Friday, August 3rd
Today is my last day in Dublin. My mom and I get up to go on some small trips. I was exhausted from a long work week so we started around noon or one. We decided to wait to pack until later.
We caught the bus and headed to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. I had seen it once before and it was kind of boring. When we arrive there was a huge line! Super long. As we waited we chatted. It rained a bit but I was so used to it that we never opened our umbrellas.
Once inside it was actually a lot more interesting than it was last time. I took the time to read the explanations on the walls and looked at the pictures. I also watched a video on book binding. It was really cool to see how they used to bind books. Makes me wish I could. It also reminded me of Mo from "Inkheart". He was a book binder. Made me see how he actually would have done it.
I moved onto the room with the actual book, but it's not that exciting. I glanced at it, but spent most of my time in the Long Room (library). Beautiful. Inspiring. I really love libraries. It even smelled inspiring. I just sat there for a long time and waited for my mom.
After Trinity we walked to St. Stephen's Green. It was beautiful and green. We walked around the water. There were two little ponds. Most of them were filled with sea gals. lol. While walking around we saw a guy sitting with the swans. It was kind of cool. He was just sitting there in the middle of them feeding them.
On the way home we grabbed a mailing box so I could ship some stuff home, grab the souvenirs I needed from Pennys, and picking up the little airplane earring I really wanted.
Back home we packed that box and took it to the post office. The post office guy was really nice. He was truly Irish in the way he acted. Very kind and happy. Joked around with us a little. And this was even right about closing time.
From there we headed to the bus again and went down to Carroll's Souvenir shop. I got my Irish pub songs CD and a few things for my friends and family. Not far from there we headed to one of my favorite restaurants, Nandos. It is a chicken place where the food is cooked in Peri-peri sauce. It is a Portuguese recipe. Everything there is delicious.
After a VERY filling meal we headed home on the bus. We stopped at Spar and my mom got to finally try the YUMMY soft serve. Next came packing and cleaning. I passed out at about 2 am and got up between 5 and 6 am. My mom didn't sleep at all.
Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Last Tuesday- filming, bullying, friends
Tuesday, July 24th
I guess I'm still not used to how early the sun comes up. My blinds were closed, but there was enough room at the bottom for light to get through. I had gone to bed at about 10 to 11 the night before and ended up getting up around 9:45. That is another way you can tell I need healing. I can fall asleep earlier, but I stay asleep longer.
I felt better when I got up, but still a bit off. Today was a film day so I had to be there a little earlier. It seems that whenever I get on the bus nowadays it has to stop and change drivers. It doesn't bother me too much, but it is slightly annoying if I'm late. Fortunately, I wasn't late that day.
We got quite a bit of the film done. One kid forgot his clothes, but we just had to make due. There wash't an option for him to go home and get them or wait another day. Overall, the filming was pretty good. A bit frustrating because you are trying to get 9 year olds to act and be quiet, but good all the same. I spent a lot of time sitting the script. Cutting things out, changing lines. All that lovely stuff.
After that was lunch. I ate in again, as usual. Had tea and my egg/rice combo. It was relaxing and pretty yummy. One of the girls grabbed me a few chocolates. We started watching the movie again, but I was asked to go with Des to swimming. They need one male and one female with the kids when they take them swimming. It's a child protection legal type thing.
Des and I just sat there and talked while the kids were swimming. We ate crisps and I drank my water. Quite peaceful and relaxing really. Unfortunately, there was some bullying between the boys. I'm not going to talk about it on here but it was very saddening. They are all so young, and already starting to bully each other. And this is not slagging or joking around. This is straight out of the textbook bullying. Hopefully, things were fixed. I know they were talked about but it's at least being talked about. I think they are going to do an anti-bullying program soon. Just so they know what is allowed and what will happen if they do bully.
After all that I headed off to the usually place. Diceys was packed. Some of my friends didn't get into the penthouse because too many people had heard about it and gone past the number. Even one of the guys that works for the guy who gets us in got there too late to get in. It was sad. Mainly, I was there to hang out with people because it was going to be my last time. I'm not going this Tuesday because of a work party, and my mom is going to be here. Both very god reasons to not go. I am going to miss everyone I normally see there.
On the way to the bus I always stop and get food. At my bus stop a woman was begin for money and food. We wasn't like everyone else who just stand there with a cup she was going up to people. When I told her I didn't have change she said she'd take my food. I was insulted. It was the first thing I was eating since lunch and I told her that, then walked on. Later she rudely yelled at these guys, saying that they were, "gay anyway." They yelled that there was no problem with being gay, but she yelled it about 3 more times. Then she got on a bus and left.
The rest of the ride home was peaceful. I talked to some people I knew and when I got home I spent about 3 hours searching for houses. I sent out a bunch of requests, then fell asleep at about 3 or 4 am.
I guess I'm still not used to how early the sun comes up. My blinds were closed, but there was enough room at the bottom for light to get through. I had gone to bed at about 10 to 11 the night before and ended up getting up around 9:45. That is another way you can tell I need healing. I can fall asleep earlier, but I stay asleep longer.
I felt better when I got up, but still a bit off. Today was a film day so I had to be there a little earlier. It seems that whenever I get on the bus nowadays it has to stop and change drivers. It doesn't bother me too much, but it is slightly annoying if I'm late. Fortunately, I wasn't late that day.
We got quite a bit of the film done. One kid forgot his clothes, but we just had to make due. There wash't an option for him to go home and get them or wait another day. Overall, the filming was pretty good. A bit frustrating because you are trying to get 9 year olds to act and be quiet, but good all the same. I spent a lot of time sitting the script. Cutting things out, changing lines. All that lovely stuff.
After that was lunch. I ate in again, as usual. Had tea and my egg/rice combo. It was relaxing and pretty yummy. One of the girls grabbed me a few chocolates. We started watching the movie again, but I was asked to go with Des to swimming. They need one male and one female with the kids when they take them swimming. It's a child protection legal type thing.
Des and I just sat there and talked while the kids were swimming. We ate crisps and I drank my water. Quite peaceful and relaxing really. Unfortunately, there was some bullying between the boys. I'm not going to talk about it on here but it was very saddening. They are all so young, and already starting to bully each other. And this is not slagging or joking around. This is straight out of the textbook bullying. Hopefully, things were fixed. I know they were talked about but it's at least being talked about. I think they are going to do an anti-bullying program soon. Just so they know what is allowed and what will happen if they do bully.
After all that I headed off to the usually place. Diceys was packed. Some of my friends didn't get into the penthouse because too many people had heard about it and gone past the number. Even one of the guys that works for the guy who gets us in got there too late to get in. It was sad. Mainly, I was there to hang out with people because it was going to be my last time. I'm not going this Tuesday because of a work party, and my mom is going to be here. Both very god reasons to not go. I am going to miss everyone I normally see there.
On the way to the bus I always stop and get food. At my bus stop a woman was begin for money and food. We wasn't like everyone else who just stand there with a cup she was going up to people. When I told her I didn't have change she said she'd take my food. I was insulted. It was the first thing I was eating since lunch and I told her that, then walked on. Later she rudely yelled at these guys, saying that they were, "gay anyway." They yelled that there was no problem with being gay, but she yelled it about 3 more times. Then she got on a bus and left.
The rest of the ride home was peaceful. I talked to some people I knew and when I got home I spent about 3 hours searching for houses. I sent out a bunch of requests, then fell asleep at about 3 or 4 am.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
A night on the town
Saturday, July 21st
Ok. Woke up at 3 pm. Watched movies, ate, relaxed. Went outside at about 8 pm because I saw some friends out there I hadn't talked to much. They were all getting ready to go out and tried to convince me to join them. Finally I agreed because one of the guys wanted my help with a girl and I hadn't really gone out with them much.
We get on the bus and there is already trouble. There were some drunken Irish girls in the back and the guy with them called one of the guys I was with a fag because of his jacket. These girls were really feisty and some small fights ended up happening. One girl tried to kick one of our girls in the head for laughing and another hit one of our guys in the face about 3 times for no reason. He just sat their and took it because he wasn't going to hit a girl. The whole ride they were saying stuff and there were a few times where people stood up to fight but we stopped it for the most part.
They were about to get off when one of them said another comment and our guys were on them. After the scuffle they finally got off and one of our guys punched a window. He barely touched it and it broke. We got off the bus at the next stop, and fortunately did not see them again that night.
Our group got separated. Some of us headed one way and the others a different way. A small group of us went to one pub and then we headed to Flannerys. We met up with everyone there, coincidentally. Then we went to a club called the Village. After a few hours there I was in a ton of pain, so we grabbed a taxi and head back at about 2 am. I had been wear new shoes and 4 hours of walking and dancing was a lot for them.
I went straight to bed. I was exhausted. It had been a good night. Maybe a little too eventful at some points but still really good.
Ok. Woke up at 3 pm. Watched movies, ate, relaxed. Went outside at about 8 pm because I saw some friends out there I hadn't talked to much. They were all getting ready to go out and tried to convince me to join them. Finally I agreed because one of the guys wanted my help with a girl and I hadn't really gone out with them much.
We get on the bus and there is already trouble. There were some drunken Irish girls in the back and the guy with them called one of the guys I was with a fag because of his jacket. These girls were really feisty and some small fights ended up happening. One girl tried to kick one of our girls in the head for laughing and another hit one of our guys in the face about 3 times for no reason. He just sat their and took it because he wasn't going to hit a girl. The whole ride they were saying stuff and there were a few times where people stood up to fight but we stopped it for the most part.
They were about to get off when one of them said another comment and our guys were on them. After the scuffle they finally got off and one of our guys punched a window. He barely touched it and it broke. We got off the bus at the next stop, and fortunately did not see them again that night.
Our group got separated. Some of us headed one way and the others a different way. A small group of us went to one pub and then we headed to Flannerys. We met up with everyone there, coincidentally. Then we went to a club called the Village. After a few hours there I was in a ton of pain, so we grabbed a taxi and head back at about 2 am. I had been wear new shoes and 4 hours of walking and dancing was a lot for them.
I went straight to bed. I was exhausted. It had been a good night. Maybe a little too eventful at some points but still really good.
Learning to sew...again
Monday, July 16th
Work again. Today started off as a usually day. Alarm went off and couldn't get up, so let myself sleep in just long enough so I could get to the bus on time. I got all ready and wore shorts because it was going to be 67 (that's really warm here).
As I was waiting for the bus I was texting my photographer because I left my little point-and-shoot camera in his car. As I looked up in the middle of my text the bus passed by without stopping (Great!). It meant I had to wait at least another 15 minutes for another bus. I stood and waited in my shorts and huge rainbow colored umbrella. A homeless man was sitting their but he left before I got ob the bus. I seem to see him a lot there. There was even one occasion where the driver drove past the stop a little so that he would have to get on behind me and another girl. Then he wouldn't let him on. I can understand why, but at the same time it seemed really cruel.
I get on the bus and head up to the top floor (saloon) as usual. There is a couple up there being really loud and smoking. You are not supposed to smoke on the bus. It is one of the rules, and it was really annoying that they were doing that. If someone wants to smoke that is their business, but if other people are with you in an inclosed space that's just rude. At one point the bus driver stopped the bus and made everyone get off, including the smokers. The driver told us we could get on the next bus coming, but oddly enough once the group that was smoking walked away from the bus he let everyone else on and we continued on our way.
I ended up being a little late, but the Irish don't care. I could have called in sick and it totally would have been fine. I mean, if I were actually sick. When I arrived everyone was working on there songs, but one girl who was eleven was working on sewing her pants into shorts. I spent the whole day working with her on that. We pinned each leg, sewed it, rolled each leg and sewed again. At this point it was lunch time.
We went to Mannings and got two salads. I chose the wrong salads because they were too similar. I ended up not being able to finish it. What made this lunch so fun is that it was not just means the two girl interns the boy intern and two people who ran the club were also with us. We were slagged and did some slagging as well. It was just a whole lot of fun.
After lunch we headed back to the clubhouse and I continued to work with the girl on her shorts. We sewed on a star and started on the heart when the machine stopped work, again. Once before while we had been working the machine stopped and I had to the thins out and put new things in. It took awhile because I had not had to do that in about 4 years.
At about 4:50 I get a call. I was supposed to met the photographer at 4:30 to pick up my camera but I was so immersed in this sewing project that time had completely slipped my mind. I ran down and hopped on the first bus to city city. We met at the spire and I got my camera back! On the way back the bus broke down a few times and a nice irish gentleman talked my ear off. He was very nice, but I could only understand about 1/2 of what he said. Finally, the driver just made everyone get off and I decided to walk back because I was pretty close.
When I got back all the kids had left and we just hung out. If I remember correctly I just headed straight home that night and relaxed.
Work again. Today started off as a usually day. Alarm went off and couldn't get up, so let myself sleep in just long enough so I could get to the bus on time. I got all ready and wore shorts because it was going to be 67 (that's really warm here).
As I was waiting for the bus I was texting my photographer because I left my little point-and-shoot camera in his car. As I looked up in the middle of my text the bus passed by without stopping (Great!). It meant I had to wait at least another 15 minutes for another bus. I stood and waited in my shorts and huge rainbow colored umbrella. A homeless man was sitting their but he left before I got ob the bus. I seem to see him a lot there. There was even one occasion where the driver drove past the stop a little so that he would have to get on behind me and another girl. Then he wouldn't let him on. I can understand why, but at the same time it seemed really cruel.
I get on the bus and head up to the top floor (saloon) as usual. There is a couple up there being really loud and smoking. You are not supposed to smoke on the bus. It is one of the rules, and it was really annoying that they were doing that. If someone wants to smoke that is their business, but if other people are with you in an inclosed space that's just rude. At one point the bus driver stopped the bus and made everyone get off, including the smokers. The driver told us we could get on the next bus coming, but oddly enough once the group that was smoking walked away from the bus he let everyone else on and we continued on our way.
I ended up being a little late, but the Irish don't care. I could have called in sick and it totally would have been fine. I mean, if I were actually sick. When I arrived everyone was working on there songs, but one girl who was eleven was working on sewing her pants into shorts. I spent the whole day working with her on that. We pinned each leg, sewed it, rolled each leg and sewed again. At this point it was lunch time.
We went to Mannings and got two salads. I chose the wrong salads because they were too similar. I ended up not being able to finish it. What made this lunch so fun is that it was not just means the two girl interns the boy intern and two people who ran the club were also with us. We were slagged and did some slagging as well. It was just a whole lot of fun.
After lunch we headed back to the clubhouse and I continued to work with the girl on her shorts. We sewed on a star and started on the heart when the machine stopped work, again. Once before while we had been working the machine stopped and I had to the thins out and put new things in. It took awhile because I had not had to do that in about 4 years.
At about 4:50 I get a call. I was supposed to met the photographer at 4:30 to pick up my camera but I was so immersed in this sewing project that time had completely slipped my mind. I ran down and hopped on the first bus to city city. We met at the spire and I got my camera back! On the way back the bus broke down a few times and a nice irish gentleman talked my ear off. He was very nice, but I could only understand about 1/2 of what he said. Finally, the driver just made everyone get off and I decided to walk back because I was pretty close.
When I got back all the kids had left and we just hung out. If I remember correctly I just headed straight home that night and relaxed.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Beach Shoot DAY
Saturday, July 14th
Today was photo shoot day. I slept in because I didn't have to leave until 4 or 5 to get to the shoot at 6. I watched TV and got ready for the shoot. With everything packed, lunch and breakfast eaten, and a clean face I headed off to meet the photographer at the mall. He was giving me a ride to the beach so that I wouldn't get lost.
It took about 15 minutes to walk there, and then the car ride was about half an hour. We met the make-up artist and I started in on make-up before the other girls got there. The premiss of the shoot was a group of friends just hanging out on the beach. It was a life style shoot, which are one of my favorite type of shoots to do. I was surprised at the end of getting my make-up done because the make-up artist put barely any mascara on. I pride myself in my long lashes, so I was a bit confused. She wanted it to be natural. I know what natural is, but whenever I do natural it usually means no fake lashes, not that I am barely going to wear any mascara to the point where you can just barely see my lashes. Oh well, I'm sure the photos will turn out great, and other than that the make-up artist was really good at what she did and very nice.
The cast of models consisted of 5 of us. There were 3 girls and 2 boys. Even though all of them had been living in Ireland for years only one was actually Irish. One of the girls was from latvia and the other from Nigeria. The other guy was from Poland. It was quite a cast.
The shoot started out with us all walking on the beach to one of the locations. We sat in the sand and on some dunes. We even ran down a sandy hill about three or four times. I fell once. Toppled straight over and ended up landing on my back. Well, I kind of landed on my head and rolled over onto my back. It was a lot of fun. We also took photos splashing in the water. I even got a piggyback ride (jockey back).
At first everyone was pretty quiet but I was goofy and animated and it didn't take too long to get them animated. We were laughing in no time. As the photographer said, "It takes the American." lol. By the end of the day we felt like we were actually good friends. The rest of the night was spent eating and relaxing because I didn't get home until after 10.
Today was photo shoot day. I slept in because I didn't have to leave until 4 or 5 to get to the shoot at 6. I watched TV and got ready for the shoot. With everything packed, lunch and breakfast eaten, and a clean face I headed off to meet the photographer at the mall. He was giving me a ride to the beach so that I wouldn't get lost.
It took about 15 minutes to walk there, and then the car ride was about half an hour. We met the make-up artist and I started in on make-up before the other girls got there. The premiss of the shoot was a group of friends just hanging out on the beach. It was a life style shoot, which are one of my favorite type of shoots to do. I was surprised at the end of getting my make-up done because the make-up artist put barely any mascara on. I pride myself in my long lashes, so I was a bit confused. She wanted it to be natural. I know what natural is, but whenever I do natural it usually means no fake lashes, not that I am barely going to wear any mascara to the point where you can just barely see my lashes. Oh well, I'm sure the photos will turn out great, and other than that the make-up artist was really good at what she did and very nice.
The cast of models consisted of 5 of us. There were 3 girls and 2 boys. Even though all of them had been living in Ireland for years only one was actually Irish. One of the girls was from latvia and the other from Nigeria. The other guy was from Poland. It was quite a cast.
The shoot started out with us all walking on the beach to one of the locations. We sat in the sand and on some dunes. We even ran down a sandy hill about three or four times. I fell once. Toppled straight over and ended up landing on my back. Well, I kind of landed on my head and rolled over onto my back. It was a lot of fun. We also took photos splashing in the water. I even got a piggyback ride (jockey back).
At first everyone was pretty quiet but I was goofy and animated and it didn't take too long to get them animated. We were laughing in no time. As the photographer said, "It takes the American." lol. By the end of the day we felt like we were actually good friends. The rest of the night was spent eating and relaxing because I didn't get home until after 10.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Bus to ferry then home again
Sunday, July 8th
The three of us got up pretty late. I actually woke up pretty early but the bed was comfortable, so I kept letting myself to fall back to sleep. We got up at 10:30, which means we missed the complimentary breakfast that need at 10. It was ok. We got ready, checked out and headed out to find breakfast. We checked one place and they had stopped serving breakfast at 10:30. We ended up finding ourselves at the Skeffington Hotel restaurant. Which is connected to the Skeff (where the pub crawl was), and the "restaurant" is actually in the bar.
I had an Irish breakfast, but a small one. It had a fried egg, fried tomato (which I didn't eat), ham, sausage, black & white pudding, and orange juice. The orange juice had ice in it. It wasn't bad. Just something I wasn't used to. Right after we ate we headed to catch the bus.
The directions to where we were supposed to meet it were a little unclear, so we ended up running to the bus. It was pretty much like the regular Dublin buses, except it had seats instead of benches. The drive was over an hour to get to the ferry, so I took lots of pictures of all the houses I would like to live in. Both Hanna and Lexi fell asleep.
When we arrive at the dock we had to wait for everyone to get off the ferry (because there are only two times to get on the ferry to go to the islands and two to get from the islands). The boat got pretty rocky because of the waves. It was like being on an amusement park ride, except oddly calming. The seats were comfortable and I took plenty of photos, of course.
We decided to get a little food when we first arrived. We went to a cafe near the docks and I got ice cream (strawberry, chocolate, vanilla) with chocolate sauce and tea. This is the first place I've ever tried having milk in my tea. Now, I'm fallen in love with it. I have a cup of tea w/ milk almost every day, and sometimes more than once a day. Anyway, we realized that we only had a little over an hour left before we had to be on the ferry to leave (which is not enough time to really do anything). We ended up taking a carriage tour. Unfortunately, it wasn't very long, but it was a lot of fun.
When we arrived back we didn't have enough time to check out the sweat factory or the "American Bar." We wanted to make sure we got a place on the ferry. The ride back was just as relaxing, and then onto the bus. We got back around 6 and we had to be at our bus at 7. Just enough time for dinner. I had wanted to get a claddagh ring from Galway, since that was where it had originated, but we did not have enough time. We decided to eat at a hotel/pub we had tried to eat at 2 times before.
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| our hostel |
I had an Irish breakfast, but a small one. It had a fried egg, fried tomato (which I didn't eat), ham, sausage, black & white pudding, and orange juice. The orange juice had ice in it. It wasn't bad. Just something I wasn't used to. Right after we ate we headed to catch the bus.
The directions to where we were supposed to meet it were a little unclear, so we ended up running to the bus. It was pretty much like the regular Dublin buses, except it had seats instead of benches. The drive was over an hour to get to the ferry, so I took lots of pictures of all the houses I would like to live in. Both Hanna and Lexi fell asleep.
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| what the seats looked like |
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| Future house...maybe |
When we arrive at the dock we had to wait for everyone to get off the ferry (because there are only two times to get on the ferry to go to the islands and two to get from the islands). The boat got pretty rocky because of the waves. It was like being on an amusement park ride, except oddly calming. The seats were comfortable and I took plenty of photos, of course.
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| View from the boat |
We started out in front of the cafe and rode up into the countryside. We saw the smallest church in ireland (from a distance), a lighthouse (from a distance), and a few other "important" places. Our last stop was a graveyard. Small but kind of cool. There was a old church there and a well known headstone.
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| The Graveyard |
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| The popular headstone |
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| The church |
We went in and the restaurant was closed, but they were serving all the food in the pub. It was tuck in time. I wasn't too hungry so I got a small salad and some potato wedges. I also decided to get a drink because we were in a pub. The bartender brought out the cocktail menu because it wasn't busy at the bar. I ended up getting something called a Jager Mint (Jägermeister & Céme de Mente). It was yummy, and the wedges were heavenly. I think I actually ate all of them.
On the bus we got comfortable pretty quickly. In the bus station a guard let me use the bathroom without having to pay the 20p. Yay! I made a friend on the bus, kind of. I couldn't find him on Facebook, but oh well. I've made lots of friends here.
We arrived in Dublin and caught the 1 straight home. We were all sooo tired. It had been an amazing, yet tiring weekend.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Galloping all the way to Galway
Saturday, July 7th
Today is the day I go to Galway (that rhymed. teehee). I woke up to find out I had booked the hostel for the wrong weekend. I made several calls, and booked a hostel for three of us. It was 7 euro more each, but it was the best I could do at the time. After doing that I was a little late meeting Hanna, but we made it to the bus 15 minutes early. The next, almost, 3 hours was spent sleeping and reading.
When we arrived in Galway we ate and just hung around the town. The place we ate at was called Fagan's. It was a pub below a very nice hotel. The service was good and all the waiters were well dressed. They stopped by at least twice to see how our meal was. It is very cute and friendly. Once our friend Lexi got there were booked tickets to Aran Islands(we decided to change out tickets the next day for the evening). Originally we were supposed to leave at noon, and we had asked a ticket lady to print them and she said we had the wrong bus station (she was wrong), but we fixed it. We also checked into our hotel then walked through the dock area because they had been having dock races. It was cute. I ended up buying some cute wool gloves. My hands get cold easily so it is nice to have them. We walked a long the dock and then just sat on a stone wall in the sun. It was lovely.
Then it was time to eat and get ready before the pub crawl. The place we ate had terrible service. They brought out the wrong thing for me. She was rude as well. I don't think I have ever had worse service. Needless to say, I did not take a picture of the menu or restaurant.
Pub Crawl time. We were all so excited. We had heard from others that it was AMAZING and so much fun. It all started at a pub called Skeff. You get little green wristbands and either a Baby Guinness (Kaluha and Baileys) or a Guinness. I ended up getting a mojito as well, but the mint was a little too strong for my liking. It reminded me of catnip. The three of us just hung out at this one. We talked to the two guides and then they brought everyone together before we left for the next pub and played a game. They asked us three questions. 1. What is your favorite color- but describe its personality in three words. 2. What is your favorite animal- but describe it in two words. 3. Describe the ocean in one word. It was really funny in the end because each meant something. 1. Your personality. 2. Your significant other. 3. Your sex life. I will tell you my answers and then add in a few other people's. 1. Love, anger, lust. 2. Camouflage & Mischievous (at least I believe that is what I said). 3. Vast. My original answers (that I didn't say) were a little different. 1. Love, anger, blood (slightly creepy. lol). 2. Stripped & I didn't get a second word so I chose a different animal. 3. Wet. lol. A few people said salty, calm, and open for the third one. One girl said sneaky for the second one. The answers for the first one varied from calm to green. It was great.
The second bars was called Fibbers Magee (or something, I have a picture). There the upper room we were supposed to go to was booked so we just hung out on the very crowded bottom floor. Our free drink at this one was tequila and lime. This surprised me because it is rare to find tequila in a pub. We all took our shots. The music was the right kind of loud and they also did a contest. The person that could drink the black line of a Guinness to the middle of the E in the cup won a free t-shirt. Hanna was so close. She, literally, lost by a hair. It was that small of difference. We took pictures with the guides and learned a new drinking game. Best in pubs. There are only three rules. if someone hits the top edge and bottom edge of your cup you drink. If they only hit the top you both drink. BUT if you pull away and they miss they drink. Very simple but probably a lot harder the longer you are in a pub. I also got a black rum on ice. Simple and not terrible. We all said a quick goodbye outside to one of the guides because he had to go back to the office.
The next pub was Kelly's. Apparently we weren't actually supposed to go there, so they didn't reserve us a table. It was ok though because we still had a lot of fun. We had sambucca (tastes like black licorice). I had had it once before and it just tastes terrible. They had another contest (all the contests you have to pay for but it was only 3 euro 20p. Basically, 2 teams. 5 people on a time. Chugging relay. I stayed out because I can't have beer anyway. My friends' team lost dearly because Hanna would only sip. It was actually rather comical. Man, I love these girls! lol While there I also met some really cool people who were from Galway. We chatted and it was a lot of fun. I had a martini in remembrance of my Grandpa Al because he and my grandmother would have them every evening.
The fourth pub had a name that was in Irish and I couldn't for the life of me remember the name. There we got a shot of moonshine for our drink. It was TERRIBLE. That's probably why it was one of our free drinks. ;) I met a girl that was from London traveling with some people from Scotland. They had come over for the dock races. I didn't realize how popular these dock races are. We just hung out. Took a few photos.
We headed out to our last stop, a club called Karma. We got free admission when it was usually 8-10 euro (depending on whether you got a promoter stamp or not). It was a lot of fun at first. We were dancing and having a great time until this scumbag ruined everything. He comes and pulls me to the edge of the dance floor away from my friends and tries to make out with me. Fortunately, I know how to handle myself, said no, and just kept dancing then joined my friends again. He does the same thing to my friends and even holds his arms so that they are almost restraint us. He did this twice to all three of us. He tried to do it again to my friend and I stepped in front of her. Then, one of the guys from the pub crawl that we had made friends with stepped in front and pushed him away slightly. The guy who was trying to force himself on us was pulled away by his friends. The a security guard came out and pulled Ryan (the guy protecting us) off the floor. I thought it might be because he had a drink in his hand. About 5 minutes later these two big guards come in, lift Ryan up and force him outside. Being the loyal friends that we are we follow him out. we try and talk to someone but no one would listen. They just said they couldn't do anything about it. I even told one of the guards at the door that I knew he couldn't do anything but would he at least listen. Disrespectfully, he said no and actually walked away into the club to get away from me. I wasn't even yelling.
We all met one of the other guys from the group outside. He had been thrown out for wearing shorts. They didn't even give him a stamp to get back in if he did change into pants. So stupid. We all went to Supermacs (like McDonalds) that also had a Papa Johns. We were there until close to 2:30 when we parted ways. We rang the bell for the hostel and crashed. Most of the night had been amazing, but that one last thing had been terrible.
Today is the day I go to Galway (that rhymed. teehee). I woke up to find out I had booked the hostel for the wrong weekend. I made several calls, and booked a hostel for three of us. It was 7 euro more each, but it was the best I could do at the time. After doing that I was a little late meeting Hanna, but we made it to the bus 15 minutes early. The next, almost, 3 hours was spent sleeping and reading.
When we arrived in Galway we ate and just hung around the town. The place we ate at was called Fagan's. It was a pub below a very nice hotel. The service was good and all the waiters were well dressed. They stopped by at least twice to see how our meal was. It is very cute and friendly. Once our friend Lexi got there were booked tickets to Aran Islands(we decided to change out tickets the next day for the evening). Originally we were supposed to leave at noon, and we had asked a ticket lady to print them and she said we had the wrong bus station (she was wrong), but we fixed it. We also checked into our hotel then walked through the dock area because they had been having dock races. It was cute. I ended up buying some cute wool gloves. My hands get cold easily so it is nice to have them. We walked a long the dock and then just sat on a stone wall in the sun. It was lovely.
Then it was time to eat and get ready before the pub crawl. The place we ate had terrible service. They brought out the wrong thing for me. She was rude as well. I don't think I have ever had worse service. Needless to say, I did not take a picture of the menu or restaurant.
Pub Crawl time. We were all so excited. We had heard from others that it was AMAZING and so much fun. It all started at a pub called Skeff. You get little green wristbands and either a Baby Guinness (Kaluha and Baileys) or a Guinness. I ended up getting a mojito as well, but the mint was a little too strong for my liking. It reminded me of catnip. The three of us just hung out at this one. We talked to the two guides and then they brought everyone together before we left for the next pub and played a game. They asked us three questions. 1. What is your favorite color- but describe its personality in three words. 2. What is your favorite animal- but describe it in two words. 3. Describe the ocean in one word. It was really funny in the end because each meant something. 1. Your personality. 2. Your significant other. 3. Your sex life. I will tell you my answers and then add in a few other people's. 1. Love, anger, lust. 2. Camouflage & Mischievous (at least I believe that is what I said). 3. Vast. My original answers (that I didn't say) were a little different. 1. Love, anger, blood (slightly creepy. lol). 2. Stripped & I didn't get a second word so I chose a different animal. 3. Wet. lol. A few people said salty, calm, and open for the third one. One girl said sneaky for the second one. The answers for the first one varied from calm to green. It was great.
The second bars was called Fibbers Magee (or something, I have a picture). There the upper room we were supposed to go to was booked so we just hung out on the very crowded bottom floor. Our free drink at this one was tequila and lime. This surprised me because it is rare to find tequila in a pub. We all took our shots. The music was the right kind of loud and they also did a contest. The person that could drink the black line of a Guinness to the middle of the E in the cup won a free t-shirt. Hanna was so close. She, literally, lost by a hair. It was that small of difference. We took pictures with the guides and learned a new drinking game. Best in pubs. There are only three rules. if someone hits the top edge and bottom edge of your cup you drink. If they only hit the top you both drink. BUT if you pull away and they miss they drink. Very simple but probably a lot harder the longer you are in a pub. I also got a black rum on ice. Simple and not terrible. We all said a quick goodbye outside to one of the guides because he had to go back to the office.
The next pub was Kelly's. Apparently we weren't actually supposed to go there, so they didn't reserve us a table. It was ok though because we still had a lot of fun. We had sambucca (tastes like black licorice). I had had it once before and it just tastes terrible. They had another contest (all the contests you have to pay for but it was only 3 euro 20p. Basically, 2 teams. 5 people on a time. Chugging relay. I stayed out because I can't have beer anyway. My friends' team lost dearly because Hanna would only sip. It was actually rather comical. Man, I love these girls! lol While there I also met some really cool people who were from Galway. We chatted and it was a lot of fun. I had a martini in remembrance of my Grandpa Al because he and my grandmother would have them every evening.
The fourth pub had a name that was in Irish and I couldn't for the life of me remember the name. There we got a shot of moonshine for our drink. It was TERRIBLE. That's probably why it was one of our free drinks. ;) I met a girl that was from London traveling with some people from Scotland. They had come over for the dock races. I didn't realize how popular these dock races are. We just hung out. Took a few photos.
We headed out to our last stop, a club called Karma. We got free admission when it was usually 8-10 euro (depending on whether you got a promoter stamp or not). It was a lot of fun at first. We were dancing and having a great time until this scumbag ruined everything. He comes and pulls me to the edge of the dance floor away from my friends and tries to make out with me. Fortunately, I know how to handle myself, said no, and just kept dancing then joined my friends again. He does the same thing to my friends and even holds his arms so that they are almost restraint us. He did this twice to all three of us. He tried to do it again to my friend and I stepped in front of her. Then, one of the guys from the pub crawl that we had made friends with stepped in front and pushed him away slightly. The guy who was trying to force himself on us was pulled away by his friends. The a security guard came out and pulled Ryan (the guy protecting us) off the floor. I thought it might be because he had a drink in his hand. About 5 minutes later these two big guards come in, lift Ryan up and force him outside. Being the loyal friends that we are we follow him out. we try and talk to someone but no one would listen. They just said they couldn't do anything about it. I even told one of the guards at the door that I knew he couldn't do anything but would he at least listen. Disrespectfully, he said no and actually walked away into the club to get away from me. I wasn't even yelling.
We all met one of the other guys from the group outside. He had been thrown out for wearing shorts. They didn't even give him a stamp to get back in if he did change into pants. So stupid. We all went to Supermacs (like McDonalds) that also had a Papa Johns. We were there until close to 2:30 when we parted ways. We rang the bell for the hostel and crashed. Most of the night had been amazing, but that one last thing had been terrible.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Off to the Races!
Saturday, June 30th
Today was the day I went with my roomies to the horse races. I had never been before, so I was really excited. We got all dressed up in our dresses and floppy hats. We walked to the bus, did a bus transfer, and then got on the train. After we arrived in Kildare there was a courtesy bus to the track. The walk from the bus to the track was pretty long, and not heel friendly. I was really glad I wore my comfortable heels.
Oh, the outfits we saw. Everyone was dressed to the nines. It made me feel under dressed. There were beautiful hair pieces and very fancy heels. It was spectacular. Throughout the day it rained periodically. The sun would come out, but it was pretty windy the while time. I found it kind of ironic that everyone in their amazing outfits ate tapas and fried food, and beer in cans of cups.
The Arena was HUGE. for both the horses the the spectators. Watching was a lot of fun. After every race almost the whole crowd would leave the stands to either get their winnings or bet on another race (there were 8 races in all).
My roommates bet on most of the races, and it was fun to join in with their victories. There was one in particular where they bet on the winner, not just whether the horse placed or not.
At the end of the races (they went from 3:40-7:40) there was a free concert. It was ok, but we only stayed for three songs. We made sure to take plenty more pictures on the way out, though.
Oh, the outfits we saw. Everyone was dressed to the nines. It made me feel under dressed. There were beautiful hair pieces and very fancy heels. It was spectacular. Throughout the day it rained periodically. The sun would come out, but it was pretty windy the while time. I found it kind of ironic that everyone in their amazing outfits ate tapas and fried food, and beer in cans of cups.
The Arena was HUGE. for both the horses the the spectators. Watching was a lot of fun. After every race almost the whole crowd would leave the stands to either get their winnings or bet on another race (there were 8 races in all).
My roommates bet on most of the races, and it was fun to join in with their victories. There was one in particular where they bet on the winner, not just whether the horse placed or not.
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| Their winning and the betting booklet when Probably won. |
From the track we got back on the bus, then train, then two other buses to get home. We were pretty cold, because after a few days of over 70 degrees (a rarity in Ireland) the wind had been FREEZING! After we got home (the train and the buses together probably took an hour and a half) I took a hot hot shower and got my clothes ready for the next day. I had a photo shoot the next day and needed to get up at 6 am. It was a very fun day. Though, next time I go to horse races (which I will) I am going on days when it is warm. Guess that means no more horse races while I'm here in Dublin. Oh well, it just means I have to go to some in California :)
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| One more Floppy hat picture just because :D |
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