723 evergreen street

we have a house. five beds, €1500/ mth. we move in next friday.

not a moment too soon. hostel life is exhausting.

the really good news is i have two french roommates. they are cute [yeah] but with partners [boo]. the good news out of that is that they know french and are willing to share that knowledge in exchange four hour noledge ov inglesh. this should be grand.

matt the ozzy is our fifth. his name is matt. matt is an ozzy. he is our fifth roommate.

we think we will rechristen matty as Elliott. he is excited about that because he's called that at home. i made the obvious reference from Berg's E.T and it was the first time anyone had done that ... ever. and that is no joke. that's just how we role.

...

in other news i made a mail bag. i couldn't find one i liked aka didn't want to pay €65 for so i went to a sally anne and paid six euro for an old pair of pants, one euro for an old belt and another 4 euro for some sewing supplies. 15 man hours later and i have my self a mail bag. matty elliott thinks it lacks several things that make it a male bag - namely that everything about it lacks anything male. i said he was spelling it wrong. he said how could that be, we're having a conversation.

i like it and i think i am the most talent me there is. deal with it.

glengarry glen more

the cast came in again. this time i invited myself for pints with them tomorrow night. i have been thinking about the play a great deal and telling everyone who wants to listen about it. it made it easier to understand since don explained it to me.

i like knowing people in the bizz. makes me feel important.

glengarry glen friend

today on my way to work i wished the cast of glengarry glen ross "break a leg". after the show they all came in for a pint, ... and then several more. it is great to know people in the bizz; makes me feel important.

several split shifts coupled with late nights, working behind the bar as well as holding it up on the other side (a few times, i must admit, that the bar was doing more of the holding up), has made for one exhausted bear. i did get a few cultural treats though. monday brought some welcome visitors. Don and Anne Melady, friends of the family, were in the country and came to Cork to visit dear old me.

They carried with them a speacial little package that i hope to get more use out of. My fiddle is now touring with me, and while i am very, very, very rusty with it i do hope to get much, much, much better with it.

Don and Anne were in a mood to walk around but that only lasted for half a block because we walked past a billing for Glengarry Glen Ross, a production put on by an american acting co, a play that he studied at school and had always wanted to see.

the show is difficult to perform. the dialogue is written so as to resemble how people speak in the real world. to understand what i mean pay close attention to your next conversation, particularly to: how often thoughts are actually completed; the number of times you interupt/are interupted; the number of times the converstion jumps between topics. there is a movie as well, which is good apparently, but if you get the chance see the play.

we had pints at my pub afterwards. it was all grand.

that's corny

Blarney Castle Grounds - €6
bus to Blarney - €5.25
apples and juice - €2.41
late night coffee - €2
internet/hr - €1

spending the day as a stupid tourist/mountain goat - €16.66

... and so worth it.

Blarney, apart from being a quiet breakfast spot in Stratford, Ont., is the name of a town north west of Cork City, Ire. It is also the name of a castle. I am not sure why it is named as such mostly because I can't remember all the placards I read this afternoon during my walking tour of the castle grounds.

Kissing the blarney stone wasn't as exciting as i expected it to be. the creepy old man, whom i had heard so much about from several girls along the way, wasn't as creepy as i thought he would be. however that might be because i lacked the proper equipment because the two the Kiwi's, who where visiting from Dublin for the night (partly to visit Matt and I and partly because because their hostel was booked up for the night) where going off about how he, the old man, was with them. Teresa (who's name i spelt wrong previously and i apologize for and celebrated her 20th birthday on friday) was convinced that the old man ... very much enjoyed having helped her lean, very awkwardly, backwards and downwards to reach the stone. Earlier that day I had told Chelsie, who you will remember i described as being bubbly and full of energy, that she was not allowed to kiss the stone.

The stone, legend has it, gives the gift of gab to everyone who endures the difficult task required to kiss it. I learned a bit more about the lore behind the stone, how it got there and other neat things which to your benefit I am unable to recall, however I will share with you what i learned about the word blarney.

One of the kings or princes or someone who resided in the castle at sometime before it was named Blarney was a bit of a political flip flopper. A queen or duchess or someone involved in the story before the castle was named Blarney said that the king or prince or someone was "all blarney, none of what he says holds true"

A placard later on said: blarney is asking a woman her age so as to know the age at which women most beautiful. Baloney is telling an 81 year old woman she looks 18. In other words:

blarney ... to lay a compliment thin enough so as to be enjoyed.
baloney ... to lay a compliment on so thick it is sickening.

touring the grounds uncovered a vast array of twisted trees and inviting rocks that made me and my out of practice climbing legs where able to let loose for the afternoon. i might make the trip back to the town just to get that work out again. matt has some pictures that i might get to post to my flicker, but he'll have to faceblast them first.

i named my rash

life has been rather quiet the past few days. i have been taking it easy because of an unfortunate run in I had with a rash. i am not sure where i had this run in, but the evidence of this run in is unavoidable. so unavoidable that i've given him a name: Decision. Decision has moved off my face but is holding ground on my neck and chest. and BOY is Decision making his presence known; visually and .. itch-illy (?). fem doc from emerg put me on some meds and cremes, very masculine to be applying this twice daily, and hopes that i'll be on the mend in a few days. the "good news" she had for me was that it wasn't to be worried about; bad news being that she wasn't too sure what it was that i wasn't supposed to be worried about.

hmmm... perhaps try another semester at school and then get back to me on this. as soon as possible would be nice. i'd rather not come back if this treatment isn't working.

my first lunch shift went off quite well today (pause in typing to scratch my chest), allegedly it wasn't as busy as it usually gets and i had it easy today .. which is nice to know since i was running my a** off. for a first day with it i hope i did well.

i met the owner, or as he was introduced to me the man-who-pays-me. i said hello to Phil twice, the second being more enthusiastic because it followed the whopaysme remark. Phil was grand as owners usually are the first time you meet them and before the first time you severely screw something up. i'll let you know if Phil and I still get on in a month or so after i've spoiled a lunch dumped a pint in his lap.

all is well. take care of yourselves.

quartet

it was only an hour into scarface when i began feeling guilty about laying around watching a movie instead of enjoying an irish afternoon. true, i am here for a year but if i keep saying that sept 15th, 2008 will be on my doorstep saying time's up, get out of here, pack up and go home.

so after an hour of scarface i went out for a walk. st Patrick's street hill is just around the corner of the hostel i am staying at. to climb it takes 10 minutes and puts a considerable ache in a persons calves, but it's worth it for the view and sense of accomplishment. looking out from the crest of the hill reminds me of looking out on Huron County from the top of the corn silo. the city scape of cork lies, for the most part, in a valley. this makes Cork City appear to be contained in a bowl. The landscape beyond the city is spotted with developed farmland and hills and trees and houses ... but mostly green. green is what inhabits everything around me.

at the top of st pats hill is a dogless dog park save for the two school girls playing with their dog. i know it is a dog park because dogs have their own way of telling you it is their park when they are not their. after finding a spot that a dog had not claimed, or at least appear to have not claimed in a while, i had a seat and just sort of looked. ahead of me is St. Anne's church, to the left is St. Finbarr's Cathedral and to the right of St. Anne is another Church whose name escapes me mostly because I never knew it. To the right and to the background up on another hill is Christ Church.

to my right is a barbershop quartet who are warming up for their practice. Scarface can't hold a candle to this afternoon, neither can his little friend.

i've nine mintutes

lets see what i can get accomplished.

8 now.

last night at the pub was a great deal more fun than the night previous. i was starting to get my bar legs back again and moving around got easier as i remembered where everything was, had to go as well as what the hell everyone was saying to me. - the Cork accent is a hard one to understand.

i don't know if i've said that already, but it is and bears repeating.

7

we might have a house. it isn't likely though because 25 other people also think they have a house.

6

i finished reading there is a house. it was about a house and a guy that had a drinking problem. he was a writer and couldn't write anthing more than the words there is a house. he was a very entertaining writer.

5

i spoke with a girl from ireland just now who lives in france and is back here travelling. (4) she has a friend who lives on the coast who lives in a bus converted to an appartment on wheels. he is a grown up camp councillor (not the therapy kind if that is what i spelled, nor the gov't kind either). she has her undergrad in arecheology (terribly spelt) (3) and wants to do her masters in heritage management.

very cool.

2

time to go, love you all. talk again soon.

1

paragraph four, section 3

the interview would have gone well had i have gone and i would have gone except i didn't want to. the reason i didn't want to is because my BC friend informed me that the job was to be a door to door .. or person to person .. sales associate. which wouldn't have been so bad except for the traveling, unpaid, from city to city and never knowing where you'd be. which would have been so bad except for the product i was pushing and the product i was pushing was make up. my BC friend had a good little laugh as we all speculated on what the response from home would have been had i have taken this particular placement. matty was especially excited to know how dad would have reacted, and the rumors that would have started about how i went over sea's to find myself and eventually come out of the closet.

regardless to say i have not taken the job, but i will be bar tending in a few hours and that should be great. i'll send out a few more CV's and try for something else ... perhaps a coffee shop or internet cafe. i'll keep you posted.

the place i visited today reminded me of grandma connelly's old place except bigger and containing people who mostly spoke a version of english that wasn't as much english as it was french or german. the whole place has carpeting (which puts me in mortal peril considering dust has a personal vendetta for me and causes my asthma to fly off the handle) so i don't know if we'll take it. it's cheaper to stay in the hostle, and the hostel is closer to the city centre ... but it would be nice to learn a little french from the new flat mates. count them .. 4 (+ matt and i). but it's not like we're strangers to a situation like that.

because, you see, matty and i went to school together for four years and for three of them we were roommates. in first year we lived in residence together in an apartment room with 4 other guys, one of whom, dan, went on to live with matty the year after while i was still in residence. the year following that i moved into a house with matt, dan, and three other guys (total of six) and that remained relatively the same for the year after that, save for a complicated moving about of people that is best explained by not explaining it at all.

in fact, if you're still reading i commend you because you have absolutely no reason to have made it this far, and i imagine you would have only been reading every other or every tenth word. i invite you to re-read the above statement because you are likely to laugh rather hard. if this is your second time through please continue on to what is below which shouldn't be much more, but i haven't decided yet.

or rather i've completely forgotten. although i would like to thank dan for pointing out that my first post had matt's birthday wrong, and being a good friend he cleared it up politely. thank you dan. what is important is the members of the house i lived in while at brantford. the team included, in addition to matt, dan and i: josh, steve, tommy, brandon and adam.

i know that equals eight, please refer to paragraph four for a complete explanation.

this is post number two of today. please read post number one by clicking here or reading it below.

leaf tossing championships

last night matty and i had dinner at our BC friends house. her and another girl made us chicken and other vegetable stuff and we polished off two bottles of wine. we then toured out to a pub and found more canadians: a couple from Ottawa who are licensed chiropractors looking for work in that field, and another girl from Toronto who also is a chiropractor but not looking for work in that field. We all shared a pint or four and laughed over the pop culture game that was going on around us. Had we have known what the server had said when she came up to us offering the game for us to play we might have joined in, but as it turned out we hadn't a clue that what she had said was english so we politely declined and proceed to regret that decision soon after. it didn't seem as though the game was about answering the questions but rather who could have the funniest team name. we decided to go back again next week with a name prepared and a proper answer prepared for the server: yeathad be grand. the name we're toying with is "George Bush is our neighbour, not our leader; the kind of neighbour you'd though your leaves over the fence to".

it's a work in progress, and the other names shouldn't be recorded in any kind of blog.

before it got too late i had to get matty back to bed so he'd be up for work this morning. he got up, i didn't.

aka the irish talk a lot

at least this particular irish man i was chatting with last night. the conversation was 44 minutes too long and i was aware that this conversation was going to be too long for me to continue to enjoy it just over a minute into it. needless to say (because you can do the maths*) that it was three quarters of an hour that i would rather have been watching the trad session going on in the pub, mostly because i was more interested in the fiddlers who were moving faster than i had ever seen before which was pretty fast when you take a moment to consider that it was the slowest 45 minutes of my life to date.

don't bother doing the maths because your head will likely explode.

regardless, i have found a pub that will feature trad sessions regularly, which i am excited about, and i have found a pub that wants to give me a shot at pouring pints of guinness, murphy's and beamish for the locals. they are not the same pub, which is nice, because if they were i might be required to get a bolt through my lower lip. and with dad coming to visit eventually i'd rather not have it pulled out upon his arrival.

*maths is how they say math

BORING!!!

i meant to get out to the coast for the remainder of my days in france but apparently the public transportation staff would rather spend the last three days of my trip marching through the streets of paris, hanging off each other while yelling vive la france and drinking one and a half times their body weight in expensive french booze. however, because of the strike i was able to spend some actually time around the great monuments i had rushed over the past few days. and instead of viewing paris through the lense of my camera, i enjoyed them the way most of the people around me weren't ... sober.

that image is the arc de triumph. i didn't take it, but it is pretty much the same image that i would have taken a picture of. i found this image through a search engine. i took a lot of pictures, or at least i started to take a lot of pictures of buildings. However pictures of buildings are boring and I quickly stopped. i realized that i could do exactly what i just did, that is search online, and i'll come up with enough pictures to create a 3d model of most monuments in paris.

of course, i don't know what most of that last sentence means either, nor do i have the time to learn what it means, explain it and then carry out the task that it likely instructs me to do. instead, we can discuss how many pictures exist of any given tourist attraction.

take Notre Dame for example. as i walked around the building i admired every bit of it, and took a few pictures too. it has flying buttruses, which is both cool and complicated and explaining either would take up too much time and use too much of your valuble attention. instead, watch disney's hunchback and search flying buttruses on your favourite search engine or encylopedia series for the proper spelling and meaning. it'll save us all a lot of time.

as i took my pictures i came to the realization that i wasn't alone. a quick count told me fifteen others were doing the same. then i looked back at the shot i had composed and wondered ... why? what makes this shot i'm taking so much more interesting? why am i bothering to take it. it is hardly worth €0.25 in developing to see a picture a few clicks can find for me. so i took a picture of another person taking the same picture and put my camera down. i could have run through eight rolls in an hour with all the action around the cathedral. so i started to wonder ... is it possible to know how many pictures of Notre Damn there are?

i got bored and didn't want to finish this thought. paris was great. and i can't wait to go back because then i'll get to see the coast.

and now for something work related

waiting on an employer to get their schedule together so that i can know if they want me to trial is currently the biggest annoyance known to this man.

in other news, i revieved a phone call from another company who is interested in an interview. i had applied online just this morning and the call came this afternoon via my new mobile phone (they call them mobiles ... that is mo-bye-ul ... not cell's) through the head set i was listening to irish radio on. what a concept eh!: make the phone a radio.

none of them are job offers yet, but they are a start.

... in other news i'm back on face book. please forgive me.

Disney will bring us together

the one thing that all the travellers around the pub table had last night was their memory of childhood cartoon movies, and the ability to regurgitate mass amounts of useless knowledge that can only be used in situations like the one we all found ourselves in last night.

i didn't notice when it began but once it got going it was hard not to. we were in the pub that i'll be trialing (having a try out) at next monday, enjoying a pint of Beamish (a knock-off version of Guinness that the locals drink because it's cheap and brewed in the city) when i heard a familiar tune. i put my conversation on hold and turned my attention to the rest of the party. there were two girls singing a song that i had heard before ... in french ... ... or at least i thought it was french. as it turns out one was singing in french and the other was in spanish.

the german girl i was speaking with before the musical number broke out joined in ... in german. the three of them were singing as much as they could between laughs ... ...

and then it hit me. the tune that was so familiar was originally performed by Baloo the Bear in The Jungle Book. So matty and i joined in too. we only knew the chorus so we kept singing that over and over again. after it was all said and done there were five languages layered together one of which i knew was a language and no bit of the song could anyone not at the table make out. french, spanish, german, english and swedish. all together. all singing our hearts out and laughing our throats dry.

love, and now disney, will bring us together.

landed

we've arrived in Cork after a grueling four and a half hour ride from Dublin, we enjoyed a pint of Murphy's stout (b/c the locals don't drink the Guinness) and shared a pint with a new friend from BC. Angie, our new friend, is the first Canadian we've met who speaks more than English. in fact she speaks Spanish and Japanese too! our party grew as the night wore and soon included a few Swed's, Spaniards, French and I think an Auzzie, but I never got talking to him.

today is the first day of job hunting, and that means getting together a CV, or resume as we call it at home.

wish me luck,

cheers,

godfather me

the weekend before i departed my parents and sisters and i visited my dad's brothers house, mark, and his family ... as well as gran and pop murray, aunt mary, aunt marilyn and cousin devin (dad's brother allen's son) and we had one of the first murray family jamm sessions. i was quite proud to be able to teach my cousin carolyn the first few notes of John Lennon's Blackbird (the only song i know completely) but proceeded to be humiliated by my goddaughter, and cousin (showed in the image to the right) Josie, who turn six that weekend, on the drums. t'was all in good fun and proved to be a wonderful warmup to my trip to come. we may have to look into getting that kickdrum loaded ... into the backseat folded down.

the pub crawl i spoke of earlier showcased the type of jam sessions, simly called sessions, that can be found in small pubs around ireland. i haven't found one yet that did appear to be packaged for the tourist gaze, (i'll explain the significance of the bolded words in a later post if i can remember it ... thanks prof hennebry and cs 403), perhaps Cork will have more to share.

matt and i head for Cork City this afternoon.

there are a few pictures up on my flicker (link found in the side bar), they come care of Nat, my french friend, and aunt mary from the north.

cheers,

--(bb)b

serendipitous

last night we went on a musical pub crawl, which was awesome, and we found out a bout it from two girls from ten minutes outside paris, which is also awesome because not only will we have a place to stay in paris when we go we might also have some visitors to ontario too. they are pretty excited to speak to my four sisters who are fluent(ish) in french!

but enough about the girls, back to the story of the pub crawl. the group, about 40 tourists, gathered at a pub called oliver st johns something something, met our guides, a fiddler and guitar/drum/singer player, and set out around the city stopping at traditional irish pubs. well, we learned that the second pub we stopped at, and the pubs that followed, were traditional and the first one, olivanders (or whatever), was not at all. it is the kind of pub we (the tourist group) would find in our home countries. it seems that "traditional" irish pubs do not have fiddles on the walls, guinness posters on the walls or sells shirts that say the leprechauns made me do it.

at oliver's we got to chatting with a few of the folks with us, a couple from texas who wanted their picture taken and i was happy to oblige. another girl, who i was happy to realize soon into our conversation that she was from Mississauga and we had a common acquaintance from laurier brantford, a couple from a little town outside new mexico called Los Alamos of which he said, and i kid you not, "you might know us from when we bombed japan".

matt and i laughed for a good fifteen minutes about that. "who says that?" was all matty could say.

the crawl came to a close around 10:30 and then headed to another pub where some real trad music session was happening. it was great fun, grand as they say here.

today we had lunch with matt's dads bishop connection who paid for it all too. it was nice to speak with irish natives, and what's more he gave us some connections in Cork to call when we get there (which is set for monday). and of course, being as this is dublin, pop. 1.5 million, who shows up at the same second story restaurant at the same time as us?... but the texan couple from the night before! i went to their table, they hadn't seen us yet, and started speaking ... she looked up with the expression of a woman who was getting prepared to speak to a waiter ... i told her i'd be happy to take their picture again if they'd like.

we had a good chuckle over the whole situation, and then i wished them a happy lunch.

matt's party for tomorrow night is growing in numbers. the two kiwi's i met a day ago are coming, norm from edmonton, and jaka from italy ... the two french girls can't make it cause they travel tomorrow morning which is especially disappointing seeing as the one has the exact same birthday as matty - day and year!.

that's all for now, cheers!

--b

kiwi and other fruit

matty and i meant to get to the guinness brewery today, but we slept to late and as it turns out they don't let people through the doors past 5 pm. we had our orientation in the morning (wihch we did make it to, but only b/c our american friend woke us up). i lost matty last night, but as luck would have it he found some locals irish and they took care of him. he turned the wrong way coming out of the bar and walked the distance to the hostel we were staying at, ... just in the wrong way. luckily at the spot he expected the hostel to be there was a mcdonalds, and where his bed was to be there was a bathroom. all ended up well!

tonight we're going for a few pints with a couple of girls from seattle, matty is packing a map to ensure he gets home.

matty made dinner tonight, and it was grand. our first home cooked meal since we got here - that is, the closest we can get. we cooked beside a Kiwi who was really full of energy and gave me hell for giving her cooking secretes away to a bunch of other girls. (you may have noticed by now that there are very few boys in my stories .. but that's just cause there are very few boys here!) The Kiwi's buddy, Tresa (TREES-ARE-GREEN ... but leave off the RE-GREEN) offered us some of the cheese because, and i quote, "we have a f*** load of it".

oh, and i lost my voice last night singing at the pub. it's back just in time to be lost again.

cheers,

--b

day one

matt sleeps like a bear. he doesn't move. and just sleeps there. i can move the metal drawer from under our bunk, of which he has the lower bunk, which lifts the bunk considerably, without him so much as moving.

this does allow me to leave a beer cradled in his arms for when he wakes up.

in other news, dublin is grand. everyone walks fast. very fast. and there are pubs everywhere. apparently, a radio station was giving €100 to anyone who could plot a path that avoided passing by a pub. the winner said that any path would do, simply enter everyone along the way.

we had a pint of stout this morning at some pub, i don't remember the name but that hardly matters, we had our pint anyways. our new american friend, TJ, whom we met in the terminal at Newark, who heading off to Belfast tomorrow to coach basketball, enjoyed a pint with us. we were all very tired after that, and rightly so ... stout is heavy on a tired stomach.

that was three hours ago. matt is still napping with his beer.

oh, and we're in a 16 bed dorm room tonight. HA. and better yet, in three days we'll be in a 24 bed dorm room. anything to save a buck.

cheers,

--b

t minus five days

over the past week i have been forced to arrive at a startling reality: everything in the world does not revolve around me.

let me explain.

I leave on the seventeenth, only five days, 23 hrs, 34 mins, 33 seconds ... approximately. Yet despite this fact, which is common knowledge to everyone everywhere, some of these people still find need in scheduling events that will occur after my departure. Until recently I had thought that I was somehow being unclear to the rest of Ontario that they needn't worry about things like that becuase i wasn't going to be here.

then it hit me. even after i am gone the rest of you will continue to function quite normally, barely pausing while i fly overhead. this is a very tough idea to grasp. i wish it was easier for me.

i was just called for supper. i'd better go. because there is only five more like these left for me until a year from now. tonight will be the best supper i've ever had ... until tomorrow.

and introducing ...

... brad.

Hi Mom and Dad! and thank you mandy for letting me share this space with you. i don't know if i'll be able to be as witty with my writing as you are ... you're one heck of an act to follow: like hearing John Lennon sing Imagine followed by a live performance from Art Alexikas of Everclear.

perhaps that is a little esoteric. so, onward and upward.

Irlenad is quickly approaching, nearing the one week count down. Matt and I depart on Sept 17th to arrive in Dublin the morning of the 18th. I beleive our first act of buisness will be to find where in the world it is five o'clock and toast a Guinness to them.

Matt is the brains behind this opperation, has been a friend of mine for over four years and a roommate for three. I jokingly made a remark about my wanting to go to ireland after school back in Dec of '06, and when we came back from Christmas Holidays in January he asked how serious I was. Matty has been the one to get the ball rolling with the trip with his constant badgering (that I beleive has been fueled by his mother's constant badgering) and unrelenting drive to get to ireland to celebrate his birthday (on sept 21st). Thank you Matty, we'd still be in the planning stage if you didn't step up.

The realization hasn't completely set in that we are going to be in Dublin, Ireland within a fortnight, and I am told that it won't until the plane is in the air, but what has set in is excitment and fear, occasionally knocking me over for the dog to pee on me.

Unregardless, thanks for tuning in.

cheers,

--b

edinburgh to belfast, ireland

so, we had a great time in edinburgh because it was such a student town and the night life was out of this world.. there were tons of things to do during the day and it was awesome..

we took a flight from edinburgh, scotland to belfast, ireland that lasted 15mins.. we were up most of the night before partying and whatnot and i was planning on catching up on some sleep on the flight and i only slept for about 5 mins when the pilot said we were landing. my ears didnt even pop.. we didnt get up very high before we had to come back down.. no wonder it was such a cheap flight. haha..

so, we arrived in belfast, ireland (still on the pound which was 2.5 times the canadian dollar and 1.5 times the euro) and it was STILL cheaper than living in paris and buying things in paris. we were shocked that drinks were cheaper in scotland even with the conversion than they were in Paris..

we were planning on renting a car in belfast so that we could drive around Ireland. we got to the car renting place and they told us that they cant rent a car to anyone under the age of 22 and the driver (jordanna) was 22.. so, we walked around to the different stations to see if anyone would rent the car to us. we found one but it was going to be almost 6 times more expensive for us to rent this car than we had thought.. we had a huge discussion about it in the airport trying to decide if it was worth still getting the car.. and we decided that it was. so, Vivian (our car's name) was to be ours for the next week.. and I'm SOO glad we got the car because there were so many things we wouldnt have been able to do had we not had the car..

highlands and Nelly

we went on a tour of the highlands and the loch ness area on our last day in edinburgh. it was absolutely breathtaking. the highlands is a huge area in the south of scotlands where they have millions of mountains and lakes. it was gorgeous. we drove around in a bus and stopped at a few places throughout the day to take pictures. Everywhere you turned, you felt like you were looking at a painting. If you turned in a circle the scenery changed so much. you would have mountains on one side, a valley and then a huge lake on another side. it was gorgeous.

we went to where the loch ness monster was supposed to have been seen a billion years ago. Unfortunatly, we didnt see nelly (or nessie, eh!??!?).. i really thought i was going to get to see her so i stood watching the lake for a while assuming that the monster would appear. it didnt. and i was crushed.

so, anyways, the tour was fantastic. i didnt realize that scotland was so beautiful. i had always heard that ireland was gorgeous but scotland is as well.

edinburgh

we got off the train in edinburgh and got to our hostel were we met 4 canadians who went to trent and were on their spring break and were doing a super fast tour of the UK... we went on a ghost walk with them (which was super freaky.. they talked about the history of the town, all the ghosts they have there and they took us through a cemetary..) we went out to the bar with them that night and had a wicked time. in edinburgh, you had to show ID at every bar.. i dont even know what the drinking age is there but you had to show your ID anyways.. well, Maria hadn't brought any with her.. so, as a joke, after i had shown the bouncer my ID, i handed it over to Maria right in front of him. i was expecting the bouncer to laugh at us and then tell maria to get her ID.. but, he didnt.. he didnt even notice me give it to her (even though we were standing RIGHT in front of him) and he thought the ID was maria and let her in. It was ridiculous.

we stayed in edinburgh for 3 nights.. this was my favorite city for sure. everyone was so super nice and it was such a student town (kind of like london..) and there were always tons of young people around and the night life was amazing. we bar hopped like crazy.. one night Maria and I went to 5 different bars. It was great.. and we'd meet cool people along the way and then we'd change bars. this one bar we went to was called espionage and we went there the second night and then again on the third night and it was great. there were about 6 different levels and it was built into a hill so you went in at the bottom of the hill and at the end of the night you exited at the top of the hill, on level 6.. so, each level was a different type of atmosphere.. they had a club level, a chill level, a pub level and others.. it was great..

on the second day, we went on a bus tour of edinburgh which was really cool.. we got to see the castle, some old buildings, some museums (were Dolly was cloned..) the castle in edinburgh is the main thing there and its in the center of the town on this huge hill.. its odd because the rest of the city is pretty flat except for this huge hilll with the castle on it..

glasgow-edinburgh

the next day, we went on a very cold bus tour of glasgow.. most of which i forget about now.. it was cool to see the city and its history. we went to the pub again to eat and met some more scots. UK's and irish people are so nice. we stayed another night in glasgow and then went to edinburgh the next day via train. the country side was beautiful on the way to edinburgh.. it was constantly changing with really nice mountains, churchs, old abandoned castles and whatnot... it was really nice.

Paris- Glasgow

so, we took a flight from paris to glasgow, scotland and had no trouble getting into the country. we got to our hostel with no problems. our hostel was a really huge room for about 8 people but the 4 of us were the only ones in it, so that was nice. Maria, who was still jet legged from just returning from Canada, slept for a few hrs while Dominique, Jo and I walked around the city a little bit. we found a nice bar and went back to wake Maria up to go and eat at this pub. There were tons of scots there watching a rubgy game and it reminded me of being at Molly's at home, hanging out. it was a really relaxed atmosphere and lots of fun. we met a few scots at the bar and turns out scots love Canadians so we were the hit of the bar. our hostel had a bar as well so as soon as the pub closed, we went back to the bar where there were tons of irish people there celebrating after the celtic win. the irish are crazy. it was one huge party with everyone laughing and singing and having fun. we started talking to these irish guys from dublin who came to glasgow to see the celtic rugby game and they were telling us about the history of the celtic (most of which i forget..) we ended off the night by staying up way too late as usual.. so late in fact that we slept through most of the next day..

internet/phone

alright, so I got back from Ireland and Scotland safely. I dont have internet or phone right now at my place and so it's going to take me longer than I thought to get my posts up to date but I will get there. basically, to sum up everything, I loved Ireland and Scotland. the car we rented in ireland was the best and we all returned safely to Paris. best kind. there will be more posts to come later on when i have a day off.

caught up

So, i'm finally caught up in my posts. finally.

I'm going to Ireland/Scotland tomorrow for about 2 weeks so I probably won't be posting for a while and when I get back I'll be behind again in my posts. Great. So, today, i'm hanging low, playing housewife, doing my laundry, groveries, cleaning. One of the girls i work with is taking over my room while I'm gone so i have to get ready for her.

a bientot. Guinness here I come. I hate Guinness

The Weather

I know that in Canada, you guys are getting some crazy weather and so I thought I would write a post about how nice it actually is here. Ha.

I had a tshirt on yesterday. I didnt even need a sweater or anything. It was actually sunny for the whole weekend with no rain. Which, I'm sure is some kind of record or something. Of course since i had to work the whole weekend, I couldnt enjoy it really. But now, I have a day off.. and its overcast. but, still not rain so its a great day!

now, when it gets nice out, French people love sitting outside on patios of restaurants for hours on end. And, since our restaurant faces the seine and Notre Dame, we get a lot of people who like to sit outside. Working the terrasse is awful. you have to keep walking back and forth getting things, bringing things in, getting people change. It's annoying.

The other day (this is seriously the funniest thing Ive seen since I got here) there was a group of people who wanted to sit outside so they took it upon themselves (before I even saw them outside) to take all the remaining chairs that werent being used from the other talbes to use for themselves. Now, since there wasnt a table, they set the chairs up in a circle on the cement. By goodness, I came outside and i saw a group of about 9 people sitting in a circle without a table and i lost it. I had to walk inside again because it was so funny. one of the girls came in and asked if they could have a table outside and it took all of inner energy to not laugh in her face. I wanted to tell her that her and her group of friends looked ridiculous sitting there without a table. it was seriously the funniest thing ever. Another man found an available chair and was just sitting there facing the street, watching the people, no company and was leaning his arm of a plant (also no table) man, it was funny.

Rouen

I went to Rouen last Monday just for the day. I went by myself. It was nice to get out of Paris. I think that no matter what city you're in, sometimes you need a change. So, I decided that particular day was as good as any to go to Rouen. I took the train which took about an hour to get there. Rouen is the place where Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake. and since i've done a few essays/projects of her, I thought it would be really cool. So, I got off the train and went to the "accueil" which is the information booth. I asked for a map (une carte) and the lady (who acted like it was a huge inconvienence for her to actually answer me) told me they didnt have any. Gee, thanks lady.

So, I went out and started exploring. As soon as I stepped out of the train station, it started to rain. big surprise. Right then, I was not happy I was in Rouen. So far, I had been fined, the info desk was of no help and it was raining. So, I started walking down the street and saw a sign for a tourist office. Excellent. Information. There, they gave me a map and advised me of some places to visit. They told me that the huge cathedrale that is in Rouen (one that Monet painted quite a few times..) was going to be open at 2pm (it was 11am) I thanked them for being helpful and went on my way. I was seriously the only tourist in Rouen that day. I dont know why they had three nicely dressed ladies working in the tourist office because I was clearly the only etrangere in the city.

The first place I went to was where Joan of Arc was burnt and they have a huge cross there, as well as a little chapel and a museum. So, I toured all of these things. I was the first person that day in the museum (the man hadnt even turned on the lights yet) and it was sort of dungeon-y in there so I left as soon as I could.

I went to the river (which is pretty much identical to the one in Paris except that Paris' is nicer. I sat there and ate my packed lunch. (oh, its still raining/misting by the way) and then I decided to tour some more. I walked around the little streets, looked at the buildings, the people, the shops.

At 2pm, I was standing outside of the cathedrale starring at a note that said that the cathedrale wasnt opening today because of the prefecture, which is like a government office or something. I went into the tourist office and advised them that the cathedrale wasnt open and she said (as if it made so much sense) that it was because it was too windy today and she went back to work. this seems to happen quite often. I was left standing there dumb-founded trying to decide if she had said wind or maybe something else that would actually make sense. I ran the whole convo through my mind again and yes, she definitely said wind. I left the office actually laughing. only in france.

So, since there was nothing left for me to do in rouen except go up the tower that Joan of Arc stayed in until she died, I decided that I would catch an earlier train home. (the tower was super cool. Joan of Arc only had little peep wholes that she could see out of, otherwise the tower was completely dark)

I caught an earlier train home and had dinner at the girls place and went out to the bar.

a bientot,

being fined

I have been fined twice since I've been in France.

The first time I went shoppping in zone 5. Paris is set up in zones and so if you're taking the metro, you have to make sure that you have the proper ticket for the proper zone and that time, i didnt. I knew very well that I didnt have the right ticket but i was being cheap and i didnt want to buy one. turns out, as I stepped off of the metro, there were about 20 officers checking tickets and i got caught. i had to pay a 25 euro fine. (the ticket would have cost me 3) and so i was really mad. I was fighting with the guy saying that i didnt know and that this was my first week in Paris and he wasnt buying it. I got fined.

The second time was the other day when I went to a little town north of Paris called Rouen (more about that trip later..) and i forgot to compost my ticket. Now, composting your ticket means that you have to stick it in this thing that makes the date on it. It has no purpose whatsoever because they still have train guys checking the tickets anyways when you get on the train. Its completely useless. and i was fined 10 euros. I was also fighting with this man, trying to be nice but firm at the same time telling him I didnt know you had to compost your ticket which is a complete lie and he also wasnt buying it.

now, had of i been in Canada and the police or someone stopped me because i didnt have the right ticket or because i forgot to do something so ridiculous, i would have gotten away with it with a warning and no fine. but here, they have no mercy. they get you where ever and whenever they can.

Vimy Ridge

I went to Lille, which is a little town just north of Paris a little while ago to visit these teaching assistants that I met while in Paris. I stayed over at their place one night and then we went to Vimy Ridge the next day to see the trenches from WW1. This is where the Canadians helped the French regain their ground. The Germans where occupying Vimy and no other troops where able to help the French except the Canadians and the Australians. They have a huge monument there as well as a museum. It was really cool being there because you were on Canadian ground and there were lots of Canadian flags around. It was nice because I felt at home there.

So, we take the train to Arras, which is also a little town north of Paris and then we have to take a taxi from Arras to Vimy Ridge which isnt very far. I was surprised that they didnt have some kind of a transportation system set up for people who want to visit the monument. You would think that in the summer time, there would be tons of tourists who would want to come and see the monument and that they should have some kind of shuttle, but they dont. So, we got to the site, and we were the only ones there. It was really weird. So, we walked around a little bit (if you get the chance.. check out my pics from Vimy on photos.yahoo.com/mandylynnmurray) we saw the trenches, saw the museum, had a guided tour, saw the cemetary, saw the monument and it was overwhelming being there. I was so proud to say I was Canadian. It was incredible.

Marie Antoinette

We went to see the movie Marie Antoinette here in English with French subtitles. It was really cool because the movie is set at the Chateau de Versailles which is just outside of Paris and I've been there twice, once with Paul and once the first week I got here. This is the first time I've actually recognized a place in a movie and it was really cool because I was able to say that I was there. I was in the room where the queen used to sleep, where a lot of the movie was based, and I was walking through the grounds of the Chateau. It was very cool. The movie itself was very bad but I wasnt really paying attention to the plot because I was watching the setting.

The Great Canadian

Every day I go to work, I walk past Notre Dame de Paris and I see the Louvre. This is just sinking in. In the summer, when I went to work, I got to bike by the Ceeps bar in London. How things change.

bars

lately, I've been going out quite a bit.. which, i guess would make me somewhat of a bar star. It's weird working in a bar because you see all of these people out for a good time and it makes you want to go to out and have a good time. So, we've been trying all of these English bars that people have been telling me about and they are tons of fun. It's weird because you see a lot of the same people at the different Enlgish speaking bars that you go to so it makes it pretty fun€ because you start recognizing people.. (like last night I met this girl at a bar and i ended up knowing her friends because i had met them another night..) now, knowing people can be really fun unless of course you make a fool out of yourself one night..(which I NEVER do..) For example, I made a fool out of myself ONCE (jsut this once..) at an Irish bar and the next week, the bartendar that was working at that particular bar that night came into my bar to eat. Man, it was very embarrassing because I made quite a spectacle of myself. so then i had to apologize. talk about embarrassing. haha..

so, most of the time, we will start out at the apartment drinking wine then we'll go to the Latin Quarter where all the English bars are and then end up at the Highlander which is a Scottish bar near my bar. It closes at 5am but you have to get there before 3am because they wont let you into the bar anytime after 3am. They have neighbours that complain about the noise all the time so they have these strict rules. The bouncers are these crazy scary scary black men that dont mess around and so you have to be really quiet going up to the bar and you cannot appear tipsy at all or else they wont let you in. ha- its crazy and SO fun.

so, most nights when I'm not working (and after work as well,) we end up at the highlander and stay out all night, getting home at about 6am. man, its so fun.

J'aime Paris. I feel like Im living in some surreal world that doesnt actually exist because the bars are open so late and you can pretty much do whatever you want. you can drink in the metro or on the street, no one cares. you would NEVER find a bar in Canada that serves alcohol after 2am but here, they sell it all hours of the night.

January

well, now that I'm done telling you about Christmas/New Years/travelling/Paul, I can talk about January. (Im over a month behind- this is ridiculous)

So, the day after Paul left, I started my new job. I work at the Great Canadian Pub in Paris, France. It had the best location of any bar in Paris. It's right on the seine, right near Notre Dame and not far from the Louvre. Most of the tourist spots are close to the bar and so we obviously get a lot of tourists. There are tons of Americans, Canadians, Australias and English tourists who come in. Its great. I absolutely love working there. Being a bartendar is so easy (most of the time..) and tons of fun. My job consists of pouring beers and talking to people. Its awesome. my first 2 days working, I worked 25 hours in 36 hours. It was nuts. I hardly slept at all. And, since I live pretty far away from the bar, it takes me about an hour or so to get home at night and about a half hour to get there in the morning, so that also adds onto my night. But, I wouldnt trade it. Its great. I've met so many young people. I really enjoy the girls that I work with as well. They are all Canadians and are mostly from Toronto area.

my carte louvre jeune

At the Louvre, you can get a yearly pass if you are under 26 years old that costs 15 euros. now, considering it costs 8 euros to go into the louvre for one day, this is a pretty good deal. The only thing about this, is that you have to go when the office is open to get this card because they take your picture and everything.. its like standing in line to get your health card or your passport or something.. so, Paul and i went the one day and with a bit of luck, there were only 2 people in front of us. This was awesome. We both sat down together and got ready to fill out these forms and the lady asked us for a piece of ID to prove we were under 26. Paul pulls out his and I go to get mine and realize that I had left them all at home. This is because when Paul and I were in Munich I had to leave a few pieces of ID at the desk at the hostel and I had put them in a different wallet that I didnt have on me at the Louvre. clearly.

so, on day one of me trying to get my carte louvre jeune I forgot my ID. on day two of me trying to get my carte louvre jeune (the next day) the louvre was having an evacuation for whatever reason. (who knows.. France gives no answers..) on day three of me trying to get my carte louvre jeune the office was closed (i'm not sure why this surprised me because everything in France closes for no reason at some point or another) So, i went to the information desk and starting speaking to the guy in english, telling him that the office was closed, that i wanted to get my carte louvre jeune, that i had already tried to do this twice before and wasnt able to (i didnt mention that one of those times was my fault. clearly..) and that i wanted to get my carte louvre jeune today because i wasnt going to pay the admission again (i had done it on day one) the man said there was nothing he could do, that the office was separate from him. I then responded in french and almost immediately, he called his supervisor to see what the problem was with the office. I couldnt believe how quickly he was able to help me when i started speaking french. he got off the phone with his supervisor and they said that they didnt have enough people to work in the office and thats why they closed it. he said he was sorry and that i could fill out a complaint form and explain the situation and that i wanted reimbursed for my admission into the louvre on day three. i filled out the form totally convinced that they would reimburse me ( i got a letter in the mail the other day telling me that they were glad i took interest in the louvre but unfortunuatly it says on the back of my ticket that they can't reimburse me. thanks) so, so far, ive paid the admission twice which is 16 euros. and in case you forget the price of the carte louvre jeune, it was 15 euros. gr- was i mad.
so, on day four of me trying to get my carte louvre jeune (this is still all while Paul was here..) i succeeded. i went to the office about 45 mins before it was scheduled to close ( i dont even know why they have schedules here because they clearly dont follow them..) I walked up to the entrance and the man was just about to lock the doors because they were closing early again. In france, all the doors are locked at the bottom. So, he was down on his knees and he didnt really see me sneak in the other door that he hadnt locked yet until i was in the door. he told me that they were closing the office and that i would have to come back again another time. I said no, i wasnt coming back and that i was getting my card today. he looked at me and said that the office was closed. I said i realized it was closed but the one door was open and i was getting my carte louvre jeune today. and he left me alone. ha. finally, i won. so, i finally got my card and i havent used it since.

Christmas and New Years

For Christmas, Paul and I had bought some chicken and cooked it. It wasnt quite as good as my home cooked turkey and homemade dressing that Im used to but it was the best we could do. Paul did an excellent job. We didnt really do too much else that day. It was pretty quiet day and Im glad that Paul was here.

For New Years, we went to this dinner party with Tracy (one of the Canadian girls here) and her boyfriend Mike. We didnt so much have a good time there because by the time we got there, they had already eaten and they were getting ready to go out (it was 8:30pm). I didnt think this was a good idea because a) if you go out that early, you'll be home before it turns nidnight and b) its very expensive to be buying drinks for that long. I suggested that we go back to Tracy's house after the really really bad dinner party (they didnt even have music on...) and drink a little and then meet them at the bar. So, we did that. well, we kind of did that. We ended up just staying at Tracy's apartment for the whole night. At midnight, we were up on the roof of her apartment (which was awesome and extremely daangerous.) It was a really good night. Paul and I took the metro home to my place because my house was also having a party. We got there at about 3am and the party was still going strong. I didnt go to bed until about 5am and Paul didnt go to bed until about 8am. It was a great night.

I had wanted to be under the eiffel tower at midnight but it was raining and gross and so we decided not to do that.. it ended up being a really fun night.

I also tried escargo that night at my house which is something I never would have done at home. I was actually proud of myself because normally I do not try new things. I actually liked it. That's the crazy part.

train ride

Paul and I took an overnight train from Munchen to Paris. We got to the train station WAY before our train was going to leave so that we wouldn't miss it. We got on the train and found our compartment. I had been told that these compartments were small but that is a huge misunderestimation. The rooms are SO small. They are about the size of a small compact vehicle. and they sleep 6 people. There are 2 bunk beds with three beds each. and basically no room between the two sets of beds. oh, and there are 6 people who all arrive basically at the same time who want to get their stuff organized so that they can go to sleep. oh, and there's two men who snore all night and dont allow anyone else to get any sleep. Our train left at 10pm but obviously, I wasnt ready to sleep yet. there isnt anything else you could really do except sleep because you didnt have an actual seat. You had to lie in your bed. Paul was too big for the bed so you can imagine how small these beds where. Paul isnt really that tall. I dont know how the men slept in the beds. but they did, because they snored the whole night. I hardly slept because of the snoring but when I finally got to sleep, I had a great sleep. and it sure beat taking the bus.

We arrived back in Paris at about 6:30am and it was still dark out. We got on the metro and came back to my place.

Munchen cont'd

Paul, Graham and I went back to our hostel for happy hour where (of course) they had really really cheap beer. We hung out there for a while then started booking our stuff for Berlin because we were taking a flight there the next day.

We went to bed and got up early the next day to catch our flight. Our flight was at 8:25am. I'm not sure if any of you have checked out my pictures yet but there is a picture of a clock in the airport that says 8:30am. We missed our flight. We got to the airport about 10 mins before the flight was scheduled to leave and they wouldnt let us check in. The only reason (well, there were two reasons) why we didnt get on our flight was because 1) we had drank too much the night before and didnt allow ourselves enough time in the morning- we had both agreed that an hour and a half is tons of time to get up, get ready, take the metro 45mins, check in and get on our flight. Turns out in wasnt and 2) we were in the metro station trying to get on our metro that only left every 20mins and the doors wouldnt open. had of we made that metro, we would have been able to go to Berlin.

So, after we missed our flight we were trying to decide what to do. There was a germanwings counter (we were supposed to fly with germanwings) near by and so we went there. The man told us that we could just switch our flight to a later one that day. Great. That sounds easy and promising. Oh no. of course not. Because it was so close to Christmas, all the flights going from Munchen to Berlin (there were 4) that day were full. Oh, and all the flights going the next day were also full. Great. Thanks. So, we took the metro back to the hostel and decided what to do. We booked an overnight train back to Paris leaving that night and so it ended up that we had another day in Munchen (which was alright considering we both really liked Munchen) so we walked around, saw some more sights, ate out (kabob..) and then got to the train station in PLENTLY of time for our overnight train.

ridiculous.

a bientot

Haufbrauhouse

This beer garden was incredible. When you walk in, you are all of a sudden overtaking by everything that is going on inside. All of your senses are trying to take everything in and its impossible. There are huge men (german men) who are all sitting along these long benches drinking, laughing and drinking. Some are singing, some are having serious discussions and others are just having an after work drink or two... or three. You smell the pretzels that they serve, you hear the band that is playing crazy crazy german music. Oh, and I should mention that the band members have shorts with suspenders on. They are playing the coolest instruments that I had never seen before. You see all the people moving around, looking for spots, trying to find friends. There is so much comotion it takes a while to adjust to where you are and it was exhausting taking everything in. Graham (the guy from BC) and Paul and I found a spot in the non-smoking, family section which was a lot quieter and we ordered a beer. They only serve beer in 1L jugs. wow. That's a lot of beer for me. Im not normally in a beer drinker (except in Quebec) so I wasnt sure if I was going to be able to finish it. I managed quite fine.

I spent most of the time people watching. Germans are crazy. They are loud and obnoxious but then I guess most people who have a few drinks in them are the same way.

Prost

bonne soiree

more on Munchen

Munich in German in called Munchen. Now, Paul and I decided that people who were from Munchen were probably called............ munchkins.

The beer in Munich is so cheap. So, naturally, one (not me.. but one) would take advantage of this cheapness especially if she/her were living in the most expensive city in Europe. right? naturally. The beer at the hostel was so cheap. the beer and this amazing restaurant that Paul and I went to was fairly cheap and even at the Haufbrauhouse (which is the biggest beer garden in Munich) the beer was pretty cheap.
Paul and I also ate quite a bit of kabobs. They actually have part of a cow in a turny thing that is being heated and they shave off the meat anytime someone wants a kabob. Man, are they ever good.

We went on a guided tour our second day in Munich and it was great. We walked all around the city, learning how it was all destroyed during the war and how they built it up to what it used to be like. We learned how Hitler started a riot in Munich. We walked down the most expensive street (with the best shopping- which I sadly cant afford) we also saw Pope Benedict's old church which is the cathedral in Munich.

After the tour, Paul and I split up. Paul went to a museum (which I thankfully got out of going to) with a guy we had met from BC and I went off by myself to do some shoppping and sight seeing. We were going to meet up later at the Haufbrauhouse for some beers. I went to the church were our guide told us we could climp up the stairs. There were 310 stairs. The view was amazing. I was up right at sunset and it was gorgeous. You could see the mountains and then the city.

Dauchau- Concentration camp

Paul and I went to Dauchau, the concentration camp in Munich. It was very emotional. When we first got there, they gave us a audio guide to show us around the camp and they were explaining the different buildings, different memories of some of the prisoners and what the prisoners had to do while in specific spots around the camp. For example, the entrance to the camp is the same one the prisoners used when they were being admitted into the camp. It was a very overwhelming feeling walking through the gate and to realize that you were walking in in safety but that there were so many others who were terrified for their lives while walking through those same gates.

We walked around a bit, went through the museum and saw a movie on the concentration camp. It was a working camp not a gas chamber camp so we didnt see any gas chambers or anything like that but there were a lot of footage of bodies being deposited. It was a lot to handle. I found it very interesting and considering it was a huge part of our history, I thought it would be good to go. I'm not sure if I would recommend others to go there or not. There were quite a few kids there walking around with their parents and I know I wouldnt take my kids there but its good for others to see.

Paul's visit- Germany (Munich)

Paul and i went to Germany for a few days between Christmas and New Years. We took an overnight bus from Paris to Munich which was like 14 hours or something. Turns out this wasnt the smartest idea ever. We thought we were really going to be saving money but its not worth it. You have to basically sleep sitting and you have no where to rest your head aside from straight back.. there isnt enough leg room so you cant stretch out your legs and people around you are talking and laughing anyways so even if you were completely comfortable, it was loud. Paul and I were huge geeks on the bus because we were the only ones with our lights on and reading. Once again (surprise surprise) we didnt really talk to each other. So, we arrived in Munich early in the morning. Turns out the bus station, unlike in Canada, is in the middle of nowhere. We had to somehow manage to get ourselves to the touristy part of Munich which was pretty easy for anyone who could speak German. Neither Paul or I could (just to say yes-ja, no-nein, cheers-prost) so it was fairly difficult. We had to figure out the metro ticket machine which of course was all in German. We actually didnt even really need a ticket anyways because the metro runs basically on the honor system as no one really goes around and checks tickets. So, we got to downtown Munich and went to the tourist office and they told us there was a hostel around the corner so we went there. We stayed at Wombats. Now, this hostel was amazing. It was fairly cheap, had a bar, a pool table, nice rooms, lockers and tons of people. It was fantastic.

Paul's visit- South of France (Lourdes)

We arrived in Lourdes fairly early in the morning and as soon as we stepped off the train we realized how cold it was. In France, it doesnt' really get below minus 3 or 4 but the cold here is so much different than that of Canada. In France, its a bitter cold becuase there is so much moisture. Its the cold that chills you immediately to the bone. So, actually minus 1 feels more like minus 25. So anyways- it was cold in Lourdes. Plus, in Lourdes you are closer to the mountains and so that automatically makes it really cold.

So, we left our bags at the little coffee shop across from the train station and started walking towards the grotto where Mary appeared to Bernadette 16 times in 1858. Now, at the grotto there is a very large church, a museum, a water hole where you can bath in water from the grotto as well as the grotto itself. Neither Paul or I really knew what the grotto was going to look like and it was like a cave with a stream of water going through it. There, Mary had appeared to Bernadette. Apparently, the church has pronounced 66 miracles that have happened at the grotto. Miracles such as people walking away from their wheelchairs and things like that. So, it was actually very holy being there.

So, we walked around there for a long time freezing our butts off. It was a very different tourist experience. I felt like I was walking on holy ground. Paul went into the pool of grotto water where they wash you with the grotto water (which is freezing cold as well) and then they pray with you but I couldnt do it. I wasnt comfortable enough but Paul said it was a really good experience.

We walked around the town a little bit more but it was mostly dead because winter (because its so cold) is the off season there and there werent that many people. The museum was actually closed as where other things so there were a few things that I would have liked to see that we werent able to.

We ate at a little dinner that wasnt very good and then we decided to go for a cafe (which we always did) and we played cards in the cafe for about 5 hours because it was way too cold outside to do anything. our train back to Paris was at 11:30pm and we sat in the cafe from 6pm to about 11pm.

Our train ended up being 45mins late and we realized we werent going to make the connection we needed to at another town to get back to Paris. I was talking with the train guards and they said there was another train going back to Paris later on that night that we could ride on for a whlie but that it was actually pronounced as full so we might have to stand. We were supposed to get off at a particular town where the train that we were supposed to be on and the one we were going to go on, met. Talk about confusing. So, we got on the train and looked around for seats which actually werent hard to find (thank goodness.) we sat down but then at each stop we had to keep getting up just in case we were sitting in people's seats but no one came to claim them the whole time we were on the train so we were lucky. We made our connection at this random town and made it back to Paris.

Paul's visit-South of France (Marseilles)

So we arrived at Marseilles pretty early in the morning. The night before, when we were still in Lyon, we were talking to this American who was in Marseilles the day before with her friend who had her purse stolen right out of her arm at the train station. Of course, this is the only thing I can think about when we arrive at the station the next day. I was holding onto my purse so tight my knuckles were turning white. While we were at the train station, we thought that because it was so close to Christmas that we should book our trains from Marseilles to Lourdes and then from Lourdes to Paris that day because the trains are already busy on a regular day and around Christmas it might be all full if we were try to book later. So, we did. Now, my mind could rest because I knew we were getting back to Paris for Christmas.

The weather in Marseilles was really nice although Paul and I were both expecting it to be warmer, I think. At least the sun was shinning which was a nice change. We got out of the train station (which wasnt really a nice area-it smelt like urine.) and went to the tourism office to get a map and to find out what we can do in one day. The lady was super helpful. She told us where to stay/what to see/how to get there. We decided to check into our hostel and then we went to a huge church up on a hill. It was gorgeous. The bus we took was on an incline the whole time because this hill (more of a mountain) was massive. You should check out my pictures of the view from the church on my photo page www.photos.yahoo.com/mandylynnmurray

From the church you could see the bay, the mountains and the city. It was gorgeous. I hadnt seen a mountain since I was in Jasper in Grade 9 so I was super excited.
After the church, we went to a Christmas market. It was a really cute market selling the coolest little knick knacks and Christmas things. We went down by the water to grab a coffee (I had a hot chocolate) and both of us couldnt get over how expensive Paris actually was. Paris is seriously twice the price of Marseilles. I appreciated getting a break on my bank account for the day.

We then went on a boat tour around Marseilles. It was gorgeous and pretty cold. We wanted to get off and stay on one of the islands and then wait for the next boat to come pick us up but both of us were afraid that we would miss the other boat (which was the last one for the day) and we would be stuck on the island. So, needless to say, we didnt get off the boat. After the boat ride, we went out for a drink and window shopped and just walked around Marseilles and then went back to the hostel.

We had to catch the train to Lourdes at 6am so we went to bed pretty early.

We got up the next day, checked out, got on the trains and didnt speak to each other for another 4 hours until we got to Lourdes. It was great.

Paul's visit- South of France (Lyon)

Paul and I went travelling for a few days to the south of France right before Christmas. We went to Lyon first, then Marsailles, then Lourdes. We were travelling by train and so we both bought a carte 12-25 which acts somewhat like a ISIC card where you get a percentage off of your train fare because you are under the age of 26. So, we both bought this card and went on our way. We went to Lyon via train that took about 6hrs. I dont think we actually talked to each other the whole time we were on the train. It was nice to be with someone else but then at the same time, we were both reading our books (well-actually, I was mostly sleeping) We arrived at Lyon without a clue on really what we should do next. We knew we had to find a hostel, hope they werent full, book a few nights and then figure out the city. So, we started with step one, we went to the tourism office which are normally in trains stations and we got a map as well as a list of the hostels in Lyon. We went to the first one on the list (there were only 2) and we each booked into a room. First, let me tell you about Lyon. The city is gorgeous and half of it is built on/in a hill. Now, Im not talking about a Huron-Perth county hill, Im pretty much talking about the side of a mountain (a small mountain but a mountain nonetheless). So, the train station is on the flat part of Lyon but (of course) the hostel wasnt. Boy, it was quite the climb. When we finally got to the top, we were both SO exhausted. We booked beds and signed up for a walking tour (of course we both knew the walking tour was going to be up the mountain) for the next day and then we went out to explore the city. We went on a ferris wheel which was very pretty. Like, the ferris wheel in Paris, you could see all the city sites. We ate out at a little Italien restaurant (which was lovely) and Paul will tell the story about how we were sitting in the restaurant in Lyon, listening to the radio (which plays mostly english music that would NEVER get air time in North America) and Nickleback came on the radio. Paul says "man, no matter where you are in the world, you can never escape Nickleback." He's probably right. So, after dinner and after our cafe (people in France always go out for dinner and then usually go to a different cafe for a coffee and so Paul and I had gotten into the habit of doing that as well) we walked around Lyon some more. We found this really nice church that has a time clock in it that shows the time until 2019. I didn't really understand the whole thing but basically, this thing will show the time, the month, the date, the year, the day of the week until 2019 and it has different hands to point to the month, the date, the year and the day of the week. I'm still not quite sure what will happen in 2019 to make this thing incorrect but I decided not to think about it because its way too over my heard. Anyways, the time clock was really cool..

We didnt really do too much the first night because were both tired. We played a bit of Pay Me (which is a card game that I always beat Paul at) and then hit the sack.

The next day we went on out walking tour with this man who had THE BEST combover Ive never seen. Seriously, it was amazing. Also, he had dyed his hair so many times that part of it was actually yellow (the rest was white) and the whole left side was combed over to his right side. It was incredible. He was a very nice man who wanted you to know,love and appreciate the history (renaissance vs. middle ages buildings and what the differences are- we saw about 15 examples) of Lyon. We walked up the mountain to a cathedrale and then around the city and its two rivers. It was an excellent tour. Afterwards, Paul and I, this other Canadian who was on our tour as well as this guy from Quebec and this girl from the states went out for lunch. We had kabobs. This started Paul's love for kabobs. It was all down hill from there. So, basically the only thing we all had in common was that we were about the same age, all traveling, and all from North America and that, at that moment, made us all best friends.

Paul and I spent the rest of the afternoon in an art museum. Art is finally growing on me and I have Paul and his love for art to thank. We went for dinner and then for coffee and went back to the hostel to see what the other people were up to. We ended up talking in a huge group of travelers for a while and Paul and some other guys (including a crazy Irelander) went out for a couple drinks. I ended up talking to this girl who hadnt seen her fiance in over 2 yrs and was going to see him in 2 days. Apparently, they mostly talk via internet and they are finally meeting up in Paris to make sure they still want to marry each other. It was actually a very weird conversation. I was thankful when Paul came back although, I did really enjoy this girl. She was also talking about all of the work she has done in other countries and where she's lived. Her and her family picked up and came to France for 3 weeks and she might stay longer or she might go back to the US.. talk about having your life in mid air. wow.

Paul and I had to get up pretty early the next day because we were catching the train to Marseilles (and we got to walk down the hill to the train station this time). When we got to the train station, we went to our platform and it said that the train was just about to leave and (of course, me, not being able to remain calm) I start freaking out because the train was going to leave and we werent on it. We get on the right cart and start looking for our seats and find out that our seat numbers dont exist on this train. We were confused until we realized that the train we were on was not going to Marsailles but it was a train that was en retard and hadnt even left yet (and that was going to another completely different city). Not only that, but we were in first class looking for our seats. You can imagine how funny this was for people who are already on the train because clearly they have money, they're all settled in their seats because the train was supposed to leave a half hour earlier and here we are, getting on the train, speaking english, clearly we're backpacking as we both have backpacks on and then to top it all off, we cant even find out numbers on the cart and it took us a while to realize that a) this train was about to leave and b) it wasnt even the right train. Haha, it was halarious.

So, our train to Marseilles finally came, we got on and once again, didnt speak to each other the whole train ride (which was about 6 hrs)

Alright, thats enough for today. Ill write more about the rest of our trip a little while later.

Paul's visit- Paris

so, we did pretty much all of the touristy things in Paris while Paul was here. We did some touring when he first got here and then around Christmas and then after New Years. We spent Christmas and New Years in Paris and then we went to the south of France the week before Christmas and then to Germany the week between Christmas and New Years.

While in Paris, we went up the eiffel tower which, of course, was awesome. We went up to the top level at night and it was incredible seeing all the sights that we had toured and to see all the lights around the city as well. It was really pretty. There is a skating rink up there on the first level but we didnt go skating. It actually didnt take us that long to get up there-I thought we were going to be in line for a long time, but we werent.

One day we went to the Moulin Rouge and the red light district. We walked into the Moulin Rouge but didnt see a show. Apparently the shows are very expensive and just a money grab so we werent planning on doing that. We also went to Sacre Coeur which is a really nice church on a huge hill in Paris where you can see all of Paris. It was nice.. but, not as impressive as Notre Dame. While we were at Sacre Coeur, two guys came up to us and started making bracelets on our wrists and then convinced Paul to pay for them. What a sucker.

We went to the louvre a few times, which, Im sure was Paul's favorite. Ill tell you about my louve experience in a later post. We saw the Monna Lisa and other famous paintings. We saw a collection from Hogarth as well at the Louvre and that was really interesting. We also went to another museum called Musee d'Orsay that has a great collection of Van Gogh, Monet and tons of other painters in it. Very impressive.

We walked around Paris a lot and saw a few parks like the Luxembourg Gardens. We also went to the Pantheon where Victor Hugo and others are burried. Paul really enjoyed this because he got to hang out with Victor for a little while. It was interesting because they had a write-up about each person that was burried there so you could read a little bit about what they did and why they have the privledge of being burried there. I found the cript a little creepy because you're in a cave-like almost way under ground and you're walking around looking at coffins. I didnt want to be left alone down there and I kept following Paul around everywhere he went. There were a lot of other people down there looking at the coffins but it was really creeping me out.

We ate out a lot in the Latin Quarter. You can get a pretty good meal for about 10 euro and they were in pretty nice restaurants. I pretty much just ate French Onion Soup. I now LOVE french onion soup oh, and french fries and mayonnaise. Oh wow- that is SO good.. you dont even have to ask for mayo.. they automatically give you mayo with your french fries and you dont pay any extra for it. At home, I know Leanne always gets mayo with her fries (which I always thought was gross) but it would always cost her a little bit extra but here, they give it to you. I dont know why french people arent really fat.

We also went to Versailles which is a castle just outside of Paris where Louis XIV and Louis XVI lived (and I think other royalty..) we took a tour inside the castle and saw where Marie Antoinette slept and where the kings did all of their entertaining and also their chapel and their theatre.. we also saw the hallways of mirrors which was really cool. The tour was expensive but I think it was well worth it. We also toured the grounds (the back yard) that has a pool in it and tons of trees. Apparently the grounds are 3K long or something like that. It was incredible.

We went on a ferris wheel one day in Paris. It was awesome. We could see all of Paris and we were up there right at 5pm so the eiffel tower was sparkling. It was really cool. We could see Champs Elysees, Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, the eiffel tower and the Louvre. It was great.

We went to the market one day to buy some souvenirs. Paul bought a blanket and I dont think I bought anything. It was funny seeing Paul barder.

We went on a boat ride around Paris which was really fun but very cold and rainy. In Paris it rains quite a bit but not for very long at a time. It rains at least once a day but only for about 10 mins at a time unless its a huge downpour. But, you can pretty much count on at least one rain a day. And, of course, the rain that day happened while we were on the boat, sitting out on the front of the boat trying to keep warm. We saw all of the sights from the water and they taught us about the different bridges (there are tons!).

We went to Christmas eve midnight mass at Notre Dame. What a mess. We got there at about 11pm to stand in line to get into the church. I have never had to stand in line to go to church and Im sure most people would say they have never stood in line to go to church. Well, now I have.. We waited for about a half hour and we finally got in. Now, just because we got into the church doesnt mean we had a seat. The church was already packed when we got there. This church is huge. To this day, I still cant believe it was as full as it was when we got there. There were SO many people. They had tvs set up on the sides of the church because they had set up extra chairs and from those extra chairs you couldnt see the altar, so they had tvs. It was nuts. There were people talking, laughing, taking pictures and not paying attention to the mass at all. We ended up standing off to one side and watching a screen. A guy passed out while he was walking by Paul and Paul had to catch him before he fell. We were getting in line to receive the host at communion time and then all of a sudden, the priests walked back up to the front of the church and communion time was over. We missed it. The whole experience was really crazy and nuts. Im glad I was there on Christmas Eve but I wouldnt do it again. It was too nuts for the both of us.

Paris

so, we did pretty much all of the touristy things in Paris while Paul was here. We did some touring when he first got here and then around Christmas and then after New Years. We spent Christmas and New Years in Paris and then we went to the south of France the week before Christmas and then to Germany the week between Christmas and New Years.

While in Paris, we went up the eiffel tower which, of course, was awesome. We went up to the top level at night and it was incredible seeing all the sights that we had toured and to see all the lights around the city as well. It was really pretty. There is a skating rink up there on the first level but we didnt go skating. It actually didnt take us that long to get up there-I thought we were going to be in line for a long time, but we werent.

One day we went to the Moulin Rouge and the red light district. We walked into the Moulin Rouge but didnt see a show. Apparently the shows are very expensive and just a money grab so we werent planning on doing that. We also went to Sacre Coeur which is a really nice church on a huge hill in Paris where you can see all of Paris. It was nice.. but, not as impressive as Notre Dame. While we were at Sacre Coeur, two guys came up to us and started making bracelets on our wrists and then convinced Paul to pay for them. What a sucker.

We went to the louvre a few times, which, Im sure was Paul's favorite. Ill tell you about my louve experience in a later post. We saw the Monna Lisa and other famous paintings. We saw a collection from Hogarth as well at the Louvre and that was really interesting. We also went to another museum called Musee d'Orsay that has a great collection of Van Gogh, Monet and tons of other painters in it. Very impressive.

We walked around Paris a lot and saw a few parks like the Luxembourg Gardens. We also went to the Pantheon where Victor Hugo and others are burried. Paul really enjoyed this because he got to hang out with Victor for a little while. It was interesting because they had a write-up about each person that was burried there so you could read a little bit about what they did and why they have the privledge of being burried there. I found the cript a little creepy because you're in a cave-like almost way under ground and you're walking around looking at coffins. I didnt want to be left alone down there and I kept following Paul around everywhere he went. There were a lot of other people down there looking at the coffins but it was really creeping me out.

We ate out a lot in the Latin Quarter. You can get a pretty good meal for about 10 euro and they were in pretty nice restaurants. I pretty much just ate French Onion Soup. I now LOVE french onion soup oh, and french fries and mayonnaise. Oh wow- that is SO good.. you dont even have to ask for mayo.. they automatically give you mayo with your french fries and you dont pay any extra for it. At home, I know Leanne always gets mayo with her fries (which I always thought was gross) but it would always cost her a little bit extra but here, they give it to you. I dont know why french people arent really fat.

We also went to Versailles which is a castle just outside of Paris where Louis XIV and Louis XVI lived (and I think other royalty..) we took a tour inside the castle and saw where Marie Antoinette slept and where the kings did all of their entertaining and also their chapel and their theatre.. we also saw the hallways of mirrors which was really cool. The tour was expensive but I think it was well worth it. We also toured the grounds (the back yard) that has a pool in it and tons of trees. Apparently the grounds are 3K long or something like that. It was incredible.

We went on a ferris wheel one day in Paris. It was awesome. We could see all of Paris and we were up there right at 5pm so the eiffel tower was sparkling. It was really cool. We could see Champs Elysees, Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, the eiffel tower and the Louvre. It was great.

We went to the market one day to buy some souvenirs. Paul bought a blanket and I dont think I bought anything. It was funny seeing Paul barder.

We went on a boat ride around Paris which was really fun but very cold and rainy. In Paris it rains quite a bit but not for very long at a time. It rains at least once a day but only for about 10 mins at a time unless its a huge downpour. But, you can pretty much count on at least one rain a day. And, of course, the rain that day happened while we were on the boat, sitting out on the front of the boat trying to keep warm. We saw all of the sights from the water and they taught us about the different bridges (there are tons!).

We went to Christmas eve midnight mass at Notre Dame. What a mess. We got there at about 11pm to stand in line to get into the church. I have never had to stand in line to go to church and Im sure most people would say they have never stood in line to go to church. Well, now I have.. We waited for about a half hour and we finally got in. Now, just because we got into the church doesnt mean we had a seat. The church was already packed when we got there. This church is huge. To this day, I still cant believe it was as full as it was when we got there. There were SO many people. They had tvs set up on the sides of the church because they had set up extra chairs and from those extra chairs you couldnt see the altar, so they had tvs. It was nuts. There were people talking, laughing, taking pictures and not paying attention to the mass at all. We ended up standing off to one side and watching a screen. A guy passed out while he was walking by Paul and Paul had to catch him before he fell. We were getting in line to receive the host at communion time and then all of a sudden, the priests walked back up to the front of the church and communion time was over. We missed it. The whole experience was really crazy and nuts. Im glad I was there on Christmas Eve but I wouldnt do it again. It was too nuts for the both of us.

update

I know I havent written in a while and for that I apologize. Every time I go to write a post, something comes up or I realize how much I actually have to write that I just dont do it.

So, what Im going to do with my blogs while Paul was here is sum up the whole trip instead of writing about each day. So, Ill tell you what we did, where we went and the funny things that happened while he was here and then Ill go back to writing my normal posts.

So, first things first. I have an address. Its:

Mandy Murray
26, rue de l'avenir
Vanves, 92170

"rue de l'avenir" actually means road of the the future. Thats kind of cool.

Dec 15 & 16

well, now that Paul is gone, I will update you on our last 3 weeks.

So, like I said last time, I picked Paul up at the airport and he looked very parisien. It was great to see him. We left the airport and he got a taste of bringing his luggage through the airport. The whole time, like I did with Leanne, I was explaining the steps I had taken after getting off the plane and of course, I kept reminding him how I had twice as much luggage as he had in the metro.

He pretty much slept the whole day and we walked around Paris a bit. He was very jet legged because he had a really long flight with a layover in the states.

The next day, we went to the Arc de Triomphe were Napolean burried one dead soldier to represent all those who lost their lives in the war. There is a traffic circle around the arc de triomphe that is just nuts. There are no lines in the circle and there are about 6 different lanes of cars. Oh, and the cars also don't believe in signaling before switching "lanes." So, I thought it would be a great idea to try to cross this traffic circle instead of going underground like normal people. Paul (being somewhat of a grandpa) did not want to cross the circle. Naturally, I started going anyways and Paul had no choice but to follow me. We almost got killed. We then climbed to the top of the Arc where we had a great view of Paris. It was actually raining (surprise, surprise) so we didnt stay up there that long.

We then went over to the Canadian girls apartment because we were doing our secret santa exchange. We did our exchange and then we went out to the bar downtown. We took the last metro at 1am and went downtown and then stayed at the bar until about 3am. The girls went home and Paul and I stayed in a cafe and people watched until about 5:30am and then went home.

Paul's sleeping patterns were all messed up because he was travelling the day before and then slept for a long time and then stayed up all night and was sleeping during the day. It took a while for his sleeping patterns to straighten themselves out after staying up all night.