Another month down
Starting out writing this, I'm not sure how much I really have to say, but it's been awhile since I posted last and figured it was due time.
To start off with, I got my glasses AND new hard drive after waiting about a week - it seems like everything in Ireland is ordered and shipped in on demand. Definitely not the most convenient way of doing things, but I guess I'll have to get used to it.
My hard drive is installed, but is not quite in working order yet. I didn't want to shell out the 150euros for Windows XP, so I'm trying to work my way around a freebie Linix-based operating system. It's not going so hot - if anyone has an "extra copy" of XP lying around (legit or not, as long as it works), I would GREATLY appreciate the donation.
On to bigger and better things.
Last weekend was my flatmate's (Whitney) 20th birthday, so a few of us took off to Galway. I got up early and took the 4-hour bus ride on my own so that I had time to check out the town, then met up with the girls in the afternoon. [There will be new pics up from the weekend, plus some randoms from the past few weeks]. Turns out Galway is like a miniature Dublin, except WAY friendlier people and more of an "Irish" feel. There was Trad music coming from just about every pub and everyone seemed to be in a great mood walking around (in spite of the mist/showers). We checked out the usual sights - the Cathedral, Spanish Arch, Galway Harbour and finally made our way through the Saturday Market. A few Canadians spotted the flag on my pack and stopped to talk for bit - they had been living in Ireland for the past 2 years and filled me in on what pubs to check out that night.
After heading back to the hostel and having a few drinks with the other people in our room (an Itallian guy, a couple German girls and a group from Spain), we finally made it across the street to The Quays Pub. If you think you've been in a packed bar in Canada, it just doesn't compare to this. There is never any such thing as "capacity" and when it gets absolutely too full inside, people just hang out in front, or move next door to the next pub. We started a bit of a pub crawl, working our way through the town. I was stoked when I found The Kings Head, and had to stop in for a pint as I told everyone about the pub that shared the name back home - it was a thrilling story by that point in the night, believe me. Whitney, who works at a pub here in Dublin, got us put on the guest list at one of the late bars near Eyre Square (I think her boss owns both places, or at least they are run by the same company).
I was planning on getting up early and going on a tour of the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher, as well as a few castles along the way, but we didn't end up getting back to the hostel until late (or early depending on how you look at it). I slept through my alarm and just caught an afternoon bus back to Dublin instead. The sightseeing will have to wait for another time - and there will definitely be another trip out that way soon!
This weekend there is a birthday party for a couple people I first met at the hostel when I got here, then I hope to get up to Howth to do a bit of hiking around the hills and coast line. Also, Saturday marks the start of the Rugby Six Nations tournament and the pubs are supposed to be great craic for the next 5 weekends.
Oh yeah, earlier in the week I got a couple of those "You know you're from (your city) when . . ." forwards and just about died laughing at a couple of them. I looked for one for Dublin, but couldn't find anything decent, so I'm taking it upon myself to make one up (on company time of course). If nothing else, it'll help the days go by - I'm a head of schedule and don't know if I have a continuing position when this job is done. I figure I'll try and drag it out as long as possible.
Bye-ya
To start off with, I got my glasses AND new hard drive after waiting about a week - it seems like everything in Ireland is ordered and shipped in on demand. Definitely not the most convenient way of doing things, but I guess I'll have to get used to it.
My hard drive is installed, but is not quite in working order yet. I didn't want to shell out the 150euros for Windows XP, so I'm trying to work my way around a freebie Linix-based operating system. It's not going so hot - if anyone has an "extra copy" of XP lying around (legit or not, as long as it works), I would GREATLY appreciate the donation.
On to bigger and better things.
Last weekend was my flatmate's (Whitney) 20th birthday, so a few of us took off to Galway. I got up early and took the 4-hour bus ride on my own so that I had time to check out the town, then met up with the girls in the afternoon. [There will be new pics up from the weekend, plus some randoms from the past few weeks]. Turns out Galway is like a miniature Dublin, except WAY friendlier people and more of an "Irish" feel. There was Trad music coming from just about every pub and everyone seemed to be in a great mood walking around (in spite of the mist/showers). We checked out the usual sights - the Cathedral, Spanish Arch, Galway Harbour and finally made our way through the Saturday Market. A few Canadians spotted the flag on my pack and stopped to talk for bit - they had been living in Ireland for the past 2 years and filled me in on what pubs to check out that night.
After heading back to the hostel and having a few drinks with the other people in our room (an Itallian guy, a couple German girls and a group from Spain), we finally made it across the street to The Quays Pub. If you think you've been in a packed bar in Canada, it just doesn't compare to this. There is never any such thing as "capacity" and when it gets absolutely too full inside, people just hang out in front, or move next door to the next pub. We started a bit of a pub crawl, working our way through the town. I was stoked when I found The Kings Head, and had to stop in for a pint as I told everyone about the pub that shared the name back home - it was a thrilling story by that point in the night, believe me. Whitney, who works at a pub here in Dublin, got us put on the guest list at one of the late bars near Eyre Square (I think her boss owns both places, or at least they are run by the same company).
I was planning on getting up early and going on a tour of the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher, as well as a few castles along the way, but we didn't end up getting back to the hostel until late (or early depending on how you look at it). I slept through my alarm and just caught an afternoon bus back to Dublin instead. The sightseeing will have to wait for another time - and there will definitely be another trip out that way soon!
This weekend there is a birthday party for a couple people I first met at the hostel when I got here, then I hope to get up to Howth to do a bit of hiking around the hills and coast line. Also, Saturday marks the start of the Rugby Six Nations tournament and the pubs are supposed to be great craic for the next 5 weekends.
Oh yeah, earlier in the week I got a couple of those "You know you're from (your city) when . . ." forwards and just about died laughing at a couple of them. I looked for one for Dublin, but couldn't find anything decent, so I'm taking it upon myself to make one up (on company time of course). If nothing else, it'll help the days go by - I'm a head of schedule and don't know if I have a continuing position when this job is done. I figure I'll try and drag it out as long as possible.
Bye-ya
posted by Trevor Schofield at 8:48 p.m.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home