Thanks to the lovely people at the French Institute in Galway, I've finally gotten my act together and done something signficant to follow my new year's resolution of improving my French (Yes, I know its May). Classes started this week in a beautiful old classroom on the 2nd floor of the historic Bridge Mills building in Galway city. Its all old wood and shelves stacked high with books- I think Im enjoying the romanticism of it more than anything else. But then after only one week I already know how to say a bunch of important stuff: 'Je ne comprends pas' (I don't understand); 'Vous allez trop vite pour moi' (You're going too fast for me) and my personal favourite 'Je suis perdu' (I'm lost)!

Things to be happy about (1)

Walking on a fluffy carpet in bare feet; breakfast in bed; shiny hair; fresh clean sheets on your bed; giggling; eyelashes; singing in the shower; getting buried in the sand; taking your cup of tea outside in the morning; curling up; teaching children how to tie their shoelaces; bails of straw; new pajamas; having someone to come home to; when friends drop in; the smell of cut grass; having a lovely hot meal on a cold day; puppies; the cool underside of your pillow; sucking helium from a balloon and talking.

14,000 things to be happy about

Someone asked me recently about the little book I keep with a list (a very long list) of things to be happy about. I started it when I was about 16 and I fell in love with a book called '14,000 things to be happy about' by Barbara Ann Kipper. It inspired me to start my own list- of things to read over when you are feeling down (or even when you're not) to give you that warm feeling inside.

Well I still keep the book. Although I don't get to write in it as much with less spare time on my hands, but maybe I could share some of it in posts on this blog. The trick is to take a moment when reading each one to conjure up the image associated with it. Let me know what you think. What would be on your list?

Krakow, Poland

So I'm just back from an extended weekend in the beautiful city of Krakow. We had lovely weather, punctuated with heavy rain showers- what with the crazy unpredictatble weather and all the Polish people, we could have been at home!

I won't bore you with the bits I didn't like about Poland (and we did some complaining!), just the bits I did.

Everyone who knows me knows that I love my vodka- and the Polish vodka definitely lives up to its fame. I was tickled with the row of flavoured Absolut in even the smallest of bars (Pear is my favourite), but the best part was the cocktails. You cannot get a bad cocktail in Krakow.

The exchange rate is pretty exciting too - there are 4 zloty to every euro, but I had t remind myself a couple of times to divide what I was paying by 4.

My best bit (and its fair to say Niamh's aswell) was the night life. We spent Friday night in a club called Frantic (a name that some of the clubbers took a little too literally) dancing until the early hours to some of the best dj-ing (combined with live bongo drums) I have ever heard. Do you know the feeling where you have to pull yourself from the dancefloor to go to the bar?

I'll post some photos soon. x

Moving back to Galway