So it begins

Out and About

Published Date : March 31, 2001

Continuing my recent pattern of getting out and doing things, I’m going to learn how to sail tomorrow in a yacht race on the Firth.  I’m really looking forward to that!  I saw a notice on the board at work (I’m working in the copy room at the U of Edinburgh these days, btw) that the skipper was looking for a crew – no experience required.  Perfect!

I’ve also decided to go ahead with the SCUBA intro at Deep Sea World.  Seriously, when am I likely to learn how to dive in a shark tank ever again?  I’m trying to convince my brother to do it with me.

There are a couple of tourist spots that are opening up tomorrow that I’m going to be checking out as well.  There’s amilitary bunker in St Andrews, the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh and the Edinburgh Dungeon which they just finished building.  That should keep me occupied until May.

Then it’s off to Ireland for 10 days, which I’m really looking forward to.  I’m still planning on heading to Wales next.  The only change is that I may stay there for the whole six months instead of going to London.  We’ll see how it goes

Spring has sprung

Published Date : April 9, 2001

Spring is in the air.  Good-bye cabin fever!

The sailing was a great experience last weekend.  I didn’t really do a whole lot, mostly just diving back and forth under the boom every time we tacked.  I also helped hoist the sails and steered once or twice.  I had a lot of fun, but I might not get to do it again before I leave.  Allistair, the skipper, is going to the US and I’ll probably be gone when he gets back.  Oh well, at least I got to try it once.  I’m glad I decided to go, because I almost chickened out at the last minute.

I’ll be doing the SCUBA course next Saturday.  My bro didn’t manage to get organized in time, so he’ll just be coming to watch.  Mom and Dad are of course not thrilled with the idea of the sharks, but they’re not surprised that I want to try the diving.

I’m still busy playing tourist and enjoying myself.  Carmen and I went to the Royal Botanical Gardens yesterday and we were both very impressed despite there not being much in bloom yet.  We’re hoping to go back in May before I leave to see the changes.

Next Sunday, all three of us are going to St Andrews to see the secret bunker.  I’m going to the Edinburgh Dungeon the week after that I think.

My Ireland trip is pretty much in order.  I’ve got the flight and hostel booked, and I’ve mailed the cheque for the tour.  Fingers are crossed that it’s still available.  Hopefully the Giant’s Causeway will be open too.  They closed when the foot & mouth outbreak hit, but they’ve relaxed the quarantine a bit since then.  Here’s hoping

SCUBA! SCUBA!

Published Date : April 16, 2001

Making it official!

The countdown is on!  Only 28 days to go until I get to be unemployed for a month.  Woohoo!  I am soooo looking forward to this break.

SCUBA diving was amazing!  It was well worth the money and the effort.  There were two other girls in my group and we all had a blast.  It was a 2-hour course and we were in the water for about an hour and a half of that time.  It took me a while to get comfortable breathing underwater – I kept hyperventilating the first couple of times.  For some reason it felt very claustrophobic to me.  Once I got the hang of things, it was fantastic.

We learned all the basics like how to clear water from your mask while you’re underwater and how to clear the regulator if you drop it.  The important stuff!  The water was cold, so we wore dry suits.  We didn’t use fins since we were going to be walking along the bottom of the tank.

Once we were in the tank it was a lot of fun.  The only animals we weren’t allowed to touch were the sand tiger sharks.  The other 11 species of shark and all the fish and eels were fair game.  One of the other girls got to hold a 4-foot shark while it was sleeping.  It turns out that most sharks are big babies and like attention.  Even though we couldn’t touch them, the sand tiger sharks all came over to investigate us.  Apparently they can tell when there’s a new diver in the tank and they always come over to introduce themselves.

It was a great experience, and I highly recommend it!

Yesterday was our trip to St Andrews.  It was a bit of an odyssey to get to the bunker because a lot of buses weren’t running.  Quite an interesting piece of WW2 history though and well worth the trip.  We didn’t have enough time in St Andrews itself and I would love to go back there.  I don’t think I’ll be making it back there this trip though.

As for what’s happening after the lease is up in May, all three of us are going to go on a quick trip through the Highlands before finishing off in Glasgow.  Chris and Carmen are going to come back to Edinburgh while I continue south to Wales.  The plan at the moment is to spend 1 night in Inverness, 1 night on Skye, 1 night in Glasgow, 2 nights in Chester and 1 or 2 nights in Bath before crossing over into Wales.

I checked with the BUNAC office about jobs, but they only have three listed for Wales.  So I turned to my trusty research friend, the internet and found a list of places to look into when I get there.

I’m still waiting on confirmation on the Ireland tour, but everything is coming together.

Permission granted

Published Date : April 23, 2001

I am officially booked with Tir-na-Nog tours for a 6 day tour of the Republic of Ireland and 3 days through Northern Ireland!  I’ll have a couple of extra nights in Dublin before and after my tour as well as in between the two.  11 days in Ireland, here I come!

Top of the morn' to ye

Published Date : May 11, 2001

Hello Dublin!  The flight over was great – only £90 return with RyanAir.  It took about 30 minutes from start to finish: 10 minute ascent, 10 minutes at altitude and a 10 minute descent.  Added bonus, I had three seats to myself.  Perfect!

I haven’t seen much of the city yet, but it seems quite nice so far.  The traffic from the airport was appalling.  I actually ended up getting off early and walking the last few blocks to my hostel.  I’m looking forward to seeing more of the city after my tours are over.

Speaking of the tours, the first one starts tomorrow morning.  I’m really looking forward to not thinking for 9 days!

For tonight, I’m staying at Avalon House.  I decided to splurge and take a single room with en-suite.  It’s tiny, but the bed is comfortable and that’s the important thing.  The price was reasonable at IE£25, not much extra money to have some time to myself!  The location is fantastic as well, just a few blocks from the Temple Bar area and very central.  It includes breakfast too.  Bonus!