End of Dublin

So now I am a day behind. I wrote this post while driving to Galway last night, but did not have internet. I was picking up some signal from the bus in front of us, but not enough to post this. So here it is! Will try to catch up sometime tonight.

Sorry, no pictures in this post. More later though!


Happy Thanksgiving back in the States!

After I last wrote, I went out to get dinner. Went to a place called Babylon. Got chicken fingers and French fries (with salt and vinegar). Took it back to the hostel and ate with a lady from New Zealand. She has been in Dublin for the last month trying to get a job. She is a receptionist. Seems pretty strange to me. But, after talking to Tommy (Greta’s cousin) some, I’ve learned that many Irish people bounce back and forth between NZ and Ireland and vice versa. Also last night, I spent a long time talking with Sean. He works at the hostel. Very interesting talking about the differences in cultures. There is a lot of common interest in music.

Greta made it safely to me at about 11:30 last night. Which meant we stayed up until the wee hours catching up and hanging out. We chilled in the lobby for a long time. The guy that had control of the TV remote was watching Jerry Springer… not the best moment for America, actually it’s damn sad. At one point the guy on TV was like “Why to I need to get a job, I collect unemployment.” Living the American Dream. Oh my. Anyways.

Set my alarm for 9 AM because the hostel served free breakfast until 10. Free breakfast consists of bread and jam, and coffee. Pathetic, but I’m definitely not complaining! Free is free (and man today has been an expensive day).

After my lovely breakfast, I got back in bed. Slept until about 10:00, at which point Catherine, Greta’s sister called. They were an hour away from Dublin, so we got our lazy asses up and got ready for the day. (Wore Erica’s red boots from Italy today!)

Greta and I leisurely walked to the city, stopped in a few shops on the way (our hostel was in the ghetto on the south side of the city). Met Tommy and Catherine in the city centre and had lunch. I had a delicious Brie and bacon sandwich at some place that started with an “O’ ”. The bread it was on was in the shape of a clover. I think the thing I’ve learned today is that every Irish stereotype has a very strong foundation. These people…

After that we walked to the Guinness Factory. It was a long trek, but it was by the river so that was legit. I’m already used to the cold, and now know and appreciate the power of pockets. Took a tour of the factory, and spent a few hours there. Once you get to the top (the 7th floor), you get a pint of Guinness, and (more importantly) an incredible view of Dublin. The weather was beautiful while we were there, so we could see a lot. It was beautiful. The city seems a lot bigger when you’re on the ground than when you’re above it all. It’s kinda crazy that being on the 7th level is all it takes to see so much, I feel like you have to go to the like 70th floor of the Westin to see around Atlanta.

After that we walked back to the hostel, they stored our bags for free. Then we walked to the car. Thomas has rented a car for the week…. It’s a VW Rabbit – how fitting!

Now we are on our way to Galway. Traffic getting out of Dublin was ridiculous, but we made it. It’s a little over 3 hours to get to Galway. It’s been raining on and off. They’ve had a lot of flooding in Galway in the past week, and there is still standing water. We’ve been listening to the radio, there is an interesting mix of Irish jigg music and American pop. The last song was Fireflies by Owl City, and now “New York” by those people is on. Feels like home.