I don't even know where to start.
I decided to go the touristy route this time, big time - and it's such a weird experience. I mean, not too much - I just ride a bus, and it takes me places - but I researched very little for this trip, and am basically trusting the tour bus to take me interesting places, and cabbies to tell me where to hang out. It's been working out so far, though I'm going to check out lonelyplanet.com tonight for more advice.
Yesterday, I had great ambitions to see Dublin Castle and maybe Christchurch after stopping at the Guinness Storehouse for a pint.
LOLOL - I really should have known this plan was made of fail.
To my credit, I got off to a late start - I went to sleep quite late, since my flight got into Dublin at midnight local time, and by the time I got to my hotel and decompressed a little, it was well past 3:30.
The hotel itself - the Fleet Street Hotel in Temple Bar - was... well, it was kind of a dive. Not a crackhead, by-the-hour kind of dive, but run down, broken stuff in the room, grotty carpet, my-room-smelled-like-fast-food-and-cigarettes kind of dive.
To be honest, at that point, I couldn't have given less of a crap. The bathroom was clean and so were the sheets - so cleaned up and passed out. (Well, before I passed out, I made sure I had a room at my next place of sleepings. LOL.)
The next day I was on my way to where I'm staying now - the Leeson Inn, about two blocks from Stephen's Green. It's a lovely little neighborhood, removed from the noise of the denser part of downtown, but still within walking distance of the city center. I went to drop my stuff off, since check-in wasn't until two. Then, after getting a deliciously awesome breakfast at a place called Foley's a couple of blocks from my It started off innocently enough - I wandered around, learning about how beer is made, taking pictures of cool stuff, being a good, interested tourist. Then, we got to where you pour "the Perfect Pint."
Fortunately, the training I received as a member of a co-ed fraternity in college was of great use to me - I had no trouble learning this little Guinness trick. Of course, the problem now is, I can only pour the perfect pint into a Guinness pint glass. OH SADNESS.
Apparently, they deliver just the same Guinness everywhere in the world - so I discovered that the reason the Guinness tastes better in Dublin is because 1. they actually have a team of specialists who go all around Ireland making sure everything's in order to pour the perfect pint (proper air pressure, proper cold plate function, temperature, everything), and 2. the way you pour it actually makes a difference as well. Who'd have thought?! Beside the Irish, who I think would notice if somebody poured them a shitty Guinness.
Anyway, while I was sitting back and enjoying my delicious Guinness, I met a number of lovely people, including a mother and daughter from North Carolina - Paula and Caroline. We ended up touring the rest of the factory together, having another pint, then parting for a bit for them to do a little more shopping while I went back to check in at my hotel. We'd made plans to get back together for dinner, pints, and music at Foley's. :) That we did, and all were lovely!
Now, the reason I'd chosen the Leeson Inn was because Orbitz had told me that it had both air conditioning and wifi.
As it happened, the air conditioning bit, whether a misrepresentation on the part of the Leeson Inn or Orbitz, was definitely not the case. Fortunately, it hasn't been more than 65 degrees Fahrenheit since I've arrived here, so it's not really much of an issue. But the wifi was a deal - not that I can't go without it for a few days (>.>) but not only is correspondence and documenting this trip a big deal (one can wait, the other can still happen without internet connectivity), but the internet is a huge traveling resource for me - it's how I find out about things from what to wear to where to go to the number for a local cab.
So by the time I discovered this last night, there was no room left at the inn - I had to stick it out on the third floor, in a room that was seriously the size of a peanut.
The concierge told me last night that they couldn't switch me, no way no how; no no no. This morning, I was told there was no wifi in the rooms at all, despite what Orbitz had assured me.
By now, I was ready to lose my shit. It's not so much even being without the internet - I am capable of going to reception and doing my business there. The issue was that I'd been told both by the hotel the day before I'd checked in (I'd called to change my booking to a day earlier once I'd seen the hole I'd started at) that there was wifi in the rooms, and it was on the Orbitz website. My computer had been able to detect the Inn's wifi, it just couldn't connect to it since the signal was too weak.
So at this point, these people were trying to play me out - or at least placate me with lies - and neither of those are okay with me.
So I went down to speak with the manager.
Now while I waited to speak with her, I had to chant a mantra to myself - be polite. Be polite. Be polite. My experience in Barcelona had kind of brought out the battleaxe in me - I'd been run around so many times that I'd lost all patience for bullshit, excuses, and not getting what I'd been promised when I'd been promised it.
Fortunately, the manager of the Leeson Inn was not trying to placate me.
She was tough, and firm, though polite. I was equally polite and firm, though sincerely pleasant as well. I think she was expecting battle axeness based on the receptionists' explanations - I don't know, maybe it's because I looked quite American. In either case, I think she was a little taken aback by my calm, reasonable explanation of the situation. I didn't yell, I didn't demand, I simply explained that the website and the person I'd spoken to Saturday night had told me there was wifi available in the rooms; I also explained that I'd been able to pick up a signal on the third floor, but that it was too weak for me to work with, so if they had something available closer to the reception area, that would be very helpful.
Anyway, once I said all that, she was very accomodating - she looked for a room near reception, and indeed, I got the room next to the main office, which I suspect is where the router and modem are probably kept. It's a much nicer room, too - probably twice the size of my last one, with a much bigger bathroom (and bathtub!), a window that doesn't face the street (less noise!) better lighting, better TV, a little chair, a desk, and - most importantly, obviously, LOL - wifi! :D
It's a weak signal, but I've been able to look up everything I've wanted to, update my blog (obviously), upload pictures, and even watch a few TV episodes. :)
YAAAAY!
I wrote in my little notebook while I waited for breakfast:
"I think one of the hardest things for me to do is be simultaneously polite and firm. In the attempt, I often find one overtaking the other, politeness giving way to aggression or excess forcefulness when met with resistance, or firmness melting into undue acquiescence or complacency in the face of slippery sweetness or helplessness.
Ireland, I find, helps me strike the right balance - or maybe they speak my language and I theirs.
They are polite and accommodating where they can be, and also full of shit here and there; but this is not malicious, and when politeness, honesty, and courtesy are employed in undermining the bullshit, they are, again, quite gracious."
In any case, once all that was wrapped up, I got on my tour bus and went around the whole loop this time so I could figure out where I wanted to visit today; I ended up choosing the Kilmainham Gaol, with ambitions to walk over to Dublin Castle, then Christchurch. >.>
LOLOL right. Ambitious again.
It might have worked if I hadn't gotten lost on the north side of Dublin for an hour or so! LOLOL.
Anyway, Kilmainham was a place of really great sadness. It was initially built in 1796, and was a horrible place, all open air (so the prisoners were always exposed to the rain and cold), and made of limestone (so even if the rain wasn't actually reaching them, it was soaking through the building - I was coughing for an hour after I left the place). It was several degrees colder within the walls of the jail than outside - and even in the outdoor areas, it didn't seem as sunlight quite made it all the way in.
The tour guide told us the story of the fourteen men who, in 1916, declared Ireland's independence from England, and where subsequently jailed and ultimately executed - martyrs to the cause for Ireland's freedom. One of them was Joseph Plunkett, who'd been engaged to a woman named Grace Gifford. Joseph had been scheduled to be executed May 4; He asked permission to marry her May 3, hours before his execution. It was granted, and she was taken away directly after the ceremony; later on that night, they were allowed ten minutes together in his cell, with a guard present, reportedly counting down the minutes aloud. When the ten minutes were up, she was escorted outside the prison, where she waited until the gunshots of the fourteen men being executed stopped.
Damn.
Afterward, rather than joining Caroline and Paula (whom I'd run into again there), I went back to O'Connell to take some pictures of the General Post Office, where Irish independence was initially declared in 1916 (great building):
My intention after that was to check out Christchurch and Dublin Castle (LOLOL), but I ended up getting turned around and lost for an hour and change - by the time I got my bearings back, I was so tired, I just wanted a nom. Fortunately, the place voted best bar in Dublin for 2009 was right across the street, so I went in and got a "gorgeous" bit of salmon (sweet Christ, it really was gorgeous - Dublin has some great, great, great food) for an extremely reasonable price, then picked up a little chocolate before taking the bus to Merrill Square. Not far from my inn, it was at the park there where some of Oscar Wilde's most famous one-liners are written on these interesting plaque things, and this very cheeky statue of him sits (or should I say, lounges? I think I should):
So all in all, a good day.
Tomorrow, Christchurch, Dublin Castle, AND St. Patricks, I SWEAR. Unless Lonely Planet has a better idea... >.> LOL!
All in all, a really lovely day. Lots of sights. Maybe more deets on people later, but damn, I am beat! :D
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