Last Blog.

Day One-Dublin- Pigeon-Toed in Dublin
This morning we caught a 9:40 am train to Dublin. We thought we were smart and got our tickets the day before only to attempt to board and realize the woman gave us tickets for yesterday. She gave us tickets for yesterday morning’s train yesterday afternoon. Wow. That about sums up the productivity of governmental agencies in Ireland.




Here is a picture of me cheating at UNO. I won!

Anyhoo, the train wasn’t too bad at all, about two and a half hours. We played UNO before the train even started moving and got bored so instead we just alternated staring at each other, playing bullshit, and making fun of Tricia. Why not?
Upon getting to Dublin, we hailed down a “big, big” van as described by a taxi driver after observing our amount of bags. And found our hotel, Browns hotel. It’s attached to a hostel so at first we were a bit shaded out. The train our hotel is on is composed of mostly hotels, etc. After dropping off our bags, and before we could check into our hotel, we wandered around the city. We found Chinatown in Dublin… thank goodness. Then we checked out the James Joyce Cultural Centre.

Kelly really got into James Joyce's workspace.

While heading to the Freedom Park we stumbled upon the start of a Socialist party picketing. Quite nice. I didn’t know they were around. And they too, hate Americans and hate G Dub, so there you go.
Tonight we went on a Pub crawl at Temple Bar. It was a Music Pub Crawl so it was cultural and really informational. We learned the difference between a jig, a reel, and a ballad. And since I am writing this after getting home from it, you can take my word for it and now I am not talking crazy because I am drunk. The most astounding thing that happened tonight is that I stepped on a pigeon. That’s right. A pigeon. We were walking in Temple Bar and there were a bunch of pigeons in front of us… like there is most of the time, and I was distracted… the pigeon didn’t move and I stepped on it. I can still feel the feathers between my toes. The funniest part is, it didn’t fly away afterwards. It just stayed there. I think it was a slow pigeon.

Day Two: Failure
Today we attempted to go to Mass and failed. You’d think it would be easy to attend mass, as a Catholic in Dublin, but it’s not. We found two places in the guidebook.. Christ Church Cathedral ended up being the Church of Ireland. We were there for about ten minutes until we realized it. Started piecing things together. No kneelers… no holy water. No guilt. Then we went to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. You’d think with a name like that. It would be easy to go to mass there… but no. There was only an Angelican “celebration” and the guy was a big d-bag about it. I didn’t want his protestant cooties so instead of going to mass, we went tax free shopping instead.

It was a sweet pay off. We wandered around the shopping district, toured Trinity College, then had a drink in Temple Bar. Through the raindrops, we visited the Guinness factory and got pretty tipsy. It was overrun by Italians, as most places here seem to be, so that made it quite annoying, but it is a tourist target, so what can you do?
This evening we went for Chinese in Dublin’s Chinatown… just beautiful steps away from our hotel. I had the taste for Chinese, made the mistake of saying it out loud, then we were all on board. The food was great, but I attempted to pay by credit card… and failed. They didn’t take credit card. The best part of the meal was all the misspellings on the menu. Chicken Fied Vice was very good.
After dinner we attempted to go on a Ghost Bus Tour of Dublin. Sounds fun, right? But right before we were about to board, the lad said “sorry all sold out” to which I replied. “FUCK! I HATE THIS TOWN!” Then I suddenly felt very bad. Because I do like it. I like it a lot. Not as much as Galway, but I like it. I think I am just ready to go home.
So we went to the bus station to get a ticket for tomorrow, and again, failed since the office was closed. We’ll just have to get there early to get tickets for Waterford. Now we’re all tucked in for the night. We have rule that the person who paid for dinner, gets their own bed. This rule makes me laugh because usually when you buy dinner the gift is NOT sleeping alone. Know what I mean? I want to go home.
Day Three: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles Part Two
Today we woke early, at about 7 to eat a quick breakfast and head out to meet a 9 am train to Waterford. Waterford is Southeast Ireland. It took us about two hours to get there and a out three and a half on the way back. We’re not sure. We either fell into a portal, or took an express train there, but not on the way back.
Once we got to Waterford, we took yet another bus to the Waterford Crystal Factory… the reason we went to Waterford in the first place. In case you are a poor hick, or just from Warrenville, Waterford is an expensive Irish crystal that’s been around for oh, millenniums now. At the factory you take a tour and get to see the numerous stages of crystal production including etching, blowing, and throwing. Sounds like my kind of time! I learned some interesting things like how crystal with even the slightest imperfection is tossed, shattered, and recycled. And the craft makers work on commission so if they mess up, they’re poor. And probably fired. There was of course the stupid woman who asked a lot of stupid questions… it made me miss my class! For example: craft maker: The wheel is not sharp, so it’s impossible to cut oneself. Any questions? Stupid woman: Um, yes. Have you ever cut yourself? AHHHHHH. Get me out of here.
The real great part was the crystal shop where you can buy some fantastic things tax free. I bought some gifts or me, and some gifts for others. I’m so nice!
Then we went out to dinner back in Dublin after our 14 hour bus ride at a place called Arlington Hotel. It was one of those places that totally caters to cheesy tourists… the kind of place our music guides from a couple nights before warned us about. They had live music and Irish dancing. I was so excited at the prospect of finally seeing some Irish dancing in Ireland. But after my three course meal of Guinness pie and desserts, I was teetering on the verge of Vomit town so I had to excuse myself. I still feel like someone punched me in the stomach. I’m pretty sure I am pregnant with a food baby. A food leprechaun. There is a leprechaun inside of me… dancing around and hiding his gold in my large intestines.
Tomorrow we leave. So sad. All day I was so excited to go… so excited to sleep in my own bed. But then when we were walking back from dinner, I got very sad and started taking pictures of everything I’d forgotten to take pictures of… even though it was dark out. Now we’re spying on people through their windows to cheer me up. We’re also living to U2, since they’re deities here and if you don’t listen to them, the Irish Gestapo will come arrest you and make you eat soda bread and pints in your jail cell. Send me to the clink, guys.
We have to be up and at em at 4 am tomorrow to catch our 5:45 bus to the airport for our 9 am flight to Newark. Then when I get back to Chicago, I get to MOVE. Hot dog. We’re not sure how long the shuttle will take, how long it will take to get our luggage TO the shuttle… we have about eight bags between us.
Slain.
“Touch me, take me to that other place. Reach me, love. I know I’m not a hopeless case. What you don’t have, you don’t need it now. What you don’t know, you can feel it somehow. It’s a beautiful day. Don’t let it get away.”