11.3.06

Our Dublin days have come to a close. In the last 3 hours before the bus ride to the airport, Jeff and I chose to pass the time by making food, drinking coffee at a cafe and watching passers-by, and spending an hour in an internet shop.

Things were good here. My impression of Dublin is a gritty city in the middle of a lush land, a place that's trying hard to bloom but can't quite break through the surface. There were lots of young people at our hostel that had moved to Dublin in hopes of finding employment, but are stuck staying long-term at the hostel because apartments are very hard to attain. Jeff and I ate some good fish and chips, drank some good Guiness stout (missed touring the factory, but that's expensive!), and managed to fit in some culture at two different Irish museums, one history and one art. The trip to Howth last Thursday was a jaunt to the countryside that happened to be included on the 5-day bus passes we bought when we got here. And then last night, we stayed standing for hours in a crowded pub, listening to live Irish music and watching people dance around. Tonight is a big rugby game between Scotland and Ireland, so Dublin is teeming with Scots. They're easy to spot, since many of them are wearing kilts. Needless to say, last night in the pub was a ruckus, with kilted men dancing, and one guy even bringing in his bagpipes and playing a few songs, much to the crowd's delight.

Today we fly to England, and hopefully we'll survive the expenses of London. My guide book describes prices in London as "horrendous". Great. But we've stocked up on pasta, and hopefully we'll make it for 4 days. Til the next...

9.3.06

Jeff and I took a trip outside of the city today. We went north to the coast to a small town called Howth, where the bus dropped us off in the middle of nowhere and we walked along the coast for a while. It was awesome to see the islands, the grass, and the water for a full day. There were church ruins to explore and local taverns to visit.

All in all, it was a great day of nothing and everything. I'm too tired to explain it much more than that.

Tomorrow it's looking like we will spend more time in Dublin, and then we fly out Saturday afternoon to London.

Cheers!

7.3.06

Today on the plane to Dublin via London:

British woman to me: "So what were you doing in Germany?"
Me: "Studying."
British woman: "So you're just going to London on holiday?"
Me: "Yes."
BW: "You ever been there?"
Me: "No. I'm really excited."

(silence)

Five minutes later:
BW: "So what do you think of England?"

This particular passenger also asked me if I was American, and after confirming that, she asked: "Do they use Euros over there, or is that just Europe?"

British accents help people sound more intelligent, but no amount of accent could help the IQ of this lady. I could blame it on the small bottle of sparkling wine she cracked open after take-off (at 10 AM!), but I don't think it was just that.

Side note to Ashley: I tried to print the following as a comment on your blog, but it wouldn't let me since the IP address is anonymous. So here you go:

The only vital cup measures are the 1/4 and the 1/3 cup... you can base all others off of those two.

Why are all the forks gone? Apparently the kitchen gnomes like ALL THE THINGS, just like we do.

In Dublin now! Irish accents are pretty hot! Love you!