Reasonably Logical

Well, after this morning’s post I wandered down to Trinity College with the intent of seeing the so called “Books of Kell”, some very early Christian manuscripts held there. Instead, I ended up joining a tour group that was doing a historical foot tour of the city. It was extremely facinating.

After the tour, I eat lunch at a local restruant. I tried finding one my guide recommended, but as best I can tell it doesn’t exist any more. Instead, I stopped a cafe and had a pretty decent lasagna.

After lunch, I jumped on a city bus tour that went around the entire city. It gave me a good overview of the city. I saw pretty much everything else I wanted to. I though about seeing a few more spots and musuems, but I think I’ll just skip them. I got off the bus at St. Stephen Green and lay down in the park for 1/2 an hour. After that, I walked through the shopping district and bought myself a local prepaid cell phone. I’ve been trying to find something similar for a few days and haven’t been able to.

For dinner, I went to O’Connor’s Pub and had an Irish Stew. Very good, if a tad expensive. I’m looking forward to getting out of Dublin because being here is utterly killing my budget.

As for leaving, I’m heading out tomorrow evening via air for Paris. I decided that was the best option overall. Maybe slightly more expensive, but it saved me time and wasn’t that much more. Not sure where I’m staying yet, but I have my flight reservations now.

— Dublin, 7:40 pm local time

Well, it turned out I didn’t make it to Dublin quite when I expected. I left London two days ago, but ended up having to stop in a small town in Wales to wait for the ferry. I could have taken the 2:30 am ferry, but I decided just to stay over and take the afternoon one. As it happened, I’m very glad I did.

I just loved Hollyhead. Its a small town of maybe ten thousand people which is set in some beautiful hills on the coast of Wales. I stayed at this lovely Bed & Breakfast (The Witchingham) just off the main street. I had a great dinner at the Harborview restruant(sp). I had baked salmon with a side of vegies (which was fantastic!) for under $20 usd. I would expect to pay 30-40 for the same quality meal back in the states. Yesterday morning, I got up, had breakfast at the B&B, and then spent 3 hours walking through town.

The town was just picture perfect. It was obviously pretty prosperous because everything was in great repair and there was maintance work taking place all over. I walked through streets lined with beautiful townhouses and then got out into single family homes and even small farms. I could have walked all the way to Hollyhead Mountian, but decided not to since I’d left my real hiking gear at the B&B. After that, I stopped for a drink and then wondered down another trail that led out by an old castle and onto the breakwater. Another beautiful walk, but this time through nature not town.

For lunch, I stopped at the Boathouse (which is right by the road I walked for the second part of my morning) and had a delicous Italian Salami sandwidch. I was pretty much the only person in the place, so I spent most my time talking with the barmaid about the town.

After that, I stopped in the Maritime musuem to kill a few minutes before going to pickup my luggage from the B&B. It was a fairly small musuem, so I hadn’t expected in to be that interesting, but it turned out to be quite facinating. It was all local history with the storied of ships that sank nearby and the lifeboats that attempted to rescue their crews. I’d recommend it to anyone who needs to kill 1/2 an hour.

After picking up my gear, I ran to the ferry dock to get on board. The actual ferryride was uneventful and very smooth. I spent the later half of the journey talking with a (very cute) Irish college student who was heading home to visit his family. (Have I mentioned that I find an Irish accent very hot?!)

On arrival in Dublin, I caught a bus to downtown and then walked to my hostel in Temple Bar (a region of Dublin). After checking in and dumping my gear, I eat dinner at a bar down the street. (Bergens or something) Wasn’t all that great, but it was cheaper than anything else I could find.

After dinner, I stopped in the Temple Bar. (The entire district was named after it.) I had a great time talking with a number of folks including some American and Austrian tourists. I stayed for about 3 1/2 hours.

I moved on to another gay bar later on, but this one was a bit better than the one in London. A much more friendly (and mixed) crowd. I’m pretty sure most people there thought I was the oblivious straight guy who’d wondered in (the bar wasn’t well marked), but hey I still had fun talking with folks. (This time two flatmates who live near Temple Bar.)

Finally, I stumpled back to my hostel at about midnight. Amusingly enough, I was the 3rd person back and the 3rd person up this morning. (Out of 6 total in the room.)

Well, now off to tour Dublin. Oh yeah, if you’re actually reading this could you post a comment? I’d like to see how many folks are following these posts.

— Dublin, 9:39 am local time

Well, in an effort to get some sleep for tomorrow, I’m going to bed somewhat earlier tonight. To facilitate this, I’ll only be mentioning the highlights of my day.

To start the day off I had to move my gear to another room (since I had extended my stay by one night.) After doing so, I went down to Westminister Abby. Very impressive. I wish pictures had been allowed. You don’t realise just how *big* the place is until you actually get inside. I especially liked the WW2 monument and token to Churchill. (For the monument, they buired an unidentified Brtish soldier with the kings to recognize all those who had died.)

After that, I went to see the practice for the Trooping of the Colours (a big ceremony with the queen and everything). I was running late and this was only the practice so the queen wasn’t actually there, but I do have some good pictures of the guard though. Didn’t get the actual changing of the guard though. Have to do that before I fly out.

Following lunch (and a conversation with a native Brit by the name of Tom), I walked down through Hyde Park. It was about a two mile walk, so I took my time and rested periodically. (I’m still really worn out and sore from the last two days.)

Around 3:30, I went down to St. Pauls to make sure I had plenty of time to see it. Well, I’d guess there is someone up there who doesn’t want to let me in. They closed at 4pm,. right as I got there. Two days in a row now!

Finally, I went offer to the rail station to find out about tomorrow. Glad I did because I need to go to a different station and everything. After that, I came back to the hotel and crashed for a hour or so. (Relax, plan, etc…)

For dinner, I went to Soho. I’d planned on eating at a gay pub, but it turned out they didn’t serve food. Instead I eat at this decent but not great italian place and then went back to the pub for an after dinner drink. Honestly, I think I should have just stayed home and eaten something close to the hotel. (It took me almost 30 minutes to get there due to some subway closures.)

Well, that ended up not being quite as short as I intended. Oh well. Good night. I’m going to bed so I can get up in the morning.

— London, 9:55 pm local time

Well, I just finished my second day in London. (Its midnight thirty here.) Last night Bowen and I went to dinner at a pub about a mile from our hostel/hotel. I had fish and chips, which honestly was not very good. I don’t remember the name of the place, but I have no intention of going back.

After dinner we moved to another pub for drinks and conversation. We started talking with another American in the pub. He had been in the UK for 3 years. He was up from Bristol to see his little brother who had flown in from the states. We talked for a good while and he gave us a number of tips for locations furthur along our trip. After that, I came back to the hostel and crashed. I had been up for something like 33 hours at that point. Bowen aparently went out for another 3 hours or something.

Today, we eat breakfast at the hotel and then headed towards London bridge. (In the process of which I discoved I had bought an off peak pass which was not valid until after 9:30 am. Another 4 pounds down the drain.) We spent about an hour just wondering around trying to find the London bridge. Yeah, I could have used the GPS, but what is the fun in that? The london bridge is not actually very easy to find. It looks like any of the other bridges along the river. Unless you happen to see the sign, you have no way of telling it is at all special.

We actually ran into the London Tower Bridge and took that tour first. (Some of the info on the lift system is pretty damn cool.) After the bridge, we had lunch at this *great* pub just south of the bridge. It was called Pimmellers Rest or something like that. I will correct the name and upload GPS cordinates later. I highly recommend it for anyone in the area. It was dirt cheap (2 people for £13) and the food was damn good.

After lunch, we toured the actual Tower of London. (Which is actually a complex.) We started with a Yeoman guided tour and then walked around some on our own. We were there for 3 or so hours, but really it was a lot like any other premodern fotress I’ve been in. And the armor collection I had been looking forward to was really lacking. It got great reviews in all the travel books, but I have no idea what they liked so much. It was overly crowded, and not much to see. I don’t regret going, but I won’t go again.

After the Tower, we climbed the London Fire Monument. (311 spiral stairs to climb 202 feet up and then right back down. I forgot I’d lived in flat country the last four years. Ouch!) The view was good, but honestly the only reason we did it was because it was included in the cost of the Tower Bridge tickets. We stopped by the London Bridge (since we’d looked at the map by this point), took some pictures, then continued on. Not the most interesting stop of the day.

After that, we went to see the London Stock exchange. Well, I can conclusively say my books are out of date! The stock market has gone all electronic and the building no longer exists.

Finally. we walked to St. Paul’s Cathedral. We got there just in time to sit in the gardens for a few minutes before they closed. I plan on going back there tomorrow to see more.

After coming back to the hotel to rest for a while, I went with Bowen to catch his train. He is going to Bath to meet his cousin. We eat dinner at a pub near Paddington station. Food was good but not great, the cider was decent. Overall, nothing spectacular, but worthwhile none the less.

After Bowen caught his train, I went via tube to Earl’s Court which is one of two gay districts in London. I made it to Old Beucompt (or something like that, don’t have the book in front of me) at around 11pm. I can now say that gay bars in London are the same as those in the states. No one is willing to just talk, because they assume you’re just hitting on them. Sad. I did end up dancing for a while (with my daypack and gear on) with an older woman. (She was in drag and the light was bad, what can I say?) It was still fun though. I left around midnight to catch the tube back since I didn’t want to have to worry about taxi fair. (I’ve got to find an ATM!)

Unfortunately, I drank a Red Bull before going to club, so I’m now wired and can’t sleep. Since there doesn’t seem to be much to do around here, I’ll probably pace for a bit then try to sleep.

As for tomorrow, I’m staying in London and seeing a few more things. I probably go to Dublin on Sunday.

—- London, 10 ’till 1am local time

Well, I am now sitting at my hostel in London. The trip was a bit more compilicated then I might have liked (my first flight was cancelled), but I eventually made it. Its finally sinking in that I am on VACATION and have absolutely NOTHING I have to do. YEAH!

Today, I met up with a nice guy named Bowen at the hostel. We ended up spending most of the day together touring through central London. We started at the parliment and walked to Trafelga(sp) Square taking pictures along the way.

In a few minutes we’re heading out for some dinner, then its back here to crash. At this point I’ve been up for something like 30 hours or so. In the morning I’m going to get up and continue to tour London, though on my own this time. Not sure when my next post will be.

– London, 6:06pm Local Time

Well, I leave tomorrow for Europe. I’ll be gone for 3 1/2 weeks. At this point, I’m mostly done, I just need to finish up a last few items. Of course, there are many things I would have liked to have gotten done that I will not be able to, but oh well. No time left, so might as well not worry about it.

Check back here for updates on my trip. All posts regarding this trip will be tagged “Personal >> Europe Trip — Summer 2007″.