Entry for August 17, 2007

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

Entry for August 16, 2007

So I'm really gettin' bad at this whole sleepin' thing.  Another 12 hours again today.  Woke up around noon-ish.  Ok, so it feels great, but wow!

(I think the greater feeling is knowing that I have nothing to do when I wake up!  No worries on my mind!)

I didn't really feel like doin' much today.  My legs were spent from walkin' all over town yesterday...and it felt good to just sit in the couch and stare at mountains.  But that didn't last long...I felt like I had more to see!

Plus I told a guy I would visit him at his motorcycle shop today.  So that's where I headed.  I decided to walk to his shop.  It's probably about 2-3 miles, and to be quite frank, part of that is to save on money.  Everytime I get on a bus or train, it costs 1.90 Euros...more than $2.  So since I wasn't in a hurry, I opted for the feet.  And, wow, were my legs sore!  Felt just like after runnin' a cross-country race!  Every step hurt the ol' shins!

So I head to the lil' motorcycle shop.  But not before a quick trip to the new Harley-Davidson dealer.  We talked about ridin' in Ireland, my trip to Sturgis, and bikes in general.  Turns out they have only been open for 3 months.  And have sold 100 bikes.  Not a bad deal if you ask me (planted that thought in the back of my head...).  I look at some of their clothing (how sweet to have Dublin, Ireland on the shirt instead of Springfield, Illinois, right?!).  But 37 Euros is silly...as is 204 for a jacket I liked.  Really I just needed long-sleeves.  It was raining again, and rain coupled with 58 degrees is cold.  Ireland weather is terrible.  I've been rockin' out the short-sleeves and jeans for two days now...it's cold!

After the HD shop, I find a McDonald's...nothin' like a mid-afternoon meal for 1 Euro.  Bought a hamburger off of the EuroSaver Menu...haha...I love it.  Then the lady asked me...

"Take away?"

"Huh?"

"Take away or here?"

"Oh, right...here!"

Turns out our "to go" is their "take away."  Makes sense!

Well, I finally make it to the shop.  James, the owner and I, talk about everything...I end up staying a couple of hours.  He introduces me to another guy named Rory who has this unreal fascination with America.  Rory wants to know all about MIT and if I can guarantee him that he can study there...he has an even greater fascination with particular physics.  And he keeps askin' me what it would take to just have one day in one of the science labs...

I'm not goin' to lie...I wondered if he had ulterior motives!  But I told him about 100,000 Euros for a nice four-year education.  He then said 20,000 would go to me and thanked me over and over...he is truly a brilliant and knowledgeable man...but his mum put him in the insane asylum for awhile as a youngster...kinda threw off all of his plans.  I can understand that.

Well, while there, I talked to the guy from yesterday again...the construction worker from Russia.  He was busy layin' concrete sidewalks.  It is so difficult talkin' to people when you can't understand them...so many times I wondered what I was agreein' to or shakin' my head at.

But I was able to pick up on several different things...

1.  I am supposed to have four wives.  It's like eating food.  You know, oranges, meat, broccoli, and cheese.  How do I know what I like unless I try them all?  But no more than four.  Five is too much.

2.  It is ok to have four wives, but do not like a wife who does the "jiggy-jiggy" with other people.  That is "very bad."

3.  Try out the Muslims.  As a matter of fact, I am invited to the mosque tomorrow at 2:00 P.M.  As an American, I am told Muslims are "bad bad bad," when really they will give me food to eat when I go to their countries.

So I guess all in all, I picked up on quite a bit!  And I'm serious about the food illustration in #1.  Couldn't have made that up if I tried.

Well, from there I took the bus back to home.  Or, well, tried to.  I was tired of walking, so I figured I would spend the Euro on a trip.  Well, I didn't care to check the bus number, and sure enough, he took a turn the opposite way of home.  I figured it would all correct itself at the end of the day, but I couldn't have been more wrong.

After nearly bein' the last one on the bus in a place I had never seen before, I got off the bus.  I saw the mountains, so I just started headin' for those.

Somethin' like 4 miles later and an hour and a half later, I was back at home.  But I got to talk to more people!  And, oh, how I love those accents!  "Can you tell me how to get to Red Cow?"  I got the "You can't get there from here" looks...but it all worked out.

I took a nap when I got back...you know, not enough sleep the night before...but was awakened by a phone call...

"Andeee?"  I love how Anna says that.

"Yeah."

"Andeee...your friend is here!  11:15 at the airport.  You must pick up."

Ruble is comin' to town!

So I take the 30 minute train into town, wait 25 minutes for a bus, then take the 30 minute bus with Anna, and we wait for Ruble!

After about another 45 minutes, he comes out of the terminal area...and he looks like he's been through...well, that bad place.

Turns out he was arrested this morning, detained, interrogated, fingerprinted, kicked out of a country with a big "X" over the country on his Passport.  That's my boy!  Actually, seriously, he looked like he just needed a place to stay for awhile and not worry about anything.  My thoughts were, "I don't want to look like that!"  You could just tell he had a memorable but rough week.

And his face was skinny!  I guess livin' off of granola bars only does so much for a guy...

But we talked, hugged, and enjoyed an exciting train ride home.  I don't know...for me, it's been an easy trip so far.  Very enjoyable...very slow-paced...very relaxing.  And I've said it already today to Anna, but I could just see myself settlin' down somewhere.  I don't need to travel, travel, travel.  It's fun, but there's somethin' nice 'bout just stayin', too...

Well, the day wasn't over quite yet.  We rolled in a lil' after 1:00 A.M.  I started cookin' some pasta...and then Ruble's phone rang.

Instantly you could tell it was bad news.  I waited for him to hang up and only had to ask one question...

"Who was it?"  (not that had called him...but that had died).  You could just tell.

Turns out Ruble's best friend from high school was killed in Iraq today.  I don't even have enough words for that.  I offered my condolences, but he needed time to himself, which I was glad to give him.

It's hard to explain, but I'm really glad he got the call with Anna and me around...not that it softens the blow at all...but it's just nice to have people that care about ya around when that happens.

He's in bed now, and I'm deeply saddened with him.  This war doesn't really hit home until a phone call like that.  And then it's as real as it ever could be.  It's real tonight.

Well, another day in Ireland.  It's crazy just how much happens to one person in a given day...and to think that I left some out.  Like goin' to Killarney...or Houth...or Westin...

But we'll see.  Maybe tomorrow holds climbing a mountain???  I really want to do that.

Or maybe just a low-key day with a friend.  Because that sounds really good, too.

2007-08-17 01:21:49 GMT