BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: ERIN GO BRAGH EDITION - MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2016

They're trying to kill us. I just know it.

We had to get up early to have breakfast at the hotel, and I barely made it. We finally got some food into ourselves and we headed off again. This time we had an appointment to go to Malahide Castle, which was located somewhere in Egypt, if the time it took to get there was any indication. 

One thing I've noticed about where we drove around today is that it looks a lot like home, vegetation wise at least. I could almost imagine we were back home, until we got to the big-ass castle. We don't have those back in Alabama! It's funny.  At home when you drive through a rural setting you might see a falling down barn. Out here it's an old, falling down castle or Norman outpost building.  Very cool.

When we got to Malahide, I immediately went in to take a foot picture and sat in a puddle of water on a bench.  There is nothing better than a wet butt while walking around, is there?  Haha!  Since I had no idea what we were supposed to be looking at, I spent quite some time photographing an old, fallen down chapel thinking it was the castle before someone set me straight.  What?  Like I'm supposed to know the difference?  We went on a tour of the castle, which was impressive on the outside, but on the inside it didn't look like I expected. It was more like just another big house.  A freaking nice 18th century manor house, but still...not very castly.  There were two rooms that did look like I expected: One was a room with reed flooring and lots of carved oak (I think) wall panels, the other was the dining room, which was impressively covered in paintings and had a big table and a minstrel's gallery!  It also might have had a ghost, but I didn't see him. :(  There has been a disappointing lack of ghosties on this trip!

 Not Malahide Castle!

 From here on down...Malahide Castle!

By the time we made it through that tour, I started feeling sick. Like, really, really, sick. I don't know what was wrong, but even drinking water made me feel nauseated. I took some medicine, but it didn't help much. Unfortunately, we weren't going back to the hotel any time soon, so I had to suck it up.  The bus driver dropped us off at Trinity University library. because we were going to see the Book of Kells! That was one of the things I studied about when I was in college, so I was excited to see it. Luckily, I started feeling a little better by the time we made it into the exhibit hall.

Trinity University Library and a LONG ass line.

Again, some people genuinely do not know how to look at an exhibit, and I barely got a glimpse of it before a bunch of people crowded around and hung over it and just stayed there.  What are we, animals? Geez. I finally decided that I was going to be rude too, so I just kept sliding over until I'd displaced everyone! HAHA!  FACE!! 

The book was awesome and so beautiful up close. It is really hard to believe someone wrote and drew it by hand, because it's so intricate. There is a very famous depiction of Jesus in that book that has luscious, golden curls, which made me laugh.  Still, though, it was a gorgeous piece of handiwork. I finally let someone else slide over and we went over to see the library proper. It was  huge! I noticed that the second that everyone walked in, they got quiet! I don't think that you ever stop being quiet in a library. :) So many, many books.

We left there and had a few hours to kill in Dublin. We didn't really know what to do, but we walked around looking at what was there on the streets closed off to traffic. We got lost once and ended up in a weird mall where you had to pay to go to the toilet, but found our way around again. I was feeling much better by then, and Steve was hungry, so we stopped in a little place called Bailey's and had a very good ham sandwich and chips (or fries if you're nasty.) We were actually having a great time and suddenly I started feeling sick again. It was the weirdest thing. If I didn't know better, I would have thought I'd been poisoned somewhere along the way. I've been kidding about actually being poisoned, but in hindsight that's the only excuse I have.  Not poisoned on purpose, obviously, but maybe something at breakfast was bad?  Who knows?  We stayed at the restaurant until I felt well enough to leave and went back to grab our tour bus.

By the time we got back to the hotel, I thought I was going to die. We had another thing we had to go to later that night, and I didn't know if staying behind would be an option, so I got ready and lay on the bed, and tried very hard not to die. When it was time to go, I walked downstairs, but had to run back up because I thought I was going to be sick. I didn't, thank goodness, but I felt terrible.  I even fell down in the vestibule because I couldn't keep my balance when I stepped from the hard floor to the carpet, and Steve had to help me up.  I knew it would be rude not to go along with the band to our next activity, so I got on the bus and dozed on the way to the Abby Tavern in Howth (not pronounced like it looks, folks.) where we were going to hear some Irish music and see some Irish dancing. It felt like a long, long drive.

Thankfully, once we got there, I started feeling a bit better and I managed to sit through the whole thing, even though they kept bringing me food. I was able to eat a little, but not much. I really enjoyed the music and dancing, though. I wish I had known the words to the traditional songs they we're singing. The three musicians were very good and funny, so the show was very enjoyable. The dancing was whatever Riverdancing is, so that was fun. I'd love to learn to do that, but I'm pretty sure I'm too old and too fat! We also sat next to two guys from the band that we didn't know before, and had fun talking with them. Well, actually, Steve and I had sat down at a table and no one sat with us, so they felt sorry for us and invited us over. It was fun, though. I made the mistake of making a joke about being a stripper. There was a part at the end of the show where the musicians asked if anyone in the audience had a talent that they wanted to showcase. We had a couple of cloggers with us who danced, (and I can only assume that clogging is a bastard step-cousin to Irish step dancing because it looks similar to me.) and I asked what would have happened if I had told them I was a stripper, and one of the guys took it and ran. :) He was funny about it, so I didn't mind him joking on me. By then I was feeling human again, just in time to go back to the hotel! 

We turned in as soon as we could. I have no idea what was wrong with me, but it must have passed because I haven't felt the same way again. Huh. Weird.

(EDIT: I just learned I didn't cross the international Date Line, I just saw the sun come up. Little bit of column A, little bit of column B... Oops!)