I'm still home. Things haven't changed.

I am home and will continue to be home. However, I feel it is my civic duty, or at least my duty to recap the week of Ireland that my parents were there for.
We are on Day 2. Or Day 3. I'd call it day 2 I think.
Whatever.

It's now Sunday and we have met in the city centre. We were going to meet at the donut shop, but my parents missed it and then I missed them but we found each other at about 10:30. My mother had bought these Dublin Pass things and they came with hop on/hop off bus capabilities for 3 days (as well as regular Dublin Bus capabilities). So we began the Dublin Bus hop on/hop off tour.

Our driver was named Greg and he was hilarious. He changed his name with each stop, he made hilariously awful puns and was generally entertaining. So instead of using the hop off aspect, we stayed on for one full tour of the city.
My dad was sitting by himself in the front of the bus (we were sitting across from him) and this enormous man came and sat next to him. With the fact that there were free seats around, I have no idea what possessed him to sit next to my dad. He also had this cane and it was weird. I don't know.

My mother and I laughed quite a bit. Probably more than we should've.

After taking a break from being on a bus, we all went to the delicious Centra for a sandwich. I taught my parents the way of the sandwich bar, especially from the Centra. They would toast it for you for free. Melted cheese is a motivator for pretty much anything.

So we hopped back on the bus and proceeded to get off at the Guinness Storehouse. We were going to wait until Monday, but there was no queue and so we got off. We went through and it was still quite cool. My dad liked it a lot and enjoyed his pint in the Gravity Bar. It does have one of the finest views of the whole city, and if I had any photos that I took, I'd show you. But I don't. There isn't even a photo of us in the Gravity Bar, which I do find lame. However, I only find it lame now that I'm home because I realize that it doesn't look like we were even there. Oh well.
Next time, right?

We spent a lot a lot a lot of time in the Guinness Storehouse, so we hopped back on the bus. We were going to do the Kilmainham Gaol, and then we didn't. Too little time. And the parents were still slightly tired from that whole jet-lag thing. So we met up with Lara at this Italian restaurant near the Jervis stop, and ate dinner.
Still delicious.

I helped the parents find their bus stop, since they could take the bus back to their hotel as compared to a cab.
I then went home and watched some more West Wing. And packed.

Day 3 is a tad more interesting. I think. It's hard to remember. But I'll tell you. Promise.

Now it's time to finish my episode of the West Wing, watch Studio 60 and stay up late? Maybe? I don't know. I have no job whatsoever. Lame.

Getting my West Wing on.

I'm home right now and getting my West Wing on. But as I haven't updated since I've been in Ireland, we shall recap the parents trip to Dublin.

They got in last Saturday. The...12th? Sounds right. Anyway.

I tried to book a cab to get to the airport to meet them when they landed. However, the stupid people never called me to tell me the cab was downstairs. SO. I hopped a bus to the city center and then a cab to the airport.
And my parents had been there for like...45 minutes. Dude. I totally should've expected it. They took the same flight I did from Chicago and mine landed really early. And theirs did too. Dad was pretty tired and cranky. He's tall, as you know, and let's face it. Airplanes were never designed for people taller than my mother. Not that she's like, a midget or anything. But she's shorter than both my father and I, and it makes an 8 hour airplane ride slightly more comfortable for her than for us.

So I got them back to my place to drop their luggage and do some sightseeing. Which was rough because they were so tired. I led them around by their noses to do things. We ate at this fish and chips place in Temple Bar which was pretty good. I'd eaten there a few times before, and I figured the parents would want food food and not just a sandwich or something. I then took them around a little more, to places of little consequence, and then we took a river cruise down the River Liffey. It was pretty cool I thought because I'd never done anything like that before. It took us down to the Docklands area, which is being renovated in a big way.

After that (it was bout 2:30 or 3 at this point-I think my parents were seeing stars) we got on the Red hop on/hop off bus tour. Being as it was the multi lingual tour, we had headphones and stuff and we didn't hop off because the parents were pretty tired. I don't like the tours that use the headphones-I think they're less interesting and more impersonal. The other tours have live commentary and that can lead to hilarity. As we will see in Day 2 of the Parental Visit to Ireland. (which will be written about tomorrow methinks).

Our hop on/hop off tour took us until like...4 something? Maybe? I don't exactly remember. I got them onto the Dublin Bus that got me back to my place and we got their luggage. I helped them get a cab and sent them on their merry way at about...5 ish. Maybe slightly later by the time we got back to my place. But not much.
And that was Day 1 of the Parental Visit. Fairly uneventful, but it was to be expected. I remember how tired I was that first day and I think I did a reasonable job of keeping them awake until late-ish.
I watched some West Wing (because my mom brought it with her) and it was nice. I ate a pizza too.

Day 2-a sandwich, Guinness Storehouse and yet another hop on/hop off bus tour. as if you were shocked.

Still here. But not for long.

I leave on Saturday and am using the blog as an excuse to take a break from packing.
Lara left this morning.
I leave Saturday.
Who knows when Chris leaves.

I'm still going to take a trip back in time though, and finish the London trip. Then, I promise when I'm home, I'll recap the visit by the parents.
Then who knows for this little old blog of mine.

So let's go back.
One week, actually. To last Thursday.

Lara and I get back from Equus to find a note under our door telling us that we'll have to switch rooms. The hotel we were staying at, The Hyde Hotel, was undergoing renovations and therefore-apparently-our room had to have its' carpet taken out.
So we go to bed, expecting a phone call to tell us when we'll be moving. We're told it'll be at like...9.
I wake up at 10 am the next morning, no sign of a phone call, knock on the door, cannon through the room-nothing.
Whatever.

We get dressed and head off to do a hop on/hop off bus tour of London. Needless to say, I think I'm totally addicted to those kinds of tours. If you think about it, it's genius. You can see a lot in a short period of time, and then you can always just ride around and listen to the driver talk about stuff. And if you want?
You get off and see stuff.

Our goal for the day was to get to Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey. It was rainy and gross and of course, we sat on the top level. But the bus people gave us a poncho, which was nice.
Lara and i got to Buckingham, took a few photos and then waited for the bus.
At which point Lara realizes she's left her ticket on the last bus. And I'm on the bus because she shooed me on, and she's got to buy a new one.
L to the AME.

We ride on until we get to Westminster. It's now even more appealing because it's indoors and therefore-dry. Very dry.
So we get the audio tour, get over the fact that you can't take pictures indoors and begin our journey. And what a journey! Like, everyone is there. Edwards, Henrys, Marys, Elizabeth (the one Cate Blanchett played) and everyone else too. It's ornate and packed with monuments and generally totally awesome. They've got an awesome monument/tomb for both Newton and Darwin, and I wish I could've taken a photo of them.
Anyway.
We finish our tour, we decide to hop back on the bus and finish up before getting back to the hotel to change for SPAMALOT (hence the mention of spam in the previous entry).

I get on the bus. I wait for Lara on the lower deck and she shooes me on while she looks for her ticket. Then I watch her search for her ticket through the window because the bus has left.
Rock.
I get off at the next stop and begin to wait for her. I then get a text that she's passing Victoria Station, which I so didn't do. I was over by the Tate. So I say meet up at the hotel, and we do. I get on the next bus, we drive a bit and I get off at Charring Cross because they were about to go East, to the city of London (with the Tower, Bridge and stuff) and I didn't have time/have already seen it. So I get my Tube on and head back.

And climb to the fourth floor of the hotel which doesn't have any elevators. Dude.
Uncool.

I get into the room and it's like a sauna. Hot hot hot. Apparently our room has a broken fuse or something which is gross. A really nice bellboy is trying to fix it, and we're trying to change.
Not awkward at all. Really. (Isn't sarcasm fun?)

We then get in our cab to the theater, which isn't so much a cab as a Mercedes. Whoa.
We are not this posh.
But then our cabbie lets us out like, blocks from the theater for little to no reason, and we are annoyed. But I pick up the tickets, we eat at Subway, we buy programs from a cute (and short) little British person and enjoy the hilarity that is Spamalot.
Everyone in the theater laughed a lot, thank goodness, because I laughed throughout the whole thing. It doesn't matter that I'd heard some of the jokes before. Still funny.

Lara and I laugh our way through the show, sing "Look On The Bright Side Of Life" during the curtain call and head home. After eating at a McDonald's. Cheap. Very cheap. It took forever for us to get a cab, but we got home finally. To a room that was way too hot.

I left the next morning kinda early and got back to Dublin. Not much happened. That was Friday.
Soon I shall recap this past week.
Stay tuned.

(I tried to post photos-it won't let me. But there's nothing much to see. A rainy photo of Buckingham and Westminster, really. The day before was much more photo-full)

Well. Uh...

...what to blog about?
My parents are in town, sidenote, they got in on Saturday. It's been pretty busy as we've been taking in the sites of the city-Guinness, Christ Church, driving around...good sandwiches.

Back though, to London.

Lara and I got up on Wednesday for the sole purpose of going to the British Museum. I wanted to go super bad and I didn't get the chance the last time I was in London.
So Lara and I made the journey. Directions to the museum were startlingly crappy.
But we found it.

And it was awesome.

From the Rosetta Stone to mummies to the gates to Assyrian cities, including Babylon to the threepence coins that make my bracelet, it was totally awesome. We spent nearly the entire day there, and I can't even begin to describe it all.
You start in ancient Egypt, and work your way through the history of the world, basically. Egypt had the Rosetta Stone in it, because that's where Napolean found it during his campaign. Egypt also had huge pillars, mosiacs and a ton of stele. Which isn't shocking, because during Art History it seemed we studied a ton of stele.
I mean, a ton.

Then Greece and Rome. Britain seems to have everything that is totally awesome. There are a ton of statues and stuff which isn't shocking, because Greece did love a good statue. And then Rome had a thing for copying them because the original was lost and/or destroyed. It was awesome to see all that stuff right there.

Then there is an entire section devoted to the Elgin Marbles. Google it if you don't know what they are. I am not telling you here. But I have a few pictures. They are amazing. Lord Elgin got some good stuff from Greece when he took them back to England. The sculptures and the freize reliefs are absolutely amazing. So detailed, and yet in such good condition too, considering what the Parthenon has been through. I hate that stupid explosion destroyed part of it and whatever. It's so...ergh. Moving on.
I most definately walked through and studied every inch that they had on display. I was then filmed for a documentary by a French (?) lady (didn't know her country of origin, but English isn't her first language) about my impressions of the place. I blamed my interest in history on my parents, because they're nerds.
And they are. I told my dad about all the stuff we saw and he was like "Um, dude. When I was in London I wanted to go there, but I didn't and man...quelle bummer."
I totally see why. Lara and i tried to see it all and just didn't. They've also got a cool exhibit coming in 2008 about time, calendars and clocks. I don't know much more than that, but i figure anyone who knows me knows my obsession with things that tick. A la the clock/watch.

Whatever. I think the entire place is Super Cool and deserves at least a few days to go through Properly, so you don't miss anything.
They also had an Easter Island head there for this exhibit about life and death. Honestly, I'm not sure what the head had to do with it, but it was sooo cool to see in person.
Like the mummies. Totally awesome.
One of them had liquid rosin poured in his head cavity, so it all settled. The CAT scan shows that the back of the head is totally solid, which is weird/cool. They're not sure why his head is filled with rosin, but here he is. Rosin-full.

Lara and i ate an expensive lunch there, but it was worth it. The food was delicious for a cafeteria style service, and it's the British Museum. Needless to say, if I could get back, I would. And live there for a while. Because it is that awesome. And we missed a good chunk of it.

Because....

We had tickets to Equus. Lara and I tore ourselves away from the museum to get back to the hotel to change. We found the theater relatively easily. In front of it, there's a poster. It's small. Discreet even. You would never, ever know that Equus is playing there.

The play was absolutely amazing. Daniel Radcliffe was really really good, and I wasn't expecting it. Richard Griffith can do no wrong, so it's like a partay with good people. Everyone else in the show was amazing too, but that isn't the point. Lara and i had really good seats. Like...3rd row center. (don't ask how much they were. Just assume we're poor enough as it is)
I like sitting that close because you can break the 4th wall and make eye contact with the actors. So I did that a bit with Richard Griffith and Daniel Radcliffe.
That's right. He's a funny looking kid too. A tad on the short side as well, if we're being totally honest. Which I should be. since i saw him running around the stage naked.

Yeah. It was amazing and totally blew me away. From the set design to the script to the performances to the costumes (and like, how they did the horses).
We ate at McDonalds afterwards because it's cheap and London is expensive. One cab ride later, we went to bed.
And thus you have day (fill in the blank) in London.
Day 3 has a bus tour, rain, some guard people and Spam.

So. (buttons)

Say it out loud. It makes more sense.

Story 1-I LOVE THE WEST WING. I JUST DO. I am absolutely head over heels in love with Josh Lyman, played by Bradley Whitford. I just love him.
He's adorable.

Moving on.

Story 2-a semi brief recap of day 2 in Scotland. However, not all that brief because once we got on the train, things weren't so interesting.
Lara and I woke up and hiked into town to do the hop on/hop off bus tour to ensure that we saw stuff. Namely Edinburgh Castle cause it's on a hill and totally awesome looking.

So we saw some stuff, like where Sean Connery took his acting lessons, the Scottish residence of the Queen when she decides to stop by, and a Museum of Childhood, started by a guy who doesn't even like kids.

But Edinburgh Castle was totally awesome. It's up on this hill and is fortified like whoa. There was a siege there for a couple of years by this guy who was holding it for the "true" Queen, Mary Queen of Scots, back in the 1500's. He lost and got executed. A common fate for people back in the day it seems.
Scotland is also the home of the oldest Standards in the UK, and they were lost for a while too. Apparently during some sort of attack they wrapped them in a linen cloth and dumped them down the King's privy. And then forgot for a while.
It's unclear when, but at some point they were moved to a chest where they were found in the 1700's or so. Totally sweet.
We also saw the One O'Clock Gun, which fires everyday at 1, except Sundays. It started back when watches were incredibly unreliable, and so everyone could set their watch by it. Now, I don't know how the people who were firing the gun knew when it was 1 in the afternoon, but it's a good story nonetheless.

We saw St. Margaret's Chapel, which is the oldest building on the site. It dates back to the early 12 century, and she was Queen of Scotland. She is said to have died of a broken heart after hearing that her husband was killed a few days earlier. She was quite ill, apparently, and just died. The people of the castle lowered her body down, which is super impressive if you see the photos I will try to post. She died in 1093 too.

The castle sits on top of an old volcano that erupted millions of years ago, which also gives it a super fabulous position over the city.

Here are photos.

Lara and I got to the train and rode it for a while. A fairly uneventful train ride, both of us felt ill at alternating times. Which kinda sucked. We also weren't too sure of the location of our hotel in London, and this super nice guy next to us looked it up on his internet phone, which I thought was really cool. Sometimes I feel that wouldn't happen back in the States.

Whatever. It was really nice of him. Our train also got delayed a little due to signal problems, which our train manager explained to us at every opportunity he got. I thought it was funny. But the nice thing? We totally made up the time once we got to London. In fact, we were early getting in.

So Lara and I got our Underground on to our hotel, which was super close to the Paddington Station. And we got for a steal. Unfortunately neither of us ever had the forethought to take a picture, but it was a posh place for sure.
Flat screen tv, big bathroom, water in the fridge, fresh flowers on the desk...probably cost way more than the 50 pounds a night that we payed.
Oh the internet. How I love thee.

Anyway. That was day 2. And it was a whirlwind, just as I told you. The bus tour, the castle, the train ride-all kind of a blur.
But an awesome blur.

(sidenote-the parents are here which means I'll be home soon. weird)

Back back back

As my mother has told me, I am very delequent in making the blog posts. So here it is.

When I last left you, I was planning on going to Britain. and I did. Hardcore.

Scotland and London yo. Edinburgh to be exact.

Lara and I flew out of Dublin this past Monday. There's only one flight to Edinburgh a day, so we didn't have a choice in the matter about what time we'd leave.
We got to the airport appropriately early, and sat at our gate. A8. Or so we thought.
As time went by, it just got stranger and stranger that we hadn't heard anything whatsoever about our flight. Nothing. Zilch. Nada.
It was weird. Won't lie. And only at the Dublin airport would the monitors be out and no one tell you. So you get up to check on the flight and you look at a big white screen.
Convienient, right?
haha. yeah.

So I go about finding where our flight might be, since now gate A8 is boarding for Gatwick. London. England.
Right country, wrong section.

Monday was also a bank holiday, and apparently it's way too difficult to operate a country post bank holiday. Way hard yo.
There are absolutely no Aer Lingus people to be found. None. Nowhere. Were they hiding? Hungover? Still drunk? Who knows.

Also, no one else can direct us to anywhere that might help us find where we really need to be. So now I'm starting to become more than a little concerned about this excersion of ours.

We end up at gate A63, which is surprisingly close to where we started, which is another story all together. I find the layout of the Dublin airport weird. Very well labeled so you know where to go (in theory), but weird.

Our flight is uneventful, but kinda bumpy and made us very glad to see solid ground again. I love to travel. I just wish I liked flying more. Seriously. I'm so not a fan. (which reminds me that I have to order a cab to get to the airport)

We get to Edinburgh only to realize we need to catch a bus to get to our hotel. Actually, we found it on a fluke. We got off the bus where the tourist office guy told us too, and Lara's map said we might have to do some walking. Thank goodness I had the idea to look up and look across the street.
voila
Our hotel. Right across the street. Which was nice because it was rainy like whoa. So we dash across the street and get into a pretty nice room for the price. Which is expensive, but that's because it's the Pound, and that's 2 dollars to 1 pound. Highway robbery I say.

Lara and I walk into the city center and buy tickets for the train to London. Only 17.50. Cheaper than the internet which wouldn't let us buy them online because we're not residents of the UK. Silly.
Edinburgh is lovely and we stumble into some old cemetaries and get a look at Edinburgh Castle and stuff. The plan for the next day was the hop on/hop off bus tour so we could see some stuff before heading South.
Lara and I walked a lot that day. We tried to walk out to this tholos style tomb (and I only remember the name of the tomb now because it's round and rhymes with "rolo's"-the candy and so I kept calling it a rolos tomb. Wrong. Oh silly mneunomic devices)

Anyway. We tried to walk there and decided that it's probably in a totally different city because it just never got closer. And then we made the long walk back to the hotel because we had a dinner reservation at 8 at this restaurant across the street from the hotel.
Little did we know it was fancy shmancy like whoa, and we would be the only people eating in there.
Weird. Seriously weird. Good food but it was just...tres chic and we'd been rained on for a while, we were tired and so not posh enough to be in a joint like that. We ate, we whispered if only to not have anyone hear us because you could hear the chewing for pete's sake, and then we left.
And promptly passed out in the hotel.

I'm going to tidy a little more. But later today/tomorrow-Hop on/hop off bus tour, train ride and nice British people. Otherwise known as Day 2. Complete with pictures.

AHAHA. Victory over the internet

I beat you, crafty crafty internet.

The status of my life has gone back to normal, as I have reigned supreme over the internet, or lack thereof.

So. I apparently updated on Monday (Not that I remember, this week has been a blur)

I have spent this week doing an absurd amount of work. Like, I don't think I've done this much work in forever. Or maybe it's because I had to write a lot of essays and that's just something I don't do anymore. (Sidenote-totally not complaining)
I turned in an essay everyday this week, and it was rough. However, this week was also the last week of classes. I'm a tad bummed-I really liked some of them. And some I didn't. Well, I liked the teachers. Just not the kids.
Unless it's my Wednesday class. In which point I never liked the class because not showing up at 9:30 does that to me. Ergh. GO TO CLASS TEACHER. It's what they like, hired you to do, right?

Anyway. I digress.
Class was rough especially because the weather has been lovely. I invested in some sunscreen because I sat outside a bit in St Stephens Green and did some work. I also bought a book (I know. Shock) about Jewels and the history of some of them. It's super cool and super nerdy.

I also have developed a cold. A sore throat that just burns on one side. Like to the point where eating is so incredibly uninteresting. Drinking too.
Oh.
Also saw Spiderman 3 last night. I think I liked it, but I know I liked the others better. However, I should point out that I love Topher Grace-he's just so tall. Like, tall tall. Sigh.
And I love James Franco. If only he were taller.

Lara and I Had a few Irish boys tell us they "love the Americans". It just was strange because it happened like, 4 times last night.
I plan on putting up some photos tomorrow because I'll be doing laundry. I thinnk I'm going to England.
London Calling yo