The Irish Finale

I departed the Enterprise starving, and in pain a bit from the ridiculous amount of walking in Belfast. I went down the stairs to the tram station and the Google Transit app said there were no more trains but there was a dot-matrix display showing next tram in 7 minutes with a group of at least fifteen people waiting for the tram. Then a local said to the group no more trams tonight and the screen was for the next station down the line. A vocal man with an American accent convinced the group of people that the local was wrong. I looked at the sign and noticed it said “Busáras” and the blank one said “Connolly”. Since I can also read perfect Gaelic, I recognized that Busáras means Bus Station and Connolly was the name of the train station. I decided the local was right and since I didn’t know where the Bus Station stop was, I just followed the track, and it was not even a block away. My plan for the night was to go to an Irish Pub and grab dinner there, but once I got off the Luas (what Dublin calls trams/streetcars) near my hotel…

If at First You Don’t Succeed… Build a Museum

Shall we continue where we left off, attempting to sleep— Update at 2:24am #1 stopped snoring and #4 and #6 are sharing #6 and double “bean flicking” #FML Facebook Post After the above comment to the Facebook post in my last post, I passed out with exhaustion regardless of the hostel situation. Buzz!!! Buzz!!! Buzz!!!… it’s 5:45am! That meant it was time to get up. For once I was prepared with my go bag and clothes for what I needed for the day. Went to the shared washroom, brushed my teeth, and ran (hobbled quickly with only one ankle) to the tram stop a few blocks down. It was a brisk and crispy morning as the sun was already rising over the buildings in the square. I arrived several (23) minutes before the first train. (or so I thought) to the train. After determining that I had time, I went to Costa to get coffee. (Sorry, Closed) The coffee shop across the street.  (Sorry, Closed) The 15ish coffee shops in this college/young urban district of town. (Sorry, Closed) Needless to say, I was going to get on this tram without a morning coffee. The tram arrived, I got on several…

Europe 2018 #33 – Part 3

After a well rested night, it is now my birthday. I slept a bit late and left the hostel to wander around Dublin. The most important first stop was the local Costa Coffee shop across the plaza, and to pump up some energy for the day, and to Facebook creep what was going on in the world. After coffee, I went to the waterfront (river the passed through the city) and walked towards the area that the hostel said was where all the tour tickets could be brought about a 25-minute walk away. I took a lot longer taking photos and resting due to my limitations every couple of blocks. It was at this point that it hit me that, I was near no one I knew, in a place I knew nothing really about. This got me really sad. The first bridge I came across I thought was the famous (according to my map) Ha’penny Bridge. I Facebook Live posted a video going across it. (Which had no viewers.) Then as I continued on to the next bridge it had a sign that it was the Ha’penny Bridge. It looked cooler but yet less impressive and had about a…

MoCo Downtown– The Best Italian Style Restaurant in New Brunswick

The following is a repost of my review for MoCo Downtown that appears on TripAdvisor. I was there for the first time on Saturday and I was floored by how wonderful this gem of a place was. I ordered the Sussex Sausage Risotto and for a side paired it with the Sliced Brussel Sprout with Prosciutto and Pine Nut side. It was so creamy and spicy and flavourful that it blew me away. The Brussel Sprouts we very salty, but that is exactly what you would get in Italy. Unlike many Italian restaurants that simply mimics what you would get in various parts of Italy, this place cooks like a Tuscan or Venetian chef would with access and highlighting of New Brunswick ingredients. The food was so good but I would not want to not mention how friendly the wait staff was and how efficiently the kitchen was putting out plates. Definitely going to go back and explore more of this menu.

An Election is in the Air

As the fall approaches, it is time for another round of provincial elections. The province is in a tough but still hopeful situation, people throwing around money and making promises that will make them look popular and ruthlessly attacking their opponents. I’m going to make a list of items that I consider a priority for the next government. 1) Remove the ban from walking down the street with open liquor. There is no real public safety impact here, and littering would be of little impact as the empties will quickly be retrieved. 2) Rename the Saint John River the “Saint John / Wolastoq River”, it would only cost 50ish signs and would make everyone happy. Also, please the indigenous peoples in the area. 3) Within 5 years, eliminate 10 schools. Even if you have to build new modern 20th century buildings. 4) Change legislation to ensure there are no more than 6 levels of management between the minister and the front line staff in every department and agency. 5) Change the way we do municipalities. Naming streets, municipal planning, recreation, transportation, by-laws etc are what makes a community and councils should be limited to those things. Protective services should not…

The first ever major musical I saw on stage in Toronto in the Royal Alexandria Theatre. Now going to get to see it again 14 years later at @imperialtheatre on Friday evening.

The first ever major musical I saw on stage in Toronto in the Royal Alexandria Theatre. Now going to get to see it again 14 years later at @imperialtheatre on Friday evening.

The first ever major musical I saw on stage in Toronto in the Royal Alexandria Theatre. Now going to get to see it again 14 years later at @imperialtheatre on Friday evening.…

Physiotherapy

It has been a while since I have done any writing and there was no real good reason other that I wasn’t myself on the pills. The tale started shortly after I had gotten out of the hospital. I was really hoping on a more abridged and unrealistic timeline for my recovery. I was in the City Market when I got the initial call for the referral, I had an appointment for my EMG so I procrastinated starting. Then as I got closer to the start of Physio the first roadblock came up. I was booked for the wrong type of physiotherapist. I needed a Neuro one. Then the one I had been rebooked to left. I received a call that perhaps St. Joseph’s hospital had a shorter list. Once again it was the wrong type at first, but that was resolved early. As we started, she gave me a few exercises as we met a few times I week and I was starting to see results and was really happy. During these sessions, my mobility improved and I could start raising my right arm over my head again. In the middle of these sessions, I finally had my hand…