Ireland

I had four days in Dublin prior to Shannon arriving. Alone again after saying farewell to Rob and Katy, I was a little down so decided to entertain myself with local theater in Dublin. Rob and I had gone to see a play in London and this had kinda gotten me into the idea. First I went to see a play at Trinity College and then another at a small independent playhouse. The second, called "The Maids" was different to say the least. Outside the theater I met Anthony, who asked me, "do you know much else about the play?", which was HILARIOUS. I guess you had to see this strange play to understand why this question/comment was so funny, it kinda left you wondering what you just witnessed. Anyways, I busted into laughter which led us into a few drinks, which turned into me making friends with him, Hanna and Andrew. Later that night I met Ciaran who the next day was touring me around the RTE studios, which led to me being an extra in Fair City the biggest Irish soap. http://www.rte.ie/tv/faircity/bs.html Everyone's grandma watched this I guess. Ciaran promises to send me a clip of my daytime TV debut. I'll be sure to send this out! Ha!

That night Andrew and Anthony took me to see a local Dublin band. We went to this really cool venue, Crawdaddy, to see Dark Room Notes. Here are some pictures from the show: http://siobhanquigley.blogspot.com/2007/07/dark-room-notes-at-crawdaddy-110707.html and if you want to listen: http://drn.vox.com/library/audio/6a00d4142d35d83c7f00e3989da50a0002.html
It was a great show and a great night.

By the time Shannon arrived in Dublin I was feeling good about the circle of friends I'd made. It was nice spending time in Dublin with locals rather than travellers. Even despite the continues down pouring of rain that seemed to follow me from London. But now, Shannon, my close friend of 15 years, was here for 2 weeks of vacation, making me SO SO happy. Shannon and I haven't lived in the same town since high school back in West Virginia but have always both made a successful effort to travel to see each other. We reminisced about times we spent together in West Virginia, New York City, Las Vegas, Los Angelos and San Francisco. It was exciting to add some of Europe to the list. We spent one more fun night in Dublin before heading out on a tour of the south of Ireland.

Oh the Paddywagon. Here's the link to the backpacker tour company with the itinerary of what we did: http://www.paddywagontours.com/viewtour.php?id=2&&day=16&&month=08&&year=2007 It was a great six days, seeing the spectacular scenery, learning about the history and current political/social climate of Ireland and acquiring a true appreciation for Guinness as well as Irish whiskey. One small town we visited had a population of 900 residents and 9 pubs. We laughed that at any given time everyone in town could be in a pub. Shannon learned where all her favorite New York City pubs were named after.

I also had a few really spectacular runs in Ireland. Getting totally lost in Dublin, passing the deer and Ross Castle in the Killarney National Park and jogging along cows and sheep on the Dingle Peninsula - all great highlights of Ireland for me.

I also have to mention that we had the best tour guides, who were so well informed, it made the entire experience. It was also great to discover some great Irish bands, thanks Evonne. :-) And thanks to Tara for the Australian tips as well. All long roads trips deserve good tunes.

One last day in Dublin and then we were off on the evil Ryan Air to Italy. But I won't forget my last day in Dublin because of the long heart to heart Shannon and I shared that day. This and all the memories that she and I created in Ireland will never be forgotten.