Tonight I'm headed off to Wimbledon to try to get a ticket to get into one of the courts for tomorrow's matches. Mom's going to "page" me with the court numbers for my 3 favorite players so I can make an informed decision about which show court I want to get into. And if I don't get a court seat, I'll still pay to get a grounds ticket and make it a marvelous picnic on the lawn with the massive screens and the random posh fans.
I'm just having a minor problem with my packing. Hrmph. Stupid Crazy Creek chair hates me and won't squish into my bag. I guess it's padding is too good for my own good. Everything else fits beautifully. Wish me luck and a rain-free night with my sidewalk camping adventure! I'll take pictures of my fellow line cohorts (if there are any! tee hee).
30 June 2006
29 June 2006
triumph!
I can now turn on my washer to do wash on the first try! Or at least I did last night! YAY! However, now I'm concerned about what appliance is going to have attitude next. Eep!
27 June 2006
Irish American... errr?
Question of the day:
I am now an Irish immigrant. And because of the way the Irish immigrated to the US, that sounds weird having spent my entire education learning about history from a US point of view. But I hold an Immigration Card registering myself as an Irish Immigrant with my picture and stats!
So, if I can't be an Irish American because that sounds funny.... does that mean I'm an American Irish(wo)man? Discuss!
Amusement of the day:
On my way to the immigration office this evening after work I decided that if I was going to sit and wait for someone to ask me what the heck I'm doing in Ireland yet again, I'd get food. And I was passing the chipper which everytime I walk by it it has a massively long line and if I'm with a native Dubliner (or someone who's lived here a few years) they always say how it's their favorite chipper in Dublin.
For once, the line wasn't out the door - so what the heck. I wasn't at all impressed with my first experience with fish and chips (chips amazing; fish yuck) but I figured I'd give this lil' Isle another chance. I got up to the counter and said "cod and chips please" and the server turns to the fryer and grabs both and throws 'em on a piece of paper. Great, dinner is served. Except then he looks up at me and says "wowwwlanddinit?" "Excuse me?" "awwwwwwlonnnnalinit?" "uhhhh - please?" What do you say when you know that you're speaking the same language as someone but you don't have the foggiest notion of what they're actually saying. Here were the possibilities: "Hi, do you like axe murderers?" "Are you free tomorrow night?" "Have you seen my dog Rover?" and any other set of dodgy responses. So, being the brilliant love I am, my response was a hesitant please... yeah - that was smart Yvette - real smart!
I see the salt come out - ok, that's good. Then the vinegar comes out - thank goodness I've taken a huge liking to salt and vinegar on my chips or crisps. And finally my fish and chips are wrapped up in more paper than goes on a small army of spoiled children's Christmas presents. Ooooooohhhhhhhhkay... "salt and vinegar on that?" - that's what he said. Phew - I don't have a date with a random Irish chap I can't understand. And I'm not going to be a story on Unsolved Mysteries: Ireland. Safe this time.
Oh, and the chips were brilliant - the fish - again, not so much.
And Finally, a Story to Make My Mother Sit Down (mom, sit down please):
I have now been told by multiple people that they don't ever think I'm leaving Ireland! I just want to run away screaming when I hear that. First of all, I agreed unofficially to stay for 6 months. Many people know that with the immigration issues, I was only officially here for 3 months unless my work permit got approved. Now that it has, I keep getting e-mails asking "so, how long are you there for?" Honestly, folks, I don't know. I'm really really really enjoying travelling in Europe - but that's the glossy coating over what is my real life - where day in and day out I go to work and have to like what I'm doing and who I'm doing it with. And where I come home and want to have people to talk to. Right now, it's a bland bland life especially in comparison with my shiny Seattle life. So I don't know how long I'm staying - no one does. I'm hoping to know in a few weeks. I know that I am legally allowed to stay and work in Ireland until Dec 24 '06; I know that I am supposed to stay through the end of Oct in Ireland if I go by what I agreed to when I took this position; I know that I will stay till the end of Aug since I'm going to France for a week in mid-Aug and that's easy enough and soon enough.
Will I stay till the end of Oct? Stuart says "uhhh - yes, you're one of us - you'll stay". Jeremy says "oh, you're going to become addicted to it - I can see." Most other people reserve their opinions. So for right now, I'm taking one of my American Irishwoman liberties and pleading the 5th!
Appliance of the Day:
Once again, my washer/dryer/thingie is the appliance of the day. In 2 months (yes, it's been that long) I have yet to get it to turn on to wash on the first try (I think I've got the dry thing down). It's holding my current load of laundry hostage again (ok, so it's been hostage since Sun night, I just ignored it all day yesterday) and although the light indicates "wash" and another light indicates "power" and another light says "door locked" and the dial's set to 90-mins regular colors, the dang thing isn't making a sound. Now, I know very well that it sounds like I live on an airport runway when my washer is running - so this is not good. I wish the manual would aid me, but alas, it is no help and for all I know it's written in Gaelic. Ok - off to battle the washer!
I am now an Irish immigrant. And because of the way the Irish immigrated to the US, that sounds weird having spent my entire education learning about history from a US point of view. But I hold an Immigration Card registering myself as an Irish Immigrant with my picture and stats!
So, if I can't be an Irish American because that sounds funny.... does that mean I'm an American Irish(wo)man? Discuss!
Amusement of the day:
On my way to the immigration office this evening after work I decided that if I was going to sit and wait for someone to ask me what the heck I'm doing in Ireland yet again, I'd get food. And I was passing the chipper which everytime I walk by it it has a massively long line and if I'm with a native Dubliner (or someone who's lived here a few years) they always say how it's their favorite chipper in Dublin.
For once, the line wasn't out the door - so what the heck. I wasn't at all impressed with my first experience with fish and chips (chips amazing; fish yuck) but I figured I'd give this lil' Isle another chance. I got up to the counter and said "cod and chips please" and the server turns to the fryer and grabs both and throws 'em on a piece of paper. Great, dinner is served. Except then he looks up at me and says "wowwwlanddinit?" "Excuse me?" "awwwwwwlonnnnalinit?" "uhhhh - please?" What do you say when you know that you're speaking the same language as someone but you don't have the foggiest notion of what they're actually saying. Here were the possibilities: "Hi, do you like axe murderers?" "Are you free tomorrow night?" "Have you seen my dog Rover?" and any other set of dodgy responses. So, being the brilliant love I am, my response was a hesitant please... yeah - that was smart Yvette - real smart!
I see the salt come out - ok, that's good. Then the vinegar comes out - thank goodness I've taken a huge liking to salt and vinegar on my chips or crisps. And finally my fish and chips are wrapped up in more paper than goes on a small army of spoiled children's Christmas presents. Ooooooohhhhhhhhkay... "salt and vinegar on that?" - that's what he said. Phew - I don't have a date with a random Irish chap I can't understand. And I'm not going to be a story on Unsolved Mysteries: Ireland. Safe this time.
Oh, and the chips were brilliant - the fish - again, not so much.
And Finally, a Story to Make My Mother Sit Down (mom, sit down please):
I have now been told by multiple people that they don't ever think I'm leaving Ireland! I just want to run away screaming when I hear that. First of all, I agreed unofficially to stay for 6 months. Many people know that with the immigration issues, I was only officially here for 3 months unless my work permit got approved. Now that it has, I keep getting e-mails asking "so, how long are you there for?" Honestly, folks, I don't know. I'm really really really enjoying travelling in Europe - but that's the glossy coating over what is my real life - where day in and day out I go to work and have to like what I'm doing and who I'm doing it with. And where I come home and want to have people to talk to. Right now, it's a bland bland life especially in comparison with my shiny Seattle life. So I don't know how long I'm staying - no one does. I'm hoping to know in a few weeks. I know that I am legally allowed to stay and work in Ireland until Dec 24 '06; I know that I am supposed to stay through the end of Oct in Ireland if I go by what I agreed to when I took this position; I know that I will stay till the end of Aug since I'm going to France for a week in mid-Aug and that's easy enough and soon enough.
Will I stay till the end of Oct? Stuart says "uhhh - yes, you're one of us - you'll stay". Jeremy says "oh, you're going to become addicted to it - I can see." Most other people reserve their opinions. So for right now, I'm taking one of my American Irishwoman liberties and pleading the 5th!
Appliance of the Day:
Once again, my washer/dryer/thingie is the appliance of the day. In 2 months (yes, it's been that long) I have yet to get it to turn on to wash on the first try (I think I've got the dry thing down). It's holding my current load of laundry hostage again (ok, so it's been hostage since Sun night, I just ignored it all day yesterday) and although the light indicates "wash" and another light indicates "power" and another light says "door locked" and the dial's set to 90-mins regular colors, the dang thing isn't making a sound. Now, I know very well that it sounds like I live on an airport runway when my washer is running - so this is not good. I wish the manual would aid me, but alas, it is no help and for all I know it's written in Gaelic. Ok - off to battle the washer!
25 June 2006
Drive on the Left, Don't Make Boats that Sink, Wear Sunscreen and Climb on Rocks - Northern Ireland
Hello friends, family and random web-surfers! I'm still alive and finally remembered that I haven't told my tales of Belfast and the Antrim Coast in Northern Ireland. So here goes - after a weekend of relaxing after my whirlwind travels in my happy lil' apartment in Dublin and a Friday night doing the Irish pub crawl, I feel revitalized and I remember all the tantalizing details.......
So, as you can tell from previous posts, I was very apprehensive about driving in Ireland / Northern Ireland due to this "wrong side of the road" deal. But I was determined to do it since everyone mentioned that the Northern Coast is hard to get around via bus and public transportation and it gets pricey quick. Plus, Amy was visiting for this trip so I had a great navigator; and my Aunt Bonnie had given me an atlas of Ireland which thankfully also contained Northern Ireland for my birthday so I felt ready to go! We got to the rental car agency bright and early Wed morning to find that we were getting a compact 4 door car (whose tail you see in the photo next to me): a bright red Nissan Micra with a spedometer and odometer in kms and the gear shift on the "wrong side" but the pedals on the "right side". It was parallel parked in the lot, but I was a silly American and asked the lovely Irish bloke working the counter to pull it out so my first experience in the car wasn't bumping into another car trying to unpark the dang thing. And we hit the road.
We thought we were lost in Dublin - but after going off any map we had trying to find N1 (or M1) or any route to the airport since I knew that was off of N1, we finally found the little plane marked signs. I had been convinced we were going south rather than north and that we'd be stuck in Dublin all day. The drive was then uneventful until Belfast where I think I made every bad turn possible - but which Amy saved me from getting lost when we finally spotted our hotel. 3 hours later, and we were there.
We got our room and set out to orient around Belfast. That first day we just walked to the city centre and then decided to walk ourselves by the murals on Falls Road which depict the political and social leanings of many of the people and struggles in Belfast. It wasn't at all odd or scary or anything that most people would think. Our little tour book gave some decent explanations and we walked a few miles checking out the landmarks (including a chipper which Clinton made famous by shaking hands out side of it with some IRA political figure). Both of us were amazed by the anti-Bush murals and the pro-Palestinian murals. The other ones of the recent struggle that has been so publicized in the states were also rather interesting since they were real - covered in grafitti and oh-so-emotional.
We headed back to the city via bus and decided that since like in the Republic of Ireland, everything closes at 6pm, we'd act like the locals - when in Belfast, act like a Belfastian (or something) - and go to a pub or two for the rest of our evening. We hit up White's Tavern first which the friendly gentleman at the tourist information center had recommended highly to us. It was great.
We then went to the "most famous" pub in Belfast - rumored to be the oldest (which we later learned was untrue) - the Crown Liquor Saloon. It's an old men's only saloon with mirrored windows on the outside and cosies with bells for ordering on the inside where you crawl in and have the option of closing the little door for privacy. We had a few pints before giving up our corner nook where we'd sprawled to head off to another pub closer to our hotel - we were heading towards home. After another Irish Coffee for Amy and a Stella for me, we were done for the night and went back to the hotel to plan our next day in Belfast.
We got up and headed out to catch a bus tour of Belfast and the surrounding area offered by a local youth hostel. We found out that our book had the wrong times for it, so while waiting we headed to Queen's University to hang out in the botanic gardens and see the rose garden.
Then we hopped on the bus to have our tour guide give us a great history of the struggles in Belfast, the beauties of Belfast and an awful lot of talk about the Titanic. Yes, the Titanic. The city of Belfast is apparently famous for making boats - the most famous being the Titanic. "They didn't sink it, they made it. The iceberg sank it." I could not get over my hysteria at the stories they told. One great little excerpt from Lonely Planet Ireland about Belfast's enthrallment with the Titanic was pointed out to us later in our trip when we were staying in our Ballycastle hotel by a hysterical German man:
Our driver gave us a very interesting take on the Belfast political and religious tension both as it was and how it is now - he was great in that he didn't seem to color it from my perspective at all with his own opinions. We also got to go to Belfast Castle, to some random buildings, to see the murals again and to cross the border between zones a few times.
Having seen some interesting statues and sights from our bus: a leaning clock tower, a Big Fish, the cranes used in making the Titanic: Samson & Goliath, and a beautiful hope statue, we wandered to see those before figuring out what to do for the evening.
We headed off to grab a quick bite to eat before joining up with a pub tour of Belfast for the evening where we stopped at 6 historical or interesting pubs in Belfast and had drinks at half of them. Crown Saloon, White's Tavern (both again), McHugh's, Bittle's, Kelly's and one other I can't find in my photos. We ended at McHugh's and having bonded with our fellow pub tour crawlers, we stayed there for quite a while drinking and laughing: it was an American Air Force gentleman stationed in Greece, 3 Norwegians on vacation, a random Brit and a Scottish Stag Party that left us with no end to our laughter the entire time. We got drunk being fed drinks by our newfound friends - and at the end of the evening I found the bathroom with it's Ladies ("seats down") sign on the door and not for the reason I would've liked. I give you this gory bit of detail because when I returned downstairs to our merry band, I asked Amy if we could head back to the hotel where I continued to be violently ill until 7am in the morning and sleeping on the bathroom floor miserable and unable to hold down water. Not only had I gotten myself drunk, I found out via the course of the evening after there was no chance that there was anymore alcohol in my system that I was utterly dehydrated and burnt to a new shade of red that would make tomato(e)s envious.
After an hour of sleep, I woke up when we were supposed to check out and drive to Ballycastle to our next destination - the Antrim Coast. I wasn't sure I could get out of bed, but I managed. And we proceded up to our hostel in Belfast. I was drinking water - but that was it - the world was green with my dehydration and I couldn't get enough fluids into my body. Before stopping at our hostel, we decided that we'd test Yvette's going power (it was vacation and it was gorgeous) so I put on full skin covering (long sleeves in 80 degrees aren't fun, but they were necessary) and we started going from picturesque spot to picturesque spot.
We climbed illegally down to a castle ruins, stopped at the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge which Amy crossed (I was too dizzy to handle that one with my fear of heights) and went scrambling over some rocks before I was too exhausted to continue and we went to find our hostel. By the time we reached the hostel at 5pm I thought I might die (or need to go to the hospital) as the lovely hostel keeper greeted me literally with the first words coming out of her mouth being "Love, you look horrible." Amy and Siobhan, our hostess, got me settled into our hostel room which Siobhan was nice enough to give us a private eventhough that's not what we'd booked since I looked like death itself and I promptly passed out at 5:30pm and woke up for 15 mins in the middle of the night for a rehydration session before promptly falling back to sleep till 10am. Yes, I needed that - I was human the next morning. Thankfully, this didn't mean Amy got stuck in the hostel as she went out with the random other people staying in the hostel to hear some traditional Irish music at a local pub.
The next day, being a new person, we went to crawl and climb all over the Giant's Causeway which is this gigantuan basalt rock formation formed by the rapidly cooling volcanic rock, basalt, being dropped into water. It forms geometric towers of rock that look incredibly unnatural along the coast and in this one location, there's so much of it that it looks like only giants could've made it (thus the name). We then headed to another castle's ruins to see more coast and finally to the beach for a nice flop in the sand. We ended our day on the Antrim Coast with dinner and then I figured out our route home.
Driving back to Dublin, we decided to take the Eastern Coast scenic road that's windy windy windy (both curvey and full of wind gusts). We also took a detour to see Glen Arriff with it's waterfalls on a 4km hike (yes, I was obviously nearly human - although still tired). The drive was just as spectacular as anything we'd seen and I was thrilled beyond belief to be driving right on the edge of these coastal cliffs through quaint towns and gorgeous farms and countryside. We didn't get lost again even entering Dublin and that was the trip.
I'm human, and my coworkers claim that I should never again be allowed to travel since I seem to either get massively ill or detained at the border. But this coming weekend I'm going on another adventure where all I know is that I'm flying el-cheapo to London with only a backpack; camping outside the grounds to Wimbledon in the line to the grounds in order to try to get one of the 500 court tickets or 6000 ground tickets they reserve for the day-of sales; and then hopefully making ti back up to the airport outside of London to stay in a hotel before returning to Dublin on Sunday. Who knows what'll happen - who knows if I'll get in, or what people I'll meet in the line or if it'll rain??? But I've got my sleeping bag, backpack, flashlight, clothes and Crazy Creek Chair so it'll be "a story". And at least this time I don't have to fear reentering the country...... because..... I was APPROVED for my work permit to stay in Ireland officially!!! So I'm here homesick or not - until I decide to flap my wings and return to the states. But before I do that, I'm going to WImbledon (at least to camp), to Galway, to France (the trip's all reserved) and whereever else I get the whim to go before I turn into a bird and return to Seattle.
And if you're still curious about more photos of our adventures in Northern Ireland, find them in my Northern Ireland Flickr Set.
So, as you can tell from previous posts, I was very apprehensive about driving in Ireland / Northern Ireland due to this "wrong side of the road" deal. But I was determined to do it since everyone mentioned that the Northern Coast is hard to get around via bus and public transportation and it gets pricey quick. Plus, Amy was visiting for this trip so I had a great navigator; and my Aunt Bonnie had given me an atlas of Ireland which thankfully also contained Northern Ireland for my birthday so I felt ready to go! We got to the rental car agency bright and early Wed morning to find that we were getting a compact 4 door car (whose tail you see in the photo next to me): a bright red Nissan Micra with a spedometer and odometer in kms and the gear shift on the "wrong side" but the pedals on the "right side". It was parallel parked in the lot, but I was a silly American and asked the lovely Irish bloke working the counter to pull it out so my first experience in the car wasn't bumping into another car trying to unpark the dang thing. And we hit the road.
We thought we were lost in Dublin - but after going off any map we had trying to find N1 (or M1) or any route to the airport since I knew that was off of N1, we finally found the little plane marked signs. I had been convinced we were going south rather than north and that we'd be stuck in Dublin all day. The drive was then uneventful until Belfast where I think I made every bad turn possible - but which Amy saved me from getting lost when we finally spotted our hotel. 3 hours later, and we were there.
We got our room and set out to orient around Belfast. That first day we just walked to the city centre and then decided to walk ourselves by the murals on Falls Road which depict the political and social leanings of many of the people and struggles in Belfast. It wasn't at all odd or scary or anything that most people would think. Our little tour book gave some decent explanations and we walked a few miles checking out the landmarks (including a chipper which Clinton made famous by shaking hands out side of it with some IRA political figure). Both of us were amazed by the anti-Bush murals and the pro-Palestinian murals. The other ones of the recent struggle that has been so publicized in the states were also rather interesting since they were real - covered in grafitti and oh-so-emotional.
We headed back to the city via bus and decided that since like in the Republic of Ireland, everything closes at 6pm, we'd act like the locals - when in Belfast, act like a Belfastian (or something) - and go to a pub or two for the rest of our evening. We hit up White's Tavern first which the friendly gentleman at the tourist information center had recommended highly to us. It was great.
We then went to the "most famous" pub in Belfast - rumored to be the oldest (which we later learned was untrue) - the Crown Liquor Saloon. It's an old men's only saloon with mirrored windows on the outside and cosies with bells for ordering on the inside where you crawl in and have the option of closing the little door for privacy. We had a few pints before giving up our corner nook where we'd sprawled to head off to another pub closer to our hotel - we were heading towards home. After another Irish Coffee for Amy and a Stella for me, we were done for the night and went back to the hotel to plan our next day in Belfast.
We got up and headed out to catch a bus tour of Belfast and the surrounding area offered by a local youth hostel. We found out that our book had the wrong times for it, so while waiting we headed to Queen's University to hang out in the botanic gardens and see the rose garden.
Then we hopped on the bus to have our tour guide give us a great history of the struggles in Belfast, the beauties of Belfast and an awful lot of talk about the Titanic. Yes, the Titanic. The city of Belfast is apparently famous for making boats - the most famous being the Titanic. "They didn't sink it, they made it. The iceberg sank it." I could not get over my hysteria at the stories they told. One great little excerpt from Lonely Planet Ireland about Belfast's enthrallment with the Titanic was pointed out to us later in our trip when we were staying in our Ballycastle hotel by a hysterical German man:
The Iceberg Cometh
Will the city that launched the Titanic become the city that lassoed an iceberg? Belfast artist Rita Duffy hit the headlines in 2006 with a plan to tow an iceberg from Arctic waters to Belfast Lough and moor it there as a sort of art installation.
To her, the sinking of the Titanic marked the beginning of Belfast's decline; the iceberg would symbolise all that has sunk Belfast, in particular the sectarian conflict that has blighted the city for decades. She hopes that as the months pass, the gradually melting berg will symbolise the possibility of a thaw in the hardened attitudes on both sides of the sectarian divide, and the melting of the currently frozen peace process.
Our driver gave us a very interesting take on the Belfast political and religious tension both as it was and how it is now - he was great in that he didn't seem to color it from my perspective at all with his own opinions. We also got to go to Belfast Castle, to some random buildings, to see the murals again and to cross the border between zones a few times.
Having seen some interesting statues and sights from our bus: a leaning clock tower, a Big Fish, the cranes used in making the Titanic: Samson & Goliath, and a beautiful hope statue, we wandered to see those before figuring out what to do for the evening.
We headed off to grab a quick bite to eat before joining up with a pub tour of Belfast for the evening where we stopped at 6 historical or interesting pubs in Belfast and had drinks at half of them. Crown Saloon, White's Tavern (both again), McHugh's, Bittle's, Kelly's and one other I can't find in my photos. We ended at McHugh's and having bonded with our fellow pub tour crawlers, we stayed there for quite a while drinking and laughing: it was an American Air Force gentleman stationed in Greece, 3 Norwegians on vacation, a random Brit and a Scottish Stag Party that left us with no end to our laughter the entire time. We got drunk being fed drinks by our newfound friends - and at the end of the evening I found the bathroom with it's Ladies ("seats down") sign on the door and not for the reason I would've liked. I give you this gory bit of detail because when I returned downstairs to our merry band, I asked Amy if we could head back to the hotel where I continued to be violently ill until 7am in the morning and sleeping on the bathroom floor miserable and unable to hold down water. Not only had I gotten myself drunk, I found out via the course of the evening after there was no chance that there was anymore alcohol in my system that I was utterly dehydrated and burnt to a new shade of red that would make tomato(e)s envious.
After an hour of sleep, I woke up when we were supposed to check out and drive to Ballycastle to our next destination - the Antrim Coast. I wasn't sure I could get out of bed, but I managed. And we proceded up to our hostel in Belfast. I was drinking water - but that was it - the world was green with my dehydration and I couldn't get enough fluids into my body. Before stopping at our hostel, we decided that we'd test Yvette's going power (it was vacation and it was gorgeous) so I put on full skin covering (long sleeves in 80 degrees aren't fun, but they were necessary) and we started going from picturesque spot to picturesque spot.
We climbed illegally down to a castle ruins, stopped at the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge which Amy crossed (I was too dizzy to handle that one with my fear of heights) and went scrambling over some rocks before I was too exhausted to continue and we went to find our hostel. By the time we reached the hostel at 5pm I thought I might die (or need to go to the hospital) as the lovely hostel keeper greeted me literally with the first words coming out of her mouth being "Love, you look horrible." Amy and Siobhan, our hostess, got me settled into our hostel room which Siobhan was nice enough to give us a private eventhough that's not what we'd booked since I looked like death itself and I promptly passed out at 5:30pm and woke up for 15 mins in the middle of the night for a rehydration session before promptly falling back to sleep till 10am. Yes, I needed that - I was human the next morning. Thankfully, this didn't mean Amy got stuck in the hostel as she went out with the random other people staying in the hostel to hear some traditional Irish music at a local pub.
The next day, being a new person, we went to crawl and climb all over the Giant's Causeway which is this gigantuan basalt rock formation formed by the rapidly cooling volcanic rock, basalt, being dropped into water. It forms geometric towers of rock that look incredibly unnatural along the coast and in this one location, there's so much of it that it looks like only giants could've made it (thus the name). We then headed to another castle's ruins to see more coast and finally to the beach for a nice flop in the sand. We ended our day on the Antrim Coast with dinner and then I figured out our route home.
Driving back to Dublin, we decided to take the Eastern Coast scenic road that's windy windy windy (both curvey and full of wind gusts). We also took a detour to see Glen Arriff with it's waterfalls on a 4km hike (yes, I was obviously nearly human - although still tired). The drive was just as spectacular as anything we'd seen and I was thrilled beyond belief to be driving right on the edge of these coastal cliffs through quaint towns and gorgeous farms and countryside. We didn't get lost again even entering Dublin and that was the trip.
I'm human, and my coworkers claim that I should never again be allowed to travel since I seem to either get massively ill or detained at the border. But this coming weekend I'm going on another adventure where all I know is that I'm flying el-cheapo to London with only a backpack; camping outside the grounds to Wimbledon in the line to the grounds in order to try to get one of the 500 court tickets or 6000 ground tickets they reserve for the day-of sales; and then hopefully making ti back up to the airport outside of London to stay in a hotel before returning to Dublin on Sunday. Who knows what'll happen - who knows if I'll get in, or what people I'll meet in the line or if it'll rain??? But I've got my sleeping bag, backpack, flashlight, clothes and Crazy Creek Chair so it'll be "a story". And at least this time I don't have to fear reentering the country...... because..... I was APPROVED for my work permit to stay in Ireland officially!!! So I'm here homesick or not - until I decide to flap my wings and return to the states. But before I do that, I'm going to WImbledon (at least to camp), to Galway, to France (the trip's all reserved) and whereever else I get the whim to go before I turn into a bird and return to Seattle.
And if you're still curious about more photos of our adventures in Northern Ireland, find them in my Northern Ireland Flickr Set.
18 June 2006
London on Parade
So, to take a break from chores while I pray that I don't get paged, I figured I'd start with my journey to London from 2 weekends ago.
The basics are that I spent 3 days 4 nights in London wandering, doing touristy things and cultural things, and enjoying the fantastic weather in a fun city. All my pictures from that wacky adventure which I took on my cell phone ('cause my camera still wasn't here) can be found on Flickr.
So I got into London Fri night without problems and made my way to Kings Cross to find my hostel. I was staying in an all-girls dorm (thank god - boys are dodgy). Everything was copisetic, so I slept on my top bunk and the next morning woke up to 80 degrees and sunny for the weather outside. Perfection! I grabbed my London Pass to save myself mega bucks on transportation (3 days of tube transit) and on entrance fees (everywhere I wanted to go for 1/3 of what it would've cost me to buy the individual tickets). Then off I went walking - it was far to beautiful out for me to take the tube!
I was aiming to ramble South of the Thames to the Globe Theater and a few art galleries before crossing over to the Tower of London. However, none of these excursions actually happened when I got sucked into watching the practice parade for the Queen's Birthday. Y'see, I heard the sounds of a marching band - very traditional - when I passed by this massive gate structure. I didn't realize where I was or what was through the gate, but I followed the throngs of people in to see what the ruckus was. There - lo and behold - was a royal guard marching band all decked out and playing great music. And the people lining the street were friendly and let me know that this was the first of three practice parades for when the Queen would celebrate her birthday. It looked more interesting than the changing of the guard when I realized I was in St James Park which leads up to Buckingham Palace so I wandered down the way towards the palace, stopping everytime I band came along and chatting with various guards. I finally ended up standing right in front of Buckingham Palace with another lovely American woman watching the festivities. My three favorite things were (a) the bands which were mounted on massive horses. I was in awe. (b) the guards who stood along the sides of the road that weren't your average police were hysterical. They were in the hottest looking outfits with their fuzzy tall hats and they wore massive backpacks which I soon realized were connected to the phone handsets in their hands! I thought it was too funny - these things were massive and when they walked all regimental they did it with the phones in hand as if they were some gun or sword or something weapon like. I just giggled. And (c) I saw Prince Charles riding his little horse. Apparently the royals normally ride in one of the later practice parades, but for some odd reason he rode with this one. I was so shocked I couldn't take a reasonable picture.
So after a few hours of this I wandered off towards the Globe to see what else I could fit in from my original plan. I skipped the Tate and went straight to the St Pauls Cathedral. I attempted to go to the dome to see the roof, but alas, I hate heights - instead I sat through a 30 min eucharist ceremony just cause I could and my feet needed a break. Then off to the Globe only to find they had a matinee in progress so I couldn't get inside. Instead I bought half price tickets for the next night's performance and wandered off to the Tower of London. But I got side tracked by Vinopolis which is a wine tasting tour / museum which was highly entertaining and a very refreshing stop (also free on my London Pass - whoda thunk?)
Finally, I headed North back across the Thames to Regent's Park (skipping dinner - I was too late for that) to catch the showing of Taming of the Shrew in the Shakespeare in the Park series I'd gotten tickets for. It was absolutely beautiful out with the sun setting as the play progressed and the light breeze and fairy lights all around the theater. It was marvelously comfortable and they even ended up having a bbq being served at intermission so missing dinner wasn't traumatic when I grabbed a sausage and glass of wine for dinner. I fell in love with the theater then sitting in the sunset watching a hysterical production with my glass of wine in hand - it was so enjoyable.
Sunday I decided to catch up with some of the things I'd planned on doing the day before. So I headed straight for the Tower of London in the morning, found out that the Beefeater Tour I wanted to take was on hold for 2 hrs while all the yeowman went to mass so I went to mass too - what the hey! It was a beautiful ceremony and very very formal. Then I went and saw the Crown Jewels (wow wow wow) and finally caught my Beefeater tour which was my favorite touristy thing! Then I decided to head over to Kennsington Palace by way of Notting Hill. After wandering the shops, I stopped for a picnic lunch overlooking the mini lake in the midst of the gardens. Finally, it was time for me to go to the theater again for a showing of Coreolanus (I hadn't heard of it before either) by the Royal Shakespeare Troupe at the Globe. I was going purely for the experience, but I had a great time with another dinner in my seat and wine and good company (cute lil' American boy sitting next to me).
And finally Monday I wandered over to see Big Ben and the Parliment Building. Then it was into Westminster Abbey (wow - that place is miraculous) and then time to do some good ol' shopping in Covington. I did some shopping, some window shopping, and some cafe sitting. Finally I ended up at the theater yet again but this time to experience a London musical: Evita It was the first preview performance and again it was amazing.
And finally I traipsed back to Dublin Tues morning to meet up with Amy. I had 73 pictures on my mobile, a farmer's tan, and I nearly wasn't readmitted to Ireland due to the fact I still don't have my work auth and in my sleepy state nearly didn't explain myself correctly (eep - that would've been disasterous).
The basics are that I spent 3 days 4 nights in London wandering, doing touristy things and cultural things, and enjoying the fantastic weather in a fun city. All my pictures from that wacky adventure which I took on my cell phone ('cause my camera still wasn't here) can be found on Flickr.
So I got into London Fri night without problems and made my way to Kings Cross to find my hostel. I was staying in an all-girls dorm (thank god - boys are dodgy). Everything was copisetic, so I slept on my top bunk and the next morning woke up to 80 degrees and sunny for the weather outside. Perfection! I grabbed my London Pass to save myself mega bucks on transportation (3 days of tube transit) and on entrance fees (everywhere I wanted to go for 1/3 of what it would've cost me to buy the individual tickets). Then off I went walking - it was far to beautiful out for me to take the tube!
I was aiming to ramble South of the Thames to the Globe Theater and a few art galleries before crossing over to the Tower of London. However, none of these excursions actually happened when I got sucked into watching the practice parade for the Queen's Birthday. Y'see, I heard the sounds of a marching band - very traditional - when I passed by this massive gate structure. I didn't realize where I was or what was through the gate, but I followed the throngs of people in to see what the ruckus was. There - lo and behold - was a royal guard marching band all decked out and playing great music. And the people lining the street were friendly and let me know that this was the first of three practice parades for when the Queen would celebrate her birthday. It looked more interesting than the changing of the guard when I realized I was in St James Park which leads up to Buckingham Palace so I wandered down the way towards the palace, stopping everytime I band came along and chatting with various guards. I finally ended up standing right in front of Buckingham Palace with another lovely American woman watching the festivities. My three favorite things were (a) the bands which were mounted on massive horses. I was in awe. (b) the guards who stood along the sides of the road that weren't your average police were hysterical. They were in the hottest looking outfits with their fuzzy tall hats and they wore massive backpacks which I soon realized were connected to the phone handsets in their hands! I thought it was too funny - these things were massive and when they walked all regimental they did it with the phones in hand as if they were some gun or sword or something weapon like. I just giggled. And (c) I saw Prince Charles riding his little horse. Apparently the royals normally ride in one of the later practice parades, but for some odd reason he rode with this one. I was so shocked I couldn't take a reasonable picture.
So after a few hours of this I wandered off towards the Globe to see what else I could fit in from my original plan. I skipped the Tate and went straight to the St Pauls Cathedral. I attempted to go to the dome to see the roof, but alas, I hate heights - instead I sat through a 30 min eucharist ceremony just cause I could and my feet needed a break. Then off to the Globe only to find they had a matinee in progress so I couldn't get inside. Instead I bought half price tickets for the next night's performance and wandered off to the Tower of London. But I got side tracked by Vinopolis which is a wine tasting tour / museum which was highly entertaining and a very refreshing stop (also free on my London Pass - whoda thunk?)
Finally, I headed North back across the Thames to Regent's Park (skipping dinner - I was too late for that) to catch the showing of Taming of the Shrew in the Shakespeare in the Park series I'd gotten tickets for. It was absolutely beautiful out with the sun setting as the play progressed and the light breeze and fairy lights all around the theater. It was marvelously comfortable and they even ended up having a bbq being served at intermission so missing dinner wasn't traumatic when I grabbed a sausage and glass of wine for dinner. I fell in love with the theater then sitting in the sunset watching a hysterical production with my glass of wine in hand - it was so enjoyable.
Sunday I decided to catch up with some of the things I'd planned on doing the day before. So I headed straight for the Tower of London in the morning, found out that the Beefeater Tour I wanted to take was on hold for 2 hrs while all the yeowman went to mass so I went to mass too - what the hey! It was a beautiful ceremony and very very formal. Then I went and saw the Crown Jewels (wow wow wow) and finally caught my Beefeater tour which was my favorite touristy thing! Then I decided to head over to Kennsington Palace by way of Notting Hill. After wandering the shops, I stopped for a picnic lunch overlooking the mini lake in the midst of the gardens. Finally, it was time for me to go to the theater again for a showing of Coreolanus (I hadn't heard of it before either) by the Royal Shakespeare Troupe at the Globe. I was going purely for the experience, but I had a great time with another dinner in my seat and wine and good company (cute lil' American boy sitting next to me).
And finally Monday I wandered over to see Big Ben and the Parliment Building. Then it was into Westminster Abbey (wow - that place is miraculous) and then time to do some good ol' shopping in Covington. I did some shopping, some window shopping, and some cafe sitting. Finally I ended up at the theater yet again but this time to experience a London musical: Evita It was the first preview performance and again it was amazing.
And finally I traipsed back to Dublin Tues morning to meet up with Amy. I had 73 pictures on my mobile, a farmer's tan, and I nearly wasn't readmitted to Ireland due to the fact I still don't have my work auth and in my sleepy state nearly didn't explain myself correctly (eep - that would've been disasterous).
08 June 2006
"Drive on the Left"
So, my car has a little sticker that reflects on the right hand side of the car saying "drive on the left" with a little arrow. It's a tiny little red car!!! The pedals are the same, I sit on the right side, the blinker/windshield wiper thingies are all mirrored from the US versions, and the most disturbing thing is that the gear shift is on the left. That one still makes me reach for my door - but maybe that's because I've only backed up a total of 2 times so far.
And we only got lost entering Belfast - miraculous! Amy is brilliant with a map.
Another random saying from the UK: "set down area" - load and unload zone
Oh - and why does Northern Ireland have all it's roadsigns in miles? My car's spedometer doesn't even tell me miles!!! Dare to be different I guess? Silly silly rebelleous country.
I'm going to innundate people with pictures and stories once Amy leaves - between my 70 pictures and 3 days in London; then at least 70 pictures and 4 days in Northern Ireland - yeah - it's going to be a lot.
And we only got lost entering Belfast - miraculous! Amy is brilliant with a map.
Another random saying from the UK: "set down area" - load and unload zone
Oh - and why does Northern Ireland have all it's roadsigns in miles? My car's spedometer doesn't even tell me miles!!! Dare to be different I guess? Silly silly rebelleous country.
I'm going to innundate people with pictures and stories once Amy leaves - between my 70 pictures and 3 days in London; then at least 70 pictures and 4 days in Northern Ireland - yeah - it's going to be a lot.
07 June 2006
wrong side? "go left!"
London was absolutely lovely!
Amy arrived safely and we just wandered through Dublin talking since she's done most of the touristy things in Dublin when she visited last summer.
And today - well, today should be absolutely brilliant! I get to drive on the "wrong" (aka left) side of the road from Dublin to Belfast......... Amy's job is to navigate and remind me to "go left" at the roundabouts. My job is to remember to stay left every other time.
Do you think we can do it? I do!!
Northern Ireland here we come!
Apparently I've picked up "brilliant" and "lovely" in my vocabulary... In addition to "mobile" Amy can't cease to laugh at me!
Amy arrived safely and we just wandered through Dublin talking since she's done most of the touristy things in Dublin when she visited last summer.
And today - well, today should be absolutely brilliant! I get to drive on the "wrong" (aka left) side of the road from Dublin to Belfast......... Amy's job is to navigate and remind me to "go left" at the roundabouts. My job is to remember to stay left every other time.
Do you think we can do it? I do!!
Northern Ireland here we come!
Apparently I've picked up "brilliant" and "lovely" in my vocabulary... In addition to "mobile" Amy can't cease to laugh at me!
04 June 2006
teaser reminders
So, this is a teaser of my 2 days in London.... I wouldn't have posted it 'cept I'm sitting at a computer emailing it to myself so I'm going to be a tease!
So, let there be nonsequitors.
I want a beefeater teddybear; I saw Prince Charles; mounted marching band; Shakespeare in the Park - Taming of the Shrew; Globe Theater - Coriolanus; random hostel stuff; blisters; Kensington Gardens; Tower of London & Yeowman; my new British friends; the cute American boy I shared a blanket with tonight at the play (like I said, I'm a tease); friggin' heat; St Pauls & London Eye and why I hate heights; more church than in the past 2 years combined; there are loud drunk people behind me in my hostel.....
Ok - this is the stuff I know I need to write about.. One more day in London and then I fly back to Dublin and meet up with Amy so I can continue my vacation adventure.
I've definitely walked > 25 miles these past 2 days......
So, let there be nonsequitors.
I want a beefeater teddybear; I saw Prince Charles; mounted marching band; Shakespeare in the Park - Taming of the Shrew; Globe Theater - Coriolanus; random hostel stuff; blisters; Kensington Gardens; Tower of London & Yeowman; my new British friends; the cute American boy I shared a blanket with tonight at the play (like I said, I'm a tease); friggin' heat; St Pauls & London Eye and why I hate heights; more church than in the past 2 years combined; there are loud drunk people behind me in my hostel.....
Ok - this is the stuff I know I need to write about.. One more day in London and then I fly back to Dublin and meet up with Amy so I can continue my vacation adventure.
I've definitely walked > 25 miles these past 2 days......
02 June 2006
Friday: Rugby in the Office
You wouldn't think an office full of 2 computers per person would encourage having me learn rugby in the middle of the very narrow corridor. Especially since I'm not athletic and part of that means my inability to catch. Football, sure I can kick and run - but catching? Rugby? All of this was instigated by my lovely French boss and Irish colleague who were all too amused to watch me get hit in the stomach the first time they threw the rugby football at me unaware....
Ahh - good times in the office.
More updates to come - I've been pretty boring lately, but life's picking up today since I've got travel travel travel coming up. First I'm off to London tonight and will be there through Tues morning - lots of exciting plans. Then Tuesday Amy arrives in Dublin and Wednesday we head up to Northern Ireland for 4 days. It'll be lovely to have a week off - especially since it's supposed to be 75 and sunny my entire stay in London. Skirts here I come!
Ahh - good times in the office.
More updates to come - I've been pretty boring lately, but life's picking up today since I've got travel travel travel coming up. First I'm off to London tonight and will be there through Tues morning - lots of exciting plans. Then Tuesday Amy arrives in Dublin and Wednesday we head up to Northern Ireland for 4 days. It'll be lovely to have a week off - especially since it's supposed to be 75 and sunny my entire stay in London. Skirts here I come!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)