In Ireland!

Blogging from an internet cafe at the prodding of a committed reader - ha! Meanwhile a protest demonstration marches by.... which incidentally closed down Dublin's entire public transportation system. We were meant to go to Howthe, a small coastal city north of Dublin to have lunch, go hill-climbing and walk around... but alas, we are going to have to reschedule for tomorrrow.

So instead our afternoon will consist of lunch here in town, going to the Dublin castle, taking silly pictures and ending up at the Guinness Storehouse (awww yeah). Tonight we are going to go see an Irish indie movie, grab dinner and go out for drinks (maybe an Irish car bomb is calling?)

The city is great so far and I have been really enjoying it. I am here with my friend Matt from the Kerry/Englin/Corzine campaigns after a few days doing the touristy thing in London. I am always impressed what a small city Dublin is and yet there seem to be an endless amount of funky little streets each filled with its own legendary pubs and restaurants. We've been fortunate to sample quite a few so far and have had a policy of not getting more than one drink at each place so we can see as many as possible.

The first night we went out to dinner at a very chill bistro in Temple Bar, the Elephant and Castle... then last night went out to have traditional Irish food at Gallagher's Boxty House. Matt had cornbeef and cabbage; vegetable and potato pie for myself that was immensely enjoyable.

We have also been trying to try as many different kinds of Irish beer as possible - which means a lot of half-pints and sharing. Kilkenny is a personal favorite so far :)

It's been fun to learn my way around the city (anyone that knows Matt knows he is still working on it!) and get a feel for the place. The people here are genuine and warm, with unbeatable accents and firm handshakes. It's also been fun to wander down O'Connell street (shout out to the fam in Jersey!) and see some history.

Yesterday we went and saw the Book of Kells, the Long Room (a fantastic old library) and Trinity College. It's amazing to see the sweatshirts that say 'since 1562' when UCSD was established in 1960 and my country in 1776 - ha! Guinness (and most other Irish brews) are also older than that!

We were also able to go to St. Stephen's Green - a beautiful park just south of the city centre that is great to stroll along in and get lost in the maze of park benches, birds and wanderers. Grafton and George streets are filled with musicians and street entertainers, shops and great for window shopping. It's especially cool becuase whole streets are decorated with Christmas lights, trees, carrollers and the like... which is helping me get in the mood for the holidays! And for those of you living in Auburn... you'll get a few fun things from here as well as I indulged in starting my Christmas shopping.

Alright... as Mark says... it is almost beer o'clock! Cheers!