Free Internet at Last!

Hi all. Sorry about my recent truancy, but when the Internet costs £4.00 an hour (about $8.00) other, tastier expenses come first. In any case, here's a quick rundown of the last few days:

- Thursday -
A mysterious glowing orb appeared in the sky today and the entire city of Dublin seemed quite befuddled for several minutes. Then, as if on cue, we all simultaneously realized that it was in fact the Sun and we were destined for a warm and beautiful day. Adam and I rode the DART (like the MAX) half an hour south of the City and went to Dalkey Castle. This was incredibly cheesey. Our ''guides'' through the small castle were actually struggling Irish actors straining to convey the misery of life in the Middle Ages through modern Brittish humor. Much of this was lost on us. The city of Dalkey, however, was gorgeous - small, affluent and quaint, it felt like the small, Irish country hamlet that most Americans picture when they think of Ireland. We walked to the sea and enjoyed the sunshine while watching the surf come into the harbor. Fantastic. Tonight we ventured to a commedy club and found ourselves as the ''star'' audience members, in that once the commedians found out we were American, every joke was either at our expense or painstakingly explained so that we could understand it. I was even brought up on stage to play ''Risk the Biscut'' a competition so convoluted and foolish that I could not for the life of me tell you what I was supposed to be doing. That said, I laughed my butt off.

- Friday -
Our last day in Dubling was rather relaxing. We got up a little late, checked out of the hostel and walked the three miles to Killemann Gaol (an old jail in the western outskirts of the city center). This was acutally rather interesting and Adam and I both got some sweet pictures. We split up after that and I wandered another several miles to the south trying to find a music store. I finally did, and was able to play a guitar for about an hour before the clerk told me to get lost. Again wandering aimlessley (as I've found many travellers do), I came upon another instrument seller, which I again utilized until they closed for the evening. After dinner, we headed out the airport and rode a 20 minute (literally) Ryanair flight to Liverpool. Looking around the concourse prior to boarding, I realized that about half the people on the plane were headed to the Merseyside for the exact reason I was: a religesque pilgrimage to Anfield.

That's all for now. I'll fill y'all in on the weekend later this evening.

Cheers.