kimplusireland

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 15:15:47 GMT

I. Love. System of a Down. I have their entire discography now... god bless UTorrent. :D

So here is a picture of my tattoo, its bad quality and its a webcam and its dark but you get the idea.

Anyway, as I am not in Ireland anymore and my trip is done, this blog is pretty much done. I'll create another one for my Denmark trip, I think. Thanks to whoever read my 3am drunken rambles and other travel writings!

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 03:31:58 GMT

Oh Geez I am home.

I am so freaking tired. I have been up since 12am this morning here-time, and slept on the plane, and had about 4 cups of coffee.

This being home thing is so weird. I am suddenly feeling really anxious, although that could be the coffee. I want to see people. I am seeing my brother's hockey game tommorow at 6 and visiting my grandma at some point... anyone free at all tommorow before 6 and after ... 2 or something?

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 07:03:43 GMT

So, Barrack Obama, huh?

And that will be my only foray into opinions on politics on this blog. Curently I am at the airport listening to a newscast about the election. I'm actually happy he won, I think that if America is gonna get a change, its more likely with him than with McCain.

Anyways, because I realize I haven't posted anything about it: Two days ago I got a tattoo in Galway at the cleanest damn tattoo/piercing place I have ever seen. I wanted to keep my dad in suspense so I won't post pictures or a description of it until after I get home. Hehehe.

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 12:31:09 GMT

I slept all day yesterday, pretty much. Melissa and I went out and chilled in Macs that night, but our table was overtaken by lads and we were both tired so we went to bed by like 11. Weeeird. I had about 11 hours sleep last night. I am so awake. And I am feeling weird. A strange sort of pensive. I have become so accustomed to being constantly happy that this shift concerns me, but then I guess its normal to have mood fluctuations.. I am not sad, per se. Well, I kind of am. But not really. I'm just grey. Stoic, perhaps. But I am still a little happy. I don't know.

I am awake, that's for sure.

I have noticed things. Like the island hasn't really changed... but I have changed. I see things differently. I feel like I'd have to wedge myself a little more if I wanted to fit exactly like I did when I left. But then, I don't want to fit exactly like I did before... I have changed and thats fine. I guess I am learning that you can't go back. I obviously cannot go back to exactly how awesome things were this summer, because I change, people leave, seasons turn into other seasons. This doens't mean things get bad, I still manage to stumble my way into more and more awesome situations. Its just a little sad to think this particular period of my life is over. Not the travelling part, nor even the island part (I'm planning on coming back) but the summer 2008 part, the fall 2008 part... I guess I am just a little sad that certain times are ending. This is normal.

I need to go to an ATM.

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 14:45:08 GMT

So I am apparently arriving in Ottawa on the 5th of November, not the 6th. I thought it was an overnight flight, but I just get to spend all day on a plane and then get really screwed up by time differences. :D Yaaay. My flight lands at 5:19. Which is... 10:19 irish time, I think. Yeah. 12 hours in transit. Whoo.

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 12:14:14 GMT

So Halloween on the island turned out to be freaking hilarious!! The custom here, see, is that everyone dresses up, covering themselves fully to mask their identity, and then they all go to the pub, order drinks by pointing or writing it down (voices would give them away) and those who aren't in costume try and guess who they are. The aim is to get through the entire night without being recognized. It was pretty cool!

Melissa and I didn't dress up because I was feeling absolutely rotten that afternoon (shivering uncontrollably to the point of convulsing, even while under 2 large duvets... I think I had a chill or something) but by the time I had to go I was feeling fine, magically. It was a halloween miracle. But we didn't really have time or the effort to think of somehting really good, and I don't like to do Halloween half assed. Besides, there were a lot of people not dressed up.

I guessed a couple of people correctly, though! And there were some freaking fantastic costumes, too. These three lads dressed up as fireman with all these masks on. They were totally in character too, with exaggerated, mime-like movements. It was great! And Melissa and I kept badgering this one guy who we were positive was Chris. I hope it was, othewise we were badgering some random guy.

And then there was a ceilidh, which was just a huge drunken affair as it always is. I danced the ceilidh dance but our line kept getting obstructed by people milling around... and Melissa had to rescue me from this weird guy who kept talking about parisian women.

Haha, and because everyone orders drinks in masks and nobody knows who anybody is, this means that every minor on the island is out there in masks ordering drinks, and because they are drinking through straws and are not used to drinking they get massively pissed. Its pretty hilarious.

And, yeah. It was a good night!

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:16:49 GMT

So I am on the island again, it is wonderful. :) Still one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.

And its strange the things you notice when you leave a place for a while and then come back to it. Things like smells are the strongest to bring back memories; the smell of the island, (the tang of the ocean mixed with the clean, bitterly cold smell of the wind, mixed with the peat smoke coming from the chimneys) the smell of the office, the smell of the kitchen with all of Joel's food cooking. Sounds as well, Melissa's voice echoing down the corridor, RTE blasting in the kitchen with the murmer of guests eating on the other side of the door and dishes clinking, the wind whistling over the barren rocks out in the back. Sights as well, like a shaft of sunlight coming in through a window in reception, or the unbelieveable blue of the ocean. The taste of Bulmers and Black tea. All of this is so very Aran to me. Things I took for granted but now I have noticed.

Leaving and coming back, it makes you appreciate a place.

This sort of thing is only going to be ten times stronger, I realize, when I return to Ottawa. Please don't mind if I start wandering around and marvelling at the stupidest things, like bus stops and burnt cigarettes on the ground or snow or something. I really don't know how I am going to react, it should be interesting.

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:35:22 GMT

Oh and I am back in Ireland. :D

I got a lift from this random french girl from the ferry to Cork, which was awesome! We stopped at places on the way and saw a gorgeous sunset and had a long chat about everything. God I love Ireland. I re-fell in love with it on that drive back... the scenery was just so. Freaking. Gorgeous.

And I am now in Galway, waiting for my ferry to the island. Its like I never left.

BUT ITS COLD. And damp. Thats the only thing. I can feel the damp in my bones (and it makes me feel like an old woman). I am just constantly shivering... I need a jumper.

Just so that everyone is aware.

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:33:16 GMT

I am going to sleep for at least a day when I get back, maybe two. I am pretty sure I am coming down with something. Bleh.

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 15:20:10 GMT

Street Art is actually really interesting. Its too bad Ottawa Bylaws are so strict... we don't have very much. It all gets taken down too quickly.

I am in Brussels waiting for Annie and I am not entirely sure what there is to do in this city; so I ate some chocolate and did laundry. I will wait for Annie! Also, I stayed in a hotel last night. There were crazy things like towels, and my own bathroom, and a big comfy double beds with fluffy blankets and a TV and a table in my room!! What luxury.

Also mom, I mailed more things home! I could write this to you in an email but I know you read this so I will put it here.

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:30:40 GMT

Okay guys, so. Berlin? Freaking AWESOME. Anybody who is at all interested in street art and culture, skating, parkour, or really anything alternative, will have a field day here. I seriously want to move here.

I took an Alternative Berlin tour which was bloody fantastic! http://www.alternativeberlin.com/ Augh and we went to his gallery, its a squatter´s gallery, bloody amazing.

Anyways, I am not quite coherent right now so I will leave it at that.

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:14:38 GMT

Right so I haven´t updated, have I? No, I haven´t. Well.

I am in Berlin at the moment, I met a bunch of people on a free walking tour I was on (two aussies, a kiwi, and an american) and we´re going out later. Yay! I like Berlin! It´s no eastern europe, but its pretty awesome! And such a fascinating history.

The bus to Ukraine got there on time AND it was full of nice ukranian ladies! One of them offered to let me stay at her house in Crimea, on the black sea, even though I am not going. I promised I´d email her to help her practice her english! I should do that soon...

In Lvov I ended up hanging out with an Aussie and an Irish lad until 6 in the morning watching dumb (yet HILARIOUS) youtube videos about
weird animals and strange, chattering, stoned aussie guys. The next day, one of the ukranian hostel receptionists actually offered to show me around the town (it was her day off) so I had my own personal guide about Lvov which was sweet! We went to a bunch of museums and churches and I bought some soviet war medals at a market. It was awesome! I also hung out with the Aussie and a guy from Indonesia that night too.

The hostel had this great information on how to get between Lvov and Krakow for 15 euro (its also really fast) and so I did that, crossing the Ukraine-Poland border on foot. The Ukranian side was super easy, but there was a line of about 100 people on the polish side. So I stood in line for about 5 minutes when an older Ukranian woman starts talking really fast at me and gesturing to the side. I was just like "Uuh... I don´t understand!" So I moved to the side, thinking that is what she wanted.

Apparently it wasn´t. She called the guard over. I was just like "Damn, what did I do?". He asked me for my passport and I handed it over, and he gave it one glance and told me to come with him, so I did, still wondering what on earth I did. Anyways, it turns out they let me skip the entire line all the way up to the front! I think they like tourists.

Also, they were checking bags, and I noticed a bunch of people in front of me were getting searched, padded down, and all of that. This concerned me, as I had my swiss army knife in my pocket, and a dagger in my bag I bought, and I wasn´t sure how they´d take it. But turns out I shouldn´t have worried, once she found out I spoke english, all she asked me was if I had ciggarettes or alcohol, to which I replied ´no´, and she let me go through. Sweet!

Anyways yeah, after about 24 hours in transit (not as bad as last time as none of the trains or busses were late) I arrived in Berlin this morning!! Yaaaay!

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 12:28:07 GMT

I am sitting in a bus station in a border city of Poland (bordering the Ukraine) waiting for a bus to Lvov (lviv, lwow). A bus that may not come, according to the information guy. I asked him when the next bus was and he said

"15:30, maybe."
"...maybe?"
"... its a ukrainian bus."

So I guess that means they don't always come on time? Ah well.

How did I end up on the border of Poland? Oh yeah I have not blogged in a couple of days. Right. So, I was in Padova/Venice, Italy, and at 1:26 in the morning on Friday the 17th I took an overnight train from Venezia to Vienna, with the hopes of catching a connecting train to Katowice and then Krakow. However, this train was half an hour late and I missed my connection. Okay. I took the next one, meaning I would be in Krakow an hour and a half later than planned, and I would have to make 3 changes instead of one. No biggie.

Only, the next train I took was also late and thus I missed my NEXT connecting train.

...Okay, so I ask information, "how can I get to Krakow?" and they gave me a schedule that would involve two more connections, and get me into Krakow by 20:55. Oookay... so I take this next train and it (surprise surprise) is late as well, only my connection was so wide that I made it anyways. However THIS train is also late, so I get into Katowice half an hour late and , again, miss my connection to Krakow. *sigh* So, I arrived in Krakow at about 10 pm, after roughly 20 hours on a train. Thank god Justyna was there waiting for me!!

Krakow ended up being really cool, and a bit chilly. :P I wandered around the city and bought some treasures at a jewish flea market, and saw a castle and a dragon's cave, and we went to a rock/ska concert with her sister which ended up being AWESOME.

Anyhow, train connections from Krakow to Lvov suck, so I took a train to a border city and then I am going to get a bus into Ukraine. We will see how that fares. :P

And that has been my awesome past few days. :D

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 18:24:09 GMT

So, Venice. Its surreal. I got severely lost and managed to find my way back by sheer luck. But yes... so beautiful. I was agape.

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 20:40:30 GMT

So who got to ride on a motorcycle through the streets of Padova (Padua) tonight? That's right, I did. It was exhilarating. My couchsurfing host picked me up from the train station on a MOTORCYCLE. Fwee!!! Maybe I should get a motorcycle liscence... or maybe I should just learn to drive first.

ANYWAYS. I am in Italy! Venice exploration is tommorow. I am going to get lost in a maze of canals and eat gelato and drink wine.

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:16:42 GMT

An exploration of flight-booking websites today has led me to this conclusion: I don't fucking understand them. Or, at least, I do not understand skyscanner.net. Either I am doing something wrong or there are no flights going to New Zealand at all in 2009. Augh.

And all the rest of them turn up flights that are like,2000 dollars. There HAS to be cheaper flights to NZ than that.... I should ask Glen, or Claire.

Oh, why am I looking into flights to New Zealand, you may ask? I am toying with the idea of visiting there for two weeks around my birthday as a birthday gift to myself and to go visit friends of mine. Toying. If the flights continue to be 2000 dollars than there is no way in hell I can afford that. There has to be something cheaper...

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 14:31:32 GMT

So today is Thanksgiving, what? i am so out of touch.

Also I think I am going to Venice, I got offered a lift there with my slovenian hosts. Sweet!

Alsoalso Slovenian food is really, really good.

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 21:16:39 GMT

So this fine, Saturday afternoon I found myself sitting in a cafe in Zagreb, Croatia, drinking coffee and listening to some croatian man have a heated debate with the cafe guy/barmen.

Croatia? I didn/t know you were going to Croatia, you may say. Neither did I until last night, when I realized the trains from Budapest to Ljubljana sucked and started to look for ways to avoid sitting on a train for 12 hours.

My solution? Wake up at 4am after going out the night before, catch a train from Budapest to Zagreb at 6am, wander around Zagreb (which is a wonderful city, by the way) for 5 hours and then catch a train to Ljubljana where I had a bed booked. It was such. A cool. Day. Zagreb has this great market that just goes on forever selling vegetables and fruits and bags and postcards, and I bought a banana, and wandered around this lovely part of the city with winding cobblestone streets. Empty winding cobblestone streets. I went to a museum of Arts and Crafts and sat in a park for a while. It was lovely and hot outside, and it almost had a slightly medditereanean flavour in the winding backstreets, with lots of mustachioed men sitting in smoky outdoor cafes with lithe, dark haired women.

I actually really enjoyed the 5 hours I had in Croatia today, and because it isn\'t part of the EU, I got a PASSPORT STAMP!!! I was so excited.

But i have been up since 4 am and thus, I am wrecked. I am going to bed.

The moral of this story: Croatia is damn beautiful.

Babbling about eastern europe and time.

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 19:02:43 GMT

Man, after being a week in Prague, this whole two-days-here-three-days-there thing is faaar to short. Especially when one is in eastern europe,which I find to be much much much more interesting than western europe. Take slovakia for example. Bratislava is an adorable little city with a tiny town center and a cute castle. Slovakia, in fact, is a tiiiny country. But I would love to take a couple of weeks in this tiny country alone just to see every tinz town,all the millions of castles, the mountains, etc. Hungary as well, I am only in Budapest but I would loveto see the great plain, the national parks, to while away an afternoon in one of its many traditional towns...

god damnit there just is not enough time.

I have to come back. I want to take about 4 or 5 months one of these years to explore purely eastern europe... I will get a visa for Belarus and Russia too, and check out Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Croatia, Romania, and allthat fun stuff. Eastern europe isjust so enthralling. I cannot get over it. And the only really eastern country Iam visitingis Ukraine, too, These are all more central eastern countries... AUGH.

Travelling is not a phase for me anymore, it is becoming a lifestyle.

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 19:45:18 GMT

"Late for Church" by the Drive By Truckers is pretty much the themesong to my life right now. I have listened to it about a hundred times since leaving Prague today.

Prague is absolutely beautiful, but that isn´t why I enjoyed it. I don´t think I would have had as much fun had it not been for hanging out with Kalina and Ewe and Justina and Annie and Ronan, and meeting such awesome people at the hostel! It makes me unbelievably happy to know that I can not only meet and make such close friends, but also be sure that I will still be able to keep them in my life. And that I will see them again soon.

Our last day in Prague was spent running down cobblestoned streets arm in arm, singing at the very top of our lungs. This also occured in metro stations. We got lots of odd looks.

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 15:07:27 GMT

So in the span of a couple of hours I have completely changed my plan of the next couple of years. Yesss!

I am going to go to the schools in Denmark for a semester or two, work on art and animation (yes... they offer animation...) and then (because I am not sure how in depth their animation program is, its just for the experience of learning and stuff) if I feel I need to, I will go to algonquin or some other school to learn animation properly. But yeah, DENMARK. And it is relatively cheap for studying abroad. I wouldn't get a degree (the schools don't believe in degrees or tests... it is learning for the sake of learning) but I would also get to furthur my art education and dabble in some fine arts while travelling.

Sweet! I am on such a high now, i love making these kind of decisions.

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 12:51:45 GMT

AHHH. More life-altering discoveries...

Maybe I will go do some schooling in Denmark before animation...

http://www.hojskolerne.dk/the-danish-folk-high-school

http://www.kunsthojskolen.dk/default_1.asp?ID=429
http://www.odderhojskole.dk/international/
http://www.brenderuphojskole.dk/filer/english.htm
http://www.snoghoj.dk/

**** http://www.ryhojskole.dk/v2/default.asp?sektion=1&skabelon=2&page_id=699&sprog=1 **** I LIKE THIS ONE.

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:49:54 GMT

So Kalina and I spent yesterday doing nothing except mooching around thrift stores (jeans for 60 crowns!! Thats like... 2 euros!) and hanging around with a kiwi guy wearing a one-piece pink snowsuit that was one size too small. We also went out and threw a plastic ball around for hours and went to 2 pubs with 7 guys. Good times.

The day before we were much more diligent tourists and meandered around cobblestone streets, went to an art exhibition, drank juice, got mildly lost, found the coolest toy store ever, and went to a classical concert at Prague Castle.

Today Ronan should be around and we are going to a graveyard. Tommorow, a day trip to see a bunch of things made out of human bones and to check out a town. Once again, Prague is cool!

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:25:13 GMT

Just in case anyone ever had any doubts, Prague is fucking AWESOME. Also, it is ridiculously cheap if you know where to look.

That is all for tonight.

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 07:41:16 GMT

Ohmygawd Prague tommoroooow!! To see Kalina, and possibly Ronan, and then Annie and Ewelinka on the 4th! I am EXCITED.

In other news, I can totally milk goats now. I think it is a skill that is useful to have. I like collecting skills, you know, just in case.