And our last weekend in Dublin comes to a close....

Sunday rolled around much to fast...our very last Sunday in Ireland... BOOOO!! It was a rainy day...as they usually are here. I slept in rather late, awoke ate a sandwich from Spar and then went back to bed for a nap. After the nap, I cleaned my room and prepared myself for the joining Megan and her visitors pubcrawl in progress...
We met up with them at The Temple Bar...Temple bar area was incredibly packed yesterday more than usual...apparently this is a grand time for travel to Ireland. Next we headed to O'Donahues right off Grafton, as it is on the Top 10 Dublin list but we had not made an appearance there as of yet. We watched a bit of Crickett there on the old tube...Learned some rules and such...the crickett ball is intensely hard, i imagine it to be something like a croquett ball, we saw some fellow get hit in the wrist with a ball and were assured that his wrist was now broken... SCARY!!
After O'Donahues we headed to the Hairy Lemon..i feel it must be mentioned that upon stepping foot in the pub it smells like lemon pinesol... perhaps thats the plan?... After the Hairy Lemon we dashed to catch the last bus back to Santry.. it comes at half 11. I bought some chips and salsa for the ride and we were very pleasantly surprised that they were quite delicious.
I felt it was a perfect close to the last weekend in Dublin... I shouldnt say that, there will be more weekends...we will be back.
I suppose I will get to work now, as i was an hour late. Though it didnt matter b/c everyone in the entire organization is currently in a staff meeting, that we were not invited to...Isnt that grand? I'm beginning to think im not such a vital member of the One Family staff....hahha...perhaps its bc i spend most of my time looking out the window...hahaha.

Midlands Music Festival....Wheres Van?!?!

Saturday morning bright and early we headed down to County Meathe for The Midlands Music Festival...
The first thing i feel i must admit is that we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into, all we knew was at 8:10 Van Morrison would take the stage. When we got there we were rather surprised to find that we had just payed €70 to go to an Irish Country Festival...yes thats correct, we fell into the one place where there are irish rednecks. Upon entering the gates, we knew what we had to do...We purchased straw cowboy hats that said Midlands in the front, and the second thing we did was hit up the beer tent. I think i should point out here that in my entire life i have never owned a cowboy hat, just never felt the need, and since ive come to Ireland, I've actually aquired 2...I'm apparently an Irish cowboy.
Anyways..the day continued with loads of country acts... A song about a snakefarm, some gentlemen in suits,a young boy who played guitar. All of whom were greeted with the same obnoxious american shouts "Wheres Van?" We were delighted to find that Don McLean was playing there....I can now say that i have heard American Pie sung live next to a castle (though im ashamed to admit the castle was the least impressive castle EVER...i mean i actually had an argument about where it was made of plastic or not). The finally after alittle Glen Campbell, who may or maynot be the original singer of 'RhineStone cowboy' (I feel i must mention here that he was wearing a hot pink cowboy shirt with diamonds on it)...it was finally time for the man... VAN MORRISON!!
Van Morrison was deadly...i couldnt believe my luck to be viewing him in person. It was right around this time that the sushi i had eaten about 30minutes before began to combat my stomach...it became neccessary for me to pick up a cup off the ground and vomit...So there I was holding a cup of my own vomit as Van sang 'Crazy Love'...I didnt let it hamper my excitement. I will NEVER in my life eat sushi again, as now i have a person vendetta against it for nearly ruining my Van experience. As Van's set drew to a close, the question hung in the air "Will we be priviledged enough to hear...dare we even hope it?... brown eyed girl?".... I looked at my clock, time for one more song...and then i knew "Sarah...brown eyed girls will be next" and then within moments "Dodododo...." (use your imagination)...I'm not sure ive ever been more happy in my entire life. I was slightly disappointed not to hear some of my other favorites such as Caravan but the show was still the best thing EVER!!
After Van, Dwight Yolkem played...not entirely sure who the chap is...but your man was pretty good. Following that we headed back to the bus, a bunch of tuckered out cowlasses....

Republic of Loose is the best band EVer....

Thursday began our last weekend here in Ireland, as next weekend we will be in Prague and the following one in Italy...and then...duh duh duh... the US
We spent the nite at our FAVORITE bar, Whelans, this time though there was closure... great tunes, nots of dancing. In fact I have a vivid memory of hearing that song that goes like "we are young...we are free..." the very first time we went there, our first Friday in Dublin and they played that song at our last time there...rather fitting i believe.
Friday we were awoken abruptly to find out that Republic of Loose would be putting on a free show from a pantoon on the River Liffey. We had about an hour to make it there, which in Dublin is no small feat... but we made it and had excellent seats. The lead singer is amazing, what a stage presence. not to mention the other members. It started raining mid performance, i couldnt care less that i was soaking wet. Definitly the best way to spend a friday afternoon. You should check them out http://Republicofloose.com
Following the show,we went to a few photo galleries around Temple Bar area...one of the exhibitions was super interesting...it was called the Ruins of American Cities. The photographer would capture the same area over spans of like 20 years and watch it fall apart. There was one series that was particularly interesting, it was in Harlem and it showed 2 store fronts and their progression from i think the 70s until now. About every 2 years the stores would change and eventually now htey are just one big matress store.... hahaha.
After the photos we had our very last Mexican Friday. Back at the original spot Acapulco....on Dame Street...mmmm... soo good.
Then we headed home... and began our last friday nite in Dublin. We started off at Bruxelles...great craic...just brilliant and then we attempted to head to the Gaiety a club that is open until about 4 but it didnt work out, so we headed across the street to Sutton's Bar, which in fact did work out and turned out to be a blast. Great nite...

Irish @ MSU?

Yesterday was a delightful day...after work i met up with sarah and we went to buy our bus tickets for the Midland Music Festival...Van Morrison here we come..only 2 more days.... YAY!!! On the way to meet up i stopped at Starbucks for a latte. I had forgotten how big a grande was.... jesus a medium coffee here is soo much smaller than it would be at home, its like the size of our small. I was astonished to realize how accustomed to the smaller portions I've become.
I found it rather odd that the bus station would not except my credit card yesterday bc i had no signed the back. Isnt that a matter of preference, my liscense has my damn signature on it....crazy!!
It upset me that yesterday when i was working on my paper, i kept wanting to spell program the irish way progamme. It was also upsetting today when i messaged Megan with the word behaviour...damn u's are creeping in to my life.
At nite we went to Brodans Bar on Dame street. The wine there is considerably cheaper than most pubs. While we were there visiting with one of our irish friends, it occured to me just how much fun our new friends would have back at STate. In working to convince the irish to visit us, ive come up with the following rationales
1. Things are open late... Food places till 4, 24 hour luxuries....
2. Target/Meijer... they wouldnt have seen anything like it
3. Tailgating... pretty sure they'd be real good at it
4. our campus... its size, its appearance.. very dif from their own
5. Loads of gullable americans.... footballers? why the hell not.
6. Mennas Joint... needs no explanation...that place is damn good.
7. Drinking games...
8. Basketball, American Football, hockey... sports in general i suppose.
I had loads of other ideas last nite...perhaps i'll add some on later.
Got to do some work now bc i plan to duck out a bit early today to catch a bus that wont take 10 years to get my back to santry.

A Nite at the Abbey Theatre....

I really can't get over how grand the weather has been...or how low my standards have dropped for assessing the weather. I've become fairyly certain that the heat will kill me when i return, I could barely live in Amsterdam where the temp was like 85. Anyways...yesterday was a another lovely day. We ate lunch in the park as usual...then after work, i met up with the ladies for some dinner and drinks before heading off to the theatre (we are super sophisticated now, in case u hadnt noticed already)
After work we went to Dame Tavern, in hopes that the most beautiful bartender/accountant in Ireland would be dilligantly serving up drink, but sadly he was not... so after a glass of wine, we departed for some dinner.
We ended up at Cactus Jack's mostly because they had an outside table available. Its a good place. Decent mexican food as well as burgers. Although we were slagged quite abit for our americanisms...hahha...all in good fun. I find myself in times like that playing up my americanness, for example after he mocked out accents, i ordered a coors light (and drank it out of the bottle, which isn't really the thing to do here...ur supposed to go cup and ice...ice in your beer? now how does that make any sense?) and a cheese burger...mmmm...america.
When we were finished we booked in to the Abbey Theatre. Its right off the Liffey and is the National Theatre in Ireland. Pretty sure it is the oldest. We saw The Importance of Being Earnest, portrayed by an all male cast. I'm very interested in how those boys get there voices to go soo high. The play was really really good. I enjoyed in thoroughly. I also enjoyed the man who was sitting behind me bc he had the most jolly laugh, i love when people have good solid laughs.
After the play we caught the bus home.... it was amazing how short the ride was as compared to the morning... we were on the bus for prolly 8 minutes, when we head to work in the morning it takes about an hour. INSANE!!
I can barely contain my excitement for Van Morrison this weekend... I firmly believe it will be the best moment of my life thus far... I wonder what songs he will sing... im hoping for some Caravan...
Alright time to get to work... Maybe....Cheers!!

Why Ireland is soo lovely....

As the end of my stay here in Ireland draws near, I am forced to reflect on all those things i will be missing...
1. Flytes... All the chocolatey taste without the calories..mmm...
2. A-wear... I've never seen one in the states...though i supposed its possible
3. Cliffs...
4. Knackers... when they arent stabbing people they are quite amusing
5. Snake-bites... you can get them everywhere but the states...hahha
6. Our secret identities... Layla the art student from Cali studying in NYU who hangs
with Joey the musician from Maine and April the art
art history major from Oregon just wont fly in the states
7. The novelty of public transportation that works...
8. Irish accents... the proper kind
9. The phrase "It's not like that at home"... though i suppose it could be replaced with... "its not like that in Ireland"
10. World Cup excitement
11. Whelan's
12. Tom Kelley... Who else can i blame all my problems on?
13. Business men with ice cream
14. Lunches at St. Stephens Green
15. Spar and its sandwiches
16. Cafe Sol... How u have improved my workday one latte at a time
17. The fact that its acceptable to go the pub everynite...
18. Not having a TV
19. Apt. 4 ... but now having realized i dont live in apt. 4 its not that thrilling, ill actually be missing apt 3..and by extention 4 as well
20. Recieving text messages on a regular basis
21. Paying for things with coins... and having it be acceptable
22. Tanks a mil...cheers!!...o how i love that phrase.
23. Tidy as a verb... As in.. Did u ever see him tidy the place all summer?
24. The computer room, the view out the window of One Family... where i 28 hours a week...
God...there is just soo much... I dont even want to think about all the people... damn it. Im really looking foward to this weekend bc of the Van Morrison concert but at the same time...this is my last weekend in Dublin...maybe EVER. Its way to upsetting... I really think if i didnt have obligations awaiting me at home... I would stay.
In other exciting news... last nite we saw The Break Up...it just came out here this weekend... decent flick. Today on the bus i realized that i had a stain on my shirt, so i planned to go purchase a cheap one to wear instead bc we are going to play tonite...then i spilled tea all over my dress.. spent the morning cleaning that up. On my lunch break i deciede to brave the stores...as im exiting a-wear, eating delicious irish strawberries (fruit is excellent here...who would have thought?) I get strawberry juice all over my white dress... defeating the purpose of the shirt purchase bc no one will be looking at that... they will be looking at my red stain on my dress... Why is it impossible for me to keep tidy? Its just really very odd....
Alright...now back to work... Cheers!!

One last shot at Amsterdam Tourism

So as we had failed to see the sights of Amsterdam on Saturday due to poor planning we had bit hopes for Sunday. The plan was : Van Gogh Museum, Canal Tour and Heinekin Experience. Little did we know the city was against us.
We got up at 8am and had breakfast at the cafe next to our Hostel. Then we headed out toward the Van Gogh. Stopped at a tourist office to find the right way...they sold us tickets there (10euro) and sent us to a tram...the simplest way to get there. We made it there sometime around 10:30. The Museum is unbelievable. I really enjoy Van Gogh's work. Bought some posters and post cards and a colored pencil that rights with numerous colors. Grand.
We only spent about 2 -21/2 hours there. So we should have had plenty of time for Heiniken....but o no. It took us light years to find a tram and then it took us even longer to get on one that was going the right way. We ended up at there at around 1...but we needed to be heading back to our bus hostel to pick up our luggage by 2. The tour lasted an hour so we couldnt partake. Next plan was the take a canal tour instead. But we couldnt find an appropriate boat to take us. So we decieded to head back to our hostel area. We had over 2 hours to make it back but we rode the tram the wrong way three times. Each time passing the same 'I AMsterdam' sign each ride. It was very absurd. Once we finally arrived we stopped off in park to observe the canal a bit. There we met a Polish artists whos homeless but doesnt consider herself so. We bought some of her art and listened to her odd stories that moved her to tears. Needless to say its was pretty akward. The other strange part was that she seemed ageless...like her body was that of an old woman but her mannerisms reflected those of a young person...strange. She occupied like all our time so in the end we had just 20 minutes to make it back to our hostel to retrieve our luggage and make it to the bus stop at 3pm. It was a struggle....we made it there promptly at 3pm, only to discover that the bus was until 3:45...hahhahhaa.
I thoroughly enjoyed Holland...though i must admit i saw no tulips or people wearing wooden cloggs...though they did sell those things for the tourists. Had a great weekend but im definitly glad to be back in Dublin.
This week begins the home stretch...this weekend in our very last weekend in Dublin city...the following one we will be in Prague and the one after that Italy.
I'm sure this last bit of the trip will be amazing...topped off with the best thing EVER.. We had tickets to see VAN MORRISON in a CASTLE!!...not sure if ive ever been more excited for anything in my life. YAY
Alright best be getting back to work since im a horrible intern and was late this morning bc my damn alarm just never went off... CHEERS!!

A Delightful Saturday in Amsterdam

Saturday we got up at 10 am. The weather in Amsterdam is lovely. Nice and hot...although since we are not accustomed to the heat anymore..we sweat profusely. GROSS!!
We ate breakfast on our way to the Anne Frank House at some absurd little shop where the server looked like Aladdin. Then the adventure began. It was unbelievable (and slightly ironic) how hard it was for us to find Anne Franks hiding place. Everytime we would check our location on the map it would somewhere insanely wrong... i cant even explain how odd the journey was. Once we finally found it, we waited in a massive que. It costs 7.50euro to go in and check it out. Its actually really cool. There is no furnature in there...but they have pictures that would show how it looked, its sort of odd to be in the actual place where she lived before she was killed. After Anne Frank, we headed to the Maddame Toursaut Wax Museum,it was horrifying. It costs 15.50euro to get in but its definitly worth the experience. It starts out simply enough...just alittle history of Holland, then out of no where u are thrown into a live Pirates of the Carribean show. Here I am walking along, about the capture a photo of what i think is a wax statue of Orlando Bloom, when suddenly it leaps out at me and the horror begins...sent into the pitch black maze where u can never know if something is wax or real. After the Pirates exhibit comes the celebrities...its real fun to take pictures with them. Although, they were still a bit dodgey, couldnt trust my judgement between wax and life anymore.
After the Wax museum our plan was to go to THe Van Gogh Museum but it closed at around 6 and we had wasted out entire day looking for Anne Frank. Every other touristy thing had closed so we were left to wonder about again. Hit up some Bars... great craic...went to bed early though bc we had many plans to see the sites of Amsterdam before our bus to the airport at 3pm.

Amsterdam...Day 1

Just returned from a marvelous weekend in Holland, Amsterdam to be exact. We arrived in Eidenhoven Airport at around 7pm. Eidenhoven is super cheap to fly into and is only about an hour or so outside the city. We found a bus that would take us right into Amsterdam no problem. The bus costed 30euro round trip, but it was a nice bus and very convienent.
Amsterdam is a really beautiful city. The whole thing is covered with canals...instead of the hop on hop off bus tours they do hop on hop off canal boats. Its really grand. We stayed at the Youth Meeting Point Hostel. It was really a great choice. Loads of people, good security, 24 hour bar. Just savage. We had an 18 person room, but it was really not bad at all. They had oil bins with locks for us to lock all our stuff up, had absolutely no problems. After checking in to our hostel we explored the city abit. Checked out some coffee shops and then ate dinner. We ate at the place the 'Come Back'. It was delightful to find they had antipasto salads since i had been craving one for weeks...mmmm...salami. They also had excellent onion rings and desserts as well. I must admit i was never dissapointed by the food in Amsterdam...they had soo many things we had been missing. Although i must confess we never found nachos and cheese...like the kind u get at baseball games. After dinner we hung out a bit at the hostel bar and then went to bed early... we had a big day planned for saturday.

Pullin a 'Fake Sickee'

Yesterday with the encouragement of some of our irish friends, Sarah and I pulled a 'fake sickee'. It was a brilliant idea. We slept in a bit. Then we headed to Burrito and Blues in Rathmines for some nachos. Not the best nachos i've ever had, im not gonna lie. The decor in the place was odd, mexican food served with a side of blues music. Very cute though.
After the nachos, we went to Seaport. Its about a 10-15 minute ride on the dart south of Dublin. We hung out at our friends house that overlooks the sea (or as we would call it the ocean).
We mostly just hung out and watched TV. We caught a show on E! called "Stranded with a star" where u choose between celebrities who would be best to be stranded on an island with...it was very interesting to see things from an Irish point of view...hahha. Then we watched...wait for it... the English version of PRICE IS RIGHT. It was horrifying. We were mocked incredibly for the looks of disgust on our face. The whole thing is modern and the host is horrible nothing at all like Bob. The show is only a half hour. The person with the highest spin on the wheel does a showcase showdown by themselves. They push a button and get a range for their bid... for example last nite it was 2,000pounds so the contestant had to guess within 2000pounds of his showcase without going over. It was certainly interesting but i wouldnt reccommend it.
Today we leave for Amsterdam...very exciting. Will be back on Sunday!! Cheers!!

THE Hottest day in Ireland in 10 YEARS!!

The weather the past few days has been just lovely... mid 70s pushing 80s.Spent the past few days just laying out at lunch and after work. We have been hitting up the park behind DCU. Spent the past few nites at THe Pav... its a pub on Trinity College. You buy your drinks and then go drink them outside at the Cricket Pitch...its marvelous. Just brilliant craic.
Yesterday at work we took a field trip to the courts... Began the day at the four courts, learning from a barrister the difference between barristor and solicitor..and other things.Then we went to the Dolphin house where they hold family court cases...we couldnt sit in on one bc they are all 'in camera' meaning there is no record of them and no one is allowed in the room but the people involved. Then we met with some administrative staff to learn how the whole thing works...it was all pretty interesting, just wish it hadnt been on a sunny day when i would have rather been outside.
After work Morgan and I went to The Market for some nachos, and wine and then headed home to lay out in the park...
After laying out,Sarah and I headed down to the cricket pitch, and then to Bruxelle's. Great craic....

Odditys of the Irish

I may have made the word oddity up but i thought this would be a good opportunity to expose some of things about the Irish we find quite odd....
1. The thing that inspired this entry was the bathroom facilities at OneFamily. There are 2 bathrooms...side by side. One of which has no toilet seat on the toilet, yet people still use it....How is that possible? Keep in mind there is not a male worker in the place. ODD!!
2. They always hold their knives when they eat using it was scooping tool...regardless of whether or not a knife would be necessary ....ODD!!
3. They walk on the right side of the sidewalk while they drive on the leftside of the road..ODD!!
4. They think their country is shaped like a teddy bear though it doesnt resemble anything even remotely related to a bear...ODD!!
5. They have no common courtisy.... bumping into u at their free will... and never EVER saying sorry..ODD!!
6. They say your man instead that guy... abit jarring at first... ODD!!
7. Bitch about the heat when its nice...(bear in mind its only like 70) and complain about the weather when its not hot.. ODD!!
8. Butter and Mayo is an essential in most sandwiches.... ODD!!
9. There is corn on everything... salads, sandwiches, and pizza...ODD!!!
10. They think telling a girl she looks like Bette Midler is a compliment... ODD!!
11. The ATM machines... your card comes out before the money... ODD!!
There are soo many more things that escape me now... prolly will pick it up later...

Summer Festival in Bray

Saturday after the distillary we met up with some friends at D/two on Harcourt Street. Its a pretty decent club. Very very crowded..club type music. A bit of craic.
Yesterday we took the Dart down to Bray. Bray is about a 35 minute ride south of Dublin. It was the last day of their summer fest. We exprienced an Irish Carnival, complete with rides, free music, vendors and FIREWORKS!!! We got down there at about 4pm and just walked around for a bit. The festival was right on the coast...like literally on the beach...well im not really sure u would call that a beach. It was more a like a bed of rocks...it was very odd to see people laying out on top of rocks... apparently sand just isnt a prerequiste for beach here. They had some amazing vendors...ended up purchasing a couple of pretty awesome necklaces. We also managed to find a tent that had like 8000 different kinds of olives and peppers and such for snacking on. I chose 2 of the hottest peppers ever stuffed with feta cheese... pretty delicious though water was definitly necessary afterwards. Then we walked around a bit more before stopping for dinner. Nothing like sharing a apache pizza, cheese chips and garlic mushrooms with ur good friends while looking out at the ocean...it was just lovely. After dinner we hit up the rides.A ghost train, that basicly consisted of riding 2 ft in the pitch dark...a roller coaster, (while the coaster on any american standards would have seemed like it was lacking...it dawned on us that the irish prolly dont know anything about costers...they have no amusement parks or anything...poor irish folks), a fun house with 2 mirrors and finally the frisbee an odd spinning ride. After rides we headed into Porterhouse (yea theres one in Bray as well) for a bit of drink. I tried to temple brau this time...pretty darn grand...sarah tried the haus weiss which is supposedly flavored like banana and bubble gum...not my style but im sure there are people that would dig it. While drinking we caught some of Brian Kennedy...an irish singer that reminded us of Rex Manning from Empire Records...I wasnt too keen on him but the irish seemed to really enjoy him so i guess thats all thats important. And Finally then it was time for the FIREWORKS...I was a bit fearful that the irish didnt know how to hold it down with fireworks...but they did not disappoint. It was a spectacular showing... None of us could help up smile enormously...the excitement was barely containable. Some of the works were even red white and blue..the only thing missing was america the beautiful in the background. They had some works i had be never been witness too before. My favorite was the ones that shot up, and sizzled and just when u thought they were done they would explode one or 2 more times nad just lite up the entire sky over the ocean and just sizzle...o man im giddy just thinking about it. O man it was perfect. just absolutely savage. AFter the works we headed home via the last dart back to Dublin.
It just occured to me that exactly a month from today i will be back in the states... BBBOOO!!! This has been such an amazing summer, I really dont want it to end EVER!.
We had to come to work at 9am today instead of 10...it was brutal...i think im gonna nap at my desk for a bit...CHEERS!!!

Old Jameson Distillary

Last nite.... we went to Whelan's...im fearful that it might be our last time there. Man that club is spectacular.
Today we checked out the Jameson Distillary... costs 7euro for students, price including a free jameson on the rocks afterwards. The tour was decent...the guide was prolly the most obnoxious human being on the face of the earth. Its just a down-scaled version of what the distallary used to be. They dont actually make any whiskey there anymore though it stands on the original site. We learned alot about whiskey.... the main difference between american and irish whiskey is the amount of times it is distilled. Irish 3 American 1. I guess it was worth the trip....but its not as grand as Guinness, if pressed for time i would definitly choose Guiness. The irish coffees there are unbelievable. Also discovered that ginger ale and whiskey is a good mixture...who knew.
Well i have to get ready to head out for the nite... big nite with all our irish friends....Cheers!!

OOO...Dublin Zoo...

The weather the past few days has been beautiful. I'm pleased to admit that my standards for weather have become shockingly low. The other day while walking to work I thought to myself "What a lovely day"....it was cloudy, no sun in the low 60s...the only positive thing about the day was it wasnt raining. I felt very irish. Anyways...lately its been sunny...oo sun how ive missed u. The temp is prolly low 70s. Not too bad...it does get a bit chilly though when the breeze blows and there is always a breeze. Its been perfect ice cream eating days.
Thursday we celebrated Amy's 21st bday with dinner in La Caverna. An italian place in temple bar area..i believe ive spoken of it before...pretty decent. Then we went to The Village... it was suprisingly empty....but still a good time. The music was grand. Once the village closed we headed to The Capital...a cocktail bar just around the corner... Good craic there...music was oldies..american oldies...very nice.
Friday...Today we went to the Dublin Zoo. I decieded before even getting on the bus, that i had to enter into this day with a fresh zoo perspective.Forget about the many other fabulous zoos ive visited and admire the Dublin Zoo for what it was a rather small zoo in the middle of Phoenix Park. With that attitude in mind...Dublin zoo was brilliant. For a student it costs about 11euro to get in...i believe thats pretty on par with Detroit Zoo. We saw some of the sickest looking birds ive ever seen....i believe i will have nitemares about them. There names escape me now..something with a hornbill and something else. We also saw Red River Hogs (pictured above)...o god were those disgusting. I was very amused my them. The main problem with the Dublin Zoo is their viewing areas...mainly u are viewing animals through fences or over bushes....not cool. They also allow for viewing in the animals cage area...sort of depressing. Alot of the animals were sleeping when we went.. i dont reccommend going around 4pm. We didnt get to see the tigers that malled someones arm the other day or the baby snow leopards...damn it. There was a Tim Hourton inside the zoo...CRAZY.
After the zoo we had Mexican Friday at TGI Fridays.... I lost all my diginity there when i tripped and fell walking up the stairs...damn club foot. The Nachos were absolutely savage...they involved Coby cheese...mmmm..i love u colby. We all ordered Fajita Towers as well...VERY STELLAR!!
On the way home we spotted an off-license that sold LABATT...its labatt ice...but hell ill take it... We also found Rolling Rock...o simple canadian/american beers how we have missed u in our bellies.
Alright its time to go out and celebrate a bit more... PeacE!!!

An American in Dublin?

Yesterday was the visitors last in Ireland...They went on the Dublin hop-on, hop-off tour...reports are good..well worth the euro. They stopped for lunch with me at a Turkish restraunt right across the street from One Family..Laylas. I had hellim sandwich turns out hellim is quite lovely. We met again for dinner at Porterhouse...added oyster stout to the many porterhouse brews we've sampled..decent. Then we headed to The Oliver St. John Gogarty in Temple Bar area for some live irish tunes...they play music from 2:30-2:30. Watch some elbow pipe...an instrument native to Ireland...very interesting. Finished the nite in O'Sullivans with some acoustic american tunes. Definitly a bit of craic.

Upon the departure of our lastest batch of visitors... i began to ponder could i see myself living in Dublin long-term? The answer... (although this is VERY hypothetical...no plans whatsoever to stay) i feel would be YES. Before our departure, we were warned of the culture shock we would experience...how different things might be...and yes while things are at times quite different than they are at home...there are many things that are similar...I dont think any one in our group really experienced severe culture shock at all. In my experience thus far traveling around Europe...and i havent been many places...Dublin to me feels the most like a city in the US. While to a European that might seem like a bad thing...to me its lovely. Yes there are some alterations i would make to the irish culture...such as effective pills, drinkable diet coke, or variety in general. There are many aspects of the culture i would love to bring home to the US as well... relaxed work ethic, social approriateness of grown people eating ice cream in the middle of the day while walking down the street, or black courrant. I really dont feel like adjusting to a life in Dublin would be all that different from adjusting to a life in any unfamiliar city in the US (if that makes any sense?. I dont know....just thought i might share my thoughts....
Time to go to bed...cheers!!

A Nite @ Harold's Cross Dog Park

Yesterday we went out for an evening to the dog races at Harolds Cross. I really love that racing...think i should raise one of those grey hounds...how hard can it be? I think that their may not be an age-limit for gambling here..since i saw like 10 year old knacker children placing bets. I've come to realize that the dog parks are heavily populated by people over the age of 60 and knackers. Since, i am neither, i generally dont fit in very well. Ahh, well its great craic. I was definitly a loser last nite though... i may have lost something like 4euro...my brother lost like 40 so i dont feel as bad.
After the races we hit up our local pub...THe Comet. Its located just a block or 2 away from our flat. The scene in there is pretty mellow...mostly older gentlemen but its a decent place to hang out... only open till half 11 though. Prolly for the best since i have to rise early in the am for work.
Thats about it for now.... Cheers... o and plans to add picture to london trip very soon.

OO...The World Cup comes to a Close...

Yesterday for the big match we headed to The Globe on George Street. It was super super crowded...however we did manage to score an amazing table. Well it would have been amazing if so many people werent standing in front. I decieded to cheer for Italy...which in the end proved to be a wise decision as they were the winners. Yay Italia!!! Found it odd that people chant the tune from the White Stripes Seven Nation Army....beginning to wonder if the white stripes ripped the beat. Hmm...conundrum. Soo exciting that the match ended in a shootout...i wouldnt have it any other way. After the match we went to Eamon Dorans again...as it a sure bet for a being open late. It was a good bit of craic. I cant believe my luck for being in Europe during the World Cup...if only Ireland had qualified...now that would have been intense or if the US had won it all...o man.
I'm starting to get real stressed that I only have a month left here. It sucks that we planned all our trips for the end bc we have like no time in Dublin in July. Its gonna be one depressing day when its time to go.
Today was a beautiful day so we ate lunch in St. Stephens Green again. I think i may have burned myself out on mozarella, tomatoe and pesto...bc it just didnt taste as good as it usually does today. I finished up with an ice cream bc the sun was shining. I had a feast...soo chocolately. I think i like it better than the magnum...those are so rich. Wow..im such a fat american...
Tonite we are checking out the dog races again...im pretty excited. Will let u know how that goes...peace...

A nite in Stansted Airport

Saturday: Got up around 10, headed out. We got tickets for the London hop on, hop off tour bus. I thought it would be lame but it actually was super interesting and a very convenient way to see everything. Our first guide was actually quite funny, making cracks about Tony Blaire and such. At one point we passed a statue of Abe Lincoln that the US gave the UK as a gift, the guide said "we are gonna give them a gift next year, tony blaire and i dont mean a statue"...hahha. After the tour we ate from the pizza buffet at Pizza Hut...mmmmm...so american. Then we walked around Piccadilly Circus. Piccadilly Circus reminds me of New York time square...very busy lots of tourists. pretty awesome to see. We then headed down by the River Thames. We went into a brilliat art gallery, the Hayward. It was my favorite thing we saw in London. They had an exhibition based off a french surrealist magazine from the 40s. They had a lot of Picasso, Miro, and other great works. They also had some photography and sculptures. Basicly anything written about in the magazine was fair game. I really really liked it. If you are in London it is for sure worth checking out. With a student card it costed about 6 pounds. After the gallery we checked out a skatepark for a few...and then headed back to the hostel for our bags.
Since our flight was at 8am Sunday morning and their would be no way for us to get there early enough for check in, we decieded to sleep at the airport...what a poor decision. We booked a train to the airport at 11:30...so we chilled in the trainstation pub to watch the match. (I was very pleased that Germany came in 3rd place since all the matches are being held in their country.) Anyways... after a few pints we boarded the train...we got to Stansted at about midnite. Which meant we had 6 hours to kill before we could check in. Stansted is nothing like DTW, there really were no chairs to speak of. Many others who were sleeping there had planned ahead and brought sleeping bags...no not us. We ended up sleeping on piles of our own dirty clothes...now thats class. I believe the shame is still burning inside. hhhaha. The worst moment arised when we were shued away from the front of a store. Nothing like waking up suddenly on the floor of an airport and abruptly told to gather your pile of dirty clothes and prepare for movement. Then we napped infront of an airline that didnt open till 4. At 4, we moved finally to some vacant chairs. and slept until our plane at 6. When we stepped off that plane to dublin, it was the happiest moment of my life. hahhah
All and all i would say that the trip to London was a success. It was quite an adventure. Although i think its worth mentioning that i much prefer Dublin.

London on 7/7 anniversary

This weekend was spent in London... it was grand.
Thursday: Flew with Ryan Air ... man, that was certainly a trip...definitly so cheap bc of their lack of "frills" like i dont know it was necessary to board the plan on the tarmack via staircase...hhaha. plus there are no free peanuts..damn it!!
Our flight arrived around 11, it is then necessary to take a train for 45 minutes to london and then we took an underground to Kings Cross station to get to our hostel. By the time we arrived at our hostel (Ashlee House), it was about 1. The hostel was very decent. We had a 10 person room...which actually wasnt as bad as i imagined it might be....although some found it extremely difficult to relax....poor travelors...hahha. The only real disturbance of the night was the sleep talker who felt the need to yell out "super nudey"...hahha.. hilarious.

Friday:It was the anniversary of the bombings in London last summer. Super intense. We got up early and began the day with some breakfast. We then bought day passes for the underground..i think that is a very good idea...saved us some money and made getting around much simpler. The stop near our hostel (Kings Cross) is actually one of the places that a bomb went off.They are still working on repairing it fully but its definitly functional. We took the tube to Westminster stop. We saw Big Ben, (which we were actually standing next to when the moment of silence to commerate those who lost their lives in the bombings took place.) the Westminster Abbey and chapel. The Parliment Square...and after many misguided attempts The Buckingham Palace...which by the way isnt nearly as impressive as you would imagine it to be. Then after eating lunch, we headed to Oxford street, where there is grand shopping. So many stores...actually torturous bc i am broke again. Then we headed back to the hostel for a nap..and then out for the nite to canary wharf. Canary wharf is in the financial district of London...many people in business suits and dresses. It was a really savage area. We had a drink or two there and then headed back to the pubs around our hostel. I dont find the little pubs as friendly as I do in Dublin.

Heading to London for the weekend....

Not much exciting news to report today..
My brother and his girlfriend arrived yesterday. They were quite surprised how american friendly Dublin is. Compared to Rome where they felt foreign and tense, Dublin is more like a New York City. I'd say thats pretty spot on. Everyone speaks your language, the food is not that different (there are many american chains here as well), and the people are usually nice. If I were ever to move to Europe, Dublin would definitly be a place that I would consider.
Last nite we went to ThunderRoad Cafe...an american chain...drew couldnt make it any further without food. Its on fleet street, right across from the Hard Rock Cafe. It really had a Hard Rockish vibe, as well as HR prices.
Then we headed further down the temple bar area...and made a stop in Temple Bar. We met some canadians there, that were actually pretty cool. After a few drinks we proceeded on.
We ended up at Bruxelles again, mostly bc we know that it is a late bar. Its open until half 1 at least sometimes later. Wednesdays are acoustic open mic nites...although i couldnt help but notice that the participants are the same ones ive seen there twice before...BOOO...not that they arent good but i would've like to see some new talent..
Tonite we are heading to London for the weekend...im pretty excited about that. Not sure definitly what we are gonna do there but it should be grand...YAY
Well must go prepare myself for a presentation to my supervisor about what i have been doing for the past 6 weeks....Peace

Fourth of July in Dublin

Our 4th of July had a definite bad start but ended up being quite lovely.
First after work we headed to TGI Fridays (on Hartford St.) for a special cocktail. Turns out they give 10% discounts to Americans on our special day. Too bad we werent planning to eat there. Also made the discovery that they have colby cheese at TGI...o colby how i have missed you. After one pricey cocktail we headed home.
Picked up an "American Style" Hot Dog from the spar..drank some cans of Budwieser and got all decked out with crown and glowys then we headed back to city center.
The first pub we went to was Sine (right off the liffey, they refused to serve us bc of our crowns so we peaced out. The bartender found our crowns offensive. When questioned further his reply was to point to a picture of the soldier who murdered and raped people in Iraq. Like as if that was what we were celebrating. Luckily one of the girls on our trip knows the owner and will be making a complaint...
After that upsetting incident we went to Dame Tavern off dane street. After there we went to grafton...where we ran into another huge group of MSU study abroaders very odd. We tried to go to Captain Americas but they were closed, so we went to Bruxelle's. Good bit of craic there. We managed to come across one sparkler..it was amazing... all and all it was a pretty satisfactory fourth.
Today was the graduation ceremony for one family adult education programme participants. It was at Dublin Castle...real nice place. The ceremony was good. I actually really enjoyed seeing the people who are involved with the charity. Made me feel like my work was mattering to someone...may motivate me to actually put more effort into my tasks. Grand.
Alright just about time to leave work...its a beautiful day outside. Very exciting. Prolly in the mid-seventies with a bit of sun. Peace!!

No Sparklers in Dublin

Yesterday was Sarahs 21st bday...but she is ill so there wasnt much celebrating. We went to dinner at a little italian place in temple bar area...the name escapes me but thats fine bc it wasnt anything spectacular. House wine was good though. Then we went to Eamon Dorans which is just down the street. Pretty empty bc it was a Monday nite. We had just a bit of craic and then headed home early. Poor Sarah...things would be much better if they had effective cold medicine in this country. I am beginning to feel that the irish is bit stingy with its pill popping. hahhah
We saw our first irish thunderstorm last nite...didnt even realize i had missed them. Put me right to sleep.
Today is Fourth of July!!!
Very exciting. I feel as though i am making myself a target for ridicule bc i am wearing all red, white and blue and i have a ribbon in my hair that is stars and stripes. Nothing compared to the outfit planned for this evening though...that includes crowns and glowing objects...Hoorah!!! Very upset to discover that there is pretty much no such thing as sparklers here in Dublin...ooo the joy of seeing your name written in sparkles...very cruel. The weather is here is not very 4thish but its not raining too hard. For lunch today Morgan and I went to Burger King and ate in St. Stephens Green...delicious. There was a german orchestra playing in the greens...pretty interesting. Afterwards i got a snickers bar bc im american and i like to eat 8000 calories in one sitting....yay for obesity. The spar beneath our apartment is having american style hot dogs for us tonite as well as "ginger beer" which i assume is root beer....very nice of them.
Alright well back to work...though it is very hard to concentrate when i know i should be at a picnic or on the boat. Will produce more 4th of July details tomorrow..Cheers!!

A lovely Sunday spent in Killarney

Sunday morning we got up early, had the free breakfast in our hostel, checked out. They had free luggage storage...pretty grand. We hopped on a bus to Killarney (cost 20euro)...the trip there is a bit lengthy about 1:30 but soo worth it. We hired bicyle for about 12 euro and cycled ourselves to the Killarney Nat'l Park. I was bit nervous riding my bike here bc u have to ride with the traffic, a bit difficult when u still havent mastered the way traffic works here...plus ive seen many a car/bus tail a biker in dublin which added to the stress. Another thing that hindered my biking ability was that i only had one contact in. I had thrown out my contacts the nite before and of the 3 replacements i brought 2 of the packets were for some reason empty..i just have bad luck. But i arrived at the park safely none the less. Not to far of a ride, actually pretty nice. The park itself is beautiful. It has lakes, waterfalls, cows and all just grand foliage. I really enjoyed it there. We climbed to the top of the waterfall which was quite a hike but an amazin view. After a few hours in the park we headed back to the city for the bus. The town of Killarney is actually really cute. Its super clean and has really cute little shops all over. They actually have an outlet mall as well. hahhaa...the only recognizable store was Nike Factory (a knacker's dream come true..hahha. After the bus ride we walked around cork for a bit, went back to our hostel and then headed for the train station.
The train back to dublin was not a bad ride...the train was actually pretty empty. The best way to pass the time on the trip is to have a few drinks...lesson well learned from our last train from Galway by some irish friends.
Mmm...i think thats about if for this weekend...will def add some photos in a day or two... Peace

A Visit to Cork

On Saturday morning we took the 9:00 train down to Cork. Its on the Southwest side of Ireland. With out student travel card the train costed about 40euro, about half off from normal price. The city of Cork itself is like a mini-dublin. Complete with river a bit smaller than the liffey, same stores, etc. We stayed in hostel called Bru Bar Hostel. It was a lovely choice for our first hostel experience. It was pretty clean and the staff was very nice. They have a bar underneath and they give u free vouchers for pints. Good idea for getting people to stop in their bar, although it was among one of more popular bars not just for tourists. We roomed with a 3 German girls, who im pretty sure were talking mad shit about us in German...hhahha...slightly akward but they were very nice. After checking into the hostel we walked around city centre abit. Ate lunch it a restraunt called Zanzibar on St. Particks street, haha...def not the one from the song. But it was decent. They had a very wide variety of food. From burgers, to mexican etc. Then we caught a bus to the Blarney Castle, (bus cost about 5euro.) The Blarney Castle is amazingly beautiful. We kissed the Blarney Stone, explored the Castle, made wishes on the wishing steps, and checked out the grounds around the castle. Very good craic. Definitly worth the trip.
After that we headed back to city centre and then back to our hostel to get ready for the night. We started out in our hostels bar...very crowded with lots of locals. Then we went to Banaza, extremely crowded almost uncomfortably so. Since we were pretty wiped out that waant a very good choice. We left there and went to The Bailey. They played really great tunes, and while it was still a very full bar it had walking room and was defintly great craic. We finished the nite with a nitecap at our hostels bar which after a certain point is only open to people who are staying in the hostel...pretty sweet.
Then.....

Hooley Nite @ Johnnie Fox's Pub

Whoo...It been a few since i updated so im gonna break it up abit.
Thursday: Went to the doctor for my foot. Again i find the Irish Health Care System very unsatisfactory. This time they want to me to get an ultrasound, and blood work done. Not sure how that has anything to do with the fact that my foot is half broken. They also gave me a prescription for a pain pill that is just above advil, something at home u could buy over the counter. I think they are a bit hesitant to prescribe pills here. At nite, we went to the flat of some fellow Americans. Had our most impressive beer pong preformance EVER. Then we headed to Craw Daddys on Hartford street. Its a really nice club. They had the only drink specials we have seen in the country. Pretty cool.
Friday: We went to a Hooley Night at Johnnie Fox's pub. Its the highest pub in ireland, set way back in the mountains.You pay 55euro and get a 3 course meal, and entertainment. They had an irish band play...def got to hear our favorite song, molly malone. Also we saw authentic irish dancing. Pretty grand. I feel its worth mentioning that we learned from some friend on the train that people dance like that in ireland bc they werent supposed to be dancing when they were being supressed by the english. They tops of their bodies dont move so that the english couldnt see them dancing through the windows. Pretty interesting huh? After Johnnie Foxs we stopped at the Corner stone...its in the Camden street area. Nice pub but pretty empty, although we didnt get there until fairly late.
Pictures LATER