cheersmylove

[cheersmylove]

Half my wardrobe is full of striped shirts, skirts and dresses. I bloody love stripes. (“,)

[cheersmylove]

Stonewashed Linen throw - Yellow — BODIE and FOU - Award-winning inspiring concept store en We Heart It. https://weheartit.com/entry/79812963/via/lilian_ari_3

[cheersmylove]

[cheersmylove]

Just a few places in Ireland I’ve either just driven through/or stayed for multiple nights during this first week.

[Átha Cliath/Tír Eoghain/Derry/Dhún na nGall]

#perth australia #dubai #emirates #dublin #donegal #derry #ireland

[cheersmylove]

Sunset at Coco Beach. Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

[cheersmylove]

Ireland and its warm, mad, lovely people definitely have my heart! Bucket list completed... Guinness? Check! Bangers & mash? Check! Castles? Check! Irish music/dancing? Check! Kiss an Irish man? Check! (in my defence, Gareth’s my love from back home in Australia). Gorgeous grey skies/rain? Check! I swear there must be onions nearby, no other explanation for the water works. #Éire

#Ireland #Germany

[cheersmylove]

Australia vs Éire

It was quite a surreal feeling to be cheering for Hodge, Riewoldt and Roughead (AFL legends who play against my local teams #Freo #WestCoast) but I couldn’t very well go for Ireland now, could I? Shortly into the game, I could no longer feel my feet as it was f-f-f-freezing but well done Oz and Ireland! There was a lovely memorial at the start to commemorate the 95th anniversary of Bloody Sunday (Domhnach na Fola) plus I got to see my old feller’s cousin play for his country. Pity it cost Australia the game! Some folks after the game came up to me saying “There’s a shark in the water!” and surprisingly “A dingo stole my baby!” Well played guys. And because of the ribbing I’d received from the Irish after Australia’s loss to New Zealand in the rugby final, this loss was pretty easy to take. So much fun but wow, bloody cold.

#Croke Park #Éire #Australia #football #Riewoldt #jarryd roughead #luke hodge #St Kilda #Hawthorn #Ireland

[cheersmylove]

STREETS OF DUBLIN, TEMPLE BAR AREA

My mate and I were drawn towards a particular lane way in search of a Pub with this amazing music we could hear. Like the Pied Piper, their tunes drew us in but to our surprise, it was these lads jamming their arses off (excuse my French)! Back home, we have buskers on guitars, accordions or a basic set up. This was a full blown you beaut band!

[cheersmylove]

Men and their sport!

#Dublin #Soccer #Football

[cheersmylove]

“Boys in green!”

These guys were very obliging! Pity about the result though. (“,)

#Croke Park #Australia #Ireland #Football #COYBIG

[cheersmylove]

STREETS HERE, STREETS THERE, STREETS EVERYWHERE!

I know it’s nuts to take photographs of street and railway signs but I love seeing the differences and similarities to what’s back home. Fascinated by the whole bilingual thing too. We’ve hundreds of Indigenous groups/languages in Australia so I get why it would be hard to choose just one dialect to have alongside English. How wonderful would it be to have, say Whadjuk signage around Perth or Wardani around the Augusta region etc…?

#Gaeilge #deutschland

[cheersmylove]

History was always my favourite subject at school. I was raised on stories about the British vs German scramble for Africa during the East African campaigns of World War I and tales of the ANZACs so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to learn about the Irish experience at their war museum .

#WWI #The Proclamation #Easter Monday #Easter Rising #World War I #Fenians #Éirí Amach na Cásca #1916 #museum

[cheersmylove]

DÚN LAOGHAIRE Top marks for THE coldest place I visited would have to be a toss up between Dún Laoghaire or the night time football game between Australia and Ireland at Croke Park in Dublin. Memories of summiting up Mt Kilimanjaro, Tanzania came flooding back! But... Let's be honest, you don't travel to the northern hemisphere in October/November unless you want to feel the cold! #ChildOfWinter

#dún laoghaire

[cheersmylove]

CAISLEÁN BHUN RAITHE

Caught up with the lovely crew from Co. Cork once more. Hadn’t even realised we were out of Co. Limerick as it took a mere couple of minutes to cross into Co. Clare! We took in the sights from Bunratty Castle (Caisleán Bhun Raithe - Castle at the Mouth of the Ratty), had a pint or two or three alongside our meals at Durty Nellie’s next door, and wandered around the “outdoor museum” ie the folk park. We don’t have a tradition of thatched roofing in Australia so it was a real eye opener to look at the cottages with their farmhouse interiors. You’d have front doors that were half doors (opening the top or bottom half as needed), alcove beds, hearths etc…

#Bunratty #Caisleán Bhun Raithe #Castle at the Mouth of the Ratty #Co. Clare #Co. Limerick #farm houses #Irish cottages

[cheersmylove]

GERMAN BIRDS Any guys on the look out for some German birds? You're welcome!

#DaggyHumour #birds

[cheersmylove]

BERLIN, GERMANY 11th November, 2015

When I was 22, I met someone who changed my life. I had no idea that over the next near decade, Anika would turn into a dear friend. We’d met when she spent a few months in Australia and the irony is, we weren’t particularly close at the time but through postcards, letters, care packages, emails and Skype a friendship blossomed! I live all the way in Oz and she lives in Germany so when I booked my ticket for Éire, it made sense to book one for Berlin. With the help of some mutual friends plus an English bird who is a stranger to Anika, we set about organising a surprise. As far as Anika was concerned, she was to be a tour guide. She would meet and farewell this visitor at the Airport as well. Just because of who she is, Anika even took the day off work which is lucky for me as it meant I got to spend two days with her.

The flight touched down in Berlin in the late afternoon, I wasn’t sure if the time was correct as it was dark outside! Back home, the sun still shines well into the evening! I had a few butterflies about my plan, d'uh… a bit late don’t you think? Walked towards the arrivals gate and the doors open and there’s my friend standing there with a giant sign with someone else’s name on it. The look on her face when it registered, gold. Absolute gold! Well me being me, I just burst into tears and laughed. Between the two of us we just stood there hugging, staring at one another, laughing, crying, rinse and repeat! Nine years is a long time!

My hometown has five train lines, four of which share the same track. Berlin has more than a dozen or so making it pretty easy to get around town. Driving makes no sense in a town so well connected by public transport. Anika took me to her home to meet her husband and have dinner. We drunk cups of tea, a smoky whiskey and my favourite… Red wine! As my visit was so short, we took in some sights that same night. I even got to see parts of the Wall. I studied Cold War history in year 12 but to actually be there and see with my own two eyes how Berlin was divided is just crazy. War and politics, eh? I do wonder what the generations to follow will make of us and our decisions these last few decades!

Can I just say, the rubbish thing about someone knowing you so well is that they can emotionally blackmail you! Had it not been for the fact that I desperately needed a shower, was slightly unwell and had purposely chosen to splurge on my German accomodation, I would have given in and stayed at my mates. Well played though! The repeated pleas and bribes of good morning hugs and homemade brekky and early morning chat very nearly broke me! I stayed in the centre of Berlin in the district of Prenzlauer Berg. The place was called Ackelhaus and wow, wow, wow I am going back for sure! This trip has been a mix of hotels, B&B’s and hostels for days when I knew I’d be out on tour 'til sunset so it was quite lovely to spoil myself and stay in a boutique hotel. It’s got me thinking about destination 2016! To be fair though, I am due another physical adventure like last year’s six day summit up Mt Kilimanjaro!

We visited so many places including a Holocaust memorial site, the Berliner Dom, Brandenburg Gate, parts of the Berlin Wall and even spotted an Irish Pub! They’re bloody everywhere ;-) Once we exited the underground, I found myself telling my mate that we could be in Australia! She explained that a lot of the buildings had been destroyed so a lot of Berlin was fairly new and did sadly look like just about any city. There were still quite a lot of buildings with Gothic architecture. Visitors to the Berliner Dom can choose to climb 267 steps to the top of the gallery for a 360° view of the entire city. What did we do? We climbed! Bloody hell I don’t mind admitting that we had to pause for a bit but the views were stellar.

#prenzlauerberg #berliner dom #berlin #germany #berlin wall #luther #kilkenny

[cheersmylove]

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS? LET'S TRY THREE CITIES IN ONE DAY - 10th November, 2015!

Today’s been really bizarre even by my own standards! I woke up in Belfast, crossed the non-existent border into Éire, our coach bus got pulled over by the Garda for visa and passport checks (I love my Aussie passport) and then of course I flew out of Dublin and two hours later I was in Berlin, Germany. Everything’s so close together in the Northern hemisphere. You drive for a couple of hours, you’re in a different county/country. Back home, you fly for two hours and you’re STILL in my home state of Western Australia. If you drove to the border, it’d take you over a day and I think if you made it that quickly, you’d probably be speeding!

#Belfast #Dublin #Berlin #Germany #Ackelhaus #Europe #Ireland