Before I forget, right now, saw the end ofthe Turkey vs Senegal game. Turkey won in overtime and right now a bunch of cars are honking and celebrating over the victory outside my window. Also greatly amusing. So I originally woke up at 7am b/c some ppl were chatting outside my door. Appears that the walls here area really thin. Went back to bed and tried to get up @ 9. (Felt like 4am). Didn't work, so slept for another hr and half. I noticed that in the morning, its quiet on the streets. There aren't too many cars or people about. It's later in the afternoon/evening that it starts to get crowded. So today at around noon, I went down to Grafton St and went looking around the stores. Clothere there are incredibly expensive./ I remmber last year our tour guide said books were cheapm, but I found them to be more expensive than in teh states. maybe its b/c of the Euro. (Or maybe I heard wrong). I was reading the paper last night and it had an article how things here are more expensive than in other countries using the Euro. That they're getting ripped off. I didn't buy much, just some scissors and nail clippers b/c I had to throw mine away while at Dulles (and also my wonderful leatherman. I was in pain to toss it out. I'm hitting myself over the head for forgetting to put them in my suitcase.) I ate lunch at a cafe in one of their malls. a vegetarian panini-too bad the lady there didnt know what I was talking about. I hope it wasnt my accent, though she did seem to be new. The vegetarian panini consisted of egg salad, tomatos and lettuce on a 5-grain roll. Afterwards, I went to Trinity College and saw the Book of Kells. This time I was able to fully enjoy it b/c last time I was with Michelle (my sister) who didn't care about it. Upstairs was their Long Room - 2 stories high. Though I wondered how people were able to get to the shelves on the 2nd floor as there were no staris or ladder to them. So now I'm back tat the hotel watching tv and the street. It's incredibly interesting seeing and hearing the people. There was a brief shower about 15 minutes ago but it looks like that cleared up and the sun is popping out. I might hop on one of the bus tours, but I'm still up in the air about that. I'm really enjoying just watching outside. On a different note, some stores that I passed by today - "Monaghan's Sweater Shop", "Sheridan's Cheesemonger", and "Molly Bloom". I'm sure some of my "loon"y friends will appreciate those names. I wrote them down in my orange book so I wouldn't forget them and the next time I get a chance to go online, I'll post them. I passed by, yesterday, a cyber cafe, but was too intimidated to go inside. I'll wait until next time. I think for dinner I'll just have some food at the hotel. Tomorrow morning, I head out to Strokestown. I'm a little nervous b/c Iit will be a completely new experience for me. And yet at the same time I'm really excited b/c I will be digging and will be engulfed in a new environment for a whole moneth. Okay. Until next time!
Cheers!
