My Dublin Life

Dublin's actually a very stylish city. OK, not everyone is super-stylish (including yours truly, alas) but the ones who are, really are. There's an edgy look on the streets of Dublin that seems to involve mixing high-street brands with charity shop and fleamarket finds with designer gear. Personally, I don't like the head-to-toe in branded items look so I appreciate the diversity in Dublin.

Anyways, the point is, Dublin Fashion Week is coming up soon.  And it's fabulous timing, darlings, because although I'm not particularly a fashionista, my best galpal Vicki is, and she's arriving JUST ON TIME! And I am taking NEXT WEEK OFF! Well, it's all just great. She's always been a bit of a girlie-girl. Our friendship is one of those "opposites attract" relationships. But for sake of my great affection for her, I'll be tuning into my girlie side next week. Between that and soaking in the culture at the theatre, that is.

I'm hoping she'll get along OK with my flatmate. Bepe's such a guy. Personally, I can cope with the socks on the bathroom floor and the dirty dishes in the sink, because while I'm tidier than he is, I know he's keeping mum about all the blonde hairs clogging up the shower. But Vicki, well, I'm hoping for the best.

Right now, I'm getting fond of a funky little venue near St Patrick's Cathedral. I've joined their Facebook page. They've an event coming up involving, if I've understood it corrently, making art out of odds 'n' ends Very zeitgeisty of them. I'll definitely be checking that out!

Way too often, free events (of which there seems to be an endless supply) pass me by. Now that I'm working, there just isn't time to get to everything. I thought life was busy when I was a student, but I didn't have a clue!

Anyway, yesterday I did get to check out the Living Streets festival. It was fun. They'd done the street up with palm trees and things! Plus, there was an exhibition of cargo bicycles. I think I might even get one. In the summer in Dublin there's a surprising number of rickshaws about, mostly being driven by male students. (Tip to female visitors: maybe a good way to meet a nice Irish man?]

I like this part of Dublin; it's all a bit higgledypiggeldy and interesting. It was a good choice for the event!

Free massage!!

Well, I think I've figured out what I want to do on Culture Night. This looks like the coolest thing. It's on at 7.30ish, which is early, so it's touch and go as to whether or not I'll make it, but hopefully!

Basically, there's going to be a workshop on how to make your own camera. It looks like a really interesting experence. I'm just used to pointing my mobile phone at things and making snapshots.

Seriously, though, Culture Night is just fantastic. I want to go to everything, basically. Fall is just the best season here; there's so much to do, and you can forget about summer clothes, put on a wooly jumper and just get with the we're-in-Northern-Europe vibe. I'm psyched about my week off in two weeks' time and can't wait to do a bunch of cool things with my oldest friend! I've been accumulating vouchers from City Deal so's to be able to hit the town without spending too much money.

On the home front, suspicions that my flatmate might have a new girlfriend have been confirmed. I met her last night. Honestly, she looks just as dumb as the last one. I hated her. Bepe's a great guy but his taste in women... well, words fail me!

Last year was a big-deal anniversary for the founder of the Guinness, Arthur Guinness, and so of course there was a huge, enormous party. It was supposed to be a once-off thing, or so I gathered last year, but apparently it was so successful they're doing it again this year, and presumbably the one after that, and so on. That's how traditions are born, I guess.

Anyway, this year it's a rather big deal with LOADS of things going on. Seriously, it's going to be big fun, and I think there may even be some free Guinness here and there. It's on the 23rd, followed by Culture Night on the 24th, when museums and other venues will be open until late all over town, with lots of free music, etc. I'll be working on the 23rd, but the 24th is great for me because it goes on until late, and I should be able to make at least the last couple of hours. All in all, come Saturday I think Dublin is going to be chock-full of a lot of very tired people!

Speaking of tired, my flatmate, Bepe, has a new girlfriend. Or at least, I think he does. He's been staying out late and stuff, and being surprisingly unavailable. My question is why doesn't he tell me? I'm not his Mom!!! Oh well, what do I care? He can do whatever he wants. Anyway, I'll be busy pretty soon. My galpal Vicki will be here soon, and I'm taking a week off to show her around. She says she's got money to spend and it's burning a hole in her pocket, so yours truly will be here to help. :-)

I'm hoping for nice weather, thinking that it would be fun for her to see the city from a Dublin Bike. Anyway, if anyone has ideas, I'd love to hear them!

One of the really cool things about Ireland is that it's small, so places are closer together than you think. For instance, the landscape changes really dramatically when you travel from east to west. You can hardly believe that you're in the same country. My friendly greengrocer, sage and general dispenser of wisdom on all things Irish, told me that when he was young, Galways was up to four and a half, even five hours away. Now, it's more like two, two and a half. He said: "You wouldn't believe the state of the roads back in those days."

The new, good roads make lots of places accessible for day trips from Dublin whereas I guess before you'd have to stay the night. Anyways, next weekend, the 25th/26th, I've been invited to accompany my friends Mom (in lieu of my friend who is a) away and b) not interested) on a day trip to a place called New Ross, where there's a piano festival. It's in Wexford, not far from where my uncle is bunked up, and less than two hours away apparently! I love Saoirse's Mom. She is a real Dubliner. She lives in a posh suburb on the south side now, but she grew up in the Liberties, and like to cook traditional Dublin food like coddle and stuff. Now that I know how to cook, I must ask her to show me how one of these days.

The Fringe Festival is rollicking on and only budgetary constraint are stopping me from seeing a show, or even two or three, every night. Tonight, though? Jazz! Yay!

Well, I've been totally chilled all day. Last night, I went to see a show in the Fringe Festival that freaked me out. I guess that's a good thing because it just shows how powerful theatre can be, but it's spooky.

The name of the show was "Jerk", and it was a puppet show about a horrendous serial killer. That probably sounds weird and, in fact, it was pretty weird. But it was also very powerful stuff. I'm glad I went, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone of a nervous disposition. Boy, I think I need to be sure that the next thing I go to see is a comedy show.

Anyways, today is my housemate's birthday and while he's going out with some friends later on (I'm staying in; tired from working too hard), I've been shopping for ingredients to make him a special meal. I love the area I live in, just on the north side of the river, for shopping, because it's got the best stores. Just five minutes' away from our place there's a famous fishmongers, Kish. It's in Smithfield, which is a really old neighbourhood. I got some large fresh sardines, and I'll grill them and make a provencale sauce. It's such a buzz for me, being able to cook stuff, because just a year ago all I could manage was soup! I actually owe Bepe a lot. He taught me how to cook and even set me up with my current job in the restaurant. Love it.

Anyways, while I was at the shop, I ran into a couple from Maine, who are over in Ireland on an extended holiday and, of course, being from Maine, like to eat a lot of fish. They asked me about good places to shop, so I took them on a whistlestop tour of the area, leaving them in Moore Street. I think they were suitably impressed by the pigs' feet and heads on the display in the windows of the traditional butchers up there!!