And again, just because I can

I’m online at the Dublin airport for 30 minutes. The aircoach took forever to come. (We waited over 45 minutes.) And of course 5 seconds after declaring I was going to just get a taxi, it came around the corner. If we hadn’t already paid for the return ticket, I would have done it much sooner.

Some more Ireland stuff

Don’t know what I’ll cover. I’m ready early to go to the airport. I couldn’t sleep last night. We check out in half an hour. It’s only 2:30 am. The fun part of international travel.

So, on day 2 after we left the Guinness Storehouse (after way too much shopping) we headed toward the Temple Bar area. We were both starving. We walked in just far enough to see the actual bar called Temple Bar. Took a picture. Looked at the first posted menu and went inside. Theoretically it was a Mediterranean place, but they specialize in Traditional Irish Stew. It’s called La Med. It was the best stew I’ve ever had. It had a bed of mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes have been so completely amazing here. And that’s saying a lot coming from me. But the meat and veggies were so tasty. I wish I’d gone back.

Thursday and Friday we had class. Lunch was provided by the hotel. Too much food. Pretty good though. On Thursday night we met with some people from the class and had our complimentary drink. This is where I first had the bartenders look at me funny when I said vodka sour. Anyway, I discovered Bulmers cider which is very popular here. It was alright. Very weird because I spent a lot of time thinking it might not be alcoholic. Nicole did as well. Then suddenly we were completely drunk off of it. Never a buzz, just straight on through to drunk. After a few there, we headed out to the Hairy Lemon. We’d seen it while wandering off Grafton Street the day before. A few more ciders and we went back to the hotel just a wee bit off. (Ref previous entry on “So drunk in Dublin”.

Friday was St. Patrick’s Day, of course. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see the parade because we were in class. After class was over, I wanted to go out right away. There was a blocked off section of street, and a big stage with performers. Lots of audience people dancing. Little kids on stage doing Irish dancing was so cute. They requested someone to come up who knew some silly song I’d never heard of. (Something about breakfast?) They held quickie auditions off to the side. The crowd went wild when they did it.

We then went off toward Grafton Street and then the Temple Bar area. So packed with people. Every pub was wall to wall. It would be quite a struggle to get to the counter. We crossed the river Liffey to the north side and ended up at the Gin Palace. More Bulmers and another make your own screwdriver. After hanging out a bit, we wandered around some more then decided to close down the hotel bar again. It’s such a cool place. Despite the fact that their live music is a Blues band. Kind of weird to go to Ireland to hear the blues. Hollywood Slim and the Fat Cats.

OK, gotta finish up and be on my way now. When I get back I’ll cover the weekend and perhaps go back to cover anything I glossed over.

I’m in Dublin on St. Patrick’s Day.

Just had to record that. I’m between pubs at the moment. We’re going to try to finish off the night in the hotel pub.

so drunk in dublin

had much bulmers cider. closed down hotel bar. went to grafton street area to the Hairy Lemon. Because it’s the Hairy Lemon.

that stuff is crazy. I kept thinking it must be non-alcoholic. Never even felt buzzed. Just straight to drunk. Still not feeling buzzed, just drunk. Made it back OK. Loving cities to walk around in. must sleep now. class at 830 tomorrow.

Quick side comment

On break from class. Just noticed it’s snowing very lightly!

Dublin Day 2 Part 2

Well, it’s now the morning of the 3rd day, but I’ll now finish the what we did section of the 2nd day while I wait for my hair to dry a bit before blow drying it.

We walked all the way back to where we had been then on to the Guinness Storehouse. According to the web it’s a 3 mile walk. Feels shorter. On the walk there we passed a few more churches and such and had to marvel at the beauty. We’re also playing a game of “Guess the Denomination”. We’re mostly failing. I’m confused by a church that’s listed as both “Methodist” and “Romanian Orthodox” on the sign out front. Those don’t fit in my head.

As we approached the Storehouse, there was a sign directing us down a very narrow alley. We joked that we felt like this is the place we go to get sold into white slavery. It’s kind of a funny way to get to Dublin’s number one visitor attraction. It’s a long block back then another block after a right turn before you get to the entrance. We walked in and saw the enormous store and I knew I’d have to really work to restrain myself. We decided to hold shopping for last. We joined the queue for tickets. It wasn’t too bad. I’d heard horror stories. It was the first queue we’d had so far, so perhaps it’s a bit of perspective. 14 euro to get in. She asked if I wanted them to charge my card in euros or dollars. I just looked at her funny. Then I said, “Euros I guess.” I’d never been asked something like that. The ticket is a small, um, ovoid piece of plastic that has a drop of Guinness in it. There’s a black ring attached that you exchange for your complimentary pint of Guinness (or soft drink) at the end of the tour. You get to keep all but the black ring as a souvenir.

We entered the exhibit. It is very well laid out and an extremely multi-media experience. There’s basically a whole room dedicated to barley at the beginning. There was even a school group there that was taking notes at all the info signs. That was so odd. Then on to yeast, then hops, then water. Upstairs you get to the fifth ingredient: the master brewers. You get a bit of history. Then on to info about the cask making and the exports and countries making it and such. Then there’s a mezzanine with a tasting lab up the stairs. A woman in a lab coat provides everyone with a fresh taste. It was a fair amount. More than I could ever dream of drinking. I did however, manage to consume 5 whole sips before passing it over to Nicole. That’s beats my previous record of 1 sip of any beer at any given sitting. I tried so hard.

We walked back down and then took the escalator up to the next level. I don’t have my map on me. Remaining levels covered advertising, a learning center, more history. All the way up to the 9th floor with the gravity bar. This provides a 360 degree view of Dublin at, I believe, the highest point you can be. I was a wimp though and got a coke. I knew I wasn’t going to get anywhere with the Guinness. Nicole enjoyed hers and was feeling kinda drunk after that. She’d barely eaten. I hadn’t eaten anything.

Damn. I’ve gotta go to class. I’ll finish up day 2 later on day 3. I doubt there will be too much for day 3 until tonight.

Dublin Day 2

Just had to come back to the hotel for a replacement battery for the camera. I stupidly left it here. We visited St. Patrick’s Cathedral this morning. It was wonderful. I had always assumed it was catholic. Nope. It’s Anglican/Episcopalian. Weird. I even bought a St. Patrick’s Cathedral shot glass because it amused me so.

We’re getting lots of walking in, especially when we have to walk all the way back to the hotel to get a battery. Grrr.

So, we’re thinking of taking a one day train trip so we can see the Irish countryside. Should I go to Galway and get a vodka sour? Only 29 euro for the two way trip. The idea amuses me so. We’re thinking of going on Saturday.

Google is too smart

Google knows I’m in Ireland. I typed google.com into the search box to check my connection. It automatically switched to the Ireland search page. (Which is handy because it helps page rank the results in favor of the ie pages.) Thankfully not the Gaelic version. Speaking of Gaelic, it was really hard to not pick up the Gaelic version of the first Harry Potter book that I saw yesterday on Grafton Street. I may still go back.

Dublin Day 1a

We had some pretty good dinner in one of the hotel restaurants. I want my house to look like the little side room we ate in. Beamed ceilings. Bottle wall designs. Low ceilings. It was a little hobbit hole of sorts. Now let’s see how long I can stay awake.

I also remembered I wanted to keep a “Pictures Taken” tally.
Today’s count: 57.

Dublin Day 1

Well, we made it to Amsterdam. I slept probably a total of 20 minutes, hunched forward. When I was sitting back, I’d fall asleep and my head would fall forward and I’d jerk myself awake. The entertainment on the plane was good. Many On Demand movies to chose from. I watched Aeon Flux, HP:Goblet of Fire (while I was trying to sleep), and Rent. There were also some games. Mah Jong, Bejeweled, a pac man like game, some others. And you could set up a juke box by adding songs to your playlist from their library. And then there was the good old map view so we could see when we were over Greenland and such. I think we just missed flying over Iceland to the north.

In Amsterdam, we had to figure out what gate we were going to be leaving from then make our way over there. Since we weren’t leaving the airport, we didn’t have to go through customs. I did make a purchase (magnet) and a 99 cent call to Gabe’s answering machine from my cell phone. We’ll be there longer on the way back. The setup is kind of odd. Each gate had a security screening. The individual gate. For the one flight. It was kind of weird. They’re very polite on the PA. We flew Aer Lingus. I think it’s impossible to say that without laughing. I’ve yet to accomplish that feat.

When we arrived in Dublin, they stamped the passport and OK’d me to be here until 21/3/06. When Nicole came through right after me and said the same thing, they asked if she was traveling with “Kelly Ann”. Why do people so often assume that’s the name I go by? We took the aircoach to the hotel. We were lucky we managed to get off correctly. They had stopped announcing stops, and according to my map it should have been about 8 more stops before ours. Luckily the hotel is right next to the stop, so we just looked over and “OH!” It’s a nice hotel so far.

So, thoroughly exhausted and kind of hungry, we left the hotel and started walking toward the city. We got some sandwiches and ate them in St. Stephen’s Green which was just beautiful. The pictures won’t capture it, sadly. It will be gorgeous in another few weeks, I’m sure. Then we wandered Grafton Street. Now, as many of you know, shopping typically drains me very quickly. It’s funny that we chose this as an activity during our extreme exhaustion. It was cool though. I’m still amused that McDonald’s in Europe are just nicer. It’s kind of weird. They have a McCafe that’s like a little Starbucks and they have internet access. Otherwise, we did some souvenir shopping. We walked it a few times due to poor planning.

I had watched the “Passport to Europe” show on Dublin a few times in the last week. (This is the show that convinced me I wanted to go to Dublin in the first place, so it’s been on my DVR for months.) Because of that I wanted to see the Molly Malone statue. We’d missed it the first couple times because we turned off too quickly. I finally saw it then shortly thereafter we passed the concierge guy who sang the Molly Malone song on that episode. It was a little weird. Like a mini-celebrity encounter.

The Dublin tourist center is amazing. It’s clearly in an old church, so the exterior is wonderful. The inside is very useful and there’s some good shopping. I had to stop myself.

There was generally a lot of wandering, looking at the pretty buildings, being disturbed by the giant Budweiser sign. That kind of thing.

I’m on free internet for the next couple of hours thanks to the last person who had this room. Then it’s 10 euros for 24 hours. Not too bad.

I’m still doing pretty well actually. Nicole is gone, I think. It’s 5:20pm now. Probably tomorrow I’ll have a better idea of what day/time it is. Right now, who knows.