Pop goes the Cork...with familiar faces.

Aside from the fact that this post comes almost 6 months late, I still wanted to post not only for my own sake but also to share with those whom didn't hear about our venture down to Cork to see some more of Ireland and also visit with some familiar faces - Amy and Marc. Marc was overseas 'staging' (french spelling?) which means he was interning in a couple upscale restaurants to add to his career experience as a new chef. If those reading don't know, Amy and Marc, they are two really great friends Jonny and I know from back in Ontario (Stratford specifically). They spent the first few months of their trip in Marseilles, France and then, ironically, the last couple of months in Cork, Ireland so what better reason to visit Cork, other than to see more of Ireland and visit the county in which my Great-Grandfather Calvert grew up?

Instead of renting a car like we did on our last trip, we decided to take the direct and inexpensive route via bus which was about 3 hours to the city centre from Galway. Unfortunately, with my small bladder, I was a bit nervous seeing Citylink didn't choose to provide washroom facilities on the bus and no stops along the way so I had to hydrate myself only in case of an emergency. The trip flew by and before we knew it, we were at our B&B just steps away from UCC (University of Cork) and reuniting with our friends, Marc and Amy. (Side note: they both actually came up to Galway a few weeks before we headed down to Cork to see what Galway was all about and had a grand ol' time - we showed Galway how the Stratfordites party)

Since we arrived around 930pm we settled in at the B&B and then headed over to Marc/Amy's shared flat where we met their flatmates and other new acquaintances. It was a mild night so had some good craic in their backyard and then ventured into the city centre for some pints and dancing at The Crane Lane pub which reminded me a cross between a Burlesque bar and a rock bar. We had some really great fun with our Stratfordites and their flatmate Marty which we nicknamed him 'Party-Marty' (he didn't like that one too much) and 'Marti-Gras'. :) The DJ was 'savage' as the Irish say with his cross between indie-rock remixes and beats and all in all we had a great time.

 backyard Stratford reunions

Party-Marty aka Marti-Gras got a bit crazy

Thankfully, we had great weather all weekend (sunny and 26 degrees - rare for Ireland in June) so Saturday, while Marc was working, Amy took us on a walking tour of Cork to see some of the sights. We ventured through the popular English Market where it's practically an extra-large version of a Farmers market and then some. Amy and Marc were treating us to a homemade supper that night so as Amy ventured around the market picking up ingredients for dinner, Jonny and I played tourist and took lots of pics and saw what each fresh food stand had to offer. Afterwards we kept walking around town and literally stumbled-upon a gospel choir singing in a small park just off a popular patio bar so many locals sat in the park and listened to them as the daytime drinkers enjoyed the live entertainment. We decided to take a break and sit on the grass and listen to the talent. Shortly later, a very generous man was walking around offering everyone large freezies to keep cool as we basked in the hot sun...couldn't get any better other than a friendly dog sat down next to me and kept me company.

 too much food...must get out @ English Market, Cork

stumbling-upon some great live entertainment in sunny downtown Cork

After much walking, Jonny and I decided to go back to the B&B for a short rest while Amy and Marc started to prepare dinner. We had roasted chicken with vegetables, potatoes and a fresh green salad and wine to accompany the delicious meal. Following dinner we decided to pass the time with a 'friendly' game of Euchre as our bellies digested. One game turned into 5 or 6 and before we knew it, it was after midnight. Since we pretty much polished off the refreshments, we decided to go to a pub for last call. Ironically on a Saturday night, it seemed like everything had closed down after 1am but we again stumbled-upon a pub that brought back memories to us fellow Stratfordites as it was called 'Classics'. Luckily, the atmosphere and decor was not exactly like the 'Classics' we knew in Stratford, ON but to be nostalgic, we decided to have a couple pints for last call on the small patio they had.

 last-call pints @ Classics, Cork not Stratford, ON

5-star meal made by Chef Marc, sous-chef Amy

Since Marc's vegetarian restaurant was closed on Sundays, we took advantage and did a new tourist adventure together and took the train out to Fota Island where there is a large zoo. All the animals pretty much roam wild which I was much in favour since the Toronto Zoo always depressed me with caged up animals. The layout of Fota Island was much like African Wild Safari back in Ontario and the non-threatening animals (kangeroos, birds, rabbits, etc.) were roaming the same paths as we were. Monkeys had their own private island with a large 'monkey gym' to keep them busy, giraffes, ostriches, zebras and antelope shared a big open field, cheetahs and the not-so-friendly species were behind fences but had acres of land to roam, and even the wide range of birds (flamingos, ducks, penguins, puffins, pelicans) were conversing with the guests or had their own private island to keep to themselves. All in all it was a great tourist location, even for the adults.

 up close & personal with Roo

 co-habitants - giraffe, zebra, & antelope

 Marc & Amy feed the birds...tuppence a bag

 Mr Pelican

Jonny speaks 'pelican'

Since it was a bank holiday weekend and Jonny and I both had Monday off, we decided to stay one more night and visit with our friends. We regrouped later that night and went for some late-night pints at another local pub in town. Unfortunately I cannot remember the name of the pub but I felt like I was drinking amongst the hipster-indie-poet-biochemist crowd. All in all, it was a great end to a great weekend and really neat to visit with some familiar faces.

taking advantage of 'last call'...we can do it Aimster!

Weekending in Southern Ireland

Hi All,
Instead of apologizing for the lack of updates lately, I'm just gonna skip forward and get to what I've been up to lately.

My goal with my new job was to take one weekend per month to go on a roadtrip to see more of Ireland and thus far, I've stuck to my goal. Luckily, Jonny gets one long weekend off per month so he has been able to join me which is great for good company.

The first weekend was a multi-city weekend down in the Southeast tip of Ireland. We rented a car and headed on the road. Now let's just say that it's not as easy to brush up on your skills on how to drive standard in Ireland as everything is opposite: all the gears are on the left and you're driving on the opposite side of the road but with a few stalls here and there, my courageous roomie Jonny (I didn't want to break the car so I played the navigator) got us from point A to point B (and C, D, etc.) safely and efficiently. Lucky for us we opted for the collision insurance as, poor Cleo (the car), we believe we got a bit too close a stone wall lining a road we were driving on and got a wee scratch on the bumper...oops....beware of VERY narrow roads here in Ireland.

Our first stop was for dinner at a great steakhouse we discovered walking the streets of Limerick. We first stopped off at Shannon River, as well, it's pretty self-explanatory. With the sunset just coming down, she sure did look breathtaking. :) We had a really amazing meal at the Texas Steakhouse and it made our tummies warm and full for the next couple hours towards Killarney for the night.

With a few glitches in our GPS, we finally made it to our hotel in Killarney and headed out for some of the Killarney nightlife. It was a quaint city and the pub that my boss recommended to us, Mc Soroley's, was pretty neat. At first we thought it was just ok and the live band was pretty good, minus the karaoke efforts made by the lead singer, but then we went to find the toilets and discovered the other side of the bar and it was pretty neat. It was an open-concept outdoor smoking area that reminded me of the high wood ceiling back at the Landreth homestead, complete with another bar, pool tables and high-top tables and a projector screen playing old-school music videos...pretty neat. Since we didn't arrive to Killarney till after midnight, we just stayed for a few pints and headed back to the hotel as we didn't want to be wrecked for the next couple of days as playing tourists. So, we got a small snack after witnessing the typical Irish drama (drunken disorderly sightings) and got a taxi back to our hotel as it was a bit of a stretch and it started to downpour on us and we had to save our food from melting in the rain...ha.

The next day, we got up and headed out for a quick lunch and walked around the downtown core and then found the tourism office to find out what were the things to do while in the Killarney area. We decided to go to Killarney National Park and if we had time, go to another spot before we headed to Dingle. The weather was off and on so we played our chances and headed towards the park. We parked the car near a horse and buggy drop-off area and then got our gear and started our venture. It was a long walk through the park but the scenery was breathtaking and the weather held up somewhat. We had to hide under a few trees here and there due to some rain but that's the life in Ireland, I guess. Here's a few of the views we saw.

Once we got to Muckross House (historic landmark in pic above) we decided to spend a few shackles and take a horse and buggy ride around the rest of the park to make it a bit more quicker and it also took us up to the Killarney Falls. Our guide/driver was a old man from Killarney area and he was the owner of the carriage ride business. He told us the history of how long he had been doing the carriage rides and how he treats his horses like children. We also suspected he has quite the Irish green thumb as he knew about every tree in that park...pretty fascinating and it reminded me of all my aunts and cousins in the family as they are quite the gardeners...except for me, of course. I can't even seem to keep a pot of herbs alive longer than a couple days....oh well. Here is a few pics of the falls and our carriage ride with our friendly transportation, Suzy.

After we departed Killarney we headed to Dingle which is the most eastern tip of Ireland and very amazing. My boss, being a 'Kerry' man (Dingle is situated within Kerry county), said it claims to be one of the most beautiful towns in all of Ireland and well, from what I've seen thus far of Ireland, it definitely lives up to its reputation. We did lots of walking around the downtown area, the harbour and we stayed in a very nice B&B up on Slea Head drive. The couple who owned it was very kind, provided a personal map for tourists including Dingle and Slea Head Drive (i'll get to that shortly) and the breakfast was remarkable. I felt like a queen with everything they provided and it was all fresh, right down to the hand-squeezed juices and homemade brown & white bread. Even though I was stuffed by the end, I had to have a couple spoonfuls of the homemade rhubarb stew as I haven't had it since Gramma M passed away and it was just like hers. Luckily for Mom & Dad, I booked them two nights at the same B&B when they come to visit and I'm sure they will enjoy it just as much as we did.

After we checked into our B&B we got ready and headed back into town. We heard a lot of great things about a seafood restaurant called Doyles so I made sure to pop over to make a reservation and glad I did because we got the last one for the evening...and it was worth it. Jonny treated me to a belated birthday dinner as I was in Canada when my actual birthday was celebrated. We had the most delicious risotto I've ever had - prawn and scallops in a tomato and basil sauce with asiago cheese...yum. Then we had the fresh lobster dinner. I've never had lobster in a restaurant before and it was such a treat. We got the last two and they were both the biggest they had in the tank. Some of the green stuff grossed me out but Jonny was a pro and showed me how to make sure I got every last bite. It was served, melted butter (naturally) with roasted rosemary potatoes, green salad and steamed veggies. Of course we had to have some wine to make it extra special and all in all, likely the best Irish meal I've had yet.

After the meal, we headed out to see what the nightlife is about. Likely, one of my favourite things about Dingle was the quirkiness about some of the local pubs. There are about 3 or 4 pubs in town that during the day they are a retail-type business and then by night, they turn into a pub....no lie. The ones we went by were Foxy John's (Hardware store by day), J. Curran's (men's clothing store by day) and the one we spent having a few pints at, Dick Mack's (shoe cobbler by day). I loved this pub because it felt like I was just at someone's house having a few beers because it was almost like an old house turned into a business/pub because the rooms still had furniture, stoves, fireplaces, etc. in them. We sat out back where there was a firepit and picnic tables for a bit and then went in and sat in a room by ourself infront of the fire and it was great. After the pub, we walked down by the harbour as the moon was full and then headed back to the B&B in a taxi. Here's a couple pics of the pubs and Dick Mack's.

 Foxy John's - hardware store

 J Currans men's fashions

Dick Macks - cobbler by day

 Dick Macks

After our very delicious breakfast, we headed out onto Slea Head Drive which is pretty much a long drive along the Atlantic coast with many great views along the way including a few historic monuments. It does pretty much a full circle where you end back at Dingle and then it would be easy for us to jump onto the road again to head back to Galway. We stopped at a Fort that was around 500 BC, saw a couple of 'beehives' which are old stone houses that people long ago stayed in, saw some great views of the ocean, stopped at Coumeenoole Beach and had some beach fun (see pic below), saw the 'Sleeping Giant' which is a really cool rock formation you can see from land and many other great views.

 mysterious Irish fog with 500 BC Fort behind me

Coumeenoole Beach

 Personalized postcard

'Sleeping Giant'

After a quick pitstop in Dingle we headed back to Galway with a quick stop in Tralee for lunch. All in all, it was a really fun first roadtrip and the car came in handy as we picked up some groceries along the way and I even got a ride to work from Jonny the next morning before he returned the rental so no queasy busride for me...at least in the morning.

Next stop....Cork with some fellow Stratfordites!

Ontario visit - Part 2

Ok - I know, I know...I'm really getting behind on my blog entries. So I will do my best to send you 2 blogs posts today and somewhat catch everyone up. I am currently uploading pictures from my 2 Canadian visits and my latest weekend in Killarney/Dingle to Facebook and will do the same for my picture blog for those of my family who aren't connected to Facebook.

Update on life thus far is pretty simple. I started my new job at the end of March and it's pretty good thus far. I work with 8 other people and the company is slowly growing. It's made up of two companies: a recruitment agency and a sales & marketing agency. I work on the sales & marketing side doing event planning for a new client and will be assisting with marketing and such on the other clients in the upcoming weeks. It certainly was an adjustment for me coming from Canadian advertising culture into Irish marketing culture. Everything is not as structured and because Ireland businesses are much like local businesses where everything is done via phone and contracts are just usually 'my word', it was hard for me to grasp that seeing as I'm sure to 'everything in writing' and 'there's a process for everything'. So, I started by looking where we really needed some structure and processes put in place and got to it. Soon enough my boss could see that it's a really good thing and yes, maintenance is needed but I'll help him as long as I can legally work in Ireland to keep everything updated and organized. It definitely was not like jumping back into my old role in Toronto but I like challenges and change so it was a slow start but I'm learning something new everyday and looking forward to adding this to my career experience. So, that is what keeps me busy Monday through Friday and my weekends are free to do whatever I please, give or take. My goal is to do one weekend trip a month to somewhere new in Ireland or even Europe (flight costs depending) so I hope to meet that goal each month!

About three weeks into my job, my boss knew that I had a plane ticket pre-booked for another visit to Canada. I know everyone was like, 'why are you going home again? you just visited!' My rational was that the first visit was pretty much planned back when I booked my initial plane ticket to Ireland (return date had to be used or I was going to be charged $300+fare difference just to change it) and it fell on a very special date for me (10 years since Gramma M had passed) so I knew it would be a nice surprise for Mom and the rest of the family. My second visit was scheduled to be a week longer and the fact that prices double to and from Ireland after May, I would be busy traveling and working and likely wouldn't be able to get back to Ontario to possibly Christmas. Mom and Dad are visiting in July till August, Joc and Mike are possibly coming in October so I knew I would have some visitors in the summer and fall which I'm looking forward to. Anyone else is welcome to visit - just send me a note and give me a heads up!

Anyway, my time at home was quite nice and very hectic at the same time, as expected. I knew that my vacation wouldn't be a vacation but I thought it wouldn't fly by as quickly as it did last time - if anything my second trip was faster than the first one and it was double the length in stay....poop. I was pretty much on the go since 7am till 11pm at night visiting with friends and family. I got to spend time with the little cousins and Hayley and Randy's new addition - Reese Elizabeth...which was very key for me because young ones can easily forget who you are if you are away at long periods of time. Surprisingly, when I saw Morgan and Dan's daughter - Pearl - she seemed like she remembered me from when I met her for the first time last September and she was just maybe 2 weeks old at the time! Kelsey and I had some quality time together, watched 101 Dalmatians and did all the fun things you love to do with little ones - blowing bubbles, giggling, cuddling and bathtime fun. Thankfully I had my iPhone along with me the whole time to capture the special moments. I squeezed in time with Brad Arlene and kiddies on my way back from my birthday weekend in Toronto. Hard to believe how big Scott has gotten since I last saw him. I guess 6 months in between visits can really show you how quickly kids grow!

I had a great birthday weekend in Toronto. I took the train up early Thursday morning to Toronto and a few plans fell through so I took Rimi's Audi back to her place and vegged out for a bit till I met up with Trevor for sushi dinner. I think it was the only day I relaxed for a couple hours and I really appreciated it. I have been having a lot of pain in my jaw since January and went to my jaw specialist when I was in Ontario. Luckily, it's just a pulled muscle but unfortunately it's no quick fix. I have to do stretches and such and it's quite painful still. So, when I went out for sushi with Trevor, I almost cried (we don't have sushi in Galway) because I could only manage to eat two rolls because I can't fit them in my mouth. Luckily, sushi pizza is a bit smaller but it was so depressing but I had great company so it was still a nice night. Rimi took Friday off so we had a 'BFF day' full of shopping for bday dresses for our annual 'Shimmy Bash', good food, movies and treated ourselves to a 60-min massage. It's been too long and I used to get them every month and might try to get back into that habit. Rimi has never had one in her life and I think she will start doing them once a month too and her massage therapist even said she needs a chiropractor to work on her damaged shoulder...tsk tsk. Saturday was a full day with primping ourselves for the party. We got mani-pedi's and then went to Yorkdale for hair and make-up. Rimi didn't have the best MAC artist as she kept leaving her for customers and made her late for her hair appointment and she got concealer in her eye so Rimi's eyes kept tearing up and the artist blamed RIMI for it....haha....geez. My artist was quite nice and even though HE was wearing more makeup than I was, it still turned out great and I wish Rim had the same experience. The Shimmy Bash was a great success. Some people couldn't make it due to prior engagements but it was nice to see everyone that came out. I apologize to everyone that I didn't have a chance to visit with when I was home but there's always an open invitation to come visit me and I'm always up for Skype or email chats! I am glad I got to see Coopaloop and JBurns (shoutout) and share a lovely meal and convo with my girls....miss you guys.

My sister had a nice birthday dinner for me Sunday night on my way back from Toronto (after a quick visit at Brad/Arlene's in between) and Gramma L was able to make it as well. Gramma and I got together a few times and it was nice to see her. We even had a nice lunch at her house where I got to use her 40+ year-old grilled cheese maker and it's still just as good! :)

Other than that, I just had some family visits here and there, spent a couple days with Jocelyn shopping and usual sister chats, had a full day with Mom doing some shopping and test-driving cars for her and then soon enough I was packing to go back to Galway, Ireland. Of course I made sure to pack all the delicious treats that Canada has and Ireland doesn't. Naturally my luggage was overweight when checking in at the airport and United Airways was going to charge me $200 for being 7 lbs over. It really depends on who you get because the last time, I was 3 lbs over and she just put it through. So, Mom and I had to rearrange some things and luckily I didn't have to keep anything behind. Jonny definitely is very appreciated of all the snacks I brought over to us and we are savouring each bite of them one at a time.

Mom took me to the airport and I reassured her that no 'sad goodbye tears' were needed as she and Dad would be seeing me in a couple of months. My flights back were 'OK' (forgot to say that my flight was delayed from Chicago to Ontario because it was raining and I didn't get in till 3 hours later than expected. I told myself that Irish people would be laughing at Americans for being scared to fly in the rain!). I don't deal well with flying to begin with but I had my Gravol with me just incase. The flight to Chicago was pretty bumpy and I think it was the pilot first flight so I was pretty nauseous the whole time and thought he was going to miss the runway when landing in Chicago. I got stuck in the crappy terminal at O'Hare where the food selection is quite poor. The aircraft was a newer one which I've been lucky to get each time I fly with Aer Lingus. My plane seat neighbour was an old man from Connemara which is about an hour or so outside of Galway. He was very chatty, like most old Irish men, even when I was wearing my headphones. He said at one point, "Do ye sleep well on da plane?" and I said, "no, I barely get a wink or two." and he said, "Ya, tat's a pity. I'm da same way as well now." (note: the irish accent pronunciation). So - he would often look over to me while I was watching my movies and tv shows and catch a word here and there. Now, we left the gate ON-TIME but had to return to the gate after we reached the runway due to a 'technical issue'. When we approached the gate, two paramedics, the fire chief, two policemen and a large security guard came on board and walked to the back of the plane. We were all confused but naturally, they never tell you what's REALLY going on. About 5-10 min later, they came walking back up to the front of the plane (I was sitting right by the exit) and a passenger was with them. Ironically, I was one of the last people to board and she was directly behind me. She seemed pretty 'normal' to me but I guess something happened and she got escorted off the plane. We could hear her talking to the emergency staff off to the side of the gate entrance and the volume increased every few seconds and before you knew it she was screaming 'I hate Aer Lingus!' so they took her off to the side exit that takes you down to the tar mat and she continued to scream but the volume was muted. We could see out our window since it was directly beside where they were standing and she wasn't impressed. Slowly they got her down to the ambulance on the tar mat and then eventually inside and drove away. I was somewhat relieved that she wasn't let back on the plane and as we departed the gate, 45 min later, the pilot said 'thank you for your patience. we apologize for the medical emergency (he changed his tune) and we wish her all the best'...and everyone chuckled. Unfortunately the fun didn't stop there as I was positioned at the front of the plane were, lucky for me, all the young children were seated. Directly beside me were two babies between 6 months and 1 year plus a 3 year old girl. The parents were pretty nice but unfortunately both babies were simultaneously cry. They were ok for the first hour or two and then for the next 4-5 hours they were crying off and on. I think one baby slept for maybe 1/2 hr or hour and the other one didn't seem to at all. I tried blasting the music on my headphones but it hardly drown out the noise. I now have full appreciation for Mom when she took a 2-month old (ME) to British Columbia (4 hour flight) and apparently I screamed the entire way and the flight attendants, and even the pilot, asked her they could do anything - ie. how do we shut that baby up? SORRY MOM...and to whomever was on board that flight in 1982.

Anyway - I arrived safely, missed the bus to Galway by 20 min so had to wait a couple hours for the next one. I spoke with Jonny for about 15 min when I arrived home and then hit the bed as I hadn't slept in over 24 hours. I slept for 6.5 hours, woke up and had some dinner and then tried to get back to sleep but I didn't end up sleeping till 6 am the next day. At around 3am, I emailed my boss and said I would pick the 'optional' (as he put it) not to come into the office and would just work from home and catch up on emails. I pretty much slept all weekend and popped out for a few pints with the girls here for 'welcome back/belated bday drinks' but I only made it till about 1am till I was tired again. After a few more days I felt back to normal and was back into the swing of things with work.

All in all it was a great trip and again, I'm sorry for those I couldn't visit with but I hope to keep in touch and I will let you know when I plan to visit Ontario again!

Well, this post got longer than I thought but check out my Ontario visit(s) pics on Fbook and through this blog. I will post links soon for those and my past weekend trip to Killarney & Dingle. I was going to do another post about the weekend trip but I'll see if I have time today...if not, very soon...promise!

Monumental moments in life...

So, apparently I'm not great at keeping new resolutions (ie. blogging each week) which is why I never really had a New Year's Resolution each year because of that. But I won't dwell on that and just keep on blogging!
Lots has happened in the last couple of weeks - two big things: my first St Patrick's Day experience in Ireland and I landed a new job. First off - St Paddy's Day. It was everything I expected and then some and my Irish friends were shocked that I lasted till the wee hours of the morning because most Irish people don't even last that long and I was up and ready to go by 10am. Carlee, Rachelle, Ashlie and I went to the Galway St Paddy's Parade and coming from a small town, I knew not to expect a lot of glitz and glamour but it was fun and I'm still glad I went...just wish I had a few extra layers on because when the sun went away, it got super chilly. The parade consisted of essentially lots of school marching bands, football (soccer) and hurling teams, displaying the different ethnicities and culture in Galway and some of the arts/music clubs too as Galway is a very musical/arts town compared to the rest of the country. Below are just a few pics.

 Just a display of how 'green' the town gets when leading up to St Paddy's Day - ie. a storefront window of a used book store.

Three Canadians excited for what St Paddy's Day will bring us in IRELAND. :)

 Irish Pride

 Hurling team

 Rugby team

 Galway Indian culture

 Shop St after the parade = insanity

 first pint of Guiness of St Paddy's Day

 and my first Guiness of the day

 Meeting up with friends - Nathan & Jonny

Post-St Paddy's Day Sun and friends @ Spanish Arch

After the parade the streets were mayhem so we quickly got through the crowd and went to a big pub just outside of Eyre Square and found a little side table as the pub was already packed. We stayed for a few pints and then went to visit Jonny as he was working till 8p at Sleepzone (hostel) that day as he just started at the job a few weeks ago. After our visit we stopped off at Le Supermacs for a fine dining experience (kidding - it's much like Mc D's) to make sure we had some food in our bellies for the next few hours. We then just hopped pub to pub and I met up with some of my coworkers from the Dail Bar (where I work) and then I called it a night just after 1am, got some more food and headed home. All in all it was a fantastic day, I would haven't changed a thing and I'm glad that I had the experience as it may never happen again - that is, in IRELAND. :)
Next piece of news, I have landed a new job as an Account Manager at a small event marketing agency. My new boss always owns a small recruiting company, hence how I found out about the position. We had been exchanging emails since the day I landed in Galway and he proposed sales positions at different companies to me but I kept declining because I'm a marketeer at heart. He soon realized that I wasn't going to change my mind, we met a couple times to go over in details what my skills and career experience was in Canada and he essentially created a role for me in his small company to design, organize, implement and manage all the event campaigns for his clients. It's hard to understand if you're not from Ireland but the three clients we have are pretty high-profile: Eircom (like Bell Canada), Vodafone (like Rogers) and Bord Gais (like Ontario Hydro). I won't bore you with details but I started my first two days in the office this week and everyone is really nice and I'm looking forward to having a 9a-5p job for the summer season. The only downside is that the office is located a 1/2 hr outside of Galway so for the time-being I will be taking the bus but it's not too bad as I tested it out yesterday. I just have to be at the bus station by 8am and it will drop me just outside of work and pick me up along the way too. It's a coach bus so there are no labeled stops so you just have to tell the driver where you want dropped off along the route and then flag them down when you're on the side of the road...haha. I feel like I'm back living grade school when I ran after my school bus out in the country but it's pretty good.

Other than that, not much is new. The weather has been pretty nice in the last week or so. Therefore on my days off, I sit down by the water basking in the sun and thinking of my friends back home in the cold and sending positive weather thoughts so it warms up there quickly...especially when I come back in just a few weeks for a longer visit. For anyone who wants to meetup, I'll be back in Ontario April 22 for almost 2 weeks. I will be celebrating my birthday once again with my BFF in Toronto at our annual 'Shimmy Bash' so look for details on Facebook soon. Unfortunately I won't have a phone number when in Canada but you can always reach me via Fbook and email.

Well, I must get back to work as I'm just on a quick lunch break from my shift at the bar. I worked at the office on my two days off this week as I'm still currently working at the Dail Bar. My official last day is next Saturday at the bar as my manager is away in New York next week so even though I gave my week's notice last Saturday (a week is only required in Ireland) I said I would work a couple shifts next week to help them out and my new boss was ok with that. It will be sad to leave the pub because I love everyone I work with and, even though I hate to admit it, it was a good workout with all those stairs! But, I will get to visit often as I'm back in the city by 6pm each day and I have weekends off! It was such a good experience for me in the last 6 months and I met so many people and looking forward to what the summer brings.

Miss you all and will write again soon!
xo

Jetlag Recovery, Waitress of the year and 'Green' Week

I'm trying to get better at blogging more because I know I've been pretty poor at it lately. I can't promise much excitement in my posts as, between work and my days off to relax, I don't have many exciting events in my life. My goal is to do a lot of fun things in the summer and 'love life' so for right now, I'm just going to work a lot and save up more for my 'summer of loving life' piggy bank.

Currently it's just about 3am on Monday evening and I'm about to turn in for the night. Seems crazy that I'm up late but this is quite the norm for me as I don't have a 9-5 job anymore and I don't have to work till 1230p tomorrow. I'm still adjusting back to Ireland time which is not fun because I've felt like a zombie in the last few days or so at work. Losing 5 hours in time difference is not fun and even though I only spent 7 days in Canada, re-adjusting myself back to Ireland time is a slow process. Luckily, my manager was nice enough to grant me my requested days off this week and then some. I had originally booked off March 17th and 18th (hm....I wonder why?) and then after he saw that I was struggling with recovering with catching up to the time zone differences, he granted me an additional day off...March 19th. Which is PERFECT because the final match for the Six Nations Rugby is on that day - Ireland vs England. If you don't keep up with world rugby - the Six Nations is like the FIFA Cup or the Stanley Cup Playoffs for rugby...and a VERY big deal here. I was working at the pub this past Saturday when Ireland was up against Wales and the place was beyond packed and I almost lost my cool a few times. Not like me...I know but with a combination of a packed house, trying to weave in throughout people who are glued to the screen (and their pints) with hot plates of food or full trays of drinks and they don't budge even when you say 'Excuse me!' gets a little annoying...to say the least. That being said, as of this Wednesday I will have put in 65 hours of work in 7 days since my return from Canada. That's 30 extra hours than I usually put into a regular work week but I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel - or the pot o' gold at the end of the rainbow as the Irish would put it. In my case, it would be the pint of Guiness at the end of my shift on Wednesday. I'm supposed to be done by 5p on Wednesday which allows me a few hours to rest up before I start up the pre-Paddy's Day festivities (yes, us Canadians are going to start Wednesday night - it's the Canadian/Irish way I would like to think!).

So, my days off start on Thursday (17th) but I don't think I'll be sleeping in much because I want to get a hearty breakfast, hit the St. Paddy's Day Parade here (which starts at 1230p) and then try to hit a few pubs. I've been asking all week to my fellow Galwegians/coworkers the best places to go and what to do on the big day and they just said - hit up the pubs and find a seat and stay there because I believe by afternoon every place is packed till the wee hours of the morning. I'm hoping it's a nice sunny day but like a typical Irish person, I do expect the unexpected with the weather here. I've heard it will be nice, heard it will rain (shocker) but some are saying it might snow (no thank you!). But, either way, I don't think anything will rain on my parade (no pun intended) in terms of the fact that I will be celebrating St. Patrick's Day IN Ireland - a definite 'check' on my bucket list. :)

I guess that's about it for now...I don't know if I'll be posting again till after St Paddy's day (or whenever I recover) but I hope to have some fun pics to post and I have some pics still to post from when I was back in Ontario.

Until then, I wish everyone a safe and Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Duit from Galway, Ireland and a speedy post-Paddy's Day recovery. G'night!

While in transit...

NOTE: Apologies for the delayed post of below. I'm still catching up from jet lag and working 45 hours within 5 days doesn't leave much time to do much other than sleep/eat....if even. 

Monday, March 7th, 2011

So, I'm sitting in O'Hare Airport, Chicago waiting to connect to my flight to Dublin, Ireland. Unfortunately, the US is not as giving as Canadians and Irish people are when it comes to free Wifi access so I'm typing this up now and will post it later when I have access to wifi. It might not get posted till I get back to Galway but at least I am recording something now. Things I have discovered in Chicago airport thus far - like Heathrow, you have to take transit to get to your connecting terminal (luckily I have a few hours in between flight and they have a train that takes you from terminal to terminal, not a very delayed shuttle bus), eat before you go through security as there's NOTHING on the other side where the gates are, 95% of all the people working in Chicago are NOT nice to people (with the exception of the older security guard that chatted me up while I waited for my carry-on items to get scanned). It was disheartening to see how rude people are to each other here because I try not to have this negative perception of what all Americans are like because I don't like to judge or assume everyone is the same but unfortunately, through my travels in the last 6 months and the Americans that come into the pub I work at, most are not very pleasant. It's like they've been living a life where everything goes wrong in their lives and are annoyed when anyone talks to them. I will still continue to treat each person, no matter what their background is, with a positive attitude but this is what I've seen thus far. I should mention that the guys working at the fast-food place here in the Chicago Airport food court were quite pleasant…maybe a bit too friendly with their 'what can I get for you? you have beautiful eyes by-the-way.' or 'anything for you gorgeous'….a little much but better than an insult or rudeness! 

My trip back home was quick, as expected, but very enjoyable. It was so great to spend time with my family and friends and I thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to visit with me on such short notice. I didn't expect everyone to drop everything when I came home because I knew it was a surprise and I didn't give anyone the head's up but I do really appreciate the time spent together! Thanks to all my friends that came out for drinks last Thursday/Friday and I hope everyone had a great time - I know I did. Thank you to my parents for always spoiling me with the use of your vehicle so I could visit with others, your constant love and care and hosting the big famjam on Saturday - it was naturally a good feast prepared by all. I forgot how much fun Kelsey and I have on our playdates and I should have rested up better for it as she always seems to keep me on my toes. Thank you to my bff for always setting fun dates up for me/drinks with friends, being my shuttle to and from the airport and just for being you. I know that today was sad but before you know it, I'll be back for another visit and I'm really looking forward to you visiting me again and doing a bit of a tour around Europe with me. :) For those who I couldn't see, hopefully I will visit with you on my next visit. Nothing is definite but I'm hopefully looking to return back to Canada in just 6 weeks for a longer visit. I know, it sounds crazy but it's the best timing at this time of year because I can't really book much time off during the summer to come home as it's the busy season in Galway and I know that some of my family and friends are planning on visiting me in Ireland during the summer as it's the nicest time of year to visit. 

I think did everything on my list of 'things to do' when I was back home:

- had a lot of sushi (check)

- had a lot of Starbucks and Timmy Ho's coffee (check)

- ate Ken's French Fries (check)

- spent money on things I don't need with money I don't have - ie. Lulu's (check)

- caught up with friends in T-dot over pints (check)

- danced up a storm with friends and my shimmy'n partner (check)

- had a fun bff day (check - obvs)

- spent some quality time with my dad, mom, sis and the pup (check)

- picked up some Canadian snacks to bring back (check)

- spent time with my family over some country homecooking (check)

- playdate with Kelsey (check check)

- had Boar's Head wings/Cdn beer with Coopaloop (check)

- got my Rock Band fix (check)

- spent time with my G-ma and got a history lesson on our Irish/Scottish family (check)

I guess that's about it for now. Am I looking forward to going back to my life in Galway? Yes, but obviously leaving home again is not always a happy experience for me either. Knowing that I'll be visiting again soon and then people will be hopefully visiting me not too long from now either makes the trip back to Galway now a bit easier than the first time. Hopefully there will be no flight issues between now and when I land in Dublin and again with my 3-hr bus ride back to Galway. I'm sure I'll be back on the schedule at work for Wednesday and I'm even more sure that getting used to the time change will not be much fun either. Hopefully my manager will be nice and still give me St. Paddy's Day off (and the following day for recovery). My argument to him is that I will likely only live in Ireland once in my life and if I don't celebrate St. Paddy's day while I'm here - Irish-style - I'll never be able to forgive myself. He said 'Well, what about me? Shouldn't I get the day off?' and I of course said, 'um….you ARE Irish and have lived here your WHOLE life. That is the difference.' So - fingers crossed! 

Well, I guess I should go through security again and get to my gate. Going to let this traditional American meal (chilli cheese fries and Philly Steak sandwich) somewhat digest before I pop some Gravol into my system for this 8-hr flight….sigh. Sorry, Mom my options are kinda limited in terms of healthy things to eat in an American airport food court - but thanks for pumping me full of veggies and fruit before I left! 

I will try to blog again when I land but I imagine this will be posted once I get back in Galway due to lack of free Wifi access between now and then. Again, thanks to all my Canadian friends and family for the great visit. I will miss you all and I'll try to get back soon again for a longer visit. Until then…love life! 

Surprise, I'm in Canadia!

First off - deepest apologies for the lack of blogging lately. To be honest, I haven't posted much because not much has happened in the last month or so. I worked a lot of hours at the pub because I'm trying to make a dent in my Visa and because the two full-time servers resigned, I was the most 'senior' server they had...which is hard to believe. I guess Ireland has its' share of job turnovers just like Canada. It's hard to believe now that I've been in Ireland for almost 5 months now but like everyone says, 'time flies when you're having fun!'.
Now the biggest update - I decided to surprise everyone and come to Canada for a quick and jam-packed visit! Yes, the only person that knew was the bff (Rimi) as she's the only person who DOESN'T like surprises and also would be upset if I took a taxi from the airport. So, thank you Rimi for keeping it a secret (for the most part) for over a month. I know you were bursting at the seams everyday!
I took the 345am bus from Galway to Dublin early Sunday morning as my flight departed at 9am to Heathrow (ugh, I know) and then with the past experience I had with Heathrow on my way to Ireland last October, I rushed from my plane to my connecting flight with 10 min to spare (almost 2 hour layover to note). So, by the time I got to Toronto I was exhausted to say the least but also very excited to be home (with the exception of the frigid temperatures) as I hadn't slept since Friday evening because I didn't see the point of going to bed Saturday night if I had to take the 345am bus.
Naturally, Rimi was waiting with a big 'love bug' sign and jumping with joy and said she had been waiting for over an hour...doesn't surprise me and I love her for that.
So, after 1.5 drive back to Harrington the moment had finally arrived to surprise my family. It's been tough not telling my Mom and family/friends about it as I hadn't seen them in almost 5 months...especially when hearing how they couldn't wait to see me in April when I originally planned to come home (and still am planning to do another visit in April too!). It was funny seeing their expressions. I luckily had learned that my sis and bro-in-law would be over at Mom/Dad's for dinner as they are leaving this Friday for their 3-week adventure to Costa Rica (jealous!) so it was perfect timing. I told Mom that I would be 'calling' from Galway so they said they were waiting by the phone but I decided to take it one step further. :)
When I walked up the stairs, they still had not realized that Rimi's car was in the driveway and when I knocked on the door I just saw Mom stare at me in awe and kept saying "It's Shannon? It's Shannon!"and then my sister was frozen behind the counter cutting fruit saying "Shannon! Shannon's home!"...ha. Mom literally stood there with her jaw dropped for over a minute when I finally opened the door because I realized she was frozen in her stance to not open the door. After that there was lots of hugging and laughing and more hugging and it was a great moment after all these months. Rimi, being the great friend she is, took some pics with her phone and see them below. :)

So, it's been a whirlwind of a week thus far and I'm just about half way through it all. It's been funny seeing people's reactions in town that are confused when they see me when I should be in Ireland. It's definitely difficult fitting visits in with everyone but I think, being the planner I am, I have organized a way to fit in a small visit with everyone. Luckily, I will be back in the end of April for a longer visit and the annual "Shimmy Bash". I've realized how much I miss things like sushi (ok, it's not Cdn but we don't have it in Galway!), driving (I miss you Trix), my pup/fam/friends, Boars Head wings/Cdn beer (tonight's dinner), and TV. I've been watching Food Network Canada, Canada AM and anything NOT Irish as, I'm sorry my Irish friends, Irish TV sucks and I'm glad I didn't invest in cable at our apartment. Oh - and Jonny, just for you I've been watching TSN and lots of hockey to get mine and your fill.
I guess that's about it for now. Going to go see Gramma again today to show her some of my pics and then more visits with friends and family. Down to Tdot tomorrow for some drinks/dancing and bff time (BFF-Friday) and then back to Stratford on the weekend for more family/friend time. I knew this week would fly by but I wish it would slow down just a tad...ah well.

Will try to post another update before I depart back to Ireland but we'll see...