Riots Take 2

Night 2 of riots in Belfast . . . this time a journalist was shot (not fatally). I am glad I am on the other side of the country!

 (but it's still a little too close for comfort)

See the Belfast Telegraph's article here.

Tesco Child

Recently, I went on my weekly shop (aka grocery run) to the local grocery store: Tesco.  While there, I saw a little boy of about 4 or 5 years of age who was being picked up by his father.  The boy said, "Daddy, daddy, set me down!  I'll be good!"

The father duly set him back down on the ground, to which the boy looked up and smiled sweetly at his father before saying,"But not today!!!!!"

Brilliant.  I don't think I've ever laughed so much in the supermarket before.

I got mail!

Recently, I received some mail in the post from Canada.  Well, sort of from Canada.  The truth is that it originated in Northern Ireland, then traveled to Canada and then back again.  You see, a year and a half ago, I sent my sister a Christmas card and, last week, it returned to my door.  Let me reiterate that point. . .  A YEAR AND A HALF AGO I SENT THE CARD!  What had happened during that time to the envelope?  It's well splattered with dried rain drops, so it certainly saw the light of day at some point.  I can piece some of the picture together.  I know it made it to the house my sister lived in at some point, but apparently at least 8 months after I sent it, since that's when she moved out of that place and some one else had scrawled "Not at this address" on it.  It then mysteriously visited the street our mom lives on, but a couple of houses down from her.  I know this because it says not at "1## *%$£" Street" which is literally steps from my mom's apartment.  It then, at some point, decided to cross the Atlantic again, this time in the opposite direction and return itself to me.  I wonder what it says inside?  I can't actually decide if it's amazing it made it back to me or truly sad that it never made it to my sister's address!  (This comes as news breaks of Canada Post possibly going on strike this week too)

Perhaps it's best if I hand deliver this one in person when I go home in August?

Ancient Arachnid?

Goliath Bird-eating Spider

Recently, I was watching a wildlife program where the tv presenter was getting rather over-excited by a spider.  Mind you, the spider was cool (it even had an incredibly cool name: the Goliath Bird-eating Spider.  Sounds impressive, no?).  However, what excited the presenter the most was how old this particular arachnid was.  "This spider is ANCIENT! It's at least 25-30 years old - ANCIENT!!!!!"

If that is what constitutes ancient then what hope is there for the rest of us???*

*Please note that this message was written by a greater than 30 year old and therefore may be *slightly* biased

Cultural Differences

For me, NI has many similarities to my home province in Canada. It's a fairly small place where everyone knows everyone (or at the very least, knows someone in common). However, there is one big cultural difference that I do not think I could ever adjust too.

Bombs.

This includes bomb threats, pipe bombs, car bombs and left-in-random-places bombs. They must happen at least once a week in Northern Ireland, and while most of the time it results in a hoax or the item being safely destroyed, occasionally it results in severe destruction or even death, as these links will tell you.

Bombing of Santander Bank, Derry


Car bomb under police officer, Ronan Kerr's, car

Canada Bound! (Fingers crossed anyway)

Today, I made the big announcement. I waited until everyone from work (well, everyone that was here and available, which totaled 5 people, 2 of which already knew) was gathered around our conference table for our "weekly" (read: once in a blue moon) staff meeting. I didn't want a fuss made, as I didn't feel it would be genuine, but I admit I did expect some sort of reaction. I laid my cards on the table by stating:

"It's my intention to return to university in September to pursue my teaching degree, so there will be some upcoming changes to the education department here"

The response. Silence. Seriously, no one even said congratulations or what uni are you going to or anything! My boss already knew, so I wasn't completely dropping the bomb on everyone at the table, but still people could pretend a little bit. I so can't wait to go back to people who are socially normal! Wee Northern Irish village - you have been a struggle (and a half!)

3 months to go and so much to do!

Canada Election 2011!

Oh, Canada! Another election, another disappointment. At least from my perspective. I completely understand that the highest number of Canadians who voted, voted for the Conservatives, resulting in a blue majority, but given what I have heard Harper has done in the past few years (and also what I know he's done while I was still in Canada) I can't help but feel let down. Saddened. And thoroughly gutted by the fact that this election resulted in only 61.4% of Canadians going out and voting, according to Elections Canada. Someone told me that this was the 3rd lowest voter turnout in Canada's history. I wonder why less than 2/3 of Canadians can be bothered to do anything? To voice an opinion? To stand up and be counted?

These days in the media, there are plenty of countries where their people are demonstrating and protesting. Why? To have more power and a say in their government instead of being ruled by dictators. In Canada, where we do have that precious freedom, over 1/3 of us appear to be apathetic. The concept of our right to vote is not seen as important enough for many to bother to get out and make their mark on the ballot paper. It's at times like these where I wonder if it would be best for Canada to adopt a system similar to Australia where if you do not vote you are fined. And the Australian government are good at finding people to pay their fines, as a friend of mine who lives in Britons can attest!

I am off to vote in the UK election on Thursday, including a referendum on electoral reform. Here's to hoping things improve here!

Chefchaouen, Morocco (population 36,000)

Pretty blue Chefchaouen (or Chouen, as the locals call it), it was such a good decision to go and visit you! The estimated 3 hours for the bus journey from Tangier turned out to be exactly right, magically including the long delay departing from Tangier, and a lengthy stop at one of the towns along the way. Chefchaouen, a small village, set in the slopes of the Rif Mountains, makes a perfect destination for travellers who may want to get away from the hectic larger cities of Morocco.

View Larger Map

Most of the houses are white in colour, with the outer walls of the ground floor coloured a beautiful blue. The blue goes very well with the clear blue skies that greeted us while we were there. The weather was perfect, at least in terms of lack of precipitation. Temperature wise, it was a bit too warm for my liking: 37°C each day. My poor pale skin does not cope well with such extreme heat and I frequently hid out in our pension during the hottest part of the day. As a side note, I thoroughly recommend Pension Souika as a place to stay – very relaxed and the men who run it are very friendly and helpful!

Typical colours of Chefchaouen

The first day, we just wandered through the maze of streets in the medina, checking out the variety of shops and all their tourist wares. The second day we climbed one of the hills that overlooks the town where a smart new hotel has been built, complete with a spa. The views were spectacular, looking back down at the village and at the mountains. While we were up there, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to check out the spa. I had my first ever massage and I have to say that I could get used to having more of those on a regular basis! The exchange rate also worked quite well in my favour!

Spice Shop

View over the Rif Mountains from the spa

That evening, on the recommendation of a fellow traveller, we had dinner on the rooftop terrace of the Casa Aladin restaurant. Not only does this provide fabulous views over Chefchaouen’s main square, but if you time it right, you will also witness the sun setting behind the Rif Mountains. That is one sunset I will never forget.

View of Sunset over the Rif Mountains from the rooftop terrace

On the final day, I did a few bits of shopping and also visited Chefchaouen’s Kasbah, or “old town”. It’s a beautiful golden colour with some interesting buildings and a lovely tower to climb for some more wonderful views.

All too soon, we were heading back to Tangier and Tarifa, Spain, our next destination.

Happy Christmas!

Hello my few loyal readers and Happy Holidays!

I can't believe it's been so long . . . much has been happening and I haven't been available for updating my blog until now. I also haven't put together my traditional Christmas email/card send off, so this time I made a Christmas video, which really just shows a few pictures from all the different places I explored in the past year. It's only two minutes long, so you don't have to fear about being incredibly bored for hours . . . I hope it will work!

UPDATE: I just tested it and resolution is TERRIBLE if you play it full screen! All the pictures are blurry. It looks much nicer on my own laptop with excellent resolution pre-posting. Tip: Play it small!

New Year's Resolution: Blog more.

Upcoming Travels

In August, I will be a very busy traveler. Here is a map of all the places I will be going (you will need to zoom out, as googlemaps isn't translating very well onto my blog today!):

View Larger Map

I will have lots to write about!

Belfast
Glasgow
Reykjavik
Halifax
Charlottetown
Edinburgh
Shrewsbury

Tangier, Morocco (pop 1,000,000)

Oh, Tangier – my first glimpse of Africa! I hope I will have many more glimpses in my future. We took the ferry from Tarifa, Spain, which takes you in to the old port (closer to the city centre) than the ferries from Algeciras, which take you to the new port.


View Larger Map

As I watched the continent of Africa loom closer and closer while on the ferry, I couldn't help but feel excited. I have desperately wanted to visit Africa for many years now and here I was finally reaching my goal. Sure, some people might scoff and say that Morocco isn't really visiting Africa, but I disagree. When we arrived at the port our first task was to find the hotel that we booked. Trying to find the entrance to the medina was difficult, and although there was no shortage of eager Moroccans willing to show us the way to a cheap hotel that they knew (for a fee, of course!) we were reluctant to pay someone for this service. Plus, I am a strong believer that getting a little lost is all part of the adventure. Eventually, after consulting the map man,y many times, we found our way into the medina – and luckily chose the right entrance, as there were plenty of clear signs showing us the way to our hotel.

On the ferry to Tangier

Overall, Tangier isn't the type of place that I feel I would like to spend any length of time in again. For starters, you have to have the right mentality: expect men and children to approach you constantly offering to show you to points of interest, hotels, etc. It is important to be exceedingly firm with those offering you help if you do not wish to have their assistance – they will not leave a potential paying customer willingly!

The room to our hotel overlooked the city and it was quite an impressive view which literally did offer a window into the everyday lives of Moroccans. The only thing I might change is the call to prayer from the local mosque which started at 4:30am and lasted for a half an hour! The view from our breakfast terrace out of over the Mediterranean was pretty special though.

View from our hotel window over Tangier

Our Breakfast Terrace

We wandered around through the medina and the kesbah and took in the sights and sounds of what Tangier had to offer. I think the best part was the views over the Mediterranean and the atmosphere. After 24 hours in Tangier, I was ready to move on and see what else Morocco had to offer!

In the Medina

View from the main terrace of our hotel over the Mediterranean

Happy Canada Day (tomorrow)!

Tomorrow is Canada Day and I think I will feel a bit lonely over here then as this is the first year I can remember not having fellow Canadians (or at least honourary Canadians) around to celebrate with. Instead, I will be working . . . maybe I will find something red to wear though!

So to all of you out celebrating back home - I wish you a lovely and safe day. Send me a message and let me know what you did!

Happy 143rd Birthday Canada!

Granada, Spain (pop 300,000)

I will now attempt to blog about Granada once more!

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GoogleMap of Granada, Spain

For me, there are two highlights that stick out in my mind from my visit to Granada. The first, the Alhambra – an amazing old fort/palace on top of a hill overlooking the city of Granada. The second, free tapas with every drink you order. Apparently, Granada is one of the few places in Spain that still does this. At first, we weren't sure if the food would be free or not – perhaps they were just bringing us food and if we ate it we would be charged? No! It turns out they just like to make sure you have something delicious to eat while you consume a soothing and refreshingly cold beer. I only have three words to say about this: I like Granada.

Alhambra outside walls

The Alhambra was first built in the 9^th century, when it was a fortress. Since then, several palaces, hotels, beautiful gardens and even bookshops have been added! The first area we visited was the rose garden. It was simply beautiful and we had some pretty spectacular views to the snow capped mountains in the Sierra Nevada as well.

Prettiest rose ever in the rose garden + buildings

Snow capped mountains of the Sierra Nevada

From there, off we went to explore the different buildings and palaces. There were so many different buildings to look at that we ended up spending an easy 4 hours checking out the Alhambra, and we didn't even make it to the other set of gardens at Generalife. It was definitely worth it though! The views over the city and the Sierra Nevada, as well as the detailing of the mosaics and tiles in one of the palaces were simply breathtaking.

Buildings inside the Alhambra

View through archway over Granada

Beautiful archways

Marco?

Polo! Well, Polo was the name of the wee car I hired this past weekend when my friend Brandon came to visit from Edinburgh. Finally, I was able to drive a manual car in the UK completely on my own. In Canada, driving a manual (aka standard) car is pretty uncommon. Most people drive automatics while in the UK pretty much everyone drives a manual car. Apparently, automatics are considered "old people's cars" - who knew???

I successfully drove around in my wee Polo for 3 whole days. Well, "success" is a relative term I suppose. It didn't start off so well - I couldn't figure out how to shift the car into reverse. The "R" for reverse was next to the "1" for Gear 1, but for some reason I couldn't get the gear shift to, um, shift to that position. Brandon didn't know either . . . luckily we had yet to leave the car park of the car hire place, so I went inside and did the dumb blond routine. We then discovered that the only way to get the gear shift into the reverse position was to press down on the gear shift first and then push it to the left. Oh, technology, how you mock me.

Upon finally leaving the car dealership, I managed to stall on the very first roundabout we came to (about 30 m from the dealership). It was the first of many stalls over our weekend together. Poor Brandon was a bit of a guinea pig for my driving abilities! I think he'd get back into a car with me, but maybe not for a while . . .

So, success wise . . . well, the good news is that no one was killed or injured in the driving of this vehicle.

A pretty picture

Rif Mountains, Chefchouen, Morocco.

This was the view we had from our restaurant's rooftop terrace one night in Morocco. It was a really lovely evening.

Last night, I wrote a long blog about Granada, but when I went to save it, it disappeared! So, due to more technical errors, you will need to content yourself with this wee photo for now!

Delayed due to Technical Difficulties

I know I promised that I would upload photos and blog about my trip this past weekend, but my plans have been curtailed by a major technical difficulty: power outage. When I lived in PEI, the power would frequently go out for a couple of hours or so, especially in the winter when storms caused havoc on the power lines. Since moving to the UK, I don't think I have experienced a single power outage. Well, okay, there has been the occasional power "blink" - you know what I mean: off for a few seconds and then back on again. Nothing major at all. However, this weekend the power went off at 10:30 am on Sunday and remained off for several hours. By 3pm I was getting curious (and a bit tired of reading my book!). This had never happened before. Was it just me???

Sure enough, it was just me! Apparently, I had somehow blown a fuse which resulted in a switch being flipped in the wrong direction and the power had gone out in my flat only. All I had to do was flip the switch back in the opposite direction and the miracle of electrical power was back in place. Too bad I had already wasted most of the day. The good news is that I got power back just in time to watch Ghana win it's match in the the World Cup. I haven't decided who I want to cheer for yet overall, but I have to say I was impressed by Germany's side last night too. Of course, here in the UK, all the adverts are linked to England's attempt to win this year! Even the recent number one song on the UK charts is all about shouting to support England at this year's World Cup! Yeah, they're pretty into their football (aka soccer) over here. You can watch a video of the recent number 1 here:

Back in the NI

Firstly, I think I owe a huge thank you to Volcanic Ash - it stayed away during my holidays and all my flights were blissfully ash-free. I also successfully avoided the British Airways strike and the rail strike in Spain. All in all, it could have been a pretty stressful trip with travel issues, but it wasn't! Success!

So, I am back in Northern Ireland . . . straight back into work, and already staying late again in order to prepare for tomorrow. I am hoping to have time to blog properly about my trip this weekend (highlights to include: Granada, Spain; Chefchouen, Morocco; and Malaga, Spain) but in the mean time here a few highlights:

• Morocco was my first time in Africa and I really enjoyed it!
• Both me and Karen were proposed to in Morocco (we said no) and we were told we were beautiful several times a day by random men on the street
• I enjoyed many sangrias while in Spain
• The weather was HOT - too hot in Morocco (37 degrees!) yuck!
• I spent a day at a spa in Chefchouen and had my first massage - I now understand why people go on spa breaks. When can I go on my next one?
  
• Karen got robbed at our hostel on our second last night in Malaga - they took all her money (BOO) . . . but, at least it was only money. Passports, credit cards, etc are all in tact
• Swimming in the Mediterranean again = HEAVEN
• When I arrived in Malaga, Spain to start my holiday, the customs guy forgot to stamp my passport. I lived in constant fear for the rest of the trip that this might come back to haunt me. Luckily, it didn't.
• I got a total of 7 new stamps in my passport. I heart passport stamps.
• We made a point of eating ice cream at least once a day. Yum. I introduced Karen to Magnum ice cream. So. Good.
  
• This trip made me realise how much I love to travel - I want to go backpacking again soon! Luckily, I am heading to both Iceland and Canada in August: Two more months!
  

Now, back to work! :-)

Dear Volcanic Ash

Please stay away from UK and Spanish airspace over the next fortnight. I will be on holiday and would like to make it there and back on the dates and times I booked.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Kathleen

The Birds and the . . . Bats . . .???

The previous 24 hours have been a bit rough. First, I think I may have accidentally killed a bat in what I can only assume was a most horrific death. Second, I had the misfortune of being an assistant murderer to a greenfinch. Not the best days work for an environmentalist.

First the bat: I was hanging up my wet laundry to dry when, at the bottom of my basket, I noticed something furry and black - a bat! It wasn't moving and I assume it didn't enjoy the spin cycle of my washing machine! The only thing I can think of is that a) it was already in the washing machine before I got there or b) it somehow climbed into my pile of dirty clothes and I put it in the washing machine myself, closed the lid, and pressed start! Either way, if it was alive when it went in, it was a horrible way to go. I feel pretty terrible!

The day after this happened, a green finch got stuck inside one of our rooms at work. Me, being the environmental goody goody that I am decided that I must rescue it and restore my good name. (The week before I had rescued a warbler from a similar situation). Alas, redeeming myself was just not to be. The bird was too high up for me to reach, so I asked my boss to get it for me. He put my jacket over the bird, but he didn't have a tight enough grip and the bird flew away . . . straight into the window with a horrible smack. It fell to the ground, looking a bit stunned, then shuddered a few times and was still. All of this happened in front of my coworker's primary school daughter. Oh yes, things just keep getting better and better!

*hangs head in shame*

On the bright side . . . Spain and Morocco in two days!

Summer is here (I hope)

I don't want to speak too soon, but I feel it should be noted that this weekend has been one the most glorious and sun filled weekends I have had in Northern Ireland. I'm talking sunshine all day both Saturday and Sunday, which is more than enough to get me excited, but on top of that, the temperature has been around 25 degrees each day - that's well hot for NI.

I celebrated this particular spike in the temperature by donning shorts and flip flops for the first time this year. I even walked down to the village in them, showing off my white pasty legs which are so in need of a good tan. However, when I got to the village I felt a little out of place. Not a single other person was sporting shorts. Everyone had jeans on, and I think I caught a few funny looks from the locals too. Do they not where shorts in this country? Did I miss something in the tourist brochure that said "WARNING: Shorts are banned here"? They can keep there jeans - when the sun's out and it's hot, I'll be working on my tan in my shorts!

In -hopefully - related good weather news, I am off to Spain and Morocco on Saturday!!!!!!! By the copious amount of exclamation points I used in that sentence, I hope you get the impression I am excited. I am still concerned about the volcanic ash, but I know I can't do anything about it, so I just have to wait and see. Hopefully the airspace will remain open between here and Malaga, Spain on Saturday. I definitely need the holiday and I am looking forward to traveling with my friend from Canada who is going to meet me there!

Bring on the sunshine and sangria!