Saturday 4/24

All righty, I'm being good today and trying to be productive...so here's my trip to see Martha and Jack!

The first day I had to wake up early after getting no sleep because of Jackie's big drunk party downstairs, celebrating her successful return from Spain (one week late because of the volcano). I didn't say anything, since I figured I would sleep enough on the bus anyway. After that lovely night, I woke up early to shower and pack some sandwiches in the sticky, beer-covered kitchen before heading to the bus station with all my bags. I really tried to pack just the necessities, but somehow that ended up being two bags plus a grocery bag full of muffins. Honestly, I just can't pack lightly. It's a character flaw, I know, but there you are.

Anyway, the first bus of the day went to Dublin Airport; however, unlike the other times that I've made that journey, I was on the extended route, which meant that we spent an extra 45 minutes driving through as many dinky towns as possible before getting on the highway. It was scenic at first--and certainly helped kill some time--but got a little boring after a while. Once I got to the airport, I sat around for half an hour before realizing that I was sitting right in front of the bus I needed...the driver probably thought I was really dumb, but at least I didn't miss it like I did the next day...but we'll get to that. That bus brought me to Wexford, where I somehow managed to find my hostel through the maze of tiny old streets.

After settling in a little with the help of the Australian manager, I went out again to get a snack and to make sure I knew my way to the bus stop for the next morning. Since it was a Saturday night, there were a lot of drunk people and random teenagers hanging around everywhere, so I didn't stay out very long before heading back. The hostel had been filled earlier in the week because of a plethora of people getting off the ferry since the airlines were closed, but that night it was so empty that I had the 8-bed dorm to myself. It was quite nice to be able to spread out and not worry about waking anybody or being woken up at random hours.

I went to bed early since I had to catch the 6:20 bus, but I sat downstairs with the manager for awhile, watching TV and just talking. It's funny, but there have been Australians in every hostel that I've been to so far. Are there any left in Australia?! We made fun of the shows, like "The Cube" and "Britain's Got Talent" and talked about the different types of coins in different countries. Apparently they don't have any "coppers" in Australia, which is the 1 and 2 cent coins in the U.K. and in euro-using countries, or like the penny in America. I thought that was interesting, since I'd heard that there has been discussion about getting rid of the penny in the U.S. too.

After that, though, it was nice to settle in and try to sleep, even though the light from the cathedral outside my window kept me awake for a long time. I wasn't that impressed by Wexford, but then again I didn't get a good change to look around. It's kind of like when I was in Glasgow: the parts that I saw were old, cramped, and just filled with ruffians and a surprisingly high number of babies. I didn't get a change to tour it and see the nicer parts or famous buildings.

Moving on...