The low point thus far and falling off the Cadbury bandwagon...

Well, it finally happened. We hit a very, very low point today...two actually...parents, don't be alarmed. It wasn't THAT low. Firstly, we tried to do our laundry, and let me tell you, that wasn't a good idea. Apparently dryers have become incredibly inefficient since I last did laundry in the Emerald Isle. After three hours of drying time, our clothes were still pretty much soaking wet. Now I know why we have seen so many clothes lines here - it's just faster than waiting for technology to catch up!

The dryer fiasco leads me to the second, and much lower, point. We arrived at our hostel, as we are staying in Dublin for one night en route to Amsterdam via Irish Ferries in the morning, and we were met with three very dour faced receptionists who almost laughed as they handed over the key (fastened on a wooden stake - perhaps to keep vampires away?) to room 201. We were very concerned as we walked up the stairs to our room, as we passed the 'shower rooms,' a bunch of strange people, and a lot of dirt. And then - insert angelic music and a beam of light here - our room...and it's actually very nice. It's bright yellow, with a floor to ceiling window (good for drying out clothes that don't seem to like appliances), two big beds, and a relatively clean bathroom complete with showers (no shower room experience for us). We still didn't trust it much and took all things of importance with us on our sight seeing adventure, and we'll certainly wear flip flops in the shower, but at least it doesn't match with the rest of the lovely Chelsea Budget Backpackers Accomodation - we give it 5 stars, really. Well, maybe minus 5 stars, but it could be worse. HAHA.

After checking into the hostel, we took on the city of Dublin. We were here on Sunday, if you recall our Guinness trip and Leigh-Anne's brief altercation with the law, but we still had a lot to see. Fortunately, I have a great memory and we packed in the condensed version of the sights: Trinity College, Grafton St., Nassau St., Dublin Castle, Molly Malone, and tonight we will check out riverdancing at the Arlington Hotel (owned by Bono, for you U2 fans). We also had dinner at Little Caesar's, but not THAT Little Caesar's. A nice Italian restaurant, where Bjork played loudly in the background for the entire meal. Leigh-Anne was not impressed with the music selection but appears to enjoy the Backstreet Boys music choice blaring here at the internet cafe.

I was sad to leave Maynooth this morning, but we ended on a high note. Leigh-Anne and I walked around the village taking pictures, and then we went into Just Gifts (my favourite store). Terry, the owner, remembered me, and we had a good chat about places we'd seen in Ireland. She was just as lovely as I remember. Leigh-Anne and I are also proud to report that we were both on the Cadbury bandwagon for two whole days...were being the operative word. We cracked under the pressure on the DART on the way to Dublin today and had a Dairy Milk each. Oh well - we only have access to European chocolate once in a while...and for the next 3 months, based on the amount of chocolate we intend to bring home. :)

So the Ireland leg of our trip comes to a close, and we have learned a number of life lessons from the green folk over here:

1. Leigh-Anne says the coffee is awful. She just about cried when she realized her cup of coffee at dinner tonight was not all grainy. She has a theory that all of the java over here is instant.

2. LOOK RIGHT or lose your life. Good slogan for a bus company, eh?

3. Fanta is NOT Weight Watcher friendly. You can eat 3 Curly Wurlys to equal 1 Fanta!

4. It is NOT good when the receptionists at a hostel laugh as they hand over a key.

5. Take That! is making a comeback...or so says all of the billboards in Ireland.

6. We miss Canadian TV. How did Chris possibly get voted off of Idol?!? And what is this about Lorelai and Luke on Gilmore?! Depressed. Seriously depressed.

7. Canadian flags are a must when travelling abroad. It is NOT good to be confused for an American.

That's about it...we miss you all and hope everyone is well. For those of you who want to leave comments but can't figure it out, just click on the "# comments" link on the bottom of each blog entry and fill in the box on the right. You don't have to register as a blogger to comment. We look forward to reading posts from you, so keep 'em coming!

L.A. and Katie B. signing off from Ireland...

Slan go foill (pronounced 'slawn go foyle' - Irish for 'goodbye for now').