August 9, 2008
Hi again All,
Its been a while since I�ve updated this site. June, July, and now half of August have gone quickly � with the Irish weather being "ok", but not great. I�ve just uploaded two new photo albums onto the Photo Gallery page (see two August 9 albums), containing miscellaneous pics taken over the last few months.
No major news really. Everything�s going well, as always! Work�s great, I�m playing roller-hockey once per week, running and weight training regularly, cycling everywhere, and meeting lots of great people from all walks of life. I turned 27 in July, where I once again had a karaoke party � though at a proper venue this year, rather than my tiny apartment! I also made it a "joint" surprise birthday party for my best friend Shirleen, who turned 25 the week before. Was a great evening, with about 25 people from at least 10 different nationalities I can think of: (Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, England, Spain, Germany, Poland, New Zealand, South Korea, Italy, and myself: a sort of Scottish-Canadian-Arabic-Irishman, a rare-breed indeed!!
Over the last few months, I also managed to get out sailing with a friend from hockey, Karl, and also attended my friend Markus� stag party (where we dressed him up as a clown and marched him around Dublin with a list of �missions� to accomplish), followed by attending his fantastic outdoor wedding in Poland just last weekend. After the wedding, I went on to Berlin, Germany for several days for a mini-vacation.
So all�s great! Check out the photos. The ones from Berlin are quite fascinating � with lots of sad reminders about the carnage of World War 2.
Craig
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May 31, 2008
Hi All,
May was a very busy month, with three �mini-vacations�.
The first was a long-weekend in Limerick (on the west-coast of Ireland), where I attended RiverFest � which had live bands every evening, a French market, and the World�s longest outdoor BBQ � just table after table with foods from around the world�.and all, for FREE!!
Next, I had to be in Edinburgh, Scotland for a couple of days at work meetings, so I took an extra day off, flew over early, and made a long-weekend out of it. Flew into Aberdeen - a wealthy, oil-rich city, explored a little bit, then got a train up north to Inverness. Spent two nights there at a B&B, toured the city, went for a cruise on Loch Ness, did some shopping, etc, then got the train down to Edinburgh � where I stayed with an old student-friend from Planning school in Halifax. It was then two days of work meetings, a nice company dinner, then back to Dublin. I had just two more days of work in Dublin, then was going to get "back to my vacation"! However, I had made fairly last-minute arrangements for a couple of friends from Canada (who were touring Europe), to stay at my place for a couple of nights. So things were busy! Barely had time to unpack, showed them around Dublin a little bit, left them my spare key, then it was off to my next holiday! Ha!
So, I then flew into Copenhagen, Denmark � then got a train over the border to Lund, Sweden � where I stayed with another Canadian friend, Martin, for a few nights. Had a great time touring southern Sweden and meeting some great friends of Martin�s. On my last full-day, Martin took me over to Copenhagen and gave me a nice tour. I stayed at a hotel in Copenhagen that night, while he went back to Sweden. The next day, the weather was gorgeous, and I went round all the sites again�on a canal boat, sippin� a Carlsberg in the sun. Perfect! Got my flight back to Dublin that afternoon.
That�s it � I�ll hopefully be stable for a little while now! May was a bit nuts! Sorry if I haven't been in touch with some of you recently!
PS - new photos have been uploaded to the Photo Gallery page....
Craig
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April 5, 2008
Hi All,
Just uploaded some new pictures to the Photo Gallery page if you�re interested. Pics include a friend�s recent "Hippy Party", a camping trip to the Slieve Bloom Mountains in central Ireland, and a trip to Glasgow for Easter.
Spring is definitely here now, with the temperature reaching 17 degrees already last week (shut up those of you in Dubai!!) ;)
Craig
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February 19, 2008
Hello again,
Just got back from a week-long holiday to Germany and Austria. I flew with some friends to Munich, spent two days site-seeing and experiencing traditional German food, drink, and music - then got a bus over the border into Austria. We then spent six days at one of Austria�s largest alpine resort in the Alps, called Zillertal (www.zillertal.at), which boasts 167 chair lifts and cable cars, up to 3,250 metres (over 10,000 feet)! Had an amazing time snowboarding, relaxing, and meeting new people. However, on my last day, I picked up some mild food poisoning � but if nothing else, it was a good reason to take the following Monday off work to recover! Back at the office now, and back into the swing of things. Next trip should be over to Glasgow for the Easter long-weekend, where I�ll visit my cousin Denise and aunt May. I�ve been a little behind in uploading photos lately, but have just added five new albums to the Photo Gallery page, including:
- Miscellaneous Pictures from the Summer of 2007
- My Trip to Lyon, France
- Photos taken during my Mum and brother Tom�s visit last Autumn.
- Photos taken over the Christmas & New Year�s Holidays to London and Kent.
- and lastly, the recent trip to Germany and Austria.
Enjoy!
Craig
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January 13, 2008
Hello again and Happy New Year!! �and Happy Canada Day, Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Halloween, and Merry Christmas while I�m at it � as it�s been a long, long time since my last update!
All�s been very well indeed, but I just haven�t found the time to update this site as often as I would have liked. Since my previous update last June, I�ve got the following to note:
- work continues to go well, though was extremely "Dubai-like" busy towards the end of 2007. Lots of variety � from managing projects, writing reports, preparing maps, attending meetings, making presentations, and so on.
- had my 26th birthday on July 23 � rented a karaoke system and had an "international dinner", where I asked all my friends to bring a main course or desert from their home country. Somehow squeezed around 25 people into my little apartment!! Was a fantastic night!
- had several recent visits with friends I originally met in Dubai � such as Steve Gregory (met in Dublin), Craig & Andrea Dean (met in Belfast), Chris Sheppard (met in Dublin), and Ben Pegna (met in London). Also met with an old friend from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia � Farhad Mawani (met in Dublin).
- went unannounced to surprise my aunt in Ayrshire, Scotland for a weekend late last summer (glad she was home!).
- I joined a roller-hockey team, the Dublin Riot! We haven�t played any "official" games yet, and the way things are (or aren�t) going, it doesn�t seem like we will this season � but it�s fun just to practice once a week and shoot the ol� puck around!
- my mum and brother Tom came over to Dublin for just over a week, where we did some sight-seeing, travelling, etc. We then went over to Glasgow together for my distant-cousin (or whatever she is!!) Fiona�s wedding � a traditional Scottish "Ceilidh"!
- went to Lyon, France with a group of friends for some sight-seeing, and to watch the World Cup of Rugby (France vs. England).
- went to England for Christmas with my best friend Shirleen, and stayed at my aunt�s home in her small village in Kent, about 45 minutes by train from London. It was a nice mix of countryside walks, good conversation, traditional Christmas church services, Boxing Day shopping madness at the famous Harrod�s store in London, fireworks on London�s River Thames on New Year�s Eve, the usual sight-seeing, and catching up with friends, etc.
I�m back at work again now in Dublin, and back into routine! Things are going great � work�s very enjoyable, I�m in the gym and running several times a week, cycling to the office most days, have invested my savings into two off-shore tax-free funds (have already DOUBLED my money in one of them in just the last year and a half!!), am about to start my pension, and have even submitted my application to apply for an "affordable home" (not to be confused with "social housing") in Dublin � an initiative aimed at getting young first-time buyers onto the property ladder.
So all�s well, and I�m certainly settled here now! My next trip is in three weeks, where I�m flying to Munich, Germany, then getting a bus to a ski resort in Austria. Going with a group of friends from church here in Dublin. Should be great craic, as the Irish like to say.
I�ll try to update this site a bit more regularly from now on. Photos coming shortly...
Bye for now,
Craig
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June 5, 2007
Just got back from a relaxing weekend at the seaside town of Llandudno in North Wales. On Saturday two friends and I took a high-speed ferry from Dun Laoghaire (just south of Dublin) to Holyhead, Wales � about an hour and a half across the Irish Sea. It was then a train and bus ride over to Llandudno, where we spent two nights at a very nice four-star hostel. The weekend was packed with just about everything you could imagine at a seaside resort (and more!) � including walking along an amazing promenade along Llandudno Bay, walking out on a 700 metre pier, gambling in the �penny casinos�, shopping, riding up a mountain on the UK�s longest cable car, a speedboat tour of the Bay, fine wining and dining (as well as lots of great junk food!), a traditional Punch & Judy puppet show, and more! Also just took in all the nice Victorian architecture and the surrounding mountains. A great spot! One of the nicest places I�ve ever been � I thought that last time I was there, nearly a decade ago! See the new photos!
I�m back in Dublin again, and looking forward to some stability for a while, and will be doing my best to get back into a good routine (fitness, work, sleep, church, nutrition) again after being so undisciplined the past two months or so (with Tom and Alastair over visiting, the trip to Madeira, etc).
Craig
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June 2, 2007
As you�ll know if you�ve been following these updates, my brother Tom had been staying with me in Dublin since early April. My other brother, Alastair, then flew over for a week between his university semesters. Tom and I showed him around the Dublin area for a few days, then drove up to tour Northern Ireland. Alastair then flew back to Canada, while Tom and I proceeded to put nearly 2,500 km on a brand new rental car (which had just 7 km on the odometer when we got it in Dublin!). We drove around Ireland, spending nights in Donegal, Galway, Killarney, and Cork � visiting castles, cliffs, coastlines, and countryside along the way. I�ve just uploaded the photos if you�re interested.
When we got back to Dublin, we unpacked from our drive, put a laundry on, then repacked for our flight the following morning to the Portuguese island of Madeira! There we joined our dad and aunt, and stayed at a time-share apartment. The four of us spent the next week touring the tiny, yet unique, mountainous island (located off the northwest coast of Africa), and experienced its culture, cuisine, and geography�as well as (of course!) enjoying the sun and the sea in luxury! I�ve just uploaded those photos separately.
On the way back to Dublin, our first flight from Madeira to London was delayed, causing us to miss our connecting flight. British Airways gave us vouchers for a 4-star hotel, dinner vouchers worth a combined 45 pounds (about $100 CAD) which we �maxed out�, as well as a breakfast buffet! Tom and I happily took their offer, and went into central London for some evening excitement. What a crazy place London is on a Saturday night! Tom and I ended up breaking up a fight on the train � two idiots literally punching it out over who was first in line to use the toilet! The train came to a stop, and we were summoned as witnesses by the British Transport Police. The guy sitting next to me on the train couldn�t believe we actually bothered to get involved! Ah, London!
I�ve been back at work for two weeks now, but off on holiday again in a few hours! This time, it�s a long-weekend trip with a few Irish friends to the resort town of Llandudno, Wales � a couple of hours away on the high-speed ferry from Dublin. I�ll be sure to upload those photos when I get back.
Craig
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April 26, 2007
Just arrived home in Dublin after an eventful weekend in Liverpool, England! However, it started off on the wrong foot! The local bus service connecting central Dublin to the airport (which is scheduled to run every 10 minutes), never showed up! I waited at the bus stop for 35 minutes before one arrived, missed my flight, then had to pay a �75 euro rebooking fee to get onto the next one � which didn�t get into Liverpool until 11:30 PM!! First time I�ve ever missed a flight in my life!! Arg!
My brother Tom (who was visiting Glasgow, Scotland last week) got the bus down to Liverpool, where we met at a great bed-and-breakfast, and spent the next couple of days touring all the sites.
Liverpool will be the �European Capital of Culture in 2008�, so there are numerous (and massive) urban regeneration and construction project going on. It�s also Liverpool�s 800th year as an incorporated city, and was also George�s Day in England on Monday.
Our sightseeing included the largest cathedral in the British Isles � where on Sunday (before Tom arrived), I had the privilege of stumbling into a Royal Marine band concert and drum service to mark the 25th anniversary of the Falkland Island�s conflict with Argentina (endorsed by Queen Elizabeth!).
We also went to numerous sites where the famous Beatles band practiced and performed� including a �Beatles Museum�, and �The Cavern� (supposed to be the world�s best-known club). Also went to the Maritime Museum � where we learned about Liverpool�s importance as a naval port during the 1st and 2nd World Wars, as well as the Titanic (which was built in Belfast, registered in Liverpool, then sailed for its first and last time from Southampton). There was also a lot of interesting information and exhibits in the Maritime Museum about immigration, emigration, customs, and drugs/weapon/people smuggling into Britain. Quite unique!
There is also a nice flavour of very �authentic� architecture in Liverpool - from tranquil city squares and Georgian buildings, to Chinatown, to modern new skyscrapers along the waterfront, etc.
Overall, a great long-weekend trip. My other brother Alastair arrives in Dublin this Saturday, after which point I�ll be busy for 3 weeks travelling the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the Portuguese island of Madeira!
My two latest photo albums are now available, including pictures taken over the Easter weekend, a hike in the Wicklow Mountains, and of course the recent trip to Liverpool. Enjoy!
Craig
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April 20, 2007
Hello all, and Happy Late Easter!
As mentioned in the March 24 update, my aunt and cousin from Scotland flew over to Dublin for the Easter long weekend. To make things interesting, my brother Tom also flew to Dublin the week before (without telling them), and gave them a nice welcoming surprise! We showed them a good time, including taking a double-decker bus tour to see all the sites, a comedy club, live traditional Irish music, shopping, and a nice Easter dinner � courtesy of ME, the World�s GREATEST Chef!
Tom will be staying with me (off-and-on) for two months, and has been enjoying his time so far. He�s now got a good overall feel for Dublin, and has got his bearings. I�ve also taken him on a few trips along the coast, including a hike with friends in the Wicklow Mountains. Tom left for Glasgow, Scotland on Tuesday courtesy of a 99 cent Ryan Air special, and is visiting family and friends over there this week.
Tomorrow I�m also travelling, over to Liverpool, England this time � the hometown of the Beatles, the office headquarters for the Titanic's shipping line, and a major shipping port during the slave-trade. A lot of history to see (not all of it good)! I�m attending a conference for work over there on Tuesday, so decided to also take Monday off, and make a nice, long weekend out of it. Nothing better than a subsidised company holiday! :) Tom�s going to get the train or bus from Glasgow to Liverpool on Sunday, and we�ll do some site-seeing together. After my conference on Tuesday, we�ll fly back to Dublin together.
Next Saturday, my other brother (Alastair) arrives in Dublin, and will be staying for a week before going back to university. I�m taking most of that week off work, and will give him a tour of Dublin, then we�re renting a car and driving to Northern Ireland to visit Belfast, the Giant�s Causeway, and Derry (time-permitting). After dropping him off at the airport, Tom and I will then continue driving around the Republic of Ireland for another week.
THEN, just when you thought this update was almost over�after driving around Ireland, Tom and I will next fly to the Portuguese island of Madeira (located off the northwest coast of Africa) � where we�ll join our dad and aunt at a time-share apartment for a week. Looking forward to some fun in the sun! (Not that Dublin isn�t sunny. In fact, it hasn�t rained for 3 weeks!).
Hope all�s well, wherever you are! I haven�t got around to uploading any photos lately, but plan to do so shortly after coming back from Liverpool!
Craig
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April 2, 2007
I just uploaded a bunch of miscellaneous photos I've taken in and around Dublin over the past few months. As usual, they're accessible via the Photo Gallery link on the left. Things are great here in Dublin! Spring is well and truly here!
Craig
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March 24, 2007
Its been a while since I've updated this site. I've just added a few photos taken over the Saint Patrick's weekend. The parade was great, but the fireworks were cancelled due to bad weather unfortunately.
Not much news really. Our office is relocating soon - it's a fantastic place: the building is only about a year old, modern, very centrally located, well-served by public transit, and has lots of great lunch spots nearby! It's also a great price! I have to say, ah-hem, I found it myself!! :) The lease has been signed, and we'll be relocating in a month or so. In the meantime, work is going well - busy, with lots of variety and new challenges.
My aunt and cousin from Scotland will be visiting Dublin over Easter, staying in a hotel 10 minute's walk along the road. Looking forward to that.
That's it! Not much else to report. Just a note to say I'm still alive!
Craig
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February 9, 2007
As of January 31, I completed my probationary period with Vipre. To date I still haven�t received any official letter, but I�ll assume that as no pink slip has arrived yet, I�m in! To make things better, I finally got a credit card, as I�ve only now been at my residence for six months! Now I can book my own flights online and use iTunes! I feel like a real citizen now, and that my life is complete! :)
January was a very busy month, with Dubai-style work hours for the first (and last!) time. We had a few staff move on, and have been looking to hire new people while simultaneously trying to juggle our existing roles, as well as fill in for the staff who left! I�ve been temporarily working as the Commuter Manager for Oracle Corporation (major software company with nearly 900 staff). It�s been a good experience tackling a different sort of work, and I feel I�ve really optimised their system during my month there. Vipre works as a sub-contractor for Oracle, with responsibilities ranging from parking management, to making induction presentations to new employees, and administering their �Tax-Saver� bus / rail / tram program, etc. It�s also been nice just to get a change of scenery, ride the train, and meet a lot of new people. I�ll be there for one more week, then it�s back to my usual consulting work. There are several new and exciting projects starting soon, and I�m looking forward to the challenges. We�ve got three new people starting work with Vipre over the next few weeks, and I�m sure things will be back on track in no time.
Craig
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JANUARY 21, 2007
Just got back from a quick weekend trip to the Midlands of England. I primarily went to visit a friend from Dubai, Chris � who also left his position in the development industry due to the unreasonable work practices there�and now lives in Royal Leamington Spa, a small yet wealthy city just southeast of Birmingham. Had a good few days with Chris and his wife, Mar. Went for a nice Indian curry meal on Thursday, a Chinese buffet on Friday, then their house-warming party on Saturday.
If there was one downside to the trip, I got stung by a giant wasp (which I probably disturbed from hibernating in my friend�s spare mattress!) while I slept on Thursday night. At around 4:00 AM I was rudely awakened by a sharp pain in my stomach. I turned on the light, and saw a mammoth-of-a-wasp clinging to me! I quickly wiped it from me, then it started angrily swarming me. I picked up the closest thing I could find, a book called �How to Speak Brummie� (about slang words used in Birmingham), and batted this thing across the room into the wall. It fell to the floor, then I squished it with the book�.very slowly. Made the damn thing wish it had never been born!! I then put a mug over it, and left it until the morning. I then took the mug off it, and put it out of it�s misery! Haven�t been stung in about nine years! Hopefully word will spread among other wasps that I take getting stung very personally!!
On Friday, while Chris worked, I took the train into Birmingham and did my usual walk-around � taking photos of anything and everything! It seems to have changed a fair bit since I was last there about six years ago. Like Glasgow, Birmingham is undergoing a transformation from a city with an industrial past to one with a more service-based focus, and becoming ever more modern and multi-cultural.
Glasgow and Birmingham used to have a rivalry over which one was the �2nd City of the British Empire� (after London). Check out the photos!
Craig
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JANUARY 7, 2007
Hi all, and Happy New Year! ...and Happy 20th Birthday to my brother Alastair!
Hope everyone had a good holiday season with family and friends, or travelling, or whatever it was you all did!
I spent the holidays in Scotland this year � 8 nights in Ayrshire, 3 in Glasgow, and 1 in Edinburgh. Overall it was a very relaxing time � just what I needed! It was a nice reminder of how peaceful things can be when you just slow down and take things in moderation. Sometimes I think we can all burn the candle at both ends trying to take on too much! Anyway, it was a great time. I visited family, friends, and colleagues, had a few nice meals (both at restaurants and home-cooked!!), went for a few nice walks, did a bit of site-seeing, and had some Boxing Day shopping success as well � including jeans for �6, and a suit for �30! I�ve uploaded the photos of my 12-day trip to the Photo Gallery if you�re interested.
I�m now back in Dublin again, and looking forward to the New Year ahead. There are a few staff changes coming up with work, as well as a probable office relocation closer to the River Liffey, the very heart of Dublin. I feel fully settled and at home here now, and things to date continue to go well. Work is great and very flexible, I�m making friends slowly but surely, working out at the gym almost every other day, running and cycling, got a great apartment, know my way around the city (and country!), and perhaps most importantly to me, I�ve started going [somewhat] regularly to a great church � which has the mission statement �truth, not tradition� � brilliant! I�ve been searching for a church like this for a while, and am quite sure this is the one for me. It�s not attached to any "political" denomination, has a great band, a good atmosphere (a casual and young crowd, and very multi-cultural), amazing teaching, and the service starts at a reasonable 11:45 am � perfect!! ...so I even have time to squeeze in a morning coffee, half-hour jog, shower, then cook the World�s Greatest omelette first! :) And it�s just a 5 minute walk from my house � a stone�s throw away! �not that I�d throw a stone at a church. Maybe if I lived in Belfast or Derry!! :) For me, this is the icing on the cake. Everything will be gravy from here!
My next trip is in two weeks to Birmingham, England to visit a friend from Dubai (who also came to his senses and left!). Thanks to good ol' Ryan Air, I�m going there for a penny, and coming back for a penny! Doesn�t get better than that! It's then up to Belfast to make a presentation at a Transportation Planning conference at the University of Ulster.
Merry Late Christmas, and Happy New Year! ...and to those of you in the Emirates, Eid Late Mubarak, habibi! :) Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah and Kul 'am wa antum bikhair! Salem Aleykum!
Craig
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NOVEMBER 29, 2006
Just returned from my driving-vacation around Ireland � an amazing and relaxing time, yet kinda rushed as well, putting over 2,500 kilometres on the car in just 12 days! That�s like driving from Vancouver to Winnipeg!! �I didn�t think that was possible in Ireland either! Maybe the car rental company rigged the odometer to charge me for excess mileage!!
As always it seems, I tried to take on too much � but did it anyway, and got a great overview of Ireland, and gained a much better appreciation for its people, culture, economy, history, language, and geography. I�ve also got a lot of places in mind I�d like to go back to and explore more thoroughly � perhaps making a long-weekend out of it on another occasion. It�s such a fascinating island! Maybe the most "authentic" place I�ve ever visited.
The adventure really first began at "home" in Dublin, where I rented a car. Not only was it my first time driving in Dublin/Europe, but also my first time driving on the left, AND my first time ever driving a manual/standard transmission � which I literally taught myself using Google the night before! To make things more challenging for myself, I began my drive at the peak of the Friday evening rush-hour, on the dark, wet, narrow, often steep, medieval Dublin streets! Needless to say I stalled a few times, upsetting a few people, but after a day or two I had it mastered!! But why not? I�ve been driving automatics for nearly 10 years now, so it was about time I learned to drive a standard! Bullocks (Irish swear word), I�m getting old!! You know what though, if you can drive in the United Arab Emirates without getting killed, I think you can drive successfully ANYWHERE!!
Although they take a while to load, I�ve uploaded all of the photos from this trip to a single album - now available from the Photo Gallery page.
The whole trip was planned on-the-go, often less than half a day at a time. After taking nearly two hours just to get out of Dublin at rush hour, I drove up to Northern Ireland (UK), where I stayed at my [then]-manager�s house in Lisburn, near Belfast. We climbed Northern Ireland�s highest mountain the next day, then after spending another night at his place, it was off on my own to see the rest of the island.
First, it was up to the north coast to see the amazing rock formations at the famous Giant�s Causeway, before heading to the "second city" of Northern Ireland, Derry � officially known as Londonderry, but that name isn�t so popular, obviously. It�s one of Europe�s best examples of a completely-walled city. There was a lot of evidence of its Protestant/Catholic and Loyalist/Republican �troubles� of the past�similar to Belfast, which I toured on a previous trip. Quite similar to Quebec City in a lot of ways as well! After a night at a very nice B&B in Derry, I continued anti-clockwise back down into the Republic of Ireland, spending a night at a B&B in Donegal, then visited the highest sea cliffs in Europe � amazing! I spent the night at a B&B in Sligo, then explored a bit more of the west coast in County Mayo�next spending a night at a B&B in Galway. I then drove further along the coast, visiting the famous Cliffs of Moher, then spent a night at a hotel in Limerick � where I met up with an acquaintance I met previously on a trip to Cork. The next day was one of my favourites � driving out on the rugged and isolated Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry. Spent the night at a hostel in Killarney, then drove the famous �Ring of Kerry� the next morning, where there was more stunning scenery. After a second night in Killarney, it was off to Cork, where I stopped briefly to visit some friends for lunch, then proceeded to Waterford, Ireland�s oldest city. Met some west-coast American guys at my B&B, who I joined for some traditional Irish music and Guinness at the pub that night, as well as for a tour of the Waterford Crystal factory the next morning � who make internationally-renowned crystal products � including professional golf, football, tennis, racing, etc trophies, as well as the famous New Year�s "ball" (that drops) in Times Square, New York City! Next I drove around to the southeast coast, visiting the numerous isolated, sandy beaches between Waterford and Wexford. My last night was spent at a hostel in Glendalough (only about 40 km south of Dublin) � the site of a 10th century monastery, as well as Wicklow Mountains National Park & Nature Reserve. I then returned the rental car absolutely plastered in mud to the dealer. Got my full money�s worth out of it!!
So, it�s now back to work for three and a half weeks, then I can get "back to" my vacation � off to Scotland for Christmas and New Years!
Check out the photos!
Craig
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NOVEMBER 13, 2006
Hi! I've made two new photo albums available on the Photo Gallery page. The first (uploaded November 4) contains photos taken in several locations over the past few weeks, while the second (uploaded today) contains photos taken over a long-weekend getaway to Cork, about 5 hours south-west of Dublin. Cork is the "second city of Ireland" (as Belfast is part of the UK, obviously), and is Dublin's "rival" in one sense (like Toronto vs. Montreal, or Glasgow vs. Edinburgh, or Dubai vs. Abu Dhabi).
Things in general are great here, as always. Work is going well, yet very busy recently with several pressing deadlines, as well as a few upcoming staffing changes. However, as of today's big presentation, all the urgent deadlines have been met, so it'll be somewhat quieter for a while. In fact, I'm taking 12 days holiday next week to rent a car and drive a circular route around the Republic and Northern Ireland. Not really making any set plans - I'll just take things as they come, one day at a time. I plan on starting my trip in Lisburn (just south of Belfast) at my company manager's house, where we'll do some mountain climbing. After spending the night there, I'll then bypass Belfast (as I've seen it before - and could go any time on the train), and head up along the coast to the famous Giant's Causeway. After that, I don't have definite plans for anything in particular, but plan to continue driving around the island in an anti-clockwise direction. Looking forward to it.
Just bought a new mountain bike today too - which I'll probably throw in the back seat of my rental car next week.
I'll be sure to upload photos and post an update to this page shortly after I get back. Hope everyone is well, wherever you are.
Craig
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OCTOBER 22, 2006
First I discovered hockey over here, now I've discovered a coffee shop that brews and sells Tim Horton's Coffee! For those of you who don't know, Tim Horton's is to coffee in Canada, what Guinness is to beer in Ireland - associated with quality and national pride!!
Craig
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OCTOBER 8, 2006
Wooooooohh! Just realized I can watch the National Hockey League over here! I haven't seen a game for over a year and a half�and out of all the possible games I could have stumbled across, it�s the Toronto Maple Leafs versus the Montreal Canadiens! Just watched good ol� Don Cherry on Coaches Corner too � LIVE on Hockey Night in Canada! And I thought Dublin was perfect already!
Craig
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OCTOBER 3, 2006
My bank account is finally open, and also has money in it which helps! �well, did have money in it! Just went out and bought my first television EVER � not a bad one either, a 27� widescreen, as well as a VCR / DVD player. I also got a gym membership � a nice recreation center a short jog along the Grand Canal from my apartment, which has a modern gym, 50 meter pool, hot tub, sauna, steam room � and believe it or not, a roller hockey league! I just missed the start of this season, but I�ll certainly consider it for the next one. I haven�t played hockey since May 2005, and am going through withdrawal!
Work�s also going well. Made a presentation at an event put on by Dublin City Council today, and am managing a few projects � all fun stuff! Still working from home about twice a week, which is just fantastic!
I�m going to spend Christmas and New Year�s in Scotland with family and friends, arriving on December 23 and returning on January 3. Ryan Air had another 99 cent deal on!
When you get a chance, I�ve uploaded some new photos to the Photo Gallery page, including a trip to Bull Island on one weekend, and Bray on another.
Craig
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SEPTEMBER 10, 2006
Yesterday I met with a friend from work at Dublin-Connolly Station, and took "the DART" (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) to a little community called Dalkey, about 25 minutes south of the city. I was absolutely amazed! Maybe it was just the fact that it was sunny for once (!), or maybe it was because my friend is Spanish, but this part of town didn't even feel like Ireland. Actually, it reminded me of being up in the hills on the outskirts of Barcelona - with its big mansions, expensive cars, and stunning scenery...some of the best in Europe according to the guidebooks. I've added a link to my photos. As I always say, they're worth a thousand words, so take a look....not that I'm not known for typing a few thousand words myself sometimes!!! :)
Craig
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SEPTEMBER 6, 2006
You know, I thought Dubai was a difficult place to get settled (and leave!!), and it certainly was! In fact, until recently I had been planning on starting a new page on this site entitled �101 Reasons Why Dublin is Better than Dubai�, but I think I�ll skip it � as Dublin undoubtedly has its own share of seemingly-needless hassles! I still don�t have my bank account open, yet they keep sending me all kinds of registration numbers, pin numbers, personal access codes, �you are our valued customer� letters, and even my bank card � but after a month the actual account is still not active! I currently have 11 euro left in my pocket, so if you don�t see another update on this page, there�s a good chance that I probably starved to death and got eaten by scavenging leprechauns! It�s the same with the electricity and water supply board � why can�t these guys just send you one form, or better yet, just do it right the first time over the counter or internet! Same with the tax agency (at least in Dubai that wasn�t an issue)! All these terrorists and money launderers sure make things difficult for us nice-guys sometimes! Reminds me a lot of the procedures in Dubai! You would think that Ireland would have streamlined all their processes by now, as they�ve had a few thousand years� head-start on the United Arab Emirates!
Anyway, moving on, I�ve been given a lot of responsibilities at work � which is fun, yet can have its downside too, and I�ve done a few �night shifts� already! Unlike at Cansult however, I have no doubt that this is just temporary while I learn everything and become more efficient with my new position and company �ways�. In fact, in a sense I�ve almost chosen to put in the extra time, and because it�s so flexible and full of variety, I find I�m surprisingly willing and content! Over here, if you put in 45 hours one week, the next week you do 35, and so it balances out to 40 which is the way it should be, and I�m really enjoying that.
The whole business-side of consulting work is a new aspect for me, but I love the challenge, and have been more-or-less thrown right off the deep end, but am enjoying it all! Among a number of projects and proposals I�m juggling, one of my recent assignments was to prepare a sort of �possible transportation planning opportunities to explore further�-type of report for one of Dublin�s largest hospitals � which is currently facing all kinds of parking and commuting problems, with complaints from neighbours and city council, the staff are grumbling, etc�and on top of that the hospital is expanding soon!! So they�ve asked our firm what kind of things could be done, and I was assigned the task�
...so after finishing the report at midnight (sounds worse than university, doesn�t it?! �maybe I�ll start a union!!), this morning I made my first presentation to the client, and sure enough all the big-wigs seemed to turn up! Picture a room full of senior decision-makers with suits and ties and dresses and briefcases�all sitting in the conference room looking at me. Watching me. And then it happens. BOOM! The projector blows up!! Ha! :) Although nobody said anything, I think that some of them assumed that because of my accent, my �foreign� computer must have caused it�however my laptop is actually from the Emirates, which uses the same 220 volt system as in Ireland and the UK, so I think it was just the old age of the projector�and very bad timing! But still, a good, funny story to tell for my first presentation! I wish I could have seen the look on my face! However, other than this minor suicide-bomb attempt, the presentation went well, and I received some very encouraging comments.
Anyway, things in general are great, but would be better with a bank account and money! That aside, my life in Dublin is going better than I could ever have asked for or imagined, and I can see myself settling here for quite some time. Nevertheless, as always, let's just see how it goes...
That's all for now!
Craig
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SEPTEMBER 3, 2006
Just got back from a great weekend in Northern Ireland with the boss. Firstly, we went to the Down Royal Racecourse and placed a few bets on the ponies � something I�ve never done before! Quite exciting...if you know what you�re doing!! It was one of the biggest racing events of the season, with national television crews, and horses from all over the world competing � including one owned by the royal family of the United Arab Emirates! Stayed for the night at my boss� house in the countryside, then got the train into Belfast the following day. I spent most of the morning just wandering around the city center, which was very quiet as it was a Sunday. I then hopped on a boat tour of the river and harbour, where I learned about the building of the Titanic, as well as the importance of the shipping industry in Belfast during its former glory days. After lunch, I jumped onto an open-air double-decker bus tour, which was one of the most interesting I�ve ever been on. They took us well off the beaten track and into the �problem areas� of North Belfast � once notorious for its clashes between Protestants and Catholics during the trouble-years. There�s still a lot of propaganda, graffiti, murals, and flags in the different neighbourhoods, as well as a fence/wall with barbed wire dividing some of the rougher areas. They even have bullet-proof security cameras! I�ve just uploaded 61 photos...slow down and read what�s written on some of the murals � they�re quite interesting! Belfast certainly doesn�t seem to have enjoyed the same prosperity that Dublin has over the last decade or so, but overall I had a great, very fascinating weekend.
Craig
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AUGUST 28, 2006
Hi everyone! So far, so good! Work is going well, I've got my Irish social security number, I should have a bank account open some time this week (and I've almost closed my old one in the Emirates - thank you Steve!!), and am more or less feeling settled here. Over the weekend I got a train to the coastal community of Howth, 45 minutes north of central Dublin. Just uploaded 18 photos - check them out! Next weekend I'm going up to Belfast, Northern Ireland with my boss - he's gonna give me a nice tour! I'll have photos of that trip uploaded within a few days of returning.
Craig
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AUGUST 23, 2006
Today I uploaded 17 photos taken along my 20 minute walk to my office.
Craig
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AUGUST 20, 2006
Today I uploaded 37 photographs of my apartment and surrounding neighbourhood, accessible from the Photo Gallery link on the left. I hope to add more albums by the end of the week.
Craig
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AUGUST 13, 2006
F�ilte chuig mo Craig i Bhaile �tha Cliath website..."Welcome to my Craig in Dublin website"! If you're familiar with my previous website, Craig in Dubai, you'll notice a lot of similarities between that site and this one. This page (the Home page) will be the one updated from time to time whenever I have any news.
All I have at the moment, is that I have been in Dublin for about three weeks now and am loving it! I left Victoria, British Columbia, Canada on July 26, and booked myself into temporary accommodation at Dublin City University, for quite a bargain! No more than two days later, I found an apartment! It was the first and only one I looked at, but I was fairly confident (from doing research in Canada beforehand) that this one would be very difficult to beat. So, I've got myself a nice, cozy 1-bedroom apartment in Ranelagh, one of Dublin's most prestigious neighborhoods...yet for a steal-of-a-deal - paying about 25% less than apartments "should" be for this part of town.
Things are busy at the moment as I settle in, but I'll do my best to update this page regularly and post lots of photographs.
I've not had a chance to take any pictures yet (still waiting on a sunny day - ha!), so don't bother checking the Photo Gallery yet. Also, the Thoughts page hasn't been touched yet either, as I don't currently feel I've been here long enough to have any worthwhile opinion. On my Dubai website, I never added to that page for two months, and expect it will take about the same length of time here to get a better feel for the place.
In the meantime, enjoy all the other pages, including the About this Site, About Dublin, About my Job, Visiting Craig, and Contact Info pages, and don't forget to sign the Guestbook!
Craig
About this Site
About Dublin
About my Job
Thoughts
Photo Gallery
Visiting Craig
Contact Info
Guestbook
