So, I’ve found a place to live…and it’s amazing! I started looking last week and it was kind of discouraging, given how competitive housing is right now, but I came to look at this house in Dun Laoghaire (pronounced, believe it or not, Dun Leary), which is a suburb south of Dublin, and decided to take the room.
Dun Laoghaire is relatively far from the city centre, but the DART (like the skytrain) is just a short busride away and then I can take that into the city. And the house just seems worth it… It’s a huge, detached house with so many rooms I’m still discovering some. Its been leased by this great woman named Pamela, who’s a single mother. Her daughter is here with her – a typical 15-year-old who’s horse crazy. There are three other renters, a girl from Germany, a guy from Ireland, and a guy from Poland. So it’s a pretty international house… I have the smallest room, but it’s really nice, and I have a lovely view of the park across the street. There’s tons of common space and the backyard is so amazing – beautifully landscaped with lights, pathways, a small bridge…too bad summer is over...
The address is:
The Hills, 126 Rochestown Ave.
Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin
The only catch to this place is that if I get offered a job in north Dublin, I'll have to move because the commute is unreasonable, but hopefully I'll get offered the other job I'm interviewing for, which is in the city centre and *is* a reasonable commute.
I also have a phone because you can’t really exist here without one. Unfortunately the only network I can send text messages to in Canada is Rogers, and I don’t think I know a single person on Rogers, so we’ll have to stick to email…or to talking to each other:)
My number is: 85 814 8987
To dial from Canada, it’s 1-353-85-814-8987.
Oh, and Ireland is 8 hours ahead of Vancouver, so do the math, wherever you are, but it would be lovely to hear from any of you.
The Internet connection (they refer to it as broadband here) is in the works, so I’m offline at home again, but hopefully not for too long.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
The rumours are true...Ireland really is GREEN
Spent a lovely weekend in Galway recently...despite the hostel experience that just made me feel *really old*
Galway city is charming and located right on the picturesque Galway Bay. But the real highlight for me was getting into the surrounding countryside -- actually into County Clare, which is just south of County Galway. I did a bus tour on Sunday into a place called The Burren, which means Rocky Country. It's very rocky, but also very green and lush. We did a hill walk on a farm that has been in the same family for over 250 years. Our guide told us all about the history of the area and pointed out the various flora and fauna. We hiked up the mountain behind the farm and could see all the way out to the bay. The day was gorgeous and sunny, mild and warm. We continued to the famous Cliffs of Moher, which were beautiful...but the real highlight for me was the walk.
In general the countryside was just totally gorgeous...mile after mile of green fields and low stone walls. I just loved it...could've stared at it all day.
Pictures are up on Flickr!
I've decided I'm going to stay in Dublin -- at least base myself out of here, because this is where the lion's share of the work is. I have some irons in the fire for some permanent positions, and am looking into some temp work in the meantime. Will keep you posted.
Galway city is charming and located right on the picturesque Galway Bay. But the real highlight for me was getting into the surrounding countryside -- actually into County Clare, which is just south of County Galway. I did a bus tour on Sunday into a place called The Burren, which means Rocky Country. It's very rocky, but also very green and lush. We did a hill walk on a farm that has been in the same family for over 250 years. Our guide told us all about the history of the area and pointed out the various flora and fauna. We hiked up the mountain behind the farm and could see all the way out to the bay. The day was gorgeous and sunny, mild and warm. We continued to the famous Cliffs of Moher, which were beautiful...but the real highlight for me was the walk.
In general the countryside was just totally gorgeous...mile after mile of green fields and low stone walls. I just loved it...could've stared at it all day.
Pictures are up on Flickr!
I've decided I'm going to stay in Dublin -- at least base myself out of here, because this is where the lion's share of the work is. I have some irons in the fire for some permanent positions, and am looking into some temp work in the meantime. Will keep you posted.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Flickr update
My pictures from Croatia are *finally* up on my Flickr site.
So no more nagging!
I just spent a wonderful weekend in Galway on the west coast of Ireland, so there are more pics coming...
So no more nagging!
I just spent a wonderful weekend in Galway on the west coast of Ireland, so there are more pics coming...
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Catching up
I know, I know, it’s been a while since my last blog. So sue me:) I’m still trying to get the hang of this blogging thing.
So, my trip to Croatia was wonderful. Dubrovnik is one of the most stunning cities I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if it was because it was the first Mediterranean style city I’ve ever seen, but I thought it was pretty amazing. I loved the orange tiled roofs dotting the mountainside, the massive city walls, the way the light reflected off the white stones of the streets in a hundred different ways. I took millions of pictures (yes, they’re coming soon!).
I was in Croatia with my friend Davorka, who I worked with at my last job. She was born in Dubrovnik but spent much of her time on an island off the coast called Sipan (pronounced Ship-an). We spent three nights there…it was a charming little seaside town. We stayed at her uncle’s house, which is built a bit like a hotel because they rent rooms out in the summer when there are lots of tourists. A lot of Davorka’s family was there, aunts, uncles, cousins, her mother, sister, and daughter. It was such a neat experience, being in this multi-generational household. Meals were communal and the kitchen was the busiest place in the house. Not many of her family spoke much English, but it didn’t matter. They were so kind and welcoming and generous to me…plying me with food and wine constantly!
The weather didn’t cooperate while we were there – though we had nice afternoons. But it was quite windy and we only swam once – even then it was pretty “refreshing.” We did go kayaking and hiked up the small mountain behind the house. We went for lots of walks and generally relaxed. The night before I left to go back to Dubrovnik there was a huge storm and I laid in bed and worried that none of the boats were going to be able to run the next day and I would be stranded on the island! Three of the four boats were cancelled, so I got out by the skin of my teeth. I spent one last afternoon in the old city, and flew back to London the next day.
Burcak and her family picked me up at the airport and we proceeded on to Legoland for the afternoon, which, I have to say, was SO COOL. The models they built there are amazing – a real feat of engineering! Took lots of pics there too:)
Anyway, I’m in Dublin now – at last…it feels really good to be here after all these months of talking about it, planning, thinking, etc. It’s funny for me to think that I started talking about this as something I wanted to do at Christmas, and now, here I am. I feel so very fortunate that I have the ability to make that kind of change in my life and come from a culture that makes it possible.
ps London pics are up:)
So, my trip to Croatia was wonderful. Dubrovnik is one of the most stunning cities I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if it was because it was the first Mediterranean style city I’ve ever seen, but I thought it was pretty amazing. I loved the orange tiled roofs dotting the mountainside, the massive city walls, the way the light reflected off the white stones of the streets in a hundred different ways. I took millions of pictures (yes, they’re coming soon!).
I was in Croatia with my friend Davorka, who I worked with at my last job. She was born in Dubrovnik but spent much of her time on an island off the coast called Sipan (pronounced Ship-an). We spent three nights there…it was a charming little seaside town. We stayed at her uncle’s house, which is built a bit like a hotel because they rent rooms out in the summer when there are lots of tourists. A lot of Davorka’s family was there, aunts, uncles, cousins, her mother, sister, and daughter. It was such a neat experience, being in this multi-generational household. Meals were communal and the kitchen was the busiest place in the house. Not many of her family spoke much English, but it didn’t matter. They were so kind and welcoming and generous to me…plying me with food and wine constantly!
The weather didn’t cooperate while we were there – though we had nice afternoons. But it was quite windy and we only swam once – even then it was pretty “refreshing.” We did go kayaking and hiked up the small mountain behind the house. We went for lots of walks and generally relaxed. The night before I left to go back to Dubrovnik there was a huge storm and I laid in bed and worried that none of the boats were going to be able to run the next day and I would be stranded on the island! Three of the four boats were cancelled, so I got out by the skin of my teeth. I spent one last afternoon in the old city, and flew back to London the next day.
Burcak and her family picked me up at the airport and we proceeded on to Legoland for the afternoon, which, I have to say, was SO COOL. The models they built there are amazing – a real feat of engineering! Took lots of pics there too:)
Anyway, I’m in Dublin now – at last…it feels really good to be here after all these months of talking about it, planning, thinking, etc. It’s funny for me to think that I started talking about this as something I wanted to do at Christmas, and now, here I am. I feel so very fortunate that I have the ability to make that kind of change in my life and come from a culture that makes it possible.
ps London pics are up:)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)