My Goodness My Guiness

Hello from the wonderful city of Dublin!
I am sitting in our hostel writing on a pretty darn old keyboard. We have now been 2 days in Dublin and I can definately say everything is fantastic since our problems of monday! Dublin is wonderful. It is nice to finally be situated in one place for a couple of days!
Well, let me try to sum up what we've been up to in the big capital of Ireland. We arrived on Monday night and in the morning (after eating a real breakfast! Hurah!) we set out to see the sights that Dublin had to offer. The first place we went was the Kilmainham goal or jail. This jail was used during the various rebellions in Dublin, the civil war and the famine. Having watched the movie 'Micheal Collins' in World Issues in highschool, it was like history (and movie) coming to life. It was sooooo cool! For those of you who haven't seen the movie.. watch it! It stars Liam Neeson.. very nice. Anyways, after that we just toured around the city. We saw various churches that were rather large, we went to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells (yeah about that... it was 6.50 Euro to go in and see this silly book -- so we weren't going to go... then when we were in the bookstore - where the entrance to the book was - Trish just walked in when the guy was gone (not on purpose mind you -- honest!) and saw the book for free! Yeah for being Dutch!), we had lamb kabobs (there's some Irish food for you) and went shopping down streets reserved only for pedestrians. It was such a wonderful day.
Today was reserved for a tour Trish and I decided to go on called the Celtic Experience. It was with a tour company but there were only allowed 14 people per tour so we knew it would be a more intimate tour. Our tour guide's name was Chris and he was great! He was a funny guy and loved talking to us about Canada and telling us interesting things about Ireland and his life. On the tour we went to a bunch of places... we started with Fourknocks which is a burial mound outside of Dublin... it had buried 65 people... it was very cool. Next was Mellifort abbey.. a ruins of what would have been a beautiful abbey.. we are soo proud of ourselves because we only took ONE picture here, despite the fact that we are SUCKERS for ruins. I just can't resist take pictures of crumbling buildings surrounded by green! It's just so appealing to the camera's eye. Anyways, from there we went to MainisterBoyne which was another abbey ruin... but this one's importance was the fact that it held the highest celtic cross in Ireland and the best preserved and best example of a celtic cross (that would be 2 different crosses). Next on the list was Slayne, where we stopped for lunch (we ate in a beer garden -- a dream for some of you, I know) and then we went to the hill of Slayne which held the abbey where St. Patrick first defied the King and lit the famous fire of Pashel. If you don't know anything about that.. then you should learn. The last leg of our tour was to the famed Hill of Tara which used to hold the powerseat of all of Ireland. The High King lived there in his big castle (no castle remains because it was built of dirt -- talk about fancy) and there is also the Lia Fail.. a big rock jutting out of the ground. This is also known as the stone of destiny. Once again... do your homework.
So yeah, once the tour was done, we bought some souvenirs, did some groceries (um, bread and chips.. or crisps as they call them here) and then got ready for a night on the town. Trish and I decided to go to Knightsbridge Pub in Dublin which had live music and dancing. And no, we're not talking clubbing dancing where you dress in scanky clothes and bop your head.. no no... this is dancing the Irish way A. K. A. --- RIVERDANCE! Wahoo! We spent 10 Euro there.. on dessert and a drink. Yep, and that would be splitting that dessert and drink. But the drink was alcoholic (GASP!) .. but it was NOT Guinness. I didn't think I'd like the stuff (sorry jody!) so we got a shandy instead. But the entertainment was totally worth it. Live Celtic dancing right infront of us! It was awesome.
So now it's off to bed because tomorow we leave for the wonderful but expensive England! We're staying at the Brown's Hostel.. tonight will be our third night. Our bedroom is being shared with 18 other beds (not all which hold people). The amount of people in our room changes each night. Last night was the most interesting because there was ourselves, one other female and about 9 males. Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Unfortunately I was already asleep when they all came in, but Trish informs me that they just strip down to their boxers and hop into bed! Man alive... why must I be so tired!??!?! But waking up to 9 guys around you is rather interesting. Let's just say I tried to make it to the bathroom as soon as possible, then once done, made my entrance. :) LOL . But don't worry, no attatchments as of yet.
WEll, I don't know how much time we have left so I better sign off.. these things always end up being soo long! Sorry but there's so much to tell!
Oh, by the way, some of you have been asking if I have pictures... I do, but they are currently in a tight little film canister. So you'll have to wait until we get back.. then I can scan them into a computer and put them up somewhere.
I hope everyone is ready for school!! (that is, if you're going...) tee hee, I won't be there for another week!
Love lots and lots -- thanks a million!