One week, two cities, three hostels

Hello, sorry for my lack of updatedness... I will enlighten all of you on my travels for the past week! For clarity I will split up the cities. It's kind of long...

DUBLIN
I arrived in Dublin the 17th exhausted and overwhelmed. It definitely was an experience, I felt like a kid running away from home with all my luggage and dragging it around Dublin all by my lonesome. I was so flustered that I actually missed my hostel and walked a good half mile before I realized that I wasn't in the right area. But, alas, I arrived safe and sound to my English friends Rose and Phil. They were a bit spoiled with their 1 hour flight from across the sea versus the 16 hour journey I embarked on. It was quite a shock after being in quiet Olympia all summer long, the entire dynamic and energy of the city was something I haven't experienced for a long time.

Those three days in Dublin went by so quickly. I took care of several things I needed to get- a phone, a hair dryer. They brought me to this bizarre store where you find what you want in a giant catalog and then bring your order up to the desk. For whatever reason I imagined Oompa Loompas in the back getting everything together and sending it on a conveyer belt. We then visited Trinity College and the Book of Kells and enjoyed the many buskers on the street the first day I was there. Unfortunately I was falling asleep on my feet throughout the entire day, and watched our tour guide in a weird sort of trance. It almost was like going through the city completely stoned. I think I scared Rose and Phil just a tad, I was really strange that first day. I went to bed at 8:30 though, I made it through the entire 36 hour day without any sort of nap (I cannot for the life of me sleep on planes and when I got to Ireland I wanted to get on schedule.)

The next day we had a later start and went to the beach where Phil and I both got sunburned. Sunburned by the far north sun, that's how albino I am. We enjoyed some tea and scones afterwards (how very English) and proceeded back, where we decided to go see Pineapple Express in this amazing cinema, I was very impressed by how clean it was. After getting dinner and walking home to the hostel, I said something to the effect of "Jeez my stomach hurts." A man and a stumbling drunk woman walking in front of me must of misheard me because he started cursing at me, and I heard him yelling "CUNT!" while we were walking away. I felt better when we went to a very very crowded pub called the Celt, full of Irish music and Irish people where I had my first Guinness of the trip. At first I was a little overwhelmed by its crowdedness- I haven't been somewhere so crowded in a long time. Several times people would grab onto my love handles, hold me for a few seconds, and push me out of the way. After listening to the guy singing make up silly lyrics and finding a spot to stand I loosened up a little and felt better.

The final full day we went to the Guinness Factory, where unfortunately it wasn't like that one Family Guy episode emulating Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but was entertaining nonetheless. It's crazy that an entire museum is dedicated to a type of beer. We got a free pint at the end, I didn't finish it and STILL got buzzed, displaying my very very low tolerance. It felt a little funny walking around there slightly tipsy seeing as it was 3 o'clock in the afternoon. That evening we went to Bad Ass Cafe, which shocked me, I only saw those in California and Hawaii! I didn't know that they were global! The apple crumble I got the waitress did heart designs, which made me ecstatic for whatever reason. My favorite part of the night was before we went to a club, where I heard music from the movie Once playing. Phil found the source, and there in the middle of the street were 100-200 people watching the screen on the side of the building with the movie playing. It was one of those moments where I thought "Wow, I'm in Dublin." Waves like that happen every now and then, I guess I get so used to the fact I'm here that it doesn't feel like I'm here until something reminds me.

GALWAY
Galway, I must say, is an impressive little city. It's probably one of the cutest places I have ever been, but I guess I still have all of Ireland to see still. There's just a charm about it. It's a big relief from being in a huge city- less traffic, less people. My mouth dropped when the train pulled into Galway, with all the water and quaint buildings. There's actually been a lot of mouth-dropping these past couple days. When I got to the Sleepzone hostel, I quickly made friends with a Canadian named Kyle. We walked around the city- on the shoreline where we fed swans, and to the cathedral. I haven't been in a cathedral since my Britain trip, and needless to say my mouth dropped a bit.

Yesterday, wow wow wow yesterday. I went to the Cliffs of Moher, possibly the single most beautiful place I have ever ever been in my entire existence. I first went into the observatory where I read about the geological parts of it that I didn't care about, did this virtual experience thing of the sights of the cliffs, and then I walked out and saw them. I was pretty breathless for a while, it was just so immense and so mesmerizing. There was a lot of space you can walk on to see the different views, and there was a wall so you couldn't stand on the ledge because of all the erosion. One side of the wall there was a giant sign that said "NO TRESPASSING, EXTREME DANGER" in about three or for different languages, but everyone there ignored it. I was a bit of a wimp so didn't stay long over the fence. On my busride we stopped by some pretty sights; a castle by the sea, a 5000-year-old burial tomb, and some general gorgeous landscapes. I don't think I've ever seen so many cows and sheep my entire life. There were these green rolling hills that were amazing though, I really really felt like I was in Ireland.

I stayed in another hostel last night, which was a mistake. Everyone there was so closed off, there was only one key per room, the walls were paper thin, my stuff didn't feel safe AT ALL and I thought "I really need to get out of here" so I did, and I'm back at Sleepzone. Thank God.

I have one day left, which I am very excited about. I am absolutely in love with the West Coast.