Ciao, Ciao Dublin!

It's hard for me to express what a great time I had living in Ireland. Both personally and professionally, it has been one of the most fullfilling experiences. I made friends from all over the world and look forward to having many guests in San Francisco! I am so greatful for this opportunity to have lived and worked abroad.

Cruising Around the Dublin Bay

My last day in Dublin the Jumpstart team took a cruise around the Dublin Bay. It was so much fun! The sunshine was gorgeous!

Barcelona!

I spent a fun filled 3 days in Barcelona with Cecile, Aude, and Ellen. Cecile and Aude are French, so I was accompanied by two 'Amelies' for the weekend! Audette has been living in Barcelona and was our personal tour guide. I still cannot believe how much of the city we managed to see in one weekend. This was my second trip to Barcelona, but with Aude's expertise, I managed to get a much better feel for the city.

I was inspired by the Palau de la Musica Catalana - the colorful columns, magestic muses, and building itself are beautiful. I would love to someday make my home a toned down version!

Gaudi is an architectural genious. He set a creative precedence for all the buildings in the city! It was great walking around the city, the beach, and seeing Gaudi's masterpieces like La Sagrada Familia and the Park Guell. We also managed to squeeze in time for sangria, paella, and of course absinthe!

Turkey - Istanbul and Cappadocia

It is so hard to sum up my trip to Turkey in a short blurb! Turkey is one of the most culturally different places that I have travelled to. It is most definitely a mix of East and West. Kelly and I stayed with our friend Emel in Istanbul. Istanbul is a bustling city, with a beautiful skyline. It is easy to spend hours shopping in the Grand Bazaar and sampling turkish delights and tea in the Spice Bazaar. The Bosphorous is bordered by beautiful mosques and palaces making boat rides on the water beautiful.

I got to celebrate my bday in Istanbul which was a real treat. We ended a day full of site seeing in the old city at the Hamam (Turkish Bath). Imagine being stark naked and being rubbed down by a 300 pound Turkish woman on a slate of marble...quite an experience! At night Kelly, Emel, Dilek and I went to a night club known for its food, drinks, and drag queens!

Kelly and I spent the second half of our trip in Cappadocia. Istanbul and Cappadocia are two completely different places. Cappadocia is full of volcanic formations and valleys. We hiked through different valleys, visited the Fairy Chimneys, underground cities, and cave churches. Interestingly, people were still living in caves up until the 1980s. We stayed in a Cave Hotel to get the true experience!

I never got sick of the apple tea or nargile (hookah)! There is so much more to see in Turkey, I feel like I only got a sneak peak - enough to tempt me for more!

Four Seasons in One Day

Dublin welcomed Neil with sunshine, rain, hail, sleet, and snow. It was literally one of the most bizarre weekends (weather-wise) in Dublin so far. Our brother/sister weekend was great! On Saturday we were total tourists on the Dublin hop on/hop off tourist bus. Our favorite stop was the Guiness Storehouse - which is a bit like what I imagined Charlie's Chocolate Factory to be as a kid. The Sky Bar on top has magnificient views of the entire city. Luckily, when by the time we got to the top, the rain, hail, sleet, etc. stopped, and there was nothing but sunshine. At night we went to dinner with some of my friends at an old church that was recently converted to a restaurant/bar. It felt a bit sacreligious, but Neil seemed to get over after his first scotch! We ended the night at Zanzibar, dancing the night away! On Sunday, I was able to convince Neil to do a little shopping, giving him a euro make over...getting him ready for his trip to India.

PORTO, Portugal

Ratika, Ranita, Diksha, Aditya and I had a ball! Porto is the second largest city in Portugal and definitely worth visiting. Our vacation was a great combo of eating fresh seafood, drinking wine, touring the Sandeman Port Distillery and cruising the Douro river. Porto is more picturesque than our pictures do justice.

Our first night out in Porto, we didn't leave the hotel until 2am....the parties were just begining! Hats off to Adi for putting up with 4 girls getting ready each night!

Google's first European Ski trip - Courmayeur, Italy.

We flew into Milan, and then took a two hour bus ride to the Italian alps. Courmayeur was such a charming ski village and Mont Blanc was stunning. We had lunch on the mountain at a small, family run restaurant where I had my first taste of grappa. The views from the deck were magnificent!

In typical Google fashion, there was a huge party on Thursday night. Italian wine, apps, a laser show, and a funky cover band...what more could we ask for?

Galway Get Away

Ireland is known for their Bed and Breakfasts. We visited Galway, a univeristy town on the west coast of Ireland and stayed at Asgard Bed & Breakfast. It was a charming B&B walking distance from Galway's city center. Veronica Morris and her staff were so hospitable, we were treated to a full Irish Breakfast in the morning - I passed on the blood pudding.

Galway is full of cobblestone roads, shops, pubs, and restaurants. The perfect weekend get away!
We also visited the Cliffs of Moher, which are breath taking.

St. Paddy's Day Weekend

Lauren and Stacey visited during the week of St. Patricks Day. It is madness in this city! Celebrations began on March 16th (St. Paddy's Eve?) and continued all weekend. There are sooo many pubs in Ireland, but on Paddy's day they are all packed. I have never been in a bar with more people, or for so long! We were at the pubs from noon to well over midnight. Thank god that Paddy's Day is only once a year.

The parade was a treat for us Americans. It must have been 40 degrees out, but the scantilly clad dancers still did their thing!

Glendalough - The Valley of Two Lakes

Just an hour outside of Dublin are the Wicklow mountains where Glendalough, a monastic site founded by St. Kevin in the 6th century can be found. We spent the day there hiking around the waterfalls, churches, cathedrals and old gravestones. These pictures don't do Glendalough justice!

Weekend in Cardiff, Wales



Neha and I visited Anshu Didi, Sunil Bhaiya, Udita, and 6 week old Meher in Cardiff. We were spoiled with home cooked food and ginger whiskey! Udita is a witty 7 year old who loves puns and has an adorable Welsh accent. Meher eats, sleeps, and spends most of her day being cuddled. I had not seen Anshu Didi for over 15 years...it was great to see her and meet the extended family!

You can take the girl out of Danville, but you can't take the Danville out of the girl...



London is amazing! The best combo of shopping, food, and nightlife! Diksha was the perfect hostess, entertaining every one of my last requests. Diksha & Sachin have a huge crew of outgoing friends that love to party. We met up with Ashu, Vidhu and the LBS crew on Saturday night for a big night out at Wax Bar. I woke up Sunday morning sore from dancing the night away and our marathon shopping day! I already miss my friends & fam in London - I need another meal from Mirch Masala and visit to Oxford Street!

GOOGLE EU Headquarters Dublin, Ireland

My team has decorated our area with an Andy Warhol theme.

Danville Girl Stuck in Ireland!

Walking around Dublin you hear a plethora of accents and languges. I am so concious of my American accent! Someone told me that listening to me speak is like watching TV. That made me wonder waht shows they are watching. I would be very depressed if its The OC!

Baby Guinness Anyone?

I have developed an appreciation for the Irish pub culture.
Pubs are like a friend's living room. It has been great for my social life, my waist line is another story...a moment on the lips, forever on the hips!

How could I forget pictures of our Five Star Hotel in Belfast?!

10 of us took a road trip Northern Ireland and the Giants Causeway this weekend.

It was such a scenic drive - beautiful country side, lots of sheep! I was entertained by a car full of Spanish girls and all the latest Spanish pop music. I am now a fan of Bebe!

We took a black cab tour and saw where the Protestant/Catholic political troubles all started. I was surprised to see there is still a wall that divides the two communities. We also saw many examples of the political street art in Belfast.

On Sunday we ventured to the Giant's Causeway, which was gorgeous!

Don't leave without watching our Belfast Video!