08/08/08 at 08:08:08

We got the bad news that they were letting go 32 people out of all our offices. SO what more to do then go out on the rip. Claire had just told me that she was going to be let go, and no one else knew, so much hugging of Seanie was to be had but could not tell why. He is part of my 'family' here and would not know what to do with out my 'little sister' Karen and 'big brother' Sean. I ended up leaving early since I had a busy day ahead of me on Friday (1am is being early on a Thrusday, phhhsaaaa). The next night the 4-O'clock girls* went out on the lash with Sean again and this time we had Catherine and Colin along for the ride just to drown more of our sorrows. I had to call it an early night and headed back to Ranelagh for the last time with Karen since the next morning we were moving into the next place. Where did we end up but Hogans and Whelans!

*Side note: Karen, Claire and myself are called the 4-O'Clock girls by the lads since we promptly go for our tea break right at 4. And since we are three peas to a pod, we usually are always down there together. And if we can nic a few Hob Nobs or have Colin nip across to the shop and pick up some TimTams to dunk into our tea, we are happy bunnies. YUMMMY!

Prague in a Weekend

Lucy and I love to travel which is why we are living in Europe. So one night we got to talking with Emma and we decided we had to get away for a weekend, and what better place than Prague! We took a half day on Friday and left for the airport together. Since most of the girls still work with Ben we met at their work so we could all go together; Ben, Lucy, Anna and Emma. Lorna is living in Germany so she took the train to meet us there. We got to our apartment that we rented for the weekend to drop off our stuff before heading out to adventure the town. The apartment that Lucy arranged was right near the heart of town, had several rooms, was uber modern and comfortable. It had a full kitchen so we had a few snacks and drinkypoos at the apartment before heading to dinner. Everything was closing down early so we had to really search for a restaurant. We found a quiet little Italian place for some pizza since the local places were all closed up. It was drizzling rain, but was still quite warm as we strolled into the heart of town to see the lights on all the buildings. The Old Town Square was buzzing with tourists and locals alike. Týn Cathedral was eerie and dominated the night sky but was breathtaking, definitely something straight off a postcard. We called it an early night, since the next day was to be jammed packed full of things to do and see.

We made a yummy breakfast, Anna is great at making the eggs, so we had fully tummies before heading out. I was in charge of the map and the what to do since Lucy took care of the arrangements. We headed towards the River Vltava to see the river front and head towards the old medieval castle which is the largest in the world. We winded up narrow streets and many steps to make it up to Prague Castle. Even within the city walls of the castle, you wound your way up to the top. We never made it into the cathedral since the queue was over an hour long and in 80+ degree heat and humidity we were to have none of that. We had to do the tour to get into the old palace and through the Vladislav Hall to see the great views of the city. The gardens were well manicured, so much in fact, that is was impossible to find a bit of grass just to have a little rest on. As we made our way back down, we went down into the torture chambers of the prison cells. Just creepy what people used to do to each other. The heavy air with so many people packed into such a small space made it all the more creepy and ominous. We just wanted to escape out the small winding staircase. One of the few museums we popped into were the old armour and weapons. Old suits of armour are just interesting. Someday I will wear one and try to lift a two handed sword! We stopped for some lunch in a great outdoor cafe, and just as we had ordered, there was a torrential downpour that lasted for a few hours. We sought refuge under an awning, but we were quite wet. It was a great meal, and by the time we left it was clear again. I am starting to notice a trend though, we go away from Ireland and it lashes from the heavens where we are on holiday, but is nice back home. Go figure.

We meandered our way back to the hotel across the Charles Bridge. All of the little kiosks and carts setting various trinkets and whatnots were lined all along the bridge and packed with people. As we got to our side of the river we saw where our nightly destination was to be, a 5 storey nightclub. We changed into our clubbing clothes and got a bite to eat. Since it was so late again, it was difficult to find food, but we managed. No drinking on an empty tummy for me. We got into the club that was rumored to have 80's music and we just kept climbing the stairs until we found the right floor, the 4th! We danced the night away with the lit from below floor. Reminiscent of the 70's disco floors. We did try out the other floor for a while, Techno, pop, hip hop, but after the 80's turned to strange salsa music we went to the ground floor for some gangster rap. We all had a laugh before calling it a night around 4ish.

Sunday we did the same breakfast routine and packed up all our stuff to leave at the front desk so we could still sightsee and not have to drag our stuff all around town. We crossed over the Saint Charles bridge to the cog railroad. This led us up to Petřínská rozhledna, an observation tower on Petřín hill, which resembles the Eiffel Tower. We climbed up to the top to get the full city views. It was quite warm as well, so we had to stop for ice cream in the grass. We went through the Mirror Maze, and through the mirror fun hall. We had fun laughing at each others reflections. We decided to do the scenic walk down before grabbing a bite to eat. I had to try some of the Prague beer since I heard it was so good. It was, but the Pacific NW still has it beat. It was about time to make our way back to the city since we were running out of time. We stopped at the Old Town Square and the Astronomical Clock was set to go off just as we were passing by. Good timing. Anna had been to Prague before, but it was under renovation when she was last there, and was really looking forward to seeing it. It was not as great as the Glockenspiel in Munich by any stretch of the imagination, but it was cute. We wandered through the town to see the old synagogue and burial grounds. We did not do the tour since again, the queue was long and we just did not have the time. Instead we found a great little cafe off the beaten path that was a cheap as chips as everyone had said Prague was. We had biscuits, teas, coffees, juices and waters for the five of us, and hung out for hours just bantering and enjoying the sunshine all for just under 10 Euro for all of us. We moseyed back to the hotel where the taxi met us to head back to the airport. It was a quick weekend away, but we saw most of what Prague had to offer. Still is amazing to me that I can go away to a completely different country for a weekend away for super cheap!

The Bunny Dance and Much More

Sadly Catherine and Philip were let go and Thorston was moving back to Germany so for their final night, they went to dinner with their team, and we decided to join them after wards at Hogans. With their bosses there as well as most of our co-workers we did not feel to guilty being out on a Thursday night. We had a good bit of craic there and many Jeager shots with Thorston since he is a mad yoke for lovin those and I was the only one convinced it would be a good idea to join in. Before leaving the office that day Sean caught a photo of Thorston hugging Karen and it was so cute since he is 6'-7" and she is 5'-5" that even on her tippy toes and him bending way over he was still much taller when she hugged him goodbye.

When they kicked everyone out at half twelve, we headed to Bruxelles since they serve until late. By this time our group went from 30 or so people down to about 12. Franchesca and Tullia and I proceeded to have about an hour long conversation in Spanish since Sean's pick up line (Muy bonita, deseas sexo?) came up and I found out Fran had lived in Spain. See Mom, my Spanish classes have paid off, I can hold conversations and teach guys some sleazy pick up lines! We were all thrown out of there at 2:30 and headed up Grafton Street where all the street performers are. Tom paid your man on the street a few quid and he let him play a few songs. As long as the group of us kept putting money in the guitar case, we could keep playing. Glenn also too a turn on playing the guitar. Tullia was mad about the videos with her camera but mostly you heard her and I singing "choobie, choobie" along with the lyrics which is a Tulliaism. She also caught me dancing on video being silly which is where the "bunny dance" was born and is now frequently requested at the pub. By 4:30 we headed to the cabs after many songs so we could get some sleep before Friday morning. At least all of us were miserable together, because misery loves company! Even the bosses were tired! Those videos are now infamous and the head boss man even got a kick out of watching me show off the dance moves in the office over lunch. Fun to be had by all even during the sad times. When you cannot cry just laugh or laugh so hard you cry.

End of the Oompa Loompa Season

We ended our season with a perfect record...... we LOST every match!

But we had fun doing it. A sprained finger, bruised toes and a few scrapes were to be expected out of me since I am so competitive. Tag rugby is much more of a contact sport then I thought given that it is co-ed. There is a lot of force needed to pull those tags off the special made shorts. I missed the first three matches, but made it to everyone after that. Kevin and Tom have played their whole lives and they did great to help us all learn the game. Ruthie and Catherine were our coaches and did an amazing job having wash all the shorts each week, get our jerseys made up for us (I was called Bambi - see earlier posts to see why that is my nickname) and cutting up orange halves for us to have at half time. By the end of the season we were good at the hand off technique from the two lads to us girls. This move is very important since girl tries are worth 4 points and guy tries are only worth 1. I ended the season with 3 tries in all! During the last match (which we nearly won) I did a glorious three turn somersault right in front of John (main boss man) and landed at his feet after the opposing team pushed me while pulling off my tag. The look of horror on his face that I had hurt myself was priceless but I bounced up, shook my head, laughed it off and ran back onto the pitch for another go. They were amazed. With enough adrenaline you never feel the bumps and busies until later anyway.

The clubhouse served burgers so after the match you could go in, grab a pint, sit down with your burger and rehash the game highlights with the team. After our final match we voted and gave out prizes to the most competitive, best girl, best boy, best tagger, best scorer and whimpiest injury. I got none of them, but I came in close second for both best girl and most competitive. Hehehe! My team knows me. Now if i could only have gotten them to all agree which one I was better at. However, it had to be said that the greatest moment of the game was when a novice player, Tullia, scored her first try early in the first half of our last game. In what was a stunning piece of play she caught the ball in full stride thrown, skillfully as always, by our best boy billy whiz (Kevin) and heroically threw herself over the line to put us on the scoreboard first! She is always so full of energy that it is great to watch her play. Almost every game was ended with a 'victory' dance just for having gotten out there and doing it, and have fun.

Luckily our season also had no rain at any of our matches. Karen came to be our cheerleader and Catherine even brought her pompoms for her to cheer with. I taught them some of my cheer leading moves since in High School all my friends did it. I was amazed at how many cheers I remembered. Although most of the team were beginners, we learned so much and improved tenfold over the past several months. I look forward to playing next year for sure since we will all know what we are doing on the pitch!

Temple Bar Here We Come!!!

We have moved out of our sleepy little village of Ranelagh into the heart of it all. Temple Bar! We have a great one bed apaapartment now that has a full tub this time and is not off of the bedroom. We actually have room for guests to come over! I do miss our little place since my commute went from 20-25 minutes to 35-40 with the LUAS or 55-60 walking the whole way. It is usually nice in the mornings and since Tullia and I are now neighbors, we have been walking into to work nearly every morning and then walking home. Ben's commute gets a little longer, but when his office finishes their new buildng, he will be just minutes away from work. We have a cute little European deck that is about 4" deep that is great to get fresh air in. There are sliding doors between the bedroom and the living room which makes the whole place seem much bigger. I can now pace while I talk on the phone and make myself dizzy walking in circles. Well maybe if we get better reception since when I walk away from the windows we lose connection. The church bells of Christ Church sound lovely on Sunday morning, they sort of remind me of a Police song.... that I just cannot put my finger on. No sleeping in on Sundays for us!

Now if we could only get hot water into our building we will be sorted. 4-6 weeks without hot water or heating is ridiculous and makes for a long trek to the gym to take a shower. A cold shower in the morning certainly wakes you up, and makes me look forward to warming up on my 3 mile walk to work. We now have more room for guests and hopefully when my folks get here we will even have hot water for them!

Strange Anomaly #22

Eggs are stored on the shelf at room temperature. If they are never refrigerated they do not need to be. Just strange to pick up my eggs right next to the bread.

Kat is 30!

My German friend Katrin turned 30 and had a house party. I was first to arrive with my bottle of Jack around 7:00 to get her and Dominic started. She popped open the champagne and shortly after that everyone started arriving. I forgot how much I love house parties since you can be as loud as you want, you know everyone there, can control the music, and it is much cheaper since you can bring your own drink. There ended up being about 25 or so of us, mostly from the office since Dom used to work with us, he knew nearly everyone. Tullia had the camera on hand to get loads of great photos.

Catherine is from Oz and I stuck her in my heals. She is already 6'1", so putting her in my 5" heals was great! I felt so tiny since I need the heals to see her eye to eye. The lads were cracking up over it. It was great. Karen showed up with her Jack, and the two of us were set. We are the Terrible Two when it comes to the Whiskey drinking!

We danced and laughed and just enjoyed being together. She lives out by the coast so as the sun started to break, we decided it was time to head. the last 15 of us walked along the beach watching the sunrise and grabbing any taxi coming by, throwing people into it. My bottle of Jack never made it home with me and it was all drunk there. I climbed into bed around 6am. That is the right way to bring in 30 for sure! Look out 30 here I come!!!!!!!!!

Karen is Awesome Fanclub

Karen recently got a super cool keyboard and with it being the end of the month and super broke we decided to have a night in at her place. Her flat mates always go home for the weekend so we had the place to ourselves. We hired in a movie, got jellies and dinner. After eating we got to playing with the keyboard which had so many different sounds, walking, barking, phone ringing, laughing and car noises. Just good fun. We turned on the telly and started dancing to the Friday night videos like being teenagers again. No alcohol, lots of caffeine, fizzy drinks and tons of sweets quite a bit of hyper activity. After being all danced out I headed home since I needed to rest up for our dinner the following night.

Since Karen is now single and has no one to go with her to fancy meals I decided to go to dinner with her. We dressed up fancy and treated ourselves to the works. Starter, steaks, dessert and wine. It was still early and we thought to just have a few scoops up at the Globe. Our alter egos came out to play: Bambi and Tara Macadam. We had a few whiskeys there and decided that it was not hot enough there and moved on to Hogans. Which that was a disappointment since all that was playing was crappy salsa music. After several so called songs there we headed on to RiRa. We danced our feet off and after being come on to by a strange Polish guy who licked my face, EWWWWWW, the place was shutting down. Karen is just awesome since she also got some random strangers to unbuckle her uncomfortable sexy shoes and put on her comfy flats for her before placing them in her handbag. We headed to the chipper for some late night currey chips before heading home. Another good end to a bonding night of girly fun. She is a sister I never had and look forward to more nights out! WHEEEEE!

Luke and Sarah Depart for Oz

Luke left OMP and went to work at another architecture company where his girlfriend Sarah works at. Since they were struggling with getting their green cards renewed, they just decided it was not worth it anymore and head home to Australia where there is loads of work. This time we saw Luke and Sarah off for the last time at Whelans. I had had another 70+ hour work week and was quite tired but had to see them off. What more to get over being grumpy, then to be out with your mates! It was just general good fun, loads of photos taken, and just general goofiness!

We danced the night away to mostly hard rock, which turned into slight moshing, but was still fun. Around 2:00 Ruthie and I could not take anymore so we went over to Eddie Rockets with Tom, grabbed some grub before tucking into bed for the night. It was one of the last times I was to take a cab with Ruthie back home since we will be moving into town soon. I will miss my Ozzie mates, but we will see them soon!

4th of July Celebration - Irish Style

I have been on the Sports and Social Committee at work. The summer BBQ was to be our big kick off for the year for the summer festivities. It just so happened that Friday was the 4th of July. We had that sorted. Since I love fancy dress and will use any excuse to dress up, I was excited to make this an American Invasion on the Irish. I was in charge of food. Apple pie, brownies, hot dogs, hamburgers, ribs, and potato salad were on the menu! Was a little taste of home for me. It ended up being everyone dressed up in Western gear, but out of 100 or so people I work with I would say well over half dressed up! It was great! Both boss men, the OM and the P in our company name dressed up and even had their fake cap guns. Since we had a small budget Niall and Greg in the office who have their own bands played the guitar and keyboard to entertain us. Several of the lads got up to sing and we danced away in the marquee. They even learned the national anthem for me, now I just wish I knew all of the words, it gets a little hazy in the middle.... Much drink and craic later, the rain finally came, but it held off for most of the day.

Since the party was out back of our office and in is the center of a residential area we had to be out and done by 11:00. We had hired a double decker bus to take us into town to a club having a 4th of July party. About 40 of us, all completely locked, got on the Magic Mystery Bus with all our drink and smokes and headed in. Sing songs and general debauchery in-sued with dancing being done on the ceiling of the bus and me popping a dislocated thumb back into place. It was a great 30 minute ride into town. When we got off the bus, I had to put on the serious face to suddenly speak the magic works to the bouncers to get our drunken group into a posh club and up into the VIP area. It worked, everyone got in and we danced the night away. The club finally kicked the last of us out by 3:30. We tried to head onto other clubs since I was not ready to go home. We walked around in the lashing rain until we were soaked to the bone and swifly realised nothing was open, I headed home around 5:00am. I think we did a good job of celebrating my country's national holiday in style!

Strange Anomaly #21

I love rhubarb and what I love even more, is that there are actually foods here made of the stuff. There are desserts, yoghurts, tarts, sweets and other yum yums. Now if I could only wrangle my grandma's rhubarb pie recipe from her, I would be a happy camper and would fit right in!

Italia Day 10-14: Roma

We looked forward to escaping the plethora of American snotty tourists and heading to Rome. We had some decent cloudy weather so we started out straight away checking out old buildings just around our area. Wine was so cheap, cheaper then water, that I definitely enjoyed it. Luckily there are several gelatarias and restaurants right near our hotel. I do have to say, all of our hotels were quite nice, especially the Rome one. We were spoiled with satellite TV to get some British channels to catch up on the news. We had seen that Bush was coming to the Vatacan so we knew to avoid it during the Wednesday mass with the pope since security was going to be mad. The next day was a bright and sunny day, YAY! We walked all over the old Roman Forum. We started at the Colosseum where we paid to have the history part of the tour and skip the 1+ hour queue. I had heard that there were cats all over, but none were to be found. Several days later we came across some random ruins that they had all the cats rounded up, neutered and placed there. Strange, yet interesting. The Colosseum is huge, and it was interesting seeing part of the floor rebuilt. We also got a tour of the Palatine Hill. I also got to be a big nerd here since I also know random facts of Nero and other fascinating architectural history quips. After walking all through the Roman Forum we went out to the Circus Maximus and walked all through the length of it. This is where the Christians were actually murdered way back in history not in the Colosseum. This is what the chariot races used to be done on like in Ben Hurr, where I got most of my religious teachings from. On a hunch I sent us on a wild goose chase looking for the Baths of Caracalla, it was off our map, but I knew the general direction to walk in. After a few wrong turns we finally found it. These ruins I really wanted to see since they were super important back in the day since important people would go there to do business and sit in the different baths. It was just one of the buildings that really interested me while studying them. By this time our feet were killing us so it was back to the hotel to take a nap before watching the Romanian - Italy football match. Italy won which was great since the Italians take their football very seriously!

We following day we saw all the other sights within the city. We started with the Fontana de Trevi where if you throw a coin over your shoulder you are to return to Rome and throw another you will find true love. Of course I had to throw one in! Next stop was the Spanish Steps. It was partially under reconstruction which was to bad but it was great to get a view over the city. Jen had recommended a great pizza place since she goes to Italy all the time and it was excellent! After our filling meal, we headed to the Piazza Navona where we sat in the fleeting sun and enjoyed the day. The final stop of the day was the Pantheon. This has to be the most important building to me, in the entire world. This was the most important thing for me to see in Rome. Words cannot describe what it is like, it is something that everyone should experience. When in Rome, do as the Romans do... The sunlight coming through the oculus was mezmorizing. I just sat down on the floor and watched the dust motes dance across the sunlight streaming in. From the outside it looks like any other ruinous ancient roman building but inside it is domed, decorated and just amazing. Boring for some, but I think I could go there everyday just to mediate and reflect.

We had to wait for Bushy to leave to go to the Vatican. This was another lovely torrential downpour day, YAY! We had our brolly as we waited in line for not too long before being allowed into the museum. (Oh, and if you want your passport stamped, they no longer do it, but you can send a post card from their post office at the end of the museum) If you looked at each thing in the Vatican for 7 seconds, it would still take you 30 years to see everything. Amazing! All time lines, all styles, all mediums, a little bit of everything for everyone. Michaelangelo's, Salvador Dali's, original floor of the Baths of Caracalla, Raphael's finest frescoes and ancient Egyptian cat mummies dipped in gold. At the very end is what I had been waiting nearly 20 years for, the Sistine Chapel. As a girl I had wanted to get married there since I love the frescoed ceiling. If you cannot tell by the reoccurring theme, I really like Michaelangelo and this was his greatest painted masterpiece. The Sistine Chapel is the end of the museum and where the most people pack in. Even though the say no photography and no talking, there are always several disrespectful people and the let down of this is that almost all of them were Americans. And we wonder why we have a bad reputation around the world when it comes to being tourists. St Peter's Basilica was the next stop where you could still see all the seating from the mass the day before and Bush's visit. The Basilica is awe inspiring. America certainly has no churches as spectacular as Europe, let alone this specific church. Mummified popes and Michaelangelo's Pietà that is now behind glass since some moron hit Mary on the toe with a hammer. The dome of this basilica is much more impressive then the Florence one, so we had to climb that as well. We were so tired, but knew this was our one chance to climb to the top and look out over Rome. We did not regret it. Yet another Michaelangelo feat to experience since he was supposed to originally do the Florence Duomo but was called upon by the church to do this one, which is even bigger and better. We did not even cheat and take the lift partway, we walked all 550 steps. Once reaching the ground level again, we descended to the crypts to see the pope sarcophagi. Pope John Paul II had many mourners, but the most gathered tomb was for Peter himself. The found his remains buried within a large burial pit not to long ago and they determined that it was the original Peter. As we were leaving somehow we ended up with a tour that we were not supposed to be on and got to see some toehr burial things. Who knows what we were looking at, but we were not supposed to be and that made it all the more fun! After leaving the Piazza del Campidoglio by Michaelangelo we ended at the Castel Sant' Angelo where in olden times the pope would take refuge. We had a nice walk along the Tiber river before heading back to the hotel where I promptly launched myself on the bed and fell straight to sleep from exhaustion and mental overload.

With our last full day we decided to head out to Via Appia Antica where all the catacombs are located. We decided to take the Metro out as far as it would take us and sort of wing the rest of the way and hope the signs would point us in the right direction. We found the little turn off, up a very narrow road that cars were driving like maniacs down. We hugged the walls as closely as we could, crossing where it was wider in areas and got into alcoves along the way before finally coming upon the first set of catacombs. They were packed, but we wanted to see where Saint Peter and Paul were originally buried after being martyred. We found the pathway off the road and were much safer there. The catacombs are very interesting and creepy of course. There are 7 miles worth of tunnels below ground. I could only imagine what they would have smelled like back in the day, and all traces of human remains are long since turned to dust there. The tombs were so small, just tucked up into the wall stacked three or four high to the low ceilings. At the end of the tour they showed where the original Roman pagan tombs were, with all of the cremains inside. These were at one time open to the sky, but a church had been built over them hundreds of years later. The only reason these catacombs were found is when they went to resupport the floor of the church, they found the old pagan tombs below. Luck of the draw. We had a nice walk back, not along the scary road, and enjoyed our last meal in Rome before heading home. If I never make it back to Italy, which I do hope to soon, I had seen everything that I had my heart set on, everything else it just a bonus!

Nothing like stepping off a plane from Italy and being able to say, 'I love being back in Sunny Ireland', and meaning every word of it!