Day 11--IRL, Waterford to Dublin

I think last night was the best sleep I’ve gotten the whole trip, thanks to the Bulmer’s probably. Left Waterford at 8:15am and headed towards Dublin. Just saw a red fox—it was dead on the road in Enniscorthy though. Stopped at the Avoca Weaving Mill. Okay, so I bought an Italian scarf, but it was only Є13 and in the U.S. they are usually $50+. Next stop was Glendalough where we went to the visitor center, took a tour and saw churches and buildings from the 11th century. Arrived at the Hilton in Dublin and had time to repack our luggage (again) before going to the Irish Cabaret at Dublin’s Jury’s Inn. The music, dancing, and comedy were good. The meal wasn’t bad either as they had the option of vegetarian stuffed bell peppers. The main singer was a bit cheesy—all I could think of was Tom Jones—“It’s Not Unusual…” Sarah kept saying, “You think he’s had Botox?” It was enjoyable regardless and it was nice to have the Cabaret as our Irish finale. Said our goodbye’s to everyone and went back to our room to finish packing our clothes. The new tram in Dublin runs right next to our hotel—I mean literally! It’s about 20 ft. out our window. It’s 11:58pm and it just went noisily by again. Hopefully it stops at midnight. I’m looking forward to getting home to see Daniel. Not sure how quick I’ll get adjusted to the time at home—never got fully adjusted here. Marian told me she really enjoyed the Cabaret tonight except she had to go out the back door because there was a man waiting for her inside—he grabbed her as she was coming out of the restroom—or so she says. She also said that the Pub last night was corny. I told her that I had a few beers and talked to Sarah the whole night and rather enjoyed it. She told me that she sat at the bar with the local fishermen and Sean Connery. Whatever! I think she hit the bar tonight before we even got to our sets. When we got off the bus this evening, she told Anto, our driver, that he won’t be seeing her again. His reply—“Believe me, I will for many years to come.” It’s great to have a driver and a guide for that matter that are so fun. I do feel bad for Marian. She is an alcoholic, lonely, desperate for attention—and she drives people away from her. She is very negative and refused to buy anything because it was 2-3 times more expensive than in the U.S. We will be getting up at 4:45am tomorrow to catch a cab to the airport at 5:45am. Less than two days until we get back to Portland now.