Vacation Update
I know, I know. I haven’t updated in a million years. That’s how it tends to go with me and blogs. I always start up with the best intentions but then I start realising my life is fairly uninteresting. That and laziness.
Anyway, as I mentioned I was going to do in my last post, I went to Ireland. It was fantastic. I also spent three-and-a-half days in Paris. My original plan was to travel around most of Ireland but I ended up basically just staying in Dublin. Long story short, a trip in February, while nice for the cheap flight, isn’t ideal for small-town visiting. Also, if you go to Paris in February, many places will be closed for renovations or be covered in scaffolding, etc.
Anyway, Dublin is grand. I’m not sure why I liked it so much. I mean, it’s just a city. … I think part of it is me realising I miss living in a city where you can walk about, not have to drive, where places are open past 10pm, and so on. That and Dublin just has a really nice vibe to it. That’s the bit that’s indescribable but what really makes it appealing. So, you’ll just have to trust me - Dublin is really nice. I need to find out if Hearst has a Dublin office and would love to have me work there. Can’t we set up a Dublin branch of Kaboodle? I’m only half-kidding. :)
Anyway, my trip was wonderful. I met some lovely people, saw some incredible sights (I’m generally not fazed by that sort of thing, but I really did have a couple of, “Holy crap, I’m in Paris!” moments, even though I wasn’t overly fond of Paris on the whole), had a whole lot of booze, and just felt really good and happy and Cristina-tastic for two weeks. Now I’m dying to go on vacation again. Sadly, I burned through my two weeks of vacation on this trip so I have to wait until next year.
That being said, as much as I’d love to visit Moscow and Petersburg next, I discovered very quickly in Paris that being somewhere where you can’t speak the language is very isolating. I hadn’t really heard of that particular potential side-effect of travel. It hit me pretty quickly and was really tough, even though I was only in Paris for three days. I mean, it was simple enough to figure out train tickets and platforms and all that (I think having lived in NYC and being accustomed to navigating subways and maps was a huge help on that front) and I know enough super-duper basic French to order a croissant and cup of coffee, but it’s just a strange feeling. The most amusing/embarrassing part to me was when I’d go in places and say, “Bonjour,” and then shopkeepers would start speaking French to me. They were met with a deer-in-the-headlights stare and, like a reflex, “Sorry…” would come out of my mouth. So, lesson learned - My French accent when I say, “Bonjour,” is pretty good. When I said anything else, people started speaking English to me. Heh. So, next time I think I’ll get some Rosetta Stone discs and try to learn more of the language before I go on holiday.
Also, I really miss Irish accents. I think that’s part of the reason I’ve been listening to The Frames so much lately. Ha, ha!
Anyway, I took a ton of photos (all of which can be seen here), but here are some of my favourites…
