10 hour long busdrive with crazy busdriver

(Saturday 25.06)
I woke up unbelievably early, cause the girls in the beds above us, were leaving for an airplane. This was like 05.30, and because of them, and my squeaky bed, I did not get more sleep. So I just laid there and waited... and waited. I was awfully hungry as well, and the breakfast were not before 07.00.
When the clock was 06.55, and almost ran down to the breakfast. I was all alone there...
Since I was finished packing yesterday, I could relax, and eat properly. And then I went up again, to fetch Synneve. I got her up, and we went down again, this time with luggage, and I ended up looking at Synneve eating breakfast.
We found a handsome man to look at, and everything was nice.
At about 09.30 did I leave the hostel. And GOD how much time Synneve used to get out. I waited, and waited...

Then we walked to the bus-station, and found the bus.
We knew this would be a long bus drive.

The first bus drove to Galway, were we ended up eating lunch. The next bus was going to Derry, but in Sligo we had to change bus-driver. And this is the craziest bus-driver I have EVER met.

The bus, which normally GETS overtaken, was now the one that was overtaking other cars. It felt like we flew over the hills, and Synneve looked anxiously on me, and I ended up finding my own seat. I sat alone for quite a while, until this group of young people entered the bus. They came on the bus in Donegal, and they were going to Derry. And right next to me, this handsome, young man sat down, and he fell asleep. We had to fasten the seat belt, so that he didn't fall into the gangway.
And NO, he did NOT wake up when I was getting off the bus, so I had to climb OVER him, and he did not wake up by that either.

We were now in Letterkenny, and Brian (our host) was waiting for us. In his car were also another couch surfer, this was Sam(ira). She was from Switzerland. When we got to Brian's house, were there 3 other couch surfers. Frank from Germany and Aimée* and Elie* (not sure how they write their names).
We had a great time, with loads of singing, drinking and smoking. Fabulous people!
We ate great food that Sam made, and we did not get to bed before 03.30. At that time I had been awake for 21 hours, so I was knackered.

I slept on an inflatable mattress, with Synneve. I fell to sleep almost right away.

Experiencing Cork and Cobh - in the rain

I woke up early, and ended up getting lost, in the hostel, and then after messing about, I found the kitchen. And some breakfast. I had a little mountain of bread slices and apricot marmalade everywhere. *Yummy*
After a while Synneve got up and ate breakfast.

Afterwards we headed for the train to Cobh.
*Out against the sea*

 The train took about 25 minutes from Cork to Cobh, and pass the Fota Wildlife Park. I really wanted to go there, but it was kinda difficult since I was inside the train.
We got to Cobh, and it was raining and it was foggy. Not the best weather, but true Irish weather. The first thing we did was to find a church that was not longer a church, it was a museum. About the Americans and famine and emigrants.
Did you know that :

"From 1848 - 1950 over 6 million adults and children emigrated from Ireland - over 2.5 million departed from Cobh, making it the single most important port of emigration.

This exodus from Ireland was largely as a result of poverty, crop failures, the land system and a lack of opportunity. Irish emigration reached unprecedented proportions during the famine as people fled from hunger and disease."

After being there for a while, we went out in the pouring rain. Cobh is not THAT bad. I went "shopping" and looking at churches, while Synneve sat inside drinking a pint of Guinness. It was raining cats and dogs, and so windy too, so I got into the pub as well, and took some great photos with my phone. When I got there I looked like a drowned cat.
Then Synneve went to a museum, and I went to the souvenir shop, and I bought a tin whistle, and its so fun to play at. I also bought some key-chains and stuff. Then we went out to look at the statue of Annie Moore and her two brothers. Annie Moore became the first ever emigrant to be processed in Ellis Island when it officially opened on 1st January 1892.

Afterwards I met Synneve, and we got the train back to Cork. I never got a message from Fifi *sad face*.

We walked from the trainstation to the hostel, and ended up gas-poisoning the whole hostel, and it smelled gas and burned food for a while. We met two American girls, what was very nice.
We ate, and Synneve disappeared into the night. And came back...

Went to sleep, and tried not to make so much noise, since there were like 16 beds in the dorm...

The days in Tramore

Well, we went to Tramore...
(Tuesday 21.06)
Today I woke up because Synneve fiddled about in our room, and then FINALLY I got my duvet back! She had slept on it the whole night, and I was laying against the concrete wall. That was frikkin cold!
So I went back to sleep, and did not get up until 10.30, and in the kitchen was Synneve and Mel (another couch surfer), and they drank tea.
We talked a while, and then Erin came, and we talked even more.
Since we had not been eating for several hours, we thought we had to get something to eat before exploring Tramore. So Synneve made breakfast, and then we went out on our excursion around Tramore. First we went towards the shop (Tesco and Lidl), and on our way there, a dog adopted us. He was like following us around, and he really enjoyed our company.

Then we found a church, and sat out in front of it, planning what to do. I wanted to go to the pub, and she wanted to go back home and charge the battery for the camera, before going down to the sea. So Synneve left me at O´Neills, and I ended up chatting with the local, and watching tennis. (I don't get that sport, its so darn boring). I ended up drinking one Guinness and one Beamish, in an hour. Especially one of the locals, he tried to flirt, but it did not work, cause he was like 60, and had 5 ex-wives (Or, that's what I heard). But he bought me and Synneve one Guinness each though.

After a while I went down to the sea, and took a lot of photos. It was so beautiful down by the sea, even though the weather were not to good. It was raining and it was foggy.So I stayed there for almost 1 hour. Really a place you could relax in.

After I while I decided that I was going up to O´Neills, and on my way I found a supermarket, so I went in, and got out on the other side, and therefore I got lost. I ended up on the wrong side of Tramore, and after a lot of just fiddling around, I found the church, and therefore also the pub. So I went in to O´Neills, and had a pint of Smithwick's, and it tasted like horseshaite! Keep away from that ale!

I found also Synneve in the pub, and we decided to get back to our hosts place. So we walked back, and made dinner. And went to bed quite early actually, but that was mostly because we were so tired after the day before.

(Wednesday 22.06)

Good morning!
I woke up relatively early, and was ready for what ever the world had scheduled for me this day. So we sat in the kitchen, with chickens all over the place.

Me and Synneve found out that we were gonna make boxty and svele. That was easier said that done. For is there something thats missing in Ireland, its what we need. We did NOT find cultured milk OR harts-horn, which is both crucial for making svele. So Synneve went and bought sour-cream, and we hoped that would work. But since i am so good, I found a recipe on the internet without harts-horn and cultured milk. Hurray for that!
After going to the shop to get potatoes, plain flour and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). Then we went down to the beach, in the sunny weather, and Synneve left me with 100000 kg of stuff (well, not THAT much, but it sure felt like it). So I ended up with "going into the ocean" literally. Lovely! I had water up to my ankles, and my skirt got soaked. Then Synneve left me, and I sat on a stone, eating pasta salad, and I nearly blew away.

We started fighting, and went different ways home. On my way I met the handsome guy that saved us earlier the week, and I was recognized by the barkeeper in O´Neills (I must have made an impression there)

Afterward we went back to Meadowbroook, and started making the svele and boxty. Svelene was actually very good. Then Karen (our host)and Erin took us to a potluck (A potluck is a gathering of people where each person or group of people contributes a dish of food to be shared among the group.)

It was so nice, and the people we were staying with were so nice. Thank you so much Patty and Mark.
When it got dark outside, then we found out that there were a trad-session in one of the pubs, and that we were going. 

We sang and had a great time, and Synneve joined the band, and we ended up singing "Eg rodde meg ut" and "Wild rover". And oh my god, the guy on the banjo was so handsome! ^_^
He had lovely blue eyes... 

After a while the bar-keeper started shouting that they had to get out, cause he wanted to go home and sleep. So we went out, and me, Karen and Synneve went back home, while Erin, Patty, Mark and Karens mom Gretta, went the other way.

It was so nice to go to bed...

(Thursday 23.06)
Got up early early, almost in the middle of the night, cause this was the day when we were going to leave Tramore. We packed down everything that was not already packed, and made breakfast of my lovely sausage. *Yummy*
Then we woke up Karen, and said that we had to leave soon, but we ended up in the kitchen, together with her chickens and a dog. We gave her the book we had made, and a chocolate and a bottle from Porterhouse, and she was very happy. 

Then Erin came down and hugged us. After a long while, we finally got down towards the bus-stop. Well, the bus-stop did not look like one. It wasn't even a chair there.
Eventually did the bus come, and we took it first downtown, and then back uo, and towards Waterford. 
Well in Waterford, we ended up waiting for the bus to Cork.
In Cork we met James, and he was going to the dentist, so he left us in a pub, and went away. After 1.5 hour  he came back, with an apple, and said something, and then went again.
And that was the last I saw of him... 
Synneve started crying and I had to carry all the luggage. (2 backpacks, 2 shoulder-bags, 1 violin and something more).
We ended up staying at Kinlay house, and got a place to sleep for 2 days.
We made dinner, and played backgammon. Then I talked to Fifi (my pen-pal in Cobh), and made an appointment to meet the next day, when we were going to Cobh. Well, Fifi was going to Cork, and we to Cobh, so we had to meet either in Cork or Cobh.

(The bed is making funny noises)

Last day in Dublin

(Sunday 20.07)
Today I woke up a bit to early, and by that I mean around 07.00. That is not right for a Sunday morning. But I did not do did on my own free will. It was... yes, you are right. It was my sister, she was stepping on my face. Well, I got up, and continued to pack. I went down to eat breakfast, and then went up again, after eating about 10 slices of bread.  (Yep, a lot of food, but I felt very hungry only a few hours later)
Then I got up at the room to check we did not had forgotten anything. Went then down again, with my backpack and jacket and shoulder bag.
We "logged out", and handed in our door-cards. And we sent mom and dad on the airport-bus. And gone were they...
In the meantime, I found a bus to O´Connell Street, and ended up getting lost, with a 15 kg bag pack on my shoulders. The I had to find my map, and just figure out which way that was up. EVENTUALLY I found the street I was looking for, and then I had to find "Porterhouse" in Nassau Street, and I kept on looking for the statue of Molly Malone.
After a lot of "I'm-lost-where-the-fuck-is-Porterhouse", I found Porterhouse, and I went in... and started waiting...

And waiting... and after a LONG time Padraig came, and everything was OK. We had tea, and sat there talking, and then Synneve came, and she had a Bulmers Pear Cider, and joined the talk... Then James appeared, and we sat and talked even longer, and the time flew away. And then James ran off, and Padraig had to reach his train, and Synneve said that "We have a lot of time".
(Padraig is my long, lost Irish brother, and I love him to bits)
After a large portion of chips and salad, we headed off towards "Bus arse" (that's not the name of the place, but I think that was what Padraig called it : Busáras)
And then we ended up waiting a lot, cause we had squint-eyed on the bus-table, and we thought there were a bus at 16.00, but that was not the case. We had to wait until 17.30.
We took the bus to Waterford, and then to Tramore. And we had a nice bus driver...

Of course did we get lost in Tramore too. It was inevitable. Cause Synneve meant we should get off the bus, before he drove back to Waterford. So we got off in the middle of nowhere. Synneve ended up crying and I  (as the heroin I am) found my lovely android phone, turned on the internet, and roamed. I had to log on to Synneve´s Couch-surfing-account, and find the message from our host, so that I could find the address. That was a few, expensive minutes. BUT I found the address, and we started walking towards what we thought was the city centre. Then we found a handsome man, and we asked him were the Church was, and then were Meadowbrook was. He told us that we were on the completely wrong side of town, so he called a taxi for us. *Our hero of the day*
Then the taxi came, and we praised our hero. We drove up to the address, and told our host what that had happened. We got a room and a cup-of-tea.

The Family time 2

Saturday (18.06)
Today (it was actually in the middle of the night) a lot of noise came from the room over us. It sounded like someone was having a big quarrel and a fight afterwards. When we woke up, we were so stiff and our backs hurt, cause the beds were VERY hard.

I woke up with a bang, and the time showed 08.15, time for breakfast. And after breakfast we went up again. My mom and dad had their own plans, so me and Synneve went out to discover Dublin. On the way we found a market and other interesting things.

 Later we went pass some sign that said "Sinn Fein". And Synneve felt not quite safe, as the photo below maybe shows.

And we went to Lidl, Spar, Pennies and SEVERAL bookshops, both in the east and west.
Suddenly we realized that we were late, and we rushed to the nearest "Porterhouse", were we had made an appointment with our parents. We were 10 minutes late, and my mom and dad were not there. So we waited... And waited...and waited.
Then we realized that they might be in the other "Porterhouse", so Synneve sent a text, and yes... They WERE ate the other "Porterhouse", on the other side of town. Eventually, we met. And I ordered "Chips, side salad and a Bulmers Pear Cider". That was A LOT of food.

After lunch we jumped on the bus, and my mom, dad and sister went off a few stops before me, cause I was going to the zoo. Dublin Zoo (I did NOT travel to Cork or Belfast Zoo). So many wild animals, but I was a bit disappointed that the part of the zoo I was looking most forward to, was closed for redecoration. *Bummer*
When I walked around, I started singing "Zoological Gardens" by The Dubliners.

Thunder and lightning is no lark
When Dublin City is in the dark
So if you've any money, go up to the park
And view the Zoological Gardens

We went out there to see the zoo
We saw the lion and the kangaroo
There was he-males and she-males of every hue
Up in the Zoological Gardens

After the zoo, I got a text from my sister, saying that they were on the bus, and I HAD to reach that bus. So I walked towards the exit, and strolled down the road, with my Dublin-traffic-mentality. (I will explain that later), and started to wonder. "Where the heck is the bus? And where am I?".
Then I saw the bus, going the opposite direction, and I knew I had to find the bus stop QUICKLY! It was only matter of time.
The bus came, and I found my sister and a seat. I was being "accused" of "stalking" the bus driver.  We took the bus to the Bachelors Walk, and then we walked to the Brazen Head.

(The Brazen Head is officially Ireland's oldest pub, dating back to 1198. The pub has managed to retain the charm and characteristics of it's past and in particular it's patrons, who have included such literaries as James Joyce, Brendan Behan and Jonathan Swift as well as such revolutionaries as Robert Emmet, Wolfe Tone, Daniel O'Connell and Michael Collins)

This is where Synneve drank Guinness, and we had no bus to take home, so we walked home, in the pouring rain. Well at home, we met mom and dad, which we had left on the bus. They had decided that we were going out tonight, and we had to dress nicely.
So we did our best, and went to "Oliver St. John Gogartys" in Temple Bar. And I ate Fish and Chips, and oh god, how much food that was. My mom and dad had steak and Synneve ate something potato-stuff.
I was SO full!
After dinner we went down to the Trad. session downstairs, drank Guinness and on our way home, we met a handsome man with bagpipe and kilt *love*.
After standing listening to this man, we found our "humble dwelling", as my mom would have said.

Good night! 




Sunday (19.06)



I woke up, and went down to get some breakfast. And by the table were Synneve sat, there were also another man. That was James... Our host that could not host us... After breakfast we walked down to O´Connell Street, and we found the bus to The Botanical Garden and Glesnevin Cemetery. 

And Synneve HAD to see, it so I ended up sleeping on a bench.
So after a few hours there, we got the bus back to Dublin, were we met James, and took a new bus, this one was going to Howth.

In Howth were there a lot of people, seagulls, boats and water. And there were elements of wagtails, seals, blackbirds, starlings, Cuckoo, rats, dogs, singers etc.
My mom and dad decided to take a stroll up to the nesting area. And me and Synneve found a pub, and drank Guinness and Bulmers and then James bought a Beamish (I think it was Beamish, or another stout). After a long time in the pub, we found out that we ought to get back home.

So we found the bus, and home to our "humble abode". My mom and dad went out to eat, while me, Synneve and James stayed in the room. I did not get any dinner that night, and I ended up being terribly hungry later that evening. I did some packing too, since we were leaving for Waterford tomorrow.
I went to bed after eating a trifle *yummy*.
*nom nom nom*

Good night

The family time

Yeah, as I might have said, my family was also in Ireland. When I say family I mean my sister, mother and father. Me and my sister travelled further, but my mom and dad went home on Monday (20.06)

Lets take this from the beginning...

Thursday (16.06).
I woke up early in the morning, and my mom ran around like a headless chicken. Luckily was I finish packing the day before, and it was only some stuff left to pack. I have no idea how many times I checked for my passport and VISA-card. 
After a lot of waiting, we finally got out of the house, and down to the bus. And we drove to Nesttun, and then we had to find a taxi. That is easier said than done. After a while, we found a taxi, and our voyage towards Ireland. Oh, what joy.
We arrived at the airport, and we got through the security control and sent the baggage to Ireland.
And since we were so early, we had to wait QUITE long.

But eventually we got on the plane to Copenhagen, and oh god, the seats must be made for Leprechauns. There were absolutely NO space for my feet. In Copenhagen we stretched our legs, and walked to the next flight.
There were not much more room for my feet there either. When we arrived in Dublin, my dad was so happy to get the opportunity to get a smoke, and I was happy to have found a toilet that actually worked, and did not scare the shit out of you. (and the man in the passport control was SO handsome).

We went out, and took the airport bus to the city centre. Oh god, how many detours that bus took. And after a long bus drive, on the wrong side of the road, we came to the centre. After a lot of going-the-wrong-way walking, we finally found our hostel (Kinlay Hostel), and my mom was so disappointed that there were no soap or towels there. I was more interested in the view from our window, so I open it up, and looked out side. Almost half my body was on the outside of the window, and I took some photos of the street. 

We "installed" our self in the room, and went out for food, cause we were starving. I was close to kick the bucket, but I survived. We found a restaurant, and ate a yummy pizza. 
We walked back to the hostel, and went to bed.

Friday (17.06)

I woke up in a half-dazed-state. The bed was fucking hard! Not to much sleep either, so me and Synneve went down to eat breakfast. 6 slices of bread, one cup of tea and stuff.
Afterwards we went on an excursion, and we found Spar AND Tesco.
I bought at least 16 postcards.
We walked back to the hostel, and woke our parent up, and then they had to eat breakfast.
After breakfast we just walked around in a haze, without any determined place. Or, Synneve was obsessed with museums, and museums and memorial stuff. Oh lord!
I was complaining on how painful everything were, and how boring.
So we ended up going to the French Embassy, and ate Quiche Loraine, before the next museum. This was a REALLY non-interesting museum about vikings and ancient times. I spent most of the time in the museum-shop. I ended up buying some Celtic tattoos, a museum coin and a necklace.
We walked some more, and then we found a pub. *FINALLY*

I drank Bulmers Berry Cider *yummy* and ate Ferrero Rocher cheesecake *even more yummy* at The Porterhouse. My mom had a local brew, my father had a lager of some kind and my sister had a Guinness/some other stout.
We drank some more, and my "wear-and-tear wound" hurt like hell. 

We got out of the pub, and found the "sightseeing" bus, and we drove around in this for 1.5 hour, and our bus driver was singing. And he sung "Molly Malone" when we drove by the statue of her.

Then we got away from mom and dads hawk's eye, and went for a wee bit of shopping.
Of course we manage to loose the last bus home, so we had to walk.
We got to the hostel, and Synneve made "dinner" (it was actually breakfast).
Then we went to bed...

Back home from Ireland...

Well, now I´m home from Ireland. Somewhat sad, and somewhat happy to be home. But, oh gosh how I miss Ireland. I'm sitting here, listening to Irish music, watching Irish movies and trying to talk more Irish. Sometimes it actually works. Especially one word, the word "fuck". Its not pronounced like everyone else does. I have now begun to pronounce it more like "fack", with a long A. And in October I will return to the land that is close to my heart. And maybe pop into Scotland, while I am around.

Anyway, that is not what this blog post will be about. Tomorrow I will start blogging about how the trip was and take it day by day.
The trip was amazing, and I have had some new friends as well. I wonder how it will go when I leave alone.
Maybe I ought to get a sign were it says "I'm travelling alone"

Ill figure it out... in the meantime, Ill give you this song. Its such a beautiful song, and I love it so much.

-Bail ó Dhia is Mhuire duit. Oíche mhaith