Nifty Thrifty Ireland

Yesterday I got on the train to Belfast only to end up in Northern Ireland with a pass that is not valid there (I thought BritRail covered it), so I got kicked off my train and had to stow away on another one to get back to Republic of Ireland where my rides are already paid for.

On the train over I had the pleasure of sitting next to someone with some strange habits. He whistled constantly and I thought it was because he was merry and had a tune in his head, but when it continued for over an hour I decided he must have a condition. When he first got on the train I thought he worked for a newspaper company because he was passing out papers to the nearby tables (while whistling), but then he sat down and straightened the paper on my table and started reading. Then he pulled out lunch and then played solitare. These things would not have been so strange, I think, if it were not for the whistling.

I was kind of glad that I got sent back to Dublin because as I progressed north, it got colder and much more dreary whereas in Dublin it was warm and bright. I bought 8 euro worth of food which will last me my stay here, and then headed off to wander. I found lovely parks, which I liked better than London's parks which are more just manicured grass and flowers. In Ireland the parks have more trees which make private little coves of grass where you can tousle with a lover, practice juggling, or have a family picnic in relative privacy. Trinity College where they were playing kricket and then I got delightfully lost in a lovely residential area. An American named Paul pointed me in the right direction and we had a lovely talk as we walked. He's a secret agent or something. I came to really enjoy Dublin once it was warm and sunny. I think my affection for a city is very dependent on the weather.

When I came back to the hostel to cook dinner, I struck up conversation with Garrett, a guy from Winnipeg, Canada who is moving to Dublin. It surprised me how many people actually live in the hostel.

I really do believe in manifestation. I had been hankering for some brownies and Garrett and his friend Mike had bought brownie mix earlier that day. I was one happy Lizzy. Then Garrett ended up rounding a huge group of people up to go out and we went to a Reggae pub which was too busy for Mike's taste and because it was his last night, we went to another pub where we were not allowing in because Garrett was carrying an empty Vodka bottle (which no one had partaken of) as a "flag" to lead our group. Then we couldn't get into another one because I was not 21. If I wanted that sort of treatment I would have stayed in the States! We eventually landed in a club that was pretty much dead, but we danced all night and came home satisfied ad tired.

Today I plan on taking the train to Cork, which is hopefully prettier than Dublin's weather, but first I have to grab my sack lunch that I left back at the hostel. I would really like to find a celtic ring as an Irish souvenier. That is my quest.