Irish eyes are smilin'...
...actually, Irish eyes are wet and rainy. But that's alright :)
My last day in London was spent trying to avoid the crowds welcoming the Tour de France cyclists. They were holding the Tour de France in London (contrary to what the name might suggest) on the day that my mom and I needed to get to Heathrow. Of course all the roads were closed. Let's recap, shall we? We leave for the Queen Mary on the Puerto Rican Day parade, arrive in London on the Queen's birthday, and leave London on the same day as a huge bicycle race, all of which result in closed roads. Great planning, eh? If I were a sports fan, this bike race might have more meaning. Apparently it's a pretty big event. The prestige and hype wasted on me, all I saw was lots of athletic men riding around in spandex suits. Not that I'm complaining...
I arrived in Ireland to sunny weather. I thought maybe I had gotten off in the wrong country! But nope...I just got lucky. My B&B is cute, and the owners are very nice. It's a simple little room...small bed, small bathroom, small hot water kettle for making coffee, and small mirror, into which I gaze confusedly, marvelling at how a Jewish girl from Arizona could end up looking so Irish. I've gotten a few comments from locals about how Irish I look! One guy saw me studying a map and asked me, "Are you not from around this part of Ireland?" It wasn't until I responded, "Not at all!" with my carefully studied American accent that he even figured out I was a tourist.
My biggest complaint so far is the location of my B&B. I had trouble finding it on a map, but it said it was in the main Temple Bar/City Center area, so I figured it was just on some little side street that wasn't on my map. In fact, it's a 20 minute bus ride to Temple Bar. I couldn't find it on my map of Dublin because it's too far north! It isn't even ON my map! Being the walking junkie that I am, I mostly just walk to the central part of town, even if it's not the most particularly scenic area. It only takes about 40 minutes to walk at a leisurely pace (by which I mean MY leisurely pace, which for mere mortals is more like an easy jog), but I don't like to walk back alone at night. It's an easy bus or cab ride, but I'm just kind of irritated that I booked this place mainly because of its location, which was falsely advertised.
My first night here I felt my first twinge of homesickness. As much as I've been looking forward to travelling alone, the contrast between my NCL cruise and this is just so stark. I went from partying with dear friends every night to suddenly being completely alone. I found myself really missing all of the people I had been travelling with for so long, as well as my New York life. I repeated "goodeveningthankyouforcallingBlueFinthisisElysehowmayihelpyou?" until I felt calm again, fell asleep, and woke up feeling much better, and with a delicious breakfast. They have great cereal, perfect scrambled eggs, and coffee, which with enough sugar, milk, and imagination, is very good.
I've spent most of my time here just walking around, seeing the sights. I picked up a Hop On-Hop Off bus map, but decided to just walk to all of its locations rather than paying for the actual bus. There's some really fun shopping out here. It's a lot of stores I've already seen and it's pretty Americanized, but a fun atmosphere. I overheard one of the locals on Grafton street (kind of like the 3rd street promenade of Dublin) saying to her friend, "You know, I always find myself walking around here, but I never actually buy anything." So with the exception of one really cute dress that I found at H&M (which is MUCH better out here), it's been more fun to window shop than actually buy stuff. I made sure to stop in at Diesel so that Steve and I can still be friends. There are also some really beautiful parks and gardens with fountains and statues. I mean, it's no Peterhoff, but still.
Last night, after getting caught in my first torrential Irish downpour, I went on a literary pub crawl, in which two actors took us around to different pubs, telling us the literary history behind them and performing pieces by famous Irish authors, like Sam Beckett and Oscar Wilde (funny how I always think of him as British even though he was born in Ireland and went to Trinity College for a while where he was a boxer...and hated it there). Having not yet talked to any of the locals, I started chatting with one of the actors, who told me all about his visit to New York. His name, of course, was Brendan. Would whoever put the "IF YOU ARE GAY OR NAMED BRENDAN TALK TO ME!" tattoo on my forehead kindly step forward?
I was thinking about taking a train out to see some more nature-y areas today, but I'm not sure if I'll have time. I asked a local for directions, and ended up chatting with him for about 45 minutes. He was a nice guy named Richie who had called out sick from work for a week. While we were talking, we ran into his boss. Whoops!!
I have a feeling I'm leaving some important stuff out. I need to find these Internet cafes more often, otherwise I forget everything!!
OH here's something! SEND ME YOUR ADDRESS if you want any postcards! I haven't bought stamps yet, but I probably will today. The only addresses I have in my head are 2402 E. Esplanade and 1567 Broadway. If you do not live at either one of these addresses, send it to me!!
My last day in London was spent trying to avoid the crowds welcoming the Tour de France cyclists. They were holding the Tour de France in London (contrary to what the name might suggest) on the day that my mom and I needed to get to Heathrow. Of course all the roads were closed. Let's recap, shall we? We leave for the Queen Mary on the Puerto Rican Day parade, arrive in London on the Queen's birthday, and leave London on the same day as a huge bicycle race, all of which result in closed roads. Great planning, eh? If I were a sports fan, this bike race might have more meaning. Apparently it's a pretty big event. The prestige and hype wasted on me, all I saw was lots of athletic men riding around in spandex suits. Not that I'm complaining...
I arrived in Ireland to sunny weather. I thought maybe I had gotten off in the wrong country! But nope...I just got lucky. My B&B is cute, and the owners are very nice. It's a simple little room...small bed, small bathroom, small hot water kettle for making coffee, and small mirror, into which I gaze confusedly, marvelling at how a Jewish girl from Arizona could end up looking so Irish. I've gotten a few comments from locals about how Irish I look! One guy saw me studying a map and asked me, "Are you not from around this part of Ireland?" It wasn't until I responded, "Not at all!" with my carefully studied American accent that he even figured out I was a tourist.
My biggest complaint so far is the location of my B&B. I had trouble finding it on a map, but it said it was in the main Temple Bar/City Center area, so I figured it was just on some little side street that wasn't on my map. In fact, it's a 20 minute bus ride to Temple Bar. I couldn't find it on my map of Dublin because it's too far north! It isn't even ON my map! Being the walking junkie that I am, I mostly just walk to the central part of town, even if it's not the most particularly scenic area. It only takes about 40 minutes to walk at a leisurely pace (by which I mean MY leisurely pace, which for mere mortals is more like an easy jog), but I don't like to walk back alone at night. It's an easy bus or cab ride, but I'm just kind of irritated that I booked this place mainly because of its location, which was falsely advertised.
My first night here I felt my first twinge of homesickness. As much as I've been looking forward to travelling alone, the contrast between my NCL cruise and this is just so stark. I went from partying with dear friends every night to suddenly being completely alone. I found myself really missing all of the people I had been travelling with for so long, as well as my New York life. I repeated "goodeveningthankyouforcallingBlueFinthisisElysehowmayihelpyou?" until I felt calm again, fell asleep, and woke up feeling much better, and with a delicious breakfast. They have great cereal, perfect scrambled eggs, and coffee, which with enough sugar, milk, and imagination, is very good.
I've spent most of my time here just walking around, seeing the sights. I picked up a Hop On-Hop Off bus map, but decided to just walk to all of its locations rather than paying for the actual bus. There's some really fun shopping out here. It's a lot of stores I've already seen and it's pretty Americanized, but a fun atmosphere. I overheard one of the locals on Grafton street (kind of like the 3rd street promenade of Dublin) saying to her friend, "You know, I always find myself walking around here, but I never actually buy anything." So with the exception of one really cute dress that I found at H&M (which is MUCH better out here), it's been more fun to window shop than actually buy stuff. I made sure to stop in at Diesel so that Steve and I can still be friends. There are also some really beautiful parks and gardens with fountains and statues. I mean, it's no Peterhoff, but still.
Last night, after getting caught in my first torrential Irish downpour, I went on a literary pub crawl, in which two actors took us around to different pubs, telling us the literary history behind them and performing pieces by famous Irish authors, like Sam Beckett and Oscar Wilde (funny how I always think of him as British even though he was born in Ireland and went to Trinity College for a while where he was a boxer...and hated it there). Having not yet talked to any of the locals, I started chatting with one of the actors, who told me all about his visit to New York. His name, of course, was Brendan. Would whoever put the "IF YOU ARE GAY OR NAMED BRENDAN TALK TO ME!" tattoo on my forehead kindly step forward?
I was thinking about taking a train out to see some more nature-y areas today, but I'm not sure if I'll have time. I asked a local for directions, and ended up chatting with him for about 45 minutes. He was a nice guy named Richie who had called out sick from work for a week. While we were talking, we ran into his boss. Whoops!!
I have a feeling I'm leaving some important stuff out. I need to find these Internet cafes more often, otherwise I forget everything!!
OH here's something! SEND ME YOUR ADDRESS if you want any postcards! I haven't bought stamps yet, but I probably will today. The only addresses I have in my head are 2402 E. Esplanade and 1567 Broadway. If you do not live at either one of these addresses, send it to me!!