Birthday :)

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

That's right, today's the day.

Sending you a big birthday hug from overseas!!

Girls Night(s) Out

Hey all!

So after my mom and sis visited, I realized that there is a lot of Dublin I still haven't explored...
So my mission for the week was to get out and about.

First on the list was to find some great live music...
didn't exactly succeed. Sarah and I explored Dublin Tuesday and Wednesday evening in the hopes of finding some crazy music venues, but the crowds didn't seem exactly jumping. I guess St. Patty's day really took a lot of out everyone last week!

Luckily, we still managed to enjoy ourselves and found a chill music scene at

The Grand Social:

(The Upstairs Venue... ultra cool atmosphere)

The band we caught the tale end of... Beatles look a like?

The vending machine downstairs... picks, strings and capos.

HOW COOL IS THAT?!

When we were leaving the Grand Social,

Sarah and I realized that we had actually just missed

the crazy concerts. Apparently early that evening the venue

had held a charity event:

Darn it! We missed it. But we'll be back!

While wandering the streets of Dublin that Tuesday night,

no music was to be found. But there was evidence that people

were enjoying themselves...

Welcome to Dublin.

The streets around 10:30pm were COVERED with empty kegs.

Looks like someone was thirsty.

Wednesday night Sarah and I were determined to find music.

So, yet again, we trekked into the city searching for some good beats.

Didn't find any... but found some fun cocktails!

It's Sarah! At the Twisted Pepper. Turns out, once again,

we missed a night of crazy music.

Only this concert was cancelled... so maybe we'll catch

a rescheduling next time we explore. Fingers crossed!

The outside:

The inside (on a crazy night...)

I plan on capturing this crowd before I leave Dublin.

Expect a blog post on it!

Thursday evening, Sarah and I planned date number 3.

That's right, things are getting PRETTY serious.

Ha, but really-- we're serious explorers guys.

And we found some COOL stuff.

Such as:

Milkshakes. THE BEST milkshake in fact.

So cool, so creamy... so perfect.

Welcome to Shakes. Dublin's finest milkshake bar:

Inside menu:

(Sarah was really excited to be there. Clearly.)

Sarah and I both decided on the "Monkey Business"

under the VIP drinks section (of course)

The drink was a combination of nutella, banana,

cadbury chocolate, caramel, whip cream, ice cream...

and a little bit of heaven.

Words can't describe.

Should I drink it?

Okay twist my arm why don't you...

Turns out this milkshake shack is right next to my internship.

Oh man. Dad, might wanna ship me some elastic pants.

An hour later, quite full and sugar-ly satisfied,

Sarah and I milkshaked our bums over to the Gate Theatre.

Here's the theatre!

For a measly 15 euro (go student tickets!), the 2 of us snagged

some amazing seats to the theatre's current production of:

God of Carnage...

a hilarious black comedy about 2 families

arguing over their sons.

The poster.

Not only was I seriously impressed

by some brilliant acting, but the stage setting

was unbelievable. Looked like an Ikea.

Am I right or am I right?

Well folks, that crazy week of exploration has really gotten to me.

Looks like tonight's going to be an early night. Sweet dreams!

Side note:

How they serve ketchup here. So cool.

(Well, at least how they do it at the Gourmet Burger Kitchen)

St. Patrick or Treat??

Guess who came to visit this weekend? MOM AND JAXIE!

What a treat (now the title of this blog post makes more sense... yes?)

Rawrrrrrr, fierce cats are the Friedman women.

SO, Thursday morning (St. Patrick's Day)

these 2 lovely ladies arrived at the emerald isle in search of music, fun...

and me!

After finding me (or rather, I found them), we searched the big city

of Dublin for some Irish celebration,

and man was it EASY to find!

Crowds and crowds of locals and tourists flocked the streets

to watch the St. Patty's parade. It was wild. It was crazy.

It. Was. GREEN.

The 3 of us could barely see the parade from where we stood...

the crowds were 5-7 people deep! Maybe we should have

borrowed this strategy:

That's right ladies and gentlemen. On top of telephone booths.

Now that's what I call resourceful.

After some time getting squished, pushed and brushed,

I decided to introduce mom and sis to my prized possession:

Bulmer's.

Mom approves! (Some added black current

for a bit of extra sweetness = perfection)

Big sis and little sis re-united!

After introducing them to the music madness and pup scene,

It was about time I introduce them to a real. live. leprechaun.

Luckily, we found one.

Searching for the little (or in this case large)

green man seriously worked up our appetites.

So I introduced the ladies to my beloved

leek and potato soup. And let me tell you,

no one does a leek and potato soup

better than Ireland.

Scrumptious!

Jaxie can't handle how good it is...

Once mom and Jax got settled into the swing of things,

we tackled some of my favorite Dublin destinations:

- Cornucopia- vegan/vegetarian cafe. SO yummy.

- Queen of Tarts- adorable place for tea and lunch <3

Yogurt and granola. Crunch-tastic.

Cheers!

- George's Arcade- best funk-tastic indoor market

- Om Diva- fabulous fashion from now and then

- Wildchild Originals- great vintage finds and deals

- The Long Hall- a beautiful and old library at Trinity

- The Spire- a large pin-like stainless steel monument. So cool.

And lot's more.

We also tried something new that I've been

meaning to check out. Improv Night

at The Bankers by "The CraicPack"...

HILARIOUS!

Lot's of laughs later we went on...

ON THE VIKING SPLASH TOUR!

We're sort of badass. After all, we were vikings for a day.

The Viking Tour is an awesome way to experience Dublin.

It was a 1.5 hour bus ride that took us around all

the major sites of Dublin city.

And then after we saw them all... it took us IN THE WATER!

Quite the splash.

After three long days of touring, shopping, eating, walking,

dancing, drinking, sitting, comedy clubbing and a lot more...

We relaxed at a cafe and bid farewell shortly after.

Thanks for visiting guys!

What a sweet visit :) ... like our last yummy meal!

(Date and pistachio cake and some gingerbread cookie)

Eat Prey Love... Eat again.

Long time guys!! How you all been?

Just got back from my 10-day Mediterranean adventure and MAN do I have a lot to tell ya.

Let's start at the beginning. Rome. Beautiful. Delicious.

Need I say more? (Veggies, sauce, cheese. MMmmmm)

Well, I will... but only because I know you're all ULTRA curious.

We (Carolyn, Miranda, Leslie, Sam and I) arrived in Rome

at around 10pm. (Do you know where your children are?)

After a complicated trip to our hostel, we managed to get ourselves settled

and scouted Rome for some dinner. Sam and I stumbled upon a wonderful

little restaurant with an overly friendly staff that seemed more interested in

taking down our phone numbers than our orders... but we were flattered.

Our waiter, Gabriel, explained how the restaurant had been in his family for

FIVE generations. He entertained us as he and the other waiter argued for

our attention, each claiming that the other one was married with 4 kids. Hilarious.

Gabriel treated us to some limoncello at the end of our meal, made by his very

own Grandmother. WOW. That grandma does not play around. Some strong stuff.

After a glorious meal, we headed back to our...

not-so-glorious hostel. But hey, it was cheap!

The five of us woke up starvingggggg (okay... that's a lie)

But we had to try more Italian food. So we did.

First on the list: Pastry

Check. (almonds, creme, love)

Once we finished chowing down, we cruised the city for some

architectural splendor.

But couldn't find it.

AT FIRST.

Oh hey Colosseum, wattttup?!

Walked a few blocks and bumped into this guy:

Augustus, Roman tyrant. With sexy abs.

Walked a few more blocks... and realized...

IRELAND IS FOLLOWING ME.

But it's cool. Rome, you can try out our pub scene...

Pffff YOU WISH. No really. Make a wish.

That's right Trevi Fountain, baby.

Now, I won't tell you what I wished for... but I will tell you

that if I had wished for the perfect pizza, this would have been

IT:

Pesto, mushroom, fresh mozzarella. Are you crying?

Because I am.

And oh wait... finished? All this? Yeah. Yeah it is.

So what do you do after eating a full pizza?

Eat gelato.... obviously.

Yummmm!! (stracciatella and tiramisu, SO good)

Okay... so PAUSE on the eating. Praying time!

Me and my girls at the temple of the gods: The Pantheon!

Okay, UNPAUSE: Foooooooooooooooooooooooood!!!!!!

I was so excited to witness the sugary goodness.

Too bad you ain't got smell-e-vision.

Don't have room for a caesar salad after all the sweets?

Well make some room for Caesar... THE REAL THING.

This is where Caesar was stabbed to death.

Yeah, piss off Brutus. UNCOOL.

The full view:

This place is now called: the Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary.

Historically Caesar's murder site, but today a cat shrine for all of

Rome's feline population. I don't ask questions. I just take pictures.

Wandered some more and came across a play in the center

of a square... I think I caught the wrong moment.

But I'm sure it makes sense in Italian...

Okay PAUSE. I ate, I prayed... I LOVE fashion.

So, after a confusing show, we left to find some funky, vintage

Roman threads... and found a bunch!

No purchases for me, but a lot of browsing. Cost effective!

Okay, UNPAUSE. Back to eating :)

Salad of green olives, FRESH FRESH FRESH mozzarella,

and additional salady goodies. D-licious.

Wait... you thought that was IT?! ha.

Taste party on mah plate.

Eggplant parmesan, mushroom risotto, potato and brie.

Are you salivating? Because you should be.

Come on, make Pavlov's day.

That didn't do it for you? HOLY CANNOLI!

No really, this was a holy cannoli.

Leslie and I always have room for a little taste. or 2. or 3...

We walked a bit and stumbled upon some

QUESTIONABLE wine. hmmmm... why?

Curious.

FAST-FORWARD 10 hours. Past sleeping in an airport.

Yea, past that part. Oh boy, all-nighters in the airport

are NOT my fav. But it's necessary for the 7am flights!!

Good morning Athens! Gyro breakfast.

Just kidding guys, it was lunch time by the time we arrived.

WHO do you think I am?!

After settling into Athens we hopped on a train ride for a city

tour. We soon realized why the tickets were only 4 euro...

MAN that thing was rickety! But oh so fun!

See... aren't Carolyn and I having fun?!

When we got to the Acropolis we hopped out and explored.

So pretty!

Pretty theatre!

Pretty pathway!

Pretty awesome.

Pretty Greek.

Pretty, pretty Greek.

Greek-est.

Greek-est-est?

NOPE! Gotcha. Baklava is Turkish. Not Greek. Ohhhhhh

I was so upset when I found this out, that I decided to leave

Athens. Right then and there. So... I went to MYKONOS!

So beautiful, it did not look real. But it was. I promise.

And when we got there, we realized the island was celebrating:

Carnival, the European version of Halloween. Kind of.

Partyyyyyyyyyy!

Oh hi festival.

Oh hi super cute baby in a bunny suit.

Me and my roomie in the streets of Mykonos, blissss!

Just before we all trekked out for dinner...

I know, should be a postcard, eh?

We found a little restaurant called "Maria's" and Maria

herself served us a delectable dinner of Greek goodies.

Oh yea, and she had 2 euro wine. Uhooo.

I always believe my glass is half full... unless it's empty.

This is Leslie in Mykonos. That's all.

After missing the ferry out of Mykonos

2 days in a row thanks to some bad weather,

we managed to ESCAPE back to Athens. Finally.

Then we flew off to Milan,

because Italy had not had enough of us.

And we hadn't had enough of it either. Nom nom nom.

Chicken Milanese... a milan speciality? No idea.

Strawberry cheesecake. So ricotta-y. Yum.

Creme croissant from here:

Cutest bakery/ready-made food cafe EVER.

Outdoor market: cheap clothes. Cheap food. Yes.

Act your age, not your shoe size...

Unless you see a cute little bike.

Architecture of Milan... gorgeous, dahhhhling:

(The Duomo)

Note the balloons... Milan was celebrating Carnival too!

The streets were filled with craziness, lots of confetti,

costumes, screaming, dancing... and so much more!

... Like people spraying shaving cream.

Sorry Miranda! Carnival victim. Whhooops.

Evidence of the confetti: hello dirty street.

Miranda and I squeezed our way through the insanity

that was the Milan Carnival festival and made our way to

an equally crazy street of stores. Found these crazy bunnies

in a funny little boutique... with an indoor disco ball and DJ.

WHaaaaaa? Yea. That's right.

After a fun-filled and crazy afternoon,

the 5 of us were ready for our final Italian meal.

We went out to the Navigli region, a beautiful

waterside area with a bountiful supply of

restaurants. For some reason, the river water was

drained, so our view was not exactly what we expected.

BUT... the goodbye dinner was superb.

Especially after a healthy dose of grated cheese:

Gnocchi with smoked mozzarella, tomato sauce and mushroom.

Drool. Best dish of my life. Perhaps. Or the pizza. TOUGH call.

So long Spring Break adventure, and until next time...

Bone Apetito!!!