It's nice to be back in my homeland

Thats right, England is my home land. After checking in both Scotland and Ireland, it has been confirmed that I am English. I don't have a tartan in Scotland, and I don't have a clan in Ireland. I do however have a family crest that comes from England!!

So it's been awhile since I last posted, that is because we didn't have internet access at either bed n breakfast we stayed at. So my last post was one that I wrote in word, then just pasted it into my blog a few minutes ago. But as of right now we have made our way through Dublin and made it back to Farnham here in England.

Dublin was great, but if you ever plan on going over there, I would like to give you some tips. First off, Dublin is a mecca for tourism, so there are tons and tons of tourist. Where there are tourist there are smelly men waiting to rip you off, so be careful. The bad thing about a big tourist town as cool as Dublin is that if you aren't careful you will only really get a taste of the tourist Dublin. I found that in Dublin there are two types of pubs, there are tourist Irish pubs and there are Irish pubs. Stay away from the tourist ones, there are only other tourist in there. You really have to try and get out of the city to meet the real Irish folks.

Also, Dublin is expensive!!! One of the most expensive in all of Europe. No joke, an average meal in a sit down joint over there will run you about $50. I am talking a sandwich, fries, and a drink. We bought a 3day bus pass and a city tour pass, we spent $75 on that. So bring some money! (quiznos was cheap)

So last night Liz and I decided to ring in the new year in a local Irish pub, away from the hustle and bustle of the big city. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into, WOW!!! So we sat down at a table by ourselves, just chatting away with about an hour before midnight. Then a couple comes through the door and recognizes we are from the states, so they ask to sit down with us. Perfect, finally this is what we were looking for, a local couple to chat with and get some insight into the Irish culture. Well, I don't have time to tell all the details, (actually you probably don't have time for all the details), but let me sum it up real quick.

They were pretty buckeled (drunk) when they showed up, but after some more drinks they were well off. So they invite Liz and I over to their place after the pub closed down at 12:30. We felt like they were some nice folks, and we trusted them so we said OK. So after some uncomfortable scenarios played out in the pub, we leave and they start on the way to their place. BUT, actually they led us into another pub, a late night pub. Then the lady offers to take Liz to show her their place. Liz and I are both kind of weirded out by all of this, but she says ok, and I let her (I have no idea why). Well the creepy thing, is that the guy keeps asking me if I trust them and if I am worried about Liz. I tell him I am ok, but he makes the whole thing worse by continuing to ask me if I am worried about my wife.  Turns out that the lady is asking Liz all these weird things, like do you trust me, do you think I am taking you somewhere else, WEIRD.

After this mess clears up, Liz and I make a dash for our place, we said our goodbuys and got out of there quick. We were both a little creeped out. I actually think that they were both genuinly very nice and friendly people. They were both toasted though, so they started getting all, well, they acted really drunk. So kids, don't get drunk, it does stupid stuff to you.

Well, it is time for me to hit the sack, it's about 2am here right now, and I need some good shut-eye.

Good night.

Oh, last thing, we learned that the Irish pronounce there th's as t's. That makes for some really interesting words. The best was when the tour guide pronounces cathedral. i am going to attempt to spell out how he said it, so really try to sound it out. (this is really funny when you hear it)

cat-eet-at-tral

Happy New Year, I hope that 2008 is the best of your life!