where are the dubliners? granted, i've been popping into newsstands mostly and they sure aren't there-- but neither are any other natives in other countries. aka, the butter man. i've met a few natives scattered about but this city is filled more with tourists. not that i mind-- i'm sure i'll get my fill of natives down south.
all that being said, dublin has grown on me. it's a kickass town and it likes to party. it's helping that the weather is kicking ass too. my attitude has been adjusted. it's too cool a town to be all mopey. (pops, insert last laugh here.) it's about 70 degrees out and all breezy and everyone is out enjoying it-- literally-- the streets are clogged with people being out and shopping.
i went shopping! i certainly didn't buy anything on my measly budget but i did try on some diesel jeans and secretly hoped they wouldn't fit like the best pair of jeans ever. lucky for me they didn't, not today. but first things first. and there's a diesel store back home where i'm sure they're cheaper. it will be nice to not fucking CONVERT every price in my head anymore. although the euro vs. the dollar is rather decent now-- better than it has been.
this morning i met a woman in her 80s who's taking a class or training to give classes on hosteling. she's from county donegal, up north where i just was. she told me about this hostel she was in last week run by nuns. they have a 9 pm curfew and if you don't get in you're shit out of luck, no exceptions. so she spent two nights sleeping outside the door. !! she told me most of the women who stay there have been residents for a long long time. one of them didn't like her so she had her head banged into a mirror and got three stitches on her scalp. i thought her idea of a "bad" hostel would be nasty toilets and no breakfast. good gravy. she'll be at breakfast tomorrow. can't wait to talk more over toast and tea.
i saw the book of kells and the trinity college library this morning. the book was pretty impressive but only a few pages were shown and it was super crowded. the exhibit beforehand was much more interesting; they had close up shots of a lot of the pages so you could see the tiny minute details. the library was rad-- floor to ceiling of super old books and bound in leather. i coulda spent all day.
then i headed to number 29 georgian house-- a remarkable remake of a house from the georgian era (mid 1800s). it was grand and had a lot of steps. for lunch i had a bagel! first bagel i've had since sometime last september. boy, it tasted divine. after lunch i stopped into this unmarked "cafe" near my hostel for a cup of tea and a snack. i finally figured out it's run by a church. it was this big room with lots of tables filled with ancient people eating soup and drinking tea. all of them were sitting by themselves. one old lady came in and sat down next to me and just hung out and watched me drink tea. she cleared someone else's tray and wore big sunglasses. finally she squeaked to me, are you finished yet? i said, no, not quite. i bussed my own table. gotta get my afternoon tea in.
next i hit o'connell street on the rougher north side of dublin. super crowded and a little skeesy. i found out that my phone hasn't been working because it's been "locked" so this guy told me he could unlock it for 20 euros. i took him up on the offer and five minutes later with a new irish sim card, i'm back to being mobile with my mobile. it's the little things, you know?
tomorrow is the jailhouse and the guiness tour. yum.