7:40 p.m. - 2003-08-02
Hello tourist!
I am, for lack of a better word, pooped.
It's been a crazy 6 days since the three muskateers left for the tour of Ireland, and I can honestly say that a lot has happened. Much more than I could fit into this internet cafe visit.
To be honest, it all went by in a such a blur that I can't quite remember what we've done. My brain is mush.
Anyhow, just wanted to let all my fans out there know that we're still alive and kicking. I think we'll be kicking each other in the near future. Over a week of close contact with each other...it could get ugly soon.
I kid. I'm sure everhting will work out. Kristen's already apologized for trying to strangle me in my sleep and Kelly doesn't know about yet about what I slipped into her drink last night.
I promise a more exciting update of our adventures soon. We head off to Belfast tomorrow, and then Edinburgh, and then I take my leave and make my way to Cambridge. I'll probably have a little time then to actually think.
In the meantime, hope all is well at home...suckers!
4:24 p.m. - 2003-07-27
The first days...
Top o' the Mornin to you all.
Yes, I am in Ireland, land of shamrocks, leprechauns and men with bad teeth.
So far, things are going well. I don't want to kill my friends yet, but give it time. We've already seen quite a bit of Dublin and we're off on a 6 day tour tomorrow. Lots to see and do, I'm sure.
So far, there have been a few highlights of the trip. The first being an incident with a street-religion-man. Kristen is just far too nice, so when the guy asked her if she had a moment, poor Kristen just couldn't leave. At first, I just laughed at her for her folly, but when the guy had the nerve to call her a "Lying, thieving blasphemer" (not a word of a lie there) I jumped in. It's a funny thing when you actually start challenging people who believe in God so fervently that they feel the need to accost perfect strangers. They don't seem to like it. Or more so, they can't seem to handle it. Once the guy said that there was no proof of evolution, I took off on a verbal rant and he just took off. It was a funny little episode, and an interesting introduction to the fair city of Dublin.
After our little sermon on the street, we started a tour of the city. Our first stop was the Guinness brewery. The self-guided tour was pretty lame, I have to say. But at the end, you got a free pint of the stuff in the "Gravity Bar"...which has lovely views of the city, but if you've been to the 360 in the CN tower, just isn't that impressive for its height (yeah, I'm a T.O. snob). You know, I used to drink Guinness when I was in high school, and I can't for the life of me remember why. Part of if probably had to do with the fact that we frequented an Irish pub in the boonies that didn't tend to card minors...gotta love the Irish. In any event, the stuff is gross. I pawned half of mine off on Kristen and Kelly just downed hers before her mouth had to time to register the roasty awfulness of the stuff. I apologize to anyone who happens to like stuff, I just don't have a taste for it.
After the brewery, we haeded to the Kilmainham jail. It's a huge prison used in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, known mostly for the imprisonment and executions of many of Ireland's political prisoners. Very historical stuff. Whenever I visit a new country, I'm amazed at how ignorant I am of its history. I always tell myself that I'm going to get a book on the country when I get home, but I have yet to do it. But this time, I mean it. I will. Honest.
Having spent most of our bus tour on other tours, we missed the last one out of the jail, but decided we would get up early today and finish it off. Unfortunately, we didn't take into account the pub crawl we partook in. Yeah, 6 pubs I believe in three hours. It definitely a night of drunken debauchery. We should go back and find the religion man and see what he has to say about that. Something along the lines of drunken hussy would probably be appropriate.
And so, we slept in today, completely missing our chance complete our tour. However, it was worth it. We must always remember that sleep is our friend.
And so, after a hangover-burger-king lunch, you're pretty much up to date. The next few days will indeed be busy, but don't worry, I won't ever really leave you. I'm kind of like a virus that way.
