living on another continent for a week..

in january my youngest sister left for glasgow, scotland for 6.5 months to complete a semester of studying abroad. she was given an amazing opportunity and she grabbed onto that opportunity with passion and braveness. anyways, her choosing to study in glasgow presented me with an opportunity i could not and would not turn down. i got to visit her! i booked a week off work and got to visit my sister and three amazing cities!

unfortunately i could only afford to get one week off work (since i'm still only on a temporary employment contract).. but we were able to make the best of that one week. we made sure two weeks worth of sightseeing, attractions, tours and food made it all into the one week we had.

Friday May 31

my friend meagan and i flew out of toronto to dublin, ireland at 1140 pm. the flight was about six hours but because ireland is 5 hours ahead of toronto time, we arrived around 11am on June 1.

Saturday June 1

11 am we arrived in dublin, our bodies thinking it is 6 am but our brains overwhelmed with excitement.   we got out luggage and dropped them off at storage so we could go explore the city of dublin a bit before our flight to glasgow that night. we got into a taxi (15 minutes drive from airport city centre) and off we went to do a tour of the Guinness storehouse. for any beer/guinness fans - this is the place to be. it was a self guided tour of the whole process of making guinness including a taste testing experience and a lesson on pouring the perfect pint of the good stuff.

 welcome to the Guinness Storehouse, Dublin

 Guinness bottles and products over the years

 just a little bit of information about Arthur Guinness

 sort of like wine tasting -there is a certain way Guinness should be experienced and each of these 5 steps should be appreciated (listen to the hissing, look at the surge of gases, pour and serve at specific temperature, smell the aroma and taste the mix of flavours on the tongues palate)

 i got a lesson on how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness..

 ..and i got a certificate for pouring it properly

the guinness storehouse tour was fun! did you know there is only four ingredients in making Guinness -(barley, hops, water and yeast).. but then there is three different roasts (or whatever you would call it) of barley itself to give Guinness its unique flavour and smooth texture. i learned lots of useless information but facts and facts right. i love learning and knowing facts. 

after we finished the tour and drank some of our perfectly poured pints (my friend doesn't like beer and my body was very confused why i was drinking beer so early in the morning) we back tracked where our taxi had brought us and made our way back into town by foot. we walked around for two and a half hours to so, enjoyed some street music and went to check out temple bar.

temple bar is not one bar but a whole little area or community of pubs surrounded by narrow cobblestone streets.. the nightlife is exciting in this area, with live music at many of the pubs that can be heard out in the streets.. and other bars/pubs have irish dance shows. 

around 5 pm meg and i headed back to the airport to pick up our luggage from storage and got on our 7pm flight to glasgow, scotland (it was only about an hour flight). we arrived in glasgow shortly after 8pm and my sister was at the airport waiting for us! we caught a bus back to her flat to drop our luggage off, walked around the area for about an hour, got some snacks from the grocery store and turned on a movie. after about half an hour we were all ready to pass out in exhaustion so we just went to sleep with an exciting week ahead :)

stay tuned for many more pictures 

tiff 2012

my attempt to meet someone famous failed. i messaged my friend, printed the t.i.f.f schedule, packed my camera and headed to toronto all in an attempt to see a celebrity (or as some would call it - to star stalk) and i didn't see anyone famous! actually, its possible i did, but in all honesty i dont watch a lot of tv or follow news on celebrities in general, so i probably wouldn't even recognize them. im not too disappointed i didn't see any stars though - i was happy to be in the city for a day, shopping with a good friend.  and despite me not seeing anyone famous, there was a lot of excitement everywhere in the city. crowds were lining up to see film screenings and camera crew were everywhere! limos and security guards surrounding velvet ropes and red carpets. 

i love downtown toronto in general. its always exciting, the crowds were not abnormal. there were bands playing in the streets, free popcorn and ice cream being handed out, professional photographers offering to take pictures and free magazines.

oh did i mention free beer.. we also lined up for some free beer

after we had eventually given up on trying to catch a glimpse of a celebrity (meg more eager to give up than i) we decided to walk around some of the beautiful and ridiculously expensive neighbourhoods.. and do a little shopping.

the neighbourhoods in the city are lovely. in the busy city, these neighbours actually seem peaceful (this could be deceiving - i've never lived in the city to experience it) but i like it.
we spent from 10:30 to 4pm walking around city then my friend had to leave so i walked around 2 hours for by myself before i decided to catch the bus back home (it takes about an hour to get back to hamilton). i was walking past the ritz carlton through crowds of people when some man told me i should go into the bar, called DEQ, which was attached to the hotel. he said that is were all the celebrities are hanging out. he showed me his camera and he had a picture of him with colin farrell on it!.. if i was dressed nicer and still with meg i would have tried to convinced her to line up and go get a drink at the bar with me - but being alone at this point, i passed at that idea.
after i got home that night i found out that will smith and family and shia labeouf where exactly were i was taking pictures but 4 hours earlier than i was there! 
tiff 2012 - no star sightings by me.. darn - maybe next year.

santa came to visit

its only mid november and i know there is no snow.. but it is that time of the year again. the time when santa clause makes his appearances in all of our cities. he comes to our malls and our work christmas parties and yes he also marches down the streets in parades fully dedicated to jolly old santa.. well technically he doesn't march, thats for the bands.. he gets carried on his overenthusiastic float following mrs clause in her unfairly decorated float.. 
so yup.. this sunday santa was roaming the streets of downtown toronto and i went to see him.. (apparently he was also at limeridge mall here in hamilton.. but hes allowed to be in two places at once.. hes magic right?!)
i dragged a few of my friends along to the parade with me.. i may have bribed them with starbucks (sunday still had the buy one get one free holiday promotion thing on - otherwise i wouldn't have offered)..

 its the i love turtle man! (ps: i hate those chocolates, love the turtle)

 i actually dont know what some of these floats were advertising

due to the fact that i couldn't see!

 pretty sure this is my favourite float.. i love penguins

 tim hortons house of donuts

 mrs clause

santa!

he was skinny which disappointed me

after santa passed us, meagan and i decided we wanted a picture with santa clause. since we couldn't interrupt the parade and ask him, we ran and tried to get a picture with him in the back ground.. that failed pretty badly..

we asked peter to take it.. 

and he managed to get santa in with us

i dont recall a single care

wow i can't believe it is already august, and august 3rd at that. my week has been as eventful as it can be while raising a puppy. guinness is a real handful, if you have never raised a pup you have no idea! well unless you have raised a child since i imagine that is much more challenging/frustrating/demanding than having a puppy. the pup chews everything, doesn't sleep as often as i was promised puppies do, he is learning to bark and its still the annoying high-pitched puppy bark rather than a dog bark. i owe my parents and sisters soo much for helping all that they do with guinness.. i dont think i could have a life and/or work if i didn't have them right now.. so monday i went on a hike with andrew to borer falls. it was fun, extremely hot and i forgot my camera (which i was extremely upset about). but i came back to sangria (and beer for him) at my house after. tuesday i went to toronto for the day and went rollerblading with meagan along the bay front. it took about an hour and then we went to the lcbo got some coolers (her idea) and some sangria (my idea) and we went swimming at her sisters house. 

i worked today from 12-9:30 and i work tomorrow and friday but im not complaining really.. i need the money and plus its supposed to rain..