i'll post more with pictures tomorrow hopefully, but it was a great visit and very nice to get a little taste of home to get me through my last few months over here.

speaking of which, i officially changed my flight from june 22nd to August 12th. i decided it wasn't time to go home yet so i gave myself another 2 months or so. i miss home like crazy but i have so much more to do here and am quickly running out of time! so i'm sticking around until mid-August to find out what an irish summer is like.

thanks for your patience, group. although you've all probably seen all the pictures on facebook anyway but it's always nicer with a story attached. i'll post a nice, long, picture-filled entry as soon as possible.

apologies for my absence.

much love.

written by  girlbits on May 30, 2007 from Dublin, Ireland
from the travel blog: a britt in ireland.
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and the boy is up in northern Ireland this weekend for stephen's birthday. i wanted to go but unfortunately have to work... and i don't think i really want to know what's happening up there anyway, so it's probably best i didn't go. plus it's bad form to ask for days off 4 days before a 3 week vacation. so i am alone in the apartment this weekend just cleaning and anticipating company on thursday.

what else is going on over here? not a hell of a lot. i just thought i'd share my joy and excitement over mom and myrna's arrival on thursday. i'll try to update mid-visit to give everyone a progress report.

happy cinqo de mayo everyone! (and Kentucky Derby day)

ps. why does it automatically default to "United States Derby"?? that's strange. why can't i say K-e-n-t-u-c-k-y??

written by  girlbits on May 5, 2007 from Dublin, Ireland
from the travel blog: a britt in ireland.
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(there seems to be a bit of a sizing issue with a few of the pictures. i'll post them now and fix them later. sorry about that.)

so, let's see. what has happened. first of all, the weather has been amazing. apparently in the papers at home it says it's been raining in dublin, but they're all lies! it's been so hot and sunny for about 3 weeks now, and i think that was what they call summer. but i did manage to get a few good trips in, and a few good sunburns as well.

paddy, ceira, niall, neil, britt

britt & gary

britt & rob

alan & gary

noel & neil

brian malone & seamus

britt & kevin

there are way more pictures from that night, but i've only chosen my favourites. and you've probably seen the video already on my livejournal. it was a fun night.

bray

it's so hard to remember things that have happened and in what order. i should be keeping a journal of interesting things that i do and then transcribe it to here to avoid all this confusion. meh.

i did a lot of walking that day. there are two main piers you can walk out on, and then the main walking street in the "town"...

i spent a lot of time on the piers, just enjoying the sunshine and taking lots of pictures. as you'll see below:

windy.

a girl came up to me when we were out near that island and asked me to take her picture (we were both taking a lot of pictures of ourselves). i recognized the accent right away and said "oh my god! canadian??". i couldn't believe it. i'm pretty sure she's the first canadian i've met here. and from vancouver, of all places! we were both very excited to hear a familiar accent and ended up taking the train home together to discuss our travels. it was nice to meet someone else who was away from home by herself in a foreign country and hear her stories.

so that was really fun. it's nice to get out of the city for a while and see some water and some greenery. reminds me of where i am.

i'm glad that kevin taught me how to take the train so now i can go pretty much anywhere. and ireland is so small, you can get to the other side of the country in like 2 hours. i've been wanting to go to belfast for a day, but haven't had the time or money. but i do have the weekend off, so we'll see.

not much else is going on over here. melinda moves back home on thursday, which means it's been 3 whole months already! i can't believe it! another roommate come and gone. but this means that i get the place to myself for a few weeks, and then it's mom and myrna time! i can't believe how quickly that's coming up. i'm really really excited and we have so many great things planned for their trip. also, i have the whole 3 weeks off work so that's another thing to be excited about.

then that brings us to the end of may, june i'll be working and saving, july i'll be spending some time in spain and italy, then coming home before my birthday in august. it's all happening so fast! but i was accepted to ubc for september, and would really like to get all of that finished, so i'll need some time to get home, get settled, and get my normal accent back. i guess there's no sense in worrying about all that now, i still have another good 3 months here.

so, i'm very sorry about the delay in my posting. now that i know i can do this from work i might be posting more often... but who knows... i hope everyone's well at home, and don't forget to keep in touch!

and even though the games are on around 3am here, i'm still keeping up with the hockey playoffs. i'm the only person in ireland who watches hockey, but i'm still supporting my team! go canucks!!

a few things though, i've updated a little trip report of you click on "Britt's Travel Blog" under trips you can see the full map of my trip. which i think is kinda fun.

also, i've posted some videos on livejournal as i can't post them here. nothing too exciting, but a few good clips of the shows i've seen and some drunken debauchery. you can find them at:

http://brittpop.livejournal.com/

happy easter weekend everyone!

written by  girlbits on April 7, 2007 from Dublin, Ireland
from the travel blog: girlbits's Travel Blog
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excusez-moi du dérangement.

anyway, i don't even know what to say or where to begin. as you can imagine, lots has happened in the last month and it's hard to sum it all up or properly explain it all in one go.

this is kevin. you'll hear more about this dreamy boy later.

then christophe came to stay with us for st patricks day weekend! it was nice to have my kiki back for a few days, but i also started to realize how small my apartment was with 4 people in it. anyway, you'll see more of him after i talk about st patricks day.

st patricks day was interesting. i didn't really know what to expect as melinda and i were leaving the house... we were trying to prepare for every possible situation, but obviously didn't prepare ourselves for what actually happened. we left around quarter to 11 to get the luas into town. the parade was at noon so we figured we had plenty of time. we're lucky because we are the last (or first, depending on which way you're going) stop so we're always first to get on. but the line for the ticket machine went about 2 blocks down the street, so our "it won't be crowded in tallaght" theory didn't pan out so well.

it was busy. and gave us some idea of what to expect in town.

we decided to get out of the crowds and had to walk down dame street to get to temple bar. the crowds were stopped. and not comfortably stopped. melinda and i had to walk one block and it took us about an hour of being squished, pushed, and very claustrophobic.

but we made it!

and by that time it was definitely time for some food and drinks. so we went and got some lunch and a pint, then headed to the pub for some serious recovery guinness. the pub wasn't too bad at first. it was crowded, but the parade still hadn't ended so we were among the hardcore early drinkers still. but eventually the crowds started pouring in and, again, we had people sitting in our laps. but melinda took advantage of this situation by leaning her head on the guy in her lap. quite clever, mimi.

so, overall, i guess i was a little disappointed. every irish person i know told me not to go into town because it's way too crowded and full of tourists. i honestly didn't see one irish person (except kevin and stephen) the whole day. it was all the americans and australians who kept picking fights with eachother in the overcrowded pub. i've learned my lesson for next time. but it was still a good day.

but a fun weekend.

so, they have this weird game here... it's not even really a game, just a thing that people do in pubs... where you put your mobile on top of your pint glass? very strange. but colm decided to do this (let me mention as well that he's been off drink for a month because of lent... so he used his pint of club orange) and was the only one to drop his phone into his glass. the sober one.

so kiki one-upped him by playing the mobile game and drinking out of the glass as well. this brings a whole new level to an already weird and boring "game".

the night got a little messy. can i just mention as well that at one point we noticed firetrucks outside bringing their hoses into the bar? we asked what was going on and the doorman was like "oh, there's a fire inside." apparently they don't evacuate bars in dublin if there are fires? so we went back upstairs and it smelled so badly of fire and smoke that we ended up leaving. a similar situation happened the other day at work when there was a gas leak. the smell was so strong that we were all feeling light-headed and dizzy, and there were about 4 cop cars and 2 firetrucks outside... but still we were all working as normal. no one light a cigarette!

what a weird country i'm in.

so, that's been my life. there has been so much more going on between all the things i have pictures of... but i guess i can't go over everything.. and i doubt you'd read it all anyway. it's been really good over here though. the weather has been nice (apart from a few freak snow storms), i've been keeping busy, and am in constant anticipation of mom's arrival in may! hopefully i'll have more regular days off from now on so i'll be able to post once in a while. i have a bunch of great videos of random things but i can't post them on here so i'll have to set something up to show those. it should only take another month.

thanks for your patience and concern, everyone.

written by  girlbits on March 29, 2007 from Tallaght, Ireland
from the travel blog: a britt in ireland.
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so i found myself with another day off and decided i just had to tell the story of sunday, our day at the races. because it's worth it.

morten came over to my place around noon and i was still getting ready. noel (guy from work) was picking us up at half twelve to head out to naas.

fyi: you can see naas (pronounced "nase") on the map above... it's in the county beside dublin, county kildare.

we only got a little lost on our way to the racetrack, and when we found it we decided it was best to park in a Field beside the main entrance... why didn't anybody else think of this! i was wearing my brand new leather boots, so i didn't appreciate having to walk through the mud, but i guess it's better than having to walk 3 kilometres from the car to the entrance.

we got in, immediately found the beer, and headed inside to place our bets. i had researched a bit beforehand, but was still completely lost when i got there. i placed a patent on the first three races, a few each way bets, a lucky 15, and some random singles (i'm getting good at this!). we took our dockets and headed out to the stands to see the first race.

so, i was out of money and decided that horse racing is probably not going to make me millions. but i found a horse called "bootlegger" in the last race and decided that it was a sign because of my fabulous new boots. so i put the rest of my money on him, and he ended up winning me all my money back and more! phew!

i'm just glad i didn't have to push.

at least it was entertaining.

we got dropped off at my place, a little tipsy, and decided to kidnap melinda and take her to the george. the george is the biggest gay bar in Ireland, and also the highest grossing bar in Ireland... and i hadn't been there yet? crazy! it took some serious begging, but melinda finally got herself cutified and hopped in a cab with us on our way to Acapulco (the mexican restaurant... not the city). we had a fantastic dinner, then headed off to gay bingo and a drag show.

melinda was 1 number away from winning the whole thing. i was not even close. maybe i should stick to horses.

what a fantastic day though! horses, bingo, and drag queens. my three new favourite things.

written by  girlbits on March 2, 2007 from Dublin, Ireland
from the travel blog: a britt in ireland.
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so i flew out of dublin on friday morning. dublin airport is surprisingly easy to navigate, so i ended up at my gate quite early. once i flew in to london, everything went smoothly until i had to find my hotel. well, smoothly only because i asked a million questions to every info desk available.

britt: umm... so how do i take the tube?

info desk: you buy a ticket. then get on.

britt: oh! okay. so... can i buy a ticket from you?

info desk: yes.

britt: great! then where do i go?

info desk: just down there. follow the signs.

britt: fantastic. and what do i do with my ticket?

info desk: put it through the machine at the gate.

britt: okay. i think i've got it.

info desk: great.

britt: so where do i go?

it was painful. but i found it! it's funny when, at home, your skytrain system is up high so you can see it, and we really only have one line. and it's on the honour system so you don't have to put your ticket through any machine to get on. come to think of it, the skytrain is kinda weird.

anyway, i finally figured it all out. i got a day pass for the underground and became an expert by the end of the trip.

i made it to my stop where, apparently, my hotel is "just across the street". i ended up circling the block a few times before asking someone. in my defense, it was NOT "just across the street". anyway, i finally made it to the hotel which ended up being very nice. i dropped my stuff off, cleaned myself up, and headed out for a day of adventure.

i looked at the map to plan out my journey (we all know i hate to take maps out on the street, and i needed to be organized because i only had 2 days to see everything) and went out on my way.

then i turned around and saw something i recognized off in the distance!

how convenient that everything you want to see in london is very tall.

so i went to see big ben...

which is a lot bigger than i had anticipated.

and then i stopped by westminster abbey as well...

westminster abbey

behind that i could see the london eye just past some buildings so i walked towards the lights and finally found it as well...

by the end of the day i was really tired (it doesn't sound like a lot of walking, but it really was) and hungry, so i hopped on the tube and went back to the hotel. i had no plans for friday night, so i looked in my london book and found what looked like a cute little jazz bar in soho. i went for dinner at a little italian place near my hotel, then caught a cab to soho to go for a few drinks.

anyway, i ended up staying way too late and having some drinks with the band. then i headed out before their last set around 2.

now, i knew i had heard of soho but couldn't really remember what for. on my way out, there were SO many transvestite prostitutes and weirdo guys with old cars trying to convince me they were taxis. thaaaaaaat's why. but i ended up getting a *real* taxi and made it back to my hotel safely.

the next day i woke up semi-early with a bit of a wine hangover. but i had many more things to do and not enough time to do them in. so i headed for the tube on my way to baker street and madame tussauds. the line wasn't so bad at madame tussauds, so i stood there for about half an hour before realizing there is about 2 hours left of the line once you get inside. but i had already put the time in, so i waited.

then i got to party with my good friends...

the pope...

and my new boyfriend, ronan o'gara...

did i not mention i was dating someone from the irish rugby team?

okay, fine, they're made of wax. and, to be honest, madame tussauds was a bit of a waste of time and money. but apparently it's such a big deal. i was a little disappointed.

so i left before the thing was over, and headed towards the pier and the london bridge.

so i walked across it. and then back.

by this time i had walked so much again that i was exhausted. i went to find a tube station and head back to get ready for the show.

i still wasn't sure whether i was on a list for billy talent or not, but i figured i might as well go and try. i got ready, and headed out to brixton (which also has a bit of a reputation for being a rough area... why do i choose these places?).

i ended up sitting outside for quite a while, because the doors and the stage entrance were both closed. as i was sitting there, i realized that i was probably the oldest person there... and i wasn't wearing enough chains or black makeup... or converse shoes. but i was there!

i ended up getting in. and the show was possibly the best thing ever. and i'm not just talking about concerts.

once i got in, i bought a beer, and sat down. and once i sat down, this group of guys came and decided i was lonely and needed company. they were nice... but once they saw i was drinking, they said "wow!! can you buy us beer???"... and the drinking age is 18! i felt ancient in that place.

but then the band came on...

and made it all worth it...

they played all the songs i wanted to hear. and they were filming their live dvd that night, so i'll get to buy it and say i was there! how fun!

ben with backlighting.

anyway, so the show ended late, and i had to wake up at 6 to catch my plane back to dublin to work at 4 in the afternoon. poor planning, i know.

i woke up about an hour late, and hopped on the tube back to heathrow, still thinking i had enough time. but if you recall my last encounter with heathrow, you'll remember we don't have such a good relationship. i got to the airport, and ended up getting off at the wrong tube station. once you are in the wrong terminal at heathrow, you're screwed.

so i found the express train to the other terminal, cried for a while, and ran like hell once i got there. i went to check in and found out that my plane was delayed anyway. good news for catching the flight, bad news for getting to work on time.

it ended up being delayed about two hours, but i did make it home and to work on time. exhausted... but on time.

so then katherine and adam, two of melinda's friends from home, were staying with us for a few days. they were lovely and lots of fun. too bad i didn't get to spend much time with them because i was working every day, but we did go out on tuesday, which was their last night in town.

kat, adam, melinda

melinda showed us how she can fluff up her hair and closely resemble the "hedgehog crossing" sign outside the museum...

Melinda being a hedgehog

then there were some modeling poses such as "smaller jaw, and big lips"...

model poses

and well as "fire in the eyes"...

needless to say, we had a great night.

britt at the temple bar

and since then, it's been work work work.

but now is day 1 of my 4 day weekend! i was thinking of going to berlin for a few days, but i got tickets to the cheltenham trial day at the naas racecourse tomorrow, and i REALLY wanted to go. so i'll go to berlin some other time, this weekend is for horses!

giant hats and pearls are appropriate, right?

so morten and i are off to the races tomorrow. big fun! i'm sure there will be some stories from that as well.

it's really inconvenient that i can't access my blog from home. if anyone knows how to fix it, please help. otherwise, you'll just have to deal with the long and rare posts.

(also: we're coming up on 6 months!)

written by  girlbits on February 24, 2007 from Dublin, Ireland
from the travel blog: a britt in ireland.
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but i just wanted to update a) because i like to be able to change the city i'm posting from and b) to let everyone know my london weekend went swimmingly.

i'll post much more about this trip in the next few days when i'm not tired and running out of wireless time. i have lots of pictures and lots of juicy stories, so keep in touch.

anyway, i'll do my best to catch everyone up. i can hardly remember what's happened over the last few weeks so i'll just go by what i have pictures of.

so, then last week... well, about 2 weeks now... the lovely and wonderful melinda showed up! you know, i was a little hesitant about another roommate coming in, because no matter who it was they'd have big shoes to fill... but it turns out i am a fabulous-roommate magnet and lucked out once again. she showed up in the morning, i picked her up at the luas, and it's been only laughs and fun since then. good play, melinda, good play.

so then there was some time in between... and the next interesting thing, i believe, was the superbowl.

so finally we left the pub around 4:30 or 5, walked to the next town, and got a cab.

work the next day was not as pleasant as usual... but it was well worth it.

what happened next? hmm... there have been a few nights out, a lot of working, a sick day, a SNOW day...

oh! and a dinner party...

i decided to have the danes over for dinner so they could meet melinda and so everyone could experience my newfound culinary expertise. so melinda and i watched the rugby game during the day, cleaned up the house, got cutified, and started cooking for the guests.

it was a really great night, and melinda and the danes got along famously, as i knew they would.

so that brings us to now. i'm off to london tomorrow for a little touristy adventure and the billy talent concert! am i going to the show? am i not? who knows. but i booked the trip anyway. turns out my beautiful and fabulous sister knows someone who is on tour with them and he offered to get me tickets (the show was sold out months ago) and backstage passes. i don't think i've stopped crying or started breathing since i heard this news. but it's still not 100% yet and it's 2 days before the show. so let's just hope everything goes to plan... if not, i'll go see the lion king musical or something.

but my next post should be from the beautiful rainy tornado-y city of london... possibly from my jacuzzi tub in my executive room in my 4 star hotel. how did that happen? don't ask.

so, that's that. we recently passed the 5 month mark, which means i'm nearly halfway through my journey in the emerald isle. whoa, halfway. i need to get moving.

written by  girlbits on February 15, 2007 from Dublin, Ireland
from the travel blog: a britt in ireland.
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do i say that every week?

we had a great night out. i really missed those boys.

and the fun continues over at tramway court since exams ended last week. but along with exams ending comes the departure of many of the students here. sad days.

we had the last big party in the apartment next door last wednesday to celebrate the last day of exams.

i'm not so good at the self-control though.

anyway, the party was great. and included the final paquito:

and kiki ended up stealing our #42 off the wall outside our apartment, and then wore it on his shirt... luckily later he stole a 4 and a 2 from other apartments and put them back. now #43 is #3 and #21 is #1. but at least 42 is back.

a good last tramway court party anyway.

so that party was not the last. people continued to leave during the week,

once all the bottles were consumed, we headed out to city center to go to a club called Zanzibar. the ride on the luas was quite eventful as there were several international sing-a-longs.

and an impromptu luas paquito...

finally we made it to Zanzibar and and a fabulous last night for kiki.

there was lots of dancing...

drinking...

self-taken photos...

and other fun...

but we had to leave to get christophe home for his taxi at 4.

it was an emotional night overall. but on the ride home it started setting in that kiki was leaving, and everyone started to get sad.

the rest of the night was a complete wreck. i was fine the whole night... sad, but i hadn't cried. we stood in the courtyard while kiki said goodbye to everyone, and then it was time to go get his luggage. the minute we walked into his room i started crying... up until last night.

it's really just devastating to lose my kiki. it won't be the same around here without him. he's become such a big part of my life over here and, as the comment states, he has become my ireland family. i will truly miss him.

anyway, we came back inside and i clawed around in the dark trying to find the candles and blankets. and thanks, mom and dad, for talking to me while i drunkenly bawled my eyes out over the phone with you. it helped a lot.

then yesterday the power still wasn't on, so the group of us went to blubar, a local pub, for some warmth and warm food.

it's funny that ireland's idea of pub food is either stew or roast meats along with potatoes and vegetables. not quite the same as the greasy stuff you get in pubs at home. it was really nice though.

then we went to tesco to stock up on water and candles, not knowing how long the power would be out.

the power did end up coming back on last night, thank god. i was finally able to clean up the apartment from the party the night before, take a shower, and do the dishes. i did have to throw away all my food from the freezer and fridge, but i find that i appreciate running water much more when i've gone without it for 24 hours.

anyway, more people leave tomorrow. soon it will just be us survivors who are staying in the building for the next few months. vive the survivors!

it's lonely over here without kiki though. i will really miss having him here.

you will miss me, kiki.

tu vas me manquer.