" I'm just a squirrel trying to get a nut.."

Way overdue on my blogging.. one of my new year's resolutions is to stay more up to date with my blogging so that my friends and family can keep up with whats going on my chaotic life. Alright so- My trip to Ireland. Left on a Sunday, arrived at Schipol airport with plenty of time, went to an Irish pub inside, of course, to read my book and have a pint before my flight. Met a lovely Scottish guy who was heading to Seoul, Korea to meet up with his girlfriend of 4 years. He had met her at a wedding in Bali and they had developed a long term relationship. That is one thing that I love about traveling, you met the most random and amazing people along the way. We shared a couple of pints, talked about his relationship, my holiday, life and then we went our seperate ways.. but I will carry his long distance love affair with me. If two people can make it work from Scotland to Korea, then other long distance relationships seem trivial in the scheme of things. Boarded my flight, and made it safely to Dublin. Met up with my cousins, who saw me dropped off by the double decker bus from our hotel and made it to them! What's a great reunion. I've missed them so incredibly much, and it was nice to all be together again, it almost felt like no time had passed at all, when in hindsight it had been almost four months since we all were together. We stayed in that night, due to their jetlag and hangovers from the ATL airport.. although that didn't stop me and Jenn from downing our bottle of Jack Daniels from the grocery store. (I STILL love that you can buy liquor at the counter of any grocery store of even convience store.. Sparr was a contributing factor to our drunkeness in Dublin). We gossiped, drank and went to bed, ready for the day ahead of us.

Day #1: Sightseeing/walking Dublin, getting our bearings, attempting to find things like food, beer, and ATMS. Walked aimlessly around, taking pictures, crossing the bridges of Dublin from one side to the other in attempt to find the perfect "first pub".. The Bachelors Inn was the first stop, primarily because we were coaxed in my the name of the pub, and secondly because we were ready to start drinking.. let's face it, it was 3pm Dublin time.. (10am US time!) The bar was exactly what I expected, old men in tweed coats, drinking big pints of Guinness and cussing at one another. The bartender was hysterical.. much like most of the Irish, humor is something that goes a long way in Ireland. One of my favorite quotes was from this particular bartender who said to a rather ancient man as he walked in (he obviously was a regular) "you'll be dead by next Christmas, so you better enjoy this pint.." ha- priceless. We were hungry, so we took a look at the menu, not much to pick from, so we choose the cheese and crackers. Needless to say, I was surprised when he asked how many, and as I stared in confusion to my cousins, we just answered two. It literally took 30 minutes for these "two" cheese and crackers to come out, however, it was worth the wait. I have never had such amazing cheese and crackers- and although it sounds ridiculous, I stand by my claim that The Bachelors Inn does some badass things with these crackers. We finish our beers, and head off to the Temple Bar area. One of my friends from Charlotte had come from Dublin not too long before I arrived and he highly recommended Auld Dubliner.. which is an amazing bar. Live music, great pints, and witty service once again.. we met all types of people, from all over the world.. A family from Texas, a military Irishman who had been based in Fort Braggs, N.C, and lots and lots of Irish. We stumbled on to our next destination.. the one and only Temple Bar. Literally, possibly the biggest tourist trap in the world- but who the hell cares. What an amazing pub. The music is so good, everyone singing together in the pub, drinking pints, getting to know one another. If I could live in three places at once, it would be the US, Holland, and Ireland.. My cousin Jenn walks around stroking her fur collared blazer telling men its squirrel, and she's just a squirrel trying to get a nut which is hilarious considering all the shocked faces of the men..We stayed there for possibly too long considering cheese and crackers and pints were the only things that filled our stomach.. a miscommunication, and chance encounters left us the next day without one coat, a set of missing apartment keys, one pair of cashmere gloves, a digital camera, my NC drivers license, and about 30 euros. F You Hungry Harry's. Let's just say it was an expensive night.

Day #2: Woke up considerably later than the day before... tried to connect the missing pieces of the night before, and figured it was time for some real Irish pub food. Went to a little pub near the temple bar called Farringtons, we decided to share our three meals- fish and chips, chicken curry, and a club sandwich. Amazing food- tried to stomach a few pints, the first two went down very slowly and rough.. and then we were back at it again. At this point it was almost 5pm, and some of us were still in our PJ's because we assumed the food run would be just that.. always expect the unexpected. Met a very nice 40something Brit named Andy, who was part time business man, part time comedian. He told us a hilarious story of dying his salt and pepper hair by a brown box dye.. needless to say, it came out very black and apparently god awful, because he spent two weeks holiday in his house rather than heading to Portugal as planned.. goes to show you that men are just as vain as women. We went to a few other pubs, and then made the group decision that if we were out in Dublin then we needed to go home and at least look the part. So we headed back, got ready and then went to Temple Bar- surprise. Met some very interesting Irish fellows, had some drinks and then decided we would accompany them to a nightclub. When we arrived Jenn and Brenda went down a set of stairs, I went in a main door with one of the guys who was staying at the hotel adjacent to the nightclub and we lost each other. For about 45 minutes, I found myself with this Irish guy who was dragging me around the club ( Ike Turner style) as I searched for the rest of my group. Finally I spot a blonde, with lots of cute men, dancing around like its no ones business- I break into tears because god, Im just glad to have found Jenn- and realize shes been having the time of her life. (bitch.. ha) We're still down Brenda, but know we can all take care of ourselves at this point.. back to the apartment by rickshaw bicyle although it is negative degrees and we're not exactly dressed warmly. Everyone is accounted for and home.

Stay tuned..