Renata and I went to Oslo, Norway last weekend. We left on Friday and came back very late Sunday night... or very early Monday morning!
Oslo was great, although it's pretty pricey! For example, one vodka cranberry cost me 10 euro, which is about $15 Canadian. Need I say more?! The city itself is beautiful, as are the people. I swear, every Norwegian could model... it's ridiculous! The weather was okay. It was sunny but pretty cold, and there was about a foot of snow! I definitely do not miss winter..!
We saw a few things like the famous sculpture park, some viking museums, and the Opera House. And of course, several different pubs!
We stayed in a hostel, which was in the city centre -- perfect location. In our hostel was a Polish girl, Austrian girl [they work together in London], a Spanish guy, and Renata and myself. Turns out the Spanish guy has lived in Dublin for 5 years... and in our neighbourhood! Weird, eh? So we hung out with them most of the trip. We had tons of fun. Now we're planning on visiting the girls in London sometime soon. Maybe within the next month. I definitely got the travel bug..!
On Monday, Pedro left Dublin to go back to Spain. It was really sad to say goodbye to him. He and I were very close, so it was like saying goodbye to a best friend. But we know we'll see each other again someday... whether it's in Mallorca or Canada... or both!
Monday night I met up with Holly and some other friends and hung out at their place. It was a lot fun!
Tuesday night Holly and I went to Whelan's just to have a few drinks and hang out. Holly will be heading back to Canada soon so we have to hang out as much as possible! She's in Manchester for the next few days, then her parents and grandma arrive on the 2nd to tour Ireland and England a bit before they all head back to Canada on the 10th. It's going to be weird without Holly here, but I'm sure I'll manage. ;)
Wednesday night I went out with Renata, J.P., and Mick to Fitzsimon's in Temple Bar. It's a three story venue. There was a band on the main floor and they were pretty good. I also met a lot of Americans that night, but no Canadians! Then after the band was finished, the basement turns into nightclub. We all had a good time.
Last night I went out with Blat, whom I met through Pedro. We went to this little tea place that only serves tea. They have a pretty big tea menu and a really cool, chill atmosphere. I loved it there! And our tea was delicious.
Then we went to a nearby pub called Sin E. Turns out there was going to be a couple of bands playing, then jam sessions afterwards. The bands were really good, and the pub itself is cool. I loved it here as well! I asked Blat to take me somewhere new and he definitely showed me two cool new spots.
I'll be uploading some videos of the bands on facebook if you're interested in checking them out.
Tonight there's a leaving party for a Spanish guy, Enrique, I know. I also met him through Pedro. So I think I'll be going to that with my friend Carlos. I'm going to try to convince Renata to come, but I doubt she will because...
Tomorrow our friend, Erika, is coming back from a month-long trip to Brazil. So tomorrow night we're going to celebrate her return and I have a feeling it's going to be a crazy night!
Hope you all have a great weekend.
xo.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
March Madness
Where to start?!
on March 14th was Pedro's leaving party. We had about 80 people in our flat, complete with a DJ and everything. our flat isn't exactly huge, so we were all packed in here. It was a lot of fun. Much of that night is a blur, surprise surprise! Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of the party...
On the 16th I went to Holly's place. The plan was that I'd sleep over there because she lives closer to the St. Patrick's Day parade route, and it'd just be easier for me to get there that night and avoid the masses the following day. Holly's neighbour, Gigi, was having a birthday party next door. We went there for a bit, but we [logically!] decided that we should hold off from partying since the next day would probably be insane...
We woke up around 10:30 and ate breakfast and had a cocktail.We made our way to city centre to watch the parade, which was supposed to start at noon but actually started around 12:30 or later. We couldn't really see much, but we did get a few glimpses of the parade. To be honest, I'm not sure I'd do the parade again. But it was cool to be there since there were literally thousands of people on the street celebrating my favourite holiday ;)
After the parade, we went to a pub down the road called Doyle's. People weren't too rowdy...yet. Then we saw a group of young guys doing Irish Car Bombs. We knew they must be North American 'cause no one here knows Irish Car Bombs. Then they saw our tshirts and we quickly formed Team Canada. I think three of them were from Saskatchewan and two from Toronto. They're just travelling around Europe, and the two groups met on the plane from Amsterdam [or something...]. So after that pub, we made our way to another pub in Temple Bar called Farrington's. This is where the night started getting messy/foggy. I don't really remember much of what happened after that pub, but what I do know is that Holly and I made our way back to her place to grab a bite to eat [trying to save money where we can!]. Apparently I was very drunk. Finally I sat on a big comfy chair and "power napped" for a good 20 minutes. After a bit, we made our way back to the pubs and some of the Canadian boys. We also met up with Renata somewhere... And Pedro. I think we called it a night around 3:30am. I made it from beginning to end! Needless to say, I had a great time and this will be a hard St. Patrick's Day to beat. If I could, I would celebrate St. Patrick's Day in Ireland every year.
Renata and I are leaving for Norway tomorrow afternoon. We come back to Dublin on Sunday night. We chose Norway because I'm interested in seeing Scandinavia, and the flight to Norway was pretty cheap. So we're excited about our upcoming trip!
I had another interview today at a shop called Bershka. It's owned by the same company as Zara... kinda like Gap/Old Navy/Banana Republic. So hopefully I get this job. They're looking for someone to start as early as next week. So I told them about my trip, but that I'm available to start immediately. I saw a stack of other CVs, so who knows how many people they're interviewing for one position... fingers crossed that I get it!
Pedro goes back to Spain on Monday evening. We're all going to miss him. But that's the thing about travelling -- you meet a lot of good people, but people are coming and going. C'est la vie!
on March 14th was Pedro's leaving party. We had about 80 people in our flat, complete with a DJ and everything. our flat isn't exactly huge, so we were all packed in here. It was a lot of fun. Much of that night is a blur, surprise surprise! Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of the party...
On the 16th I went to Holly's place. The plan was that I'd sleep over there because she lives closer to the St. Patrick's Day parade route, and it'd just be easier for me to get there that night and avoid the masses the following day. Holly's neighbour, Gigi, was having a birthday party next door. We went there for a bit, but we [logically!] decided that we should hold off from partying since the next day would probably be insane...
We woke up around 10:30 and ate breakfast and had a cocktail.We made our way to city centre to watch the parade, which was supposed to start at noon but actually started around 12:30 or later. We couldn't really see much, but we did get a few glimpses of the parade. To be honest, I'm not sure I'd do the parade again. But it was cool to be there since there were literally thousands of people on the street celebrating my favourite holiday ;)
After the parade, we went to a pub down the road called Doyle's. People weren't too rowdy...yet. Then we saw a group of young guys doing Irish Car Bombs. We knew they must be North American 'cause no one here knows Irish Car Bombs. Then they saw our tshirts and we quickly formed Team Canada. I think three of them were from Saskatchewan and two from Toronto. They're just travelling around Europe, and the two groups met on the plane from Amsterdam [or something...]. So after that pub, we made our way to another pub in Temple Bar called Farrington's. This is where the night started getting messy/foggy. I don't really remember much of what happened after that pub, but what I do know is that Holly and I made our way back to her place to grab a bite to eat [trying to save money where we can!]. Apparently I was very drunk. Finally I sat on a big comfy chair and "power napped" for a good 20 minutes. After a bit, we made our way back to the pubs and some of the Canadian boys. We also met up with Renata somewhere... And Pedro. I think we called it a night around 3:30am. I made it from beginning to end! Needless to say, I had a great time and this will be a hard St. Patrick's Day to beat. If I could, I would celebrate St. Patrick's Day in Ireland every year.
Renata and I are leaving for Norway tomorrow afternoon. We come back to Dublin on Sunday night. We chose Norway because I'm interested in seeing Scandinavia, and the flight to Norway was pretty cheap. So we're excited about our upcoming trip!
I had another interview today at a shop called Bershka. It's owned by the same company as Zara... kinda like Gap/Old Navy/Banana Republic. So hopefully I get this job. They're looking for someone to start as early as next week. So I told them about my trip, but that I'm available to start immediately. I saw a stack of other CVs, so who knows how many people they're interviewing for one position... fingers crossed that I get it!
Pedro goes back to Spain on Monday evening. We're all going to miss him. But that's the thing about travelling -- you meet a lot of good people, but people are coming and going. C'est la vie!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Another Month...
Happy March everyone! I can't believe I've been here since November..! Time is really flyin' by!
On Tuesday afternoon I went for a couple of drinks with Renata, her friend Erika and some Erika's coworkers. We went to the Temple Bar in Temple Bar. It's probably one of the most famous [and overpriced] pubs in Dublin. I made friends with one of the bartenders there, and he told me to come in for St. Patrick's Day and that he'll 'take care of' my friends and I. Perfect! hahah.
I had my interview with American Apparel on Wednesday. I was nervous, but I think it went okay. There were three interviewers which kind of surprised me. I wore an American Apparel dress to the interview, and the main girl noticed! So hopefully I scored some points there. They told me I'd only find out in about 2 weeks because they have to interview so many people. It's a brand new shop so they're looking to fill all positions. I'll probably give them a call by the end of this week just to touch base and to show that I'm interested. I'd also get a 50% discount if I worked there! Awesome!!
Friday night I went to a club called The Twisted Pepper to check out a couple of DJs. Holly was on the guestlist + 2, so Ludie and I went with her. Pedro also came but we all chipped in and paid for his way in. Otherwise, it would have been 18 euro for him to come in! Crazy. Anyway, it was a good nigt and we ran into some people we knew as well.
Saturday was the punk show. Pedro and I went to Holly's place first as she lives close to the venue. We forgot that there was huge rugby match going on - Ireland vs. England - and that Holly lives really close to the stadium [Croke Park]. The match ended before we arrived to Holly's so we were walking in the opposite direction of 1000s of people. It was intense! I took a couple of photos because I couldn't believe the amount of people.
Then we left Holly's place to go to the gig. It was Holly's first punk show ever and she really enjoyed it. The band is called Blood or Whiskey and they're from Dublin. Their sound is pretty different, they incoporate the banjo, acoustic guitar and the accordian. It was a lot of fun. And I bought a tshirt! hah. And Holly and I each got copies of the setlist. Pretty cool. The show was in the basement of a big venue, so after the gig we went upstairs which turns into a club. We went from a punk show to electronic music, very different ends of the spectrum! The club was okay. There were gogo dancers on stage and these girls could really move! After that, we went back to Holly's place to hang out a bit.
Needless to say, Sunday was a bit of a write off. I was so tired that I went to bed around 10:30 or 11. I think that's the earliest I've gone to bed since I've been here..! ;)
Tomorrow night I'll be going out again... It's a girl's birthday so we're going out to celebrate. Should be fun!
Pedro is leaving soon... Not sure exactly when, but definitely after St. Patrick's Day. So we're having a leaving party for him at our place on the 14th. I think it's going to be a big enough party. One of our friend's boyfriend volunteered to be the DJ at the party. So that'll be cool.
Hope all is well with you guys back home!
xo.
On Tuesday afternoon I went for a couple of drinks with Renata, her friend Erika and some Erika's coworkers. We went to the Temple Bar in Temple Bar. It's probably one of the most famous [and overpriced] pubs in Dublin. I made friends with one of the bartenders there, and he told me to come in for St. Patrick's Day and that he'll 'take care of' my friends and I. Perfect! hahah.
I had my interview with American Apparel on Wednesday. I was nervous, but I think it went okay. There were three interviewers which kind of surprised me. I wore an American Apparel dress to the interview, and the main girl noticed! So hopefully I scored some points there. They told me I'd only find out in about 2 weeks because they have to interview so many people. It's a brand new shop so they're looking to fill all positions. I'll probably give them a call by the end of this week just to touch base and to show that I'm interested. I'd also get a 50% discount if I worked there! Awesome!!
Friday night I went to a club called The Twisted Pepper to check out a couple of DJs. Holly was on the guestlist + 2, so Ludie and I went with her. Pedro also came but we all chipped in and paid for his way in. Otherwise, it would have been 18 euro for him to come in! Crazy. Anyway, it was a good nigt and we ran into some people we knew as well.
Saturday was the punk show. Pedro and I went to Holly's place first as she lives close to the venue. We forgot that there was huge rugby match going on - Ireland vs. England - and that Holly lives really close to the stadium [Croke Park]. The match ended before we arrived to Holly's so we were walking in the opposite direction of 1000s of people. It was intense! I took a couple of photos because I couldn't believe the amount of people.
Then we left Holly's place to go to the gig. It was Holly's first punk show ever and she really enjoyed it. The band is called Blood or Whiskey and they're from Dublin. Their sound is pretty different, they incoporate the banjo, acoustic guitar and the accordian. It was a lot of fun. And I bought a tshirt! hah. And Holly and I each got copies of the setlist. Pretty cool. The show was in the basement of a big venue, so after the gig we went upstairs which turns into a club. We went from a punk show to electronic music, very different ends of the spectrum! The club was okay. There were gogo dancers on stage and these girls could really move! After that, we went back to Holly's place to hang out a bit.
Needless to say, Sunday was a bit of a write off. I was so tired that I went to bed around 10:30 or 11. I think that's the earliest I've gone to bed since I've been here..! ;)
Tomorrow night I'll be going out again... It's a girl's birthday so we're going out to celebrate. Should be fun!
Pedro is leaving soon... Not sure exactly when, but definitely after St. Patrick's Day. So we're having a leaving party for him at our place on the 14th. I think it's going to be a big enough party. One of our friend's boyfriend volunteered to be the DJ at the party. So that'll be cool.
Hope all is well with you guys back home!
xo.
Monday, February 23, 2009
It's been too long..!
Hi everyone!
Sorry it's been so long since I updated!
Anyway, I want to say that a lot has happened, but at the same time it feels like not much has happened! It's hard to actually remember everything that's happened, but believe me when I say I've definitely been having the time of my life. :)
I'm still looking for a job. But I just received a phone call today from American Apparel, and I have an interview there on Wednesday. Wish me luck! I applied online there because they're opening a store here soon. And luckily I packed some American Apparel clothes from Canada, so I'll just wear some of those to the interview.
Wednesday night I went out to a club called The Button Factory to see an American DJ and a couple of Italian DJs. It was a crazy night and it was so much fun! There was an infamous American photographer there as well. I recognized him and I went up to him and chatted for a bit. Basically his job is that he travels around and takes photos of parties and puts them on the internet. Pretty sweet job, eh?! His website is here.
This past Friday my friend Blat, and Pedro and I did a little daytrip to County Wicklow to see the Wicklow mountains. I took some photos, but it didn't really do it justice. We also went up to the Dublin mountains and went to Dublin's highest pub -- Johnnie Fox's. We had absolutely perfect weather for it too. Actually, the weather in Dublin has been really nice lately. It's been sunny the past few days here which is a real rarity! I'll have photos up of my day trip on facebook soon.
Saturday night Pedro and I had some friends over before we went to a big house party at Blat's place. Blat's place is huge -- 8 people live there and they all have their own bedroom + 1 guest room. The party was really fun. They had a couple of DJs and there was about 100 people there. I left the party probably around 6:30am and I heard that the party only ended around 11am or later. Crazy! So they're going to have another party next month. haha.
This Saturday Holly and I will be going to an Irish punk concert. The band is called Blood or Whiskey and it should be a fun show! I had just recently discovered them before I left for Ireland, so I'm pretty excited about actually seeing them here in Dublin.
As you can imagine, there's already talk of St. Patrick's Day. I'm thinking of getting tshirts made for Holly and I. On the front they'll say "Canadian Girls' Drinking Team" and on the back "Dublin 09". My friend gave me another idea of having the front say "I'm not American!" since most people ask us if we are American...
In other news, I called my apartment agency today to see if they finally came to a decision to lower our rent. I originally asked for €200 less, but they said they could only give us €100 less. Which is better than nothing! So at least that. Better in my pocket than their's, right?!
Sorry it's been so long since I updated!
Anyway, I want to say that a lot has happened, but at the same time it feels like not much has happened! It's hard to actually remember everything that's happened, but believe me when I say I've definitely been having the time of my life. :)
I'm still looking for a job. But I just received a phone call today from American Apparel, and I have an interview there on Wednesday. Wish me luck! I applied online there because they're opening a store here soon. And luckily I packed some American Apparel clothes from Canada, so I'll just wear some of those to the interview.
Wednesday night I went out to a club called The Button Factory to see an American DJ and a couple of Italian DJs. It was a crazy night and it was so much fun! There was an infamous American photographer there as well. I recognized him and I went up to him and chatted for a bit. Basically his job is that he travels around and takes photos of parties and puts them on the internet. Pretty sweet job, eh?! His website is here.
This past Friday my friend Blat, and Pedro and I did a little daytrip to County Wicklow to see the Wicklow mountains. I took some photos, but it didn't really do it justice. We also went up to the Dublin mountains and went to Dublin's highest pub -- Johnnie Fox's. We had absolutely perfect weather for it too. Actually, the weather in Dublin has been really nice lately. It's been sunny the past few days here which is a real rarity! I'll have photos up of my day trip on facebook soon.
Saturday night Pedro and I had some friends over before we went to a big house party at Blat's place. Blat's place is huge -- 8 people live there and they all have their own bedroom + 1 guest room. The party was really fun. They had a couple of DJs and there was about 100 people there. I left the party probably around 6:30am and I heard that the party only ended around 11am or later. Crazy! So they're going to have another party next month. haha.
This Saturday Holly and I will be going to an Irish punk concert. The band is called Blood or Whiskey and it should be a fun show! I had just recently discovered them before I left for Ireland, so I'm pretty excited about actually seeing them here in Dublin.
As you can imagine, there's already talk of St. Patrick's Day. I'm thinking of getting tshirts made for Holly and I. On the front they'll say "Canadian Girls' Drinking Team" and on the back "Dublin 09". My friend gave me another idea of having the front say "I'm not American!" since most people ask us if we are American...
In other news, I called my apartment agency today to see if they finally came to a decision to lower our rent. I originally asked for €200 less, but they said they could only give us €100 less. Which is better than nothing! So at least that. Better in my pocket than their's, right?!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Recession Stressin'
Still on the job hunt. It seems like everyone is! I called a couple of my temp agencies today just to touch base so they don't forget about me. It's kind of stressful not having a job. Yesterday I applied at a hair salon for the receptionist position. It's in a very central area so I'm sure many other people applied for the job as well. Hopefully I find something soon! Dublin is just too expensive not to be working!
Tuesday night I went out with Renata, her friend Erika, and Erika's flatmate Valentina. Valentina had just arrived from Torino, Italy and can barely speak English. But she's very nice so we'll be hanging out again! We went to one bar that has 2 euro drinks on Tuesdays. Obviously the place was packed! Then it had to be evacuated because there was a bomb scare. This was still fairly early on in the night, so we went to another bar called The Mezz. We had loads of fun there! There was a band and they were playing The Doors, Nirvana, AC/DC, etc. They were actually pretty good! Then we went to et another bar after, it's a club that is opened later than most so a lot of people go there after the first bar they went to. It's called Copper Face Jack's and it's well-known in Dublin but no one really likes it, or will actually admit they do. haha! Anyway, needless to say we had a very good night on Tuesday!
Wednesday was kind of a write-off. I slept till 1pm, which I never do! And then I basically just slept all day... so productive, eh?!
Yesterday I walked around town a bit, dropped off my CV at that hair salon, bought some hummus which is kind of weird but oh well! hahah. I kind of miss Canadian food. The comfort of knowing what you're going to get... but that's part of the joy of travelling, right?!
Pedro's family arrived from Spain; his brother, sister-in-law, and sister. They brought over delicious food, it was so good! I love Spanish food. When Pedro moves back to Spain I'm definitely going to visit him and pig out everyday! They are from Majorca, Spain which is really quite beautiful. It's kind of close to Ibiza, if that helps. I just did a quick google search and came up with these photos. No wonder he has a hard time believing me about the cold Canadian winters!!
Pedro and his family left today to drive around Ireland for a few days, which is something I'd really love to do. They were nervous about driving on the other side of the road, so hopefully they're okay! I know I was nervous just crossing the street, let alone driving [even though I don't have my license...].
I may be going out with Valentina tonight but I'm not sure. Tomorrow night I'm going to Whelan's with Holly and Heather. Should be fun, as usual! Then on Sunday I'll be going to a concert with Holly. We're seeing The Streets, who are based out of London. I don't know if they've ever been to Canada, so I'm pretty excited to see Mike Skinner and The Streets.
Have a good weekend everyone, I know I will!
xo.
Tuesday night I went out with Renata, her friend Erika, and Erika's flatmate Valentina. Valentina had just arrived from Torino, Italy and can barely speak English. But she's very nice so we'll be hanging out again! We went to one bar that has 2 euro drinks on Tuesdays. Obviously the place was packed! Then it had to be evacuated because there was a bomb scare. This was still fairly early on in the night, so we went to another bar called The Mezz. We had loads of fun there! There was a band and they were playing The Doors, Nirvana, AC/DC, etc. They were actually pretty good! Then we went to et another bar after, it's a club that is opened later than most so a lot of people go there after the first bar they went to. It's called Copper Face Jack's and it's well-known in Dublin but no one really likes it, or will actually admit they do. haha! Anyway, needless to say we had a very good night on Tuesday!
Wednesday was kind of a write-off. I slept till 1pm, which I never do! And then I basically just slept all day... so productive, eh?!
Yesterday I walked around town a bit, dropped off my CV at that hair salon, bought some hummus which is kind of weird but oh well! hahah. I kind of miss Canadian food. The comfort of knowing what you're going to get... but that's part of the joy of travelling, right?!
Pedro's family arrived from Spain; his brother, sister-in-law, and sister. They brought over delicious food, it was so good! I love Spanish food. When Pedro moves back to Spain I'm definitely going to visit him and pig out everyday! They are from Majorca, Spain which is really quite beautiful. It's kind of close to Ibiza, if that helps. I just did a quick google search and came up with these photos. No wonder he has a hard time believing me about the cold Canadian winters!!
Pedro and his family left today to drive around Ireland for a few days, which is something I'd really love to do. They were nervous about driving on the other side of the road, so hopefully they're okay! I know I was nervous just crossing the street, let alone driving [even though I don't have my license...].
I may be going out with Valentina tonight but I'm not sure. Tomorrow night I'm going to Whelan's with Holly and Heather. Should be fun, as usual! Then on Sunday I'll be going to a concert with Holly. We're seeing The Streets, who are based out of London. I don't know if they've ever been to Canada, so I'm pretty excited to see Mike Skinner and The Streets.
Have a good weekend everyone, I know I will!
xo.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Feelin Alright
So, I'm back to job hunting...
Last week I had an interview for door to door sales and the guy told me I should have been in sales ages ago. So I tried it out for a few days and it was brutal. Walking around for hours on end, knocking on people's doors trying to get them to donate to charity during a recession is not the easiest thing to do! Plus, you don't get paid by the hour, only by commission. I tried it out for a few days but the whole setup seemed a bit dodgy and my feet just couldn't handle it. Hey, I'm used to working in an office! But the people I worked with were so fun and extremely nice, so I'll definitely miss that about the job. I also got to go to places in Dublin I wouldn't normally go to... the suburbs and whatnot. I went to Swords one day, and it's right along the coast and it was beautiful. But I didn't get to see much 'cause I was working..!
Yesterday I had a meeting with another temp agency so she said she'd try to find me a job. Hopefully I'll get something soon. I'll probably hit the pavement tomorrow and apply at retil shops or something... we'll see. I'm looking forward to having a steady income so I can start travelling around Ireland and the rest of Europe.
I've still been going out a lot! It's fun to check out new pubs and meet new people. There's no shortage of pubs and interesting people here, that's for sure.
On Saturday my flatmates and I are hosting a BBQ. I think we're the only ones here with a BBQ so we may as well use it! I'm thinking of making a pasta salad because that's pretty hard to screw up... hahah.
It hasn't rained here for awhile, but it started to today and I don't think it'll stop for another week, probably. We even had sunshine the past couple of days, so we should be grateful for that! I got to wear my sunglasses! A real rarity in Dublin.
People always comment on my accent here. It's so funny 'cause to me they're the ones with the accent! I often get people asking me if I'm American... and my answer is always "NO! I'm North American... I'm from Canada," and they always apologize. If they're Irish, I tell them that calling me American is like me calling them English... which they absolutely hate! hahah.
The other night I watched the movie In The Name of The Father with Daniel Day Lewis. Some of that movie is filmed right near my place! The jail in the movie is literally a 10 minute walk from my flat. It's now a museum. I visited it when I first came to Dublin in May, it's actually called Kilmainham Gaol. Pretty cool, eh?
Not much else is going on. The rest of my week is pretty booked -- I'm meeting friends every night this week [except Saturday, the day of the BBQ!] at a different pub each time. By the end of this year I'm sure I would have visited at least half of Dublin's pubs... hahah, yeah right! There's just too many to even count. It's like a piece of heaven on earth.
Last week I had an interview for door to door sales and the guy told me I should have been in sales ages ago. So I tried it out for a few days and it was brutal. Walking around for hours on end, knocking on people's doors trying to get them to donate to charity during a recession is not the easiest thing to do! Plus, you don't get paid by the hour, only by commission. I tried it out for a few days but the whole setup seemed a bit dodgy and my feet just couldn't handle it. Hey, I'm used to working in an office! But the people I worked with were so fun and extremely nice, so I'll definitely miss that about the job. I also got to go to places in Dublin I wouldn't normally go to... the suburbs and whatnot. I went to Swords one day, and it's right along the coast and it was beautiful. But I didn't get to see much 'cause I was working..!
Yesterday I had a meeting with another temp agency so she said she'd try to find me a job. Hopefully I'll get something soon. I'll probably hit the pavement tomorrow and apply at retil shops or something... we'll see. I'm looking forward to having a steady income so I can start travelling around Ireland and the rest of Europe.
I've still been going out a lot! It's fun to check out new pubs and meet new people. There's no shortage of pubs and interesting people here, that's for sure.
On Saturday my flatmates and I are hosting a BBQ. I think we're the only ones here with a BBQ so we may as well use it! I'm thinking of making a pasta salad because that's pretty hard to screw up... hahah.
It hasn't rained here for awhile, but it started to today and I don't think it'll stop for another week, probably. We even had sunshine the past couple of days, so we should be grateful for that! I got to wear my sunglasses! A real rarity in Dublin.
People always comment on my accent here. It's so funny 'cause to me they're the ones with the accent! I often get people asking me if I'm American... and my answer is always "NO! I'm North American... I'm from Canada," and they always apologize. If they're Irish, I tell them that calling me American is like me calling them English... which they absolutely hate! hahah.
The other night I watched the movie In The Name of The Father with Daniel Day Lewis. Some of that movie is filmed right near my place! The jail in the movie is literally a 10 minute walk from my flat. It's now a museum. I visited it when I first came to Dublin in May, it's actually called Kilmainham Gaol. Pretty cool, eh?
Not much else is going on. The rest of my week is pretty booked -- I'm meeting friends every night this week [except Saturday, the day of the BBQ!] at a different pub each time. By the end of this year I'm sure I would have visited at least half of Dublin's pubs... hahah, yeah right! There's just too many to even count. It's like a piece of heaven on earth.
Monday, January 5, 2009
A little late...
Well, the last time I updated was Christmas Eve, and as you can imagine, much has happened since then!
My Christmas was nice, spent with friends. It was weird to be away from home, but at least I was with other people who were in the same boat.
I have been going out a lot [surprise, surprise!], went to a gig at Whelan's, been pub/club hopping, etc.
Jess and Holly left for their EuroTrip on the 28th. It's weird with them not being here! But I'm okay, since I have new friends. :)
On Jess' last night we [there were about six of us] went to her favourite club, Craw Daddy. We met a few guys and one of their girlfriends. All three of the guys are correctional officers! So obviously we exchanged some stories, and they work at Mount Joy, which apparently is one of, if not the, worst prison in Ireland. So they told me they would take me one day. I hope so, because it'd be cool to compare Canadian and Irish prisons. But from what they told me it sounds like Canada's are wayyyy better. No comparison, really.
Anyway, after the club we all went back to their flat. Oh God, it was so funny! Those guys + Grace [one of their girlfriends] are hilarious. I've hung out with them a few times since. :)
On the 30th, David and I hung out. He drove us to Sandymount [or something...] to see some of the coast [along the Irish sea]. It was a typical windy, foggy Irish day... but at least it wasn't raining! I have some photos on facebook.
New Year's Eve was fun. I met up with a Canadian girl, Heather, I met at work. Then we went to my flatmate's, Renata, friend's place for a late dinner and drinks. There were a few people and we rang in the Spanish new year there [they're one hour ahead in Spain]. In Spain, it's tradition to eat 12 grapes once the clock strikes midnight... so they had 12 grapes for each person there! It was cute!
Then we went to a pub called The Church. It really does look like a church, but I don't think it ever really was one. I doubt it because Ireland is so friggin Catholic that I'd doubt they'd ever let a church become a pub... but who knows! So we were having fun there, but around 1:30am we decided we wanted to go somewhere else. So went to Flannery's which is right across the street from Whelan's. :P
After Flannery's no one wanted to go home, so we went to a house party. I didn't go to bed till after 7am! hahah. Needless to say, not much was accomplished on January 1st...
Friday night I was just going to stay home, but Pedro convinced me to go out. We went to a pub where they play Irish music and there's no cover charge. It was pretty good! We stayed there for awhile, but then we went to another pub... I think it was called Grogan's. As you can see, there's no shortage of pubs here! hahah. Then they wanted to go another pub, but I was so tired because I had worked all day and I was still recovering from NYE... so I left early!
Saturday night was my flatmate's, Junior, leaving party. He's going back to Brasil forever..! So his party was at The Church. It was so much fun. I met a lot of Junior's friends, and they're hilarious. So we exchanged info and will be hanging out even though Junior will be gone. I said "eh?" once to them and they absolutely loved it. hahah.
Last night I just hung out with the flatmates and watched The Usual Suspects. I love that movie!
Tonight, we'll be hanging out here till Renata is back from work then we'll be going to a pub called the Brazen Head. It's about a 1 minute walk from my place and is apparently the oldest pub in Dublin. So we have to check it out!
I'm anxious to get a steady job so I can start travelling more. I'd really like to see Galway and a lot more of Ireland. I'd also really like to check out Scotland... just short day/weekend trips would suffice. So here's hoping I get a steady job soon!
Cheers!
My Christmas was nice, spent with friends. It was weird to be away from home, but at least I was with other people who were in the same boat.
I have been going out a lot [surprise, surprise!], went to a gig at Whelan's, been pub/club hopping, etc.
Jess and Holly left for their EuroTrip on the 28th. It's weird with them not being here! But I'm okay, since I have new friends. :)
On Jess' last night we [there were about six of us] went to her favourite club, Craw Daddy. We met a few guys and one of their girlfriends. All three of the guys are correctional officers! So obviously we exchanged some stories, and they work at Mount Joy, which apparently is one of, if not the, worst prison in Ireland. So they told me they would take me one day. I hope so, because it'd be cool to compare Canadian and Irish prisons. But from what they told me it sounds like Canada's are wayyyy better. No comparison, really.
Anyway, after the club we all went back to their flat. Oh God, it was so funny! Those guys + Grace [one of their girlfriends] are hilarious. I've hung out with them a few times since. :)
On the 30th, David and I hung out. He drove us to Sandymount [or something...] to see some of the coast [along the Irish sea]. It was a typical windy, foggy Irish day... but at least it wasn't raining! I have some photos on facebook.
New Year's Eve was fun. I met up with a Canadian girl, Heather, I met at work. Then we went to my flatmate's, Renata, friend's place for a late dinner and drinks. There were a few people and we rang in the Spanish new year there [they're one hour ahead in Spain]. In Spain, it's tradition to eat 12 grapes once the clock strikes midnight... so they had 12 grapes for each person there! It was cute!
Then we went to a pub called The Church. It really does look like a church, but I don't think it ever really was one. I doubt it because Ireland is so friggin Catholic that I'd doubt they'd ever let a church become a pub... but who knows! So we were having fun there, but around 1:30am we decided we wanted to go somewhere else. So went to Flannery's which is right across the street from Whelan's. :P
After Flannery's no one wanted to go home, so we went to a house party. I didn't go to bed till after 7am! hahah. Needless to say, not much was accomplished on January 1st...
Friday night I was just going to stay home, but Pedro convinced me to go out. We went to a pub where they play Irish music and there's no cover charge. It was pretty good! We stayed there for awhile, but then we went to another pub... I think it was called Grogan's. As you can see, there's no shortage of pubs here! hahah. Then they wanted to go another pub, but I was so tired because I had worked all day and I was still recovering from NYE... so I left early!
Saturday night was my flatmate's, Junior, leaving party. He's going back to Brasil forever..! So his party was at The Church. It was so much fun. I met a lot of Junior's friends, and they're hilarious. So we exchanged info and will be hanging out even though Junior will be gone. I said "eh?" once to them and they absolutely loved it. hahah.
Last night I just hung out with the flatmates and watched The Usual Suspects. I love that movie!
Tonight, we'll be hanging out here till Renata is back from work then we'll be going to a pub called the Brazen Head. It's about a 1 minute walk from my place and is apparently the oldest pub in Dublin. So we have to check it out!
I'm anxious to get a steady job so I can start travelling more. I'd really like to see Galway and a lot more of Ireland. I'd also really like to check out Scotland... just short day/weekend trips would suffice. So here's hoping I get a steady job soon!
Cheers!
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