awesome

so connecticut is pretty awesome.

i got home from work a little bit ago, and i had a great first day!
while it was a long day 9am to 10pm it was a lot of fun.
i had a great time with the kids, learning more about what i'll be doing, and getting the whole process. i'm really excited to get to do things with the next group, and less of an observation. but watching how it is done is great, because otherwise i'd be like ahhhh! but i had fun helping out and doing everything.
this job really reminds me how much i love working with kids, and miss working with them in a fun environment!
so it was definitely the right choice in chosing to come here :)

and in other omg exciting news - i am now helping to coach crew!
amy is a coach for a local team and i'm going to be volunteering when i can.
which i am soooooooooo excited about!
i went to practice with her on monday afternoon and i forgot how much i missed rowing.
it was their first practice for the spring, so it was just getting boats ready and rigging.
so lots of moving of boats.
i'll mostly be working with the coxswains, giving them advice and pointers.
so i am soooo excited to be helping out and getting some coaching experience!

so i am pretty tired, i worked a 13 hour day today and i have a 14 hour day tomorrow.
thank you for tea and coke.
yay caffeine!

connecticut

i'm in connecticut!

the drive up was fabulous and my car is amazing!
i didn't hit any traffic and it took less time than i thought it would, which is always a plus.
so i've decided that xm radio is amazing.
my car comes with a 3 month subscription and i pretty much listened to country music the 3 hour drive hopping back and forth between between 2 stations and it made me happy.
and my car = awesome.
it has bluetooth equiped. so i just had to set my phone up to recognize it, and so when someone calls it turns off the radio, and says incoming call and the number pops up on my radio and i just hit a button on my wheel and can talk. it was soooo cool!

so i'm all moved in - my room is decorated. i've got my cork flag on the wall and some pictures.
i'll take pictures soon and of the rest of the house.

then amy and a bunch of us went to the new diner to check it out. it was pretty good, and since i'm from jersey i do know a thing or two about diners.

and now amy and i have just been hanging out and she is trying to get me to like hannah montana... eeeeek!

and YAY for carolina winning tonight. and uconn is still in so there is hope for a conn/carolina final!! which if that happens should be amazing - especially between amy and i!

time for bed!

hope everyone had a great weekend :)

new car

I just signed over my life away for the next 5 years and bought a car!
YAY!

I decided to go with the 2009 Chevy Cobalt.
I went with silver.
And she is soooo pretty!

my new car!!

She is so pretty!
me and my car

I like the way she drives, she is small and just what I was looking for.
It was a little fancier than what I was looking for but I got a pretty good deal. So I am happy about that.
So I am quite excited about my car!
Here she is!

Now I just need to think of a good name.


I can't believe I am going to Connecticut tomorrow!
Must start packing! Luckily I have a car, so it doesn't have to be carefully packed. So that makes it a lot easier. I've almost forgot how nice it was to travel with a car!

The last few days were just waking up early to take my mom to work, coming back watching Regis and Kelly (I absolutely love this show!) then I would run errands, a lot of them involved going to car dealers and car shopping, meet my mom for lunch and then do a few other errands or whatever I needed to do. Pick my mom up from work, dinner, watch some fabulous American tv actually on tv! I was quite excited to watch Grey's and Private Practice! I think the last time I was able to actually watch it when it was aired was the finale in 2007! And I've also been watching some March Madness! My bracket is still going strong - my 4 final 4 teams are all still in! And I still have Louisville, Michigan State, Conn, Carolina, Nova and Pitt - with my final 4 being Carolina, Conn, Pitt and Louisville! So I've enjoyed watching basketball, and I watched a FAB lacrosse game on espn today between Maryland and Virginia. It went into 7 overtimes!! 7! It was the longest game in college lacrosse history! And it was just some great lacrosse. I miss going to games. Sadly, MD lost 10-9. But it was an amazing game.

Going to dinner with my parents tonight, and then finishing up the packing. I'm sooo excited about Connecticut and my job!

back in the us

So I'm back in the States.

It has been a busy busy few days, since I've been back.
Everything on Tuesday was fine with the flight - nothing too unusual.
The man at the check in counter was awesome - he didn't charge me for overweight bags and since all 3 of my bags were over it was pretty nice of him, I just had to pay for the third bag. But I did look slightly ridiculous with all my bags. But the flight was usual transatlanticness. I did cry a little as the flight took off, but that was expected.

It was great to see my Dad when he picked me up. And we drove home, stopping to meet my mom for lunch and since we had some time, we stopped at a few car dealerships to look at cars. I don't really know what I want. I know what I want but not the specific car. I want a 2009 4 door small car with a/c and power windows/locks/doors and I'm looking to spend under about $17,000. But other than that I'm not asking for much. So far I've liked the Chevy Cobalt and the Hyundai Accent or Elantra. I didn't test drive anything because I was on a plane for 7 hours and haven't driven in a few months. So in a few hours I'm headed by myself! to Nissan (I haven't talked to them yet) and then Chevy and Hyundai to test drive and talk some more, so I can talk to my Dad and then we can go again and choose. It is completely my decision as I'm the one who is buying the car and everything, but when I actually do things I'd like to have my Dad there. So any recommendations?

I also got a phone yesterday! YAY! I got a LG enV2 in maroon. Which I like so far. My sister has the older one and likes it. And I wanted something pretty. And my little brother gave me a website to check out where you can upload songs and then create ringtones from them for free. So I've been having fun with that! Any good recommendations for ringtones? So yea, other than that just attempting to unpack, and I'm doing all my laundry, as a lot of my clothes felt damp. And attempting to clean my room slightly before re-packing again to move to Connecticut on Sunday! So just lots going on.

A few things I do love about being home:
.snuggling with the kittens
.buttered rolls and vitamin water
.being able to easily watch american tv
.being on the same time zone with most of my friends
.driving
.country music
.sunshine


Anyway, I'd better get going, looots to do today!

it has been one amazing experience

The last 19 months have been amazing. There is no other way to put it. I was lucky enough to be able to achieve one of my dreams – getting to go back and live in Ireland. It was my goal pretty much from the moment I was flying back to the US from my study abroad experience in Autumn 2005. All I wanted was to be back in Ireland. And I was able to do it. Once I had my acceptance for graduate school – and that was one of the best days of my life, it meant I was coming back.

And since September 2007 I have had one incredible journey in Ireland.

I ….

. moved to Ireland with 167 pounds of luggage. 1 at 67 pounds and 2 exactly at 50.

. graduated with a first class honours degree in history

. wrote a 21,000 word thesis on Irish domestic servants

. lived in three different houses

. went on approximately 40 hikes with the club

. spent countless hours at the climbing wall

. confronted many ghosts from my time studying abroad

. sat behind a computer at work for waaaaaaaaay too many hours

. traveled to England, Scotland, Wales, Greece, England again, Northern Ireland, England for a third time, Spain, Italy, and England.

. had one of the best 5 days hiking in Donegal with the club in April

. spent Christmas 2007 away from my family

. was able to re-connect with friends from study abroad

. heard the Irish side of the M. story from my friends

. had the most awkward weekend of my life in Dingle seeing M. for the first time in 2 years.

. met Kara at the post-grad orientation and had some crazy adventures!

. found a million ways to avoid writing the thesis

. had two amazing vacations to the States – July 2008 and Christmas 2008.

. showed my parents and little brother all around the country I love so much

. a few visits from friends living in Europe – Kathryn, Megan (twice)

. randomly saw a few friends who were visiting – Meg, Jenna,

. after 2 years of being friends finally was able to meet Jenna -“the other girl” and spend some time reminiscing in Cork and loving every second of it

. had two very amazing nights at the clubs&socs ball

. had my co-workers write a poem about me

. college roomie came over and we played around Ireland and then went to Spain

. drove 1000km around Ireland

. lead an outdoor climb

. traveled by myself – a lot

. wrote a lot of emails to my friends

. and even more gchats and im’s

. randomly made out with 12 guys – i believe all were drunken makeouts?

. after three years met up with M’s best friend but it was great to see Dave

. took approximately 8,000 photos - seriously. i am not lying.

. wrote 2900 words on Irish women in Great Britain and 2500 on female emigration to the US

. had the best summer roomie ever and enjoyed our Tuesday Grey’s and Private Practice evenings

. went to the cinema more than I had in the last 10 years

. went to an art gallery opening and appeared in the paper

. read approximately 200 books or journal articles for my thesis

. flew 30 times

. had a few fabulous reunion phone calls with my wac and crewies

. counted more money than I will ever see in my lifetime

. twice liked guys who happened to be 3000 miles away

. spent waaay too much money

. drank countless pints of Beamish and Kopparberg

. been asked where I'm from more times than I can count and heard stories about people they knew who lived there or the time they visited the states

. am now knowledgeable on Irish housing laws

. I've gotten to meet and become friends with soooooooooo many amazing people

. felt like the American political correspondent to Cork

. cartwheeled allll over Europe and Ireland

. made some amazing friendships

. been extremely lucky to be able to get to come back and live in my favourite place.

So I'm in the airport and will be boarding soon. So while the Irish adventures might be coming to an end, the American adventures are juuuuust beginning. And while they might not be the same as the sheep and easy European travel stories, believe me, they are juuuuust as crazy!

all my bags are packed...

but i'm not ready to go.

i'm packed.
after struggling with the 3 bags and wrestling with them to get them closed. i can say i am packed. i still have a few things out - that will go into my carry-on. but i will not open up the 2 suitcases or my pack again because i honestly don't think i can close them again. it will also be interesting to see how much my bags weigh... i'm hoping only 1 is over the 50 pounds or maybe i'll get someone nice who will pitty me?

it still doesn't feel real.

i can't believe i am leaving.

it seems like it was just yesterday i was soooooooo excited about coming back and arriving in cork and who knew when i would be leaving - 2009 seemed so far away.
but in about 30 hours i will be sitting in an airplane and flying away.

tomorrow is going to be crazy - my to-do list is crazy. i have a bunch of last minute errands to run, meeting brenda for tea, sharon for lunch, popping into work and saying one last goodbye to the city all before 6. i'm catching the 6.25pm bus to shannon airport, spending the night at the hotel there and will be checking in at around 5.30 am for my 8am flight on tuesday morning. and arriving in new jersey at approximately 11.30 am on tuesday.

it is my last night in cork.

my emotions are allll over the place right now.
i hate saying goodbye.
it was weird walking through the city yesterday and today knowing it was going to be one of last times walking down patrick's, through the english market, popping into tesco, passing st. finbarr's... all the little things i do on a daily basis.
i think the weirdest thing is knowing the next time i'm back i'll just be visting. i was lucky last time to be able to come back to live. and especially after this time i've gotten to know the city so much better and i've made it my home.

i'm just hoping the transition is better this time than the last. i was on an emotional roller coaster for a year after i studied abroad (but a lot of that had to do with m...) but i'll be in conn this time next week. how crazy?!? and i am totally looking forward to it. i can't wait to start my job there, i have a stack of readings for the plane on whales and ships and i'm looking forward to having a car again. so while i'm not ready to leave, i am excited for the future.

it just doesn't feel real.

i love irish rugby.

today was incredible.
i just watched an amazing and historic day in irish sporting history.
ireland won the "grand slam" in the 6 nations rugby tournament.
for the first time in 61 years.
they were undefeated in the competition.
they beat france, italy, england, scotland and then wales.
it was pretty epic, especially this game. it was intense!
the last time ireland won 6 nations was in 1985.
so it was incredible.

it was an EXTREMELY close match.
17-15. in the last few seconds of the match wales had a penalty kick and somehow the rugby gods loved ireland today, and it was short. i've never seen a crowd erupt like that, when the kick fell short. it was pure shock, like OMG we did it. it was close the entire match, wales didn't score any tries, just goals. and the majority of those points were due to ireland penalties...
o'driscoll's try was juuuuust over the line, and it was quite exciting! because at half it was 6-0 wales, so now it was 7-6. and like 2 minutes later bowe had the most amazing interception and ran the ball down the pitch and that try was just glorious. but after 2 more goals on the welsh side and time was running low. it was getting close 14-12, and then when wales got another goal with five minutes left - it wasn't looking good. the scene in the pub was nerves, and then ronan's drop goal with 2 minutes left was incredible. and then the last second penatly goal.... ahhhfhsfhshfhhhh!

it was so much fun, i was with a few friend from the club, one who is half welsh and was the only person cheering for wales in the pub - and his best friend who is a huuuuge irish supporter. so their banter throughout the match was priceless, soooo funny. and then a few other people who i haven't seen in a while, so it was just a fabulous way to spend my saturday evening.

and it was honestly the best rugby match i've ever seen.

oh and prince william was the one giving them all their medals... so that made it more fun.


sooooo much going on the last few days, i've been redic busy with everything, but lots of funny stories from clubs&socs ball, being holy hungover, last day at work, meeting the ex's best friend for drinks, the horror of packing and the last few irish memories. so lots of updating soon!

march madness

So one of my favourite times of the year is about to start tomorrow!
MARCH MADNESS!

I love college basketball and those few weeks of March are just soo much fun! The first two days with 32 games! and seeing who all the upsets are and it is just great. I love filling out brackets and getting into bets with friends. My dad and I discuss our picks, and he laughs at my choices but somehow I usually do better than he does. Especially living abroad it is harder to keep track of the regular season games, I check espn.com about twice a week to check and see how Carolina is doing. But I'm not all on top of it, luckily CBS sportsonline is available worldwide for March Madness, so last year I was able to watch bits of the Carolina games and a few others, and I'll try to watch some of them this year. I was gchatting with my Dad Sunday night, over Selection Sunday and the picks. So I've filled out my bracket and I'm ready for tomorrow to start!

I predict that Carolina, Pittsburgh, UConn and Michigan State will make the final 4. I'm saying the final game is going to be Carolina and UConn with Carolina winning it!
My Elite 8 are Louisville, Michigan State, UConn, Memphis, Pittsburgh, Villanova, Carolina, Syracuse. So it will be interesting to see what happens.

And the computer model also says Carolina is going to win too!

And Obama is playing too!

I really hope I'm right about Conn/Carolina because that would just be so much fun. I'll be living in Conn cheering for Carolina and roomie and I would have an epic bet!
In college my friends and I did brackets and we had then taped up on the walls of the dorm and would update them - and sophomore year when it was Carolina/Illinois - Amy and I had a bet going on the final. Who ever won got to dress up the other the next day. And here is how Amy had to go around campus allllll day!

i turned her into electric spandex barbie!

So is anyone else excited for March Madness?

The rest of my Patrick's Day was fab! Brenda and I made a fab curry. I'm totally going to miss easy curry's - and there are so many different curry sauces available here! Then we decided to head into town around 9 to listen to some trad music. Well that turned into an adventure. The first pub An Spailpin Fanach which has trad music almost every night, wasn't playing... They had been playing earlier in the afternoon. So I enjoyed my pint of Beamish and Brenda and I chatted and laughed, and then after we went out to find us some music. So we walked through town and past about 5 places, stopping outside listening to see if we heard music. And we decided to head out to the Northside of town to Sin e, where of course there was music! It was a fabulous pub, I can't believe I haven't been there before, but it is about a 25 minute walk from where I live and all the way on the other side of town. But the music was worth it, there was some Sean nos singing as well and it was just happy. I enjoyed my pint of Guinness and more chatting and just feeling happy and loving the scene at the pub.

Things are getting crazy, the ball is tomorrow!! Which I am so excited for! Tonight is my last Wednesday with the club at the pub and I'm just going through all the little things, making plans to meet people, packing, writing out the million to-do lists.

everyone's irish on march 17th.

Lá Fhéile Phádairg Shone Daoibh!!

from Guinness Storehouse in Dublin

Hope everyone is having a fun day being Irish! It is kinda funny, though at least in my experience St. Patrick's Day is celebrated quite different in the US than in Ireland. I went to a parade in the Cork city centre, which was quite funny. Cork may be the second largest city in Ireland, but don't let that fool you. The parade is small and just fun to watch. The weather is GORGEOUS today, like sunny and about 50, so there were a lot of people about town for the parade. Everyone was wearing green, some had flags, other had hats a few people were all decked out, but the streets of the city were lined with people. The parade itself lasted about 45 minutes, though we were right at the start, so for people further along it lasted longer. And it was a few community groups, marching bands, some military and a lot of different national groups in Cork - a lot of the African nations, Poland, Serbia, India, Bangladesh.... It was like last years which was a shock, because I didn't know what to expect last year. So it was fun, Brenda and I enjoyed it, and walking around the streets. We found a nice spot in the sunshine to watch the festivities.

start of the parade - marching band

brenda and i - i swear i'm wearing green!

Afterwards we decided it was such a nice day so we headed to my favourite park in town - Fitzgerald Park and brought tea and just relaxed in the sunshine, along the river. It was glorious, and didn't feel like March! On nice days last spring Kara and I would head to the park and sit and read and I've really missed doing that. And you could tell it was one of the first days because everyone was in the park, and even better that the amazing weather fell on a holiday! Tonight Brenda is coming over for some dinner - making Chicken Curry (totally Irish, haha) and then we are heading into town for a few pints - gotta have my Guinness today! We are going to one of my favourite pubs - An Spailpin Fanach and enjoying our pints with some trad music. I love a great session! I've had Riverdance, The Chieftains and other trad music playing on my itunes all day today. So that should be a fun night!

such a gorgeous day in the park!

Last night.... wowwww! It was my work going away party and it was a fabulous night! We all met up for dinner and spent a few hours talking, eating great food and just being happy. I'm really going to miss my co-workers. While the work might not be the best, at least you never know what you are going to be dealing with, and it is usually different, my co workers have kept me laughing the last year and a half. So they surprised me with a few gifts, a gorgeous necklace, a university t-shirt and a book on the university as well as a poem. When I was out on Friday my boss asked the girls for things on me, and his wife wrote it into a poem - and it was brilliant!

Ode to Erin
Erin (last name) can it be true
Tranquility has a hold on you
New Jersey beckons, hear it call
Homeward bound, farewell y'all!

But what will happen in ASA
When you're not here to save the day
Finding files, who's got a pen?
Can you change that doc again?

Poor old Sharon will be sad
Bending banannas gets her all mad
David's writing what does it say??
Translation please Erin K

Music touches your very soul
The Rascal Flatts and Snow Patrol
Romantic comedies you can't resist
But sweet Love Actually tops the list

Mountaineering up "the Reeks"
The hilight of your busy week
There's time for rowing, wheres the crew
Go fetch Hillary and Barack too

Your love of history stands the test
Except for Eamon whom you detest
Your camera captured many scenes
But who ate all the jelly beans? (except the purple ones)

Reece's Pieces taste so neat
'tho chocolate brownies are hard to beat
You love to travel, you love to spend
Your love of bags will never end

And so I urge you, raise your glass
To Erin, one outstanding lass
You will be missed and that's no lie
It's Bon Voyage, but not goodbye....

with the girls from work

So after we got kicked out of the restaurant the girls, Trish and I went out. Now with today being a national holiday, town was MAD. Most peope would be going out last night, when they don't have to worry about work the next day, so we picked a late bar that wasn't tooo crazy and sat and talked more and had a few more drinks. Around 2 I was quite drunk and tired, so we decided to call it a night. And this morning woke up with quite a hangover! uuuuuuuugh! Luckily I was able to sleep in and enjoy the morning before heading into town for the parade.

So it was a faaaaabulous St. Patrick's Day so far and tonight should be fab as well! Hope everyone has a great day as well!!

it was like we were giving out fake names...

Back from a fun weekend in London!

I absolutely LOVE London! It is my second favourite city in the world - after NYC.

I went this weekend for a little sorority reunion. I am a part of the UK/Europe alumni group for my sorority and when I have the chance, I pop over for an event. They meet about once a month for dinner in London and then another 3-4 times a year either a Saturday or weekend somewhere. Last April I went over for the first time for the weekend in Cambridge, which was soooo much fun! I loved getting to meet other sisters who were living in Europe, some there for a short time like me and others much more permanent. It is a very fluctuating group, as many people are only over for 1-2 years, so a lot of the people I met last year are no longer over. I hadn’t been able to make it over to anything recently, I was home in July for Race for Life and couldn’t go to Spain in October, but when I was in London in December I was able to meet up with 5 ladies for dinner, which was great! So I was really looking forward to this weekend, plus a sister from my undergrad who I am friends with is now doing a MA in London, and 2 other sisters from WAC who are also living in Europe were in London for the weekend as well!

Friday I headed to the airport for my flight and go into the London centre around 3 and easily found Jackie's place. We caught up - which was great because I hadn't seen her in 3 years!! And then we headed off to the Victoria and Albert Museum, but we got distracted walking by Kensington Gardens, and ended up frolicking through them and seeing Peter Pan!

Peter Pan staute in Kensington!

Then we headed to the V&A and enjoyed the museum, we didn't have much time but what we saw was fun! And it was just great to catch up with Jackie. The we met up with two other sisters who were spending the weekend in London - Ebeth and Leah and had a great dinner and catching up on life in four different European countries, funny memories from WAC and life. After dinner we headed out to a few bars, and it was fun. The cosmo I had with dinner was fab! I forgot how much I LOVE girly drinks, I only ever drink pints or cider here. And it was funny when a guy and his friend were talking to us and was like where are you from? And 4 American girls each respond with London, Ireland, France and Spain, it totally looked like we were making it up! The guy totallly didn't believe us. And honestly if I was told this I wouldn't believe it either! So it was a fun night!

leah-spain, jackie-london, me and ebeth -france

Saturday Jackie and I headed into Windsor for the London sorority event. It was at one of the member's houses and there were 10 of us there and we got there about 1.30 and left at 8.30 and from the moment I walked in the door my wine glass was never empty! I must have had about 7 glasses of red wine, and it was great wine, mostly Spanish. It was great though getting to see a few women I've met a few times and getting to meet a few new ones. So lots of fun talk, about life, random events, we had on the 6 Nations rugby for a few of the husbands that came with, and I was totally keeping my eye on that! I was sooo mad Wales beat Italy, it really looked like Italy was going to pull off a major upset. But Ireland beat Scotland, in a good game, they played ehhh, the first half but pulled it off in the second. This weekends match against Wales determines the 6 Nations Champ! If Ireland wins, they are champs and they beat all 5 teams. If they loose, they still could win 6 Nations, but it depends on points and such. I'm going to miss rugby. So back to sorority, I had a great time and wish I was closer so I would have been able to see these women more, so I can't wait to join an alumni chapter wherever I end up!

Jackie and I took the train back with another sister, a much later train than we planned, but Jill kept opening more bottles of wine! And quickly changed and made our way out. I was honestly more looking forward to bed, than going out. Wine when drank quickly gets me drunk, 7 glasses over an afternoon makes me tired and slightly drunk. So we met up with one of Jackie's friends, and didn't stay out long. We were both tired and the guys with her friend were slightly sketchy.

Sunday Jackie and I had made plans to meet up with the other 2 girls for brunch along Portabello Road/Market (made famous by Notting Hill) but they changed plans and didn't really let us know... so time was wasted waiting for them. But we did have fun wandering about the Market, I bough a few things. I'm a sucker for markets and stalls. And we did have an amazing brunch ourselves! But with the waiting and such, we ran out of time so I didn't get over to the British Museum, instead I had to head back to Jackie's to get my bag and head to Heathrow.

So overall it was a fabulous weekend in London. Funnily enough I didn't go over to Big Ben at all, something I've done every other time I've been in London. I just love the area around Parliament and seeing it, always reminds me of my first view of it. It was great to see the London girls again and the next time I'm in London I'll definitely be letting them know and meeting up for dinner with whoever! And seeing Jackie was great, I've really missed seeing people I know, and it was a fun little reunion in London with the girls :)

So it has honestly taken me forever to write this, I don't know why?

Can't believe this is my last week. eeeeeeeek!!

i love internet circa 1998

so work has been omg busy the last two days. i usually get a chance to read my reader after i do all the morning things.. in between people coming in and phone calls which is most of the day after about 10.30. unless i've been giving something else to work on or can find something that needs to be done. but the last two days with awards yesterday and ticket sales today, i've been busy so my reader was neglected at work. so i figure when i have some time when i'm home after work... until my internet starts acting up. i can not wait to be in a country where internet is decent, here my internet at home is seriously like 1998 dial up. it goes down whenever it wants, looses the signal and could be down for 25 seconds or 36 minutes, usually the 36 minutes when i'm having a conversation with someone. so the last two days the internet just hasn't been reliable. grrrrrrrrrrr.

so london is tomorrow!!! YAY! i am so excited to see jackie o! and ebeth and leah! they are all a year younger than me in my sorority and all also currently living in europe and we (except jackie) all chose to come to london this weekend. i chose it because there is a sorority alumni event in windsor which i am looking forward to seeing all the amazing women i've meet before and meeting the one's i haven't. and as an added bonus seeing girls i loved from undergrad :) and LONDON! my second favourite city in the world!

i just got home from an amazing dinner with brenda, i had a voucher from work as a congratulations on my thesis, i'd been saving. and so we went and it was fantastic! and little did we realize 3 hours later we were still sitting there talking! and today at lunch i saw kara, steph and eibhlin for the last time. it was sad, but i know i'll at least see kara again and hopefully the other girls.

it is just crazy how fast time is flying!

and just to show you how craptastic my internet is it went out twice while writing this, once for 3 minutes and the second time for about 12. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

poker face

Last night was so much fun! Despite not feeling well (stupid head cold! I am soo congested!) it is getting to the stage where I'm going out because there are only a few days left. And with Kara leaving for a wedding/vacation on Monday, this was our last week to do something and it was going to happen. So we decided to do little black dress and see where the night took us. We all met over at Kara's for an amazing dinner. And sat around talking, Sex & The City was on in the background, drinking and just laughing. Right before we left to head out they made me cry with a card full of funny memories, and it was then it hit me how soon I was leaving. Yesterday marked two weeks left. So after attempting to use the self timer and get a group photo - this was the best we came up with...

eibhlin, steph, lorna, kara, sarah, me - not the best photo... oops!

kara and i

So Kara and I decided we needed to go to some of our favourite places so we naturally started at Costigans, one of my favourite pubs in the city and last year was the scene of many of our crazy/redic nights. So unfortunately it was quite quiet, but we still had fun. We had our drinks and talked mostly about boobs and sex... Kara and I also reminisced about the many funny occasssions over the last year and a half. Such as how we met, singing on the walk home from the pubs, thesis craziness, our countless nights out, chips at 2am, sex and the city wine night, pub quizes, all the dinners and countless trips into town. So while we were sitting there we were given free passes into a club - The Classic. So why not, it is one of the better clubs and it was free. So it was still only a little after 11, so slightly too early to go into the club.

kara, steph and i at costigans

So we decided to go the the Classic pub - there is a pub downstairs and the club is upstairs. The pub is nice, a slightly older crowd, often has good live music. So we went for a quick drink, and just as we were about to go upstairs. I hear someone call my name. I look up and it is Dave. My ex M'sbest friend. Now here is where it gets funny. So Dave and I kept in touch on facebook, random messages/happy birthdays... He was in NYC right around the time I moved to Cork, then he was in London and Spain. So in January when Amy and I were going to Madrid I sent him a message, and well he was back in Cork, so I suggested meeting up for a pint and just got his number like 2 weeks ago. And it was just yesterday (seriously) I got around to texting him,

and we made plans to meet up next week, because he was off to the US for a few days. So how hilarious, that I run into him in town. So we only talked for a second, but I'm now excited to see him next week. I was slightly nervous about meeting him, so it was great to just accidentely see him. Plus I looked really good last night! haha! So that was the random part of the evening, but welcome to my life!

So after that we headed upstairs to the club, now I'm not the biggest fan of clubbing. It is fun once in a while, and then I remember why I don't go that often. But it was fun to dance with the girls and it totally reminded me of the Dane Cook sketch. Dude, I just wanna dance! -

The girls go. Girls go to DANCE. You get ready with your friends,
"Let's go dance tonight! Let's just- fuck guys tonight.

Which was pretty true.. But it was quite amusing and we had fun. When Lady GaGa's - Poker Face came on it made me laugh, because a radio DJ on the station we listen to at work did this hilarious video (and it was the most watched video in Ireland the next day) and now honestly whenever I hear the song which is about 4 times a day at work - (each of the 4 DJ's during the day play it) I think of this song. As we all did last night with this picture.

poke her facing...

the hilarious video!

So I lasted until slightly after 1... I'd been at work all day, not feeling well, and tired of the clubbing. So we left and Kara and I walked towards home the way we used to last year. She was going to her bf's and of course we stopped at our favourite chipper and did what we did all last year a bag of chips, split it in two with vinegar on her half and just salt on mine. Sang the fish & chips song and walked down the street singing BBMak. And just laughing. So it was a really fabulous night and while our friendship had changed the last few months, last night wasa great way to end our time in Ireland together. And we know we'll see each other again and keep in touch.

So nothing else too unsual, had the best email when I woke up this morning. Jclark sent all of us the newest Rascal song - Here Comes Goodbye, which came out on itunes yesterday and a few memories of when we went to their concert in NC our senior year of college. So that made me smile. Had lunch with Karen from the club, and then met a fellow American in Cork for dinner. It is sad we only met about a month ago, I love hanging out with her and just talking. And I'm off to the pub later tonight to see a few club people.

Time to work on packing and going through all of my stuff - not fun. But London is this weekend!

more blog love

so recently i've been honored with some blog lovin!

-the amazing katie over at can i just say tagged me in the lemonade award!
-a fellow american abroad steph over at the adventures of jon and steph tagged me in the love ya award!
-and my fellow ireland lover pam over at relish gave me the your blog is fabulous award!

so with the craziness of the last few weeks i've been neglecting my blog love so here it is :)

LEMONADE



1. Thank the person who was so thoughtful for giving you this award by linking their blog to this post.
2. Put the logo on your blog or post.
3. Nominate 10 blogs which show great attitude/gratitude.
4. Link your nominees to your post.
5. Comment them to tell them about the award they've won!

So thank you to Katie for this one! I love her blog, we share a very similar taste in books, she teaches middle school english and her posts always make me laugh!

and the award goes to...

- there ain't no devil by - shady
- winston salem's lone beatnik - tom
-breakfast at walmart - nicole
-the manhattan transfer - amy
- pearls and bows - sheila
-one safe place - kristin
- sharon's space - sharon
- french kiss - jlc
- relish - pam
- pipe dreams and professions - elle

LOVE YA

So here's what the "Love Ya" award is all about:

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award!"

Thanks to Steph for this one! I love reading about her adventures with her husband all over Europe and their life in Germany!

and the award goes to...
- can i just say - katie
- martinis, manolos and margaritas - callie
- classy in philadelphia - jess
- lucy the valiant - lucy
-writing is my therapy - carolyn
- the post wac sketches - amy
-transient travels - susan
-kyla bea - kyla

YOUR BLOG IS FABULOUS

The abfab Pam - Relish gave me this one. Pam and I have bonded over Irish experiences and I looove reading her blog. She has recently written about a few hilarious childhood and adult experiences that have had me laughing.

So now it's your turn to spread the love. You must nominate ten blogs, link their blogs, and mention my blog in order to get this fabulous award.

and the award goes to...

-never sure of where i'm going - kelly
-laughing with the sun - em
-adventures of jon and steph - steph
-confessions of a jersey girl - rachel
-it's like i'm....mmmagic - brandy
-life in the left lane - bing
-pinknic - nic
-a blog of her own - shaba
-a blog - miss marie
-high heel diaries - high heel gal

so thank you girls for your love and i'm getting around to leaving a comment in everyone's blog :)

dublin

Brenda and I went up to Dublin for quick weekend trip and it was a lot of fun. Dublin isn't one of my favourite places, actually I'm not the biggest fan of it. I've been three weekends now and while I've had fun each time and enjoyed it, but if you are coming to Ireland I wouldn't say spend a lot of time in Dublin. I prefer the west better, and the way I see it there isn't much to do in Dublin and there is very little that makes Dublin special and it isn't a pretty city.
But Brenda and I had a great time!

Saturday we met at the ungodly hour of 6.30 to catch the 7am bus up and getting into the city at 11 so we would have most of the day - if we waited the next bus wasn't until 9 and we wouldn't have gotten up until 1. It was nice going to a city you know your way around enough and Brenda had been up a lot too, so we dropped off our bags and set off for Trinity. She had never seen the Book of Kells and the Long Room at Trinity so we decided to start there. The Book of Kells is pretty cool, I wish you could see more of it they only actually have 2 pages of it on display. But it is a gorgeous illuminated manuscript from the 800s and considering how many times the monastry has been pillaged, burned and destroyed amazing that the book is still surviving. And the Long Room at Trinity is incredible. Holds over 200,000 of Trinity's oldest books and also has the oldest harp in Ireland (their national symbol) as well as an original 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic - which started the Easter Rising. And I want a library like this.

putting my sneaky photo taking ability to work again - long room - trinners

After walking about Trinners for a bit we headed to St. Stephen's Green for lunch. The weather was nice so we grabbed rolls and went and sat and enjoyed the sunshine. The person at the deli counter was definitely laughing at me - they didn't have any tuna for my usual staple for my roll - tuna, mayo, sweetcorn, lettuce and cheese. So I went with a curry chicken, butter, lettuce and crutons. I was like whatever, I saw the crutons and decided why not? Plus I've seen some people put even wierder combos on theirs. Whatever. It was yummy. After lunch we headed to the National History and Archaeology Museum and saw the coolest thing ever. They had an exhibit on Bog Bodies. Bogs are amazing at preserving and it is almost like they've been mummified and they've recently (2003) found a few in Ireland - they are over 2000 years old and just incredible. They have 4 on display and one still has hair, another's hand is perfectly preserved and they were just so interesting. After that we wanted to go to the Natural History Museum, but it was being renovated, so we went to the National Gallery and admired some art. And then we went and said hello to Oscar Wilde's statue and then headed back for a bit of a break before dinner.

Brenda and I outside the National Gallery

Of course it was pouring when we headed to dinner, but we found an amazing Italian restuarant and had a fabulous dinner. We spoiled ourselves with a bottle of wine - I love Chilian red wine! And again the waiter laughed at me - I ordered chicken in a white wine mushroom sauce, and when he saw me picking out the mushrooms - he was like are you ok? I explained I like the sauce and flavour but I don't like the actual texture of the mushrooms. I'm weird when it comes to food. And then we headed back and I had a bottle of Malibu that needed to be drunk - so we sat around talking and laughing while enjoying the Malibu. It was around now when her Mum called letting us know about the paper, so of course that made us even more excited! After we were happy we headed out to Temple Bar and had fun dancing in a pub/club.

Sunday we slept in and headed out to St. James Gate for Guinness. Neither of us had done it before and it was pretty awesome. While it was slightly expensive €11 for students. It was worth it. The museum/how it was made part was great. Very awesome. I loved the advertisement section and the history. It is the 250th anniversary of Guinness this year, so lots on that. We chose to pull our own pints instead of drinking it in the Gravity Bar, but the view of Dublin was amazing from up there!

pulling my pint

our pints - they could have used a bigger head

After Guinness we walked along the River Liffey and took some pictures and then headed up O'Connell Street. And just walked around the city and enjoyed Dublin. And I had to get my picture with Molly Malone - whose statue is like tits magee.

molly and i

So we caught the 5 bus back to Cork and of course it was late... and raining and cold while waiting, and for some reason the bus just made me sick. Major headache, grrrr.

So can't belive I only have 2 weeks left. So much going on - I pretty much have plans everynight.
Hope everyone had a great weekend :)

i'm a socialite

this so earlier this week i went to the opening of a photography exhibit and while we were there admiring the photographs brenda and i were photographed by a cork paper. so i wasn't expecting our picture to make it and friday wasn't too surprised to not see it in the paper. last night while in dublin brenda got a text from her mum, you and erin made the echo! and you look like you are 15. one of her neighbours saw her picture and let her mom know. so we were quite excited, it was in the cork social scene section. so brenda and i joked around about being socialites and pretty soon paris hilton is going to be calling us asking to be our bff. so i'm trying to get my hands on a copy of the paper, hopefully brenda's mum was able to grab another copy. so that was super exciting. i've had my picture in the paper before for doing things/awards in high school and classes in college, but never just randomly. next thing ya know i'll be on page six. haha

dublin was faaaaaab! more about that tomorrow. i'm feeling like death from the bus, uggh. so just crashing, stupid headaches. listening to the new u2 cd. so far = amazing! though i've heard most of the songs on the radio already. 

has anyone else ever been in the paper for random things?

and for the next few weeks there is only a 4 hour difference from the east coast! yay! we don't go to daylight savings until the 28th, and i'll be home then anyway. that extra hour is so nice! 

photography exhibit

busy busy day yesterday!

a few weeks ago when i went to a small art gallery in cork i was invited to the opening of a photography exhibit and it was last night and so much fun! brenda and i went and it was really awesome. they had a band playing and lots of wine and amazing pastries. the exhibit was on photos of cork in conjunction with a local paper, so they had on display 62 photos of the last hundred years of cork. and they were just fabulous. it was fun to pick out the buildings from the 1930s and see what was there and what is here now. and i felt slightly important as i was invited and ther were some important cork people there. and it was fun to go to an opening!

view of the gallery and the projection of the photos

some people admiring a few of the shots - the one one the far left is when jfk came to cork in 1963

after that brenda and i went back to hers and ordered pizza and just relaxed and chatted and talked about dublin this weekend!

after that it was my friend karen's 21st party so i joined them at the pub for a few pints and some great talking and it was a great night :)

so in other news. i will be moving to connecticut!!! i decided to go with a job that is almost perfect for me in museum education and living with the college roomie. i am so excited! and now the prospect of moving back to the us isn't so bad. so i will be in conn from the end of march to the end of june :) and i'm very excited about the job, i'll be working with mostly middle school groups who come for 3 days and doing all sorts of fun things around the place. soooooo excited!

so two more weeks of work here, absolutely crazy how fast time is going. my to-do list is a mile long and the amount of stuff i've acquired is crazy, i really need to start going through everything and making piles and fingers crossed everything will fit in my bags!

i'm excited for lennox's curry chips and a movie with sharon later tonight and off to dublin bright and early in the morning with brenda to have a little fun. it's crazy since i moved back i haven't been to dublin, i'm not the biggest fan, but i would like to go again. i was in dublin twice in 2005, so it will be interesting to see how the city has changed and to have an adventure with brenda!

italia

ok, so i have a feeling this is going to be quite long...

so italy. wow! it was absolutely amazing! i loved it and just couldn't believe i was there sometimes. walking around the colosseum i was like, seriously, this is the colosseum, i was expecting to wake up from a dream. but it was real!

so i was up early wednesday morning. my flight to venice was from dublin, so i had two choices. take the bus or fly to dublin. i chose to fly, as i'd rather sit in the airport than on a bus for 4.5 hours on the windy irish roads. and then switch to the airport bus once in dublin. so unfortunately my flight was at 10am to dublin and my venice flight wasn't until 4.30. but i was ok with sitting in the airport for about 5 hours. i sat by arrivals for the longest time just watching all the happiness and reading/journaling. then i went upstairs to eat and allll over the news was the turkish airline crash that had happened earlier that morning, now that was the first i heard of it. which was interesting because as i landed in dublin a flight to amsterdam was boarding. not the best news as you are waiting for a flight. the flight was fine, nothing exciting. i landed in venice at 7.45 and was like eeeeee! i'm actually here! and then went to catch the actv - their public ferry system on the canals, but of course had juuuust missed the 8.10 one. so had to wait until 9.10, and i chatted with a nice american couple who were living in limerick, she was over on a fullbright. so that was fun talking with her. so we finally reached piazza san marco around 10.30 and even though it was dark it was awesome to finally see it. i wondered around and found my hotel quite quickly.  i didn't get lost! yay! so it was 11 and i was starving but couldn't find anything open close after my little wander, so just went to bed!

piazza a san marco

i was up bright and early thursday morning and ready to explore venice! the first thing i did was head back to piazza a san marco! so i could explore the basilica. and wow! 

inside basilica san marco

so i was a bad kid and took a picture from the upper part of the basilica. i just didn't know where to look, the ceilings were all amazing, the walls were all bare but it added to it, the floor was incredible and just all the detail everywhere. it looked from further away the upper parts of the wall and domes were just frescos, but upon closer looks they were all mosiacs. and i was just blown away. after walking around i went up to the museum and to get a closer look at some of the mosiacs and the view from the square. 

looking out towards the lagoon

after being completely awestruck from the basilica i wandered about, i decided not to go to the dodge's palace and instead wondered along the canals for most of the day. 

gondolas around san marco

i first wandered around san marco and then decided to head over to the grand canal. so i wandered through the cute little alleys and crossed adorable little bridges passing amazing shops. until i ended up along the grand canal.

view of the grand canal from the rialto bridge

so i wondered more. if you didn't notice i just like to walk around and see what i can find. i walked allll over venice and decided i was going to cross all 3 bridges crossing the grand canal. so i pretty much walked everywhere! i had an amazing lunch in campo santa margarita and at at a little table outside evjoying the sunshine and had the best pizza and a fab glass of wine. i then continued to wander and just popped into shops that were amazing. i wish i had more time to head out to murano - where they blow glass, but i enjoyed the shops and everything was so incredible. and then later on i stopped and got gelato and ate it while people watching back at san marco piazza. i attempted to watch the sunset, but it wasn't that great and then found a cute place for dinner. i wasn't very adventerous at night, and i was tired from my day of walking so i d just went back to the hotel and relaxed. 

i was up super early on friday to head to florence - i was catching the 8.40 train to florence, and my hotel was about a 30 minute ferry ride along the grand canal from the train station. so i was luckily able to see a gorgeous sunriseish while waiting for my 7.50am ferry. it was cool their main source of public transport is a ferry system with stops all along the grand canal, so instead of a train. i enjoyed the trip along the canal getting to see everything from it and all the gorgeous buildings !

sunrise is my favourite time of day

so the train wasn't bad i arrived around noon in florence and after dropping my bags of at the hostel i immediately headed to the duomo. duomo is the italian term for church but one of the best known is the one in florence - whose official name is basilica di santa maria del fiore, and it was amazing!

the duomo

and inside - wow! again i was speechless. it was incredible. much less intricate and ornate than san marco, and it was really only one long room, instead of little smaller ones off it it. 

i loved looking up at the fresco on the dome though. 

view of the dome taken from the upper gallery while climbing up to the top

so after exploring the duomo i headed over to galleria dell' academia to see michelangelo's david  and omg. he was amazing. i was good and didn't take a picture though i should have. the woman was really good at keeping people from taking pictures. but i seriously sat there and just looked at him for about 20 minutes. the statue was a lot bigger than i expected and i also loved the half-finished sculptures leading up to david. the rest of the gallery... it was only ok. i'm not the biggest renaissance art fan, but i can appreciate it. so after the david i wandered about again, through all the markets selling a lot of leather good and such, i did buy a wallet. and had a great lunch and decided to head back towards the duomo as it was getting to be about 5 and i figured the view from the top of the dome would be gorgeous at sunset. and i was right!

florence at sunset

after this i headed towards the river and just enjoyed the view and decided i was slightly hungry so i stopped in a cafe for a cannoli and a glass of wine. it was here where the place was quiet and my waiter was talking with me, and he asked me to meet him for a drink later. i decided why not. how many times are you in italy and get asked out by an italian? i was of course being careful (sharon joked with me not to talk to strangers because we had rented taken on saturday night... not the best film to see before traveling on your own. haha) and met him outside the duomo later on. we went and had a drink in a bar and then walked towards ponte vecchio where we made out for a few minutes, before he became slightly sketchy (wasn't liking his wandering hands) and i told him to feck off and made sure he wasn't following me before walking back. so there is my amusing italian guy story. he wasn't even that cute. haha. 

ponte vecchio - taken saturday evening

so went back and crashed. i was so excited for pisa! a summer camp friend of mine who i hadn't seen since 2006 has been teaching english in livorno for the past few years and so we met up in pisa and spent the morning talking and catching up! i loooove being able to see random friends all over europe! and so the weather was GORGEOUS, about 70 and sunny. so i got there early so i sat by the tower people watching and journaling and just soaking up the sun. marveling over the tower, it reallly does lean! the cathedral there was gorgeous! once i met iz, we just walked around with 2 of her friends and talked, had lunch and gelato and just explored. i was sad to say goodbye to her!

 

it really does lean!

so back in florence i headed over to santa croce this gorgeous basilica in florence where some of the most famous - michelangelo, galileo, machiavelli, and marconi amongst others italians are buried. and the inside was even prettier than the duomo! but a lot of the alter was under renovation unfortunately.

outside santa croce

after that i was running short of time, so i decided to head to the uffizi and see some amazing italian art. i didn't get a chance to go to piazzale michelangelo, which  offers some of the best views of the entire city, but i figured i had seen a gorgeous sunset the night before. so the uffizi was awesome. 

view from inside the uffizi of the building

i enjoyed seeing the birth of venus by botticlli, a few davinci's, doni tondo - michelangelo's only finished surviving panel painting and many others. i was running out of time here, so it was very fast and trying to see the most famous works of art here. after the uffizi i hung around palazzo vecchio and had dinner over looking the square and enjoying the atmosphere. i walked around a but more and then headed back because i was up super early the next morning for roma!

i arrived in rome around 11 and headed to my hostel and dropped off my bags and headed to the colosseum!!! i wandered a bit going into a gorgeous basilica - santa maria maggiore and then saw my first view of the colosseum!!!!

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

where i was just so giddy i was skipping. no lie. i was told to avoid the long lines at the colosseum to go to the roman forums first. the ticket is for the forums, palatine and colossuem and once you have the ticket you don't wait on line. so i walked right into the forum and of course the weather was kinda eeeeh in rome. a drizzly misty rain i'm oh so used to from ireland. which wasn't too bad. the forum was cool walking around it because this was pretty much where ancient rome deveolped. it was the market/centre of government/everything. 

forum from the palentine hill

then i headed over to the colosseum and had no line!! when the line looked to be about a 20 minute wait. and omg. there are no words. 

looking into the colosseum, the platform was where the floor was and the mazes under it show the underground tunnels where the beasts would be hiding and such.

i was just in awe. i was first surprised at how small it was, i was expecting it to be slightly bigger. but it didn't really bother me. i was just imagining what it must have been like and just having my colosseumgasim. 

i <3>

so after i recovered from the amazingness. i headed over towards the momument to vittorio emanueke II   and wandered about and poked throught the little museum there and the tomb of the italian unknown solider. 

view from the monument and the italian flag!

the monument - it can be seen from all over the city. it was impressive!

and then i continued wandering around and by now it was raining harder and i was starving! so i had a great lunch and it was raining even harder and was about 5. so i decided to skip trevi fountain and the spanish steps and i had a headache and was cold and wet. so i went back for a nap, which was greatly needed. i was running around the city and just needed some downtime. so i just relaxed and after my nap went out for a quick slice of amazing pizza. the food omg, i seriously gained like 10 pounds in italy!! 

so monday i headed towards the vatican! and was quite excited to be visiting the smallest country! 

piazza a san pietro and the basilica. 

so i had to wait about 10 minutes to get through security and then i was in st. peter's. and wow. it was gigantic! and unbelievable. and so many things to look at!

looking into the basilica

after just enjoying the basilica i headed outside to join the line to go to the top of the dome. which was about a 45 minute wait, but gorgeous view. i climbed the 562 (i think, with the elevator it is 320, but i'm hardcore and walked up the whole thing) and enjoyed the view. 

i love this photo. view from st. peter's basilica

after enjoying the view i was getting excited to see the sistine chapel! i also mailed a few postcards from the vatican post office! so i made my way to the vatican museums and was completely surprised there was no line! yay! and i wondered throught the museum taking in some amazing tapestries, the map room, admired raphael's work and then finally!

kinda blurry, but i was the sneakmaster extradionare keeping my camera in my purse and taking shots because they were amazing with the no photos rule here. 

the sistine chapel was incredible. didn't know where to look and just wish i was taller to take in the detail! i loved it. i spent about 20 minutes here just admiring it. 

after that i contined though the museum, but only saw a small part of it because i had a lot to do before catching my flight home. i consulted my map and headed off towards the pantheon. i stopped at a few smaller places and enjoyed them and got slightly lost, but the pantheon was awesome!

pantheon

now of course right after this it starts POURING. like buckets. i remembered my umbrella today so the umbrella vendors left me alone today. but by the time i was at trevi fountain it looked like i went swimming in trevi! but i still loved it!

trevi fountain 

and the last thing i needed to do before heading to the train station was eat gelato on the spanish steps! so i headed there and the rain was still heavy until i got about 10 feet from the steps. so i poeple watched and ate my gelato and enjoyed it. 

yummmmmy gelato!

so i hopped on the metro, ran back to my hostel to grab my bag and catch the train to the airport. my flight back was fine and i got back to cork around 11.30, unpacked and crashed. i was exhausted and had work the next morning. 

i absolutely loved italy! i would love to go back again and just travel around the country with a car and just explore. being in italy made me want to re-read eat, pray, love again. it is one of my favourite books, so i can't wait to read my copy at home! i attempted with my non-existant italian, but i kept wanting to speak spanish! oops! and i really enjoyed the time alone to just think and be. and to get the opportunity to travel to some pretty amazing cities. i totally recommend traveling alone and just enjoying life. 

if you want to see more pictures let me know and i'll send you my picasa link!