London Town

Hey everyone, so now that i'm back from ireland and still unemployed (an annoying and long story so i'll spare you) I'm back to filling the time. I've already put some of these pics up on facebook, but these are from a day I spent checking out the main touristy parts of London... the first one is a church (and the hotel i stayed in) aka the tower of london. They're very hospitable. Bit noisy every hour though. The second one is tower bridge, next is I believe the tower of london...I was confused for a bit because it didnt look very towery, but i think its the bit with the prison and where they used to execute people. Dont quote me on it though...by that part of the tour I was tuning out more than i was tuning in. The next pic is pretty cool...its big ben seen THROUGH the london eye. Nice! And the last is me in a phone box. Pretending to call someone so I wouldnt look like a nutter. Pretty sure i still looked like a nutter. I actually went on that trip before Ireland, but never got around to putting up the photos.

As for job prospects, its been an absolute nightmare getting all my registration organised...dont get me wrong, i'm all legal to practice, but its taking forever to regsiter with the NHS (who are the equivalent, albeit inferior equivalent, if that makes any sense) and most optometrists arent really interested in hiring me until I can claim through the NHS. Once i'm registered i've got jobs coming out of my ears, but until then, i'm pretty much chilling out. If this takes heaps longer I may even come back to Aus (was coming back for Johns wedding anyway) and chill out in rent-free bliss. We'll see. I am determined to make this entire thing worthwhile though, but as it stands, that may mean i'll have to stay 53 and a half years in order to make it worth the effort it's taken to get here and qualify. And to everyone who owes me money, now's the time to pay up :-)
On the upside the weather here rocks! Everyone keeps saying how hot it is but I reckon its perfect, lucky i'm unemployed so i can enjoy it...

And last but not least....my first pint of genuine Irish guiness. And it was great. Although see the glasses i'm wearing? They're gooooone....someone stole my sunglasses case thinking i had sunglasses in there...ahahahahahhaa i had the last laugh. Although I still cant see. Bugger.
And that was my holiday.
oh, and i know i briefly mentioned it earlier, but i'm pretty sure i've secured some locum work in the lovely portside town of hastings for the next couple of months...and i have a very nice recruiting agent looking for full time work for me when i get back from Aus, so john, i will definitely be at your wedding. Huzzah!

So this is the second last set of photos....the first one is to demonstrate the awesome and undisputable power of the signpost, and the second one is O'briens tower. O'Brien was apparently this rich guy who built a tower up there on the cliffs so he could take impressionable young women up there who he hoped would be so impressed by the beautiful views that they would offer other beautiful views. Rumour has it he was successful.

So this set is mainly from the Dingle peninsula - really really nice here, it was probably my favourite part of the whole trip. In the town of dingle there's this bar that is also a hardware store, and as soon as you walk in people just stare at you....and follow you with their eyes while you buy a drink....and watch you while you drink it....and watch it as you quickly leave.... a bit creepy but its an experience....
We also payed a visit to a beach...which some people swam in...crazy... but it was nice. The Horse and carriage picture is from Killarney, again very nice, but very touristy, they really hammed up all the leprechaun jokes etc... it was nice enough, but not worth 12 euros in my mind. But hey, it was part of the tour. Oh, haha...and the randy leprechaun...its a hostel that's owned by the paddywagon tour operators, so its basically filled with people on their tours, and the drivers get together in the pub to catch up. I wouldnt say it's classy, but its unique. And bright green. And marketed as 'a traditional Irish pub'. I dont think so. Oh, and the photo I put in of the island, see how it looks like a man lying down? There's a whole big story about it, which is fairly interesting but far too long for me to remember it, basically its supposed to be a giant that died for some romantic and noble reason...

This is Blarney Castle! The place of gross stones you're supposed to pash (after thousands of other people have already had that pleasure) and overpriced souveniers. There's not a whole lot to say about it, as castles go, its quite a good one, cos there's lots of little rooms you can go and look around in. Not the sort of place i'd want to live though. The caves are quite cool though. On the last photo there you can actually see someone kissing the stone... eww....

Hey all,
I'm going to have to do this in stages, cos i have a few photos from my holiday in Ireland, and i suspect if i do it all in one go its going to look terrible. So these first few photos are from a day in Dublin - you can see the spire on O'connel street (its called the stiletto in the ghetto), and it makes it really easy to find the centre of town.... There's also a picture of me on the ha'penny bridge, which i'd never heard of but people tell me its famous. I think i took a picture of a busker making sand sculptures...that was pretty cool... basically that day i went shopping, so there's not a whole lot to talk about... the guiness souveneir store was pretty cool though. i didnt want to spend too much money because i still dont have a job (although I will be working in hastings very soon i think) but there's a novelty hat i am SO going back for. Oh, and the brazen head is the oldest pub in Ireland, built in like the 12th century or something. It looks better on the inside :-) I'll move on to the next set of photos now...