Leaving Ireland

Poor Anthony... we left him the same day that his mother and brother did as well. What's a poor boy to do? After loading up on souvenirs at the touristy gift shop (jacket, Guinness t-shirt, stickers, flags, etc.) and it was off to see the family again...

As our ferry was to leave Dun Laoghaire in the morning, we stayed the previous evening at my extended family's house nearby in Dalkey. Jimmy and Jetta embody the ideal of Irish hospitality. A lovely meal of chicken and potatoes, reading by the fireplace, working laundry... to be honest, I had not felt that close to "home" in a long time. Jetta took us out for drinks afterward at a hidden pub with local musicians jamming old Irish ditties. When bedtime came around, she gave us hot water bottles to heat our beds with! A great sleep and breakfast later, we were on our way, packed with lunches. If we had known we were going to be that spoiled, we certainly would have stayed longer. I knew immediately that I would be missing Ireland very much. The places, the people, the pubs - it was all something I could really fit in with... but if I left my heart in Ireland, I took about 12 more pounds home with me. All of that food and beer added up!

Despite a switcheroo with the ferries (I'm sorry, you'll have to drive all the way back to Dublin to catch the REAL ferry), Jetta drove us fast enough to catch it. The ride back was much smoother and Maleaha was doped up on gravol anyways. The train through Wales was nothing less than spectacular... hills, valleys, lakes, rivers, mountains, pastures filled with sheep, bridges and towns with funny-sounding names.

It was dark by the time we reached England (apparently you're only allowed to see one per trip - read The Rocky Road to Dublin) and we reached our hotel exhausted from travelling. I went out for a walk alone to explore the city a bit. London is the kind of city you just want to walk around all day in because there's something interesting around every corner. And it's so big that it would take years to know inside-and-out... and that's just downtown! Tomorrow we would go into ultra-tourist mode and suck up as much of foggy London town as humanly possible in two days...