A Week on No Sleep

After working seven shifts in a row, which included three and a half hours of sleep because of the Guinness work party, as well as other feats of exhaustive merit, I was, quite frankly, exhausted. But it was worth it. On Monday we went to Fitzgeralds, where we met Heather and Anne’s friend from back home, and I got to know Alysia, Gina, and Jillian better, all of whom are from BC. We made plans to go to a comedy show on Friday, which ended up being at The Laughter Lounge for 26 euros.

On Wednesday after work Katie and I went out for a drink at the Capital, and actually managed to just have one this time. Mine was a delicious blue-green Pacific for five euros, which was more than covered by my tips that day. On Thursday we went out again, starting with a sushi place she had told me about during work. We brought our own wine and ended up continuing to a pub with a good corner booth before getting an invite from Alison, also from work, who was celebrating an award. A few others from work were out, so Katie and I made a pit-stop at her place where I borrowed some clothes, then met up with everyone at an almost deserted pub. Harry and Yorick were there as well, the later of whom bought me a drink, and the former refused to turn in after everyone went home, which meant Katie and I were treated to a rainy walk to the Temple Bar area for some proper Irish music in another pub. I hadn’t been to any of these places before, and I can’t tell you their names. I’ll have to confer with Katie over the good ones.

After some late night pizza with the two of them, I ended up crashing at Katie’s. In the morning we were treated to a contractor walking right into the bedroom without knocking to grab her keys. The men proceeded to shut off the toilet, which they hadn’t bothered to tell Katie about. So with very little sleep we vacated the premises and headed to MacDonald’s for breakfast. With a bit of coffee we were soon laughing and continuing our good visit. Afterwards, I left her to deal with her contractors on a fun and only day off, I stopped in at Penneys to buy Dale a pair of one euro slippers.

The Laughter Lounge

That evening Dale and I headed into town to meet up with Gina and Alysia at The Laughter Lounge! We found two little round tables nearby each other, Gina and Alysia making friends with two Irish girls. Gina shouted out she was from Canada to the MC, who had a bit of a back-and-forth with her for the rest of the night, ending with a thank you and a hope that she would get laid by an Irish man soon. The funniest act was right in the middle, a clearly gay young man in a purple blazer who delivered some low-brow humour with energy. His name was Al Porter, and I actually thought he was better than the main man, Eric Lalor, though I have to admit some of Eric’s Ireland jokes went over my head, which could have been the problem. But the other two delivered great Dublin jokes in particular, and I was happy to find them hilarious rather than confusing, something that wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t come to live in Dublin!

Lunch at Eno!

The view of St. Patrick's while we ate

The altar at St. Patrick's

After work on Sunday (a shift that I was wide awake for, and it seemed everyone else was too!) Dale and I went over to Heather and Anne’s for a Harry Potter movie, but three out of the four of us crashed in the middle of it. The walk over had been snowy, so I didn’t envy Dale his trip home; I had packed an overnight bag so the three of us who had the day off could do some kind of day trip on Monday. In the morning we slowly got our butts in gear and headed into town for a bus to Enniscorthy. Unfortunately we were too late so we took the next bus out of Dublin, which brought us to Dundalk. The first thing we did was find a toilet, then look for food. We walked, and hobbled, in the case of Anne’s gibbled ankle, into a nearby pub, Benny Brady’s. It smelled strongly of the type of soap you find in a public toilet, and all the occupants of the bar seats stared at us as we walked past. We sat down for about ten seconds, then got up and walked back out again.

Ye ol' mill

St. Joseph's Redemptorist Church

The altar in St. Joseph's

We ended up having a delicious meal in an Italian restaurant called Eno, which was a fancy little place that had a view of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. We got to sit on a couch while we ate soup and sandwiches, and even tea and coffee, before venturing inside the cathedral. We really had no idea what was in Dundalk, so we found a tourist sign post and ended up doing a bit of a scavenger hunt as we located the notable places it listed. This included an old mill and St. Joseph's Redemptorist Church. There were also random chickens in the middle of town, and a big Aldi where we stocked up on cheap junk food. We got back on the bus just in time for the rain to come down, and headed back to their place for what’s quickly turning into a marathon of Harry Potter movies. The next one starts at our place tonight!

A neighbourhood in Dundalk

Syd's Visit

Sydnee and the Liffey

The day after we returned to Ireland I took Sydnee on a tour of Dublin similar to the one Niall took me on so many months ago. But first I took her grocery shopping, which turned out to be a God send because she got off the bus too soon a few days later and was able to suss out what she recognized and what she didn’t until she made it home. It was a God send for me too because it meant a full mini-fridge for once, and I didn’t kill my arms carrying all the groceries home. But returning to the tour, we crossed the Liffey and I showed her the bullet holes in the statue of Daniel O’Connell and the Post Office, then we shopped in Penneys (where I got two sweaters, a dress, a fuzzy blanket, and dry shampoo all for under 15 euros), then I showed her Christ Church Cathedral in the dark, followed by Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, and then Fitzgeralds! It was great to show her where we’ve been living all this time—yes, I’m including the pub in this—and to introduce her to the people we always talk about. They all welcomed her as one of our own.

At Fitzgeralds!

Me and Birdie at Howth

On Tuesday she and I took the bus and the DART to Howth. The weather couldn’t have been more different than when Niall, Leonie, Dale, and I went. We were already up the first segment when we realized it was snow or hail hitting the hoods of our jackets. However, we decided to carry on with the brown lab friend who adopted us and we named “Birdie.” We also quickly ran into the only other hiker along the entire four hour walk: red-haired and bearded Bryan, from Seattle. All four of us spent the entire walk together, then said goodbye to Birdie as he joined a new walker and we stepped into the warmth of a pub for fish ’n’ chips, hot port, and, mercifully, radiators. We decided to stay in that night since we were cold and exhausted, so we invited Heather and Anne over. It turned out the entire group was tuckered out, Heather with jetlag, Anne from an early shift, and Dale from working eight of nine days in a row. But to my delight, Anne brought us tea and popcorn from Canada, and Heather brought us Kraft Dinner Macaroni, Reese’s Pieces, and mascara. Well, that last one may have been just for me.

On Wednesday Dale and I were both working, so Sydnee decided to do the Giant’s Causeway tour Dale and I had done two weeks before. She had a blast, making friends with a German girl who said a brown dog also followed her on a Howth walk once. This was the day Sydnee had to rely on our grocery shopping excursion to find her way home. It was another wet day for her, so she bought a fuzzy blanket which got to stay with Dale and I so that now we have two! After work Katie and Karen walked past me at the bus stop and asked on their way if I wanted to join them for a glass of wine. They kept walking, so I simply followed them. Katie and I had been talking for the last hour at work as we polished silverware, and we ended up talking non-stop for another five over four drinks. Karen even went home and we continued! It was a delightful little surprise, and it was a perfect day for it since Sydnee didn’t get back until late.

Dunguaire Castle

Walking on the outer wall of Corcomroe Abbey

Dale asked for Thursday off, his birthday, so we were all able to go to the Cliffs of Moher on another Paddywagon tour! Our stops included Dunguaire Castle in Kinvara, where Sydnee asked the gates if her camera would turn back on since dropping it on the way back from Howth, but received no answer through someone else’s actions. We also carefully walked through the mud around the castle, which supposedly restores your virginity. Next up was the Corcomroe Abbey, then the Burren, where the land grows rocky and make-work projects of stone walls still stand after being set up to employ people during the Potato Famine. Following this was a lunch break at Fitzpatrick’s in Doolin. Dale had an impressive gravy-soaked bacon and potato mess, while I had a seafood chowder, and Sydnee enjoyed the delicious carrot cake, as well as leftover pizza from our night before.

The "Mini Cliffs"

The Burren

Goofing dangerously on the Cliffs of Moher

Finally, we reached the Cliffs of Moher. They were phenomenal, and since it wasn’t too rainy or foggy we were actually able to see them. This was very lucky because it often happens that the tour will arrive and no one can see anything. We took hundreds of gorgeous photos; I wish I could share them all. Most of them involved nervous giggles at what we imagined would be Mum’s reaction. It was an added bonus that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was filmed there, as well as The Princess Bride.

Dale and I on the cliffs

Sydnee and I on the cliffs

The cliffs are a little more scenic than our faces

After the Cliffs of Moher we fell asleep on the bus, but did manage to stop and see Bunratty Castle next to Dirty Nelly’s Pub. When we finally returned to Dublin we took Sydnee to Hot Wok for a cheap dinner, gave her a quick tour of Trinity College, and tried to convince Dale that he didn’t see Sammy walking in the same direction as us on our way to O’Neill’s. The group was waiting there to surprise him and buy him many shots.

The Guinness Storehouse work party with Alison, Katie, and Heather

On Friday Sydnee and Dale (mostly Dale) recovered. We both gave Dale his presents: from Sydnee this was a big hollow book, and from me it was the purple bag of dragons the Triwizard Champions had to pull their dragons from. When I got home from work I got ready for my work Christmas party at the Guinness Storehouse, and then we went over Heather and Anne’s. Anne and Dale were planning on meeting up with various people at various pubs for a pub crawl while Heather and I were on our own. Sydnee had some cabin-fever going on and there was a lot of giggling on the way over and laughter on the bus as we made our way into town afterwards. The work party was surprisingly fun. I suspect the free wine helped. Unfortunately it wasn’t actually in the Gravity Room, so we didn’t get a 360 degree look at Dublin in the night. We did get to spend time outside of work with people who are enjoyable to drink with. Unfortunately the first thing I did was rip a massive hole in the calf of my tights so that Heather heard, “Awwww craaaaaap,” from my bathroom stall, but I was soon warm enough without them. It wasn’t until after midnight that Heather and I finally left to meet up with Dale, Sydnee, Anne, Sammy, and Todd at Sweeney’s, where there were naked ladies on the wall. They had already been to Zaytoons, but as you are supposed to go there at the end of the night we made them go again. Heather and I laughed when we ran into Eduard and Levente inside.

Sammy's hilarious photo at Sweeney's

After three and a half hours of sleep, Heather and I both went to work. I never stay out so late on a work-night, let alone drink so much, so I wasn’t sure how it would go. I was glad so many people were in it with me. It actually wasn’t so bad, and I felt better when we were busier and my mind was off the situation.

After work Sydnee and I took the bus and then the DART to Dalkey, where Annaliese and her Irish boyfriend were visiting. I hadn’t seen Annaliese in five years, and Sydnee last saw her when she was about ten years old. Unfortunately the visit was short and Rosaleen has been sick since Christmas, so the size of our party kept changing. Damien, Roisin, and Sennan arrived while I was showing Sydnee the sights in Dalkey, Dale turned up after finishing Syd’s laundry, and he was later followed by Niall and Leonie. We had a delicious dinner of chilli, and then a surprise birthday cake for Dale! It was a nice visit, and it was really too bad that Sydnee had to leave the next day.

I obviously crashed when we got home, and in the morning took a cab with Sydnee as far as St. Stephen’s Green. I did not envy her the ferry ride ahead. It was surprisingly disappointing to have her gone since I was looking forward to her visit for so long. Dale and I are really confused about what we are doing next considering the job situation, so we’re not sure when we’ll see her again. But after Fitzgeralds tonight it was even clearer to me that I’m not ready to go home yet. I guess I’ll have to cross my fingers. I know Dale’s job matters, but I did hand out a CV after work today since Leonie told me a place right near our flat is hiring. Wouldn’t that be convenient. Regardless, I think my friends are wonderful for suggesting that we camp in their backyard in March.

Express London

The first week of January was boring apart from an infuriating incident involving the power going out mid-laundry and not getting fixed until the next day while all my clothing was sopping wet and I worried about whether or not I was going to have to work the next day. In the end I wasn’t called in. This week was much more interesting as it involved meeting up with Dominique and Sydnee in London. I woke up even earlier than usual on Monday, if you can believe that, and took a cab to Dublin airport. I had a windy hour and a half flight, then an hour and a half bus, a tube trip, and a short walk to my dad’s cousin Kathy’s home in Nottinghill. She was amusingly located right beside Mr. Christian’s Deli, so it wasn’t difficult to find, and the rain only started pouring down after I arrived.

Sydnee had a more eventful start to her trip the day before because she thought Kathy was leaving the key to her flat at a local shop, so she went door to door trying to find it before connecting to a random wifi spot and finding a message that said Luke was home. This day, however, we were starting on our own. We arranged to meet Dominique, who had a seven hour layover on her way to India, at Paddington Station. Sydnee and I did some catching up, then wandered around Nottinghill looking at shops. We came to the exciting decision that Sydnee would come back to Ireland with me because her semester in Wales didn’t start for another week! With that in mind, Sydnee bought Dale a birthday present from a cramped little junk shop that was overflowing with antiques. I won't say what it was until next week. We planned on surprising Dale with her appearance as well.

Three-headed in London

Sydnee and I split up in Paddington Station to make sure we didn’t miss Dominique, and I quickly spotted her from the top of a flight of stairs. She only had one small bag on wheels with her, so "Express London" was a go. First stop on the short two hours was Buckingham Palace. We took the tube so we only had to walk five minutes before the palace was in sight. One of the guards in grey was marching, but it was too late in the day to be the Changing of the Guard. We took a bunch of pictures, then got back on the tube. We arrived at Westminster Station, which was fun because coming up the stairs to the outside world meant getting a face full of Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. We walked closer to the Abbey, and then I made sure we crossed the bridge because I knew it would look fantastic as the night settled in. Sure enough it was all lit up with a blue sky behind and the water of the Thames reflecting the lights below. On the other side of the bridge was the London Eye, so we really managed to pack a lot of sights into the short stop, and got Dom back to the train in time. We said a hasty goodbye as the next train wasn’t for fifteen minutes and the one there was leaving right away, so she hopped on board with her tired ankle and we waved her off and wished her luck in India.

Sydnee at Tower Bridge

The next day Sydnee and I went for a stroll in Hyde Park but didn’t find much to interest us in the sprawling fields. We headed over to Trafalgar Square, first taking a roundabout walk through St. James Park, which had flowers blooming on the ground and blossoms on some of the trees. We ate lunch in Trafalgar Sqaure, where Sydnee banged her knee failing to jump up onto the black lion, then wandered in the National Art Gallery. Syd picked her favourite paintings like Dale and I had, but she chose a few instead of just one, including “Coastal Scene” by Theo van Rhssellberghe, “Lake Keitele” by Akseli Ghllen-kallela, and “Sunflowers” by Van Gogh. When we first arrived she took a picture of one of the paintings and a security person came over to tell her, “No photos, please!”

Off to Hogwarts at Platform 9 and 3/4

It was getting dark when we arrived at the Tower of London, but the walk around its walls was nice, and Tower Bridge looked great in lights with the black sky around it. We ended the day with a photo-op at Platform 9 and ¾ in King’s Cross Station, which created a problem with our Oyster Cards. We had to stop in at a tube station and get our money back the next day, and Sydnee had to call in to get rid of an additional charge. Apparently it is vital to scan your card every time you leave a station, even if the gates are open. Sydnee and I were pretty wiped after that, so we went back to Kathy’s for a pit stop, then crossed the road to the Duke of Wellington to share some fish ‘n’ chips ‘n’ mushy peas and then do a little grocery shopping. This trip was the first time I had seen Kathy in a few years, so we had a night in just sipping wine with her and Luke.

Waiting for the house elves to send up dinner

Chilling in the Gryffindor dormitory

We were up bright and early for the Warner Brothers’ Making of Harry Potter Tour the following morning! We had bought expensive tickets because they included a bus ride, and the tickets that came without a bus were sold out in advance. But the bus was decked out in Harry Potter designs and Sydnee had never been on a double decker yet, so we imagined it was the Knight Bus. The tour was incredibly cool. Sydnee took photos of pretty much everything. When we first went in they had us sit for a short movie, ending in Emma Watson, Dan Radcliffe, and Rupert Grint inviting us through the large doors into the Great Hall. Then the screen lifted up and the doors were there waiting for us! It was absolutely bizarre to walk into the Great Hall like we were about to be Sorted. In the next room there was everything else to peer into: the boys’ dormitory, the common room, Dumbledore’s office, the potions classroom, the Burrow, Umbridge’s office, Hagrid’s hut…Outside Sydnee and I enjoyed the Knight Bus, Hagrid’s motorcycle, Hogwarts Bridge, #4 Privet Drive, and Godric's Hollow in the cold sun (and fake snow) with delicious butterbeers.

Kind of scared in Potions class

Privet Drive, the Knight Bus, and Hagrid's motorcycle

Diagon Alley!

At Hogwarts

The next room was filled with animatronics like Buckbeak, who I bowed to and received a nod in return, and a disgusting Aragog. This was followed by a walk down Diagon Alley. After Diagon Alley was a room of incredible sketches, then models, and lastly, a model of Hogwarts. I walked into that room ahead of Sydnee and despite being only five seconds apart, I wanted to turn back and say, “Wait until you see this.” It was stunning. The model was at least four times my height. The lighting kept slowly changing so that it looked like days and nights were passing in the snow, and gentle music from the movies was playing while the room smelled slightly like cinnamon. I hadn’t expected to find a model so awe-striking, but I couldn’t look away, and didn’t want to. I particularly loved standing over the greenhouses. Incredibly, it felt like we were right there and could just walk inside. For the next few nights I had very realistic and enjoyable dreams about Hogwarts.

Hogwarts at night

The gift shop was fun as well. Again, I won't say what I bought for Dale until next week, but for myself I picked up the Maurader’s Map and a jar of Honeyduke’s sherbert lemons, which I had enjoyed in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, along with Dumbledore, I’m sure!

We had trouble figuring out our leaving plans that evening. It turned out there was flooding in Wales, which we think made things more difficult than they should have been, and quite expensive. In the end we decided to stay in London a few extra days and take the train and ferry straight to Ireland. So on Friday we journeyed to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre for an 11 pound tour. It was pretty interesting! We were taken around the thatch-roofed theatre and taught about the acoustics and history. Then we went to the British Museum, which didn’t actually have many exhibits available. Afterwards we stopped at Primark, which is the same as Penneys in Ireland, and Syd bought her duvet. She had to vacuum seal it later in order to fit it in her bag. We also stopped to buy our train and ferry tickets for Sunday.

On our final full day, the market along Nottinghill was in full force so Sydnee and I went for a wander. Kathy and Luke live right down the road from where the movie was filmed. There was everything from teacups to necklaces, antiques, and food. We ended up buying two massive doughnuts full of whip cream and topped with chocolate that we couldn’t even finish. We also bought tulips and white wine as a thank you. Kathy and Luke took us out for dim sum near Oxford Street, then Luke acted as our tour guide as he read from a book of London walks. The coolest part was when we found an old black lamppost with a trapdoor at the bottom where Soviet spies used to leave notes and mark the post with a chalk 8. We stopped at the Dorchester Hotel for expensive drinks in a really ritzy setting of curved purple couches and spiky red decorations. As we left we saw people lined up outside with photos of Sylvester Stallone. I’m surprised they let us in at all!

Kathy, me, and Sydnee at the Dorchester

We had a lamb dinner and chocolate lava cake with icecream for dessert at home, then went out with their friends just down the street to Happy Trails, a downstairs club for drinks which despite being Jamaica-intentioned, had a distinct 70s feel. The best part was when they threw brandy on the ceiling and then lit it on fire! We even got free champagne because one of the bartenders broke a bottle all over Luke. We ended the night at Luke and Kathy’s playing Pass the Pig with large inflatable pigs, and then teaching them all Horse Racing, which was a big hit, all while laughing at Kathy’s huge cut-out of Matt Damon (which we also named one of the horses).

We said goodbye to our hosts in the morning and then began our big trek back to Ireland with all of Syd’s stuff. Our first train was annoying because a lady was letting her little kids run around screaming, plus I was sitting facing the opposite direction of travel, and it was really hot. I downed some gravel but still ended up having a vomiting session in the closed section between carriages. It could have been worse; at least it wasn’t in the middle of the hallway. I didn’t tell anyone what happened. Our stop was minutes away, so we just booked it. It was not my lucky day, however. I have never had such a rough ride on a ferry before! The ship was rolling with the waves and dropping like a rollercoaster. Every passenger was just down, and the crashing sound of the waves against the ship was alarming. But long hours later we made it through, took a cab home, and laughed when Dale reacted to Sydnee's surprise visit the exact way I predicted: pointing at her and saying, “Hey, you're here!”