Mum's Paris Top 10

1. Climbing the Eiffle Tower...all 728 plus steps up and down!
2. All the ornate architecture...nothing like at home!
3. Boat ride down the River Seine
4. Hotel de Neveres' staff except the night guy from our last night there...he was NOT Mr Personality!
5. Juno Beach Centre
6. The Yummy French Food...seriously the salads were AMAZING!!!
7. Eiffle Tower light show at night...so sparkly!
8. Moulin Rouge and Monmartre
9. Hop On\Hop Off tour...we are so keeping these things in business!
10. The Louvre...a quick visit but so worth it!

Pictures from Paris

So after leaving Dublin we travelled to Paris. Unfortunately our flight was delayed for a few hours and we didn't arrive at our Hotel until after midnight...but its all a part of the adventure! After getting a good nights sleep we were off for our first day of sight seeing! We decided to do a hop on\hop off tour which gave us 2 days on the bus and then a ride on a boat down the river.



Mom and Dad getting comfortable and getting their earphone in so they can enjoy the ride!




Standing in front of the Arc de Triumph. Its always fun trying to take a picture on a Saturday in one of Paris' most famous land marks but we did succeed!





Riding on the river! Here's Mom and Dad enjoying our little cruise and the information from the handy little radio thingys!













After our first day of touring we took the bus back to the central metting place in an attempt to catch another bus to see Monmartre, but there was so much traffic that we were too late. Fortunately the bus driver took a different route and we went by this building that was covered in plants. So cool!

No Paris pictures on my blog would be complete without my favourite tourist attraction...the Eiffle Tower...look, enjoy, be jealous!

So Mom was reading a magazine on the trip over from Toronto and found out that we could climb to the second level of the Eiffle Tower and then take the lift to the third level...So that's what we did! 674 Steps to the second level...plus a few extras along the way to different viewing levels! My butt looks fabulous now!

For serious, this is in the Eiffle tower...only 6014 km to Toronto...I felt so close to home!

After the Eiffle Tower we decided to go and check out Monmartre, but not until after Mum and Dad did a whirlwin, one-hour tour of the Lovre. This is Mum and I on the tour that we took in Monmartre...it was on a little train that drove through the area. So fun!

Dad waving as he heads up the stairs to check out Sacre Ceour...oh my god...more stairs!

This is one of the funiest things I saw...the dog really is wearing a helmut! I wonder how much those cost?

This is Mum and Dad after our big day out in Paris. We were waiting for the Metro at the stop near Moulin Rouge. Aren't they so cute after 30 years of marriage?

I know now that its a thumb, but when I first looked at it I really thought it was another part of the male anatomy...don't tell me you didn't think it too!

La Defense at sun set...our last night in Paris...so beautiful!

So those are the pictures from our Paris travels. We have now moved on to Germany so stay tuned for those pictures arriving soon!

Mum's Ireland Top 10

Mum decided that if I could do a Top 10 list for every city I visited, she should be able too as well....so here is the first in our series of Top 10 lists, as composed by Mummy!

1. Having Amanda drive us around to all those amazing places! No matter what Ron says, she was a great driver and only 'almost' killed us once or twice!
2. Our trip to Inishmor with all the walls and the fort and lunch with Martine our driver!
3. Dublin has a Starbucks and they have big cups of coffee!
4. The amazing country side and how there are so many shades of green!
5. All the history involved in every stop we made.
6. That we get to come back in two weeks (Note from Amanda: except I am late posting this so really we are back in 5 days!)
7. Great accomodations at Amanda's house and then in Dublin at the Ellis Quay Appartments! We had a great view of the Liffey and just around the corner from Guiness and Jameson! Perfect!
8. Fish and Chips at McDonaghs in Galway with Orla...definetly worth the wait!
9. Guiness and Jameson tour...any tour that ends with a free drink is our kind of tour!
10. Amanda's friends who have all been so nice and welcoming!

Rambling Dubliners

We decided to do the Hop on\Hop off tour in Dublin so that we could see it all. And anyone who had read my postings from Spain will know that I am obssessed with them!



Is that a bird? Is it a plane? No...its SUPER MOM!!! Mom modeling a styzlish pair of Guiness panties. So hott!










Dad showing off his new Guiness purchases and loving his belly full of Guiness samples!






On the second day we went to the Jameson Distillery which was pretty cool. At the end they had 4 volunteers try 5 different types of Whiskey and Scotch. This is me sampling the Scotch...it was not my fav by any means! In fact I reallz liked the Jameson! Maybe I've found a new drink!



After our tour of Jameson we headed to the Airport to catch our (really delayed) flight to Paris!

The Canadian Invasion

So I am not sure if everyone knows or not, but my parents have made the trip over from Canada for a 3 week tour of my favourite cities in Europe. They landed in Ireland on the 16th of September, one year and two days exactly since the last time I had seen them. We rented a car for 5 days and hit the road for excitement. The following are pictures of our time in Ireland. Stay tuned for pictures from our stops in Paris, Mittenwald, Munich, Innsbruck, Berlin, London, and Edinburgh!


The first night they were in Galway we went out for dinner and some drinks. This is Dad with his first pint of Guiness. Mmmm... Gotta love the black stuff!







While crusing up Shop Street we came across this street performer who took quite a liking to Dad. No idea what Gender they are, but it was seriously entertaining!








On Sunday we decided to drive down to the Cliffs of Moher because the sun was shining. On the way there we stopped off in a little town and checked out this castle. This is Dad hamming it up after a wonderful performance.








They finally got sick of Dad and threw him out...but he just hadn't had enough yet so decided to try and scale the walls...It didn't really work out for him though.









Because we drive on the left in Ireland, I had the pleasure of playing chauffer to mom and dad. While we were making our way to the cliffs dad became obssessed with how narrow the roads are and wanted to share it with everyone...they are quite narrow... Dad and I had a fight because I hit one curb and almost took out a side mirror.



So they say that third time is a charm and from these pictures you can see that I was finally lucky enough to get to see the Cliffs of Moher. There were barely any clouds in the sky. This is mom and dad enjoying the views.







So pretty!!! I really couldn't get over how gorgeous the Cliffs were!

On Tuesday we headed to Inishmore for the day. After Climing up to Dun Angeous, Dad was sure that he could make out the coast of Canada. He is a true explorer!

This is the three of us enjoying the view...it was a little rainy though, hence the hoods!



So that is the end of our adventures in Galway...check back for more of our family bonding moments!

Dublin Party Trulife-Styles

On Friday of last week our company treated us all to a day in Dublin, to see one of our factories and then dinner and a night at a hotel. The day started bright and early at 6:30am when my alarm woke me up so that I could get a cab with Cliona to the Train station where we met Stephen for our 7:45am train. The ride to Dublin was pretty uneventful with the 3 of us reading our news papers and drinking copious amounts of tea to keep us all awake. We arrived in Dublin before the Cork crew and I had made them all a welcoming sign, so we had to hang around until they arrived. After a trip on the LUAS (like a streetcar) we had a tour of the factory to see how breast prosthesis are made. Once the tour was over (it took a few hours) we were driven by coach to the Radisson Hotel where we were staying for the night. We had a yummy lunch of tomatoe soup and sandwiches (smoked salmon, roasted peppers, ceasar chicken, buffalo mozzarella, and some boring ham and cheese) and then everyone decided to head off to their rooms for a nap (or as Cliona calls them, a Disco Nap). Now the Radisson is a 5 star hotel that used to be an estate home and it is absolutely gorgeous! Of course I went a little mental and took lots of pictures of my room (yup...you read it right...I had a whole room to myself!) so I hope you are all very jealous! After our naps we had a 2 hours meeting...not the most exciting thing in the world...followed by drinks and dinner. Dinner was really yummy too, salmon with fresh veggies and flowing bottles of wine. Too much wine! There were a lot of laughs and sing-a-longs, some dancing on chairs and of course more wine. Needless to say none of us were feeling too great the next morning and it was late afternoon before I was able to keep anything in my tummy. I am excited to say though that my classiness has actually been upped a little by the fact that while on the train back from Dublin to Galway I was sick twice in the toilets. Now if that's not classy I don't know what is!


















Donna, Tom, John, Antonia, and Brendan out enjoying the beautiful sunshine.

Olivia and Cliona singing while Donna does a little arm dancing.






Gerry singing along with Olivia







Tom (from Cork) laughing at the ridiculousness of the people he works with

Is that a shoe?

Have you ever gone to a concert or festival or sports event and when you go to use the washroom the toilets are so disgusting you would rather suffer from kidney damage than to sit on them? Well for years I have been complaining that guys have it so easy when it comes to public bathrooms and apparently someone in Germany was actually listening! Introducing the P-Mate! The most genius invention of the modern age (that is in my biased opinion of course!) Basically it allows girls to pee standing up! Cliona got this pack when she was at the Electric Picnic last weekend. They come in this cute pink package which holds 5 'mates'. They are folded up so you pull one out and pop it open to look like the boat, which Cliona is so elegantly demonstrating. Then you open your pants/pull up your skirt, push aside the undies, push out your hips and pee away! Its magical! I love it! I want to buy stock in the company! I hope you all enjoy a laugh!

Thanks for the Good Times!

As you all probably heard, the Crocodile Hunter died on Monday and I was so sad to hear about it. Steve Irwin provided me with hours of fun filled procrastination when I should have been studying or going to classes in University. And he taught me so many useful things....that many animals that I thought were ugly are actually 'Beauts'...that a full Kakhi outfit can be fashionable...you can jump on the back of a croc and go for what looks like a really fun ride...and that its not a good idea to hold your newborn while feeding a crocodile.
Thanks Steve...you won't be easily forgotten.

Is that a wig?

I was listening to the radio this morning and heard that Tom & Katie had decided to introduce their little girl to the world in Vanity Fair and HAD to check it out! She is SO cute, but seriously, what is with the hair? It doesn't even look real! And although I see a few similarities between her and Katie, I see no similarities with Tom, which just confirms for myself that she is not really his daughter and that even though Katie and Tom act all lovey they might not be in fact sleeping together...not making any claims or anything, I just don't see it! Anyway, if you want to check out more about the happy couple and baby go to www.vanityfair.com Happy reading!

Adventures of a White Skirt

While traveling in Spain with Krissy, I did a little shopping (ok, I did a little more than a little but that is NOT the issue here! Stop judging me!) and bought a really nice white linen skirt...for only €10! Its really nice and airy and goes with so much! I have worn the skirt to work a few times, but during race week I thought I would wear it to the Races on Friday night with a boobylicious brown top (also bought in Spain...with my brown wedge shoes...bought in Madrid...crazy! It was a Spain outfit!). I have to say I looked pretty hot! Anyway, back to the story...so the streets of Galway were packed (as you can see from the pictures) and Louisa and I really had to go to the bathroom...but there were lines everywhere for them...so Louisa asked me how I felt about public urination (that sounds so gross). Anyone who knows me knows that when I gotta go I have no problem going outdoors...or in lakes...wherever! So we go down this little side street and into a corner that, by the smell, had obviously been used all night by other outdoor enthusiasts! So Louisa almost kills herself slipping on some wet road (we keep telling ourselves it was just wet because of the rain) and then I sneak in. As I stood up I checked my skirt to see that the sides were down and we set out to meet up with everyone again. So we are chatting and laughing after about a block a guy taps me on the shoulder and tells me, 'I'm sorry to tell you but your skirt is caught in your nickers.' And sure enough it was right at the back. Louisa and I were in Hystarics...I was almost crying I was laughing so hard! Unfortunately I wasn't wearing very nice panties...just flesh covered ones...so I probably didn't even give anyone a great thrill...unless of course they thought I was going comando! It is still laughed about everytime I see Louisa.
The next time I wore my white skirt was out for some drinks with Orla and her friends Dierdre and Don at their golf club. They had played in a tournament and won a prize and we were there to pick it up. It was a fun night...mostly because I ended up getting a little tipsy and taking the piss out of some of the members (behind their back of course!). As we were walking out the car there was a gust of wind that blew up my skirt giving everyone a nice look at my panties...again. It was pretty funny! I still love my white skirt but am feeling that I need to be a bit careful when wearing it...or get cuter panties so at least I still look pretty when the skirt flies up!