A Much Needed Update

Gah, I'm so behind on this thing. When Sam and Jessica showed up the blog got pumped down a few spots on my list (with good reason). So, where was I?

Oh yes, so Di and I finally made it to our hostel in Dublin. We stayed at the Abraham House, along a row of other hostels and cheap B&Bs in the center of the city. It was a perfectly nice place, clean and respectable. We stayed in a room that held 10 girls, and there was a bathroom en-suite, so just for that it wins points over the Young and Happy Hostel in Paris. There was a bit of hilarity connected to the hostel room, since the main door wouldn't stay closed unless you locked it (and since there was only one key, this lead to getting up at 3AM to let people in), and the bathroom door had the tendency to stay shut unless you really worked the doorknob (also leading to 3AM tug of wars with the bathroom door).

At any rate, after a good sleep on Saturday night, we got up fairly early on Sunday and headed into town. I have now learned to mistrust the "included breakfast" hostels advertise. This was even worse that in Paris -- orange juice, coffee, and toast. Just toast. At least they had a variety of spreads, but it was a pretty meager offering. You get what you pay for, I guess.

Di and I walked over to O'Connell Street again, encountering the famed Spire, built in 2003 for no apparent reason. It's just ... very tall. Dublin is also a very touristy city, and on our three block walk from our hostel to O'Connell Street we saw about 3 or 4 gift shops. Unsure of the layout of the city, Di and I bought tickets for those sight-seeing double decker buses. It was nice to have a bit of a tour, but in retrospect an unnecessary buy -- Dublin is a very manageable city for walking around.

We got off at Dublin Castle, which does offer tours for its private chambers, but it being Sunday, they were closed. So we strolled around the grounds, and then, perusing our map, realized we were close to Christ Church. We managed to see both that and St. Patrick's Cathedral on Sunday, which was great, considering my love of cathedrals. I've yet to get to St. Mungo's or Glasgow Cathedral in Glasgow, but they're on my list.

We spent the rest of Sunday (and frankly, Monday as well) strolling around and taking in Glasgow. Monday was the Dublin Marathon, so it made navigating our way to the National Gallery a little difficult, but we managed it. The National Museum and the Natural History Museum are closed on Mondays (darn it), so there's still plenty to see if I want to go back. And the shrine to St. Valentine was closed, so Di and I couldn't go and glare at him for making such a depressing holiday. Our nighttime adventures also make less than exciting reading (although we enjoyed them). On both nights after dinner (Italian on Sunday, and Mexican on Monday) we went to a pub in the Temple Bar district, had a drink or two, and then went to the movies. We saw High School Musical 3 and Eagle Eye. On the plus side, I discovered a beer I actually like -- Paulaner, a German wheat beer.

But probably the most ridiculous part of our trip was the Guinness Storehouse. No one would say that Di or I was a fan of beer, and Guinness is definitely not even close to drinkable for me. But we went because everyone said it was a necessary experience, and I did have a good time. The entire museum is built around a pint-shaped atrium, and as you can see in the album there's plenty of things to read and interact with. Aside from the incredible pompous atmosphere (the yeast used in Guinness is a "national treasure"; the story of the transportation of Guinness is the story of transportation itself) it was kind of a fun trip. Of course they give you awful stuff to taste, but in the end they do offer a free pint in the Gravity Bar, which is at the top of the Storehouse and provides a 360 degree view of the city. Di and I opted for a free soft drink, instead of a pint of Guinness.

My favorite part was definitely the small exhibit about the advertising for Guinness throughout the years. But that's just me being a dork. Although it's pretty amazing to think that doctors were once really ok with just saying that "Guinness is good for you."

The Oscar Wilde memorial was also fantastic. It's just a statue of him in Merrion Square, across from the American College of Dublin, where he lived for a time. But the statue utterly captures his entire attitude, and is completely fitting. So props to Dublin on that one.

I know I'm forgetting loads of stuff, but that's the price of my laziness, and not updating for two weeks. Next post is everything since Dublin.