Birthday Wishes at Midnight in a Brazilian Club from a French-Brazilian in London

I'm in my bathing suit!!! Yes, it's a heat wave in London and the hospitals are on alert. It's wonderful. I wanted to be in my bathing suit before the end of June but I thought it would be somewhere nearer the Mediterranean and not in England, but yesterday I went swimming and read in the sun for a while... it was almost too hot at times when there was no breeze. Anyway, let me start from the beginning, when I last left you.

Sunday was a nice and relaxing day. I finished my book, Eat, Pray, Love, and went to Hampstead to find another book. I found two books that looked interesting. One was a detective novel that takes place in Turkey and Venice. The other was about Guenica, Basque country and the Luftwaffe bombings. Both were interesting so I read a bit of the beginning to see which appealed to me more. I read some of the detective novel and was intrigued but the first page I opened to in Guernica said "Guenica; Dave Boling is a journalist in Washington state, USA. This is his first novel." Well, that answered that. I don't think the gal who sold it to me was quite as excited as I was to find a book by someone from Washington state while in London. But I get excited about odd things. Anyway, I bought the book then went to the other end of town to get baking supplies to make Snickerdoodle cookies for my birthday (Monday). I came back just in time to have the sandwich I bought and then leave again for dancing with Gabby and other CSers at Guanabara, a Brazilian club in London. We got there at 7 and watched the end of the forró dance competition. It was fun to watch and after about 30 minutes of free dance (Gabby, the other CSers and myself just watching in awe) we heard over the speakers "BRAZIL, BRAZIL, BRAZIL... (echo-like)" and the dancers slowly got off the dance floor and projected onto the screen behind them was a football match. No, not just any football match, the Confederation Cub Brazil-US match. So, there was two hours of saying I'm Australian (I had a few people going, too!) and trying to not cheer for the US. We scored at 10m and 27m but then Brazil scored just after halftime and then twice more, so we lost 2-3. Honestly, there was one bad call so maybe it should have been 2-4 but either way, we lost. Apparently it was amazing that we got as far as we did. Three hours, two caipirinhas and one bowl of garlic and red pepper spiced olives (soaked in olive oil... yummy) later, they began dancing again. Forró is a lot of fun to watch and a lot of fun to dance if you know what you are doing or have a good dance partner. I danced with a few guys who represented the spectrum of good and not good leaders. It was all fun, though. Toward the end of the night, one guy asked me to dance but kept catching me looking at my feet and told me to look at his eyes instead or at least look up and try to feel where he wants me to go, not watch his feet. Well, that's better than being asked if I would kindly allow him to lead me (like I was told my first time at Tito's). He was a great dancer and just as the club was closing and we were still dancing, I frantically asked him if it was past midnight. He looked at his watch and said it was 6 minute til and I told him it was almost my birthday. We kept dancing and when they closed at midnight, he went to the DJ and had him announce me a happy birthday. My first birthday wishes on my birthday! I knew it would be a great birthday from then on! Bruno and I went for cappuccino (yes, at midnight- he said it how he celebrates birthdays with his friends) and then we took the same bus back, realizing he lives about 10 minute walk from Grant's. We took a detour and went to Parliment Hill to see London at night and made plans for me to visit him on his lunch break the next day for a birthday lunch!

Monday, my 25th birthday (which had started already fantastically!), I began by making the cookie batter for Snickerdoodles so it could chill while I went to lunch with Bruno. I learned that 1 part Baking Soda and two parts Cream of Tartar makes the same as Baking Powder. Who knew? I thought I made a costly mistake in the baking soda/powder/cream of tartar part of the recipes (going between two recipes is just disastrous but one was from Mom and the other was a UK recipe (for the American cookie) so I figured they would use ingredients you can find here (I never did find cream of tartar). Anyway, I got it all sorted out. I put the batter to chill and took the London Overground to meet Bruno for a market lunch, which ended up being just cherries but it was worth it. Fun to see a funkier part of town, very eclectic and gritty. When he went back to school (work), I wandered town for a bit and bought some watermelon (that I will eat just after I post this!) and a new toothbrush (my birthday gift to myself!) and, of course, a white chocolate hazelnut Ritter Sport bar. Yum. Back at Grant's, I made cookies and thought they were the best ever, which they were, fresh from the oven at least. I met Grant and others at Games Night in Central London and discovered my cookies had turned rock hard. There were a few soft-ish ones, but there were many (joking, but serious) comments to watch out for your teeth so they don't break and teasing comments like that (I was making them, too). Andy brought Blamange, a sort of creamy, strawberry, pepto-colored jell-o-type pudding. It was good. Not everyone thought so, but after two 568mL (that comes to just over a litre, folks) of Bulmers, anything will taste good (except my rock cookies). After my two Bulmers, being drug out by my hair (almost literally) by Grant ('there are two hungry Irish people waiting outside for us!'- was that meant to reference the Irish potatoe famine or was it just in my head, Grant?), we went to Wagamama (a noodle bar) where, when told the kitchen was about to close, Grant assured her that 'we will eat so fast you won't even see us.' We ordered whatever our fingers pointed to and we didn't really know what we got until it came, we ordered in such a rush. It was really good though. After we (we being me after two Bulmers) sang a round of 'Magica Emi', we parted ways from the friendly Irish and Grant took me back to Hampstead (about a 20 minute cab ride) in Black Cab fashion. It was my first black cab in London and it was so much better than the bus or tube. Nothing against public transport, but it was a nice treat for my birthday. Back at his house, he showed me photos of his adventures and I must have felt something because at precisely 00:35 (12:35 am to Americans!) I looked at the clock and realized it was my birth minute! I was born at 16:35 Pacific time on the 29th, which is 00:35 in London on the 30th. So I celebrated my birth minute that didn't fall on my birthday. Haha. Took some explaining to get people to understand it (not really important, but small trivial things that I love!) but I got to celebrate it, well, recognize it, at least. It was a great birthday.

Tuesday, Grant and I met up with the Irish gal from dinner and went swimming in the duck-shit-infested mixed swimming pond (they also have separate men's and women's ponds) at Hampstead Heath. It was fun, if you forget the ducks and duck shit you're swimming with. After coming back and showering (soap is a must), we had some tea, everyone left and I went back to the Heath to read in the sun. My 85 SPF sunscreen has done the trick and I don't think I got too burned. Bruno joined me when he got off from rehearsal and we just hung out and chatted until we had catch to the tube to go meet our respective friends. I went to The Couch again to meet CSers for drinks and then we went out to another bar (some close at 11, like The Couch, and some close later) but it was too loud to hear anyone and I was getting tired, so I found a bus that, theoretically, comes every 10-15 minutes after midnight, but I am positive I waited 20-30 minutes for it. I saw too many other buses go by before my #24 bus came for me. Luckily, since it's a heat wave in London (only 2 degrees Celsius cooler than Barcelona, someone said!) it wasn't cold at all past midnight and I was fine in a light jumper (sweater), skirt and sandals. If I had known the bus would take so long, I would have taken the tube (but it costs nearly twice as much) but by the time I realized how long it was taking, the tubes were almost closed and I knew if I left to see if there was one last one I could catch, the bus would come just after I left.

I got back around 1am and since staying at Grant's, my new alarm clock has been the kettle when he makes tea for us in the morning. Today, I didn't hear any kettle, but I woke up to the sounds of Velcro (on Grant's ankle brace from when he injured it walking last week) downstairs and when I looked at the clock to see it was past 10, I went downstairs to find him getting ready to walk out the door, late, because he slept through his alarm. I said goodbye and then went back to bed. I am going over to Bruno's to watch a Brazil football game tonight that is being played in Brazil. He said the telenovelas (like our soap operas) are such a big thing there that they don't change their time slots for anything, even football. So matches can't start before 9:45p which is 2:45a here. Anyway, I'm off to buy some bagels and top up my phone.

Molto Carino week...

So Italians defiantly run on Italian time. Which is fine, as long as you're prepared for it. Picking me up at 12:00 turned into 12:30 and in the mean time, I found tickets for the ferry for half price! Twenty euro instead of forty! Great. They even gave them the online price at the office because they didn't have time to get them online and I had called ahead. :) Yeah for saving money!

We had a great time on Inishmore, which is the largest of the Aran Islands. We went for a walk along the harbour and beach then to a shop. Aran Islands are well known for being Gaelic (here they just say Irish) speaking (although anyone related to tourists speaks English) and for their wool and knitting. The sweaters were beautiful but were a thick knit and 60 euro plus! So I settled for a nice hat for 8 euro. It's VERY warm. It's great. It's just blue and black yarn and is made of Merino wool. I love it. Not as stylish as my last cap with the bow, but much warmer.

We settled into the hostel and the manager (warden) is Italian so he hit it off with Arianna, Lia, Anna and Sam. They were very excited to find out there was a stove top espresso maker so we had an espresso before bed and then saved the last of the grounds for the next morning.

The next day, we rented bikes and toured the island. It is quite steep in places, but there are really nice bike paths. A lot of people bike because there aren't too many cars besides the tour mini buses. It was grand and we had great weather, but it turned into a sunburn for me. The Italians were used to the sun, but alas, my Washington skin was too fair and I am now a lobster.

Marco, the warden at the hostel, told us the boat left at 5 but it turned out it was actually 5 for Galway and 4 for Doolin. Most people go to Galway, but we needed to get back to the car in Doolin. Luckily, we all made it back just in time and arrived safely and happily in Doolin.

From the ferry dock, we drove to Galway (yeah for Italian GPS!) and attempted to find food at 9p. Most places closed their kitchens at 9 or 9:30 so we tried a few places before finding one that was still open. We ordered three dishes between the five of us and then when we were still hungry, we found out that our first order was one of the last of the night before their kitchen closed. So we searched Galway and found McDonald's for ice cream for two of us (Rolo shake for me! I know, I know, I know... but you have to do it sometimes otherwise you're not really European if you never go to McDonald's) and an Irish-McDonald's for two others. From there, we went to Tesco, a shop that was open 24-hour, and bought ingredient for pancakes. I was also getting sick, so I got some lozenges and lotion for my sunburn (I'm just falling apart slowly...).

In the hostel, we met a boy from Toulouse, France and invited him for pancakes. It turned out he was going on a day trip to Cliffs of Moher the next day, so he wasn't able to join us. They didn't turn out anyway. The flour here is different. I tried with the self-rising flour and they didn't work. Yesterday, I found pancake mix in the shop, so I bought some for next time. It's a small package so will be easy to carry around until I use it.

We went for a real Irish breakfast- Italian/American style: for five of us we got two plates and it was filling. Very good. Even the blood sausage and white sausage. We then drove North and after a few wrong turns (it's an Italian GPS! :) ) we arrived in Westport, my stop!

I was sad to leave them. There is something you cannot understand about Italians drives without experiencing it: at various times, they were singing opera (serious and goofy), songs from Italian cartoons including my personal theme song when I was with them "Magica Emi", and singing along to Disney movie songs, in Italian, along with their iPod (two with a headphone ear each, the others without. It was so much fun and didn't matter if we were running late or took a wrong turn or whatever. Very relaxed and fun. It was nice. Thanks Arianna, Lia, Anna and Sam! Grazie mille! I'll come stay with you in Bologna, Lia! You can teach me more Italian and I'll teach you more English! They do have a lot of energy, so when I arrived at the hostel in Westport, it was great to find out I had the WHOLE place to myself!

I left them, after ciaos and grazie milles and an hour after they left, I realized my black North Face coat was in their car still. Merde. I had used it as a headrest in the back seat and it must have slipped back by the window. I'm still trying to get ahold of them but their number doesn't go through (it may be wrong or I can't call to Italian numbers maybe) so I'm still awaiting their response. I have a CS host in Belfast who they can mail it to and then I'll just pick it up there before heading to Scotland. They leave from Dublin in four days so will return the car then and will hopefully find it if they haven't already.

I just wandered Westport my first day, taking in the sunshine and taking it easy. It's a nice town. Not too small, not too big. Two main streets and a canal-like river running through it. I found a SuperValu and got some sauce for pasta. Not real Italian pasta like we had in Kilronan (on Inishmore Island) but it will do for me. I spent a lot of time online waiting for a reply from the Italians about my coat, but nothing yet. I didn't realize the computer cost for Internet otherwise I would have used my computer with wireless for free, but instead paid the hostel owner 2,50 euro today. That's ok though- since I'm waiting here in the hopes of getting my coat and she is full in the dorm room, she's only charging me for a dorm bed but I'm in a four bed room (instead of 8). So I pay 20 euro instead of the 24 euro it would be for the four bed room.

This morning, I went to Croagh Patrick. Croagh Patrick is a hill/mountain depending on if you're from Washington (hill) or Ireland (mountain). It's about 780 metres up I was told, or 2,500 feet above the bay. This is the summit where St. Patrick fasted for 40 days and rang his bell to drive out all the snakes from Ireland (there were never snakes to begin with, but it was symbolic of pagan beliefs). It was really quite a steep climb up and took me about three hours to the summit, where there is a church and not much else. It is very rocky, so it was quite hard going, especially the last hour because the rocks are loose and it can be hard to get good footing. I probably could have done it in less, but I am quite social in these things and asked most everyone who passed me how long to the summit, just to get them talking. I met a couple from Idaho (Ponderosa State Park is what I was trying to think of, but it's farther Northwest than I thought), Vancouver (they go to Mt. Baker often! Wave hi to my family!), Chicago, Minnesota and then a guy, Sam, from Zurich, Switzerland who is traveling for a while and I may go visit in Zurich!

At the summit, it was a great feeling. I had conquered the mountain! Not in record time, but I met so many people coming down who had not made it the whole way that it felt really good just to make it. Being sick and taking a lot of water and food breaks was really important for me and I'm just glad I made it. There isn't much beyond a church at the top. Croagh Patrick is used as a pilgrimage site for many and the most serious do it barefoot. I can't imagine that. It is so rocky there and so steep, that would just be too much for me. While I was looking around, I met two Frenchmen who asked me to take their picture and they took mine, I got some photos of the landscape and then the fog rolled in.

Not being able to see much, I went back down the mountain and was hollered at by Mathieu (pronounced Matieu, not Matthew... he thinks the English TH is ugly), the youngest Frenchman, from just off the path to come take a break with them. I sat and chatted with them for a while. They were five people, two women and two men, all 40s or 50s and Mathieu, the youngest, who spoke the most English and was the most outgoing. Mathieu and I talked the whole way down and he helped me over slippery and steep spots (it was starting to rain so getting mildly dangerous) and he taught me a bit of French and we just talked about traveling and it was really great. You don't notice how hard something is on your legs when you have company.

At the base, we did photos and exchanged emails. He drew me a sketch of Croagh Patrick and I wrote him a limerick about our trip and he said I was welcome to visit him in France when I make it there.

Back at the hostel, I met some Northern Irish hill walkers. I ate my dinner with three of them, Gerry (an older gentleman who helped me planning my trip), Paddy (?) who I can't understand at all and David who was the easiest for me to understand and nearest my age. The whole time, I just tried to figure out what the hell they were saying. Their accent is so different, even they couldn't tell what each other were saying. I felt like I was just a sentence behind them in translating from the accent to mine. I think I got on better when Arianna, Lia, Anna and Sam were speaking Italian! It was funny but I was getting sicker, so after a cup of tea and three (small) glasses of wine, I am blogging and then off to bed.

Tomorrow I am going to go the Derry. I'll try hitch hiking (it's quite safe here) on the route that Gerry showed me but if it doesn't work, I'll just take the bus. Hopefully the weather won't be too cold since I don't have my warm coat but I can layer like it's nobody's business. :) That is, as long as I can walk. I'll have to stretch tonight and tomorrow morning to recover from my hike.

If you've gotten this far and still don't know what molto carino means, email me or leave a comment and I'll tell you. If you've figured it out, perfetto!

Staying on the left, free Nutella and hauling seaweed

A lot to catch up on again.

Saturday night I went to Corine's. I'm never sure if my CS hosts want to to arrive hungry and eat together or full because they don't have the time, money or desire to feed me. Corine wanted me to arrive hungry and then gave me the choice between liver or lamb. I chose liver but she made bacon also (not like our bacon, less cooked and much wider but still thinly cut) just in case I didn't like the liver. It was not too bad. Kind of gamey texture like venison but not a really overwhelming taste. We went out for drinks and I got a Beamish which is made in Cork.

The next day, Eleanor and Jen took me to Kinsale, about a 30 minute drive from Cork on the coast. It's a pleasant little harbour town with a star fort in it and lots of little shops. We explored the fort a bit, drove through an antique car show and then had lunch and wandered. In Europe, it's often more expensive to eat in than to take away because they want you to pay for the table so our sandwiches and pasteries were 1 euro more each but it was nice anyway.

On the way back, Eleanor let me drive! She got us out of Kinsale and on the main road and then let me take over. It wasn't too bad and beside one bike I had to pass (with no shoulder and a road barely wide enough for two American cars- their cars are much smaller in general) they said I did pretty well. I even got to do a few roundabouts which is exciting since the steering is on the right side of the car and you drive on the left side of the road. We switched back before getting back to Cork because there were some really strange roundabouts and I shouldn't do them on my first day driving in Ireland. Even Eleanor got confused as to which lane she should be in.

I went to their apartment for tea and biscuits (our cookies) and pretty soon about 7 of us were there and I had to figure out what they were all saying with their accents and the volume. It was pretty entertaining and good craic (a good time in Irish terminology! not the drug!). One of them guided me back to Corine's and she made lamb for me! Yummy! Great to have French hosts who cook amazingly! :)

The next morning, Monday, I caught a bus to Killarney where there is a lot of hiking. I got to the hostel and found out Killarney National Park is an hour's walk! I figured I would just rent a bike but when I got to my room to drop off my stuff, there was a German girl, Sabine, who had a car and was going there too so I got a lift (not ride- ride implies something different- sexual) with her to the shop (grocery store) and to the park where we had a picnic on a really nice sunny day, explored Muckross House and went to Torc Waterfall. She then drove me to some points on that end of the Ring of Kerry, Molls Gap and a few others with great views and the sun was setting so it was nice (just a bit chilly). We came back to the hostel and made dinner- just pasta- and went to bed after internet. She was leaving the next day to go back to Germany so gave me some of her leftover juice and nutella. Yeah!

The next morning, Tuesday, I got the bus to Dingle and on my connecting bus I noticed the American couple in front of me were passing back and forth a bag of Trader Joe's Rainbow Trail Mix. I commented on it and started talking with them and it turns out they're from Bellingham! Small world! They were nice and chatty and had family they were meeting up with so it didn't work out to make plans together.

I met up with my CS host for that night, Kristin but while she was finishing up some errands I went for a walk out along the harbour to the lighthouse and just beyond. There is a dolphin, Fungi, who has made the harbour his home and they do boat tour out to the harbour to see him. I noticed one of the boats and soon I saw a whole pod of dolphins doing flips and swimming alongside the boat. It was great.

I came back and met Kristin. She's American and really cool. We went foraging for plants for a salad and she taught me some plants I can eat that I found on the peninsula. Then we went to collect seaweed from the beach and put it in her car to use as fertilizer. The next day we took it to the garden and she let me pick some more plants for salads at the hostel, including some mint for tea.

Wednesday I took a minibus archaeological tour of the Dingle Peninsula recommended by Rick Steves. The bus only held 12 people so it was small enough to visit many smaller sites on the peninsula and were able to go into a beehive hut. On the tour I met a nice couple from Seattle. They took me out to lunch after which was great and then we wandered town together for a few hours. We went to an antique shop and I found some great mostly white shell earrings for 2 euro! That's nothing! Only about $2.60 or something. They're really pretty but quite large. For a 2 euro souvenir though, I won't complain. :)

Back at the hostel I made dinner (pasta) but realised I didn't have lettuce to add to my weeds so I shared with someone who did have some. We just made one big salad with his lettuce, my weeds, pepper and mushrooms. It was pretty good with some balsamic vinegar on it. There are usually free food shelves so it was good to have some different food besides my pasta.

There were some nice people at the hostel but one really loud obnoxious Canadian (nothing against Canadians- she just was one). She was really loud (most Europeans are quite and respectful) and was making fun of the German girl she met and was traveling with because she didn't know certain English words (she was mixing up mermaid and nightmare for some reason- maybe they're similar in German). The girl put up with it but I would have not. When I got up to the dorm, her bags were all over my bed and she said I 'hadn't claimed it properly' because I hadn't undone the sheets but she still moved them since I had my stuff out at the foot of the bed and I was getting ready to go to sleep then. Crazy Canadian! Strange girl. I'm glad she left really early this morning so I didn't have to listen to her again.

Well, today I'm just taking it easy. Just interneting, going to the ATM and making lunch. I met a girl from Australia who is working in Wales and has her car here so she is letting me go with her to Doolin this afternoon. She is out cycling now and should be back around 3 so I will finish this, do my errands and make some lunch and come back to the internet until she gets back and then we leave!

Doolin is really near the Cliffs of Moher and I think I'll stay there for the weekend. Lot of hiking and stuff to do. Hopefully I'll get at least one good day of weather. From there, I go to Inishmore, one of the Aran Islands, overnight (probably Monday night) and then on to Galway for a few days. I like to stay in one place for the weekend to relax and buses usually run less or not at all on Sundays so it's good to stay in one place for a few days. Plus shops may not be open on Sundays so it's good to get food on Saturday and then cook it on Sunday.

Ok- I'm off in the rain to the ATM and maybe the shop but I think I have some pasta and sauce left from last night so I'll just make that again for lunch.

How many ways are there to have whiskey in Ireland?

I feel like this is Tour de Whiskey the past few days! Where I left off in my blog, I was in Cashel at a hostel where there were half dozen workers from Northern Ireland staying and they were in the kitchen drinking and listening to music and chatting... what you might expect is the stereotypical Irish evening but it was true. I went in and they invited me to sit down and one guy made me a drink but wouldn't tell me what it was. All I knew was whiskey. I later found out it was a Hot Toddy (medicine) with about two parts hot water, some sugar stirred in, then one part whiskey (it was Scotch whiskey though- shame). It was really good. They were chatty, but I was a sentence behind in deciphering their accent so it was hard to keep up.

The next day I went to explore Hore Abbey (yes, pronounced "whore") which is the abbey ruins and no entry gate or anything... you just have to walk through a cow pasture and avoid manure on the path to get to it. It has a great view of the Rock of Cashel, which was my next stop.

The Rock of Cashel is very cool- up on a hill in the town of Cashel and it's also an abbey ruin but they have tours and it's easier to see and understand than the abbey was. I met a gal from Saskatchewan and then found two people from Wisconsin from the hostel. There was a tour starting just after I got there and went I went to the meeting point, I saw three Rick Steves' Ireland books open and I just laughed because I hadn't seen any yet and now I saw three at once! I took the tour then went into town with the girls from Wisconsin. We found a €6 lunch and then a €40 sweater for one of the gals who was quite cold. A good souvenir I think. I went back to the hostel to check email and sort out couches and hostels for the next week or so and then went to top up my phone (add minutes to it) and catch the bus to Cork.

The bus was late by twenty minutes but I got to Cork and was greeted by my host, Bryan. I'm his first couchsurfer and it's a lot of fun here. He's in a house with three other people and we went to a house party at his friends last night... it was great. There, the girls were drinking Jameson and coke and Jameson and 7-up. After a beer, I joined in the Jameson and 7-up. It was good. I'm on to tea and juice now as I think most people are today after last night (I left before they went into town so I can only imagine how they're feeling).

Today is a relax day. Nice to be online again and do some researching for my next few weeks. As of yesterday I hadn't had anything planned for couches or hostels beyond Cork so now at least I know of youth hostels and have sent out couch requests for the next week in Killarney, Dingle and Doolin.

Today I go to Corine's house for the next two nights and on Sunday Eleanore, one of Bryan's friends, said she could take me to Kinsale which is a small harbour town that I was going to do by bus, but by car would be far better. Hmmm.... maybe she'd even let me drive part way... that would be exciting!

Polish host, French movie, Swiss dinner guests and Northern Irish partiers! Yes, I am still in Ireland.

So my last day in Dublin was great. I went to the bus station and found that I could catch a bus to Kilkenny in 8 minutes or in two hours and 8 minutes. I was very hungry so I opted for the later bus. I followed part of the walking tour in Rick Steves' travel book and part way though, went into a church that he just mentions, St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral. It isn't technically a cathedral because the pope hasn't said it is yet- but St. Patrick's and Christ Church in Dublin both are- but St. Mary's is the largest church in Dublin. I went in and there were people in the pews and I sat down and a choir rehersal with the organ began in the balcony. I couldn't see the choir, but I could hear the director and it was definately a rehersal. It was a good way to spend time before the bus. I stayed maybe a half hour.

The bus to Kilkenny was good, but long. Maybe two and a half hours. When I got to Kilkenny, Nina, my host came to meet me. She is Polish- I haven't had an Irish host yet! She took me to her house and I met her son, Bart, and had homemade soup (yum!) and then worked on my computer. She and I then went to a pub for International Movie Night with her friends. They projected a movie onto a screen and played it for everyone in the pub. This week it was The Science Of Sleep, a French movie with the guy from Motorcycle Diaries. It was very good. We had a beer there (her favorite German beer) and then stopped for chips (French fries) at what she said was the best chip shop in town. They were too salty for both of us, so neither of us finished. But they were good.

Today I had my first excitement with bus transfers. Not all stops are at a station and even if they aren't at a station, they are still transfer points. I had two of them and tried to talk to people at the stops to be sure I was on the right bus. Most everyone here is very helpful and will tell you more than you'd ever want to know about something you didn't ask about at all.

I found my way to Clonmel for my first transfer, about 20 minute wait, then on to Cahil, where it was an hour wait so I went to the castle, just near my stop. It was free as I bought the Heritage Card which gets me into many sites for free. They told me to have fun exploring the castle and it really was exploring- like a big kid jungle gym. There were stair (steep and without rails) and you could walk along the top of the castle and up the towers, passing the jail cells, and up to the lookout towers. It was very good. And free is never a bad thing.

Arriving in Cashel, I found my way to the hostel (my first hostel of the trip!) and met a few American girls traveling after graduating and a few Swiss people who I had dinner with (pizza, soup, salad, cheese and 7-up finish off with Ferer Rocher... a feast). They have just gone to bed and there are a half dozen Northern Irish guys in the kitchen of the hostel listening to traditional Irish music and I saw a bottle of whiskey... or is it whisky... either Scottish or Irish add the "e" in whisky... can't remember. They sound like they're having fun. They offered me a drink, so I may take them up on it before going to bed.