Sheep. Sheep everywhere.

I've never appreciated the clean feeling of a shower as much as I have tonight. My clothes appreciate it too...I was pretty brutal to them. Today was full of...frustration and adventures? I learned my first lesson. I should probably make plans to get the most out of my day and not spend money I don't have. But I got to see the countryside of Ireland!

I headed back to Chavon and Tim's apartment this morning with them still passed out, so I left a little note, some money for the cab ride, and fought with the door lock for about 15 minutes as I was leaving. A map of a 4 mile walk to the ferry was pretty fresh in my mind, but I improvised on the way following the crowds of people and exploring downtown Dublin. This is not a good idea. Especially because I ended up in a bad side of town which 2 ladies politely let me know as I've got tourist screaming all over me. They also told me I was miles away from the port which I thought my improvising had gotten me to only about a mile away.

So Brian Conner gladly pulled over to take me to the port to head over to Cherbourg, France to catch a train to Paris, France over a total of about 2 days. Thank goodness Brian was just as nice as everyone I've met here & told me I'm about being 2 hours away from the correct port. I would have ended up going to England, which in the end would be pretty neato except that my Eurail pass doesn't cover train rides in England as a country because England hates people. Brian gave me some pointers of what I could do to save money since I'd already splurged on 2 cab rides (1 more coming up!), and I ended up back at the airport...caught a bus to Wexford on a beautiful 2 hour ride. The scenery is exactly what you'd expect of Ireland...fields of sheep, throw in some cows & horses. And then more fields of sheep. They have shrubbery separating the fields which reminds me of playing Pokemon on Gameboy. Makes me want to find an Irish fellow and never leave!

I've never been able to sleep on planes and buses because I'm too self conscious after waking up one too many times with my mouth hanging open (drool may be included) from sleeping upwards. The bus ride to Wexford was very relaxing and at one point, I had it all to myself! Once I got off at the train station, it was closed. I could have sworn there was a later train, but Brian Allen, my next cab driver, kindly reminded me that today is a holiday and the workers were probably sitting in their cars soaking up the sun until the next train. Brian took me the 30 Euros worth ($39.22) to Rosslare, Ireland where the ferry leaves and gave me a brief history lesson. JFK is from Ireland (did some research, his ancestors are from here) and spoke at a gas station used-to-be-train station in Wexford when he was president. The Irish folk are extremely offended by the movie PS I Love You with Hillary Swank and Gerard Butler because a Scottsman is playing an Irishman. & the author of the book is the previous prime minister's daughter (the PM responsible for leading them into a recession).

Once at the port, the lady at the counter said I missed the ferry by 2 hours, & it wouldn't be back until Wednesday, but I could catch a different one tomorrow. My Eurail pass only covers the one that left today, but I don't mind shelling out some Euros...I'm ready for France! The weather is perfect here...the sun rises early, sets late, it's cool in the morning, warm in the afternoon, and then cool at night again. Another beautiful day tomorrow too. It's 1 am here so gonna continue to hit the sack so I don't oversleep and miss my ferry at 9:30 tomorrow night.