Aside from those miniscule (and really, they are miniscule) annoyances, things are pretty good. Not last Monday, but the Monday before (the 28th) we went to Newgrange and did a hike along the Boyne river. Newgrange is a neolithic burial site. There are a few different ones, but this one is the most popular. It was kind of neat, I suppose but I wasn't completely in awe of it. Honestly, it was nice to get out of Dublin. I guess the tomb is built so that the sun during the winter solstice lights up the chamber. They did a simulation as to what it would be like, but back in the museum you can actually fill out a card for a draw to see it during the actual winter solstice. I put my name in. Hey, I'll be here. It would be kind of a cool thing to be picked. The hike was pretty good, as well. Or at least it started out that way. We had a guide who apparently knows the Boyne valley like the back of her hand. She was very informative and took us through a field of cows to start off. I was a little nervous, honestly, but the cows ended up being more scared of us as they started to run away. Then it started to rain. Not too heavily. Then really heavily. It was pretty bad. I was prepared, though. I went and got myself a little cheap rain jacket and had a change of shoes and shirt in my backpack. The shirt got a little wet, though as my backpack soaked through (now I know how water resistant my backpack is!) and my jeans got completely soaked. As did my shoes and socks. It was a good hike though. I wish I could have appreciated it a little more, but in retrospect it was really nice. I mean, I would have never otherwise gotten the opportunity to really do that hike. How else would I have even known? And everyone was in the same boat. Some worse than others, and some much better prepared than others. Now I fully understand what to expect from Irish weather. Haha.
The entrance to Newgrange.
Sheep!
Newgrange from afar.
Field of cows.
A drowned rat.
After our hike, we went to eat. Then we were invited to Martin Naughton's estate. Martin Naughton is one of the benefactors of where I work (the name of the place is the Keough Naughton Notre Dame Centre – quite a mouthful when you are answering the phone) and he is one of the richest people in Ireland. But so nice! I won't gush too much about it, but the property where they live is a private estate not open to the public. It is called Stackallan House and it was built in 1715. It is a 500 acre property and truly amazing. They were so kind to invite us into their home and tell us stories about their personal lives and also about the history of the house. All I can say about that visit is wow. Just wow.
Waving goodbye.
So that day was actually pretty great. But it did leave me awfully tired. As I remained for the rest of the week, actually. But it was a very good tired. A spent tired. I can never complain when it is that kind of tired, you know what I mean?
Then it was Canada Day. I seem to not celebrate this day anymore. But I did wear a CBC t-shirt which my coworker happily recognized. I work with many Americans, so the emphasis was what they were going to do for the 4th of July. There were 4th of July celebrations happening in temple bar as well, but I completely slept the day away and forgot all about it. Whoops. On the 1st though, they had Moosehead on special for 4eu. I knew this because the bartender told me about it when I went in for my Moosehead the week before. As it turns out, I was wearing the same thing I had on the last time I was there (I'm backpacking! It will happen!) and he recognized me immediately. Then some Aussies at the bar told me it was Canada Day as if I didn't know, and asked me about poutine. It was a pretty decent day.
The following day was the end of the seminar. I was asked to work a little later than I usually do, so I ended up going to the director's house for the closing dinner with the participants. Good, free meal and a chance to talk to some people. Then we went to a pub and I stayed out much later than I planned. It was all good, though. There was actually some live music happening up the stairs, with a bunch of musicians just sitting around and I suppose, jamming, for lack of a better word. It was kind of cool. Then I got home and stayed up longer. It is so easy when everyone you know is around because it is still so early in Nova Scotia. Goddamn. Haha.
Other than that, not a whole lot has been happening. My rent is going up by 25eu, so I am sort of half looking for another place to stay... If I can get something in the same area and a single room for 300eu a month, then I might as well do that. But I am relatively happy with where I am now. I really need a second job, though. I kind of want to occupy myself as much as possible by spending as little as possible. I did some searching last weekend for groups I could join that I have an interest in. The only thing I could really think about was knitting. So I found the Dublin Knitting Collective. It sounds pretty neat, and I'll probably check it out. Unfortunately that means I need to spend some money on needles and yarn. But I did tell Tracy that I would make her daughter a hat, so why not do it while meeting new people? I guess a group gets together at a funky little bar near here for some pints and knitting. And then another group gets together somewhere in Temple Bar for tea and a stich n' bitch kind of thing. I mentioned it at work as well and they said that sometimes the students are into knitting a little. Maybe a little knitting group at the school would be neat as well, if there is the interest.
I went out with Katrina one last time this week. She leaves on Monday to go travelling around Ireland. She is working in a hostel on the coast near Galway for free room and board and is going to take in a lot of the island. I am done work Friday for a month so I am going to take that time to explore Ireland. I have rough ideas all planned out and I think it should be good. Nothing too solid, I just kind of want to go with the flow. I found some literature on walking trails around the island and I hope to explore some of those along the way. The islands are also something that seem pretty interesting, so I want to check those out as well. Joel Plaskett is actually going to be playing a show on one of those islands on the 2nd of August, so I am really going to try and take that in! I think it would be neat to see him over here, though I am sure the show won't be any different than the last six times I have seen him play. It'll be a little refreshing to just kind of get on the move again. A trial run for the rest of Europe.
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