All-nighters are definitely on my Murtagh list. I’m too old for this stuff. The last day (a day for us is from when we get up to when we go to bed, not this inconvenient 24 hr setup) has been a blur. Let’s recap:
01:00 PM – Awaken from a late night (Indi only had 3.5 hrs of sleep)
04:30 PM – Return apartment keys to our landlord in Prague
05:00 PM – Settle in at the Globe Café to read and have dinner
11:30 PM – Catch a cab to the airport (anything after midnight is double rate)
03:45 AM – Flight departs Prague, clocks go back an hour en route to Ireland
05:20 AM – Flight arrives in Ireland
06:00 AM – Catch bus from Dublin airport to the main bus station
When we arrived at the station, we were confused on which way to go to get to our final destination, which wasn’t listed anywhere. A kind Irish gent came right up and asked where we needed to go. He was happy to help us pick the right line and talked merrily to us both while we waited. This interaction would soon become typical for us; Irish folks may be the friendliest on the planet.
07:30 AM – Get on bus to Limerick
11:15 AM – Arrive in Limerick, find out bus to Doolin doesn’t leave till 5:30.
Well, here we were in Limerick, Ireland. Smallish town, not much going on. It was a bit warmer than Prague, but a little windier too. We had a decent lunch (fish ‘n chips!) and looked around the main street. We had hours to kill, and wanted a place to relax. We’re in Ireland. Relax. Spend hours. Hmmm….pub?
We wandered into Murphy’s Pub and it was immediately like walking into a movie set. The bar was lined with older gents drinking various beer and ales, and the booths were scattered and home to lively conversations. Once we sat down, it wasn’t long before the locals grew too curious of our backpacks and decided to inquire. We met several people and made instant friends. One gentleman had traveled some in the past and even had some old black-and-white photographs from Burma he was all too eager to share with us. Everyone was friendly; it immediately felt like we’d lived there our whole lives. We were a bit sad to leave, actually. Though I must say, the Irish accent becomes downright indecipherable at a certain stage of drunkenness. I could’ve sworn some of those guys where just stringing consonants together randomly.
05:30 PM – Board bus to Doolin
08:00 PM – Arrive in Doolin and walk to the nearby Rainbow Hostel
We walked in on one of the owners, Mattie, was giving a slideshow presentation of some of the photos he’d taken around Ireland to a few guests. I’m not talking PowerPoint, either, I’m talking REAL slides. And this guy is a good photographer. Once he concluded, he showed us to our room and we unpacked. Though tremendously tired, we needed dinner. We walked through the rainy night to McGann’s Pub, the only place open in town…but they’d stopped serving food. We settled for a small drink and meandered back up to the hostel, where we talked about our trip to the other guests for a few minutes, then decided that we were about to collapse and retired.
11:00 PM – Bed
We were zombies all day. Neither of us can sleep on airplanes or on buses. Occasionally we’ll drift off for a few minutes, but it’s that horrible half-asleep state where time passes, but you don’t feel rested. At all. But that’s fine, we made it to Ireland and met many nice people. And the scenery, my goodness. I’m eager to talk about it, but it’ll have to wait ‘till next post. But here’s the view outside our window:
Rhys' Pieces 