Pubs, Grub, and a Cab-Driving Creeper.

Sunday I first attempted to go to an Easter Rising commemoration on O'Connell Street but realized on the way there that it had been the day before and I missed it. So then I went to meet Kris and Mary, and we attempted to go to a Catholic Easter Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral (because Mary's catholic). However, just before the service was about to begin, we realized that St. Patrick's is NOT Catholic at all. By the time we realized it, it was too late to go find a Catholic mass somewhere else, so we just stayed for most of the service and then sneaked out a bit early. I gave Kris and Mary directions to the Guinness Storehouse and they went off to take the tour while I returned to the hotel for some relaxing reading. When Kris and Mary returned, we went to the Green Bistro in the hotel for lunch. (I had profiteroles, a scrumptious Irish dessert that is kind of like creme puffs, because I'd already grabbed lunch on the way home from church). We took a bus to Howth Summit and did the beautiful cliff walk along the Irish Sea down to town (which some of us appreciated more than others, I think). In town we had icecream at Maud's before we took the bus back to Dublin. I wasn't feeling very well, so Kris and Mary went to Mona Lisa for dinner near our hotel while I chilled at the Holiday Inn.

The next day, with help from Mary's friend at the front desk who called her "Ms. Frye" in a foreign accent, the girls ventured off on a bus tour to Glendalough. I went to Maynooth to drop some stuff off and pick up my computer and my passport. I caught up with the Elizabeth and Katy, as they'd just gotten back from the first part of their trip, and then headed back to the Holiday Inn to meet up with K & M once again. We walked around Temple Bar and O'Connell Street and at at Vat Pub in Temple Bar. Our meal was great, and the pub was really cute. Just as we were finishing, the live music was starting, so we moved over to the bar and got a drink so we could sit and enjoy listening to Andrew Bennett sing and play guitar. He was SO good, but we were distracted by the creep cab driver next to us who was trying to chat up Kris all night. (His younger friend was cute, Kris though, but had sick teeth. Mary said her dad could fix that... haha. I said it's hard to find perfect teeth in Ireland, and after living here, my standards have changed.) We eventually escaped the creeper and made it back to our room safely...

Tuesday we checked out of the Holiday Inn with the pancake pillows, took a bus and a plane and the TUBE in London and finally arrived at the Marble Arch Inn. Mary made friends with a gay guy from Canada on the tube who was really nice and was originally from Minnesota. My first impression of London was that it moves SO much faster than Dublin. In our Saint Mary's discussions at meetings with Roberta, girls had mentioned how much slower Ireland moved-- even Dublin. I hadn't really noticed that until I came to London. People on the tube were flying past us and literally RUNNING up and down the escalators. It was all very overwhelming, especially because we had our giant suitcases and didn't have a clue where we were going. But it was much better once we got checked into the hotel and dropped our stuff off. We once again had a foreign hotel man who Mary nicknamed Habib. He was REAL smiley. Mary and Kris were... a little disappointed with the hotel, to say the least. It surely wasn't 5 star, but I'm used to staying in cheap hostels with people I don't know, so I was content with my safe and warm room and clean shower. Anywho, we freshened up and went out to explore around our hotel. We did a bit of shopping around Carnaby Street (which is SO cute and def. one of my favorite streets EVER-- we found some of the most adorable specialty shops selling anything from dessert-shaped bath soaps to outrageously expensive vintage clothes), got some pounds, and ate dinner at the Blue Post Pub on Carnaby Street. (Go figure the first place we eat at in England is a PUB). Kris finally got her fish and chips, and we moved onto Soho Pizzeria for dessert. The Pizzeria was ADORABLE!! There was a cute man playing piano, and the atmosphere was just so pretty and romantic. After some cheesecake, chocolate cake, and a little wine for Mary, we headed back to the Marble Arch to collect our breakfast of Special K and yogurt for the morning and were off to bed...