three weeks left...
daily updates:
1 december. well, it is december. my building has been decorated with wreaths, flashing lights, and a giant fake tree. the streets are adorned with candy cane lights, giant twinkling stars, and sparkling nets for the trees. the winter is upon us: the sun sets at four o'clock, and you cannot step outside without two pairs of mittens and two sets of tights. outdoor ice skating rinks have sprung up over night. advent calendars have been put up, and the air just crackles with the need for hot chocolate or mulled wine.
the holiday season is so depressing, but i cannot help being charmed...
during the day, i went to class and did homework. max, linsday and i went to get froyo. then, we just hung out in max's room. for weeks i have been talking about reactivating my facebook, i even put it on my 101 in 1001 list. i had some qualms about getting it back, but that night, max made me. so, then we spent hours looking through all my old pictures and comments and messages. it reminds me how far i've come, and how much i do enjoy this new me i have created. in the span of three years, i have changed so much, i didnt even recognize myself when i stumbled upon the earliest pictures. [neither did max or kat.] the changes arent only physical, but also in my personality and morals. but here is how much i have changed, just to illustrate my point!
of course, there are some similarities. but i have grown up so much, and it was really nice to see it. i am no longer the flighty, superficial sorority girl with blonde hair and fake blue eyes. now i'm a lot calmer, a lot nicer and i just have fake black hair and real black eyes hahaha. however, im not so sure i want to keep my facebook. ill give it a few more weeks, but im a bit iffy.
2 december. i spent the day trying to shop for boots and going back to the h. that night, i did some last minute packing and went to get indian food with max. we didnt get back until late, and i just fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
3 december. even though i was reluctant, i went to french class. after class, i met up with megan and we hopped on the tube and headed to heathrow for... my trip to ireland!! the weekend had finally arrived! we were on the tube for forty minutes, then arrived at heathrow two hours early. security was a breeze. they let me on with my liquids, even though they were supposedly too big. we then wandered around trying to find food. we could only afford pret, so i got a meatball wrap. i have started eating meat over here. ive been craving it, i think because i am so malnourished. it wasnt until we got inside the terminal when we happened upon a weatherspoon! we surpressed our disappointment, and boarded the plane. i slept the whole way, which was less than an hour. then we landed!! we figured out the buses, and took them to our hostel. after checking in, we went to a pub that was right by the hostel. we stayed there for a bit, but they were dead, so we went to another one. that one had live music and trendy boys! my two favorite things!
4 december. we woke up late, but still in time for the free breakfast of jam and toast. i tried blackcurrant jelly for the first time, and i absolutely loved it. i'd had blackcurrant in my cider before, and in my vodka, but i had never seen it as a food. after breakfast, we booked our tickets for a hop-on, hop-off tour. i had never done one of those before, in my quest to never be branded a tourist. all my life, my dad has taught me to be a traveller or a visitor, never a tourist. but megan really wanted to, so i bit the bullet. i actually had a great time, we saw and learned so many things we would never have without the bus. we rode it all around dublin, and went to the guiness factory. i liked guiness more than i thought i would, but not enough to finish my whole sample. i went to 'gravity', their rooftop bar. but instead of my free pint, i got a free lemonade. no point in wasting a whole pint.
after we had toured all of dublin, we decided to go on a musical pub crawl. there were two main musicians, and we followed them around to multiple irish pubs around dublin. they talked about their music, told us the history of irish music, and played for us at each place. there were even some songs in gaelic. it was very interesting! after that ended, we went back to the pub by our hostel for some more irish music.
5 december. in the morning, we took a trip down to the coast. i absolutely love the beach, but as it was december, i didnt brave touching the water. there wasnt a single boat or person out on the water. it was still gorgeous, and we got to see the smaller side of ireland. we took a hike down the beach, had a picnic, and then turned back when it go too muddy.
after the coast, we met up with aleks, aka kulka. it was so nice to finally meet her, after over a year of talking on ravelry. she lives right outside dublin, so she came into town to show us around. we went to some great trendy places, which were off the beaten path and made me feel like a local. after spending the first couple hours trading kniting stories, bragging, and drilling each other for information, we decided to go party! first, we went to a very modern looking bar, where we had some very chilled conversation. then we went to an irsih pub. it was so crowded! there were also musicians sitting in a circle playing music to each other. it was interesting to see, but i had gotten enough of that the night before. so then aleks took us to local pub, with an outdoor courtyard full of boys. it was quite a sight to see, there must have been dozens. there was even a converted double decker bus, where you could go and drink in. we had a drink called 'tonic wine'. i cant remember its irish name, that is where the night starts getting fuzzy! eventually, we left that bar and went to one last pub. we met up with all of her friends, and i had an amazing time! i feel like i was able to see both sides of dublin, not just the tourist facade.
the ocean air, mized with the constant drizzle of ireland, does funny things to my hair. i look a mess in these pictures, but it was so much fun!
aleks, if youre reading this, thanks for a great night!
6 december. we didnt do much in the day since we had some trouble finding the bus to the airport. finally we found it, and they wouldnt let us on because megans suitcase was too big. supposedly the luggage racks were full. so we ended up having to take a taxi, which was expensive! but we barely made our flight, we had five minutes to spare. we had some trouble at security since, apparently, irish security is much more strict than english security. but it was all sorted, and we ended up on the plane okay. the plane ride home took two hours, instead of one. but i slept the whole time. when we got back, i unpacked and fell asleep straight away. i really do need to start eating better, i can tell i am malnourished here. unfortunately, my gp is acting up. as soon as i get to guidlford, i'll have to go on a liquid diet for a bit. fortunately, thats not too far away! :(
7 december. spent all day in bed, catching up on the sleep i missed all weekend. then in an effort to eat better, went to get burgers and froyo with max, kat and lindsey. my essays are due soon, im trying to get them all done this week, so i can enjoy my last week in london with no worries or stress. hopefully i wont procrastinate too much!
weekly highlights:
dates: 1-7 december [days 73-79]
sights seen: the republic of ireland!
something new: tonic wine! if thats not enough, i went on my first ever tour.
someone new: countless :) notably, alexs!
somewhere new: dublin and the coast of ireland!
new venue: countless!
what i miss: i desperately miss the dollar. the tube, while i was in ireland. my mother, father, and sister.
what i love: toast and blackcurrant jam. days spent at the coast. traveling with friends. coming home [to london]. my five euro fake uggs.
what im not so sure about: my upcoming move to paris...
in knitting news, i was featured on knitted bliss' modification mondays. i'm quite proud!!
2 comments:
I was absolutely loving seeing my rav friends favouriting not just your razor pullover, but loads of your projects!! I love Ireland, and actually considered moving there for a bit, but the dampness didn't agree with me. Looks like you are having an incredible time!! Why are you unsure of the move to Paris?
oh dear lord! i'm not to photogenic on those photos, especially with the irish frizz. :)
it was a really good night, still can't get over the fact that you aren't living closer. :(
the tonic wine was buckfast.
and our ginger friend there looks a little worse for wear. :)
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