Getting Lost

Lexy lives in Pan's Labyrinth. I have never seen a more confusing layout for buildings that all look exactly the same and have nearly the same name.

Exhibit A:

So Lexy met me at the bus stop and escorted me back to her place. Whenever someone is leading me somewhere it is like I am a fresh-born kitten; eyes are closed to the world. Why don't I look around? Why don't I read a street sign??? I digress.

Anyhoo, I dropped my bag off at her place and lingered for about two seconds before she suggested I make a trip to the coast to see Howth. Lexy had a paper due in the next few days so we looked up on google maps how to walk to the train station so I could set off on the journey alone. I got a little lost on my way out, walking too far left and having to walk another 30 minutes to get back on track (using all my international mobile data up) but I made it in one piece.

Howth was lush. It was scenic, fun, lively and refreshing. You can walk along the piers and take in local fishermen bringing in their catches. I trundled around for a few solid hours before missioning back  to Lexy's. When I got off the train, I realised that I didn't reeeealllly know where I was going as I got lost on my way to the train in the first place. I also had 4% battery coming off of the train - not ideal.

Exhibit B:

I nearly made it too. I practically ran down Avoca Avenue so I could make it back to find out exactly where Lex lived. Then, the phone died. Again, why didn't I just have my eyes open when she walked me to hers earlier. Things would have been a lot simpler if I just happened to glance around once during my first arrival. Luckily she left me a text with one detail burned into my brain...apartment 5. I don't know if you've lived anywhere with anyone but a number alone is not enough information to get you to a destination. Five wasn't really cutting it for me. Also, if you were to stumble across the Linden Housing, you would quickly notice that each pocket of housing (all beginning with Linden of course), has subsections of house numbers - Linden Grove 1, Linden Grove 2, etc which then further go on to have apartments within those house. After a rough calculation, I discovered there were over 20 apartment 5s in the area. 

Like a creeper, I stalked through the area, looking in windows and whispering Lexy's name. I rang one number 5 and panicked when it rang 3 times so I scampered away. People had also begun to notice my eery presence as I was lurking pretty hard in some areas. One man full out stopped to double take what I was doing, so I quickly pulled out my dead phone and pretended to be texting someone and laughing at something I read...

I needed a plan and fast as the daylight hours were burning away. My only option was to sit in the middle of the cul-de-sac at the entrance of the housing area, in hopes Lex might stumble across me in the next few days. It wasn't REALLY that solid of a plan, but it was the best I could do. This is also about the time I realised I had gone all day consuming liquids and not releasing any. This sent me into a bit of a panic as I thought I would never be able to use a toilet again (as you do) and began to scout out bushes I could potentially utilise. 

After about 20 minutes, I heard from a window my name shouted in a shocked, echoey way "KATIE?" Yup, by chance, she looked out of her bedroom window, saw my stripey shirt and was astonished I was just lingering. What is more miraculous is that I found out later, Lex didn't even have her glasses on, so she just recognised the outfit and that's why she called out my name questioningly. 

Anyway, I ventured to her place and nearly hopped up and down from excitement.

I'm glad my friends think on the same wavelength as me and know the foolishness I am capable of. Had it been an acquaintance, I fear I would be squatting in a bush and making camp on the cul-de-sac.

Dubs Day 2 & 3

As I write this, I am sitting in a reading room in my B&B surrounded by animal heads and Jesus statues/paintings on decorative plates. The ambiance is heavy.

When I booked my first hostel, the woman accidentally double booked my room and notified me that she would not be holding my reservation as she gave it to someone else. That was the end of the email. She sent this the day before I was to arrive in Dublin. After some raging forceful intense interactions, she found me another B&B to stay at for 2 nights and upgraded my room at her place without charging me the difference.

At first I was bummed, having to repack all of my things and relocate to a further out area, however my new room is totally rad.
Things that make it awesome:
1. wood panelling - not just on certain walls, but the ceiling as well. I feel like I could go out and shoot a deer if I wanted to, which is what I am sure other people felt and is why the reading room is filled with heads.  #rustic
2. an ensuite bathroom - I've showered twice today because I can. We'll see what the next couple of hours brings me, maybe a third is in order.
3. curtains that blot out the sun to an extreme. My circadian rhythms are now completely in line and I am achieving higher melatonin production that I have in the last 5 years.
4. a comfy bed - the last B&B had a bed made from stuffing sharp metal objects and earth into its lining. My shoulder still hurts if I raise my arm above a 35 degree angle, not ideal.
5. A glorious backyard filled with greenery, flowers, and a flowing river - I am rocked to sleep each night by the wind through the trees and the waves on the pebbles. People pay A LOT for this scene and I'm lucky I didn't have to.

The move was somewhat seamless and before long I was on the streets of Dublin searching out historic landmarks. The only negative thing I will say about Ireland, and maybe it's just Dublin in particular, but it is as if everyone in Croydon decided to move to their own island and multiply at a very young age. If you aren't sure of the Croydon reference, google search chav, or even teenage pregnancy styles. The women look like leather bags and the men smell of booze, even the respectable-looking ones. If you are looking for love, and enjoy a matching crushed velvet Adidas tracksuit, you are in luck! There are no PS I Love You men in Dublin, probably because they have all moved to New York to be with the Hilary Swanks of the world.

Now, I brought this up because I brought a significant number of skirts on this trip, however the city is quite windy. I feel though, that this has been beneficial, as it has been my bottom flashing that has allowed me to melt into the culture without a hitch. Someone even asked me for directions to the castle today. I am pretty sure I led them the right way...

In Day 2, I toured St. Paul's Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Castle, Trinity College and saw the Book of Kells. The Book of Kells was a surprise to me, as my flatmates and I tried to watch the animated movie of the same title last weekend but found the storyline a little lacking. We probably stuck it out to the halfway mark because we thought the animation was so beautiful, and the art design was completely unique. Who knew it was based on a real book, which is famous for it's art design and technique? If you did, pretend I knew as well and just glaze over the last few sentences.

Day 2 also ended/merged into Day 3 when Lexy messaged me to meet up for a few drinks. All night we kept asking each other, why haven't we bee drunk together before? It was one of the best bonding nights I've had in my life consisting of just ridiculous occurrences and unbelievable stories to forever reference in our friendship storyline. Although the men were creeps, our friend alcohol made us have a great time dancing and befriending some of the locals and fighting off the others.

What was not expected or welcomed was the morning after. When staying in a B&B, it's considered rude if you don't turn up to your breakfast, especially when you give the host your expected breakfast time. This meant that although I did not have much sleep, I had to roll out of bed to force down a greasy fry up. My stomach was already turning when my breakfast was served with a big black hair on top of the egg. Appalled that it was still being served to me, I queasily looked up at the woman for her to react. As she maintained eye contact, she simply plucked the hair off and walked away. Nothing quite screams bon appetite like a big black hair nestling into your meal and having someone's lumberjack hand punch the top of your over easy. MMMMmmmmm.

To say the least, today has not been a very adventurous or jam-packed day, but I did spend my time wandering the streets and seeing the National Art Gallery. Amidst all the paintings, I was fortunate enough to be surprised to find a piece by my very favourite artist Caravaggio. Normally a gallery would advertise having one of his pieces in their brochure or map as a gallery highlight, so when I surprise spotted it across the room I made a slight shriek to the pleasant (not) surprise of the old wrinklies around me. If you ever want to have your breath taken away by a painting, study a Caravaggio. His skill will make you realise you have absolutely no talent in your being and it is lucky that we even get to look at his.

Other than that, I am ready to return to my cottagey room as I think the deer's eyes keep following my gaze and I swear I saw Jesus just give me a once-over. Tomorrow I will be checking out of the B&B to move over to Lexy's place for the remainder of my journey. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Wood panelled ceiling. Pure class.







Local Ryan Gosling. No big deal.

 The Taking of Christ.

 Atmosphere.

Dublin Day 1

Well...I'm in Dublin. Before I got here, there were some things to note.

1. I had to make a pilgrimage to Southend Airport. Correction - London Southend Airport. When I read this name when booking my plane ticket, all I saw was smaller numbers after the £ sign. And since the name LONDON was in front of it, I also foolishly thought this meant it was near by. It's not. Luckily summer holidays means I have nothing but t.i.m.e. The journey was also pretty simple, which I will give it to TFL this time because normally they are absolute rubbish. This will now bring our score to Katie -  3986 & TFL - 2. The other point TFL got was two years ago and was also a fluke.
2. Southend Airport is run by maaaaaaybe....I want to say....6 people. They didn't open the check-in desk until an hour before take off and after the 12 people on my flight checked in, the people behind the counter shut down and moved with us to the security point. I am also pretty sure I saw "Betty" get on board the flight with us and hand out duty free mags.
3. It looks like there are only 2 boarding gates, but in actuality there are 3. Be careful, there is no posting which gate you are to go to, only a 5 second audio announcement that can easily be missed if you are wearing headphones, like almost everyone on my flight. Lucky for my group, I was trying to navigate their impossible wifi system and had not yet been able to play Katy Perry's latest song through youtube for the millionth time.
4. On the plane, I sat in the "emergency exit zone." This meant on this plane (run by Aer Lingus, there's a joke in there somewhere) I had to learn HOW to use the emergency exit as everyone on the plane was dependent on me opening the door. Yes, I had to stand up with the flight attendant and practice opening the side door. I went along with it but there was no way in hell I was going to open that door for anyone on board in an emergency. Name me a circumstance when I would have to do that? I'm betting I would already be dead, or even better, force someone else to potentially be sucked through the gaping hole while the cabin attempts to equalise pressure.
5. I landed all sunshine and rainbows, excited to be off on my next adventure. No one else in Dublin is sunshine and anything. Really, it's a miracle I didn't get punched in the face the first time I asked for directions. Fortunately, I can read a map and I will state again, I have nothing but time. Sure my journey to the B&B was probably scenic and some might say drawn out, but I made it.
6. Lastly, every tour in Dublin wants to take you to where they filmed PS I Love You. This might give you the idea to rewatch PS I Love You. Alone. At night. While travelling alone. On your own. With no  one around but you. Don't do this. I might be charged extra for the number of tissues/toilet paper rolls I went through. It's also hard to sleep when you think you might be alone forever and even if you do meet the right person, they might just die and leave you a bunch of notes to reallllly rub it in that you will never see them again.

So I am off to the next adventure today with puffy eyes and raw emotions. Walking around the city and making friends as usual...
Check in tonight!

Summer Sleep Ins

So...I have the summer off.

Normally, I plan something BIG and deadly exciting to do. This summer, I decided to take it easy. I am getting to the age where doing nothing is seen as sloth or a waste because only kids read Nancy Drews until swim time, then look forward to a Indiana Jones marathon because it's the only channel your cottage gets. However, I declare this summer, the summer of spontaneous trips/jokes/lifestyle choices. 

Until very recently (and not by my own choice), my future plans were thrown out the window and I was at a loss. From an early age, I always had an idea of where my life was headed and what I was going to do (mentioned in previous life rants). Even though, looking back, my plans seemed fantastical or unrealistic, I still projected where I would be. I felt safe in the 5 year plan. I knew what I wanted and I tried to work for it. However, then life got me. Some a**hole (Woody Allen) once said "If you want to make god laugh, tell him your plans." Well, thanks for giving god the punchline and jinxing the rest of us to misery. My plans were irrevocably altered with no hope of ever regaining them. Some people might find this terrifying, as I did at first, but if embraced (with the help of your family/friends) it is a very liberating feeling. This was the first time in my life where not having a plan actually seemed ok. See, I am not a very "go-with-the-flow" kind of person. My mother would disagree because I had to tell her weeks in advance if I wanted a friend to stay over - not that there's anything wrong or weird about that - but my family likes to plan. If I waited on a Saturday night to decide what I was going to do, that drove her nuts. "What do you mean, you're not sure where you're going? Don't you WANT to do something?" As a teenager, I was a very close reflection of my mother in regards to plans, and this in turn stressed my free-flowing friends out.

Three people changed my life.

Alison - late for everything, last minute planner and thank god! She taught me the value of living in the now and if I wanted to do something so badly, to organise it myself. I, never wanting to organise, HAD to go with the flow. Making me much more willing to do anything with the right people. She also began to teach me this - it didn't matter WHAT we did, if we were all together, we would laugh. 

Amie - In university, this girl would call me up on a Saturday morning and say "I haven't seen the Jays play in a while...wanna road trip?" This wasn't for next week - it was for that afternoon. We didn't have tickets, we didn't have a place to stay, we essentially had nothing but we did it AND somehow we always pulled it off. Her ideas of trips often involved her car, even though she HATED driving it on the highway, myself and Alex, and one or more of the sigma chis. This summer I am referring to, will go down as one of the best in my life, only rivalled by the one I am having now.

M. McBride - Up until now, only little plans or small trips were left loose but McBride, now she was different. She was the queen of life flexibility and she completely changed my outlook. I met her in teacher's college and I remember hearing her talk about her travels and her complete openness to uprooting her life to have an adventure. Me "So you don't know WHERE you want to teach?" M "Wherever I find a job." This idea of being completely free, called to wherever you could work was unprecedented in my life. I know my parents wanted me to travel, but the idea of starting anywhere and doing it on my own, was a complete paradigm shift. If she could do it, could I? She is the reason I moved to England and the same reason why I might move anywhere in a year for my next job.

I lost focus here a bit.

This summer has been completely up in the air and even though you might tally up all that I've done (which isn't much) I feel it is one of my best yet. When your life goes through a thorough upheaval, you need to find yourself again. How often do you hang out with yourself? How often do you enjoy your OWN company? I can think of 4 times in my entire life where I remember having a blast with only myself...well that does seem slightly crazy when reading it. I don't mean telling a joke to yourself or acting out Macbeth in your pyjamas with your stuffed animals but just going on an adventure - big or small - and experiencing something. 

I might sleep in some days until 2 and go to art galleries for 8 hours but it's on my schedule and it's only things I want to do. Sure, I might go to Hungary next week for a bit, who knows? I could dance in my underwear to Tegan and Sara all day if the mood calls. All I need is a summer soundtrack, instagram, and my family on speed dial and life will be just fine great.