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Published: November 30th 2009
Saturday, November 28th, 2009
Dublin, Ireland.
"Fog, there's fog!" (That's for my fellow Izzard fans.) Flew into the kind of fog that you only see the ground about 10 seconds before you land. Nothing overly exciting at the airport, but my brain made it exciting. The book that I was reading the past week and on the plane is about aliens coming in and implanting themselves in your brain. If you were one of the lucky few who escaped before being implanted, they hunted you down. So, I was on edge because the main character was always running and being hunted and what not. This is NOT the kind of book you want to be reading when you travel to a new country. I found myself getting jumpy and nervous and it was due to this book. I felt odd man out (as is normal when traveling) but my brain was associating it to the friggin' aliens. Thanks Roswell. So, I'll be reading calmer books from this point forward. At the tourist desk, I bought a 3 day transportation pass and a 3 day Dublin Pass so I could get into most attractions pre-paid. I'll be here for 4 days, but
the 4th is going to be an all day
"Wicklow Tour" which I'll do on 12/1/09.
I had my 38 pound backpack strapped onto my back, I was carrying my day backpack and another bag that held stuff that I didn't want checked/wanted on the plane with me. Talk about baggage! (cymbal crash). I found the bus that would take me to the
Temple Bar area where my hotel, the
Fleet Street Hotel, was located at. I stepped on board and took one step into the aisle and got stuck. I am very happy to say that my backpack, not my hips, was too wide to fit down the aisle while on my back. So, I unstrapped it and dragged it with one hand while carrying the other two bags with the other. One gentleman said, as I scrambled by, "How long you stayin? 3 years?!" I tried to give an energetic, happy reply but the laughing bus droned out my answer.
A couple sitting ahead of me said that I wanted to get off at the Trinity College stop so I dragged the bag back down and out the bus. John, my brother, asked before I left how was I going to
get the backpack on my back on my own? Sheer will and anger, John, that's how. I immediately asked a pedestrian where the
Temple Bar Hotel was (notice how I type that here but above I typed "Fleet Street Hotel", yes, much confusion is coming.) He gave me some directions and said it was close and if I hadn't gotten turned around, it probably would have been. However, what I now realize, after being in Dublin for a few days, is that "Temple Bar" is an area of the city. I thought it was a famous bar that this section of town referred to a lot. Don't worry, if I keep having these dumb thoughts I'll claim Canadian and try to spare America the shame. So imagine my confusion when I kept finding the "Temple Bar" pub on every street corner. Well there's the pub- the hotel must be nearby! Riiiiight.
After asking 3 more locals for directions, I find the Temple Bar Hotel and it is nice! I waddle into the lobby and tell the desk clerk my name. He does a couple of checks and says he can't find my name. I then pulled out my reservation and handed
it to him. He then pointed out the name of the hotel I had booked was the "Fleet Street Hotel". My reply? "But yours is pretty, I want to stay here!" Luckily, the Fleet Street Hotel was just a few buildings away. I get there, go up a flight of stairs with the blessed backpack and 2 bags and if I had found this hotel first, I would have instantly liked its rustic charm and historical decor. However, after just coming from other fancy hotel, I saw...not a dump, but I was disappointed. The desk clerk was very nice though, so that made up for it. She explained that I was too early for check in but that I could leave my bags and wander back around 2pm (it was about 11am).
My first trip was to mail some postcards that I had picked up at the airport. Travel tip folks: don't buy postcards at the airport, they cost 3x more than other places. A tip you all probably knew, but I didn't. Oh well. My apologies to all of you who will be going "but where's my postcard?" but between the cost of the postcards and then the
stamps, I've had to narrow my postcard list down. I'll try to send one to each of you at some point on my trip. So, I head to the
General Post Office on
O'Connell Street. It's an impressive building with an impressive history, as most buildings here seem to have. I write/send out my postcards and wander over to the "Hop On/Hop Off" bus stop that is included in my 3 day transportation package. I'm exhausted and really just want to sit while learning about my surroundings. Around the 14th stop, I start to nod off, not good. After one full spin around the city, it's about 1pm and I decide to chance going back to the hotel.
Luckily my room is ready and if I go down a long hall, down a few stairs, up a few stairs, take the elevator at the end of the hall to the 4th floor, I'll find my room. (Sound familiar, John?) At one point, there's a cleaning cart in the already small hallway and, you guessed it, I once again got stuck and had to unclasp the backpack and drag it behind me. The room is small, but clean. Considering I'm a popsicle from
walking around, I grab some long john's out of my backpack and pop them in the pant press machine that's in the room. A few minutes later, I had roasty toasty long john's to wear. Oh snap. For some reason, the window in the room was open when I got in, even though it's maybe 40 outside. I close the window, grab my day backpack and head out, even though I really just want to go to sleep.
I wander around the Temple Bar area (look at me, I caught on!) and I continue to get very turned around so I pretty much stick to Fleet Road and don't veer left or right. The streets are very crowded as Ireland played South Africa in a Rugby tournament today. Ireland won and I guess that was an upset because South Africa was #1? I put a question mark because I have no idea,
follow the link, read the story if you care to know more about that event. I stop at some restaurant and ask for a table for one. I really hope this becomes easier because I am HATING eating out alone. I feel like everyone is looking at me and
I don't have anywhere to look. It's weird, if you have someone sitting across from you, you feel free to look around and stare at other people. That feeling is not there when you're sitting by yourself (to me at least.) Their soup of the day is beef and mushroom and I decide to be a good grown up girl and order that and their chicken sandwich. I'm not a vegetable fan, but I find that is/will be changing on this trip. Both were really good, but I started to fall asleep while eating. So I paid my bill and headed back to the hotel.
Remember when I closed the window earlier? Apparently it was open for a reason. My room was HOT! I tried to mess with the radiator but I couldn't tell if I was turning it the right way or not, so I just opened the window as well. When in Rome. (Days later, I have noticed MANY windows open in buildings so I'm guessing this is a common problem). I was asleep by 6pm, up again from 2-3am, and then asleep again until 9am the next day.
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Chris
non-member comment
You're in Roam?
Keep one of your books handy when dining. Somehow, reading while dining alone looks less awkward from the gawker's point of view. Or get a prosthetic eye with a death laser in it.