Here are my journal entries, as I wrote them. I’ll be posting my journal entries with the photos to provide a little context.
March 12th
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Where to start. The flight was tolerable, though I didn’t sleep as much as I needed to. The customs people in Manchester were snippy, not at all nice like they were in Gatwick or in Dublin.
Things I want to remember: Dublin is like my memories of New York, only without the tall buildings. It’s dirty, full of little shops (at least downtown where we were), and there was a lot less of the Irish accent than I expected.
March 13th
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Jon let us sleep in this morning. I got up around 9:30, showered and missed breakfast as usual. Managed to get a bowl of cereal before they put everything away. ;) Spent the rest of the morning while Jon was showering watching Gilmore Girls. Apparently Rory stole a yatch because her teacher told her she was going to be a good journalist. I do so love/hate television. ;)
I feel much better this morning. I was so tired last night I was unable to think of anything comprehensible. My journal entries were terrible, disjointed. Cough is still hanging on just a little. Not enough to be in the way, but just a little bit when I breath really deep.
The weather in Manchester was cold, around 30 degrees and snowing, but yesterday when we got to Dublin is was a nice 50 degrees and slightly windy. Today is much the same. Good weather for thick sweaters and gloves, but not so cold you can venture out into the city and still feel comortable with your jacket on.
We’re sitting in the bus terminal now, waiting on the Galway bus and our last leg of the initial journey. I’ll be glad to be in Galway I think. Big cities, with all their charm, hold less appeal to me than a smaller town with an attitude that’s older and somewhat simpler than the hectic pace of a cosmopolitan center. I expent Galway will have its share of comercialization, but I hope there will a little less and a good deal more of the thick Gaelic accents I love so much.
I think, in my ever shifting thoughts, that Ireland, with its cozy culture and ancient heritage reminds me of America’s South. The expectation of hospitality, thick accents, and a people with a long history and noble heritage. Now, if I can just find a cute little irish girl to flirt with, my trip will be complete. ;)
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Vignettes:
1) A couple sitting at the bus stop in the Dublin suburbs flirting innocently and sharing details of their lives with eachother, while the young man in the car next to our Bus rocks out too some song playing on their car stereo.
2) The scenery of Dublin town on the ride out struck me with the way that Dublin mixed the very old with the very new. A consequence of cities with histories that go back hundreds of years, and the way they keep up with the advancing times.
3) Watching little cottages and stone piled walls seperating the landscape as we drive through the middle of Ireland.
4) Walking along through Galway and seeing the little shops and the Irish sinage, and seeing older Irish gentleman walking or standing on the street corners.