(Barely) Made it to Dublin

Well, I made it to Dublin. Took some doing. Got a great airfare out of Toronto with the caveat that I needed to take a ten hour layover in St Johns. So I figured: Bonus, free day in Newfoundland.

St John's is a pretty city filled with nice people. Smelled like the sea. And a fair bit of weed. They like to blaze out there.

Went up to Signal Hill, the big central attraction which has a beautiful view of the harbor and the city and has historical significance not just for being a former fortification but the place where Marconi first heard the telltale beeps of the wireless coming across the ocean. It was a good day even though I was exhausted at the start of it thanks to my overnight at Pearson, but I slept most of the flight out.

They almost didn't let me in to Ireland. My fantastical dreams of meandering around Europe indefinitely got dashed pretty hard by the customs officer. Apparently they don't love people who show up with no established exit time or ticket. My pre-paid hotel was enough to convince her but UK and Euro officials may not be as forgiving. As a result I'll be booking a flight home for mid-September which should give a month to see continental Europe. Not as long as I'd like but enough to see what I want to see. Of course, other customs officers might not even ask the question but if they do I need to have an answer.

Anyways all I wanted to do was sleep when I finally got to the hotel. So of course they had no rooms available until 3. I got on local transit, bleary-eyed, and went to see the city. Took a tour of Dublin Castle, and wandered around the city core. It's a city with a lot of history but just like everywhere else globalism has poured in. I was dwelling on this during my lunch at the Hard Rock cafe.

Eventually I got back and slept for several hours. Then I woke up and wrote this.

Tomorrow I take a tour out into the wilds of Ireland.

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