November 2008

Hey folks,

Thought I'd send an update about my latest adventures, and also to let you know about my Christmas travel plans -- six weeks -- woo hoo!!

At the end of September I took a weekend trip to Heidelberg, in Germany, to visit my friend Stefan. Stefan and I met in 2000, on a trek in northernThailand. We hit it off from day one and traveled together for another week or so after the trek. He convinced me to rent a motorbike and travel around the northern Thai border towns, which turned out to be one of the top highlights of my whole year in Asia. Anyway, it was great to see him, though a bit strange, having had pretty sporadic contact these past 8 years. But it was a wonderful weekend, with the most perfect fall weather possible. We wandered around Heidelberg, which has a gorgeous old town, climbed the hill to the castle, and looked down on the river. Such a beautifully situated city.

I spent the first couple of weeks of October going with various friends to a number of plays that were staged as part of the Dublin Theatre festival. We saw Waiting for Godot, which was the first time I'd seen it, and then another Beckett play called Happy Days. I didn't realize Beckett was so weird -- he's not really my cup of tea. We also saw The Cripple of Inishmaan, which was written by Martin McDonagh, who wrote and directed the film In Bruges. My favourite was a play called Black Watch, which was staged by the National Theatre of Scotland about the Scottish regiment called Black Watch that gets deployed into areas no one else wants to go into. Totally fascinating story, based on true events from their deployment to Iraq, and one of the most powerful plays I've ever seen. I'm really enjoying the theatre scene here in Dublin…such quality productions and acting. And lots of famous actors too! I've seen a number of the cast members from the Harry Potter films -- Dumbledore, Aunt Petunia, and Argus Filch.

In mid-October I went back to County Kerry on the west coast to visit my friend Robin, and we spent the weekend in the town of Dingle, on the Dingle Peninsula. Dingle is known for its pubs because they're built into hardware stores and bike shops. We went to one called Dick Mack's, which is an old cobbler shop, so the walls are full of shoe boxes and there are random wellies lying around. There was a trio in the front room playing some trad music -- so fun. We rented a car for the weekend and drove around the peninsula. Dingle is typically gorgeous, wild west coast. How I wish I could live there…though I'm trying to convince Robin to move to Dublin:)

At the end of October, I took a 4-day weekend and my friend Emily and I went to Lisbon. Aside from the fact that Emily and I were completely incompatible as travel partners, I had a great time. Lisbon felt very eastern European to me -- Portugal doesn't seem to have the wealth associated with a lot of western Europe. The city feels older and more run down than most of the EU capitals I've been to, but it's still very charming and has a lot of character. I didn't know how famous Lisbon was for its tiles, but many of the houses and buildings are covered in painted tiles, which adds such great flavour and colour to the various neighbourhoods. Lisbon is built on 7 hills, most of which we climbed, and I loved the cityscape views of the red roofs against the water. We had *perfect* weather -- hot, sunny, and totally clear blue skies. A real treat at this time of year…:)

The weather has really changed in Dublin, and while we've had some lovely dry, clear days, it's pretty cold and dark. I have a bit of the November blues, so I bought myself a new winter coat to cheer myself up...It has a pink scarf so I'll be visible on these long dark nights…:)

Anyway, my plans for Christmas are pretty much set. My dates are as follows:

Dec. 17 - 23 Vancouver
Dec. 23 - 26 Calgary
Dec. 26 - 29 Kimberley
Dec. 29 - Jan. 3 Vancouver/Vancouver Island
Jan. 3 - depart for Seattle/London/Dublin

If you are going to be in the Vancouver/Calgary/Kimberley area on any of those dates, please let me know so I can begin planning visits. So looking forward to seeing everyone, and having lovely long visits accompanied by good food and wine:)

Love me