It's been a while since I've written, and I've been sitting in front of my laptop for the last 10, 15 minutes, just staring at the screen and thinking of the best way to write an entry that reflects truthfully what I think and feel about certain things, but not offend anyone or create any controversy that might jeopardize anything semi- good (not even great) that's going on in my life.
And I've come to realize that I can't.
It's come to a point where I just don't know who is reading this, apart from the select few I can count on. And I can't write anything more than "that was a great trip!" or "I went to such and such a place and it was fantastic!" without creating trouble for myself further on down the road, or having to explain why I wrote something in particular that displeased a certain person.
So why write blogs at all?
Anyway, I guess what I am trying to say is, I probably won't be writing anymore, apart from one or two, here and there. We'll see how it goes.
So... a topic that won't bother anyone?
The weather in Dublin has been fluctuating.
That is all.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Busy!
- Thanksgiving dinner was a great success, and I'm really glad I had it! It was also nice to have met some new USIT people... from Scarborough! Yay!
- Last couple days have been kind of a downer, but I'm sure I'll get over it.... soon? Hopefully... I've just got things on my mind.
- Work's been really busy as of late! I was really bored last week, and I told my boss that and now I've got loads to do!
- Still practicing vio-mo-lin. My audition for NYOI is next Friday! Don't know if I'm ready yet...
- Waiting for Zoe to get home. She went on a 1.5 week trip to Italy and Germany, and is supposed to be back tonight.
Nothing else to report; til next time!
- Last couple days have been kind of a downer, but I'm sure I'll get over it.... soon? Hopefully... I've just got things on my mind.
- Work's been really busy as of late! I was really bored last week, and I told my boss that and now I've got loads to do!
- Still practicing vio-mo-lin. My audition for NYOI is next Friday! Don't know if I'm ready yet...
- Waiting for Zoe to get home. She went on a 1.5 week trip to Italy and Germany, and is supposed to be back tonight.
Nothing else to report; til next time!
Monday, October 8, 2007
Thanksgiving
Things I am Thankful for
- I am thankful for the friends I constantly keep in touch with while in Ireland because they make my days at work a bit more entertaining.
- I am thankful for Air-Ick because his phobias make me feel superior.
- I am thankful for the people who came to my dinner tonight because I miss having a real Thanksgiving dinner at home.
Things I am NOT Thankful for
- Ireland for not celebrating thanksgiving, because I could not find a turkey!
- Ireland's horrible weather, except this weekend was gorgeous, so I guess I can't complain. But in general, the weather sucks.
- The people I have become distant/awkward with because of one incident or another.
- The amazing people I've met here who then leave to go travelling or go back home.
- I am thankful for the friends I constantly keep in touch with while in Ireland because they make my days at work a bit more entertaining.
- I am thankful for Air-Ick because his phobias make me feel superior.
- I am thankful for the people who came to my dinner tonight because I miss having a real Thanksgiving dinner at home.
Things I am NOT Thankful for
- Ireland for not celebrating thanksgiving, because I could not find a turkey!
- Ireland's horrible weather, except this weekend was gorgeous, so I guess I can't complain. But in general, the weather sucks.
- The people I have become distant/awkward with because of one incident or another.
- The amazing people I've met here who then leave to go travelling or go back home.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Cork and Belfast
I haven't written in a whiiiile, and I got told today, so I guess I better write something.
The past two weeks have been really quite busy for me. Two weekends ago (Sept 21-23) I decided to go to Cork, which is about 4 hours away on the bus from Dublin. Right when I got on the bus, I bumped into Kyle and John, these two guys I met from the USIT social in August. It was cool bumping into them. We ended up hanging out pretty much all weekend. It was great fun, better than being on your own, I'd say.
(John and I, on the bus)
(Finally arrived in Cork, and what a nice bridge!)
(Being a tourist in front of a Cork shop)
(A poster in a pub we were at. Beamish is actually really good!)
That night we got there, and found our respective hostels, and then went out for drinks. Met a couple of Corkians along the way. I gotta say, in all the places in Ireland I've been to now, I really like Cork people the most, in a general sense. We were lost when we first got there and I asked some sketchy-looking people for directions, but they really helped and was actually very nice about it too. Then we went out for drinks and met some other locals, and well... okay, one guy was kinda creepy, but he had good intentions... I guess... haha. On the way home, we bumped into two guys who were locals, and primary school teachers. So we just chatted there on the street for like 15 minutes, and they are actually really interesting people. I gave them my number cause one of them told me how they were going to come to Dublin soon, but I don't think they're going to call. Oh well.
The next day, I met up with Kyle and John again and we took a bus to Blarney! It was a perfect day, great for sightseeing. We visited a the Blarney Woolen Mills (great place, by the way) then walked up to the Blarney Castle, home of the Blarney Stone. The castle itself was fantastic. Lots of old walls and ruins, but I gotta admit, the Blarney Stone was not that eventful. Not as eventful as everyone makes it, anyway. The queue was enormous, and the actual "kissing" was like 2 seconds. I think the man that was working there didn't like his job. He pretty much kicked me off. Bah. After the Blarney Stone, we found a local pub and ate a really late lunch. Soooo good though. :) That night we went out and actually met some USIT people!! They are fresh, just arrived a week earlier. Oh, and they're all from Toronto! Ha ha!
(Cork)
(Nothin' like coffee in the morning)
(In Blarney!)
(Blarney Castle)
(So inappropriate, but so funny!)
(Kissing the Blarney stone; yes, I know it's dirty, so sue me)
(View from the top of the castle)
(On a cool looking bench)
(New USIT people!)
The next morning, we were all gonna go to Cobh (Co-ve) but I waited around for 40 mins and Kyle and John still didn't arrive, and there was a bus going back to Dublin right then, and I was tired, so I went back to Dublin instead. Oh well. I wanted to visit Cobh too, but next time...
Last weekend I went to Belfast. Really interesting city. My hostel for the first night was in this sketchy little side street, but it was pretty legit. Not bad for ₤10. I didn't go out that night because I decided to go on a full day bus tour the next morning, so I wanted a good night's sleep. Plus... Belfast was a bit sketchy, especially when I didn't know the area at all. The next morning, went outside to wait for the bus tour thingy along with 5 other people from my hostel. We thought it came at 9, but it didn't come til 9:30, so we all waited around for half an hour. It was nice to chat though. The bus tour was great. We drove north all along the coast, and the view was gorgeous. Our first stop was at this place called the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. We actually had to hike about 20 minutes uphill to get to the actual rope bridge, but it was fun still. Got there, took some photos, and went back down to the bus. Lunch was in a restaurant in a little town we stopped at. Hardly any tourists, besides our bus tour group. It was nice though. Next stop was the Bushmills whiskey distillery. We took a little tour of the distillery, which was alright.
Anyway... our final stop was the Giant's Causeway. This has been rumoured to be one of the most beautiful places in all of Ireland. But I gotta be honest... it was not as great as I hoped it to be. I mean, yes, it was beautiful, and really unique as well, but it wasn't like "Ohmigod, this is suuuch a spectacular natural site!" Nevertheless, I am still glad I got to see it. It was a pretty neat place.; climbing the Causeway was fun.
On Sunday, the last day, I ended up going to church for like 3 hours. OMG. I know. It was not too bad though, actually. The first service was full of old(er) people, and I was really lost as to where the priest guy was reading in the "Book of common prayer". And then I did a communion at the end of the service. It was... interesting. After the first service, I had about 30 minutes to kill before the next one, which had a choir (hence the reason I wanted to go). This one was much bigger, as in the number of people who attended. Yeah, it was actually a pretty good service as well, and the choir was fantastic. I left the cathedral feeling quite good, actually. After a cuppa coffee and a biscuit, I hopped on a city sightseeing bus and ventured off into other parts of Belfast. It was a pricey ride, but I really wanted to see the murals. It was one of the main reasons of me going to Belfast in the first place.The tour was really good, and I got to see the really political side of the city. I kinda wish I had a travelling buddy at that time, because I really wanted to get off and just wander around west Belfast, the most political and sketchy part of the city. I didn't though, because I was actually pretty apprehensive about wandering in that area on my own. Yeah, it was that bad. Very very segregated (Catholics vs. Protestants). I wouldn't mind going there again, if I find someone else who would go with me. I think that city has a lot to offer, despite its troubled past. A lot of it is still apparent, especially through the political murals and high "peace walls", literally walls that surround certain communities.
Anyway... so that's a quick update on my life. Didn't do too much this weekend. Went out with people from work on Friday, since one of our co-workers finished his last day, so we all went out for drinks. It was a good time. Yesterday was a gorgeous day, so I took the train out to the beach and hung out there for about an hour, then came back and walked around the city center. Nice and stress-free. I watched a movie at the cinema today, Garage. It was really really good. I don't think it plays in N.America, it is an Irish film, but still, super good. Pete came back from his travels as well, so we hung out a bit. Hopefully he'll come to my Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow! Oh yeah... I organized a Thanksgiving potluck dinner at my flat tomorrow, yay! I'm excited for that!
Anyway, this entry is long enough, and I should probably be getting some sleep. Til next time!
The past two weeks have been really quite busy for me. Two weekends ago (Sept 21-23) I decided to go to Cork, which is about 4 hours away on the bus from Dublin. Right when I got on the bus, I bumped into Kyle and John, these two guys I met from the USIT social in August. It was cool bumping into them. We ended up hanging out pretty much all weekend. It was great fun, better than being on your own, I'd say.
(John and I, on the bus)
(Finally arrived in Cork, and what a nice bridge!)
(Being a tourist in front of a Cork shop)
(A poster in a pub we were at. Beamish is actually really good!)
That night we got there, and found our respective hostels, and then went out for drinks. Met a couple of Corkians along the way. I gotta say, in all the places in Ireland I've been to now, I really like Cork people the most, in a general sense. We were lost when we first got there and I asked some sketchy-looking people for directions, but they really helped and was actually very nice about it too. Then we went out for drinks and met some other locals, and well... okay, one guy was kinda creepy, but he had good intentions... I guess... haha. On the way home, we bumped into two guys who were locals, and primary school teachers. So we just chatted there on the street for like 15 minutes, and they are actually really interesting people. I gave them my number cause one of them told me how they were going to come to Dublin soon, but I don't think they're going to call. Oh well.
The next day, I met up with Kyle and John again and we took a bus to Blarney! It was a perfect day, great for sightseeing. We visited a the Blarney Woolen Mills (great place, by the way) then walked up to the Blarney Castle, home of the Blarney Stone. The castle itself was fantastic. Lots of old walls and ruins, but I gotta admit, the Blarney Stone was not that eventful. Not as eventful as everyone makes it, anyway. The queue was enormous, and the actual "kissing" was like 2 seconds. I think the man that was working there didn't like his job. He pretty much kicked me off. Bah. After the Blarney Stone, we found a local pub and ate a really late lunch. Soooo good though. :) That night we went out and actually met some USIT people!! They are fresh, just arrived a week earlier. Oh, and they're all from Toronto! Ha ha!
(Cork)
(Nothin' like coffee in the morning)
(In Blarney!)
(Blarney Castle)
(So inappropriate, but so funny!)
(Kissing the Blarney stone; yes, I know it's dirty, so sue me)
(View from the top of the castle)
(On a cool looking bench)
(New USIT people!)
The next morning, we were all gonna go to Cobh (Co-ve) but I waited around for 40 mins and Kyle and John still didn't arrive, and there was a bus going back to Dublin right then, and I was tired, so I went back to Dublin instead. Oh well. I wanted to visit Cobh too, but next time...
Last weekend I went to Belfast. Really interesting city. My hostel for the first night was in this sketchy little side street, but it was pretty legit. Not bad for ₤10. I didn't go out that night because I decided to go on a full day bus tour the next morning, so I wanted a good night's sleep. Plus... Belfast was a bit sketchy, especially when I didn't know the area at all. The next morning, went outside to wait for the bus tour thingy along with 5 other people from my hostel. We thought it came at 9, but it didn't come til 9:30, so we all waited around for half an hour. It was nice to chat though. The bus tour was great. We drove north all along the coast, and the view was gorgeous. Our first stop was at this place called the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. We actually had to hike about 20 minutes uphill to get to the actual rope bridge, but it was fun still. Got there, took some photos, and went back down to the bus. Lunch was in a restaurant in a little town we stopped at. Hardly any tourists, besides our bus tour group. It was nice though. Next stop was the Bushmills whiskey distillery. We took a little tour of the distillery, which was alright.
Anyway... our final stop was the Giant's Causeway. This has been rumoured to be one of the most beautiful places in all of Ireland. But I gotta be honest... it was not as great as I hoped it to be. I mean, yes, it was beautiful, and really unique as well, but it wasn't like "Ohmigod, this is suuuch a spectacular natural site!" Nevertheless, I am still glad I got to see it. It was a pretty neat place.; climbing the Causeway was fun.
On Sunday, the last day, I ended up going to church for like 3 hours. OMG. I know. It was not too bad though, actually. The first service was full of old(er) people, and I was really lost as to where the priest guy was reading in the "Book of common prayer". And then I did a communion at the end of the service. It was... interesting. After the first service, I had about 30 minutes to kill before the next one, which had a choir (hence the reason I wanted to go). This one was much bigger, as in the number of people who attended. Yeah, it was actually a pretty good service as well, and the choir was fantastic. I left the cathedral feeling quite good, actually. After a cuppa coffee and a biscuit, I hopped on a city sightseeing bus and ventured off into other parts of Belfast. It was a pricey ride, but I really wanted to see the murals. It was one of the main reasons of me going to Belfast in the first place.The tour was really good, and I got to see the really political side of the city. I kinda wish I had a travelling buddy at that time, because I really wanted to get off and just wander around west Belfast, the most political and sketchy part of the city. I didn't though, because I was actually pretty apprehensive about wandering in that area on my own. Yeah, it was that bad. Very very segregated (Catholics vs. Protestants). I wouldn't mind going there again, if I find someone else who would go with me. I think that city has a lot to offer, despite its troubled past. A lot of it is still apparent, especially through the political murals and high "peace walls", literally walls that surround certain communities.
Anyway... so that's a quick update on my life. Didn't do too much this weekend. Went out with people from work on Friday, since one of our co-workers finished his last day, so we all went out for drinks. It was a good time. Yesterday was a gorgeous day, so I took the train out to the beach and hung out there for about an hour, then came back and walked around the city center. Nice and stress-free. I watched a movie at the cinema today, Garage. It was really really good. I don't think it plays in N.America, it is an Irish film, but still, super good. Pete came back from his travels as well, so we hung out a bit. Hopefully he'll come to my Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow! Oh yeah... I organized a Thanksgiving potluck dinner at my flat tomorrow, yay! I'm excited for that!
Anyway, this entry is long enough, and I should probably be getting some sleep. Til next time!
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Past & Upcoming
- It's been a busy week so far, and today definitely feels like Friday....... but it's not!
- Work has been busy, but good. After work everyday, I walk with Caroline, my cubicle neighbour, to the bus stop. Well, she takes the bus, and I keep walking. She's great, and we have amazing conversations. :)
- Bus and hostel booked for CORK!!!! YAYYY!!!! I'm leaving Friday night after work, and coming back Sunday afternoon, in time for my *last* Fringe show!
- I have a Fringe show tonight, that I got free tickets for through work (they support shows that go on in the Spiegeltent so we get complimentary tickets) Buuuut... I'm pretty tired at the moment, so we'll see if I feel like going (and if Zoe, my roommate) feels up to it too. We're both pretty mellow right now.
- I went to see Disturbia last night -- good movie!! It definitely freaked me out a bit, but not in the gore-y sense. Just.... disturbingly. Ha ha. I really want to see Atonement though. It'll be a nice change from all the horror films I've been seeing. Except for Knocked-Up, that was a fantastic movie!
- Received the excerpts for the NYOI auditions in the mail! Can't wait to start practising!
- Ok, Zoe and I just decided we're not going to the Fringe thing. We're both tired and it's cold and raining outside.
- Well, I'm off now, to read my novel. Bye!
- Work has been busy, but good. After work everyday, I walk with Caroline, my cubicle neighbour, to the bus stop. Well, she takes the bus, and I keep walking. She's great, and we have amazing conversations. :)
- Bus and hostel booked for CORK!!!! YAYYY!!!! I'm leaving Friday night after work, and coming back Sunday afternoon, in time for my *last* Fringe show!
- I have a Fringe show tonight, that I got free tickets for through work (they support shows that go on in the Spiegeltent so we get complimentary tickets) Buuuut... I'm pretty tired at the moment, so we'll see if I feel like going (and if Zoe, my roommate) feels up to it too. We're both pretty mellow right now.
- I went to see Disturbia last night -- good movie!! It definitely freaked me out a bit, but not in the gore-y sense. Just.... disturbingly. Ha ha. I really want to see Atonement though. It'll be a nice change from all the horror films I've been seeing. Except for Knocked-Up, that was a fantastic movie!
- Received the excerpts for the NYOI auditions in the mail! Can't wait to start practising!
- Ok, Zoe and I just decided we're not going to the Fringe thing. We're both tired and it's cold and raining outside.
- Well, I'm off now, to read my novel. Bye!
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Music and Football
I forgot to write last time, that the woman from the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland emailed me a couple of days ago!! I emailed her months ago, when I was still in Canada, inquiring about auditions and joining the orchestra. She emailed me back asking about residency and all that junk, and then we lost contact. She emailed me a couple days ago, saying how she was going over old emails and came upon mine, and would I like to still like to audition? Applications are due by September 24th. I emailed her and told her I definitely would like to! So I printed off the application form, attached a photo and €20, and mailed in on Saturday! YAY! I'm gonna receive the orchestra excerpts in the mail once she receives it, yay! I'm sooo excited! I hope I get in!
In other news, I watched the All-Ireland Gaelic football finals on TV yesterday!! I've never watched Gaelic football before, but I quickly caught on to what was happening. Apparently, they've been playing for months, and yesterday's game were the FINALS, with Cork Vs. Kerry. One of my co-workers was telling me on Friday that geographically, Cork and Kerry are really close together; neighbours, really. But they've been age-old rivals in sports. As the commentator said on TV: "Cork will never be forgotten if they win, but Kerry will never be forgiven if they lost." Whoooaa... intense! So yesterday I sat in a nice restaurant/pub with Sarah, a new USIT Canadian girl I met, and watched the game. Ohmigod, it was so intense! I'm not much of a sports fan, but even so, I was reallllly into this game!! I was rooting for Cork, only because people from Cork have this really cool accent, and when we had our going-away drinks at the Bleeding Horse back in August, I got to chatting with a Cork guy, and he was cool. And I don't know anything or anyone from Kerry, other than rumours that they are hella good in football. Well, that's stupid reason for rooting for a team, but whatever! And the commentator was hilarious as well. Anyway... Cork lost. It's okay though, I am really happy for Kerry! Yaaayyyy! The men who were sitting at the table next to us were Cork fans as well, and they were really into the game! This country is absolutely sports-crazy, it's really great. Great great craic, as they say! Anyway, I left the pub in really good spirits, vowing that someday, someday I will make my way to Croke park to see a real game! Reading the paper this morning on yesterday's game was fantastic. It got me all giddy and excited again, ha ha. I think I am starting to like Gaelic football! Yay!
Anyway, nothing else to report. Work is busy. And I'm contemplating on going to Cork this weekend. Well, I've been wanting to go to Cork (or Limerick!) for months, but never got around to actually going. So we'll see. That's it!
In other news, I watched the All-Ireland Gaelic football finals on TV yesterday!! I've never watched Gaelic football before, but I quickly caught on to what was happening. Apparently, they've been playing for months, and yesterday's game were the FINALS, with Cork Vs. Kerry. One of my co-workers was telling me on Friday that geographically, Cork and Kerry are really close together; neighbours, really. But they've been age-old rivals in sports. As the commentator said on TV: "Cork will never be forgotten if they win, but Kerry will never be forgiven if they lost." Whoooaa... intense! So yesterday I sat in a nice restaurant/pub with Sarah, a new USIT Canadian girl I met, and watched the game. Ohmigod, it was so intense! I'm not much of a sports fan, but even so, I was reallllly into this game!! I was rooting for Cork, only because people from Cork have this really cool accent, and when we had our going-away drinks at the Bleeding Horse back in August, I got to chatting with a Cork guy, and he was cool. And I don't know anything or anyone from Kerry, other than rumours that they are hella good in football. Well, that's stupid reason for rooting for a team, but whatever! And the commentator was hilarious as well. Anyway... Cork lost. It's okay though, I am really happy for Kerry! Yaaayyyy! The men who were sitting at the table next to us were Cork fans as well, and they were really into the game! This country is absolutely sports-crazy, it's really great. Great great craic, as they say! Anyway, I left the pub in really good spirits, vowing that someday, someday I will make my way to Croke park to see a real game! Reading the paper this morning on yesterday's game was fantastic. It got me all giddy and excited again, ha ha. I think I am starting to like Gaelic football! Yay!
Anyway, nothing else to report. Work is busy. And I'm contemplating on going to Cork this weekend. Well, I've been wanting to go to Cork (or Limerick!) for months, but never got around to actually going. So we'll see. That's it!
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Update on All Things
It's been over a week since I last posted, but it certainly doesn't feel that long! Only a couple of things have been keeping me busy, but first, a summary of my weekend in England.
I got into London's Stansted airport at around 11pm on Friday night. Bought tickets for the express bus into the city. Once I got to the city, it was around midnight. I was (un)pleasantly welcomed by throngs of drunk people staggering in the streets, party-goers galore, lots of traffic, and no tube (underground/subway), because apparently, they close by midnight. So there I was, with no idea which way to go to get to my hostel. I didn't want to take a cab because, although they were really cool-looking cabs, I wasn't in the mood for paying loads of cash. In sterling, of all currencies. So I wandered around, asking different people, mainly security guards at the tube station and some bus drivers as well. I finally found the right bus, but didn't have exact change for the fare! AHH! I was just about to get off when the bus driver called out to me and said I could get on anyway. YAY, I saved two pounds! I got to my hostel at around 2:30am, no kidding! It was a loooong bus ride. I chatted up with this girl who was on the bus with me, since I asked her for directions and she was getting off at the same stop as I. It was nice. Once I arrived in the hostel, I had no interest in going out anymore. So I stayed in and looked at some brochures, deciding on what I should do the next day. I saw a brochure for a *free* walking tour, so after chatting it up with one guy in the hostel, I went to bed. Time: 3:45am.
I got up the next morning in time for the complimentary breakfast, and it was a pretty damn good breakfast. I was full by the time I left to catch the tube to get to the proposed meeting spot of the walking tour. The tour itself was pretty fun. And, okay, this is the odd bit: You'd think going all the way to Ireland to hang out with kids from UW is crazy, I went on this walking tour, on that particular day, on that particular weekend, and in my tour group, I met 3 girls, all from Laurier. AND they are in my year, but just graduated in the summer. Crazy or what?! Anyway... it was a good time. We (the tour group) stopped by this small restaurant/pub for lunch, where the tour company had special deals with that particular place, so we got a nice big burger and a pint of beer for only £5!! What a deal!! After the tour, the 3 Laurier girls and I decided to go on the London Eye, arguably the biggest ferris wheel in the world. It cost £15 and wasn't even thaaaat great. I mean, it was good, we saw a lot, but I think it would've been better if the day wasn't so cloudy. It was okay, though, because I won't do it again. Just something fun and touristy. After the London Eye, I went to Chinatown to meet up with Kenric and Gavin and their parents. They are some guys I grew up playing violin with. It was good seeing them again, although it was only for a short time. Dinner was fantastic. After the dinner, I took the tube again to a pub crawl, that was organized by the people in the walking tour that day, so it was great seeing them again and hanging out. I met some Australians, two English girls, and a couple of Americans. Didn't get too drunk, and called it a night by 11:30pm, because I had to catch the tube back to my hostel before it closes at midnight, and I definitely did not want to take the bus again. The tube is WAY faster!
Next morning, I got up at 6:30am, took the tube to the city center where the express bus to Stansted airport left. It was sooo early, and I was zoned out for most of the day. At the airport, I had about 2.5 hours to kill, and I suddenly craved the full American breakfast (eggs, bacon, sausages, etc) so I splurged and got a breakfast at one of thier airport restaurants. It was by far the best almost £10 I spent that weekend, followed closely by the day pass for public transportation.
Although I really only spent one full day in London, I really liked it and now that I have a general idea of where everything is and how the public transport system works, I definitely plan on going back, hopefully for longer than a weekend!
Work at DDDA has been going well, I finished my first week! The first day was pretty overwhelming. David, my boss, is incredibly nice, and pretty easy to talk to. It's been frustrating at times, with the booking of several meetings, calling up people I don't know to set up meetings with David, and covering reception at times. It's fairly busy, but not too busy! I'm slowly getting the hang of it, so that's good.
In other news, I've been lately occupied with the Dublin Fringe Festival! It's really great, and there are looooads of good shows! The most frustrating thing about this is that there are just too many good shows I want to go see, but they are on at the same time! I've been to 3 so far, and got 2 more to go. Well, two for sure, but I something might come up during the week, and I'll decide to go, we'll see. Dublin Docklands is a supporter of the events that go on in the Spiegaltent, so we get free tickets! I've ordered two, and they're happening on Monday and Sunday of next week, yay! I'm looking forward to those very much. :)
Other than that... there's nothing much else to say. The weather has been better, and today was actually sunny and warm ALL DAY. Whoa. That doesn't happen often, that's for sure. Anyway... nothing else to write, so.... bye!
I got into London's Stansted airport at around 11pm on Friday night. Bought tickets for the express bus into the city. Once I got to the city, it was around midnight. I was (un)pleasantly welcomed by throngs of drunk people staggering in the streets, party-goers galore, lots of traffic, and no tube (underground/subway), because apparently, they close by midnight. So there I was, with no idea which way to go to get to my hostel. I didn't want to take a cab because, although they were really cool-looking cabs, I wasn't in the mood for paying loads of cash. In sterling, of all currencies. So I wandered around, asking different people, mainly security guards at the tube station and some bus drivers as well. I finally found the right bus, but didn't have exact change for the fare! AHH! I was just about to get off when the bus driver called out to me and said I could get on anyway. YAY, I saved two pounds! I got to my hostel at around 2:30am, no kidding! It was a loooong bus ride. I chatted up with this girl who was on the bus with me, since I asked her for directions and she was getting off at the same stop as I. It was nice. Once I arrived in the hostel, I had no interest in going out anymore. So I stayed in and looked at some brochures, deciding on what I should do the next day. I saw a brochure for a *free* walking tour, so after chatting it up with one guy in the hostel, I went to bed. Time: 3:45am.
I got up the next morning in time for the complimentary breakfast, and it was a pretty damn good breakfast. I was full by the time I left to catch the tube to get to the proposed meeting spot of the walking tour. The tour itself was pretty fun. And, okay, this is the odd bit: You'd think going all the way to Ireland to hang out with kids from UW is crazy, I went on this walking tour, on that particular day, on that particular weekend, and in my tour group, I met 3 girls, all from Laurier. AND they are in my year, but just graduated in the summer. Crazy or what?! Anyway... it was a good time. We (the tour group) stopped by this small restaurant/pub for lunch, where the tour company had special deals with that particular place, so we got a nice big burger and a pint of beer for only £5!! What a deal!! After the tour, the 3 Laurier girls and I decided to go on the London Eye, arguably the biggest ferris wheel in the world. It cost £15 and wasn't even thaaaat great. I mean, it was good, we saw a lot, but I think it would've been better if the day wasn't so cloudy. It was okay, though, because I won't do it again. Just something fun and touristy. After the London Eye, I went to Chinatown to meet up with Kenric and Gavin and their parents. They are some guys I grew up playing violin with. It was good seeing them again, although it was only for a short time. Dinner was fantastic. After the dinner, I took the tube again to a pub crawl, that was organized by the people in the walking tour that day, so it was great seeing them again and hanging out. I met some Australians, two English girls, and a couple of Americans. Didn't get too drunk, and called it a night by 11:30pm, because I had to catch the tube back to my hostel before it closes at midnight, and I definitely did not want to take the bus again. The tube is WAY faster!
Next morning, I got up at 6:30am, took the tube to the city center where the express bus to Stansted airport left. It was sooo early, and I was zoned out for most of the day. At the airport, I had about 2.5 hours to kill, and I suddenly craved the full American breakfast (eggs, bacon, sausages, etc) so I splurged and got a breakfast at one of thier airport restaurants. It was by far the best almost £10 I spent that weekend, followed closely by the day pass for public transportation.
Although I really only spent one full day in London, I really liked it and now that I have a general idea of where everything is and how the public transport system works, I definitely plan on going back, hopefully for longer than a weekend!
Work at DDDA has been going well, I finished my first week! The first day was pretty overwhelming. David, my boss, is incredibly nice, and pretty easy to talk to. It's been frustrating at times, with the booking of several meetings, calling up people I don't know to set up meetings with David, and covering reception at times. It's fairly busy, but not too busy! I'm slowly getting the hang of it, so that's good.
In other news, I've been lately occupied with the Dublin Fringe Festival! It's really great, and there are looooads of good shows! The most frustrating thing about this is that there are just too many good shows I want to go see, but they are on at the same time! I've been to 3 so far, and got 2 more to go. Well, two for sure, but I something might come up during the week, and I'll decide to go, we'll see. Dublin Docklands is a supporter of the events that go on in the Spiegaltent, so we get free tickets! I've ordered two, and they're happening on Monday and Sunday of next week, yay! I'm looking forward to those very much. :)
Other than that... there's nothing much else to say. The weather has been better, and today was actually sunny and warm ALL DAY. Whoa. That doesn't happen often, that's for sure. Anyway... nothing else to write, so.... bye!
Friday, September 7, 2007
Last Day at Sony
Thank god!!!
Onto bigger and better things!
Talking about bigger... I've got apporximately 1hr 15 mins til I'm done work, grab some food, then head off to LONDON!!!!! YAYYYY!!!! I am super excited! I'm only there for a weekend, but it's better than nothing! I'll be meeting up with some people I grew up with while playing violin. Haven't seen them in years!!
Last night was epic. Pete's going away party was fantastic, I'm really glad I went. No jokes about me and my soda water and lime!! I'm trying to quit drinking! (haha). But yea, definitely loads of fun. I met some of Justin's (a guy I've been hanging out with, from Montreal) Irish friends as well, they're pretty awesome themselves. I'm sure we'll be hittin' up some underground club...... soon? We'll see. I'll put pictures up once I get back from London; some are brilliant! (Ps... I love using the word brilliant now!)
Poll:
Where should I go for Christmas holidays? Canary Islands, Morocco, or south of Spain??
Onto bigger and better things!
Talking about bigger... I've got apporximately 1hr 15 mins til I'm done work, grab some food, then head off to LONDON!!!!! YAYYYY!!!! I am super excited! I'm only there for a weekend, but it's better than nothing! I'll be meeting up with some people I grew up with while playing violin. Haven't seen them in years!!
Last night was epic. Pete's going away party was fantastic, I'm really glad I went. No jokes about me and my soda water and lime!! I'm trying to quit drinking! (haha). But yea, definitely loads of fun. I met some of Justin's (a guy I've been hanging out with, from Montreal) Irish friends as well, they're pretty awesome themselves. I'm sure we'll be hittin' up some underground club...... soon? We'll see. I'll put pictures up once I get back from London; some are brilliant! (Ps... I love using the word brilliant now!)
Poll:
Where should I go for Christmas holidays? Canary Islands, Morocco, or south of Spain??
Monday, August 27, 2007
A Dublin Weekend
This past weekend was really one of the most exciting weekends I've had in Dublin in a while. Not only was it eventful, I got to see almost everyone I actually liked in the 2.5 days! Yes... I know. Wow.
Friday night was Emilie and Denise's going away party. Well, more like just drinks. I was originally supposed to meet up with Gustavo, this guy I met at my hostel in Krakow, but it didn't work out, so... meh. I also made plans with Sean (whom I worked with at Canon). So anyway, I met up with Emilie and Denise then made our way to Mezz bar, since the girls worked there and needed to cash their paycheques. We ended up hanging out there for a while because one of the regulars bought us all two rounds. Sean met us in Mezz bar, and promptly starting showing off his Manchester United jersey, to which I had no interest in whatsoever. We eventually headed to Pravda, stopping for Sean who bumped into an old schoolmate, and they began reminiscing and exchanging numbers and so on. Pravda was alright. We got another free round, thanks to Emilie's connections with the bartender, ha ha, but I wasn't really interested in drinking anymore and Sean was driving, so he stayed off it as well. Around 12:30, Sean left, because he had to make it back to Sandyford by 1:00am to pick up his car from the car park. Then Emilie and I had a heart-to-heart. And we all said our good-byes.
(Awww!)
(Whoever is poking me ruined this picture of love!)
(Me and Sean!)
(Bwahaha)
Saturday was the USIT social. Walked around Howth, which was pretty nice. Lots of hiking. This social was small, not at all like the one in May. Oh well. 3 Canadians, 1 Aussie, 1 Kiwi (New Zealander), and 2 Americans. The Canadians were cool. The Aussie was loud and prippy, The Kiwi was extremely nerdy and antisocial, and the Americans were unfriendly, and basically being typical Americans. Good conversations with Zile, and we got no rain! Picnic on the grass in Howth. DART to Dun Laoghaire, but only us 3 Canadians and the Kiwi came. Effing Americans and their anti-socialness. They all pretty much left at the same time. No fun. Well, the Festival of World Cultures in Dun Laoghaire was pretty awesome! I love outdoor festivals! Good music, good craic, great atmosphere! I got to see ImMortal Orchestra, which played in the Docklands a month or two ago. They were really somethin! Kinda weird at times, but very talented. Ray met up with us as all, and that night, before heading back to Dubz, drank some beers at a pub in DL. Gooooood times.
(Howth)
(Home of W.B Yeats)
(Me and Zile in Howth)
(Me and Kyle, from BC)
(ImMortal Orchestra)
(The Jubilee Wheel)
(Sarah, a cool girl from Peterborough)
(Me and Kyle on the ferris wheel)
(View from the ferris wheel)
(Kyle and Zile dancing in Dun Laoghaire)
Sunday was pretty quiet. I didn't really do anything all day, til around 3, when I went out to St Stephan's Green and just hung out there on the grass for an hour. It was really nice; lots of people, and a small chamber band playing jazzy pop tunes. Little kids running around, couples laying around, families, etc. It was nice. Then I texted Aaron and Jeff (some Americans I met back in June) to see what they were up to. Aaron was at work, so Jeff and I made plans to meet up, grab some food and hang out. Turned out to be a really good night. We had dinner at a Japanese restaurant, then walked around the city center. Popped into Foggy Dew for a drink and some tunes, walked around some more, checked out Eamonn Doran's (which I've never been before til then) then Capitol, where they were serving €5 cocktails. Had two each, then made our way to this other place called the Palace. Jeff knows some people there, so we hung out a bit and played a couple games of pool. Then I went home. Ha ha. All in all, a really nice weekend. :)
(The drunk and overly happy guy who took this made Jeff put his arm around me and was determined to make us an item... gahh...haha, um.... NO)
(Our cocktails)
***
Also... here are the photos from Stockholm! I'm lazy to upload them separately, so it's the link for ALL of the pics.
Stockholm I
Stockholm II
Friday night was Emilie and Denise's going away party. Well, more like just drinks. I was originally supposed to meet up with Gustavo, this guy I met at my hostel in Krakow, but it didn't work out, so... meh. I also made plans with Sean (whom I worked with at Canon). So anyway, I met up with Emilie and Denise then made our way to Mezz bar, since the girls worked there and needed to cash their paycheques. We ended up hanging out there for a while because one of the regulars bought us all two rounds. Sean met us in Mezz bar, and promptly starting showing off his Manchester United jersey, to which I had no interest in whatsoever. We eventually headed to Pravda, stopping for Sean who bumped into an old schoolmate, and they began reminiscing and exchanging numbers and so on. Pravda was alright. We got another free round, thanks to Emilie's connections with the bartender, ha ha, but I wasn't really interested in drinking anymore and Sean was driving, so he stayed off it as well. Around 12:30, Sean left, because he had to make it back to Sandyford by 1:00am to pick up his car from the car park. Then Emilie and I had a heart-to-heart. And we all said our good-byes.
(Awww!)
(Whoever is poking me ruined this picture of love!)
(Me and Sean!)
(Bwahaha)
Saturday was the USIT social. Walked around Howth, which was pretty nice. Lots of hiking. This social was small, not at all like the one in May. Oh well. 3 Canadians, 1 Aussie, 1 Kiwi (New Zealander), and 2 Americans. The Canadians were cool. The Aussie was loud and prippy, The Kiwi was extremely nerdy and antisocial, and the Americans were unfriendly, and basically being typical Americans. Good conversations with Zile, and we got no rain! Picnic on the grass in Howth. DART to Dun Laoghaire, but only us 3 Canadians and the Kiwi came. Effing Americans and their anti-socialness. They all pretty much left at the same time. No fun. Well, the Festival of World Cultures in Dun Laoghaire was pretty awesome! I love outdoor festivals! Good music, good craic, great atmosphere! I got to see ImMortal Orchestra, which played in the Docklands a month or two ago. They were really somethin! Kinda weird at times, but very talented. Ray met up with us as all, and that night, before heading back to Dubz, drank some beers at a pub in DL. Gooooood times.
(Howth)
(Home of W.B Yeats)
(Me and Zile in Howth)
(Me and Kyle, from BC)
(ImMortal Orchestra)
(The Jubilee Wheel)
(Sarah, a cool girl from Peterborough)
(Me and Kyle on the ferris wheel)
(View from the ferris wheel)
(Kyle and Zile dancing in Dun Laoghaire)
Sunday was pretty quiet. I didn't really do anything all day, til around 3, when I went out to St Stephan's Green and just hung out there on the grass for an hour. It was really nice; lots of people, and a small chamber band playing jazzy pop tunes. Little kids running around, couples laying around, families, etc. It was nice. Then I texted Aaron and Jeff (some Americans I met back in June) to see what they were up to. Aaron was at work, so Jeff and I made plans to meet up, grab some food and hang out. Turned out to be a really good night. We had dinner at a Japanese restaurant, then walked around the city center. Popped into Foggy Dew for a drink and some tunes, walked around some more, checked out Eamonn Doran's (which I've never been before til then) then Capitol, where they were serving €5 cocktails. Had two each, then made our way to this other place called the Palace. Jeff knows some people there, so we hung out a bit and played a couple games of pool. Then I went home. Ha ha. All in all, a really nice weekend. :)
(The drunk and overly happy guy who took this made Jeff put his arm around me and was determined to make us an item... gahh...haha, um.... NO)
(Our cocktails)
***
Also... here are the photos from Stockholm! I'm lazy to upload them separately, so it's the link for ALL of the pics.
Stockholm I
Stockholm II
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Tales from Bergen (or not?)
Well, I was just going over my old entries, and it seems like I've already posted about Oslo and Bergen! Damn! I spent many hours rewriting my Oslo trip? >:( Well, at least it's got pictures now. And I don't have to write about Bergen again! Because I already have! Yay! Ha ha! Kidding.... well, I'll post pictures. But I'll do that when I get home from work later on today, at which time I will also write about Stockholm.
Countdown: 15 days til London hiyyyooooooo!!
Countdown: 15 days til London hiyyyooooooo!!
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Tales from Oslo
YAY I finally got my laptop back! It's been almost a month since I first broke it! €485 later, it's back and good as new! I've been so used to to the Irish keyboard though, it's a bit confusing to go back to the Canadian one, but it's all good.
So I've finally uploaded all my photos from my Scandinavian trip, and once again, I will write a fairly detailed summary. I'll start with Oslo tonight, just because if I do all 3 cities, I'll never get to sleep.
***
So the plane ride took about 2.5- 3 hours, and it wasn't bad at all. Mostly, I read and stared out the window. Nothing exciting. Once I saw land, though, it was really exciting! The minute I stepped off the plane, and the first thing I noticed was how fresh the air was! Really, it was very clean! I also got excited when the plane captain said the temperature was 23 degrees. Yay!
(Landing in Sandefjord)
I had to take a bus from the airport to Oslo's main bus terminal, which took another hour and a half, because the airport's not actually in Oslo, but I slept for most of the way.
Met up with Kristian, and headed for a place to eat while he chatted away, telling me about all the different buildings and such. That area of Oslo was pretty modern, with lots of glass and brick buildings. It reminded me more of Toronto, and for a bit, I pretended I was back home, haha. But my first impression of Oslo was very nice. We had dinner at a pizza joint, and I had probably the best pizza I ever had! It was without question also the most expensive as well, but Kristian insisted to pay, so... I let him. Haha.. I'm not a moocher! But if someone really wants to pay for me, why argue?
(View from the bus on the way to Oslo)
(Kristian with the pizza, yum!)
Kristian lives with his parents, but him and his brother share the downstairs part of it. It's like a whole separate flat, and even has its own front door, but one door is connected with his parents' place upstairs. Really, really cool design.
The next day, we got up early, since Kristian had to work at 9am. We walked to the 7-11 down the street where we bought coffee, and a transportation day pass for me. Bussed about 20 minutes to get to the city core, dropped Kristian off at work, and off I went on my own. I first visited the Vigeland Sculpture park. It houses the largest collection of sculptures made by one artist in the same place. The day was already getting a bit too warm for my taste, but better sun than rain, huh? The sculptures were really neat, and all portrayed Man's existence in the the Cycle of Life. I'm really glad I got there bright and early too, since by the time I was ready to leave, the park was swarming with tourists.
(One of my favourite of all the sculptures)
Next on my list was to figure out the bus system on my own and take the bus to the area called Bygdøy, where all the museums where. My original plan was to bus to all the museums, then take a ferry back to the city center, and it would be like a loop. I found the bus alright, but I missed the Viking ship museum, which was supposed to be my first stop because it was first in line for how the bus drops me off. So whatever, I ended up going all the way to the end, and there were a bunch of museums there. I first went into the Kon-Tiki museum, where I learned about the Kon-Tiki Expedition. It was really interesting, actually, and I definitely benefited from all the visual aids! The main attraction in that museum was the life-size RA I ship. Very very cool. They also had a section dedicated to Easter Island, something I knew of, but didn't know enough about.
(Navigating with my trusy map!)
(Streets of Oslo)
(RAI ship)
(Easter Island sculpture)
After spending an hour and a half there, I walked not even 5 minutes to the FRAM museum. Like the Kon-Tiki museum, this one also had a ship as its main attraction. The coolest thing about this ship though, you could actually go on it and in it! YEH! It was fun! Oh yeah, and I guess this is the part where I'm supposed to tell everyone how much I learned here as well. Haha.. well, I did learn about the Norwegian's expeditions to the North and South Poles and such, and the use of dog sleds, but I honestly can't remember much more than that on the top of my head.
(I reckon I can make a living outta this!)
After about 2 hours, I finally left that museum. It was pretty fun. When you first go in, you don't realize just how much information is in there, til you start reading everything, take time looking at photos, and then venture the ship. I lightly skimmed my next museum, which is a name I can never remember unless I look at the spelling, because it's "Naval Ship" in Norwegian. After hours in ship museums, I was starting to get sick of them, so I didn't stay long.
Now, I thought to myself, I really want to take the ferry, but it won't work if I want to visit the Viking ship museum, and I really wanted to. So I hopped back on the bus and went back to the museum. Yes, it was another ship museum, but this one was great! The building housed multiple remains of old viking ships and other artifacts that were discovered and excavated in the late 1800's. The building itself was in the shape of a cross,and pretty plainly decorated. You could not touch anything. Although this was the most simple of the 4 museums, it was the only one that really moved me. I kept thinking, wow... real vikings touched this! And used that! Whoa.... haha. It was a good time for sure.
After the Viking ship museum, I had a bit of time left before Kristian got off work, so I took the bus back to the city center and walked around, took pictures.
(National Theater)
(Oslo University)
(Frolicking in front of the Royal Palace)
That night, back at the Aambø residence, Kristian's parents cooked up a most delicious dinner of salmon fillet, some sort of amazingly healthy rice, and a fresh bowl of salad. Not only did it look good, it was delicious! Oh man... *drool*.... ahhhhh.... I had some pretty good conversations with his parents as well. We talked about music, and after I told them how I played in an orchestra at school and I've played the piece they were playing on their CD player, his mom gave me a CD of the chamber orchestra she works with. It was a CD of Grieg's (a famous Norwegian) compositions. It was so unexpected, and great! A really memorable souvenir. :) After dinner we had a dessert of frozen chocolate cake and berries picked fresh from the mountains. Ohmygoooddd..... *reminiscing the goodness that was the dessert*.... mmm...
(Dinner with the family)
(Sunset view from their patio; so beautiful!)
(The dessert that was sooo unbelievably good!)
The night was still young, and after dinner and general agreement from everyone at the table, Kristian and I took the metro to the mountains for a little hike. It was pretty cool. We passed by some old Norwegian huts that had grass growing from the roofs, an old Norwegian-style church, the famous Olympic ski jump, and some fantastic views. Oh, and we also picked wild blueberries and another kind of berry, I don't know what kind. I think raspberry, but I'm not sure. I think the main thing we did on this little hike was experient with our digital cameras though, because we spent a loooot of time just staying in one place and taking a million photos. Artsy ones, of course!
(In the metro)
(Huts with grass on the roof)
(View of the city from the mountain)
(Norwegian church)
(Waiting for the metro back)
By the time we got back, it was late, and we were both dead tired.
The next day was my birthday! It was also Kristian's day off from work, so we both slept in. However, I was pleasantly woken up by first, his dad, who came in to wish me a happy birthday, yay! Not long after that, his mom came downstairs as well, and asked what we were doing today. I told her we were going to take a ferry to one of the islands. She told me she was going to do the same. :) So the day in general wasn't to action packed like the day before. We took the ferry out to one of the islands. I don't know if it has a name. I'm sure it does, I just don't know what it is. When we got ashore, we hiked up a bit and decided on a spot to hang out. I think we hung out on the island for about 2 hours. It was really nice and relaxing. It's good sometimes to not have to think about reaching all the tourist spots and just chill somewhere and relax and enjoy the good weather and nature itself. On the way back to mainland, we bumped into his mom, who was also heading back! It was cool. His mom is so awesome, haha. I've got lots of photos from the island, I couldn't choose a couple of best ones. :)
(Our ferry)
(Cottages)
(I really wasn't listening to what he was saying... haha, whoops!)
(Macro-ing the weeds)
(Random pic, but it turned out decent!)
(Heading back to the mainland)
Anyway, after the island, Kristian took me to the fortress, which wasn't too amazing, after all I've seen already. I dunno. I think it had to do with the fact that we weren't there for long anyway, and the place was HUGE!
Dinner was at a casual restaurant right around the corner from his house. It was really quite nice, though. The food was great, and the prices were horrendous. Actually, my meal wasn't expensive, compared to the drinks. I got a full meal for 129kr, which is equivalent to €17, or about $26 Canadian. The beer I got, which isn't even a full pint, it's smaller, was about €10, or $15. Gah! Well anyway... if you think that is expensive, listen to this: after dinner, Kristian took me to two different bars for cocktails. They were 88 and 86kr respectively, which is €12, or almost $18!! They were really good, but not anything spectacular, and really not worth the price. But this is the norm in Norway and Scandinavia in general. So I say, embrace the culture, even if it robs your wallet. But of course, I myself paid for nothing on this night. *grin* After the two drinks and sitting out on the patio, we decided to call it an early night. We were both tired and it's not much fun partying with only the two of us on a Wednesday night.
(Yaayy dinner)
(Dig in!)
(Cocktails at the first bar)
(And the second bar. This one was super nice!)
(Ehm.. my €11.50/$17 drink)
(A good end to a great day)
The next morning, Kristian dropped me off at the bus terminal for my bus to Bergen before heading off to work. And the Tales from Bergen will be another post...
Some random things about Norway:
- their currency is the Kroner. 1 euro is equivalent to about 7.5 kr. To convert to Canadian $, divide by 5. ($1 = 5kr)
- you have to pay to use public washrooms. The cost is anywhere from 5kr to 20kr.
- Norway is great because everyone speaks English!
- their public transport system is both efficient and easy to use! I only wish it was like that in Toronto...
So I've finally uploaded all my photos from my Scandinavian trip, and once again, I will write a fairly detailed summary. I'll start with Oslo tonight, just because if I do all 3 cities, I'll never get to sleep.
***
So the plane ride took about 2.5- 3 hours, and it wasn't bad at all. Mostly, I read and stared out the window. Nothing exciting. Once I saw land, though, it was really exciting! The minute I stepped off the plane, and the first thing I noticed was how fresh the air was! Really, it was very clean! I also got excited when the plane captain said the temperature was 23 degrees. Yay!
(Landing in Sandefjord)
I had to take a bus from the airport to Oslo's main bus terminal, which took another hour and a half, because the airport's not actually in Oslo, but I slept for most of the way.
Met up with Kristian, and headed for a place to eat while he chatted away, telling me about all the different buildings and such. That area of Oslo was pretty modern, with lots of glass and brick buildings. It reminded me more of Toronto, and for a bit, I pretended I was back home, haha. But my first impression of Oslo was very nice. We had dinner at a pizza joint, and I had probably the best pizza I ever had! It was without question also the most expensive as well, but Kristian insisted to pay, so... I let him. Haha.. I'm not a moocher! But if someone really wants to pay for me, why argue?
(View from the bus on the way to Oslo)
(Kristian with the pizza, yum!)
Kristian lives with his parents, but him and his brother share the downstairs part of it. It's like a whole separate flat, and even has its own front door, but one door is connected with his parents' place upstairs. Really, really cool design.
The next day, we got up early, since Kristian had to work at 9am. We walked to the 7-11 down the street where we bought coffee, and a transportation day pass for me. Bussed about 20 minutes to get to the city core, dropped Kristian off at work, and off I went on my own. I first visited the Vigeland Sculpture park. It houses the largest collection of sculptures made by one artist in the same place. The day was already getting a bit too warm for my taste, but better sun than rain, huh? The sculptures were really neat, and all portrayed Man's existence in the the Cycle of Life. I'm really glad I got there bright and early too, since by the time I was ready to leave, the park was swarming with tourists.
(One of my favourite of all the sculptures)
Next on my list was to figure out the bus system on my own and take the bus to the area called Bygdøy, where all the museums where. My original plan was to bus to all the museums, then take a ferry back to the city center, and it would be like a loop. I found the bus alright, but I missed the Viking ship museum, which was supposed to be my first stop because it was first in line for how the bus drops me off. So whatever, I ended up going all the way to the end, and there were a bunch of museums there. I first went into the Kon-Tiki museum, where I learned about the Kon-Tiki Expedition. It was really interesting, actually, and I definitely benefited from all the visual aids! The main attraction in that museum was the life-size RA I ship. Very very cool. They also had a section dedicated to Easter Island, something I knew of, but didn't know enough about.
(Navigating with my trusy map!)
(Streets of Oslo)
(RAI ship)
(Easter Island sculpture)
After spending an hour and a half there, I walked not even 5 minutes to the FRAM museum. Like the Kon-Tiki museum, this one also had a ship as its main attraction. The coolest thing about this ship though, you could actually go on it and in it! YEH! It was fun! Oh yeah, and I guess this is the part where I'm supposed to tell everyone how much I learned here as well. Haha.. well, I did learn about the Norwegian's expeditions to the North and South Poles and such, and the use of dog sleds, but I honestly can't remember much more than that on the top of my head.
(I reckon I can make a living outta this!)
After about 2 hours, I finally left that museum. It was pretty fun. When you first go in, you don't realize just how much information is in there, til you start reading everything, take time looking at photos, and then venture the ship. I lightly skimmed my next museum, which is a name I can never remember unless I look at the spelling, because it's "Naval Ship" in Norwegian. After hours in ship museums, I was starting to get sick of them, so I didn't stay long.
Now, I thought to myself, I really want to take the ferry, but it won't work if I want to visit the Viking ship museum, and I really wanted to. So I hopped back on the bus and went back to the museum. Yes, it was another ship museum, but this one was great! The building housed multiple remains of old viking ships and other artifacts that were discovered and excavated in the late 1800's. The building itself was in the shape of a cross,and pretty plainly decorated. You could not touch anything. Although this was the most simple of the 4 museums, it was the only one that really moved me. I kept thinking, wow... real vikings touched this! And used that! Whoa.... haha. It was a good time for sure.
After the Viking ship museum, I had a bit of time left before Kristian got off work, so I took the bus back to the city center and walked around, took pictures.
(National Theater)
(Oslo University)
(Frolicking in front of the Royal Palace)
That night, back at the Aambø residence, Kristian's parents cooked up a most delicious dinner of salmon fillet, some sort of amazingly healthy rice, and a fresh bowl of salad. Not only did it look good, it was delicious! Oh man... *drool*.... ahhhhh.... I had some pretty good conversations with his parents as well. We talked about music, and after I told them how I played in an orchestra at school and I've played the piece they were playing on their CD player, his mom gave me a CD of the chamber orchestra she works with. It was a CD of Grieg's (a famous Norwegian) compositions. It was so unexpected, and great! A really memorable souvenir. :) After dinner we had a dessert of frozen chocolate cake and berries picked fresh from the mountains. Ohmygoooddd..... *reminiscing the goodness that was the dessert*.... mmm...
(Dinner with the family)
(Sunset view from their patio; so beautiful!)
(The dessert that was sooo unbelievably good!)
The night was still young, and after dinner and general agreement from everyone at the table, Kristian and I took the metro to the mountains for a little hike. It was pretty cool. We passed by some old Norwegian huts that had grass growing from the roofs, an old Norwegian-style church, the famous Olympic ski jump, and some fantastic views. Oh, and we also picked wild blueberries and another kind of berry, I don't know what kind. I think raspberry, but I'm not sure. I think the main thing we did on this little hike was experient with our digital cameras though, because we spent a loooot of time just staying in one place and taking a million photos. Artsy ones, of course!
(In the metro)
(Huts with grass on the roof)
(View of the city from the mountain)
(Norwegian church)
(Waiting for the metro back)
By the time we got back, it was late, and we were both dead tired.
The next day was my birthday! It was also Kristian's day off from work, so we both slept in. However, I was pleasantly woken up by first, his dad, who came in to wish me a happy birthday, yay! Not long after that, his mom came downstairs as well, and asked what we were doing today. I told her we were going to take a ferry to one of the islands. She told me she was going to do the same. :) So the day in general wasn't to action packed like the day before. We took the ferry out to one of the islands. I don't know if it has a name. I'm sure it does, I just don't know what it is. When we got ashore, we hiked up a bit and decided on a spot to hang out. I think we hung out on the island for about 2 hours. It was really nice and relaxing. It's good sometimes to not have to think about reaching all the tourist spots and just chill somewhere and relax and enjoy the good weather and nature itself. On the way back to mainland, we bumped into his mom, who was also heading back! It was cool. His mom is so awesome, haha. I've got lots of photos from the island, I couldn't choose a couple of best ones. :)
(Our ferry)
(Cottages)
(I really wasn't listening to what he was saying... haha, whoops!)
(Macro-ing the weeds)
(Random pic, but it turned out decent!)
(Heading back to the mainland)
Anyway, after the island, Kristian took me to the fortress, which wasn't too amazing, after all I've seen already. I dunno. I think it had to do with the fact that we weren't there for long anyway, and the place was HUGE!
Dinner was at a casual restaurant right around the corner from his house. It was really quite nice, though. The food was great, and the prices were horrendous. Actually, my meal wasn't expensive, compared to the drinks. I got a full meal for 129kr, which is equivalent to €17, or about $26 Canadian. The beer I got, which isn't even a full pint, it's smaller, was about €10, or $15. Gah! Well anyway... if you think that is expensive, listen to this: after dinner, Kristian took me to two different bars for cocktails. They were 88 and 86kr respectively, which is €12, or almost $18!! They were really good, but not anything spectacular, and really not worth the price. But this is the norm in Norway and Scandinavia in general. So I say, embrace the culture, even if it robs your wallet. But of course, I myself paid for nothing on this night. *grin* After the two drinks and sitting out on the patio, we decided to call it an early night. We were both tired and it's not much fun partying with only the two of us on a Wednesday night.
(Yaayy dinner)
(Dig in!)
(Cocktails at the first bar)
(And the second bar. This one was super nice!)
(Ehm.. my €11.50/$17 drink)
(A good end to a great day)
The next morning, Kristian dropped me off at the bus terminal for my bus to Bergen before heading off to work. And the Tales from Bergen will be another post...
Some random things about Norway:
- their currency is the Kroner. 1 euro is equivalent to about 7.5 kr. To convert to Canadian $, divide by 5. ($1 = 5kr)
- you have to pay to use public washrooms. The cost is anywhere from 5kr to 20kr.
- Norway is great because everyone speaks English!
- their public transport system is both efficient and easy to use! I only wish it was like that in Toronto...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
