I'm a sushi chef!

Today I got to make Sushi! Keiji hosted a Make Your Own Sushi Party which was so friggin fun. I don’t even really like sushi just because I don’t like fish and especially the whole raw thing but he had lots of other options for making vegetarian ones. I made them with different combos of avocado, carrot, cucumber, spinach, cream cheese, and egg. My first one was not so pretty but each time I got better and by my third one I was a pro. It was so fun making them I wanted to make more but was too stuffed to eat any others.

Making Friends with Sheep on the Ring of Beara

Today I drove the Ring of Beara with Meredith. This is a scenic drive that goes around the Beara Peninsula. She rented a car for the whole week and invited me to tag along with her. She was here earlier in the year and had drove the Ring of Kerry which is probably very similar. Kerry is must more well know and she said there was way more people stopped along the road and even big tour buses so it was nice doing the less traveled one.

It ended up raining about half way in and not letting up which is odd for Ireland. Usually I feel like it only rains for like an hour tops and then clears and is beautiful out. Today this was not the case though. The roads was super narrow esp. in certain parts were it was one car wide so if a car was coming from the other direction you had to figure out how to squeeze by each other. We didn’t have to deal with this very often though. On our way home we saw two truck heading out where we had come from and we were like good luck with that trucks.

The views were really pretty looking out off the coast and also all the fields filled with sheep and their little lambs which were adorable. I really hate how they mark them with spray paint. They all have big red and green blobs on their backs and I know it doesn’t hurt them but I still find it mean. It also makes them look not as good in pictures!

We started seeing a fog coming in and new it would be raining soon enough. When it did we were more reluctant to get out and take pictures. We stopped in a little village called Castle something and got some lunch. I had some really nice vegetable soup and bread. The rest of the drive it was raining. I really wanted to touch a sheep. We saw one on the side of the road and Mere stopped right next to him. I tried to creep out of the car and touch it but it bolted. I was shocked at how fast he moved. I then proceeded to yell at him from down the road saying, “You suck!” I attempted this same process one more time unsuccessfully. We also saw this cow. I was talking to him and he looked over at me but he wouldn’t come over near us. To get back we drove on Healy’s Pass which was built to help starvation I’m guessing because it cut across and was a more direct way to Killarney.

Living like a Rock Star in the wee village of Killarney.

We traveled in the most luxury coach bus ever last night. It had a fridge and tables with seats facing each other that were made of faux leather. We usually spread out and claim two seats to ourselves but this time we all crowded around the tables and socialized the whole drive which was really fun. It took us about 6 hour drive to Killarney where we are staying which is about an hour and a half away from Cork and an hour away from the venue we are playing. We are kind of in the middle of the countryside but I am not complaining. Our hotel is super pimped out. Basically for our last week they decided to treat us like rock stars! We all have fully equipped apartments with kitchens so we get to cook!! Seriously if our hotels were always like this I’d have the life!

It doesn’t even feel like I am at a hotel. It’s as if Adrienne, Alex, Mauricio, and I just got an apartment together. It is so friggin awesome. My only complaint is that our toilet won’t flush. A very old man came over and attempted to fix it for an hour unsuccessfully. He gave me a bucket and told me to fill it with water and pour it in to manually flush it.

This am I went for a fabulous run in Killarney National Park which is right by our apt. I got to run on trails which made me so happy. After that we went grocery shopping another one of my favorite pastimes (Tesco doesn’t quite compare to glorious Stop & Shop though.) We made a list and everything. We got sooo much food; probably too much. I think we just carried away in the excitement of being able to cook. When we were loading up the taxi, our driver asked us if we were staying for a month. Hahaha

Running to the murals

So one of the main things I wanted to see in Belfast was the big murals on the sides of gabbled houses in the area around the wall that once stood. There are a ton of them both on the Protestant and Catholic sides. I was planning on going because we only had a night show. I woke up earlier than Alex so the blinds were shut and I hadn't seen outside. I get down to the lobby and fault as I see it raining. That totally changed my plans. I figured I would try again Friday and hope for better weather. Friday we had two shows so I had to be more efficient about it. I decided to run there so I could get there faster and multi task. I ran holding my camera which I’ve never done before and didn’t like very much. I got to see some but there are just so many it is hard to make it to them all. I also did have a map with me too but I just was holding too many things and didn't want to stop to look at it and interrupt my run even more.

I was surprised that a lot of them were about more modern issues like there was one of Bush that read America Greatest Failure.

Jude's and Kremlin

So Mauricio met this super nice Irish boy, John. He seems just perfect and we all adore him. He came to see the show last night and loved it. He is a dancer so he can appreciate what we do I guess. After the show we went to have a drink at the restaurant he manages, Jude’s. It was a really nice place and so was Mauricio’s kind of look. He always comments on the décor of places and I can understand and relate to him on these kind of things. When I walked in I just knew he was digging the place. Everything was black and white and there were these huge prints of photos of people with lace and other stuff morphed on top of them. That description makes them sound creep but they looked cool I swear! The booths were in little alcoves so you had your on private little area and they had couches and arm chairs for seating. Our table had old vogue magazine under glass in the middle with red lights on them.

It was nice just sitting and chilling out here. Today we went back and got lunch while he was working. We sat at the same table which had a reserved sign just for us. John kept coming over and joining us when he got chances. The food was pretty reasonable and tasty and he got us dessert on the house. Alex didn’t want his so I may or may not have ate his as well! He got the Spring Berry Fool, which was this berry mousse that was to die for.

After the show we went out dancing at a place called the Kremlin. It was a lot of fun. Adrienne, Skyler, Alex, and Mau were all there as well as a few others. John is a dancer so he had some really great moves up his sleeve. His friend Christ was there too who was a lot of fun.

A wee trip to Giants Causeway.

Today Adrienne and I took a wee bus on a wee trip to Giants Causeway with a wee little Irish driver who said “wee” to describe just about everything and cracked me up like none other. There were different tours companies and I think we made the right choice with Allen’s tour. A big group of probably 15 other skaters did the Mini-coach tour. They ended up having a very similar timetable so we kept bumping in to them along the way. Adrienne and I were fine with it just being the two of us though; makes life less complicated and drama free.

We got picked up at our hotel by our driver’s father in his own car. He then brought us to the office, a furniture store which had then had us sit in to wait for the others. This was pretty hilarious. The Irish are just so nice though. All the workers felt the need to come over and check that we were comfortable and chat with us. Our group ended up being us along with 3 older couples. Adrienne and I sat in the back of the bus look the cool kids we are.

It was a good day in which I’m pretty sure we got to see all the major sites Northern Ireland has to offer in one swoop. We started off by seeing the Carrickfergus Castle, the 12th century Norman castle which is the best preserved medieval castle in Ireland. Onward, we drove the Antrim Coastal Road which was very picturesque.

I have to say I think that the western part of Ireland is still the prettiest part I have seen. It has been twelve years since I took that trip to Galway but I still think it is cooler there. Here they have rolling hill covered with sheep and fields BUT no stone walls. Here, it is just plain wood and wire fences which are no where near as charming as stonewalls! Also the houses all looked newer and modern; there were no thatched cottages to be found.

Next we went to Carrick A Rede where we walked across a rope bridge to get to this little island. The bridge was originally built by fisherman because the island was the best place to catch migrating salmon. Only 8 people are allowed on it at once. It looked much more daring in the pictures I saw prior. In my head as I walked across I said, “I am the log. I am the ravine.” From here you could see Scotland in the distance. At one spot it is only twelve miles away which just seems so close! On Carrick Island I was so amused with how squishy the ground was. It felt like you were walking on a mattress and usually when the ground is spongy it leaves your shoes wet and muddy but this was not the case here; it was just extra fluffy.

From there we drove on to Bushmills where the world renowned Distillery is located. Our bus tour didn’t really allow us time to do a full tour of the place but we got to take a peak at least. The smell was overwhelming from outside so I can’ fathom what it’d be like inside. I feel I could have passed out if I entered! Next we saw the Dunluce Castle which was built right on a cliff which while looks pretty nifty isn’t a wise idea considering the kitchen collapsed into the water. After this happened the inhabitants deserted it and moved to Glen Arms and nobody has lived there since this happened way back in the 13th century! We also made another pit stop at this lovely beach view that I forget the name of.


Finally we made it to Giants Causeway. We followed our guide’s advice and went the long trail down so we could take some aerial pictures. We hiked along the path looking down on the coast and all the rock formations which then lead us to this super steep staircase down.

It is quite the geological phenomenon how these rocks formed in hexagonal shape. It looks like something so man made it is unreal. We climbed around this rock playground and saw a whole mess of other Disney people while on the rocks.

Belfast.

This week our hotel is right downtown which is good BUT there is no breakfast and no fridges which really sucks especially since we are dealing with pounds this week. I am rooming with little Alex which should be fun. The days off I will have the room to myself though because he is going to Disneyland Paris since he missed out when we were there.

I am enjoying Belfast thus far. I really like Ireland as a whole. We walked around and I passed the Europa Hotel where many shootings happened back when Northern Ireland was having all there problems. There used to be a six foot wall built to separate the Catholic and Protestant sides back then! Across from the Europa is the Crown Bar which is the most ornate bar I think I’ve ever seen. It is a little over the top but it is so unique so I liked it.

I sat outside the city hall with Mauricio and Adrienne for awhile. Next to city hall is another big ferris wheel. I have seen so many of them here in Europe. There is the London Eye, as well as wheels in Manchester, Paris, Lyon, Lille, and Marseilles.

Dick’s in town.

This morning I got to see Dick for my second time this tour! He was doing some work down over this way on Monday so he drove over early to visit me. He brought me a present he found a charity store that had called out to him It is a long reddish brown leather jacket…………I’m not sure what I will do with it just yet.

Mauricio had been out the past two days but came to work today. He ended up running right to the bathroom at the end of the number and hurled still in costume! He continued to skate and threw up again after parade. He didn’t want to have to be out on his days off but it wasn’t worth it nor could he have probably made it through. I was in such a better mood today it was awesome. In the first show Adrienne had to do ghost with Mauricio and she was so lost. At one point In the beginning she ended up next to me around the table and I was like Adrienne you aren’t supposed to be here. It was really funny.

Dick and a couple with a little girl came to watch the second show. I asked to do Irina’s wench for them to see which was good because Dick could pick me out since the costumes are all different and my face shows. In ghost I had to skate with Alex. It can be fun but since he was watching I was not pleased about this. We were messing up left and right and if Dick could pick me out he saw us messing up. It really wasn’t the best show; There were lots of understudies in and things were sloppy but I think he enjoyed it none the less.

After the show I met Dick but his friends had peaced out right after. We and got some food at this place which ended up being awesome. It was called Gourmet Bruger and was try to be an upscale classy burger joint. The décor was super modern and the dishes all had great presentation. My food was quite scrumptious so I didn’t feel so bad missing out on the company meal. I also didn’t end up with that over stuffed feeling I had the other days which was good.

The last show of our 9 pack I was hyper so I don’t feel like it was hard at all.

9 pack: Nothing to it.

We had our first and only Nine pack here in Dublin. That is 3 shows Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It turned out to be totally harmless in my eyes. I feel like it is how track workouts can just sound horrible and you are dreading doing them but after you say, “That wasn’t too bad.”

Highlights of the weekend were Charlotte visiting so I got to run with her one morning which was a nice treat. Our company meals were banging! On 3 show days they feed us dinner but sometimes they are pretty hit or miss so it is always a fun surprise to have a great one esp. when you are going to have multiple meals from them. Since the meal was so yummy I ate too much and then was rolling on the ice the 3rd show of the day. Hahaha

The building resembles a barn slightly but the crowds were decent.

This was sitting outside the back door that we enter and I was mildly obsessed with it. You can’t really go wrong with a massive orange on wheels. I wish I could have seen it open and maybe even gone inside. Anyways back to the show. It was also awesome hearing the show in English again! Backstage I had fun tooling around and started joining in with Netta and Alex who like to pretend they are five and whine. They say No! in a really whiny voice that I have perfected. Also in the makeup room, we got in a debate about how to say “syrup.” Basically, the debate is that I say it wrong but I beg it differ!

Alex went into Buzz Lightyear for his first time and did really well. I got to do Brittany’s wench for the first time so now I have only one position left before I have done them all. This week I didn’t have a phone because Ireland doesn’t believe in having good rates on SIM cards. The cheapest one was 1.20 euros per minute which was just not worth it. I hated not being able to talk to home though.

My pub fix.

All week I’ve wanted to go downtown to one of the many pubs there is to offer. We finally did last night in Temple Bar area which is filled with pub and where it’s at for night time activities. I wanted to go somewhere that music would be played to get the whole Irish experience but the place we were thinking GoGarty’s was so packed downstairs and the food was crazy expensive. So we headed on down the road and ended up at Quay’s Restaurant. My food was awesome but they didn’t have colcannon which I was disappointed about. It’s these mash potatoes they do with cabbage mixed in that I had over the summer and thought were tasty. I also had a Bulmer’s cider which caused me to be burping the rest of the night and even into the morning!

Today I walked by St. Patrick’s Cathedral but that’s about all I’ve got to share. It was yucky and drizzling early but ended up clearing for this picture which was fabulo

My Irish Eyes are Smiling!

I can express how exciting it is to be in Ireland. It is so thrilling to be somewhere where the speak English again! I also just adore the accent. I feel like it is especially exciting being in Ireland because it’s like one step closer to home. A lot of UK chains are here so it felt like we were back where we started and it just felt nice to see familiar things. I’m going to have an even stronger feeling when I get home in three weeks. It is funny because I wanted to come over to see different things and get away from the norm but now after 8 months I can’t wait to go back to the states and see all the massive chains where I know exactly where to find what ever it is I need.

It is super cold here. Well it isn’t that cold but in Portugal it was pretty hot so coming from there was quite the change. I also wasn’t appropriately dressed for the weather which mustn’t have helped. It is super nice for running. Just last week I was wearing shorts and a tank top and now I’m back to pants and long sleeves. This morning I ran through Herbert Park which is literally right out the door of our hotel. It’s a decent size park which is nice. I then ran downtown and the sidewalks are way better for running here as well!! There aren’t as many stoplights and people getting in my way. I made it to Stephen’s Green, which is another park, not to be confused with my dad hahaha.

Today Adrienne and I took a bus downtown, walked through the Temple Bar area, and then went to the National Gallery, which had a great collection of European paintings. We lasted a little over two hours in there before we reached our art capacity for the day. There were lots of great landscape paintings and also some portraits I really liked. I like looking at the clothing and try to get ideas from them. One painting by Steven Van Der Meulen I was so intrigued by. It was of Thomas Burke wearing this armor that was so different and fashionable as far as armor goes. I sketched it so I can maybe use it for a clothing idea in the future.

On my way back to the hotel I was having fun snapping shots of doors along the walk. I think I liked them so much because of the bright colors and the arched windows above. They are called Georgian Doors and Dublin is known for them.

Human Spaghetti

Last night a huge group went out for Joelle’s b-day. We went to this place called Lux which provided me with such an eventful and weird night. First off the place itself was awesome as far as décor goes. It had a super posh feel. When you first entered you walked up staircase and the wall was covered in all different mismatching fronts to dresser drawers. This was my favorite part of the whole place.

It was just such a different idea. Once upstairs you got to appreciate the chandeliers hanging that were lit up in hot pink. There was also this huge globe and screens on the wall that had projections of different streams of colors constantly changing. There were bed frames with cushions and log pillows for seating throughout the room.

Inside the bathroom there was a huge full wall mirror. On the opposite wall, in huge letters it said beauty, but was written mirror image so you could only read it when looking in the mirror.

Ok so you can tell I was impressed with the place but the people working there were tools! When we got there it was empty. We paid 12 euro to get in and this got you two drink tickets which wasn’t horrible. Apparantly shortly after arriving, Pia got asked to leave because she was too drunk. I never even saw her but Corrie and Dora said she was acting just fine so that was really lame. Later, I saw so many people acting a fool and none of them got kicked out so I don’t quite get it. Next, I got yelled at for taking a picture but then like 15 minutes later I see all these other people taking pictures and no one was saying anything to them. I took my camera right back!

Most of us had shown up together but a few came a little later. One group, the Russians, were told they had to pay 80 euro to get in! Somehow they talked some sense into the people at the door and got in for just 12. I have no idea if it was how they were dressed, because they were foreign, or because their friends were inside and they thought they’d be that desperate to join us but who in their right mind would pay that much to get in anywhere? No place should be charging that much but it would be one thing if it was super crowded and their was a huge line outside but that was not the case. But it gets better a few other FCP guys came and they tried to get them to pay 180! That is just so ridiculous. They were just dumb to have even tried that. This time they wouldn’t budge from their offer so they ended up leaving and not getting tom come in.

The night was just such a spectacle after that. They were playing weird music that was some kind of lounge techno combo. People were dancing like crazy people and to quote Steve there was a lot of human spaghetti out there! It amused me to no end seeing this site.

I don’t want your squid so take it back.

So at restaurants in Europe they will put bread on your table like in the states except that they end up charging you for it. They don’t ask you if you want it though; they just put it on your table but then make sure to make you pay for it even if you don’t eat it.

So today Adrienne and I went on a date to this restaurant right down the road from our hotel. Right after we sat down they put rolls, butter, and this crazy looking squid dish on the table. I surely was not interested in the scary looking squid so I didn’t even touch it. Adrienne tried a few bites of it just since it was there. The thought never crossed my mind but they ended up charging us for this. I totally forgot that they usually charge you for bread and should have thought they would charge us for it. So I had to pay 5 euros extra for something I didn’t want and didn’t eat! It just seems wrong for them to put something on your table you don’t even want. And I guess you can tell them to take it away but it was already on your table so what do they do with it then? Just save it and put it on the next table? That just seems wrong to me! My meal was good though I just wished I hadn’t had to deal with extra unwanted squid with purple tentacles.

I wish the sea otters had come to our show because no people did!

Today we had a morning show and then were off for the rest of the day!! This was a pleasant treat because we never have a night off mid show week! The show though was pitiful. I have never seen such an empty audience before! My guess was that there were 200 people if that! So basically we did a dress rehearsal.

The building this week is a half hour drive away. I guess it is still considered in Lisbon but it is quite far from downtown. It is in a really nice new area on the water that has a mall and a strip of restaurant as well as other things. Since the area seemed cool after the show Meredith and I decided to stick around and check it out. There is a gondola that goes over the water which I have never seen before. We rode it and I was snapping away, taking pictures of the area including a bunch with the building in it. This is just funny because I never have pictures of where we perform but here it is for your viewing pleasure! We are performing in that UFO looking structure.

Next we went to the Oceanarium which is the biggest aquarium in all of Europe! We got to see lots of fish, shark, and anemones. They also had two sea otters which I thought was awesome because back in 3rd grade I did a project on them. One of them kept doing the same routine over and over again. He would swim up towards the glass circle back, flip over, and repeat. It was amusing the first couple times and then I wanted to yell at him to mix it up a little.

This was outside of the Aquarium which I thought looked really cool. This waterfall was not messing around. The water was projecting out at such a rapid speed I feel as though it could knock you over if you were under it. There were kids playing around there too! EEK

The sell doll I used to have down the street!

So on my way to the supermarket this week I pass this store. It is quite a random store. It looks like a half mini-mart half second hand store. In the window I spotted some these:

I totally had a some magic nursery dolls. They are wearing a diaper that you put in water and it disintegrates and then you find out whether you have a boy or girl. They were really awesome. I also had the doll wearing pink that crawls and also walk. I even had one of the baby face dolls too. Such a blast from my past! If little Brenda had passed this store she totally would have been whining to get them all!

Pasteis de Belem

Lisbon is said Lisboa by the Portuguese. I don’t know why but I find this name so funny and love saying it whenever I get the chance! Today we packed in our sightseeing by doing a tour bus so we got to go all over and see basically the whole city of Lisboa. There are lots of parts that aren’t so run down but there is probably still as equal an amount that is.

I headed downtown with Adrienne, Alex, Mauricio, and Netta. We really didn’t have much direction because we didn’t know much about the city. It was nice though just leisurely checking things out rather than having an strict agenda. We ended up in the Restauradores area downtown and got some food at an outdoor café and sat around just talking for awhile. Netta and Alex are both loud on their own and when they get together they are even more obnoxious and loud. In general it is very entertaining and they make me laugh though so I didn’t mind at all.

We walked to the water and then decided to do a tour bus. I’m really glad we decided to because we were able to see the whole city and get all our sightseeing done fairly quick.

We passed by the Campo Pequeno, Lisboa’s bull fighting stadium. I was ecstatic to hear that they use different rules here in Portugal and don’t actually kill the bull!!! The season starts in April so I was hoping we’d get to see a show but then I learned they don’t start til April 17th which is quite the bummer.

One of the main sites we saw was the Bellem Tower which I had heard I had to see from Aly who had studied abroad here. It is right along the water and very pretty but very small. I was surprised as we drove up to see it standing so small. After that the others headed back while Adrienne and I continued on. I was itching to get back to the plaza at Restaradores where we started because we saw all these great looking pastry shops and I really wanted to try one. I had read that Portuguese had sweet tooths and that they made some great pastries so naturally trying these out was one of my goals for my time here! At the next stop on the bus it just so happened that the original shop where they make Pasteis de Belem, the famous Lisbon pastry! So we got to try the real deal ones from the shop where they have been making them since 1837. They were this flaky pastry in a miniature pie shape filled with this egg-based custard. We took them to go and ate them in a park nearby. When we opened up the bag we found they had given us packs of powdered sugar and cinnamon to sprinkle on top so we ate them in the appropriate manner. They were quite scrumptious. I just love sampling the local sweets!

Lost in Translation of Portuguese.

This am I had a pretty cruddy run. I was planning on running down towards the water and through the main downtown but I took a wrong turn and decided to just keep going in that direction instead. I passed the bull ring which I saw on the bull ring but I had no concept of where that even was exactly. I started heading back in the direction of my hotel but down different roads. I really should just stick with out and back in foreign grounds because I got so lost and turned around. There was no reason for real panic because I had no reason to need to rush back for work or anything but I just got so aggravated with the situation. I found a map at a bus station and was trying to make sense of it. I started toward this roundabout and was looking for a certain street which would take me back. After circling the whole roundabout the street was nowhere to be found. Next I took to asking people how to get to Marques Pompal, the roundabout near our hotel, the first person didn’t know English and the second person didn’t know where I was talking about. I think it was just how I was pronouncing it because it is a very well known place. I tried another person who was just like oh you are very far from there. She couldn’t even deal with telling me because she thought it was complicated. This freaked me out; I didn’t know how I could have taken such a wrong turn and ended up so far away. So I ran out and started crying I was so confused. I then went into a ford dealership and asked the lady working there who was very nice and spoke English. She pointed me in the right direction and told me it was a far walk but I was running so I figured it wouldn’t too bad. I finally was back on track. This ordeal made me do quite a longer run than I was planning but it was a cruddy run. I was so confused as to where I was going that I wasn’t going fast and focusing on running. What an adventure though!