Galas and Guests and Apartments, Oh My

This past week has been a WHIRLWIND since I last posted about being hungover and waiting on a paycheck.  We've had two different sets of LH guests, one fancy gala, several days of Irish summer, I finally got paid today, and the most exciting news of all...we're officially getting a new apartment!  Woohoo!  Here's a week in review:

Raymond and Drew in Merrion Square!  We had a great time with these peeps.

After Raymond and Maggie left on Saturday afternoon, we headed back to Merrion Square for some sunning and music at the Soul Picnic.

Loungin'

Saturday night, we had our American Women's club end-of-year GALA.  Fancy.  It was the first time I'd put on a dress since being here (I'm unfortunately not kidding) and it felt fun to dress up.  We had a damn good time and I may or may not have performed a version of Britney Spears' "Slave 4 U" on the dance floor later in the evening after the older folks had gone on home.  Whoops.  #Sorrynotsorry.

The Three Muskateers!  Kristin, Lauren, and Lauren.  (And yes folks, my arms are red
from the sun.  A rare Irish sunburn)

All my pals being silly.

Lauren and Lauren!  (I may as well be back in first grade again with the amount of Laurens that are here in Dublin, and that I happen to be friends with.)

We got some ice cream on Sunday and laid in the sun and watched a cricket game at Trinity College.  Bliss.

Then Haley and Jarrett got here Monday!  They saw all the sights and we got to hang out with them at night.  Good times had by all!

 And now....OUR APARTMENT!  It's in our same building, which I have mixed feelings about, but its twice as big and infinitely nicer, and the move should be super gradual and easy so I'm pleased with that.  We got the keys tonight so I went over and took some pics!

View from the doorway, walking in.  That's the bathroom at the first left, then our bedroom in the back left, and the second bedroom in the back right.

View from the bathroom.

View OF the bathroom.  Oooh la la.

The 'master' bedroom.  Not sure how we feel about the red duvet and sheets but it's got a memory foam mattress so I'll TAKE IT!

View of the door from our bedroom.

The second bedroom, where any and all of you are welcome to stay.

And...the piece de resistance...the kitchen!!

So much space!!

The living room (right off the kitchen).  I hope it comes furnished with the hottie I found.

View from the balcony door.

Another pic of the hottie.

 So...we'll start moving in next week.  And then I can finally be the host I've always dreamed of being.  Wine nights, dinner parties, out of town guests...they'll all be magical.  Yay!

Alright, off to pack for Belgium for the weekend - flight's at 6:40am so feel free to Viber me tonight when you all are getting ready for bed.  I'll be up.  Cheers!

Lately

You know when you're really hungover and you're wide awake at like 4am and can't sleep because your head hurts so bad, and you keep shifting around trying to get comfortable but you can't because your head/brain is like an hourglass?  And every time you shift, everything in your head shifts and hurts and makes you feel dizzy?  And then after you finally get settled in one position, and your hourglass head has stopped shifting, you realize your arm has fallen asleep and you have to move again, thus disturbing the sand in your head?  The shifting sand metaphor implies a rather soothing effect, so perhaps I need to compare it to a metal toolbox with hammers and screwdrivers being violently shaken every time you need to move.  It's the worst.  And I think my pal Bridget Jones said it best when she said "Badly need water but seems better to keep eyes closed and head stationary on pillow so as not to disturb bits of machinery and pheasants in head."

We were celebrating Raymond and Maggie being here and the official approval of my work permit (!!!!!!) so we/I hit the [wine] bottle hard by accident.  And thus my hangover.  So yeah.  That's what I was thinking about between the hours of 4 and 6am this morning.  

So...what else is new with us, besides traveling to beautiful but historically disturbed cities?  Let me think.  I officially got my work permit!  This was something we've been waiting on FOREVER and now I can finally get a nice little paycheck for my hard work.  Woohooo.

The apartment search continues.  We have officially outgrown our place, not to mention I've hated it since we moved in, and I've been to look at a gazillion different ones and hated them all.  Except one.  One gorgeous perfect quaint beautiful apartment in an amazing location.  But it cost an arm and a leg and Drew wouldn't let us get it.  I asked him why he even had me go look at it and fall in love with it if he knew we couldn't afford it, and he said he "wanted me to see what an expensive apartment looked like."  WTF!?  That's like taking someone to a BMW dealership to test drive an amazing piece of machinery and then saying "I just wanted you to see how that felt.  You're actually getting a Ford Focus!"  Geez louise.  We're looking at one other one this weekend (in our same building!) that's supposed to be nice so we'll see how that goes.

I came to the sudden realization that I've gained a bit of weight since being over here.  Winter hibernation, a winter funk, eating from boredom before I had a job, lack of working out because it's dark and cold and rainy = the perfect storm for Lauren's extra lbs.  But now I'm slowly but surely getting them off and I'm feeling pretty good.  What a relief.  

Drew's work is annoying.  Busy season is supposed to be over but it's really not and he works too much and isn't appreciated enough.  That's my two cents, anyway.

I got an MRI this morning.  I've had some abdominal pain for years now and I finally was able to get one/convince a doctor to let me have one/afford one with this cool healthcare here in Ireland.  So...we'll see what they say.  I checked out the images and they're pretty crazy!  You can actually see my organs in there.  Not exactly sure what I'm looking at or if there's a hernia sticking out like I believe there to be but whatevs.

No fewer than 4 people have told me they're pregnant this week.  That's all.

Raymond and Maggie are here this weekend, more high schoolers Haley and Jarrett get here Monday, and then we head to Belgium next weekend for chocolates, waffles, and beers!  Oh my.  

Headed off to lay in the sun at the park before my American Women's End-of-Year gala tonight.  Fun fun.  Bye for now!

Krakow: The Jewish Quarter

The last Poland post!  If I'm being honest, my least favorite posts are writing "We did this.  Then we went here.  Here's a picture of this."  They bore me (not the vacations!) and I put them off.  Hence why it's taken like 3 weeks to even finish this up!  Sorry people.

On our last day, we got up early to explore Kazimierz (the Jewish Quarter) in the daylight and see the real sights.  The Kazimierz pub crawl we did was in a...grungier/hipstery area than the part we toured on Sunday, so this was a pleasant surprise.

Brief background: Kazimierz, the king in the 14th century, encouraged Jews to come to Poland and settle there - cause rumor has it, one of his favorite lady friends was Jewish.  Nice.  Anyway, the Jewish population grew and grew, and the area officially became a part of Krakow by the 1800s with over 65,000 Jewish people at the start of World War II.  You know the rest of the disturbing story.  The good news is that the area has seen a renaissance of Jewish culture after the end of communism and it's now a popular area for locals and tourists alike.  

The Old Cemetary (Stary Cmentarz).  It used to bury members of the Jewish community from the 1550s to 1800 - and then gradually fell into disrepair.  But then it was renovated after World War II and turned into this beautiful, quiet sanctuary!

Small stones stacked on the gravestones are evidently Jewish tradition.  (Here?  Or everywhere?  I'm not sure.)

This is the tallest tombstone in the cemetery, home of Moses Isserles - a 16th century miracle-working rabbi.  People cram prayers into the cracks of the tombstone.

Lots o' prayers.

Cutie with a yarmulke.  

The Nazi sons-of-bitches destroyed and shattered a lot of the tombstones when they were here, either selling the stones or leaving them there to dirty up the place.  These broken gravestones now form a pretty mosaic wall all around the perimeter!

Jarden Bookshop - the original Jewish bookstore, where we picked up a little souvenir for Drew's grandfather Papa.

ulica Szeroka, a cute square surrounded by Jewish cafes, hotels, and synagogues.  It kinda looks like a Jewish Highland Park Village!  Which may be a contradiction in terms.  

Cute cute cute.

The Old Synagogue: the oldest surviving Jewish building in Poland, and now a museum all about Jewish culture.  I actually learned a lot about the Jewish traditions - really interesting cool stuff.

We'd heard great things about this burger joint, LoveKrove, so we went to the breezy patio for a greasy delight.

Spring!

Clownin' with my camera.

Clownin' with my clown.

Oh hey!

We flew back that afternoon happy from our lovely vacation, sad and moved by the history, slightly hungover from our pub crawl and the free flowing vodka, and ready to recommend this historic city to anyone and everyone!  The old world charm, the history, and the EXTREMELY low prices can't be beat.  Na zdrowie!

Saturday in Krakow

On Saturday in Krakow, we had no agenda except to walk around and fall in love with this old city.  So we did!  Our pal Rick Steves has a pretty good self-guided walking tour of the old part of the city so we stuck to that for the morning.  The two "touristy" parts of Krakow are divided into two parts: the Old Town, surrounded by the Planty park where the old castles, towers, and churches are located; and Kazimierz, the old Jewish quarter named after the famous Polish king.  The city is entirely walkable (if you're sticking to these two areas) so we explored the Old Town throughout the day and headed to Kazimierz for a Solomon pub crawl and dinner.

Krakow has an enormous, bustling town square, reminiscent of Prague, with a couple of churches, a huge tower, and a large "market hall" that's been around for centuries.  Not to mention a gazillion restaurants and outdoor patios for having bevs and light bites for tourists.  

St. Mary's Church in the Main Market Square.  Not the original church built 800 years ago, but the same foundation.  The smaller tower belongs to the church and the bigger tower is a "municipal watchtower" where a bugler plays his bugle every hour.  According to legend, during a Tatar invaion, the watchman saw the enemy approaching and played his bugle - but before he could finish, he was shot.  So even to this day the bugler stops halfway through!

                                                   

The Cloth Hall, which has been around since the Middle Ages when people had to sell their stuff in the stalls inside.  The famous Kazimierz the Great turned it into a permanent fixture in the 14th century.  It's still a functioning market with lots of vendors selling stereotypical Polish goods inside - including lots of amber jewelry, which I guess they're known for.

More of the square with plenty of seating for tourists!

SPOTTED: a good looking guy in front of St. Mary's.

Town Hall Tower - all that remains of the town hall building in the 14th century.

A gigantic, hollow head that looks like it's been wrapped in cloth.  It was made by Igor Mitoraj for the train station but somehow ended up here.  Kinda weird in the middle of the square but...interesting.

Up next: St. Francis' Basilica - Pope John Paul II's home church when he was the archbishop here.  We accidently entered the wrong door and wound up in the desserted hall filled with old religious paintings.  It was dark and quiet and creepy and then Drew left and I was alone and I was unsettled with Jesus and Mary and the Pope all looking at me.

There was a lot of cool stained glass inside, including this God the Father Let It Be window.  The colors change from yellows and oranges to blues depending on the light.  The artist was inspired by ol' Michelangelo's vision of God in the Sistine Chapel.  I think this is probably what God looks like though.

At the pew in the back, under this God the Father window, is Pope JPII's favorite place to pray, marked with a little plaque.

Across the street from the church is the Archbishop's Place,  JPII's residence when he was here.  He also stayed here when he was in town on official Pope duties.  His picture is above the door and evidently this place was PACKED right after he died.

The Church of Saints Peter and Paul.  The statues feature JC and Mary and all his cronies, minus Judas who doesn't deserve a mention.

St. Andrew's Church.
Did I mention Krakow is also called Little Rome because of it's ridiculous amount of churches per capita?

At the end of Rick Steves' walking tour, Wawel Hill towers above the old town.  It's evidently a symbol of Polish royalty and independence, "sacred" to every Polish person.  A/the castle has stood there since the beginning of Polish recorded history and it's the most visited sight in the country!

Drew and Pope JPII.  Because he's here too.  He's EVERYWHERE!

The "National Cathedral" of Poland is here too - it holds the tombs of nearly all of Poland's important rulers and figures.  And it's also really unique cause there were all these additions added on the outside in different time periods, representing Gothic, Romanesque, Baroque, Renaissance, and Neoclassical architecture!

All these little chapels on the outside don't match!  But still look cool.

Pic with the cathedral, overlooking the Vistula River.

There's also this Renaissance style inner courtyard inspired by Florence!  Cooool.  It used to have private apartments for the king.  And then a Nazi governor of Poland, Hans Frank, used to live here.  Bastard.

The Planty, the gorgeous tree-filled park running around the old part of town.

Hungry for lunch?  Ok!  Lody (ice cream in Polish) it is!!

Me too me too.

Oh, and some jelly-filled donuts cause they're known for these!

Help me Ronda.

The last stop on our tour was the Jagiellonian University Museum - the second oldest university in Central Europe (1364), with famous grads like Copernicus and Mr. Pope.  Profs used to be like monks and lived and ate and slept here and devoted their lives to study.  The offer a short tour and you get to see some cool old artifacts and tributes to their famous alums.

I liked blue sky ceiling.

Copernicus there in the middle.

The Treasury!

This is Andrzej Wajda's Oscar.  Some filmmaker that I don't know.  But seeing a real life Oscar was neat!

Some astronomical instruments.

The assembly hall?  With a huge pic of the Pope again.

Dining hall with cool spiraly staircase.

After a long day of touring the city, we jetted over to the Jewish Quarter for some beers and fun bars and food.  Woohoo!

I can't pronounce it.  But it was refreshing and delish at Alchemia.
Other bar recommendations in this cool area: Singer (where all the tables are Singer sewing machines) and Mleskana!

Bars bars bars.

Late night: Endzior pizzas that are evidently famous here.  We didn't know what the hell we were ordering so we just pointed at something and hoped it was good.  It was.

This is just a pic of the Soviet-era tram system that still runs around town.

Busy day!  And after rereading everything, this might officially be the most boring blog post I've posted.  Sorry for all the history.  I'm mostly doing it for my parents and brother but I guess it's not a bad thing to soak up some of it too!  Anyway...goodnight!