OK, I last blogged about 5 months ago. I resolved then, as usual, to do so more regularly. I failed, as usual.
Anyway, better late than never right, so just read my goddamn update! Or not, whatever :)
So last time I wrote, I had just come back from a visit back in Oz. My mind literally cannot fathom the fact that this was 5 months ago, or that in 3 weeks I will have lived in Ireland for 11 months, meaning that my 1 year mark is quickly approaching. As is my 30th birthday....fuuuuuu......
So now I have 5 months of my life to summarise. There is a lot so this will be the first, theme based, installment. I'll start with my favourite: travel. Since I got back from Oz, I have visited: Barcelona, Israel (twice!), San Francisco, Yosemite National Park, Las Vegas, Washington DC, Cork, The Isle of Man & Berlin. Many fun times were had. I won't get into many details of each visit because that will take forever, so I'll just do highlights.
Barcelona - NOT the weather! Went there in late February and coming from 5 degree Dublin was looking forward to a moderate mid-teen climate....not so. Barcelona was experiencing a cold snap equal in its bitter coldness to Dublin. It was not fabulous. Nevertheless, Barcelona itself is fabulous. As it was my second visit there, I hardly did touristy stuff, aside from visiting a few of the Gaudi buildings, because the man is a once in a generation genius and if you don't know who he is, Google that shit because the man is brilliant. I was in Barca to visit a friend who'd been living there for a few months. This involved a decadent weekend of tapas, white wine sangria (to the bartender in the Spanish bar in Sydney who told me no such thing existed: suckerrrr, I was right!), delicious cider poured in a very unique manner, churros, very thick chocolate, and repeat all mentioned over 2 days and various mealtimes :) Then there was the company! I have concluded of late that meeting (as opposed to deliberately traveling with) old friends in new places is one of my favourite things to do of all things I like doing.
Israel - what more can I say except family, friends, warm weather and Israeli food. Bliss. 'Nuff said!
San Fran - To everyone who has told me it's like Sydney, but in America: you were right. Apart from the bit about how San Fran hills trump Sydney hills. Sydney has hills, but San Fran has HILLS. And a smell of weed wherever you go. And a lot more homeless and/or mentally ill people, but I'm told that's because the government takes better care of them there so people who need help float towards there, so that's a good thing I suppose. Anyway, the familiarity of a bay-based city with vast and pretty shorelines, nice weather and the cultural similarity definitely had a Sydney-esque vibe. In true me fashion though, I was there during Pesach (Passover) and therefore lived on just about only salad for a week, till the point of near collapse, but we'll forget about that cos it's over...thank God. San Fran was fun just to hang out and soak it all up. I did have a few random nights and met some cool people, as well as catching up with a good friend who's moved over from Sydney. I'd say it's definitely my favourite US city I've visited thus far. Tacked on to San Fran was a day trip to Yosemite National Park. It is stunningly beautiful and I had a really awesome driver guide, to the point where we both basically knew each other's life stories through the trip back to the city. Random, but kinda cool.
Vegas - Hmmmm. The glitz was not as exciting on my second visit here, but overall it was still very fun. Got sent here for a conference from work, so really can't complain! Favourite achievement of the trip: Two trips to Vegas down and still have not gambled a single cent in sin city, now that's an achievement! Other than that there were pool parties, a hen's night, riding around in a stretch limo, and the glorious Nevada sun. Oh, and work, I mentioned work, right?
DC - this was only an 8 hour stopover unfortunately. However, I set my eyes on the White House and, got to see the cherry blossom festival and catch up with a DC dwelling friend, so time well spent!
Cork - Crazed, barely 24 hour venture down South. A dear friend from Australia was visiting, so we dashed down for the day, kissed the Blarney stone, and not much else really! For those not in the know, the Blarney stone is a famous site in Blarney Castle just outside of Cork, which tourists kiss during the day, and locals urinate on at night.....so yeahhh, we kissed that. Legend is that kissing the stone gives you the gift of the gab. Now I know what you're thinking: we can't get this girl to shut up as it is. Yes, there's that, but it is my second time kissing the blarney stone so at this point let's just put it down to "dumb tourist syndrome."
Isle of Man - Typical reaction: What's there? Where is that? Why did you go there? The answer: because we could. It's a 20 minute flight from Dublin. That is, it's a 20 minute flight to/from Dublin when the airline doesn't cancel the flight for "adverse" weather conditions, when the weather is fine, all other flights are running, and you end up flying to Manchester, on to Belfast and catching the bus down to Dublin (total journey time: 6.5 hours), at your own expense. No really, Aer Lingus, thanks for that. The Island itself is very pretty. It has a cool mix of medieval history, green rolling hills and pretty shorelines. We also caught a rickety wooden tram up to the top of the highest mountain on the Isle, Snaefell Mountain. Legend has it that on a clear day you can see the 7 kingdoms from the 2000 odd feet peak of the mountain: those of the Isle of Man, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Heaven and the Sea. Let's just say that on the day of our visit, it was NOT a clear day. I could not see the palm of my hand from a half metre in front of me, let along any kingdoms of any variety. It was so windy up there I actually thought if I opened an umbrella I could fly all the way down the mountain, Mary Poppins style. We ascended up a path, bordered by a fence to what we presumed was the mountain peak (given we could not see a damned thing, all we had was 'female intuition', if you please). The wind was so strong it actually flipped me sideways slamming into the fence a couple of times. I was out there for 10 minutes max and that's as close as I have ever gotten to experiencing hypothermia and let's hope we keep it that way. The fog was so thick that while it wasn't raining, we were literally walking through it and ended up with drenched hair as a result. It was nuts. Also on the Island the legend says there are fairies who preside there. When you pass over the fairy bridge you have to say hello to the fairies to avoid pissing them off and having bad luck. We said hello. Didn't stop us from nearly being stranded on the island. Not cool, Tinkerbell, not cool.
Berlin - Finally, I got to see what all the fuss was about. Definitely the coolest city I have ever visited. Coming from Dublin, which in my opinion has nothing by way of subcultures, Berlin is full of unique, funky and interesting subcultures. We mainly were exposed to three of these: The food and coffee (such a treat), the graffiti scene - we did a 3 hour tour of different graffiti sites around the city which was very cool, and then did a workshop on graffiti stenciling, which was a fun and relaxing 'crafternoon', and the club scene which is insane. We visited a club which was like a playground for adults, with many different rooms of varying music types, mad decor and it's open non stop (and people stay there) all weekend. As we left, at around 3am, there was a line of hundreds of people all the way down a dirt path and onto the street waiting to get in. Almost made us not want to leave so as not to miss out! We also visited a mad jazzy jam session in an out of the way pub in a deserted warehousy looking type place that you have to know about, cos y'know, we are so cool like that. The best thing about Berlin though was hanging out with friends, both local and from other countries, we came together, had a laugh and a super fun and chilled time. Also, you can drink beer wherever you like, any time of day and that's totally cool, people don't abuse it and the public order remains. Also, people bring their dogs on the metro. A lot. And all the dogs are so cute and cuddly you just want to cuddle them all, while drinking your beer, and ideally while wearing some crazy patterned leggings you just bought, cos it's Berlin yo. So yeah, Berlin, don't forget me because I will be back.
So that was the travel summary of the last 5 months. Don't get jealous though cos there are more updates which are slightly less exciting coming up.
Anyway, better late than never right, so just read my goddamn update! Or not, whatever :)
So last time I wrote, I had just come back from a visit back in Oz. My mind literally cannot fathom the fact that this was 5 months ago, or that in 3 weeks I will have lived in Ireland for 11 months, meaning that my 1 year mark is quickly approaching. As is my 30th birthday....fuuuuuu......
So now I have 5 months of my life to summarise. There is a lot so this will be the first, theme based, installment. I'll start with my favourite: travel. Since I got back from Oz, I have visited: Barcelona, Israel (twice!), San Francisco, Yosemite National Park, Las Vegas, Washington DC, Cork, The Isle of Man & Berlin. Many fun times were had. I won't get into many details of each visit because that will take forever, so I'll just do highlights.
Barcelona - NOT the weather! Went there in late February and coming from 5 degree Dublin was looking forward to a moderate mid-teen climate....not so. Barcelona was experiencing a cold snap equal in its bitter coldness to Dublin. It was not fabulous. Nevertheless, Barcelona itself is fabulous. As it was my second visit there, I hardly did touristy stuff, aside from visiting a few of the Gaudi buildings, because the man is a once in a generation genius and if you don't know who he is, Google that shit because the man is brilliant. I was in Barca to visit a friend who'd been living there for a few months. This involved a decadent weekend of tapas, white wine sangria (to the bartender in the Spanish bar in Sydney who told me no such thing existed: suckerrrr, I was right!), delicious cider poured in a very unique manner, churros, very thick chocolate, and repeat all mentioned over 2 days and various mealtimes :) Then there was the company! I have concluded of late that meeting (as opposed to deliberately traveling with) old friends in new places is one of my favourite things to do of all things I like doing.
Israel - what more can I say except family, friends, warm weather and Israeli food. Bliss. 'Nuff said!
San Fran - To everyone who has told me it's like Sydney, but in America: you were right. Apart from the bit about how San Fran hills trump Sydney hills. Sydney has hills, but San Fran has HILLS. And a smell of weed wherever you go. And a lot more homeless and/or mentally ill people, but I'm told that's because the government takes better care of them there so people who need help float towards there, so that's a good thing I suppose. Anyway, the familiarity of a bay-based city with vast and pretty shorelines, nice weather and the cultural similarity definitely had a Sydney-esque vibe. In true me fashion though, I was there during Pesach (Passover) and therefore lived on just about only salad for a week, till the point of near collapse, but we'll forget about that cos it's over...thank God. San Fran was fun just to hang out and soak it all up. I did have a few random nights and met some cool people, as well as catching up with a good friend who's moved over from Sydney. I'd say it's definitely my favourite US city I've visited thus far. Tacked on to San Fran was a day trip to Yosemite National Park. It is stunningly beautiful and I had a really awesome driver guide, to the point where we both basically knew each other's life stories through the trip back to the city. Random, but kinda cool.
Vegas - Hmmmm. The glitz was not as exciting on my second visit here, but overall it was still very fun. Got sent here for a conference from work, so really can't complain! Favourite achievement of the trip: Two trips to Vegas down and still have not gambled a single cent in sin city, now that's an achievement! Other than that there were pool parties, a hen's night, riding around in a stretch limo, and the glorious Nevada sun. Oh, and work, I mentioned work, right?
DC - this was only an 8 hour stopover unfortunately. However, I set my eyes on the White House and, got to see the cherry blossom festival and catch up with a DC dwelling friend, so time well spent!
Cork - Crazed, barely 24 hour venture down South. A dear friend from Australia was visiting, so we dashed down for the day, kissed the Blarney stone, and not much else really! For those not in the know, the Blarney stone is a famous site in Blarney Castle just outside of Cork, which tourists kiss during the day, and locals urinate on at night.....so yeahhh, we kissed that. Legend is that kissing the stone gives you the gift of the gab. Now I know what you're thinking: we can't get this girl to shut up as it is. Yes, there's that, but it is my second time kissing the blarney stone so at this point let's just put it down to "dumb tourist syndrome."
Isle of Man - Typical reaction: What's there? Where is that? Why did you go there? The answer: because we could. It's a 20 minute flight from Dublin. That is, it's a 20 minute flight to/from Dublin when the airline doesn't cancel the flight for "adverse" weather conditions, when the weather is fine, all other flights are running, and you end up flying to Manchester, on to Belfast and catching the bus down to Dublin (total journey time: 6.5 hours), at your own expense. No really, Aer Lingus, thanks for that. The Island itself is very pretty. It has a cool mix of medieval history, green rolling hills and pretty shorelines. We also caught a rickety wooden tram up to the top of the highest mountain on the Isle, Snaefell Mountain. Legend has it that on a clear day you can see the 7 kingdoms from the 2000 odd feet peak of the mountain: those of the Isle of Man, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Heaven and the Sea. Let's just say that on the day of our visit, it was NOT a clear day. I could not see the palm of my hand from a half metre in front of me, let along any kingdoms of any variety. It was so windy up there I actually thought if I opened an umbrella I could fly all the way down the mountain, Mary Poppins style. We ascended up a path, bordered by a fence to what we presumed was the mountain peak (given we could not see a damned thing, all we had was 'female intuition', if you please). The wind was so strong it actually flipped me sideways slamming into the fence a couple of times. I was out there for 10 minutes max and that's as close as I have ever gotten to experiencing hypothermia and let's hope we keep it that way. The fog was so thick that while it wasn't raining, we were literally walking through it and ended up with drenched hair as a result. It was nuts. Also on the Island the legend says there are fairies who preside there. When you pass over the fairy bridge you have to say hello to the fairies to avoid pissing them off and having bad luck. We said hello. Didn't stop us from nearly being stranded on the island. Not cool, Tinkerbell, not cool.
Berlin - Finally, I got to see what all the fuss was about. Definitely the coolest city I have ever visited. Coming from Dublin, which in my opinion has nothing by way of subcultures, Berlin is full of unique, funky and interesting subcultures. We mainly were exposed to three of these: The food and coffee (such a treat), the graffiti scene - we did a 3 hour tour of different graffiti sites around the city which was very cool, and then did a workshop on graffiti stenciling, which was a fun and relaxing 'crafternoon', and the club scene which is insane. We visited a club which was like a playground for adults, with many different rooms of varying music types, mad decor and it's open non stop (and people stay there) all weekend. As we left, at around 3am, there was a line of hundreds of people all the way down a dirt path and onto the street waiting to get in. Almost made us not want to leave so as not to miss out! We also visited a mad jazzy jam session in an out of the way pub in a deserted warehousy looking type place that you have to know about, cos y'know, we are so cool like that. The best thing about Berlin though was hanging out with friends, both local and from other countries, we came together, had a laugh and a super fun and chilled time. Also, you can drink beer wherever you like, any time of day and that's totally cool, people don't abuse it and the public order remains. Also, people bring their dogs on the metro. A lot. And all the dogs are so cute and cuddly you just want to cuddle them all, while drinking your beer, and ideally while wearing some crazy patterned leggings you just bought, cos it's Berlin yo. So yeah, Berlin, don't forget me because I will be back.
So that was the travel summary of the last 5 months. Don't get jealous though cos there are more updates which are slightly less exciting coming up.
FINALLY an update!
ReplyDeleteAnd a fun one at that!
Reading your travel journey was interesting , informative and fun and I can't wait fot the next update. Less exciting as it may ot may not be, at least I know that there's another one coming and for that, my RSS reader thanks you.
Always enjoyed your writing, so instead of commenting on the content (Isle of Man part made me laugh. Sorry, but it did :) ) I'll just say welcome back and looking forward to the next update!