Ireland

Another fun-tastic day in Dublin. And it started out so well! Last night was even fun. We had great people in our dorm, including one Canadian guy who gave us his book. Even after we turned off the lights, we were all still talking- it felt like a little sleepover. Today, though, had a fresh new set of BS. Since I don't want to focus on the negative, but feel a mention is necessary, I'll just go through it-

---The Bad Stuff----
Last night and this morning, we checked for hostels, hotels, B&Bs- Dublin is booked. So we decide to leave, and exchange our ferry tickets for today. We go to the travel center to do so. It's closed. We call the company and they tell us to do it later. We go around Dublin, are told to be at our stop by 7PM for bus 53. The driver tells us its over a mile walk from where he stops. Yes, we were misinformed by the bus station customer service lady. We start to get nervous and take a cab. The main ferry road is closed. We end up paying 36 euro for the roundabout ride, plus 6 for tunnel tolls (one we had to go through because we couldn't make a u-turn...) Now we are on the boat, and happy to leave Dublin, the rip-off capital of the world. F*** Dublin.

---To Resume the Entry-----
This morning was beautiful- warm, clear and sunny. We decided to see the south side, like Grafton Street, Temple Bar and the Castle. After a few little bumps I mentioned, we get going and walk around Grafton St- a really cool area with a ton of street performers and vendors. From there we ended up at Steven's Green, a really beautiful park where young couples, artists and families laid out on the grass. I got a celtic ring from a vendor, and when I mentioned the nice weather, he said the last time they had a nice day like this was the 6th of August. We wandered the funky Temple Bar area, and hit a pub on the way back. We may have been in Dublin for 2 days, but we still had to go see an Irish pub. Unfortunately even a dive didn't serve a beer for less than 5 euro, but we bit the bullet and decided in Dublin you were either wealthy or homeless. After a drink, we started our goose chase, but that's in the past. Despite the hold-ups, it was actually a great day. I'm just happy to return to a free bed and some decent rest. London ho!

Today I write from an extortionately priced Dublin hostel. We just checked in this morning after evacuating a Couch Surfer's house. Yes.... now the interesting stories start! I'm going to look on the positive side and list all the great things we learned on our recent adventure.

More Time in Fewer Places.
It's taking us about 2 full days to travel from London to Dublin and back. We left 4 days for Dub. That makes for 2 days to see the city. Oops.

Have an Escape Plan
....
Or Don't Stay With People Who Just Seem "A Little Crazy"
....
So me and Ruaridh read this CouchSurfer profile, a nice-looking older woman named Glenda. She said she lived in "primitive" conditions, so be warned, etc. We shouldn't of taken that lightly... I wish I took pictures of this place. I'll get into that.

Book in Advance... Always
Dublin.. big city and lots of places to stay, right? Not. A football match sold out the town and we have nowhere to stay tomorrow night. That's a triple oops... hehe...

Bring Your Flip-Flops
It's just a couple days, so I didn't think I'd need them. Except for showers... sigh.

I'm going to start with last night and our stay with Glenda & Friends. We entered Dublin city center around 6, and followed the necessary directions to her house. So far they seem like cute little cottages, until we get to number 9- a paint-pealed little unit with faded posters in the window. I peer in, and it looks like a storage shed. We assume we are mistaken, but I look in the window on the other side of the door and see lights on, and people. I knock on the door harder, and Glenda opens it- she seems really friendly, all smiles and "come in"s. In the kitchen-ish place, there is an elderly skinny man with tie-dye handkerchief on his head, and a man in his 20s in gothic clothes. We look around... there are high ceiling that look like all of the pieces were about to fall on us. Thick, dusty knots of cobwebs hung from every corner. some weird new-agey music was on. We are given tea, and I try not to freak out. I ask about the history of the house, and Glenda informs me "its a renovated old church from the Weslyans, about 200 years old. But I found rooms under the chapel filled with sand, which aren't in the blueprints. So I assume that bit is older."
"Probably small catacombs," the goth chimes in sagely, with a brogue.
She goes on to tell us all the ghostly happenings in the house, and how they just finished shooting a horror movie there. We are offered tea.
Soon, we are led up the stairs, giving severely under our steps, to our room. She tells us there is a mattress on the floor- we get to a room filled with weird clothes, creepy dolls, and other stuff. The cracked walls are painted roughly with trees and a sun and whatnot, but it looks like pieces are missing. Glenda brings are attention to the absence of the right wall, not even slightly hidden by some small blankets hung on a sagging rope. She parts them, and tells us cheerfully that we are looking down at the old chapel, and describes their plans to turn it into a theater. She left us to settle, and me and Ruaridh look at each other for a while. Then I freak out a bit.

I basically yammer on for 15 minutes about how we can't stay in a creepy platform above an abandoned church, and he tries to calm me down, and basically have committed ourselves for the night, and she mentioned having other couple staying there earlier in the week. Not even close to calming down yet, we set out to get some food and fresh air. I feel bad- Ruaridh didn't want to stay with her in the first place, and I kind of talked him into it. While we were out, we came up with an excuse to leave first thing in the morning. Later that night, the younger one keeps us up talking about philosophy, and we explain to them that we need to leave Dublin in the morning. Upstairs, I have a fitful nap and wake up around 3AM. Ruaridh is soundly sleeping next to me, and I am a bit jealous. I may have harassed him a bit through the night with "you awake? just checking" like a little girl at a sleepover. I ended up staying up, reading a bit, til it was light, and soon after we left fairly abruptly.

Not much to say after that. Found a hostel, sorted out our way off the island for Sunday. Saw the Guiness Factory and the Kilmainham Gaol (jail.) Now at said hostel. Tomorrow should be fun, though, and I'm looking forward to a decent sleep.

P.S-about 500 pictures yet to be loaded. Another oops..

Our departure date arrives, and it's as hard as I expected. I go out to breakfast with some close friends, and then rush around for the rest of the day, doing everything last-minute as usual. Our moms take us to the airport for the very last goodbyes. Ruaridh and I check our bags, and walk through the airport looking for food. I'm not sure how I should feel - I want to be excited but I'm way too drained. I get a sandwich, but don't eat it. We board our Aer Lingus flight, and set off for Edinburgh with a layover in Dublin. The flight attendants wear bright turquoise and ask in an Irish brogue if I would ilke coffee or tea. The movie is Iron Man, and I get the first 15 minutes or so.
We enter Dublin airport, groggy from the flight and awkward napping. It's gray, windy and cold - the hills in the distance smudge with the darker incoming clouds from the west. The darkness makes the grass look bright green. After finding coffee, we walk down the vast, white corridor to our terminal. Ruaridh zones out, and I try to read but eventually do the same. We board a short connection flight, and our trip begins!