Fort McMurray > Regina > Toronto > Dublin

Wow! I don't even know where to begin! First of all, I am here safe and sound in my hotel room and I'd be lying if I told you I was feeling great. Those glasses of wine over my tortellini just went down too easy after a haul of a day!!

I left Fort Mac on the 2nd of August after an awesome, but exhausting weekend at the cabin for Darrens brothers wedding (Rob & Sara) Arrived home to another crazy weekend with my life long friend Hannas wedding the coming weekend. We spent lots of time together over the week, including our most favorite and well known expeditions; the spray tan booth, teeth whitening appointments and of course, cherry mister misties at Dairy Queen. I did a slideshow, wedding hair and also had the honor of being an emcee for the night. Needless to say it was a busy week but it was all worth it when I seen her all 'completed' on her wedding day. She made a beautiful bride and it was a very emotional day for me. Wish you the greatest wishes, Han.

The next day my brother, Jordy, turned the big 3-1 so we went shopping in the afternoon and then later on picked up Tut and Jordys girlfriend Tess and headed out to Francys for Hannas gift opening/ Jordys bday supper. Had some good laughs and went over lots of old memories of our families together. I don't know what is going on with me lately but I'm having this issue of being sad when people get married and 'grow up'. Obviously it's just a part of life and growing older but it's just touugh to let go sometimes. I just can't believe Hanna and I won't be singing Boys 2 Men songs on the the organ and we won't be making haunted houses under the ping pong tables. Lol! I'm serious!

Anyways, moving on. Caught my flight to Toronto and when I got there I had a few hours to wait. No big deal.... hang out, creep on my friends on Facebook, have some dinner, etc. But then we were delayed an hour, then one more, then one more, then 3 more. So now it's fricken 1am. and the only thing keeping me sane was a mixture of bubble breaker on my phone and this random, amazing jam session of about 10 musicians coming from the Edmonton Folk Festival. There were accordians, clarinets, little bongo drums, banjos, flutes and other little nerdy instruments just given'er and I was LOVING IT. Then a violinist struck up and next thing you know an Irish dancer jumps out of the crowd! Well, we were all going crazy. It was like Christmas! Except it was summer, 1am and in a bloody airport. So shortly into this good time, an announcement is made that our flight is cancelled. It was a LONG line waiting for our hotel and taxi vouchers and I didn't get into a room until around 230am. When I got back to the airport at 8am I was not given a seat because 50 people were not going to get on the flight. LONG story short, some angel gave up their seat, in FIRST CLASS, an I was able to go. Bless your soul, whoever you are!

Thought the bad news was over? You're incorrect. NO LUGGAGE. I was a little overdone by this point and did not even care. I just wanted to get to this city! This luck of the Irish thing is bullshit, I say! Haha The bus dropped me off at Trinity College in Dublin and I had to walk to my hotel. No big deal, I didnt have much to steal anyways. I had some awesome photo ops on the way to the hotel that night but didn't think it was a good idea to be busting out my nice camera, by myself at midnight when I dont even know where I could run to. Needless to say I made it here just fine, and the people have been unreal. Oslo, take lessons.

Since my delay took one of my two days off my trip to Dublin, I really had to get around quick yesterday. I was awake around 6am (yes, AM) and wandered along where I sat in a little shop and had some tea and crumpets. Just kidding, it was a croissant. What the hell is a crumpet anyways? Sounds nasty. I then ventured downtown to where I noticed the big, tacky, tourist double decker buses. I LOVE those. Jackpot! Obviously I got one of those tickets right away and at 9am I was off on the red route. That took me by the college, through downtown, by the Christchurch and St. Patricks cathedrals, the Guinness factory, the zoo, Jameson whiskey distillery and then back to the beginning. Then I got on the yellow route where it took you into contemporary Dublin. Bridges, the Dublin Eye, etc. I seen the soccer stadium and asked when the next game was and the guide said "tonight" so after that tour, I found a Ticket Master and scooped a ticket to the Ireland and Croatia football match. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT call it soccer here! Lesson learned lol

I got back on the red bus and obviously wanted to go straight back to the Guinness and Jameson tours but I thought God might strike me dead if I skipped the Cathedrals. So I went to those first, and then onto the Guinness brewery. This was an AWESOME tour but go when you have slept and aren't hungry and don't feel like ripping the hair out of every head that bumps into you, cause that's a lot of heads! ( anger management?) They taught me the 'perfect pour' which I already knew so I was stoked! They even gave me a little certificate saying I qualified. I got out of there ASAP in search of some fresh air and escape from the dumb tourist convention that was booming inside. Cool fact about Guinness? They have a 9000 year lease and are only 250 years into it.

Onto the Jameson distillery! Also a very cool tour! I feel like people here were more interested in the whiskey then just another touristy thing to do. It's off the beaten path and hard to find so the crowds were much
more tolerable. This was about an hour long. Cool fact about Jameson? It is actually colorless but it gets it's color from the barrels they use that have once contained wine or sherrys.

Ran back to the hotel in pouring rain to get ready for the soccer match. I mean FOOTBALL match. I took a tram there and I was amazed with how awesome the stadium was! So efficient and clean. ( Mosaic stadium, take notes) I sat next to an awesome lady and her kids. In forget what she said, but something about her husband working for the Ireland team and I'm going to guess that is a good job because the diamonds on her paws were insane!! She was the bomb though, she bought me French fries at half time ( cause that's what I really needed) and then gave me a chocolate bar. It was like the best date I've ever been on! Took the tram back to my neck of the woods and set out to find some decent dinner. I am staying in the Temple Bar District which would be like the Broadway in Saskatoon or Whyte Ave in Edmonton but on a way crazier, Irish pub everywhere type of scale. I found a little Italian joint in a corner and tucked in for some pasta and wine. Amazing. And whata a trip to Ireland without sitting in a pub listening to Irish music and drinking beer? So I found a little friendly place and tried a few beers. One similar to Guinness, a cider, and a "Leffe". I was getting really tired gso I just headed on home to my cute little room.

This morning I will pack up, go for breakfast, check out one or two museums and then catch the bus to the airport and fly to London. Hopefully the riots are settling down over there. Dont have much planned there at this point but I'm sure I will once I arrive.

I'll leave you with few facts of Ireland
-Dublin population is 1.4 million and Ireland itself is just over 5 million
-Dublin is home to the largest free standing monument in the world called the 'Spire'. It's just under 400 feet tall and is filled with tiny lights on top. Tour bus driver said it's a big price to pay to only house one pidgeon. So funny because it's a huge spike. Also known as the 'stiletto in the ghetto'
-Ireland has the highest birth rate of any country in the EU. I say that's a reflection of too many pubs!
-Jameson is no longer created in Dublin, they have moved to the south of Dublin.

I love it here and definitely want to return when I have more time... An awesome cultural experience.

Ttyl!