Dublin and Edinburgh

Well, our time in Dublin was short but awesome. On that first day we took some killer night shots of the city, and had a really decent sleep. Next day (I'm thinking it was the 8th? maybe?) off we went for a free tour of the city. There is a really great company that trains up tour guides with the history of all of these towns, and then they do three hour tours for trips. The Dublin tour was amazing. The tour guide was one of the best I've seen in a long time and the history if the city itself is really very interesting. As you walk through the buildings that you otherwise would have passed by as simply being "old buildings", you are able to truly imagine the people in them, and some of the scenarios that occurred within the building's walls. There were plenty of stories about people trying to raid castles and parliament buildings to gain their Independence from England. Apparently there was a lot of blood shed on those quaint cobble stone streets.

After our tour, we were feeling really good, and having a great idea of the cities center, we continued to explore. We had circled a few places on our map that we wanted to go back and visit throughout our tour. So, we went to the Christ Church Cathedral. It was lovely, and very old and rustic. It's always interesting to note the different additions to the church over time. As Christchurch is over 1000 years old, most of the pieces were additions or alterations from about the 1500's onward. It was about 5 now, and what we've noticed about UK is that everything closes at 5. Then you have an hour for dinner, and then nightlife begins. Unfortunately, none of us are willing to blow all of our money on alcohol, we're being way to stingy. So for us, once everything closes, we go to a pub and sit, or we walk around town. The sun doesn't even set until just after 10 so the evenings are fairly quiet. Anyway, all of that being said, we wanted to see St. Patrick's Cathedral as well, but it was closed. And the National Gallery was closed too. It's really nice though, because all National Galleries and Museums are free, so we can go whenever we want with no cost! Hurrah!

While we were chilling in St. Patrick's cathedral park (its' like the backyard of the church), I lost my pictures. It was sad, but you already know about how sad it was, and Tash has agreed to save them for me! Again I say Hurrah!

So, the evening ended with a sit in a terribly expensive pub and a nice warm meal of beans (once back at the hostel), and we went to bed a little bit early.

Next day, our last day in Dublin, we woke up early. Unfortunately for us, we had learned from a website during some Internet cafe time the previous evening, that it was supposed to be 4 degree's Celsius and pouring rain when we arrived in Scotland. Pity. So, we tried to find a thrift store, but not knowing of any, our very kind hostel receptionist gave us directions to a little place called penny's where they have "very very cheap - cheaper than I think second hand". So, Penny's ended up being fairly large, and we did find some really inexpensive hoodies (and they were from winter clearance so they are so so warm...praise God!)

Next we walked through pouring rain through the whole center of Dublin until we found the Guinness factory. I, of course, care naught for beer, but I think that it's something that you just gotta do if you visit Dublin. After being to the Bacardi factory in Peurto Rico, I'm gonna say that that one was better, as you saw more real making of the alcohol. In the Guinness, we were shuffled through a very large Exhibition for most of the time, but it was very educational. At the end you are treated to a free pint. Gross. I got pop, but Beth and Bradley took their half pint's )which was all they could stomach), and almost tried to enjoy it....but we all know, it's no harp. (Harp is the beer that these two have found here that is really awesome - everything get's compared to harp now in the way of Alcohol).

We did get to see the national gallery - which was lovely, and we almost got to see the book of Kells, but it was really really expensive, and fora book, we didn't think it was worth it. So, we bypassed that little piece of history, and made our way back to the Internet cafe where we took down directions to the house of our first couch surfing host.

Finding the bus station and then taking the plane to Edinburgh was fine. Everything went very smoothly, and we found our bus really quickly as well. Lucky for us, this guy was right off the city center, maybe an 8 minute walk from what we do most of the time, but it was almost 10 o'clock by the time we got there. So, scenario....

We are walking through the most gorgeous town ever. Edinburgh is beautiful, and we follow all of the road sign until we get where we're going, and then we find the correct building and ring the buzzer. The voice on the other end said " oh, ok", and we are let in. Once we find the door to the apartment....a little white head pops out and says " um....."

OK, this is very odd, because from the profile pics, we are looking for a black man, who doesn't say um awkwardly for a long time.

"we are couch surfing...are you expecting us?"

"um, I don't know, um...."

(ok, so now, our minds start to thing - this whole CS thing is a joke, and a waste of time, and we have been shammed, and we'll have to find a hostel at this hour and it'll cost a fortune for 4 nights. URG!)

"seriously, we're looking for this guy (whose name we couldn't' pronounce at the time)"

"oh, oh yah! he lives here!"

"great. where is he?"

"um, I don't know, come on in though. I'm just having a party. He let me use his house, but I don't know where he went...hmmm, he was just here I swear!"

Awkward! So, we step into this guys house, we do not have a host, we were not expected by the other guy, and there is a room full of like 8 women, all with non-alcoholic beverages, and everyone is sitting quietly. Worst party ever! The girls didn't' know each other, and the guy was just all around a weirdo, not really self confident, and certainly wanted attention, but wasn't getting any. So, luckily for the party, we were there, because we got everyone talking about different things after asking many many questions, but sad for us, as we still had no host, we were tired, and the room in which all of these people were sitting, was indeed also the room we were to be sleeping in. Rats.

So, the party continues, gets a little less awkward, people begin to mingle with each other, and we get involved in a few nice conversations. It's nice as well because we are learning a lot of tips from people who have lived here for a while. Interestingly enough, most of the people there were not Scottish. Apparently Edinburgh has very few Scottish folk, and we should look out for them in Glasgow. Shortly after midnight our host came in, and because there was a party, we didn't' talk very much to him at all, but he just joined in mingling.

Eventually (around 2 am) one of the girls realized that we were tired and said "maybe we should go" and with that, the party dissolved. The guy said "I hope you brought your sleeping bags" - which we hadn't, and so we curled up on a little tiny love seat each, and went to sleep with nothing but the clothes on our backs. What a very interesting evening...and odd, and awkward. We still don't know what to make of couch surfing....

The next morning, Osama (his name) woke us up and said he was going to church, then he left...which was odd because we had expressed interest in going to church and ended up not going at all, because he walked out on us. He DID leave a note on the door that said to come back for a meeting at 5. So we made breaky and told him in a not that we would be home at 5 and then off we went to explore Edinburgh by day.

The city is insane! It's so beautiful. We decided to take one of those tours that we'd taken in Dublin, so the 1 o'clock tour was our choice. The guide was weird and spoke only to one specific audience....he could learn something from dad. But, the city was lovely, and it didn't' even rain that much. Apparently the 4 degrees and rain was unfounded. It was totally bareable. So, the tour taught us a few things - such as where the phrase "shitfaced" came from, as well as many things about the haunting of the area etc...very fun. Too bad the guide kept starting stories, but not finishing them!

Anyway, post tour we already had to head back for the "meeting" with Osama. We got back just before 5, found him at the computer, we said hello. He said hello, and then proceeded to take his dinner into his bedroom to eat in privacy. Very strange. Then he left for the night! We were so confused. I still don't' know when we're supposed to chat with this guy...which is the whole couch surfing thing - we're supposed to share culture with each other!! We even brought maple syrup and a pancake recipe! Ridiculous! So, anyway, we went out, bough some groceries for a salad, and hung out for the evening. We actually napped for about 3 hours, then went off through the city for some night photography.

This evening we were more prepared to sleep with no covers, and I think overall the night went a lot better. The next morning I felt more rested anyway.

So, we woke up at a decent time, booked a tour to the highlands and went to visit the local cathedral. overall really nice. The two biggest events for the day though were that Bradley and I tried haggis (which is really a lot like bratwurst - so I can't complain) and we saw Edinburgh castle which was magnificent from the outside, but the inside has all been redone to create museums and exhibits. The one for the royal jewels though is really well done. So kudos. The other's are a little cheesy, and the one to the prison was disappointing.

Afterwards we ate some delish pb&j for lunch, and took a nap in the now very bright sun for a couple of hours. Who knows what we're do later tonight, as not a lot if open. Perhaps well play poker. Maybe Osama will be home? Maybe not. Regardless, it'll be relaxing.