Saturday, August 18, 2007

Entry for August 17, 2007

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So another day on the town!

Rubes and I woke up about noon (what a great idea!) and then headed for downtown Dublin.  After a quick stop at McDonald's and the EuroSaver Menu once again, we walked around Dubs for awhile...

More or less, we just went wherever our feet took us, and that happened to be away from al l of the touristy glitz.  We ended up about 30 blocks away from the Spire (a big shiny pole in the middle of the city), and we enjoyed the "lesser" part of Dublin.   The apartments were a bit more run-down, there was hand-made razor wire on top of the walls (one wall had the broken glass bottles to keep people out!), and we ended up a wee bit lost (but really, can ya be lost if you don't have a destination in mind, anyway?)...

We found the stadium for the futbol games, so naturally I made Ruble follow me inside to see if we could get a picture.  After talking to a couple of gents (who I might add seemed to be very wealthy...they were buying tickets for their "clients"), we talked to security only to be informed that we could take a tour for 9.50 Euros (not a chance!).  I tried to sweet-talk the Irish lass, but she said she had no power.  Oh, well...

Well, we started the long leg back to the Spire...but not after stoppin' at the War Memorial...and findin' a purse.  Actually, another guy found a purse in the middle of the street but didn't really seem to want to be responsible for it.  So we took it so that we could give it back to the rightful owner...and, of course, Rubes would not carry the stupid thing.  So there I am walkin' through Dublin with a purse in my hands (I refused to throw it over my shoulder much to the dismay of Rubes).

We made it back to the Spire, and it starts raining...so far, it has rained every single day I have been here.  But I found my inspiration while there...

Ok, picture this:  William Wallace on a motorcycle instead of a horse.  I'm not a'jokin' when I say this...I saw one of the most creative and beautiful motorcycles I have ever seen in my life.  It was a 1979 Kawasaki 1000 bike completely transformed to look like it came out of Medieval Times.  It had Braveheart music playin', fire shootin' out of the headlight, swords for handlebars, and chain mail all throughout.  Turns out the guy is from Argentina and is makin' a trip around all of Europe.  He just stops in a city, parks his bike, and waits for the much-willing locals to throw money into his bucket.  And do they ever.

Ruble and I talked extensively with him while it rained, and we learned that he built his bike for two years before he started driving.  He is originally from Argentina, and he has been traveling off and on for a couple of years.  He went all through the United States...and now he's fixin' to hit up all of Europe.  And on top of all of that, it turns out he is a fellow Couch Surfer!  He couldn't believe it when he heard what we were doin'!  I told him about my website, and he just laughed!  He himself has a wife back home, but he said he couldn't wait around on her...he had to ride his motorcycle (kinda sad for the wife, I think...which is why I couldn't a'marry a lady like that!  If I marry, she's goin' to have to be behind me or beside me on her bike!).  Because I don't think I will stop being who I am...so I've got to find one who appreciates that!  yikes!

You can check out the guy's website and his bike at www.excaliburbike.com.  The site is a bit difficult to work through (and much of it is in Spanish), but you'll get the general idea.

Anyway, all of that to say...I've got to build myself a bike!  It's crazy...I've found myself lookin' lookin' lookin' every day to find my way to follow my dream.  What can I do to ride a bike around the world?  It would take lots of money, and all of a sudden, here is a guy who just used his skills to make a bike that captures the public's eye...he received quite a bit of money just while we were with him.  When I asked if he was able to fund the trip through what people gave, he gave me the "Oh, if you only knew," look, then nodded, and we both knew that he was doin' just fine.

Well, while talkin' to Daniel de Argentina, we told him that we were at the Spire waitin' for a lady from Denmark to come into town to stay with Anna and us.  And wouldn't ya know it, she overheard us talkin', and we met Lena from Denmark right then and there!  She has great English (I am so frustrated that we only learn one language in the United States...it's so limiting!).

Well, from there, we waited for Anna, then went to a pub.  Ruble recommended I order something, and I ended up payin' $9.86 for a drink about 12 ounces tall.  Ruble and I were not friends.  And then we bought some supper, and a plain-jane hamburger and fries went another $13.00 on top of that.  Ireland is not friendly on the ol' pocketbook, that's for sure.

And then from there we went shoppin' for a backpack for myself...my dufflebag just isn't goin' to do the trick.  Most of the shops were closed, but that's on the list for this weekend...I'm goin' to have to get one of those silly big ones, but it's the best option for travelin'.

Lena went to one of her pubs, Anna went home to sleep, and Rubes and I walked through downtown some more.  We were fixin' to head back to home and just chill when I stopped at a pub to look at the upcoming futbol and hurling schedules.

"Are you hungry?"

"No, sorry, we just ate."

"Oh...are you thirsty?"

"Well..."

A couple of girls are standin' outside the pub for a smoke break.  They are relentless in trying to get us in.  Honestly, it really didn't take too much.  We were up for doin' somethin'!

Well, we walk in, and next thing I know, Sinead is buyin' us drinks.  Just like that.  And from there, we meet Denise and Dave.  They have some of the best accents.  More or less, we had found a locals' pub...away from all of the tourists.

And for the next five hours, we sit and talk with these three about everything!  America's stance on the war, who we voted for, why an American mate should never use the word "fanny," how Braveheart and Shawshank Redemption are the best movies, what music we liked, what we were a'doin', and much about CouchSurfing.  Sinead just couldn't believe such an idea existed.  And she was very much opposed to it!  "What if you stayed with someone that wanted to kill you?!"  "Well, um, you die?"

She just couldn't believe it.

But we had finally found the true spirit of Dublin.  We had found three locals...and for five hours, they bought us drinks after drinks.  The total tab for them was probably close to 75-100 Euros by the end of the night (not all for us!).

But for no particular reason outside of them being Irish, they welcomed us in and wanted to know us!  It was great times...

And today (it's actually Saturday around noon already), we're supposed to meet up with them again...goin' to another locals' pub in the mountains...and I'm supposed to get to drive her car!  woo hoo!  I can't wait!

For now, it's raining...AGAIN.  And it's 60 degrees.  AGAIN.  That's Ireland for ya.
 

2007-08-18 11:17:58 GMT

1 comment:

  1. Author:Anonymous
    Sounds like another great Day Andy. Love the picture! Lets see some pictures of you :)
    2007-08-18 14:40:37 GMT
    Author:Anonymous
    Sounds like they're friendly there. Thats nice.
    --Sis
    2007-08-19 00:32:33 GMT
    Author:Anonymous
    Sounds like they're friendly there. Thats nice.
    --Sis
    2007-08-19 00:32:34 GMT

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