings.
Open mics, I'm still playing at those. There's one tomorrow night in Angel at a theatre pub that I'm playing at nice and early at 820pm. I haven't been to that one yet. It's run by the same guy whose open mics I frequent at other venues in the city. So at least I know that the quality of the musicians will be top shelf.
I currently do not have internet at my flat. Nor do i know exactly when we're going to get the internet. it's been discussed. But nothing concrete as of yet. Just the "yeah. We should do something about that" type of thing. So how, you ask, am I communicating via cyberspace now?? WELL. The bar has free wireless. So I'm using that. Will be using it infrequently in this format likely for the next little while. So appologies come in advance if the updates and the responses are not as frequent.
On that note, I have a beer beside me, and I'm writing this up on a pacman table. One you can play. SO i may sign off for now and enjoy some retro arcade games and guinness.
-Sarah
10 March 2010
ireland. good craic!
i figured it was about time that i posted an entry on my foray to the emerald isle.
i went to ireland a couple of weeks ago for a full week. it was half term, so my friend pam and i decided that that was going to be our destination. fully excited well before hand, off we jetted. we landed in dublin on a saturday night, dropped our bags off in our hostel and then turned right 'round and went to the pubs. we were going to do a proper crawl, however we found the porterhouse and parked ourselves there for some guinness and some trad music.
all in all, that was quite the excellent night.
then we awoke without hangovers sunday morning, and wandered over to st. james' gate. the historic and marvellous guinness storehouse and brewery for a self-guided tour. we wandered through the process, reading and looking at the way that the black stuff was originally made before the days of mass production. got to sample some stout, then meander through the various other exhibits before arriving at the 7th floor. the gravity bar - a place where you get your free pint (with price of admission) and a panoramic view of dublin-town and the mountains in the distance. it was quite stunning, i must say. the rest of sunday was spent wandering around on foot seeing what we could see and gearing up for the main purpose of our trip, a 5-day tour around the southern parts of the island with shamrocker adventure tours.
through the haze of copious activities and many a round of guinness that week, i'm going to give my best crack at recounting the tour....
monday:
we departed from dublin and spent most of the day on the road. we had some stop-offs at the rock of cashel, blarney castle, where yes i did indeed kiss the blarney stone. apparently now i can bullshit my way through many things. to the mitchelstown caves, where i was put on the spot to sing a song in this massive cavern. the accoustics were unreal. just amazing. not echo-ey, more of a reverb than anything else, which any musician knows is otherwise considered the "talent booster". then on down to killarney where we were going to be staying the night. checking into our hostel took minimal time, then it was dinner and off to a show. pub theatre with the man, the legend, pa. this man could down pints of guinness and whiskey simultaneously it seemed while still managing to pull off a fantastic one-man act. the end of the show came and out came guitars where pa and our tour-guide sean did some jamming. aaand then it got passed my way. so another impromptu performance. excellent!
tuesday:
only mildly exhausted, but still keen to go, our rag-tag band of 29 misfits, 1 guide, and 1 wicked bus driver departed killarney, then went to killarney national park, where we shivered in the cold view of ireland's tallest mountain. quite beautiful! the rest of tuesday took us around the dingle peninsula, where pam, myself, and the 3 other canadians came as close to home as we could in europe (without including iceland as a country in europe). the views and scenery changed at every corner, from the sandy coomenoole beach, to the winding twisting roads along hillsides. it was beautiful! and talk about 4 seasons in one day, we went for lunch in dingle proper and on my way back to the bus, i believe it was sunny, then raining, then hailing, then sunny within a 5 minute span. ridiculous!
afterwards, we continued out of the dingle peninsula, on up across the shannon (a river) into county clare, the most superstitious county in the country. we were told to watch for fairy trees and fairy rings. fairy trees, we saw many of. no banshees though (thankfully) and no leprechauns (thankfully). we settled into our EXTRAORDINARILY nice hostel in ennis, cleaned up after a busy day of wandering through wilderness, and then set out to yet another pub for guinness, trad music, and general good times with our crew.
wednesday:
this day was spent mostly wandering around county clare. we saw the burren, the cliffs of moher, more burren, and a fairy ring. we passed through many little towns, and then landed in galway for the night. all of the things we saw and the places we passed by were nothing short of breathtaking. the burren with all of its rocks and glacial formations. the cliffs of moher, which you'll just have to scroll down to the photographs to see. just fantastic! that night we landed ourselves in galway for a two-night stay. we naturally all went out to the pub as a crew again. there was a live band - not bad. not fantastic, but not bad. a ton of fun with the shamrocker crew that night.
thursday:
touring around the connemara mountains was the purpose of thursday. we saw some amazing scenery, had the best irish coffee i have ever had in my LIFE, saw croagh patrick (mount st. patrick), climbed just enough of it to be able to say officially we were ON the mountain....at the base of it there was the irish famine memorial - which was very well done, and very sombre. so many things in connemara that were lovely! so many!
thursday night back in galway, i did not go out with the rest of the crew. this was not because i had begun to tire of their presence....but instead, i had managed to snag a last minute ticket to go see hayseed dixie. i had been told about their appearance in galway back on monday or tuesday, so i was hoping that there would be a spare ticket kicking around. sean, the guide told me about it. we found me a ticket in a really neat music/cd store, and then off i went! the concert was fantastic, the two of us and two of his friends were front row for pretty much the entire gig. it was ridiculous! then afterwards, the band came out and hung out with everyone who was still around! that was amazing! what better way to spend a night in galway, i ask you?! though the rest of the crew apparently had an amazing off-the-hook night, i was still pretty glad that i siezed my opportunity to go to the gig.
friday:
friday morning, we had a free morning, so a few of us girls wandered around galway. i replaced my many-a-time broken claddagh ring with a new one from the county that it originates in...and then onto the bus for the trip back to dublin. friday night in dublin, i was just planning on giving my liver a rest, when on the sidewalk on my way back into the hostel from grabbing some food, one of the guys from the tour shanghai'ed me and brought me to the pub where people who work for the hostel in dublin as well as shamrocker tours were all convening for a beverage. it was a good night filled with talking music, talking bands, talking instruments, talking travel, it was just a great way to end the week.
saturday:
now, our bus driver, also works for the dublin splash tour, in which you put on a plastic viking hat, and freeze to the core on a duck bus thing. you tour around dublin, roar at strangers on the street in true viking fashion, then plunge into the river liffey where the duck bus becomes a duck BOAT. such fun. though i must admit, i was very very very cold by the end. it took a couple of hot chocolates and a coffee to warm me up afterwards.
after that, back to the hostel, then on to the plane. landing at night in london-town dreading the fact that i had to work in just over 30 hours.
i spent a while nursing my liver back to not hating me.....and by a while i mean 3 days.
now for some pictures!
i went to ireland a couple of weeks ago for a full week. it was half term, so my friend pam and i decided that that was going to be our destination. fully excited well before hand, off we jetted. we landed in dublin on a saturday night, dropped our bags off in our hostel and then turned right 'round and went to the pubs. we were going to do a proper crawl, however we found the porterhouse and parked ourselves there for some guinness and some trad music.
all in all, that was quite the excellent night.
then we awoke without hangovers sunday morning, and wandered over to st. james' gate. the historic and marvellous guinness storehouse and brewery for a self-guided tour. we wandered through the process, reading and looking at the way that the black stuff was originally made before the days of mass production. got to sample some stout, then meander through the various other exhibits before arriving at the 7th floor. the gravity bar - a place where you get your free pint (with price of admission) and a panoramic view of dublin-town and the mountains in the distance. it was quite stunning, i must say. the rest of sunday was spent wandering around on foot seeing what we could see and gearing up for the main purpose of our trip, a 5-day tour around the southern parts of the island with shamrocker adventure tours.
through the haze of copious activities and many a round of guinness that week, i'm going to give my best crack at recounting the tour....
monday:
we departed from dublin and spent most of the day on the road. we had some stop-offs at the rock of cashel, blarney castle, where yes i did indeed kiss the blarney stone. apparently now i can bullshit my way through many things. to the mitchelstown caves, where i was put on the spot to sing a song in this massive cavern. the accoustics were unreal. just amazing. not echo-ey, more of a reverb than anything else, which any musician knows is otherwise considered the "talent booster". then on down to killarney where we were going to be staying the night. checking into our hostel took minimal time, then it was dinner and off to a show. pub theatre with the man, the legend, pa. this man could down pints of guinness and whiskey simultaneously it seemed while still managing to pull off a fantastic one-man act. the end of the show came and out came guitars where pa and our tour-guide sean did some jamming. aaand then it got passed my way. so another impromptu performance. excellent!
tuesday:
only mildly exhausted, but still keen to go, our rag-tag band of 29 misfits, 1 guide, and 1 wicked bus driver departed killarney, then went to killarney national park, where we shivered in the cold view of ireland's tallest mountain. quite beautiful! the rest of tuesday took us around the dingle peninsula, where pam, myself, and the 3 other canadians came as close to home as we could in europe (without including iceland as a country in europe). the views and scenery changed at every corner, from the sandy coomenoole beach, to the winding twisting roads along hillsides. it was beautiful! and talk about 4 seasons in one day, we went for lunch in dingle proper and on my way back to the bus, i believe it was sunny, then raining, then hailing, then sunny within a 5 minute span. ridiculous!
afterwards, we continued out of the dingle peninsula, on up across the shannon (a river) into county clare, the most superstitious county in the country. we were told to watch for fairy trees and fairy rings. fairy trees, we saw many of. no banshees though (thankfully) and no leprechauns (thankfully). we settled into our EXTRAORDINARILY nice hostel in ennis, cleaned up after a busy day of wandering through wilderness, and then set out to yet another pub for guinness, trad music, and general good times with our crew.
wednesday:
this day was spent mostly wandering around county clare. we saw the burren, the cliffs of moher, more burren, and a fairy ring. we passed through many little towns, and then landed in galway for the night. all of the things we saw and the places we passed by were nothing short of breathtaking. the burren with all of its rocks and glacial formations. the cliffs of moher, which you'll just have to scroll down to the photographs to see. just fantastic! that night we landed ourselves in galway for a two-night stay. we naturally all went out to the pub as a crew again. there was a live band - not bad. not fantastic, but not bad. a ton of fun with the shamrocker crew that night.
thursday:
touring around the connemara mountains was the purpose of thursday. we saw some amazing scenery, had the best irish coffee i have ever had in my LIFE, saw croagh patrick (mount st. patrick), climbed just enough of it to be able to say officially we were ON the mountain....at the base of it there was the irish famine memorial - which was very well done, and very sombre. so many things in connemara that were lovely! so many!
thursday night back in galway, i did not go out with the rest of the crew. this was not because i had begun to tire of their presence....but instead, i had managed to snag a last minute ticket to go see hayseed dixie. i had been told about their appearance in galway back on monday or tuesday, so i was hoping that there would be a spare ticket kicking around. sean, the guide told me about it. we found me a ticket in a really neat music/cd store, and then off i went! the concert was fantastic, the two of us and two of his friends were front row for pretty much the entire gig. it was ridiculous! then afterwards, the band came out and hung out with everyone who was still around! that was amazing! what better way to spend a night in galway, i ask you?! though the rest of the crew apparently had an amazing off-the-hook night, i was still pretty glad that i siezed my opportunity to go to the gig.
friday:
friday morning, we had a free morning, so a few of us girls wandered around galway. i replaced my many-a-time broken claddagh ring with a new one from the county that it originates in...and then onto the bus for the trip back to dublin. friday night in dublin, i was just planning on giving my liver a rest, when on the sidewalk on my way back into the hostel from grabbing some food, one of the guys from the tour shanghai'ed me and brought me to the pub where people who work for the hostel in dublin as well as shamrocker tours were all convening for a beverage. it was a good night filled with talking music, talking bands, talking instruments, talking travel, it was just a great way to end the week.
saturday:
now, our bus driver, also works for the dublin splash tour, in which you put on a plastic viking hat, and freeze to the core on a duck bus thing. you tour around dublin, roar at strangers on the street in true viking fashion, then plunge into the river liffey where the duck bus becomes a duck BOAT. such fun. though i must admit, i was very very very cold by the end. it took a couple of hot chocolates and a coffee to warm me up afterwards.
after that, back to the hostel, then on to the plane. landing at night in london-town dreading the fact that i had to work in just over 30 hours.
i spent a while nursing my liver back to not hating me.....and by a while i mean 3 days.
now for some pictures!
outside the guinness brewery
ponies!!! outside guinness
playing in the grain. an essential part of guinness.
ahhh onto the tour. this is me having climbed a rocky bit at the rock of cashel.
the rock of cashel
going in to blarney castle, county cork.
this is how you kiss the blarney stone. those are ADULTS down below. and the man holding me smelled of whiskey from 10 feet away.
pam and i inside blarney castle.
singing with pa in killarney - neil is my human capo there, and i think he regretted it due to massive pain in his hands afterwards and during.
myself and pam in killarney national park
into dingle we go. inch beach...it's a mile long.
driving along cliffs and hills right beside the ocean.
the atlantic ocean
coomeenoole beach, dingle.
this castle used to belong to a crazy but crafty woman in county clare
colour's a bit messed up for some reason - ah well. portal tomb or ancient sex table. whatever you'll have.
a fairy ring, the burren national park, county clare
me with the cliffs of moher behind
i did not mess around with colour levels. more of the cliffs of moher
more cliffs of moher
running rampant in the burren
yep. i'm in shape. i sat down promptly after this was taken. this was after just climbing upwards for 15 minutes onto croagh patrick.
hayseed dixie! no zoom required.
myself and julia embarking on our viking splash tour of dublin complete with helmets.
then my camera died.
14 January 2010
back at it
So, back to the grind. I had a lovely vacation home in Ontario, and now I'm back in the big smoke working away, earning my keep. From what I understand I have returned to an unusal cold snap that has brought with it all kinds of snow and wonderful weather that makes travel as predictable as it is reliable. In short: England is adorably unprepared for snow.
However, snow has become an excellent bargaining chip with the students. Since this amount of the fluffy white stuff is a novelty to them, the idea of running around in it, playing in it, rolling in it, sliding in it, and building the most un-snowmanly snowmen with it is quite exciting. This has led to heightened productivity, because you can use snow as a reward for actually DOING work. A trick that would result mainly in raised eyebrows in Canadian climates. However, the children here aren't even allowed outside when there's snow on the ground - an extra bonus in the bargain.
I'm all settled into my flat now. It's nice and roomy. I have yet to figure out the oven, but that'll come with time. Time....or asking someone.
Back to it, I suppose.
However, snow has become an excellent bargaining chip with the students. Since this amount of the fluffy white stuff is a novelty to them, the idea of running around in it, playing in it, rolling in it, sliding in it, and building the most un-snowmanly snowmen with it is quite exciting. This has led to heightened productivity, because you can use snow as a reward for actually DOING work. A trick that would result mainly in raised eyebrows in Canadian climates. However, the children here aren't even allowed outside when there's snow on the ground - an extra bonus in the bargain.
I'm all settled into my flat now. It's nice and roomy. I have yet to figure out the oven, but that'll come with time. Time....or asking someone.
Back to it, I suppose.
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