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.
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