Beer

It'll come as no surprise to you that the Irish really like beer. Since I move here, I've gotten to realise that Guinness is absolutely part of Dublin culture and life. On days like today, when the clouds are low and it's not too windy, you can smell the factory, brewing away. Now, personally I prefer something like the stuff they have in the Porterhouse, but you can't deny the fact that Guinness is everywhere, and in more ways than one.

The good people at Guinness as also real champions of very inventive advertising. I remember last year, the Guinness corporation whipped up a festival in the form of "Arthur's day" when the birthday of the Guinness factory is celebrated. Swear to God, there were people all over the city actually raising their glasses and wishing him the best of birthdays. It's advertising, alright, but not as we know it. And if it's fun, why the heck not? Guinness sponsors the best billboard ads in the city, so in their own commercial way, they are helping Irish artists, I guess...

I'm pretty much bushed after an extremely busy weekend of babysitting all day Saturday, working Saturday night and then Sunday from noon until midnight. Tiring stuff. I took the children to Dublin Zoo. I don't have a lot of experience of zoos, but this one seems pretty enormous to me. We managed to spend a good twenty minutes or so peering at the hippo and wondering how they breathe. Man, walking around that place is exercise!! My flatmate Bepe was flying his remote control plane in Phoenix Park afterwards so we hooked up with him. The kids think he's great. Hilariously, one of them seems to think he's my boyfriend, while the other is convinced he's my brother, despite the fact that he's Italian and I'm a Newfoundlander! Childhood must be a wonderful place. When you're a kid, there's no need to let reality stand in the way of a good story!

I just can't believe summer's nearly over and autumn's on the way, but you can feel it in their. It's not cold yet or anything, but it just feels different, and the leaves on the trees in the parks have darkened and will start to turn. Still, there's one good thing: I just love kicking the leaves about on Dublin's residential streets on windy days in October!