Slainte, everybody.

It’s the end of my second week back in the States and I’m slowly readjusting. I don’t have any more photos or stories to share, so I think it’s time to wrap up this travelblog. I miss Dublin very much, and I’ll miss coming home every day to write here. I had no idea when I started this that so many strangers would be interested in my Dublin adventures. Thank you to everyone who sent me advice and encouragement.

I’ll leave this up to keep a record of my travels (I have plans to compile it all into a hard copy for myself), but there will be no more updates.

Cheers!

Me and three friends at the Garden of Remembrance. I’m in San Francisco at the moment, and it’s making me miss Dublin a lot. The crosswalks make the wrong noise. View high resolution

Me and three friends at the Garden of Remembrance.

I’m in San Francisco at the moment, and it’s making me miss Dublin a lot. The crosswalks make the wrong noise.

Taking ridiculous photos on the very very last night of the program. View high resolution

Taking ridiculous photos on the very very last night of the program.

More photos going up from our time in Ireland. Once again - not my glasses. Not sure why my friend Drew in the middle looks so crazy-eyed. I think this was one of the nights we went out to the theatre and then to a pub afterward. View high resolution

More photos going up from our time in Ireland. Once again - not my glasses. Not sure why my friend Drew in the middle looks so crazy-eyed. I think this was one of the nights we went out to the theatre and then to a pub afterward.

1 August

Final adventure: the long journey home.

I woke up at 5:30 to check out and catch a cab. The biggest hurdle to my day was the disappearance of my towel two days prior - the cleaning staff took it, along with my sheets, for inexplicable reasons. My towel (that I’d been using to shower for the past week) was a little face-towel size and I’d planned to toss it when I left anyway, but it did mean I couldn’t shower for the couple of days until I left. Since the guy I planned to hang out with bailed on me, it didn’t much matter whether I was showered for my rambles around Dublin, but the morning of my flight, I felt gross. So I took a shower without getting my hair wet and dried off with a canvas tote bag I’d been carrying toiletries in. Not my finest moment.

Then I called the discount cab company that was always a flat 20 euro ride to the airport (regular cabs are 32-34) but as I was standing outside with my suitcase, another cab came up and I had to wave him away after asking if he was the one I’d just called. Then another cab came and I said “are you the one I called for?” and he said yes so I put my suitcase in and got in, but as he was pulling away from the curb, another cab screeched in and blocked us, almost causing an accident, and ran over and said “Are you Lily, did you just call for a cab” and I said yes and he said he was the one I called, and the other cabdriver said no I’m the one that got called. They argued very quickly and then the new driver grabbed my suitcase and moved it to his cab so I followed him, which seemed the better call because he’d known my name and whatever. He said the other guy was a cheat and would have robbed me. Not sure if they were competitors or if the dispatcher made a mistake or what. Anyway I got to the airport but for 28 euros because it was a bank holiday (oh, Ireland.)

This put me in a sticky spot because I had exactly 30 euros on me - I budgeted really well so I wouldn’t have leftover euros. Pulling them out of ATMs means fees and conversion losses and all that, so I was careful to just keep 20 for the cab and 10 for food at the airport. So, bank holiday meant no food at the airport for Lily. Got through customs pretty painlessly (I’d wanted to bring back some nice Irish liquor but was afraid of getting caught, turns out it would’ve been fine, oh well.) Some other kids had nightmarish problems getting through immigration and customs so I had budgeted two extra hours for that as per their advice, but it didn’t take nearly that long. Finally got on the first plane, that was a long flight, then had a 3 hour layover in Newark which turned into 5 hours because our crew was stranded in Pittsburgh and then there were weather issues. When the plane landed two people almost got into a fight and were cussing each other out in the aisle and it was obnoxious. Finally got my luggage and made it home. As I was unpacking my bag my 5:30 wake-up alarm went off on my Irish phone, indicating that I’d been awake and traveling for exactly 24 hours. I took a shower, with water pressure and a real towel, then slept. Now it is 8:30am in Phoenix and I’m awake and I think I have kicked jetlag’s ass.

I am in America!

3 hour layover in Newark!

TRAVELING IT’S FUN

More from the last night. I had dressed up, but we all got IWP t-shirts and some of us decided to put them on, so I’m wearing mine over my dress. View high resolution

More from the last night. I had dressed up, but we all got IWP t-shirts and some of us decided to put them on, so I’m wearing mine over my dress.

A bit of an abrupt tone shift, but more photos are hitting Facebook from our final days together as the IWP crew. Here I am with some friends at the pub after the goodbye dinner. You can tell it’s early in the night because someone’s wearing a hat and it’s not me. View high resolution

A bit of an abrupt tone shift, but more photos are hitting Facebook from our final days together as the IWP crew. Here I am with some friends at the pub after the goodbye dinner. You can tell it’s early in the night because someone’s wearing a hat and it’s not me.

Some items of significance to political prisoners from the War of Independence held in the Gaol. The shirt on the far left was worn by a prisoner at his hanging. The chocolates in the middle were sent to a young girl by a prisoner scheduled to be executed. He wrote that if he was released, they could eat them together, and if he wasn’t, she would have to eat them herself. She never opened them. The collar on the far side belonged to a young man accused of shooting a British soldier. He had an alibi but was convicted and executed anyway. A desperate secret message declaring his innocence is written on the inside of the collar - he hoped that when it was sent to the cleaner, someone might see it. View high resolution

Some items of significance to political prisoners from the War of Independence held in the Gaol. The shirt on the far left was worn by a prisoner at his hanging. The chocolates in the middle were sent to a young girl by a prisoner scheduled to be executed. He wrote that if he was released, they could eat them together, and if he wasn’t, she would have to eat them herself. She never opened them. The collar on the far side belonged to a young man accused of shooting a British soldier. He had an alibi but was convicted and executed anyway. A desperate secret message declaring his innocence is written on the inside of the collar - he hoped that when it was sent to the cleaner, someone might see it.

The spot where 14 of the 15 men were executed (James Connolly was shot at the other end of the yard because of his injured condition - there is a cross there for him too.) View high resolution

The spot where 14 of the 15 men were executed (James Connolly was shot at the other end of the yard because of his injured condition - there is a cross there for him too.)