57% tax on gas???

 

57% of “Petrol” prices here are tax, 37% is the actual petrol, and 6% is “other”

 

You fill, then pay, as opposed to pay, the fill like we do in the states

So the gentleman at the station was probably very confused this morning when I said "€50 on #3 please"

Still, he took the money, smiled at me, and said in a happy, hearty voice “Thank you, you’re just fine!"  He was in a white dress shirt with a tie, + happy to see me…it was like I was in an upscale hotel instead of a Texaco.
I pumped the gas and was really confused when the pump went to €50.06
Was I supposed to go in and give them the .06?  Why didn’t it stop at €50?

I decided to be on my way, and I’d find €0.06 and bring it the following fill-up.

All the little things you learn here, makes the day to day very exciting!

Once you get the hang of the backwards orientation, driving isn't so bad.  There are some interesting things about it here though, like the fact that there are far fewer stop signs/lights and many more "Yield" signs than there are in the US.  There are also speed cameras.  No Bueno!  These cameras track you as you go down the roads to determine if you're speeding.  If you go between two cameras too fast, you'll get a ticket in the mail, done deal.  Nice.  Needless to say I'll be changing my driving habits while I'm here. :)

The roads are small, as I mentioned earlier, but they are also lined with beautiful green trees and vegetation, some of which actually grows out into the roads, and when an oncoming car zooms by you have no choice but to take out a leaf or two.  Still, it's absolutely beautiful.  When there isn't greenery blocking your view, you can see out into rolling green fields, some with horses grazing in them.  SUCH a beautiful place!  Seriously though, the road conditions themselves are atrocious...imagine the worst sections of our 880 Freeway, that's what most of these roads are like.  Oh well, rental car...WITH full insurance!  One of the first things I did notice here, btw, is that the cars are ALL a mess.  Even the nice cars have scratches along their sides and tons of door dings.  That is probably because spaces in parking lots are not much bigger than the cars themselves...anywhere.  I wouldn't last a day here without losing my mind if i were driving the Challenger.  I do miss her, but there's no way I'd want her in these kind of conditions.  I guess people around here just don't stress about that kind of thing.  I know, i know, I should be taking notes.

Frustrated that I've put on a "few" cuddle pounds in the past few weeks, i decided to go to a grocery store today and stock up on fruits and vegetables.  It was awesome!  I found this great store in the middle of Malahide, and while it was the size of a CVS or Longs back home, it had a great selection of fresh fruits and veggies, all at pretty reasonable prices.  I only have a mini fridge back at the hotel, so i tried to get things that could sit out.  I picked up salads and assorted veggies, tomatoes, bell peppers, grapes, apples, pears, some all natural sliced turkey breast, whole grain wheat bread, water and yogurt.  My super healthy basket and I checkout out under 30 euros...not too shabby!  I've committed to eating 95% healthy until i come back to the states, so this was a great kickoff.  Plus, i was actually craving healthy foods.  Interesting bits about the grocery store there- they took AMEX, but the cashiers had no idea how.  A couple of them got together and eventually figured it out.  You bag your own groceries, and bags are not provided, which is something I'll now remember for next time.  The cashiers also sit at their check stands and kind of throw the food through with minimal effort...it's pretty funny.

Another great day, learning the local intricacies, soaking up the sunshine while it lasts, and enjoying the little adventures and learning experiences every day seems to bring.  I'm still to excited to be homesick, though of course I miss everyone.  I can't wait to get out of the hotel and in to the apartment in a couple weeks.  Then I'll really be able to settle in and do my thing!  I wonder what I'll bake first when i get into the real kitchen... cookies?...brownies?....

Trim Castle

To be a knight of the realm, or a princess of the court, these were the daydreams going through my mind as I set off to see my first castle.   I stood in an empty field dotted with dandelions just beyond the forest, and from there, walked the winding path to the ruins of what used to be one of the grandest castles in Ireland.  Maybe an Irish Robin Hood saved these lands back in time.  As the wind blew my hair around my face, I closed my eyes and pictured myself decked out in a beautiful gown, hair in an intricate braid down my back, watching as my brave knight rode up to fetch me.  The sun lit his path as dark blue storm clouds threatened on the horizon behind him, and they wanted me back at court before the rain hit.My fabulous daydream was broken by the angry cries of  nearby ravens.  They were big, black and brooding here, usually flying about in bunches, and their sad, threatening songs made me think that potentially this could be something other than a happy place.Trim Castle was King John’s, and is the largest Anglo-Norman castle in Ireland. It was built in 1200, and is still standing pretty strong and tall, as you can see from the pictures. You might recognize it from the movie Braveheart.  The day promised to be sunny and warm, so I decided to venture out into the countryside and check out the first legitimate castle I'd found in my guidebook.  I set the coordinates on the GPS and started on my way.  This would mean freeway driving, but I was getting the hang of it, so no worries.  The total trip to Trim was supposed to take around 40 minutes, and about a half hour in I was driving through beautiful Irish countryside.  Green, rolling hills were lined with lush foliage, and here and there cows, horses and sheep grazed heartily on the grass buffet.

I was in the zone, radio blaring the same Top 40 songs you'd hear in the states, when i looked down at the GPS and realized it was frozen. How long had it been frozen?  I pulled off to the side of the road and reset the coordinates.  I had gone almost 10 miles off the path.  Wonderful.  I suppose that's the tradeoff when relying on technology, if it decides not to work, you can find yourself completely lost in the countryside.In being my over controling self and after cursing the GPS woman up and down, I pulled out my iphone and decided to follow its directions instead.  I was now driving down the "other" side of the road, not knowing where i was going, iphone in hand...and I was speeding, just out of habit.  I wondered how many Irish driving laws i was breaking at the moment. 

Would i get 10 tickets in the mail?  Screw it, tunnel vision had set in and i didn't care.  The princess needed to get to her castle!

 

 

 

''You're a brave one''

I've been going to the gym every day this week (see food pics below as to why), and despite the old gym equipment, the place isn't so bad.  It has the feel of a really old YMCA, but I heard it had a hot tub and sauna, so I decided after my workout, I'd make use of the more "spa-like" amenities.

I did my 400 calories worth of cardio.  Funny thing, these machines don't seem to burn calories as fast as the ones back home do.  Or perhaps the ones back home are just being too kind.  Either way, it was a good workout.  I jumped into the shower for a quick rinse, then into my bright California bikini.  I made my way out of the locker room into the small pool area, towel in hand, and as soon as i stepped out into actual pool room, I saw/felt everyones eyes turn to me.  I was the youngest person in the room by 40 years...at least, and clearly my swim attire was not what they were used to.  I looked around in a kind of panic, and the first thing that registered was no one had their towels out of the locker area, so I quickly turned around to take my towel back.  I rushed in and around the maze of corners, but then came up to a wall with urinals on it and I thought...wait, those aren't supposed to be in the....OH CRAP!  Just then a guy came out of the area with the lockers, clothed thank GOD, and I said something stupid like, "I'm totally in the wrong place" and made a quick turn and getaway.  I came out of the men's locker room and now everyone was REALLY staring at me.   I smiled sheepishly, turned slowly, and looked at the wall for reference to the "Women's" locker room, then made my way in quickly.  In my defense, the place really is a maze of sharp turns and corners, all with tiled white walls...really!

Once inside the appropriate locker room, I laughed, put my towel by my bag, gave myself a pep talk at the mirror, and head held high, walked back out to the pool area with a smile on my face.  I gracefully slipped into the sauna and stood there for as long as I thought it would take for most people to leave.  By the time I came out, hot and dripping, most people had gone.  I rinsed again before dipping into the cool pool water, which felt soooooo good.  Now the pool was empty, and except for a few older women in the hot tub, I had the place to myself.  I took my time floating in back-stroke form until I had slowly inhaled and exhaled the stresses of the day away.  Talk about a scatterbrain...I really do need to slow down sometimes. 

It was dark by the time I went to the lobby to catch the shuttle back to the hotel, and as I walked out, I asked the older lady at the desk what time they opened in the morning.  She said 7am, and I said I'd be there, to which she responded in a proper Irish accent ''You're a brave one!''

NOT the Disney Cars Ride... but still pretty cool

Well, I made it to the coast and back without killing anyone!  Woohoo!  I made sure to wear the St. Christopher necklace my mom gave me before I left (Patron St. of Travelers) just to be on the safe side.

A friend back home told me not to worry about driving, as clearly people did it just fine, and as they weren't all super-geniuses, I shouldn't feel like it was anything I couldn't do.  That thought crossed my mind as I made my way to the car.

Andrew, the very nice shuttle driver that took me to the gym earlier, had shown me a side street / loop that I could drive around to get my bearings before leaving the airport.  It's kind of like driving the loop around SJC, but with less people.  He also gave me some tips about roundabouts and getting comfortable in the car...always yield to the right!  We had struck up a conversation about San Francisco as he's going to visit there in October.  I told him about home, he told me about Dublin.  He was pretty impressed I'd be out here by myself for 5 months, but assured me I'd make plenty of friends.  That was very nice of him.

 

I jumped in the car and got myself situated, adjusted the mirrors, found the turn signals, the hazard lights, all that good stuff.  The GPS was one of those crappy portable ones, but it would do, and I was happy to have direction.  I turned that on and spent 5 minutes trying to figure out how to enter a location without an exact address.  Eventually i asked it to take me to the center of Malahide, which it could handle.  "Drive to route" the feminine English voice stated.  Oh boy, here we go!  I went to put the car in drive....with the wrong hand, as I was on the right side of the car and needed to use my left for center console and shift lever purposes.  Not a problem, I'd figure it out.  I drove up to the parking gate to insert my card, and just reiterated to myself, "driver to the center of the road, driver to the center of the road".  Once I got out of the parking lot, I turned left (thank god) into the loop and started driving.

The next 30 minutes were a lesson in frustrated hilarity.  The first roundabout I came up to scared the hell outta me..cars everywhere, circling, yielding, some not yielding.  However, the GPS told me to take the second left, which i knew meant i had to be in the outside lane, and as i got up to the line, I looked right, waited for an opening, and dove in to the turnabout, going around quickly and then exiting on the second left.  I did it!  Not so bad after all.  The road I was traveling on had three more roundabouts I would have to navigate before getting out onto the country roads.  Each was a tiny bit easier, though I noticed I was talking aloud, encouraging myself a LOT.  "Perfect, nice and slow, just stay to the left, watch for oncoming traffic,...WHOOPS, that light was a little red, sorry!" 

Once I made my way to the country roads I was happy to be out of the traffic, but they presented their own challenges.  The lanes are only slightly bigger than the cars themselves, so you find yourself with less than a foot of room on either side of the car.  My Challenger back home would take up literally 3/4 of the road. Thankfully I was in a compact!  Every time a car would come up facing me, I'd grip the steering wheel just a bit until they passed.  I wonder how many side-view mirrors people went through here?

Eventually country roads brought me to the middle of Malahide, which is a small town, but a very crowded one.  There were people everywhere, the streets were still small, and now there was traffic!  I came up to an intersection and the GPS told me to turn right.  I froze... do you know how hard it is to figure out turning right for the first time here?  To make matters worse, there was no light, just a yield, and everyone seemed to be driving wherever they felt like it.  Coward that i am, i skipped that right hand turn and just went straight.  The GPS was annoyed, "Recalculating...Recalculating."  That's right, recalculate me to a series of left hand turns please!  I said frustrated.  It wasn't long, however, before i came up to another, similar corner, and again it commanded I turn right.  I put on my blinker, drove out into the middle of the intersection, waited for oncoming traffic to stop, and made the turn.  Immediate panic hit me..."Am I on the right side of the road..?  I mean the left side, yes, I'm on the left, but why are the cars facing the wrong way???  Is this a one way street?!?!"  Turns out, it was not a one-way street and I was fine, but people park their cars every which way here, so you can't use them as an indication as to whether you're on the right side or not.  Crisis averted, and a couple minutes later I parked along the coast, got out, and gulped in the sea breeze until I was calm, cool, and collected.

 

Malahide is a beautiful coastal town, much like Carmel or Monterey.  There are paths along the sea cliffs where people walk, rollerblade, and jog.  Down on the beach kids were playing in the water, and people were throwing balls for dogs willing to jump into the freezing cold ocean.  The beautiful views reminded me of home, and as the warm sunshine beat down on my face...i realised I hadn't planned on needing sun tan lotion! :D

 

Hello Dublin!!!

My flight from London to Dublin was delayed due to a British Airways flight having to make an emergency landing right in front of our terminal.  One of the engines was smoking during decent, but they were able to land and get everyone off without incident or injury.  Great to know those escape slides actually work!  Of course the hubbub required hundreds of airport workers to stand around and do nothing as "appropriate measures" were taken to ensure everyones safety.  Sheesh.  An hour or so behind schedule, they loaded up my plane and we were on our way.

I arrived in Dublin to crisp, cold air and sunshine.  It was just like a February day back in California, and the relocation lady that met me at the airport marveled at how wonderful it was to see the sun.  We picked up my rental car, a Hyundai hatchback, and she drove me to the hotel, which is actually stationed in the airport and wasn't more than a mile drive.  She took the time to show me a roundabout and give me some tips on how to drive through one.  I missed my car terribly.

 

I've checked in to the Radisson and am starting to get settled.  It's a typical airport hotel, kind of lonely and sterile.  But, they do have complimentary passes to a gym just down the street, so i loaded up my gym gear and made my way over.  Two hours later, I had worked every muscle in my arms, legs shoulders and core with an hour of cardio and an hour of weight lifting.  It felt SO GOOD to be back at the gym after being away for over two weeks.  The equipment there is a bit antiquated, and it made me thoroughly appreciate how awesome our gym is at SanDisk in Milpitas.  Still, it got the job done, and they have a pool and hot tub there that i plan to make good use of tomorrow when i can't walk due to muscle fatigue.

 

For the rest of the day i think I'll put my big girl pants on and tackle the whole driving thing.  I'm sure it wont be that bad...

Paul McCartney shots



The biting wind is a stark contrast to the inviting warmth of the hotel.  I wish this wasn't my last day here.  I can look from my room out to the park and lighpost in the yard, which is heartwarming and reminds me of my view at home.  The "Bistro" has been delicious, the "Tea Room" an elegant place to sit for coffee in the afternoons, and the "Burgundy Bar" was our getaway for mischief last night. 

I decided to introduce the group to Kamikaze shots...no bueno!  After a couple rounds we decided to move on to "Chocolate Cake" shots.  They hadn't heard of these before and with every new recipe they liked me more :)  Needless to say I caused quite a rucus in the bar.  By the time we finished they were referring to the shots as "Paul McCartney" shots instead of "Kamikaze" shots.  After leaving the hotel bar we ventured over to a pub across the street, and the bar tender was confused when we started ordering.  I thought it was hilarious.

All the meetings have been great to attend, and I'm getting a good foundation for the projects I'll be working on while here.  I love that they break for tea, scones, cream and jam in the afternoons.  So civilized!

 

 

Everyone here seems to have melody in their voices.  It's not just the accent, it's as though they lightly sing their words.  The rhythmic speech is very pleasant and calming to listent to.  They are also very polite, and I find myself phrasing things differently, as the often brisk way we speak back home sounds harsh.  If my emails start to sound strange, that's why.

We had Indian food for dinner tonight, and while it was good, it wasn't as good as home.  The ice cream has been fabulous, however.  Within the course of the day I've seen rain, hail, and sunshine.  You really do have to carry and umbrella with you at all times if you don't want to look like a wet dog that just wandered in from the street.

Tonight I'll take a sleeping pill as I'm in total exhaustion mode.  The Kamikaze shots have nothing to do with that.  Tomorrow I'm off to Dublin, and then the real fun begins!

 



"The Dodgy Bits"

Last night I had the pleasure of dining under a beam where they used to hang criminals.  The "George and Dragon" pub is the oldest in the county of Kent, and has been standing tall for 801 years.  Crusaders gathered here back in the day, and you can see carved out wedges in the stone walls where they used to sharpen their swords.    The pub owner took me upstairs to see "the dodgy bits" of the building.  The main beam across the ceiling apparently came from an old ship, which makes sense when you see how it's arched in the photo below.  That also happens to be the beam they hung the Parish Vicar from...I wonder what he did???  There are tunnelsleading out from the cellar where smugglers would come and go as they pleased.  It's a charming place, really.

I wanted some good ole local food, so I went with the recommendation to have "battered cod with hand cut chips", which was amazingly delicious.  The fish was fresh, tender and flaky.  The batter coating was crispy and rich in flavor, perfectly complimented by the salted chips on the side.  A bubbly glass of pink champagne was a refreshing sip now and again.  The whole dinner party ordered dessert, so i didn't feel at all guilty following the meal up with a brownie topped by caramel honeycomb ice cream.  The food was only enhanced by the intriguing ambiance, and it made for quite the evening.

First Day in the UK

The reality of where I was headed and for how long hit me around mid-flight.  I started to get those nervous butterflies, but it wasn't long after i landed that they gave way to excited energy.  As I was being driven through the English countryside, I talked to the driver about my car back home, his favorite cars, and what it was like driving in general in the UK.  I tried to pay attention to the roundabouts and how they worked.  I'm pretty positive I'll be in some kind of accident within my first week!  Just watching the traffic made me nervous, and it didn't visually compute.  I also noticed there were no pickup trucks on the roads...at all.  That was weird.

Park down the street

I arrived at my hotel in Tunbridge Wells, a very cute town outside of London.  As I couldn't check in for another hour or two, I grabbed my purse and started exploring.  The first place I came to was a beautiful park just on the other side of the hotel.  I walked around there a bit before going back to the main street.  You can walk anywhere with purpose and look like you belong there, so that's what i did.

The buildings on main street were beautiful.  The rain pipes, chimneys and street lights were romantic.  Little shops lined the street, and my first stop was for a cup of awesome, strong espresso.  In the cool mist my smooth California hair quickly escaped into its natural state of wild curls.  I ended up walking around for hours, just for the sake of walking...it was wonderful!  Pedestrians don't have the right of way in Europe, I quickly remembered.  And these people have MAD parallel parking skills.

View from my window

I wandered back to the hotel and was escorted to my room.  It's a nice size as European rooms go, and I have a beautiful view of the park out the window.  I made the mistake of lying down for a short nap. No Bueno!  I did NOT want to wake up after that.  It took everything I could muster to fling myself out of bed and out the door in search of another espresso.  I went a different way down the street this time and found a very cool shop selling "pastys".  They are like meat pies, and are delicious!  I asked the guys in the shop which their favorite was, and they said chicken and chorizo was the way to go, so that's what i got, soooo good!

It was an awesome first day... I'll finish it off with a shot of whisky so i sleep well. :)

The best way to start an adventure...

...is by getting an amazing sendoff from the people who mean the most to you.  All week I've been treated like a princess.  From pizza and slurpees to pink champagne and carrot cake, it's been a week of favorites...family, friends and food!

I will miss you all so much!  Thank you for taking the time to let me know you'll miss me to. :)

Now, guide books in hand, I'm ready to jump into this opportunity with both feet and see what kind of damage I can do in Ireland.  I'm a powder keg, Ireland's a spark...I'm sure there will be fireworks!