So what have I been up to in my brief absence?

Most of Christmas was spent either eating or sleeping (off the hangover) after finishing seven exams in a just few days. All the food I ate over the holidays was burnt off thanks to the rigorous skiing schedule my family had designed (ski or snowboard for at LEAST one hour before stopping for the next Gluhwein). This years annual festive fun took place in Zell in Zillertal, just over the border from Germany in Austria. There was just enough snow, more than enough sunshine, not nearly enough time in the sauna, excessive food and buckets of laughter. The joys of a family reunion!

Back in Ireland I jumped straight back into my college course which consisted of a work placement at the EPA. This allowed me to take fuuullll advantage of the free body-cut and yoga classes in the UCD gym. Evenings free of study were re-allocated to dinner in (making pasta), dinner out (Locks Brasserie – holy mother of god the food was good, Vintage Kitchen – delicious Irish food for a fantastic price, Bottega Toffoli – best pizza in Dublin and I can literally inhale their tiramisu, Chameleon – words can’t describe how great their food is, some forgettable restaurant in Temple Bar masquerading as Italian, new sushi bar off the quays – I’d go again just for the cocktails tbh, manifestino – one of the better pizza places, saba – good, not great. . . and various other stops) and lots of lovely vino. Unbelievably great but the best was yet to come – Iceland.