As we have a lot of advantages in this marketing department (just to remind you, I work for Siemens), we got entrances to go to the annual opening of an art exhibition. Well, actually, Michael, my manager, got them but as he didn't want to go, he gave us the tickets.
Therefore we went there Erika, Michael (the junior one, we have two Michael in the office: my manager that we now call Michael Senior, and the intern one. He is from Switzerland and we call him Michi, Micha or Michael jr) and me. I always have special relations with art exhibitions as apparently, my vision of art is not the same as the one of artists. Anyway, we went there and looked at the pictures, paintings and sculptures. .....interesting.....
Some paintings/pictures were nice. Some portraits (not the best ones unfortunately) were made in Paris and there was also paintings representing Paris streets... But these weren't really nice. And after a while, talking to myself, trying to explain myself what this or that was representing, imagining the most funny stories ever (one of the painting made me think of the Council Chambre in Star Wars!!), we started getting bored.
We were wondering what the "rot dots" (as Erika said instead of "red dots"... German culture) on the title of some paintings were and Erika explained that they were there to tell that the painting has been sold.
Just after her explaination, we stopped in front of 2 paintings: one was sold, the other was representing a street with a traffic light. The light was red. And Michi, with his legendary humour and calm, said showing the sold painting first and then the other one: "So this one is sold....... and this one also!". I laughed for 10 minutes!!!
Finaly we arrived at the end of the exhibition and saw the last "pieces of art": the sculpture of a Happy Meal (I'm not kidding!), two models of houses (we had fun with Michi by trying to imagine which one was ours and how we would arrange the rooms) and a dress made of iron.
The exhibition wasn't THAT good but at least it changed from the usual evenings in front of the computer.
One more thing to conclude with that event: there was a weird painting but that was telling something really relevant for me. In the painting was a bubble (like in comic books) saying (in spanish...what a wonderful thing being able to talk a lot of languages!): "This is art! But not the one we know !"
lundi 21 mai 2007
mercredi 9 mai 2007
Day 4: Time to say goodbye
Already the end. I had to go to work and to come back straight away to say bye to my mum and my sweet little brother.
Just the time to go with the big luggage to the bus station and they were gone.
Both of them really enjoyed their time here and it was really nice going on holiday with the whole family. We decided to do that again and we have been thinking of some destinations. I suggested to go to Greece or to Croatia but my brother had already big projects in his little mind: he suggested to fly to New York!!! :D
Funny thing: my mum was a bit disappointed not to see sheeps here.
"Yes mum, sheeps in Dublin centre... SURE!!!!" ;)
Just the time to go with the big luggage to the bus station and they were gone.
Both of them really enjoyed their time here and it was really nice going on holiday with the whole family. We decided to do that again and we have been thinking of some destinations. I suggested to go to Greece or to Croatia but my brother had already big projects in his little mind: he suggested to fly to New York!!! :D
Funny thing: my mum was a bit disappointed not to see sheeps here.
"Yes mum, sheeps in Dublin centre... SURE!!!!" ;)
mardi 8 mai 2007
Day 3: Feel the wind and enjoy the view
Finaly I did it. After months saying "I wanna go to Howth to visit", I finaly made it. Howth is a small peninsula on the East of Dublin that is really nice for long walks. In my tourist guide there was a hiking way adviced and we decided to follow it.
We left aroud 11am Mum, Greg, Marie (my housemate) and me and took the DART (the regional train). It was nice going a bit out of Dublin and seeing other landscapes than buildings and cars. Arrived there, we began our walk but after a few minutes we were already lost! We didn't really know which way to go as in Ireland, streets are not always named. So we "visited" the port and then began our walk in the right direction.
The guide said that we had to go up on the hill to enjoy the nice view over the bay. The funny thing is that the way was described so precisely that it was almost hard to really get it. For example, we were on the right street and in the guide was written "at the public phone turn right"... but who knows what happened to the public phone meanwhile?? Maybe they removed it! And that's actually what happened: we didn't find it! A man on the street told us it was "always up" (with the funny Irish accent) so we just walked up... untill we finally figured out we were too high! We were supposed to cross the golf course and it came out the course was below us! But at least, after having walked between the bushes and the wind during a while without even knowing if we were on the right way, we really enjoyed the view over both the Dublin Bay and the other side of the peninsula.
We decided to stop in a place were we were protected from the wind and had lunch: ham sandwiches with cocumbers and cheddar (Mum didn't pay attention when buying the cheese! But it wasn't bad at all :) ). And we finaly came back by the same side we came up. We stopped in a pub recommended by the guide and had a cofe and a piece of cake. It was soooooo good!!! Having a rest in a warm place with a warm cup of capuccino for me and a delicious piece of cake...
And just when we decided to go to take the DART to go back home it began to rain! We were so lucky! The weather forcast said it should have rained from time to time but actually the weather wasn't bad at all! (except for the wind but at least it gave my mum an overview of the typical Irish weather).
Greg was really cute and walked all the time without saying anything, just enjoying the nature. He played with Marie who really had a good feeling with him and my mum enjoyed seeing something else than the capital. What for me, I wanna go there again and try to find the right way this time!!! :D
We left aroud 11am Mum, Greg, Marie (my housemate) and me and took the DART (the regional train). It was nice going a bit out of Dublin and seeing other landscapes than buildings and cars. Arrived there, we began our walk but after a few minutes we were already lost! We didn't really know which way to go as in Ireland, streets are not always named. So we "visited" the port and then began our walk in the right direction.
The guide said that we had to go up on the hill to enjoy the nice view over the bay. The funny thing is that the way was described so precisely that it was almost hard to really get it. For example, we were on the right street and in the guide was written "at the public phone turn right"... but who knows what happened to the public phone meanwhile?? Maybe they removed it! And that's actually what happened: we didn't find it! A man on the street told us it was "always up" (with the funny Irish accent) so we just walked up... untill we finally figured out we were too high! We were supposed to cross the golf course and it came out the course was below us! But at least, after having walked between the bushes and the wind during a while without even knowing if we were on the right way, we really enjoyed the view over both the Dublin Bay and the other side of the peninsula.
We decided to stop in a place were we were protected from the wind and had lunch: ham sandwiches with cocumbers and cheddar (Mum didn't pay attention when buying the cheese! But it wasn't bad at all :) ). And we finaly came back by the same side we came up. We stopped in a pub recommended by the guide and had a cofe and a piece of cake. It was soooooo good!!! Having a rest in a warm place with a warm cup of capuccino for me and a delicious piece of cake...
And just when we decided to go to take the DART to go back home it began to rain! We were so lucky! The weather forcast said it should have rained from time to time but actually the weather wasn't bad at all! (except for the wind but at least it gave my mum an overview of the typical Irish weather).
Greg was really cute and walked all the time without saying anything, just enjoying the nature. He played with Marie who really had a good feeling with him and my mum enjoyed seeing something else than the capital. What for me, I wanna go there again and try to find the right way this time!!! :D
lundi 7 mai 2007
Day 2: Prison Break!
The second day, we decided to go to Kilmainham Goal. On the way, we went through Merrion Square. My mum had seen some pictures of it and I thought it would have been nice for her to see it in real as it was on our way. We also stopped at Trinity College to have a look and to see the place where I took the funny pictures with Ablaye and Donovan.
Then, we took the Luas (name of the tram) and went directly to Kilmainham Goal. This prison is really famous for having "hosted" some of the most important characters in the history of Ireland. Therefore it was entertaining for my brother who saw his first real prison and for my mum and me for the cultural aspect. The tour was really interesting. We even could enter the cells!!
The nice thing for me was I saw the movie "Michael Collins" about the revolution of 1916 in Ireland about 2 months ago. So it was funny knowing the names of these guys who fought for the independence of their country and thinking they had been here and walked on the same floor I was walking!
We ended the afternoon by taking a rest in Phoenix Park that was nearby. The sun was shining from time to time and even if the air was fresh it was nice lying on the grass and having a rest.
In the evening we went to Porterhouse which is a chain of restaurant really nicely decorated and special. There we had a typical Irish diner: Irish Stew and ... (arf! I can't remember!) It was delicious!
I wanted my mum and my brother to listen to some typical Irish music before leaving so as we were close to the Gogarty's, I thought it was the best place to get a Guiness! Unfortunately, the pub is strictly over 21 and with my brother we couldn't get in.
So we went home and decided to go somewhere else for a Guiness the next day.
Greg fall asleep in two seconds and my mum and I went through ALL the pictures of my cousin's blog. Since Luca is in California, he's living a lot of nice adventures and it was nice following him through pics. It reminded my mum her trip to the USA! :)
We got a thought for you cuginetto!! ;)
Then, we took the Luas (name of the tram) and went directly to Kilmainham Goal. This prison is really famous for having "hosted" some of the most important characters in the history of Ireland. Therefore it was entertaining for my brother who saw his first real prison and for my mum and me for the cultural aspect. The tour was really interesting. We even could enter the cells!!
The nice thing for me was I saw the movie "Michael Collins" about the revolution of 1916 in Ireland about 2 months ago. So it was funny knowing the names of these guys who fought for the independence of their country and thinking they had been here and walked on the same floor I was walking!
We ended the afternoon by taking a rest in Phoenix Park that was nearby. The sun was shining from time to time and even if the air was fresh it was nice lying on the grass and having a rest.
In the evening we went to Porterhouse which is a chain of restaurant really nicely decorated and special. There we had a typical Irish diner: Irish Stew and ... (arf! I can't remember!) It was delicious!
I wanted my mum and my brother to listen to some typical Irish music before leaving so as we were close to the Gogarty's, I thought it was the best place to get a Guiness! Unfortunately, the pub is strictly over 21 and with my brother we couldn't get in.
So we went home and decided to go somewhere else for a Guiness the next day.
Greg fall asleep in two seconds and my mum and I went through ALL the pictures of my cousin's blog. Since Luca is in California, he's living a lot of nice adventures and it was nice following him through pics. It reminded my mum her trip to the USA! :)
We got a thought for you cuginetto!! ;)
dimanche 6 mai 2007
Day 1: Balade et shopping
Un réveil matinal par mon frérot adoré qui comme a son habitude a fait la java dans la chambre dès 8h du matin. Puis préparation et départ pour Dublin 4 du coté des ambassades ou je savais que ma mère trouverait son bonheur dans l'une des sublissimes maison du quartier. Le coin lui a aussi tapé dans l'oeil et la balade était vraiment sympa. Début des potins, pause sur le terrain de rugby découvert avec Daffy, et de manière générale, bon temps et détente.
Puis nous avons pris le bus de Dublin 4 jusqu'au centre ville et a l'arrêt, je rencontre la femme du PDG de Siemens Irlande, qui est devenue une "amie" maintenant. "Die Welt ist klein" comme elle me l'a si bien dit. Le temps pour mon frère de manger un Happy Meal au McDo et on était repartis pour une aprèm shopping!
Résultat: un haut, une ceinture et un superbe manteau (mon coup de coeur!) de mi-saison. De son côté, ma mère aussi s'est fait plaisir avec un haut et un pantalon.
Au retour, nous étions tous ultra fatigués. Greg avait été super sage toute la journée, il n'a jamais râlé même pendant que nous faisions notre shopping! Un vrai petit ange! La soirée s'est bien vite terminée: repos forcé pour reprendre des forces. Demain, visite de la prison!
Puis nous avons pris le bus de Dublin 4 jusqu'au centre ville et a l'arrêt, je rencontre la femme du PDG de Siemens Irlande, qui est devenue une "amie" maintenant. "Die Welt ist klein" comme elle me l'a si bien dit. Le temps pour mon frère de manger un Happy Meal au McDo et on était repartis pour une aprèm shopping!
Résultat: un haut, une ceinture et un superbe manteau (mon coup de coeur!) de mi-saison. De son côté, ma mère aussi s'est fait plaisir avec un haut et un pantalon.
Au retour, nous étions tous ultra fatigués. Greg avait été super sage toute la journée, il n'a jamais râlé même pendant que nous faisions notre shopping! Un vrai petit ange! La soirée s'est bien vite terminée: repos forcé pour reprendre des forces. Demain, visite de la prison!
samedi 5 mai 2007
Retrouvailles familiales
Après une longue attente, voici la famille qui se réunit. C'était super. Ma mère et mon frère sont arrivés samedi soir et c'était un réel plaisir de revoir mon bout de chou et ma petite maman. La soirée n'a pas été bien longue: a peine rentrés, nous sommes directement partis nous coucher. Le voyage avait été long pour eux et la journée ménage tout aussi remplie pour moi!
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