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3-4-14

Amazed that I arrived this morning in Dublin, sober and conscious – not the way I usually fly. It was nice for a change. Got off the plane, came through customs trying to explain what it is I’m attempting to do. Work out of Ireland, cross the continent... He wasn't interested. He just asked how long I'd be in Ireland, stamped my passport and wished me a nice day. Picked up my luggage without incident. I must be the most non-suspicious guy who ever showed up in Ireland.

In the airport, I was lost. We’d arrived an hour early, so I didn't expect my cousin Vern for a while. I found a girl at one of the shops to help me get my iphone to pick up a signal in the airport and sent my cousin a note via facebook messenger. When I looked up from sending it, there he already was.

We fumbled our way onto a series of buses and trains, all the while trying to hear each other. I’d been on two flights in the last several hours and my ears were plugged. His excuse was he is 70.

Got back to Vern & Neal’s place, and the dog – Freddy – didn't seem too happy to see me. This did not concern me – I have never met a dog or a kid I couldn't win over. I got the grand tour… it’s a very nice place, not only decorated in the familiar style of my cousin, but with many familiar items I recall from his place back in the states.

We went out. He had to stop at this big, old post office that had been blown up once or twice in the past (apparently, a lot of things have been blown up at one time or another in Ireland). We also passed a building where some guy was once hanged and/or beheaded (I guess that is about as common as blown-up things).

I recalled some terrific fish n chips from Burdock’s, so we wandered through the Temple Bar area (which I recalled being filled with drunks on St Pat’s Day of 2003. Yeah, also pretty common…) and eventually got to Burdock’s. One old white-haired guy and two younger guys were working it, all three grooving to some modern pop (especially the old guy). Got our fish n chips and wandered around for a place to eat it. Christchurch is a religious structure that dates back to the 1100s – what could be better? We enjoyed our fish n chips, even shared a little with a pair of pigeons.

After we ate, we wandered home through a small park/cemetery containing a few headstones, several so old you could barely read them if at all. A man was walking through with his little dog. The dog came to me and wanted me to throw sticks for him, so I did. He chased them, but didn't bring them back.

Jetlag must have taken over at some point, ‘cause I can’t recall much else from my first day here.