It seems that since I have started work, I’ve not bothered to write as much… No surprise there, as I sit at a computer all day, one of the last things I think of doing is the same thing at night!
I left off at Venice. I’ve basically mainly had work on, in the last few weeks. And I’ve really enjoyed it. The people that I’m working with have all been friendly, and I’m enjoying the fact that the Brits tend to have the same sense of humour as us Aussies!
This last weekend, Jeremy and I took off to Dublin for the weekend. A sort of last minute trip, (with the accommodation sorted out at the last second it seemed!) which we were both really looking forward to. Of course I got some input from Pa and Mum about where we should go whilst we were there, and the one I took into action was catching up with one of Pa’s friends, Noel. Such a lovely and friendly guy, and blessed with the well known Irish ‘gift of the gab’. I also enjoy the fact that he somewhat validates some of Pa’s stories (the ones you think are too funny to be anywhere close to the truth…).
We arrived on Friday night, got through Immigration in a second (quite amusing given the effort to get out of England!!) and made it to our hotel quite quickly. We stayed in Smithfield, north of the Liffey and across from Jameson’s Distillery. Our hotel wasn’t in the middle of the city, but it had really easy access, was very reasonable and was quite funky and new. It was so easy for us to get to Temple Bar. So we headed there when we’d put our bags down. The place was heaving with people. We had a late dinner and ended up in an old pub having a pint (only one because I was more than a little seedy from the night before…) and getting home at a somewhat reasonable hour.
The next morning we got up, had a yummy breakfast from next door and had a wander while we waited for Noel to come and collect us. Walked around the distillery area, and headed back to the hotel to wait. Noel came in as we were finishing a pint, we jumped in his car and he drove us to Grafton St, where we had lunch in a pub with Noel and his wife, Emer. We had a lovely afternoon, we didn’t even notice the time flying! Before we knew it, it was 3pm and we were shopping on Grafton St and venturing towards St. Stephens’ Green. It was so lively during the day, all types of people out to shop for the afternoon. On our way back to the hotel, Noel drove us around the Guinness area while telling us about the history of the area and stupid things he and Pa got up to (Noel is a far more reliable source of information). He also drove us through Phoenix Park, showing us the landmarks, what they mean etc. Really fascinating!
Once back in the hotel (by this stage close to 6pm) we just got ready for the night out, and made our way once again toward Temple Bar (an area, not just a pub…). We had dinner at a lovely restaurant, and ended up in the pub across the road from it. And stayed there all night!! We had a great time meeting people from all over the world. Americans, lots of them, 2 Scottish girls who were lovely, but seemingly few Irish!! Ah well, we’ll go back again!!
I don’t know how Jeremy managed, but we did the Jameson’s tour the next morning. Neither of us were feeling too crash hot, so we didn’t end up drinking or buying much at all. After the distillery, we wandered toward Dublin Castle and got there as it opened for the day. We managed to get on the 1st tour, and it was great! Highly recommended… We took loads of photos (as per our usual) and walked through Trinity College on our way towards O’Connell St, and our hotel to get our bags. Made it safely back to London (after our plane sat on the tarmac for 45 minutes because the airline hostesses couldn’t count) and we both took a little while to come down from the buzz of a really good weekend away. But somehow, we managed and got stuck back into work!
This week at work has gone kind of slowly, mainly due to the fact that it’s in between our weekends away. We leave for Frankfurt on Friday morning, to stay in Cologne over Easter. Really looking forward to it! Germany!
Anyway, that’s what I’ve been up to…
