Two trips for the price of one!

So, a few quick trips. First we went to Dingle for an overnight, which was quite fun. Stayed at the Grapevine hostel, got some shopping done, walked along the harbor for a bit, and then went to the pub for a drink and some great music. Interestingly, when we got back to the hostel, there was an older guy in our room (it was an 8 person room, the only one they had left), and he didnt' have any pants on while he was sleeping. Quite nude from the waist down, which is usually where you keep your clothes. Ah, well, an experience, anyway.

The next morning, we got up, went to a great bakery, and started chatting with the proprieter, which was kinda cool. For the first hour. Then we missed our bus. Yet still we kept talking
3 hours later we FINALLY got out of there, and none to soon. He had some great stories (they passed a law outlawing the name Dingle, they can only call it An Daigain, the Gaelic name, even though the population voted to overturn it by a 95% majority. So his son made a 16-foot high sign out of wood that looks like the hollywood sign, and it says Dingle.) Interesting stories, but not 3 hours interesting.
So then we'd missed our bus, so we walked around again for a while, before catching the bus back. Really pretty scenery.

Dingle for the Weekend

Part II

Then this weekend I travelled to Leeds to see Nana and Gramps. It was quite a lovely trip. Got in on Friday morning, after not being able to find the taxi that was supposed to pick me up. I got in a bit early, I guess, and I didn't see him, so I walked to where they parked, then figured I should go back, and then found him. It took about 45 minutes to make it to Nana and Gramp's, and then we had a great Irish breakfast of eggs and bacon. Then we relaxed for a bit before going to the coal museum, which was actually a more fun than that sounds (though I guess that's not hard).Afterwards, we watched some snooker on TV, which is a really cool game! it's like pool, except better. You have 5 colored balls on the table, and then a triangle full of red ones. You have to sink a red ball, then you hit a colored ball, then a red, then a colored. The balls all have different points: red 1, yellow 2, green 3, brown, pink, and black at 7. When you hit a colored ball in, they take it out and put it back in its position. So you hit a red, then you hit the black, and that gives you 8 points (1 for red, 7 for black). but then they put the black back, so you can hit a different red, then the black again, for another 8 points. And you keep going until you can't hit a ball any more. And once all the reds are in, you have to hit the colored balls in the pockets in order. It's really great! we watched the championship, too. Then we went to a fish and chip shop, which was great, and they knew the waitress, which was cool. Afterwards we went to the golf club, which was really nice. Beautiful inside and outside. I tried some English beers, which was fun. Afterwards, we headed to bed, since it'd been a long day for me.
Next day I was supposed to meet up with a friend in Leeds, but she didn't get back to me, so we walked around Sandal castle, which was really cool. Only a few walls still stand, but it was still cool. Then Gramps and I had a half pint at a local pub, and then we headed out to the sculpture museum, which was pretty neat. Then Nana and Gramps had some friends over, which was nice to get to talk to them. (and yes, the phrase "cheeky monkey" was uttered). Then Bright and Early I got up, drove to the airport, got on the plane, only to have the stairs not retract back into the plane. Yup. So the other engineers couldn't' fix it, because the other planes didn't have retractable stairs. So they were going to fly a guy over from Dublin, but we ended up taking a ryanair plane that had just flown in and taking that back to Shannon, so i ended up back in Shannon at 11 instead of 9, so it was fine. Luckily it was at that leg of the flight. And now I'm back safe and sound!

Maybe one more trip to Dublin to go...