Paris.....C'est Magnifique!!!!!

We just returned last night from a 5 day trip to Paris and I have to say that it was an amazing time! Last Thursday we set off early in the morning with our backpacks and took a bus from Galway to the Shannon airport. It's about 1 hour and 45 minutes, so not too bad. From there we caught a flight on Ryanair, Europe's low cost airline, which is similar to Southwest Airlines in the US. Anyway, after a less than 2 hour flight, we landed at Paris-Beauvais airport, which is a small airport outside of the city. We then took another bus, which took us to the center of Paris in about an hour. From there we located the nearest Metro station, where we bought a 5 day pass, which was a very wise investment. We used the Metro every day, several times a day. I was very pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to navigate around such a big city using the metro system and it made everything feel really close.

By the way, I tried to get a bit more high tech this time with the blog. If you click on this picture, it should take you to a web album so you can see all of the pictures from the trip. If it doesn't work, please let me know!!

Paris July 08

One of Marco's good friends from Peru, Arturo, and his wife Flavie live in Paris. (Flavie is French.) Unfortunately, they were in Peru for a month of vacation, but they graciously offered us their apartment for our trip. So with Arturo's great directions, we arrived at the metro station which was literally about 50 yards from their place! They live in the 11th Arrondissement, which means they are pretty close to all of the major attractions in the city. They had left the keys with neighbors, these two old French ladies that lived downstairs and spoke very little English. Marco bravely called them when we arrived and communicated well enough for them to let us in. The building is one of those old (maybe 18th century) typically French structures. You pass through a huge wooden door from the main street onto this lovely little courtyard. Up about 4 flights of stairs, we rang the doorbell and met the two "Madames". They spoke to us only in French and I did my best to recall a few words from all of the years of studying in school. Eventually we got into the apartment and it was just what you would imagine. They are remodeling everything, but it is a lovely place with all of the charm and character that you would expect of a Parisian apartment. We felt so lucky and thankful to be able to stay there.

So, we dropped our backpacks and headed out to enjoy our first afternoon in Paris. Although Marco had been there once before, it was my first time and I was pretty excited. We hopped back on the Metro and ended up getting off at Place de la Concorde. It's a big "square" between a few of the monuments and from there I got my first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. We walked around a bit just to take it all in. We were getting pretty hungry as we hadn't eaten much all day, so we ventured off to find a restaurant. We ended up in a middle eastern restaurant, where the food was just average, but we still had a nice experience. Unfortunately, it did rain a bit, but it was nothing like Ireland. :o) It was much warmer and I guess for some reason we didn't mind the rain so much being on vacation. After dinner we strolled down the Champs Elysees and I got to see the Arc de Triomphe! We then headed back to the apartment to try and get some rest for the busy days ahead.

Friday morning we woke up and went for breakfast at a local cafe. We had the traditional croissants and coffee (hot chocolate for Marco!) and it was absolutely delicious. At this point I guess I should go ahead and admit that we ate our way across Paris. We had so many croissants, pastries, baguettes and crepes that it is hard to even describe. There were crepe stands all over the city where you could get a fresh crepe to order and I lost track of how many we had with Nutella (chocolate) and bananas! Luckily, we did SO much walking that we didn't put on too much weight. Seriously, by the end of each day our legs were so tired that we would just fall into bed. Anyway, after breakfast we took a train to Versailles, which is a massive palace on the outskirts of Paris. It was originally built by some rich Italian guy, then one of the King Louis' bought it as a vacation home. it was actually the seat of government at one time, but that was never permanent. Over the centuries they added on to the main building, built new buildings and put in a huge garden that is immaculately manicured. It's actually more like a park than a garden. There are fountains, pools, mazes.....just beautiful. And the weather was gorgeous.....I actually got a pretty good sunburn on my shoulders, but I was just happy to have sunshine! We bought ham & cheese baguettes for lunch and sat out in the gardens to enjoy the weather. We then took a guided tour in the afternoon which was great. It was so fun to hear stories about the history of the place and the people who lived there. One of the kings at one time had a thing for clocks. This pair of scientists built a very special clock for him back in the 1700's and they designed it so that it would keep time until the year 9,999! It still works and is accurate.....just amazing. There are just too many interesting facts to share in this blog, but it's a must see if you ever get to Paris.

So, we headed back to the train station to go back to the city. About 5 minutes into the trip, the train stopped. The conductor made an announcement in French that we couldn't understand, but we picked up that there had been some sort of accident on the line involving a person. They said it would be a few minutes delay, but about 30 minutes later and with a train full of sweaty passengers they announced that we should all get off the train. Like a herd of cows we all followed the crowd, not really knowing what to do. We were not close to any other stations. They instructed us to walk to a bus that was several blocks away and from there who knew what would happen. We packed into the bus like sardines.....seriously, it was such a funny site! About 10 minutes later, we arrived at another train station, where we were able to find our way back to the city. As we exited the metro station near the apartment, there was a group of people asking us to sign a petition. We waved our hands to indicate we don't speak French and one guy looked at Marco and said "Hablas espanol?" Turns out he was from Argentina, so they had a nice conversation in Spanish. Apparently there is a big thing happening in the EU right now where they are trying to deport a lot of immigrants, so the petition was to protect the rights of those people. He said since we lived in Europe we could sign, so we added our names to the list to help the cause. This guy also told us that there was a good "latin" club somewhere in the city where the food and dancing was supposed to be good the next night, so we made a plan to check it out. Then it was back to the apartment for a shower before we headed out to find dinner.

Now, Lebanese food is one of our favorites, so before our trip I had researched all of our options. Restaurants in Ireland are pretty disappointing, so we thought this was our big chance to have some really good food. We found our way to this place that had gotten rave reviews and got a table. And that's when everything went downhill. After this trip we both can say without hesitation that the service in France is terrible. The stereotype of French people being rude holds true. (The nicest people we met were immigrants from other countries) Once we got a look at the menus, we were surprised at the high prices, but decided it was worth it for a good meal. I ordered a chicken kebob meal and Marco ordered a beef dish. When mine arrived, it had the wrong side orders, so I had to send it back. Then, one look at Marco's dish and we weren't convinced that it was beef. I tasted it and was pretty sure it was lamb, which he doesn't care for. So, we called the waiter back (who didn't speak any English) and tried to explain the problem. He insisted it was beef and then sent another guy to insist that it was beef. Needless to say, this meal ended up to be a huge disappointment. Oh well, I guess that's all part of the adventure! After dinner we made our way to an area called Chatelet, where there is a pretty good nightlife. Lots of restaurants and clubs and it was really fun just to walk around. Then it was back to the apartment to collapse into bed.

Saturday morning we again went for a typical breakfast at a cafe near the Louvre Museum. We then ventured over to the museum, which is so huge that there's just no way to see it all. So, we made a tiny list of things we wanted to see and set off. Of course we saw the Mona Lisa, which was surprisingly small compared to what I expected. And there was such a huge crowd around it that you couldn't get close or get a decent picture. But at least we saw it. We saw lots of paintings by famous artists and of course the Venus de Milo sculpture. We ventured through an exhibit on Egypt and also Napoleon's apartment. It was a really neat experience to see all of this history, but totally overwhelming. We went up and down so many stairs that I felt like we were back at Machu Picchu! Which brings up an interesting point......now we know how the French stay so skinny! They walk everywhere and there are stairs everywhere.

After the Louvre, we headed off to find lunch. We ended up having wood-fired pizza at a sidewalk cafe that was decent. We then decided to take the metro to Sacre Coeur, which is a big church at the top of a hill. Once we reached the neighborhood, we saw that you could take a shuttle or a funicular. We thought we would be troopers and take the stairs. I don't know how many there were, but my legs were like jello about halfway up. I just kept convincing myself that I would totally deserve another crepe after that. :o) Once we reached the top, we found that the church was absolutely beautiful and the view was spectacular. They say it's the best view in Paris because you can see the whole city from there.

We then decided to go home and rest because we had grand intentions of going out for a bit of dancing in the evening. We took a pretty good nap and felt the energy return! Marco then took me to the Montparnasse building, which is one of the only tall buildings in Paris. You take the elevator about 59 floors and have a rooftop view of the city. The sun was just going down, so it was a pretty spectacular view! We then ventured over to an area called the "Latin Quarter", which is also known for it's nightlife. This turned out to be our favorite place because of the energy and the relaxed atmosphere. We ended up sitting down for dinner at an outdoor cafe in true European style.....at 11pm! The place was packed and it was really fun just to watch people and enjoy the beautiful evening. Unfortunately, the food was again disappointing, but the experience made up for it. We then set off to try and find the latin dance place that the guy from Argentina told us about. After about 20 minutes of walking we decided we were just too tired and headed in for the evening.

Sunday morning we found a nice bakery and just bought our pastries and baguette to go. We had seen most of the big things on our "list", so we thought we would just take the day a bit slower. We walked around just to see different parts of the city. We did go back to the Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe since I hadn't gotten any pictures before. We decided to go to Les Invalides, which was originally built as a "hotel"for injured war veterans. It's more like a palace and is now a museum and he place of Napoleon's tomb. It ended up being a really neat experience that we were both glad we didn't miss. They had a whole section of the museum devoted to World War I and II, which was fascinating. Lots of history and great artifacts that we both enjoyed. At the tomb of Napoleon, they have on display one of the coats and hats that he is normally pictured in. It was surprising how small the coat was! I mean, it seemed like it was made for a child. Such a small, but powerful man. We then made our way back to the neighborhood near the apartment. We found a great little cafe that was packed with people having "happy hour"on a Sunday. We had a drink and a couple of appetizers and a nice time people watching again. We then found a nice little restaurant where we had our last meal. It was an Italian place so we had a pizza and some pasta. One interesting note is that most of the pizzas on the menu had a large fried egg in the middle. We decided to order our pizza without the egg. :) Then it was back to the apartment, with a pit stop for our last crepe on the way back!

Monday morning we got up early to clean the apartment and pack our things. We had to take the metro to get back to the bus station to get back to the airport. We thought we were leaving really early just to be safe and it was a good thing we did! Monday morning rush hour on the metro is a bit crazy! We were again packed in like sardines and it took us longer than we expected. But we made it to the airport for the flight back to Shannon. The bus to Galway got us home around 5pm and it was nice to be back in our fair little town. Our house was pretty stuffy after being closed up for 5 days, but luckily today it has been sunny all day so we let in all the fresh air. I also did about 6 loads of laundry, which took most of the day!

Now it's back to our normal routine for a few weeks. This adventure was so much fun that we just can't wait to go to Switzerland in August!!!!!

Another Tiny Milestone

So, today is officially our 3 month-a-versary! I know, I know, sounds silly, but my philosophy is that you should celebrate anything possible. Today we were lucky enough to get a couple of hours of glorious sunshine, so we took a really long walk down to the beach and then along the Salthill Promenade. Although the sun was amazing, the winds were really strong, but I guess that just added a little bit of resistance to our exercise. :)


Last night a couple of friends had a "latin" party. They invited people over for "fajitas" (as prepared by a Swedish guy and a Spanish girl!), mojitos and games. There were also a few other German friends and the two of us. We had great intentions of doing a little salsa dancing, but ended up being a bit too tired to muster the energy. Next time. A couple of us were asked to bring dessert as our contribution to the meal. I prepared Crema Volteada from Marco's mom's delicious recipe. It's a flan type of dessert which is very easy to make, but looks great and tastes even better. A German couple that we are friends with didn't know what to do, so they went online for ideas. They ended up making chocolate dipped jalapeños! You can see them in the picture here. They were a bit hot after a couple of bites, but a really creative and surprisingly tasty little treat!


Now we are getting ready to watch the final match of the Euro 2008 tournament. It's a huge soccer championship over here with all of the top European teams. It's Germany vs. Spain and should be a pretty exciting match. This will be a "short" week for us since we leave for Paris on Thursday morning. Yippeeeee!!

Just Checking In

Well, there's nothing huge to report right now, so I thought I would just check in and give a general update. Everything is continuing to go well here.

We had a thunder/electrical storm on Saturday that you can definitely classify as a torrential downpour. Marco and I had been out walking earlier in the day, but luckily we got home before the storm hit. There was thunder and lightning and rain like nothing I have ever seen before. The parking lot in front of our apartment literally started to flood as the water rose up above the level of the curb. I read in the paper this morning that there were actually flash floods in other parts of town, so I think what we saw was mild by comparison. Ugghh!!!

We are getting really excited because we have started to plan some of our "European adventures"! We will be travelling to Paris the first weekend in July for about 5 days. Marco has been there, but it will be my first time. Everyone tells me it's beautiful, so I can't wait to go. I just hope the weather is a tiny bit better in France than it is in Galway. :) Next, we will be going to Zurich, Switzerland the first week of August. Marco's sister, Carol, lives there with her husband and 2 kids. Marco's brother and his girlfriend (Carlo and Katie) are coming from Illinois for a visit, so we decided to meet them in Zurich since we wanted to see the whole family. We'll be there for about 9 days, but we are possibly planning a little side trip to Prague in the Czech Republic while we're there. If you don't know, citizens of some countries (including Peru) are required to have travel visas for most of Europe. Many of the EU member countries have joined together and have a common visa called Schengen. Basically, there are no more borders between these countries, so if you get the visa you can visit lots of different countries. France was nice enough to give Marco a 90-day multiple entry visa for our Paris trip, so we feel like we should take advantage of it! We don't know where we'll travel after that, but we have a pretty good list of places that we'd like to see.

Is Summer Already Gone??

Ok, here we are, middle of June and I am starting to worry that summer has come and gone. We had a couple of "nice" weeks here recently that now seem to have been an evil trick from the weather gods. We did enjoy it while it lasted, but the rain has returned and it's cold!! Yesterday afternoon we had one of the craziest and hardest rain storms I've ever witnessed. Today it's more of a misty rain, but it just keeps going and going. The other day I went walking into town with my umbrella as it's not so pleasant to ride in the rain without a raincoat. (I know, I know....you're all thinking I'm mad for moving to Ireland without a raincoat, but I just haven't gotten around to buying one yet.) Anyway, it seemed as if the rain was coming from every direction. By the time I got home my shoulders and head were dry, but everything below was wet. There's just no avoiding it.

Enough about the rain! But there is one more gripe. :o) As it turns out, living close to the university also means living near college students. What a surprise, huh? Well, we live on the 1st floor, and just above us there are a few youngsters that really enjoy throwing a good party on a regular basis. With loud music and wood floors, it doesn't make for a restful night for the old folks downstairs when it happens. It has happened at least 4 or 5 times in the 2 months we've been here and it happened again last night!!!! A Tuesday night for goodness sakes! About 3:30am I decided to call the property management security company. They sent someone out, who issued a warning, but 5 minutes after he left the music was turned back up. So, about 4am we called the Garda (police). Luckily, the party animals decided to respond to their request. I'm sure they are not too fond of us at this point, but how about a little consideration for your neighbors on a work night! Luckily we only have a 6 month lease here, so if this continues we will likely be looking to move later in the year. Maybe we can find a senior community nearby...hahahah!

Well, I have to run off to my Wednesday afternoon at the refugee volunteer club. It's raining, so I'll have to walk to town. The last couple of Wednesdays there have been lots of volunteers but no kids. :( Maybe it's the rain or maybe it's that the end of school is near. Who knows, but I'll keep going!

Back to the Grind

Well, believe it or not, I finally got a job! I will be doing HR part-time for a local tourist hostel called the Sleepzone. (http://www.sleepzone.ie/) And when I say part-time, I mean one day a week to start! Now that's what I call easing back into the job market. :o) I'm hoping that the hours will increase in time, but for now it's a great opportunity to get my foot in the door and get up to speed on Irish employment/HR issues. It's a totally international environment with staffers and guests from all over the world. And the management teams seems really nice, so at this point I think it will be a good place to work. The nice part about it is the flexibility I still have with my schedule. We will be able to travel pretty much whenever we want, I will have a lot of time when people come to visit us and I can still stay involved in my volunteering activities. We are both pretty happy about it. I start this Thursday so let's see how it goes.

Marco had a good trip to Germany. He met some nice people from lots of different places and the meetings went well. He is definitely still enjoying his job, so that makes life a lot better. He's also playing soccer after work some days and even tried rugby once.

We've been making lots of new friends through work and outside of work. That always helps to improve the social life and make you feel more at home in a place. We went to a party on Saturday night where we ended up doing karaoke with Marco's coworker and his girlfriend. The four of us belted out a Journey song and Bon Jovi......let me just say it was not pretty. But the bottom line is we had a good time and lots of laughter and you can't beat that.

We continue to have nice weather here. Locals keep saying that this has been an unusually nice "summer" so far. We're not sure how long it will last, but we are enjoying it for now. We still get showers here and there, but nothing too bad.

Pot of Gold??

So, after a couple of days of spectacular weather, we did get a small rain shower the other day. But this picture proves that it was worth it! I took this from the front window in our apartment and could actually see the whole rainbow, end to end. It was beautiful and I'm not sure the picture captures that. I couldn't help but wonder if there was truly a pot of gold at the end. :) Unfortunately, I woke up this morning to howling wind and lots of rain. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. Marco's on his way back from Germany this morning. He has to fly to Dublin, then take a bus back to Galway, so he won't get here until this evening. I'm just glad he's coming home!

Glorious Sunshine

It's Saturday and this morning we awoke to sparkling blue skies and sunshine like you wouldn't believe! It's really amazing what that can do for your attitude. We have learned from our two months here that when the weather is like that you really have to take advantage of it because it's not likely to last long. So we decided to take the bikes out and enjoy the day. We rode down to Salthill, which is this lovely little community right on the water and there is a boardwalk. Lots of people had the same idea and were enjoying the beach. We ended up exploring an area that we hadn't seen yet and found this small, secluded beach about 15 minutes ride from town. It was absolutely gorgeous and I'm really sad that we didn't take the camera. We stopped for a bit to sit on some rocks in the sunshine and take it all in. Marco actually went down to the water, put his hand in and decided it wasn't too cold. So, he took off his shoes and proceeded to wade in. He got about up to his knees when he turned back. Apparently, the deeper it gets, the colder it gets. :) So, we headed back towards home and about 30 minutes after we arrived, the clouds rolled in. Whew!

One funny thing about living here is that the summer days are really long. Right now it stays light until about 10pm. Even after that the sky doesn't really get totally black. Interesting. The flip side of that is that during winter the days are extremely short. We hear that it will get dark around 4pm. Ugggh! Not looking forward to winter. We'll try to enjoy this season as long as we can.