day 5 - march 20, 2009

Our last day in Dublin.
We started the day as B's kinesiology patients. It was special to see B practice her medical training--it's always amazing to see a good friend do something they love and are very, very good at. I won't go into detail (it's just private!) but if you're ever in Dublin and you need someone to help you feel the best you can feel, go see this lady.

After we were in tip top shape, B, kp and I went in to the city to stroll around. We had the most delicious lunch at Cornucopia. I don't think I've ever had such delicious, fresh, perfectly-prepared vegetarian food. Plan a trip to Dublin just to eat here, Jacqui. You won't regret it.

Our trip in to the city was basically planned around visiting Penney's, the Irish Primark. We didn't get any photos of the inside of it because we were too busy finding things to buy. It's sort of like a cheap version of H&M. Very, very cheap, both in price and in quality. I have a hard time not buying things just because they are cheap, so I had to talk myself out of a few articles of clothing that were clearly going to fall apart after the first wash but WHY NOT BUY THEM THEY ARE SO CHEAP! It was hard work, but I convinced myself that it was a waste of pounds I could be spending on beer instead. (That did the trick). My best buy from Penney's: a little purse, sort of a flax colour, that zips close, has a cute big button detail, and can be slung across the chest for riding your bike while still wearing a cute little purse. Kp's best buy from Penney's: the same purse as me, but in pink. No, just kidding. Actual best buy by kp: BRIGHT FUSCHIA SPARKLY flats with little bows.

Shopping is exhausting, so we headed to a cafe for a little pick me up. This was my favourite part of the day... silently enjoying the company of my pals while watching Dublin go about its business in an unhurried fashion.
The city is just cozy, somehow. The streets are narrower and cobblestoned. The buildings are shorter. And the people seem to be in less of a rush than in Toronto. I'd like to come back and spend some time here someday. Add it to the list.

Have I told you about Yerman yet, Reader? I better mention him before we leave Dublin. Yerman was someone we heard about shortly after arriving in Dublin. B told us a story about how he used to be her boss at a bar just down the road from where she lives now and he wasn't necessarily operating on the right side of the law. He certainly sounded like a sketchy character. But then she said that Yerman cuts her hair, so I guess he couldn't be all bad. Then there was a news story that we heard about someone living in Yerman's closet for MONTHS without him noticing, but that happened in China, so Yerman must be a busy man running a bar AND a salon in Dublin while also living and working in Beijing. Then Yerman started popping up in the city AND in Dingle and everywhere in between. Ciaran knew him too, as did every Irish man and woman we met. So then: aha. Yerman is not a dude with a funny name who really gets around, but actually "your man". Or "that guy". As in "there's yerman bringing the drinks now" or "and then yerman comes up and says to me" etc. Right. Obviously.

And that brings us to the end of our Irish adventure. B took us to the airport and I cried with happiness over being able to spend the last 5 days with her and in sadness over not knowing when I get to hug her next. Although there was still lots of trip ahead of us, I was having trouble imagining how it could be as good as seeing B in an Irish landscape and enjoying the company and hospitality of B and Ciaran. Thanks guys, times a million. Pusskrambing.

So: Our flight to Edinburgh was short and sort of like a being at a pub. I think most people onboard were a bit tipsy and/or high with excitement over heading to Edinburgh for the weekend. I think there was some sort of football thing on, maybe. It was a loud flight but fast and fairly painless seeing as I had the window seat and kp had to talk to the 30-something drunken football fans sitting beside us. Getting into the centre of Edinburgh was as easy as catching a bus and getting off at Waverley. I had the brilliant idea of walking to our hostel since it was only a few blocks. Save money! See the city! Smart!

Lots of stairs! Super heavy packs! Stupid!This photo is blurry because my hands were shaking from exhaustion.

We found our hostel and happily shed our packs. What we didn't find right away was Tori, kp's pal who lives and works in Scotland now and was meeting us at the hostel. What we did find was a feeling of being too old for hostels followed quickly by instant irritation at the bottom-bunk girls who had obviously been there for ages and had taken all the storage space. They weren't there, but we judged them by their belongings.

Now you can too.

Tori's arrival brought our bitchy judging to an abrupt halt and our decision to go in search of a pint on the Royal Mile improved all of our moods.

This is Tori. She is a babe. She bought us our first pints of Tennent's. Yum.
I like making people pose for pictures for which I've invented a fake story line. This one was "kp has been on the phone for too long. Tori needs to use it and is mad." Or something.

We were just down the street from Edinburgh Castle so we decided to go take a look just in case we didn't get the chance later seeing as how we were headed off on a tour the next morning. I had toured the castle before on a previous UK trip, but I have a soft spot for castles, and especially for this one and I really wanted kp to see it, even if it was just the outside.

It doesn't disappoint, even (especially?) at night.

It was windy so we went right up to the door to get in out of the cold gusts. Of course, being hilarious and all, I thought it would be funny to knock on the door of Edinburgh Castle.

Ha ha! Knocking on a big wooden door of an ages old stronghold! As if someone is going to answer! Well...

"Can I help ye?"

That guy did. And he was nice enough to let us take his picture and not arrest us for trespassing.

We wandered around Edinburgh a bit more, re-hashing what had just happened ("I never thought I'd knock on the door of Edinburgh Castle and SOMEONE WOULD ACTUALLY ANSWER!", "you should have seen your face!!", etc. ad nauseum).

Edinburgh is impressive, even (especially?) at night.

There were drunks spilling on to the street in the Grassmarket area. Seeing the aftermath of the Friday night made us feel like getting hot chips and heading back to the hostel rather than partaking in the drunken revelry. Plus, we had our tour of the Scottish Highlands to prepare for... not that we were at all prepared for what lay ahead of us.