Back of Beyond

So, we’ve been back from Ireland for a few days now, and I think I can write about it now.

Firstly, Ireland was cold. Secondly, Ireland was cold. Third, it was cool.

While we were in Dublin we learned about the uprisings of Ireland. That’s plural, very plural. There were the uprisings of 1534, 1569-73, 1579-83, 1594-1603, 1641, 1642-52, 1798, 1799-1803, 1800, 1803, 1804, 1848, 1866-71, 1867, 1867-1885, 1916, 1919-22, 1939-40, 1942-44, 1956-62, and 1969-98. And the great revolt against Americans making fun of our history of 2010. (Yes, I’m serious.) (No, not about the last one) (That one’s courtesy of Aunt Lisa)

We saw the outfits of the people who fought, the jails they executed the rebels in (The way they tried to kill Wolverine in the new movie, that of course, made me very happy.), we heard all about the fights and the rebels and just generally learned about the fights and the rebels. You know.

Also, there’s this guy named Chester Beatty. He’s pretty cool. He collected old, old religious books. Like, 1800  years old. Pages from Paul to the Corinthians, the Galatians, and Titus that are older than the wonderful USofA, of course, in this country, the United States is a baby. A very young one. You can’t take pictures in the library, or I would have a bajillion to show you.

We rode on the hop-on hop-off bus, past the museums and castles and churches. Past St. Patrick’s church, actually. That one was pretty. There was a Viking tour, in a car-boat, and they had the tourists yell at anyone standing at an intersection. That was great. The big shopping center had people on the sides of the walking road playing music for money, and all sorts of different things. There was a guy who carved dogs out of sand that looked like they were going to wake up and walk around at any moment. There was a guy who painted himself bronze-ish black and stood like a statue feeding the pigeons so that they would sit on him. There was a guy who did something with his hair and clothing to make it look like he was walking through a wind tunnel, and started slow-motion up the street. That was pretty awesome.

We ate at an Irish pub, where, to complete the experience, I had lasagna. Yes I did. Why? Because they were out of ham. We also ate at a McDonald’s, which is never an issue for me. The last night we were…supposed (Notice the word) to be there we ate at an Italian restaurant. It was amazing, and made us feel oh so Irish.

Oh, another thing you run into in Ireland. There’s this stuff called Guinness. And, like, they’re very proud of it. Guinness and revolutions, that about sums the trip up. I did not have any Guinness, though it’s legal there. I think if you can lift a mug you’re allowed to drink there. I’m just saying.

And at the end of our trip we got an intimate tour of the airport. Specifically the second floor. Specifically the Starbucks. Specifically the floor of Starbucks. And Christmas music, but mostly obscure songs I’d never heard before, but came to know really well by the end of our stay. Because, you know, when a hundred people are sleeping on the chairs and couches and floor and tables (No, I didn’t mean that last on either. I’m not saying it didn’t tempt me.) it means you need to keep the lights bright. And the music loud. I got more McDonald’s in that 24 hour period we were at the airport before our plane finally made it. We had food at the airport once we’d landed and then dad drove home, where we all collapsed in our own little pile of exhausted self and made up for the sleep we’d missed at the airport.

So, in conclusion, Dublin was pretty awesome. Seeing family was awesome. Snow, not awesome. Cold, not awesome. We’re getting our air shipment tomorrow, our internet in a few weeks, and our other stuff soon I hope. I am really looking forward to having a bed like you wouldn’t believe. And my piano and guitar are also high on the list. Our house is nice, I’m getting used to the small, it’s probably going to be pretty funny in a totally laugh-twenty-years-later way trying to fit our furniture in it, because if we get some stuff in the door I’ll be amazed. Anyway, I’ve got to get going, we only get internet for so long, and then we have to see to dinner and that sort of stuff.