Going Dutch

Well, here I am (almost) fresh back from my super-short trip to Amsterdam. Because I was on a budget (euphemism for a lack of funds) we stayed in the cheapest place I could find, and I'm pretty sure that those lumps on my legs and arms are fleabites!!!

Fleas aside, Amsterdam was great, and it's fun to go away for a short trip. Europeans are spoilt, with all the cheap flights they have to choose from. Now it's another day back at work, as if nothing had happened, and all I've got to show for my weekend away is a bunch of wooden tulips, a possibly ill-advised small tattoo and dark circles under my eyes.

I had a nice surprise, though: I got onto this blog and found an invitation to the launch of the Fringe Festival next week, which is going to be held in the National Boxing Stadium on the South Circular Road. I've never been in the stadium before, but I have eaten at the little diner on the mosque nearby (delicious). Not many people realise that that diner is open to the public, but the food's really good, and very cheap.

Anyway, the Fringe Festival launch! How exciting is that! The festival is one of the most important events in Ireland's cultural calendar. Last year, I met an elderly Canadian guy who is actually spending his retirement travelling from one Fringe Festival to another, all aroud the world. He told me that the Dublin one is up there with the best, and you gotta believe it.

I'm on a break from work right now. Heh. It's actually a "smoking" break. I don't smoke but because the chef does, he gives people all sorts of breaks so that they can have a cigarette and leaves us non-smokers to pick up the slack. I picked up a pretend smoking habit pretty quickly but so's not to bust my cover I have to sneak away from the other smokers on one pretext or another.

Life is complicated.  But, work is going surprisingly well. Thinking of buying my own bicycle instead of relying on the city bikes. Does that mean I'm putting down roots  You know, your own bike, it's a big commitment!