today is my mom's bday. there was a short span of time (of about 2 years) that i would forget her bday. but now i am the perfect daughter. i sent a gift bought while i was in ireland, a christmas ornament from ireland that was requested by her, and a card separate from the gift (cuz i'm not together enough to have the card when i sent the gift). and i called her. woo me!
but otherwise i've been a bit off recently. i can't remember anything past 30 minutes. and things just slip through my fingers. including my cell phone, which i lost this weekend. i rushed home and hoped that someone was online that could call my cell phone. i was in luck; of all people my brother was online. i had him call my cell phone, and when there was no answer i had him call my dad so he could inform the cell phone company.
i tried later that night to call my cell with my friend's phone, but it gave me a message that the phone i was calling was disconnected (my dad's doing).
in order to contact the bus service about your missing item, you have to look up which bus you were on and what its terminal is. then you have to call that specific terminal. i was on two different buses that day. so i have to deal with two different bus terminals' lost and founds. also i knew calling before the bus driver's shift was over was pointless. they wouldn't place the phone in the lost and found til they were done. and also that calling on sunday would be a bust.
so this morning i decided to deal with the bus service. first i had to figure out a way to call them. with no phone and no idea where i could get one, i decided to sign up for skype. my boyfriend uses their service to call internationally, but i knew that you could call anywhere from anywhere using your internet connection. woo hoo! phone service! it worked wonderfully.
first i called the division bus. no luck. though the guy on the phone was nice. then i called the broadway bus. the woman was not listening at all. she kept having me repeat my information, and put me on hold numerous times. but she came back on the line and said she had my phone!!! i still didn't want to get my hopes up. i've seen my phone all over the place. it could just be someone else's or a completely different model that looks like mine.
but in order to even look at the phone i had to trek all the way to that bus depot. it took an hour and 30 minutes there and back. 3 hours to look at a phone. but it was mine!!! who knew that you could actually retrieve lost cell phones!
8.31.2009
8.27.2009
2nd day of class
it's pretty ridiculous, but i'm here 2 hours early. that's pretty bad. but what's worse is that everyone else is too. what do they think is going to happen? that class will start an hour early, just by chance. who would do that? everyone's in the room, settling in for class. don't they have better things to do with their time? i would except i wasn't able to accomplish all my errands, so i got campus earlier than expected.
these buildings creep me out too. they're all 3 floors. basement, 1, and 2. i'm not quite sure how they contain all of the classes that need to happen for all of the majors that they teach here. but my class on monday was more than 50 people (the entirety of my undergraduate class). so i guess that explains it. they favor large lecture classes. this class is in an auditorium. god knows how many students are in the class. weird/nice to have such classes. i kindda felt i missed out in undergrad, not having this type of class. but then why wouldn't i want individualized attention for the amount of money i'm spending?!?
this didn't take as much time as i had hoped. i still have more than an hour to kill. though i do plan on entering the class in 20 minutes. then the hope is that the teacher does show up and start early. who knows?
these buildings creep me out too. they're all 3 floors. basement, 1, and 2. i'm not quite sure how they contain all of the classes that need to happen for all of the majors that they teach here. but my class on monday was more than 50 people (the entirety of my undergraduate class). so i guess that explains it. they favor large lecture classes. this class is in an auditorium. god knows how many students are in the class. weird/nice to have such classes. i kindda felt i missed out in undergrad, not having this type of class. but then why wouldn't i want individualized attention for the amount of money i'm spending?!?
this didn't take as much time as i had hoped. i still have more than an hour to kill. though i do plan on entering the class in 20 minutes. then the hope is that the teacher does show up and start early. who knows?
8.26.2009
technology
it very weird but my friends rely on my understanding of technology. and i don't even know that much. i guess people rely on my opinion about most purchases. but the technology thing has gone to another level. my friends now ask how to fix their electronics. like i know anything! i broke my ipod after just a few years! it just stopped working! well actually i think the hard drive died. i dropped it one too many times.
but i guess i'm more directed. i know what works and i start there. then i figure out what are the extras. what is what. it's pretty easy. but i guess everyone else gets so overwhelmed, they can't make a decision.
the other thing: fixing electronics. all i do is google. more often then not other people have had the same problem. and the key is to google more than one thing. usually a helpful solution is on the first page. just keep searching until you find something.
sometimes i don't even find a solution. and i have to give up. i always try again later. sometimes you just aren't searching for the right thing. and you think of something better later.
that's all the secret behind my apparently extraordinary technological skills.
but i guess i'm more directed. i know what works and i start there. then i figure out what are the extras. what is what. it's pretty easy. but i guess everyone else gets so overwhelmed, they can't make a decision.
the other thing: fixing electronics. all i do is google. more often then not other people have had the same problem. and the key is to google more than one thing. usually a helpful solution is on the first page. just keep searching until you find something.
sometimes i don't even find a solution. and i have to give up. i always try again later. sometimes you just aren't searching for the right thing. and you think of something better later.
that's all the secret behind my apparently extraordinary technological skills.
8.25.2009
returning to school
i had some small concerns before starting my first class of graduate school. would all of the students be professionals? would it be all men and just a few women? what would be expected of me? would it be hard? would i even like it?
i am returning to school of my own accord. i have always wanted to return to school, and since i was laid off in the fall this was the perfect time to do it. so that influences my attitude a bit. i'm a pretty carefree or 'whatever' person anyways and i think knowing i'm in school because i want to be there changes my attitude towards it. though i am still 'whatever', i also know i need to absorb as much information as i can. i think taking time off and realizing i'm nowhere near where i want to be in life helps me every day. i strive to make my life and myself exactly what i want.
well the first day was non-eventful. i showed up super early. quickly realized that the building i thought the class was in, wasn't actually it. i had to kill almost an hour and a half before even heading into the classroom. then there were already people standing around and sitting in the room. i headed in when there was still 30 minutes before the class began. i think my major concern was the amount of women in the class. for a bit there it looked like it wouldn't be too big of a difference. but by the start of class, there were 15 girls and 50 people total in the class. we're a bit out numbered.
the class was ok. my professor was a little dry but he tried an amusing tidbit here and there to liven up the class. no one laughed or smiled but me. i ended up taking 6 pages of notes! i'm not sure if that was ridiculous, but it was only the introduction! who knows how many pages i'll take when something important is actually discussed?!?
i survived the class and am preparing myself for thursday's. we'll see about that one.
i am returning to school of my own accord. i have always wanted to return to school, and since i was laid off in the fall this was the perfect time to do it. so that influences my attitude a bit. i'm a pretty carefree or 'whatever' person anyways and i think knowing i'm in school because i want to be there changes my attitude towards it. though i am still 'whatever', i also know i need to absorb as much information as i can. i think taking time off and realizing i'm nowhere near where i want to be in life helps me every day. i strive to make my life and myself exactly what i want.
well the first day was non-eventful. i showed up super early. quickly realized that the building i thought the class was in, wasn't actually it. i had to kill almost an hour and a half before even heading into the classroom. then there were already people standing around and sitting in the room. i headed in when there was still 30 minutes before the class began. i think my major concern was the amount of women in the class. for a bit there it looked like it wouldn't be too big of a difference. but by the start of class, there were 15 girls and 50 people total in the class. we're a bit out numbered.
the class was ok. my professor was a little dry but he tried an amusing tidbit here and there to liven up the class. no one laughed or smiled but me. i ended up taking 6 pages of notes! i'm not sure if that was ridiculous, but it was only the introduction! who knows how many pages i'll take when something important is actually discussed?!?
i survived the class and am preparing myself for thursday's. we'll see about that one.
texas
so i went to texas. at the urging of my boyfriend.
he wanted to do a cross-country train trip, encompassing two weeks and multiple stops throughout the country. but i had to plan my ireland trip during the two weeks he had designated for it. so he cropped his train trip into a tour of texas and requested that i tag along.
he started for texas the day i got back from ireland. first he flew to el paso. renting a car, he drove to an artist community a few hours south of el paso. then he drove back through el paso and continued an hour north to the white sands national park. all of this took 2+ days. he then returned the car and caught the train in el paso. the train from el paso to san antonio took about 13 hours. with plenty of desert to view.
in san antonio he went to see the alamo, the riverwalk, and other random sights that were suggested to him, by locals. his second day there he met up with his friend from austin, armando. after a little sightseeing with him, they drove up to austin.
then next day i flew in the meet up with them. we went and got the best tacos ever before venturing to the capitol. the capitol building in austin is ridiculous! it's on lavish grounds and screams texas. they recently renovated so the whole place looked amazing, plus there is a newer addition that is completely underground (so as to not ruin the view of the capitol building). the light fixtures said 'texas' in light bulbs. and everything had a five-point star on it. even the door hinges were engraved with 'texas capitol' on them. we thought we were just going to poke into the lobby and take a cursory look around, but we chanced upon the tour and were given a full texas history lesson. by a very amusing and very texan lady.
next we went to the infamous 6th st. it is bar after bar after bar; we were too full and it was too early to partake in any of it though. we popped into a few shops and got some italian ice. we then went to congress (st or ave, who knows?). and went into a few shops there, mostly to pass the time. we went back to my boyfriend's friends' and had a swim. nothing beats diving into a cold pool in 100 degree weather. armando and his wife liz took us to a restaurant called chuy's. it was delicious! i got blue corn tortilla enchiladas that weren't really enchiladas. it was more like mexican lasagna. we went back to their house and had a wine and cheese tasting. (liz works as a food writer, and needed to finish up and article about the products.)
the next day we drove out to the outskirts of austin and ate lunch at this riverside hamburger hut. we sat for hours while eating and chatting. afterward we went again to congress. this time to actually shop. i ended up buying some gifts at turquoise ... and at the boot place. my boyfriend finally decided on a pair of cowboy boots he wanted. we also got a gift for our hosts. a quick stop at sonic for some cherry lime deliciousness, then we made our way back to their home. after some napping/chilling out/digesting we decided to go to dinner. but first a stop to watch the congress bridge bats. apparently every summer a breed of bats comes to austin and settles underneath this bridge to raise their young. every night at sunset they emerge en-masse to go feed. it's pretty crazy. after 30+ minutes of watching them emerge, we walked to dinner. it was this fancy-ish french bistro. good but had one of those menus that you stare at for a while and still can't come up with something you want. and not from the large selection of food.
the next morning was our train so after a quick stop at whole foods for breakfast we went to the train station. promptly at 9:30 we departed austin for dallas. the train for this part of the trip was nice. there's lots of legroom and plenty to see. i think i even napped a little. we were in dallas by 3 that afternoon. we checked into the hotel then set off in search of a citibank atm. then we had to search for food. we had decided to have a large afternoon meal to offset the time of the train travel. we randomly landed on sonny's. it's definitely a lunch place with pulled meats galore. my boyfriend wanted to see the location of the jfk assassination and we went to see it and found that there was a museum at the location and that it was still open. that was how we spent the afternoon. i now have an incredible amount of pity for jackie kennedy.
friday we spent in fort worth. we caught the commuter train early in the morning. we very quickly got to the kimball art museum (to find that it opens at 11am on fridays). so we went to the modern art museum first (it's right across the street). i have to say that i love tadao ando! what he does with concrete is amazing! the light and the glass and the concrete. all utterly amazing! and with snazzy detailing! i'm so happy to know about him. also the museum's collection wasn't bad. the collection is small, but the museum is appropriately sized. i don't think fort worth could support a larger museum.
then the kimball. and i thought the modern was small! it had a film exhibition going on, based off of the museum's collection. it was interesting, but i was only compelled to see two out of four movies. and the collection is an array of lesser known pieces by famous artists. so nothing was particularly compelling. we really only went because it was free and my boyfriend really wanted to see the building. it was also done by someone famous. i was unimpressed by the building so i do not recall who designed it.
that night we went out to a burger place suggested by my boyfriend's friend liz. apparently they make everything from scratch, including the ketchup, mustard, and bbq sauce. we got there and it was packed. halfway through the line we thought we had come at the busiest point, but by the time we had sat down the line was twice as long as when we came in. i was slightly scared cuz i didn't see turkey burgers on the menu and we had walked pretty far to get there for me to not be able to eat anything. but upon perusal of the menu they did indeed offer turkey burgers. and they also offered fried green beans. if you have never had a fried green bean , you have no idea what you're missing out on. it was easily the best green bean i've ever had. it's fried and delicious, but still tastes like green bean so you still feel like it's healthy. mmm mmmmm good!
we finished the night off with a nightcap at a mexican place closer to our hotel. where i had the worst gin and tonic of my life. the bartender asked about it and i think my direct quote is "there is something seriously wrong with this gin and tonic." hahaha he wanted to blame the tonic, but it was fine (as i discovered from a tasting). it had to be the gin. lesson learned. don't order well gin.
the next morning we toured the arts district in dallas. everything is sectioned off there. like the government actually decides the neighborhoods and their contents. deep ellum is the dive bar area (where the hamburger place was), west ... was the warehouse district, and the arts district had all of the museums and the theaters. it's super creepy. but so the boyfriend wanted to see the new rem koolhaas building. which is apparently a theater still under construction. it looks like it's a monster about ready to eat you. complete with spiky teeth. not my favorite. plus it's nickname is 'the cube' and it would be a cube except for some unfortunate bump outs in two of the faces.
after walking around this district we made our way over to sonny's again to eat at the chipotle across the street. then an additional trip to the jfk assassination museum to browse the gift shop. then it was time to catch the train again.
this time we had a sleeper room. it had two seat in it, which folded into a bed for one. and an additional bed folded down from the wall. it was nice because we had real beds to sleep on and all of the meals were free. amtrak food surprisingly isn't bad. i had pasta for dinner, really it was manicotti, and an omelet for breakfast. it was really nice to watch the country pass by. we sat in our room for a while then moved to the lounge car for a change of scenery before dinner. then we had such an entertaining dinner companion that we sat in the dining car for 2.5 hours. off to bed after that. then the next morning i just caught the end of the breakfast service. then we sat in our room for a little bit (i napped). at some point we moved to the lounge car in search of some lunch (the lunch service was abbreviated and was too close to our breakfast time so we skipped it.) i napped some more between watching illinois roll by.
i have to say that traveling by train is quite a relaxing way to travel. especially if it's a long trip overnight. to be able to saunter on then off the train, be catered to in the way we wish airlines still did, and sleep soundly through several hours of the trip while actually lying horizontal, instead of being in a stiff chair. woo! it was amazing!
now i'm back and starting school. (started, but i'll write about that later.)
he wanted to do a cross-country train trip, encompassing two weeks and multiple stops throughout the country. but i had to plan my ireland trip during the two weeks he had designated for it. so he cropped his train trip into a tour of texas and requested that i tag along.
he started for texas the day i got back from ireland. first he flew to el paso. renting a car, he drove to an artist community a few hours south of el paso. then he drove back through el paso and continued an hour north to the white sands national park. all of this took 2+ days. he then returned the car and caught the train in el paso. the train from el paso to san antonio took about 13 hours. with plenty of desert to view.
in san antonio he went to see the alamo, the riverwalk, and other random sights that were suggested to him, by locals. his second day there he met up with his friend from austin, armando. after a little sightseeing with him, they drove up to austin.
then next day i flew in the meet up with them. we went and got the best tacos ever before venturing to the capitol. the capitol building in austin is ridiculous! it's on lavish grounds and screams texas. they recently renovated so the whole place looked amazing, plus there is a newer addition that is completely underground (so as to not ruin the view of the capitol building). the light fixtures said 'texas' in light bulbs. and everything had a five-point star on it. even the door hinges were engraved with 'texas capitol' on them. we thought we were just going to poke into the lobby and take a cursory look around, but we chanced upon the tour and were given a full texas history lesson. by a very amusing and very texan lady.
next we went to the infamous 6th st. it is bar after bar after bar; we were too full and it was too early to partake in any of it though. we popped into a few shops and got some italian ice. we then went to congress (st or ave, who knows?). and went into a few shops there, mostly to pass the time. we went back to my boyfriend's friends' and had a swim. nothing beats diving into a cold pool in 100 degree weather. armando and his wife liz took us to a restaurant called chuy's. it was delicious! i got blue corn tortilla enchiladas that weren't really enchiladas. it was more like mexican lasagna. we went back to their house and had a wine and cheese tasting. (liz works as a food writer, and needed to finish up and article about the products.)
the next day we drove out to the outskirts of austin and ate lunch at this riverside hamburger hut. we sat for hours while eating and chatting. afterward we went again to congress. this time to actually shop. i ended up buying some gifts at turquoise ... and at the boot place. my boyfriend finally decided on a pair of cowboy boots he wanted. we also got a gift for our hosts. a quick stop at sonic for some cherry lime deliciousness, then we made our way back to their home. after some napping/chilling out/digesting we decided to go to dinner. but first a stop to watch the congress bridge bats. apparently every summer a breed of bats comes to austin and settles underneath this bridge to raise their young. every night at sunset they emerge en-masse to go feed. it's pretty crazy. after 30+ minutes of watching them emerge, we walked to dinner. it was this fancy-ish french bistro. good but had one of those menus that you stare at for a while and still can't come up with something you want. and not from the large selection of food.
the next morning was our train so after a quick stop at whole foods for breakfast we went to the train station. promptly at 9:30 we departed austin for dallas. the train for this part of the trip was nice. there's lots of legroom and plenty to see. i think i even napped a little. we were in dallas by 3 that afternoon. we checked into the hotel then set off in search of a citibank atm. then we had to search for food. we had decided to have a large afternoon meal to offset the time of the train travel. we randomly landed on sonny's. it's definitely a lunch place with pulled meats galore. my boyfriend wanted to see the location of the jfk assassination and we went to see it and found that there was a museum at the location and that it was still open. that was how we spent the afternoon. i now have an incredible amount of pity for jackie kennedy.
friday we spent in fort worth. we caught the commuter train early in the morning. we very quickly got to the kimball art museum (to find that it opens at 11am on fridays). so we went to the modern art museum first (it's right across the street). i have to say that i love tadao ando! what he does with concrete is amazing! the light and the glass and the concrete. all utterly amazing! and with snazzy detailing! i'm so happy to know about him. also the museum's collection wasn't bad. the collection is small, but the museum is appropriately sized. i don't think fort worth could support a larger museum.
then the kimball. and i thought the modern was small! it had a film exhibition going on, based off of the museum's collection. it was interesting, but i was only compelled to see two out of four movies. and the collection is an array of lesser known pieces by famous artists. so nothing was particularly compelling. we really only went because it was free and my boyfriend really wanted to see the building. it was also done by someone famous. i was unimpressed by the building so i do not recall who designed it.
that night we went out to a burger place suggested by my boyfriend's friend liz. apparently they make everything from scratch, including the ketchup, mustard, and bbq sauce. we got there and it was packed. halfway through the line we thought we had come at the busiest point, but by the time we had sat down the line was twice as long as when we came in. i was slightly scared cuz i didn't see turkey burgers on the menu and we had walked pretty far to get there for me to not be able to eat anything. but upon perusal of the menu they did indeed offer turkey burgers. and they also offered fried green beans. if you have never had a fried green bean , you have no idea what you're missing out on. it was easily the best green bean i've ever had. it's fried and delicious, but still tastes like green bean so you still feel like it's healthy. mmm mmmmm good!
we finished the night off with a nightcap at a mexican place closer to our hotel. where i had the worst gin and tonic of my life. the bartender asked about it and i think my direct quote is "there is something seriously wrong with this gin and tonic." hahaha he wanted to blame the tonic, but it was fine (as i discovered from a tasting). it had to be the gin. lesson learned. don't order well gin.
the next morning we toured the arts district in dallas. everything is sectioned off there. like the government actually decides the neighborhoods and their contents. deep ellum is the dive bar area (where the hamburger place was), west ... was the warehouse district, and the arts district had all of the museums and the theaters. it's super creepy. but so the boyfriend wanted to see the new rem koolhaas building. which is apparently a theater still under construction. it looks like it's a monster about ready to eat you. complete with spiky teeth. not my favorite. plus it's nickname is 'the cube' and it would be a cube except for some unfortunate bump outs in two of the faces.
after walking around this district we made our way over to sonny's again to eat at the chipotle across the street. then an additional trip to the jfk assassination museum to browse the gift shop. then it was time to catch the train again.
this time we had a sleeper room. it had two seat in it, which folded into a bed for one. and an additional bed folded down from the wall. it was nice because we had real beds to sleep on and all of the meals were free. amtrak food surprisingly isn't bad. i had pasta for dinner, really it was manicotti, and an omelet for breakfast. it was really nice to watch the country pass by. we sat in our room for a while then moved to the lounge car for a change of scenery before dinner. then we had such an entertaining dinner companion that we sat in the dining car for 2.5 hours. off to bed after that. then the next morning i just caught the end of the breakfast service. then we sat in our room for a little bit (i napped). at some point we moved to the lounge car in search of some lunch (the lunch service was abbreviated and was too close to our breakfast time so we skipped it.) i napped some more between watching illinois roll by.
i have to say that traveling by train is quite a relaxing way to travel. especially if it's a long trip overnight. to be able to saunter on then off the train, be catered to in the way we wish airlines still did, and sleep soundly through several hours of the trip while actually lying horizontal, instead of being in a stiff chair. woo! it was amazing!
now i'm back and starting school. (started, but i'll write about that later.)
8.17.2009
ireland
i just spent the last two weeks in ireland. thanks to my best friend's parents.
my trip started on the 2nd of august. i was supposed to fly from chicago to toronto, meet up with my friend there and then fly onto dublin. of course that didn't work out. i ended up flying to frankfurt, from frankfurt to london, and finally from london to dublin. arriving 12 hours late. the flight ended up being uneventful, though the customs at heathrow was awful. the guy was a complete dick and i was already exhausted and irritated by my 4 hour debacle with the airline the previous day. customs in dublin was a breeze.
after arriving in dublin, and finding that my luggage was lost in my travels, i went to the hostel and met up with my friend. i found her asleep. we quickly went out for food and returned to the hostel for some much needed sleep.
the next day, we decided to take the hop-on and hop-off bus to get to some of the sites we wanted to see. first stop was the guinness storehouse. they have a self-guided tour through the place. the no longer brew there, although they do still bottle. the had a tasting on the third floor. and you could learn how to pour the perfect pint on the fifth floor. i poured quite a nice one and have a certificate proving i was taught the correct method. the infinity bar is on the roof of the building and is a recent expansion. it is the highest building in dublin. and you can see a full 360 degrees. the second stop was the jameson brewery. they have a guided tour and a tasting at the end. 8 people were chosen to participate, and my friend was one of them. the rest of the tour was given a choice of what kind of drink we'd like. i guess jameson has finally acknowledged that people like to drink their whiskey with other stuff. it was an amusing tour. the rest of the evening was spent wandering around. we ended up visiting the christ church. that night we were so tired that we ate dinner then went to bed.
day 3: our hop-on and hop-off bus tickets were still valid so we got on and took the full tour. this time we picked the route that went past st. patrick's. we did the full loop and more getting off at trinity college. we wandered around the campus. it's ridiculous. a whole host of new and old buildings. connected in weird ways and not in any sort of order. afterwards we went shopping, as my luggage had still not appeared and i was sick of wearing the same clothes day after day. ended up being pointless as my luggage was at the hostel when we got back from shopping. that night we finally had the energy to go out. we went to the smallest pub in dublin (it's the size of a walk-in closet), a pub called mckoe's which had a good after-work crowd, temple bar (which is the most famous bar in dublin), and fitzsimmon's down the block from temple bar.
day 4: we took a mid-morning train to kilkenny which is southwest of dublin, halfway to cork. my friend had booked a hostel. when we found it we were told that it was actually being renovated and we were placed in a different hostel in a different part of town. this place was sketchy. we were in a room in the attic. there was only one other person staying there. as it was mid-afternoon and we didn't know how long we were going to stay in town, we rushed out to go see the sights. the church was old and had some interesting stained glass and tombs. kilkenny castle was nice but had been renovated with, i think, little accuracy. then we went to the design center which in the stables of the castle. the guy who ran our hostel informed us that there was a stretch of 6 or so pubs all in a row and is in the guinness book of world records as being the most bars in a row. My friend set her sights on going to all of them that night. as the other tenant of the hostel was a young woman, we invited her along. we ended up hitting up 3 of them by the time it was midnight and closing.
day 5: we had intentions of going to the kilkenny brewery, but we didn't know how to get to our next stop wexford or what time we would need to leave. so first stop was the tourist information. they were unhelpful, so we had to go down to the train station. we found out that we needed to take the next train which was in an hour. we rushed back to the hostel and then back to the station with our luggage. so no brewery. but train times afforded us with a couple of hours to kill in waterford. so we went to the cathedral and the friary. we also visited reginald's tower, what's left of the old fortifications. we arrived in wexford that evening with no reservations for a hostel. we wandered almost to the edge of town and then cut back into the town. we were able to get a room in the the first b&b we came across. it was really nice compared to the sketchy place we had stayed at in kilkenny. plus there was a pub right next door. we were tired from running around with our luggage, but we had time to kill so we wandered around town. we ended up at the pub next door.
day 6: when i had originally read about wexford it sounded like there was a lot to do. but upon further reading i realized that much of that stuff was outside of town. we had seen some of the stuff when we had wandered the night before. we found out from some locals that there was this ruinous abbey that was locked up. we were told to contact some guy named murray. we found the site but couldn't find murray. we gave up and went to the tourist information and they told us that the organization that looked after the abbey had just stopped doing it. but they told us of this historical irish park that was just outside of town. "a 45 minute walk". they didn't inform us that it was mostly uphill, further than 45 minutes, there's almost no sidewalk, and you'd have to cross a highway to get there. the park was interesting though. a little too recreated, but at least there weren't people walking around in costume. afterwards we returned to town by cab, picked up our luggage and walked to the train station. we took the train back to dublin for a night stopover. we ventured out to mckoe's again.
day 7: we took the direct morning train to galway. immediately went to the tourist information office. we were directed to our hostel and given a lot of information about the tours to do in the area. after going to hostel we decided we wanted to do both tours but we only had one day, so we went back to the tourist info. he told us there was no way to do both tours in one day, but we could go to the aran islands and experience a little bit of both. the best way to do this is by bike. i haven't ridden a bike in years. but it sounded good so i agreed to the trip. we got our tickets and went to a pub for food, drinks, and sports.
day 8: we woke early to catch the bus to the ferry to the island. we got there a little later than planned. got our bikes and started out. as i said before i haven't ridden a bike in forever and i've never ridden a mountain bike. my friend gave me a tutorial in bike gears and we set out. i unfortunately didn't understand the lesson and had my bike on the highest gear trying to go up the steepest mountain. i was dead before we got the top. i had to get off twice to walk my bike. but i soon found out my mistake and switched gears to the lowest. and kept it there the rest of the time. we didn't go to the top of the peak or the most famous site but we did get out pretty far and the island was so pretty that we saw a lot anyways. but boy were we exhausted by the end of it! we did a bit of shopping while there. i got a stuffed animal sheep that i fell in love with halfway across the island. and a beautiful blanket for my mother. plus we had time to kill before taking the ferry back so we got some food. i finally got some fish and chips which were delicious! we were trying to get an earlier ferry as we had finished sooner than we had expected. but they wouldn't take anyone not for the current ferry. they had us wait in line for if there was room. they let some us on and stopped at the large family in front of us. the guy said they would take two more. and before the family could decide if they wanted to separate or not my friend and i had volunteered ourselves for those spots. we got back to the hostel and immediately passed out for the night.
day 9: we took the train in the morning to athlone to meet up with paddy who was to drive us to the remains of an old church. paddy was awesome! he sang for us and told us a bunch of extra tidbits. plus nothing beats a private car to tourist spots. we took an afternoon train to dublin, and rushed to the other train station to catch the evening train to belfast. the hostel in belfast was sketchy, in a different way than the one in kilkenny. the one in kilkenny was bad because of how small it was; this one was sketch for how large it was. my friend said it reminded her to tyler durden's house in fight club. the manager (or the night porter, whoever he was) sent us across town to get food. we ended up at this indian place. delicious! the irish definitely know how to do indian food. then to bed after the long day of traveling.
day 10: first stop was the tourist office. we really had hit and miss luck with the tourist offices. but towards the end of the trip our luck was good. they hooked us up with a hop-on and hop-off tour and bus tickets for a tour of the northern coast and the giant's causeway. we moved into a different hostel. it was new so it was really nice but they still haven't worked out some of the base business parts. like identifying who works there and who is staying there. we dropped of our luggage and went to find the bus tour. we got and it was interesting. belfast is such a weird city, because they were in turmoil until just 30 years ago. they call it "the troubles". like it was nothing. there's still so much left from that time but the residents are obviously trying to work past it. my friend saw some things on the bus tour that she wanted to visit but we weren't sure if it was safe enough to get off, or to go back. upon returning to our hostel though, we were informed that one woman staying there wanted to do a black cab tour. since we had just done a tour we were hesitant. but we were told that it was quite interesting and was specifically about the political history and "the troubles" of belfast. and that it was a private tour. we agreed to go. paddy was our driver. he was incredibly interesting. and took us to all of the sites and more that my friend was most interested in seeing. he was an older gentleman and catholic so his views were quite biased, but it was interesting none the less. there are murals everywhere in belfast honoring someone or memorializing occasions during "the troubles". after a 2 hour tour we decided to go find a pub and maybe some food. we stumbled on one that was filled with fans of some team. we found out that northern ireland was playing football that day against israel. food in pubs in belfast, not as reliable as the food in the republic, so we wandered around looking for a food place ending up at the same indian place as the night before.
day 11: this day we spent on the bus tour of the northern coast. there were several photo op stops before getting the giant's causeway. one was a castle on the water that they've placed fake soldiers in the windows taking aim at you. the second one was really just a pit stop, for coffee. then we were at the causeway. it's this crazy natural phenomenon where the rock is in geometric shapes. and it kind of juts into the sea. it was really beautiful and crazy. we walked all around the coast and climbed the stairs up the cliff and walked the ridge back to the bus. then the bus took us to a photo op of a castle right on the edge of the coast. at one point i guess on of the end rooms fell off into the sea. that's how close it was. the thing about these irish castles is that they are just built up and over the rocks and cliffs and things. it's like they just rise out of the rock. the next stop was the bushmill's brewery. we didn't have time to do the tour and you had to do the tour to get the taster certificate, but my friend did manage to get a taste for free. the last stop of the tour was the rope bridge. we only had an hour and twenty to do it and the sign said it would take an hour, so my friend decided to do it. i had no urge to walk across a rope bridge possibly with some idiot who wanted to shake it so didn't bother with it. luckily they let you walk to the bridge and not cross it if you just want to look at it no charge.
day 12: our whole goal was to get back to dublin and buy all the gifts that we needed for friends and family back home. we took a morning train to dublin. checked into our hostel and went out to shop. first stop was jameson for my boyfriend's gift and a few gifts for my friend's family and friends. then for some bad euro fashions. i got a cute top, a long tank top to wear with leggings. this was the only day that it actually rained on us.
day 13: early morning trip to the airport and flight home. this time i actually flew through toronto. my friend and i killed our 4 hour layover by drinking and eating at an airport bar. my flight was delayed getting home but i was at the wrong gate anyways so it gave me time to realize my mistake and to find the other one. arrived home safe and soundly. luggage intact.
woo! is that enough info? if anyone is planning a trip to ireland, i'd love to help you out and tell of the places i liked in more detail and the places to avoid (like the linen house hostel in belfast).
the whole trip was lots of fun. and i don't think i could point out one thing that was my favorite part. it was all so interesting and beautiful and the people are soooooo nice! and the accent. my poor friend had a hard time understanding some of them so i acted as translator a lot. it usually just ended up being funny. we both had stupid moments. and we're still friends. i'm sure there was frustration at points but never anger or hatred. woo!
my trip started on the 2nd of august. i was supposed to fly from chicago to toronto, meet up with my friend there and then fly onto dublin. of course that didn't work out. i ended up flying to frankfurt, from frankfurt to london, and finally from london to dublin. arriving 12 hours late. the flight ended up being uneventful, though the customs at heathrow was awful. the guy was a complete dick and i was already exhausted and irritated by my 4 hour debacle with the airline the previous day. customs in dublin was a breeze.
after arriving in dublin, and finding that my luggage was lost in my travels, i went to the hostel and met up with my friend. i found her asleep. we quickly went out for food and returned to the hostel for some much needed sleep.
the next day, we decided to take the hop-on and hop-off bus to get to some of the sites we wanted to see. first stop was the guinness storehouse. they have a self-guided tour through the place. the no longer brew there, although they do still bottle. the had a tasting on the third floor. and you could learn how to pour the perfect pint on the fifth floor. i poured quite a nice one and have a certificate proving i was taught the correct method. the infinity bar is on the roof of the building and is a recent expansion. it is the highest building in dublin. and you can see a full 360 degrees. the second stop was the jameson brewery. they have a guided tour and a tasting at the end. 8 people were chosen to participate, and my friend was one of them. the rest of the tour was given a choice of what kind of drink we'd like. i guess jameson has finally acknowledged that people like to drink their whiskey with other stuff. it was an amusing tour. the rest of the evening was spent wandering around. we ended up visiting the christ church. that night we were so tired that we ate dinner then went to bed.
day 3: our hop-on and hop-off bus tickets were still valid so we got on and took the full tour. this time we picked the route that went past st. patrick's. we did the full loop and more getting off at trinity college. we wandered around the campus. it's ridiculous. a whole host of new and old buildings. connected in weird ways and not in any sort of order. afterwards we went shopping, as my luggage had still not appeared and i was sick of wearing the same clothes day after day. ended up being pointless as my luggage was at the hostel when we got back from shopping. that night we finally had the energy to go out. we went to the smallest pub in dublin (it's the size of a walk-in closet), a pub called mckoe's which had a good after-work crowd, temple bar (which is the most famous bar in dublin), and fitzsimmon's down the block from temple bar.
day 4: we took a mid-morning train to kilkenny which is southwest of dublin, halfway to cork. my friend had booked a hostel. when we found it we were told that it was actually being renovated and we were placed in a different hostel in a different part of town. this place was sketchy. we were in a room in the attic. there was only one other person staying there. as it was mid-afternoon and we didn't know how long we were going to stay in town, we rushed out to go see the sights. the church was old and had some interesting stained glass and tombs. kilkenny castle was nice but had been renovated with, i think, little accuracy. then we went to the design center which in the stables of the castle. the guy who ran our hostel informed us that there was a stretch of 6 or so pubs all in a row and is in the guinness book of world records as being the most bars in a row. My friend set her sights on going to all of them that night. as the other tenant of the hostel was a young woman, we invited her along. we ended up hitting up 3 of them by the time it was midnight and closing.
day 5: we had intentions of going to the kilkenny brewery, but we didn't know how to get to our next stop wexford or what time we would need to leave. so first stop was the tourist information. they were unhelpful, so we had to go down to the train station. we found out that we needed to take the next train which was in an hour. we rushed back to the hostel and then back to the station with our luggage. so no brewery. but train times afforded us with a couple of hours to kill in waterford. so we went to the cathedral and the friary. we also visited reginald's tower, what's left of the old fortifications. we arrived in wexford that evening with no reservations for a hostel. we wandered almost to the edge of town and then cut back into the town. we were able to get a room in the the first b&b we came across. it was really nice compared to the sketchy place we had stayed at in kilkenny. plus there was a pub right next door. we were tired from running around with our luggage, but we had time to kill so we wandered around town. we ended up at the pub next door.
day 6: when i had originally read about wexford it sounded like there was a lot to do. but upon further reading i realized that much of that stuff was outside of town. we had seen some of the stuff when we had wandered the night before. we found out from some locals that there was this ruinous abbey that was locked up. we were told to contact some guy named murray. we found the site but couldn't find murray. we gave up and went to the tourist information and they told us that the organization that looked after the abbey had just stopped doing it. but they told us of this historical irish park that was just outside of town. "a 45 minute walk". they didn't inform us that it was mostly uphill, further than 45 minutes, there's almost no sidewalk, and you'd have to cross a highway to get there. the park was interesting though. a little too recreated, but at least there weren't people walking around in costume. afterwards we returned to town by cab, picked up our luggage and walked to the train station. we took the train back to dublin for a night stopover. we ventured out to mckoe's again.
day 7: we took the direct morning train to galway. immediately went to the tourist information office. we were directed to our hostel and given a lot of information about the tours to do in the area. after going to hostel we decided we wanted to do both tours but we only had one day, so we went back to the tourist info. he told us there was no way to do both tours in one day, but we could go to the aran islands and experience a little bit of both. the best way to do this is by bike. i haven't ridden a bike in years. but it sounded good so i agreed to the trip. we got our tickets and went to a pub for food, drinks, and sports.
day 8: we woke early to catch the bus to the ferry to the island. we got there a little later than planned. got our bikes and started out. as i said before i haven't ridden a bike in forever and i've never ridden a mountain bike. my friend gave me a tutorial in bike gears and we set out. i unfortunately didn't understand the lesson and had my bike on the highest gear trying to go up the steepest mountain. i was dead before we got the top. i had to get off twice to walk my bike. but i soon found out my mistake and switched gears to the lowest. and kept it there the rest of the time. we didn't go to the top of the peak or the most famous site but we did get out pretty far and the island was so pretty that we saw a lot anyways. but boy were we exhausted by the end of it! we did a bit of shopping while there. i got a stuffed animal sheep that i fell in love with halfway across the island. and a beautiful blanket for my mother. plus we had time to kill before taking the ferry back so we got some food. i finally got some fish and chips which were delicious! we were trying to get an earlier ferry as we had finished sooner than we had expected. but they wouldn't take anyone not for the current ferry. they had us wait in line for if there was room. they let some us on and stopped at the large family in front of us. the guy said they would take two more. and before the family could decide if they wanted to separate or not my friend and i had volunteered ourselves for those spots. we got back to the hostel and immediately passed out for the night.
day 9: we took the train in the morning to athlone to meet up with paddy who was to drive us to the remains of an old church. paddy was awesome! he sang for us and told us a bunch of extra tidbits. plus nothing beats a private car to tourist spots. we took an afternoon train to dublin, and rushed to the other train station to catch the evening train to belfast. the hostel in belfast was sketchy, in a different way than the one in kilkenny. the one in kilkenny was bad because of how small it was; this one was sketch for how large it was. my friend said it reminded her to tyler durden's house in fight club. the manager (or the night porter, whoever he was) sent us across town to get food. we ended up at this indian place. delicious! the irish definitely know how to do indian food. then to bed after the long day of traveling.
day 10: first stop was the tourist office. we really had hit and miss luck with the tourist offices. but towards the end of the trip our luck was good. they hooked us up with a hop-on and hop-off tour and bus tickets for a tour of the northern coast and the giant's causeway. we moved into a different hostel. it was new so it was really nice but they still haven't worked out some of the base business parts. like identifying who works there and who is staying there. we dropped of our luggage and went to find the bus tour. we got and it was interesting. belfast is such a weird city, because they were in turmoil until just 30 years ago. they call it "the troubles". like it was nothing. there's still so much left from that time but the residents are obviously trying to work past it. my friend saw some things on the bus tour that she wanted to visit but we weren't sure if it was safe enough to get off, or to go back. upon returning to our hostel though, we were informed that one woman staying there wanted to do a black cab tour. since we had just done a tour we were hesitant. but we were told that it was quite interesting and was specifically about the political history and "the troubles" of belfast. and that it was a private tour. we agreed to go. paddy was our driver. he was incredibly interesting. and took us to all of the sites and more that my friend was most interested in seeing. he was an older gentleman and catholic so his views were quite biased, but it was interesting none the less. there are murals everywhere in belfast honoring someone or memorializing occasions during "the troubles". after a 2 hour tour we decided to go find a pub and maybe some food. we stumbled on one that was filled with fans of some team. we found out that northern ireland was playing football that day against israel. food in pubs in belfast, not as reliable as the food in the republic, so we wandered around looking for a food place ending up at the same indian place as the night before.
day 11: this day we spent on the bus tour of the northern coast. there were several photo op stops before getting the giant's causeway. one was a castle on the water that they've placed fake soldiers in the windows taking aim at you. the second one was really just a pit stop, for coffee. then we were at the causeway. it's this crazy natural phenomenon where the rock is in geometric shapes. and it kind of juts into the sea. it was really beautiful and crazy. we walked all around the coast and climbed the stairs up the cliff and walked the ridge back to the bus. then the bus took us to a photo op of a castle right on the edge of the coast. at one point i guess on of the end rooms fell off into the sea. that's how close it was. the thing about these irish castles is that they are just built up and over the rocks and cliffs and things. it's like they just rise out of the rock. the next stop was the bushmill's brewery. we didn't have time to do the tour and you had to do the tour to get the taster certificate, but my friend did manage to get a taste for free. the last stop of the tour was the rope bridge. we only had an hour and twenty to do it and the sign said it would take an hour, so my friend decided to do it. i had no urge to walk across a rope bridge possibly with some idiot who wanted to shake it so didn't bother with it. luckily they let you walk to the bridge and not cross it if you just want to look at it no charge.
day 12: our whole goal was to get back to dublin and buy all the gifts that we needed for friends and family back home. we took a morning train to dublin. checked into our hostel and went out to shop. first stop was jameson for my boyfriend's gift and a few gifts for my friend's family and friends. then for some bad euro fashions. i got a cute top, a long tank top to wear with leggings. this was the only day that it actually rained on us.
day 13: early morning trip to the airport and flight home. this time i actually flew through toronto. my friend and i killed our 4 hour layover by drinking and eating at an airport bar. my flight was delayed getting home but i was at the wrong gate anyways so it gave me time to realize my mistake and to find the other one. arrived home safe and soundly. luggage intact.
woo! is that enough info? if anyone is planning a trip to ireland, i'd love to help you out and tell of the places i liked in more detail and the places to avoid (like the linen house hostel in belfast).
the whole trip was lots of fun. and i don't think i could point out one thing that was my favorite part. it was all so interesting and beautiful and the people are soooooo nice! and the accent. my poor friend had a hard time understanding some of them so i acted as translator a lot. it usually just ended up being funny. we both had stupid moments. and we're still friends. i'm sure there was frustration at points but never anger or hatred. woo!
8.16.2009
home sweet home
i'm back from ireland! it was an amazing trip. i wish i could have blogged about it while i was there, but i had limited access to the internet so it wasn't possible. oh well... i'm not really up to writing all about it just now though. still recovering from the time change. and the build up of email, mail, bills, and important deadlines. i also have to remember all of the little things i need to get done before i leave again to go to texas for 6 days, leaving on tuesday. i'm going to see austin and dallas/fortworth. and the boyfriend and i are traveling by train so we'll also see everything in between, including everything between dallas and chicago. this is the most traveling i've done in a month ever. three weeks of go-go-go, then i start school. completely crazy!
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