Well we did arrive in Dublin eventually. Four days late and completely exhausted, my parents and I wandered around the Big Smoke for three days in a daze. I can honestly say that the few things I actually was able to see and do in that time I remember next to nothing of. And thus my noble plans of visiting Dublin crashed and burned not unlike Seattle in 1889.
Thus, the first week of our trip consisted solely of four days of traveling to Dublin and 3 days of walking like zombies around Dublin standing in touristy lines. Oh good fun! I think it may have been a better plan if we had just made up our mind to sleep for the first day and a half to catch up on our four days lacking sleep and be up-to-date with the time zone. Unfortunately, in our sleep deprived state, we did not realize the extent to which we were actually sleep deprived and, consequently, were not thinking of functioning at our prime.
The trip got a little better when we decided to give up on seeing everything in Dublin and start heading South. We went to County Wicklow. First on the list of things to see was Greystones and the house my dad was born in. It was amazing to wander around the city and, although my dad doesn't remember living there (he was only 4 when he left), it was fun to imagine him running up and down the street wreaking havoc with his brothers and sister. Greystones is a small beachside community, which is remarkably similar to the town I grew up in. Although Dad doesn't remember living there, I think his subconscious must have influenced his decision to move to our current home. Then we went to Powerscourt Estate, which my dad was under the mistaken impression was the estate his father grew up on and at which his paternal grandfather worked. Half a day of imagining my little grandfather running around with the cocker spaniel named Jack that we saw at the pet cemetery was for not when a visit with our Irish relatives informed us that the estate we were thinking of was Kilruddery. Unfortunately, we did not have time to visit that estate, but there's just one more incentive for me to return!
Then we visited Glendaloch, which is an old monastic site and beautiful park grounds. Glendaloch was started by a hermit named St. Kevin, who loved nature and sleeping in caves. People thought his life was just fantastic and started moving there to join them, not realizing the irony in their actions.
Now, I was originally planning on departing from my parents at this point to start cycling on my own, but I was so far behind in my plans at this point that I decided to stay with my parents in an attempt to play catch-up with the car. We drove down the coast stopping at Wexford and staying at a really nice little farm hostel of the beaten track in New Ross. The couple that ran it was incredibly sweet and, surprise surprise, had lived in Vancouver for a good portion of their lives. The next morning we traveled South to the JFK Arboretum (beautiful grounds) and took a ferry across to Waterford to see the Waterford Crystal Factory, which is really not much more than a glorified shop, albeit a beautiful one. We stayed that night in Cashel (one of our more productive days driving-wise) and went to see the Rock of Cashel the next morning. The Rock was one of the things I wanted to see, but was going to cut out if I didn't have much time left. I'm so glad I didn't cut it! It was the most Irish-y and amazing things I'd seen up until that point. Amazing! I'd say to look up pictures, but it wouldn't do it justice.
The next day we drove down to Cork and wandered around town before booking into a hotel for the night and a much needed sleep. After leaving the next morning Cork (and spending a couple hours looking for a spare tube for my bike tire), we stopped in Blarney and kissed the Blarney Stone (yes, I realize the locals pee on it, but pee is sterile, right?), before setting my bike up. All of this took so long that my parents ended up driving me to the little town of Dripsey to stay at a B&B for the night.
Now you're all caught up and so am I :-)
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Seattle
Seattle surprised me. Prior to our unintended detour, the only time I had been to Seattle was in transit to someplace else. Consequently, my only memory of Seattle was a convoluted maze of highways criss-crossing above my head as I gazed bleary eyed out the window on a family roadtrip to Disney Land. I assumed we were downtown because the sign said Seattle, but after spending time in the city, I realize the city is nothing like the fast-paced metropolis I imagined it to be. It shares a lot of the same characteristics that I've grown up loving about Vancouver; it's laid back attitude, outdoor markets, yoga enthusiasts and hippies of all shapes and sizes (ie. vegan or simply vegetarian). I think my most joyous observation about Seattle was realizing that my favourite advice column, Savage Love, and my idol and favourite advice columnist, Dan Savage, both made there start on the streets of Seattle writing for The Stranger an alternative weekly newspaper. I had the great joy of reading his column from the original source and could barely make sense of it through my giddy jumping.
To pass the time in Seattle, other than visiting the mandatory Pike Place Market, my mom and I went on the Underground Tour. Apparently, Seattle has had a lot of historical....sewage....problems. When the settlers arrived there they were overjoyed to find a large expanse of uninhabited and unforested land with a beautiful seafront view. Little did they realize such ideal real estate was uninhabited for a very important reason. You see, the oceans have these things called tides and twice a day the sea level raises in an attempt to drive foreigners away. But these weren't just any tourists, they were pioneers and thus ridiculously stubborn. They found a slightly higher area with a coastal view and started to build a settlement there.
There wasn't much to do in this town to begin with due to the small area it encompassed, so people began to have children (one can only assume due to the monotany of being a pioneer) and the town began to grow. Luckily people's homes weren't flooded because they lived on the safety of a nearby hill and it was only the business district that was located down on the mudflats. Unfortunately, one of the icky things about natural history, as the novel so eliquently states, is that Everybody Poops. There is also gravity...gravity is another unfortunate element of this story. So we have everyone pooping up on the hill into tubes that flow into the sea, which is all well and good until the tide appear (no thanks to a certain celestial body orbiting a town, which shall not be named) and decides that it would rather not be covered in human defication, but would much prefer that it returned from whence it came. As a result, twice a day sea water and human waste would do exactly that through the lovely means of creating geysers pouring into the streets and through people's brand new Crappers into their homes. America's second Old Faithful.
The city's solution to this issue was to build the piping system one story up from sea level and hope that gravity would be in there favour. Luckily for the Seattle-ites, they were presented with just this opportunity when a fire burned down the downtown core. As everyone was rebuilding they made a plain looking store front at ground level and ritzy looking store fronts at the current level of the second floor. So you'd be walking around downtown Seattle back in the day and floating above your head would be all the stores you actually wanted to enter, but you were only able to look at them from afar and wait. Then they built up the streets around the sidewalks, so they were supported at second story level and created a labarynthian waffle of hidden pockets throughout the city's downtown area. Hence, the ever so fascinating Underground Tour.
It just goes to show how good urban planning makes for mind-numbing history books.
To pass the time in Seattle, other than visiting the mandatory Pike Place Market, my mom and I went on the Underground Tour. Apparently, Seattle has had a lot of historical....sewage....problems. When the settlers arrived there they were overjoyed to find a large expanse of uninhabited and unforested land with a beautiful seafront view. Little did they realize such ideal real estate was uninhabited for a very important reason. You see, the oceans have these things called tides and twice a day the sea level raises in an attempt to drive foreigners away. But these weren't just any tourists, they were pioneers and thus ridiculously stubborn. They found a slightly higher area with a coastal view and started to build a settlement there.
There wasn't much to do in this town to begin with due to the small area it encompassed, so people began to have children (one can only assume due to the monotany of being a pioneer) and the town began to grow. Luckily people's homes weren't flooded because they lived on the safety of a nearby hill and it was only the business district that was located down on the mudflats. Unfortunately, one of the icky things about natural history, as the novel so eliquently states, is that Everybody Poops. There is also gravity...gravity is another unfortunate element of this story. So we have everyone pooping up on the hill into tubes that flow into the sea, which is all well and good until the tide appear (no thanks to a certain celestial body orbiting a town, which shall not be named) and decides that it would rather not be covered in human defication, but would much prefer that it returned from whence it came. As a result, twice a day sea water and human waste would do exactly that through the lovely means of creating geysers pouring into the streets and through people's brand new Crappers into their homes. America's second Old Faithful.
The city's solution to this issue was to build the piping system one story up from sea level and hope that gravity would be in there favour. Luckily for the Seattle-ites, they were presented with just this opportunity when a fire burned down the downtown core. As everyone was rebuilding they made a plain looking store front at ground level and ritzy looking store fronts at the current level of the second floor. So you'd be walking around downtown Seattle back in the day and floating above your head would be all the stores you actually wanted to enter, but you were only able to look at them from afar and wait. Then they built up the streets around the sidewalks, so they were supported at second story level and created a labarynthian waffle of hidden pockets throughout the city's downtown area. Hence, the ever so fascinating Underground Tour.
It just goes to show how good urban planning makes for mind-numbing history books.
Monday, August 9, 2010
A Slight Delay
Saturday was absolutely horrible. We left the house late for the plane already, only to get up the hill from our house and have the windshield wipers cut out on our van. Fitting with the typical start of any family vacation, everybody has a different idea of what we should do: fix the wipers, go back and get the car (Petunia), or call a wonderfully considerate friend to drive us all the way to the airport in Seattle. Logically, we decide to do all three of our potential solutions and end up leaving the house for take two of our adventures about an hour late with myself and the giant bike box cramped in the back of Petunia.
An hour trough the border line up and an hour lost in traffic later, we arrive at the airport only to have missed the special baggage check-in by 7 minutes. Ok, it really sucks, but we can book another flight out leaving tomorrow...not so much. There's one leaving in two days for $1000 extra per ticket or the cost of the original return tickets. Let the fighting and consequent tears ensue!
After hours of this and finally grabbing something to eat, we decided to stay in Seattle over night and work on getting a better flight in the morning (apparently all the experienced people work the day shifts, so if you ever miss your flight, call the helpline in the daytime). We end up staying in the oh-so wittily named Sleep Inn with it's chemical infused rooms and exotic view of Seattle's finest trailer park. I don't mean to be unsympathetic towards the plight of it's inhabitants, but there are people all over the world who live in trailer parks and shanty towns who maintain there yards and show pride in their, hopefully temporary, homes.
Anyway, after a fitfilled night of something resembling sleep in every way, except sight, sound, smell, taste and feel, we woke up to the joy of waiting on hold for hours trying to arrange a new flight with Delta. The lovely people on the other end of the line were very helpful and we were able to book a new, albeit convoluted, route to Dublin. We leave Seattle tomorrow for Atlanta and should arrive (fingers crossed and hold thumbs) in Dublin on the 11th.
So, today was spent in Seattle and we'll just have to chock that up to an extended and unexpected addition to my graduation gift; I'll just have to cycle faster in the motherland.
Our Seattle adventures were experienced through the bleary, swollen eyes of last night's sleep. We visited Madison Market for lunch and a little grocery shopping. I still hold that chocolate cake is at it's best when vegan! Then booked into the Mayflower Park Hotel, the staff of which were lovely and helped me carry a giant bike box into their storage area. Then we went on to explore the famous Pike Place Market and see the first ever Starbucks. History in the making ;-) Ending the pleasant, but from hour one exhausting day @ our hotel restaurant.
I now write to you from the hotel lounge sipping a very Irish coffee and hoping the server comes by to dilute it with the caffinated beaverage Seattle has helped make famous. Salut!
An hour trough the border line up and an hour lost in traffic later, we arrive at the airport only to have missed the special baggage check-in by 7 minutes. Ok, it really sucks, but we can book another flight out leaving tomorrow...not so much. There's one leaving in two days for $1000 extra per ticket or the cost of the original return tickets. Let the fighting and consequent tears ensue!
After hours of this and finally grabbing something to eat, we decided to stay in Seattle over night and work on getting a better flight in the morning (apparently all the experienced people work the day shifts, so if you ever miss your flight, call the helpline in the daytime). We end up staying in the oh-so wittily named Sleep Inn with it's chemical infused rooms and exotic view of Seattle's finest trailer park. I don't mean to be unsympathetic towards the plight of it's inhabitants, but there are people all over the world who live in trailer parks and shanty towns who maintain there yards and show pride in their, hopefully temporary, homes.
Anyway, after a fitfilled night of something resembling sleep in every way, except sight, sound, smell, taste and feel, we woke up to the joy of waiting on hold for hours trying to arrange a new flight with Delta. The lovely people on the other end of the line were very helpful and we were able to book a new, albeit convoluted, route to Dublin. We leave Seattle tomorrow for Atlanta and should arrive (fingers crossed and hold thumbs) in Dublin on the 11th.
So, today was spent in Seattle and we'll just have to chock that up to an extended and unexpected addition to my graduation gift; I'll just have to cycle faster in the motherland.
Our Seattle adventures were experienced through the bleary, swollen eyes of last night's sleep. We visited Madison Market for lunch and a little grocery shopping. I still hold that chocolate cake is at it's best when vegan! Then booked into the Mayflower Park Hotel, the staff of which were lovely and helped me carry a giant bike box into their storage area. Then we went on to explore the famous Pike Place Market and see the first ever Starbucks. History in the making ;-) Ending the pleasant, but from hour one exhausting day @ our hotel restaurant.
I now write to you from the hotel lounge sipping a very Irish coffee and hoping the server comes by to dilute it with the caffinated beaverage Seattle has helped make famous. Salut!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Crowdsourcing
I don't usually link to things, but this is exactly why I love the internet...
http://chicago.straightdope.com/sdc2010crowdsourcing.php
http://chicago.straightdope.com/sdc2010crowdsourcing.php
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Obnoxious people have to eat, too
Working in a restaurant is making me both pleasingly optimistic and dishearteningly pessimistic about humanity. I am continually amazed by how frequently I have to swtich between sharing pleasant banter with lovely, conscientious people and having to smile through gritted teeth while people make unrealistic demands of me in a rude and aggressive manner.
Tonight I was working on the floor as a hostess. We had one late reservation that was supposed to come in at 8:30 and our kitchen was scheduled to be closed at 9. By 8:50, this party of 9 people still hadn't showed up, so I called them to see if they were still coming or if the kitchen could close early. They said they were on their way. 10 minutes, they claimed. 9:10 and there was still no sign of them. 9:15 and I get a call saying they don't know where the restaurant is located. 10 minutes after giving them directions, they finally show up. After taking them to their seat they immediately ask if they can move to a window seat. Keeping in mind that they are at one of the best tables we can five for a party that is that large. I tell them all the usual jargon, which mainly consists of there are people at those tables, are you blind? At this point they grugingly sit down...
...for all of two seconds. Five of them (because it is necessary for five people to be blocking the hallways and disturbing other customres) begin to wander around the restaurant presumably looking to see if people are finishing their food and if this party can then proceed to move to their tables. They spot one table, formerly a party of 9, but currently with only 2 people left sitting at it enjoying a bottle of wine. Delighted they turn to me and ask why they can't move to that table, since there are only two people sitting at it. They want me to go over to this couple having a romantic moment with their bottle of wine and ask them to leave the restaurant or at the very least move to another table because a group of people would rather be one table closer to the window.
All of this blows my mind, but the real kicker here is that after a second of staring at them with incredulity and just before a confused "no" rolls off my tongue, it occurs to me...they are serious. They actually think that a restaurant is going to kick people out of their seats to seat a party that showed up an hour late for their reservation and has come to the conclusion that they deserve nothing but the best seat in the restaurant, occupied or not.
That, in a nutshell, is the source of my daily dose of pessimism, but the world would not be in balance if something lovely didn't happen to tip the scale, level the playing field, create...balance. Right after dealing with our lovely belated party, I answer the phone only to speak with this yin. It was just a girl calling to ask if we were still open, so she and her boyfriend could come in for drinks. A simple call, yes, but it was the fact that she was thoughtful enough to ask if by them coming by for drinks they would disrupt our closing time that tugged at my heart strings and renews my faith in mankind.
It seems ridiculous how such a small act of kindness can cancel out over an hour of dealing with people that blatantly have no respect for you or anyone else around them. A smile from a stranger cancels out whole week of abuse. It sounds cheesey mostly because it is, but people like cheese. It makes everything taste a little better.
Tonight I was working on the floor as a hostess. We had one late reservation that was supposed to come in at 8:30 and our kitchen was scheduled to be closed at 9. By 8:50, this party of 9 people still hadn't showed up, so I called them to see if they were still coming or if the kitchen could close early. They said they were on their way. 10 minutes, they claimed. 9:10 and there was still no sign of them. 9:15 and I get a call saying they don't know where the restaurant is located. 10 minutes after giving them directions, they finally show up. After taking them to their seat they immediately ask if they can move to a window seat. Keeping in mind that they are at one of the best tables we can five for a party that is that large. I tell them all the usual jargon, which mainly consists of there are people at those tables, are you blind? At this point they grugingly sit down...
...for all of two seconds. Five of them (because it is necessary for five people to be blocking the hallways and disturbing other customres) begin to wander around the restaurant presumably looking to see if people are finishing their food and if this party can then proceed to move to their tables. They spot one table, formerly a party of 9, but currently with only 2 people left sitting at it enjoying a bottle of wine. Delighted they turn to me and ask why they can't move to that table, since there are only two people sitting at it. They want me to go over to this couple having a romantic moment with their bottle of wine and ask them to leave the restaurant or at the very least move to another table because a group of people would rather be one table closer to the window.
All of this blows my mind, but the real kicker here is that after a second of staring at them with incredulity and just before a confused "no" rolls off my tongue, it occurs to me...they are serious. They actually think that a restaurant is going to kick people out of their seats to seat a party that showed up an hour late for their reservation and has come to the conclusion that they deserve nothing but the best seat in the restaurant, occupied or not.
That, in a nutshell, is the source of my daily dose of pessimism, but the world would not be in balance if something lovely didn't happen to tip the scale, level the playing field, create...balance. Right after dealing with our lovely belated party, I answer the phone only to speak with this yin. It was just a girl calling to ask if we were still open, so she and her boyfriend could come in for drinks. A simple call, yes, but it was the fact that she was thoughtful enough to ask if by them coming by for drinks they would disrupt our closing time that tugged at my heart strings and renews my faith in mankind.
It seems ridiculous how such a small act of kindness can cancel out over an hour of dealing with people that blatantly have no respect for you or anyone else around them. A smile from a stranger cancels out whole week of abuse. It sounds cheesey mostly because it is, but people like cheese. It makes everything taste a little better.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Changes
As you can see from the changes to my sidebar and the post below, I have revamped the outdated observations on South Africa. But I still wanted to keep them around, so I saved them below.
Let me know what you think about the new list topic :-) I thought it was fitting for this intermediate stage of my life.
Let me know what you think about the new list topic :-) I thought it was fitting for this intermediate stage of my life.
Things which are weird about SA by one Canadian’s standards anyway
Laundry machines are a rarity (from what I’ve heard at least), as a result I’m going to do everything in my power to avoid doing laundry
Driving on the left side of the road…I know this isn’t that weird, but I’ve never had to make such a conscious effort to walk on the left side of the sidewalk. The second I start thinking about something else I walk into people
Milk comes in bags…I know this happens in Canada, too, but I’m from the west coast, so just shut up about it
University residence is called a hostel, which makes for many a confusing conversation when I tell people I’m homeless and staying in a hostel. Hostels are called backpacker’s lodges.
Guys hold doors open for you, but they don’t just hold them open they will go out of their way to hold them open. Example: if they go through a door and you are a 30 second walk away from said door…they will stand, with the door open, and wait for you to make the 30 second trek. Also, they seemed creeped out when I try to hold the door open for them.
Woolworths still exists.
My bank should not be texting me, especially at 7 in the morning, even more especially with smiley faces in the messages. This does not make me feel as though my money is secure.
Boys dance...enough said
Baboons are seagulls...or something like that
Weighing your produce prior to waiting in line at the checkout. I always forget to do this when it's really busy...never when I'm the only one in line, no I have to just hold the entire line up...I'm that chick
People don't swear that often and it's rubbing off...every time I swear it kind of shocks me
They are geniuses when it comes to chocolate bars, possibly because I really like wafer bars. Example: I am eating a Tex bar which combines everything that’s right about a KitKat with everything that’s right about an Aero
It makes my feet shrink. I was a size 9, but now I'm only a 6
People say "shame" in a non-sarcastic manner
I lied about the swearing thing...that's just the people I hang out with. My roommate and his friends swear a lot. In a funny way though 'cause they say kak and fok instead of real swears :P
Despite everything you learned on the Canadian Food guide, chicken is a vegetable. As such it is a cultural faux pas to bring some to a braai
Now, now now, just now, and right now are all different gradations of time relative to the present, none of which means this exact second.
I can't believe I didn't put this up earlier, but traffic lights are robots
Driving on the left side of the road…I know this isn’t that weird, but I’ve never had to make such a conscious effort to walk on the left side of the sidewalk. The second I start thinking about something else I walk into people
Milk comes in bags…I know this happens in Canada, too, but I’m from the west coast, so just shut up about it
University residence is called a hostel, which makes for many a confusing conversation when I tell people I’m homeless and staying in a hostel. Hostels are called backpacker’s lodges.
Guys hold doors open for you, but they don’t just hold them open they will go out of their way to hold them open. Example: if they go through a door and you are a 30 second walk away from said door…they will stand, with the door open, and wait for you to make the 30 second trek. Also, they seemed creeped out when I try to hold the door open for them.
Woolworths still exists.
My bank should not be texting me, especially at 7 in the morning, even more especially with smiley faces in the messages. This does not make me feel as though my money is secure.
Boys dance...enough said
Baboons are seagulls...or something like that
Weighing your produce prior to waiting in line at the checkout. I always forget to do this when it's really busy...never when I'm the only one in line, no I have to just hold the entire line up...I'm that chick
People don't swear that often and it's rubbing off...every time I swear it kind of shocks me
They are geniuses when it comes to chocolate bars, possibly because I really like wafer bars. Example: I am eating a Tex bar which combines everything that’s right about a KitKat with everything that’s right about an Aero
It makes my feet shrink. I was a size 9, but now I'm only a 6
People say "shame" in a non-sarcastic manner
I lied about the swearing thing...that's just the people I hang out with. My roommate and his friends swear a lot. In a funny way though 'cause they say kak and fok instead of real swears :P
Despite everything you learned on the Canadian Food guide, chicken is a vegetable. As such it is a cultural faux pas to bring some to a braai
Now, now now, just now, and right now are all different gradations of time relative to the present, none of which means this exact second.
I can't believe I didn't put this up earlier, but traffic lights are robots
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
