Our time in Irishland

After arriving in Ireland at 6am after a sleepless journey we take a bus home and take a short nap. At lunch time the urge to do something with the day kicks in and we decide that we’ll go for a cycle around the city. We rob bikes from Rosy’s dad and Seanin’s mum and head on our way. Not much of note happened on the cycle but it was enjoyable and I got a feeling for my city again.

That evening Grainy called over and made lasagne. Good lasagne. After that we stocked up for our trip to cork and were on our way. We were going to Cork to get naked for a photogropher who does photos of groups of people naked. The only problem being that it was in Cork and we had to be there at 3am. We started driving at 11m and got to Blarney Castle at about half 2. After registering, we realised that we wouldnt be doing the photos until dawn and we had to wait around in a field in anticipation of getting naked.

When we finally were told it was time to get naked it was a very strange experience. We happened to be one of the first naked and were ushered into the field where the photos were to be taken and we were told to walk to the very back of the field. We walked and joked about how insane this all was and then when we got to the end of the field we turned around. The sight that was before me wil never be forgotten. There was a sea of naked bodies of all shapes and sizes walking straight towards me. I doubt I will see as many willies as I did that day for a long time. It turns out there were about 1200 naked bodies there that day.

It was an odd experience. It wasn’t my first time being naked in public but it was the first time I had done it with a group of 1200 other people. I quite liked it actually. Because there were no clothes there was no set way you are expected to act towards the person. You cant see if they are wearing a suit or if they are dressed like a bum. Social barriers are broken down and all you can do is have inane small talk about how absurd it all is (and about how cold it was).

When the nakedness was over with we drove into cork city getting very lost while looking for a car park that was cheap. We were just killing time in Cork until the couchsurfers we were staying with got back to us. We went to a cafe and G fell asleep on the counter. We went to a park. She fell asleep there too. The CS’ers got back to us and we arranged to meet them at a cafe they worked in. The first and only Hooka cafe in Ireland. They gave us keys to their place and we went there and both used the bathroom. It was great.

While in a state of nakedness i somehow got chatting to a guy who then invited me to a circus preforming group that evening. It sounded strange but we went along and practised our juggling, mine better than Gabrielle’s.

That evening I was wrecked. Our hosts invited us to a BBQ but there was no chance we were going anywhere other than sleepland. Leaving early the next morning we didn’t even get the chance to say goodbye or thank you in person and just had to leave a note.

Falling asleep at the wheel is not a good idea. I could feel myself drifting so we had to pull over on the side of the road for a bit so i could wake myself up. Thankfully we got back to Dublin safely and I went straight to bed for a bit of a nap. Thats seemed the theme of our ime in Dublin.

Later on after calling over to Mark I was blind folded and told to give a tour of the city. Not being in town, I decided that it might be good to start off by walking around the park and going to the playground. Walking blind folded is a lot harder than it looks and its even harder when the person keeping you safe walks you into poles. We got the bus into town and i tried to give a tour from her descriptions of buildings. Her descriptions made me think about the buildings a lot more than i normally would and she pointed out little things i had never noticed before. It was an experience i am glad i had the chance to be part of although i don’t think i would do it everyday. Eating was not as fun as I thought it would be; I was hungry and was getting frustrated at how I couldn’t simply pick up food and put it in my mouth. That is when i gave up. Eating on the ground beside the Luas stop at Stephens Green.

The next day we met up with Brendan to spend some time in Trinity and get him to show us some of the interesting stuff. After quickly walking past the Book of Kells we went to the long hall. The Long Hall is the old library and is a very impressive sight. I’m not a big library buff but it was the nicest i have seen.

We were intending to hitchhike that day to Roslare so to catch a ferry the next morning but after a phone call from my Dad and the offer of free tickets to the Dublin Organ Festival we decided to try get a lift early the next morning. With time to kill we decided to give out free hugs in Temple Bar. It went great and we got loads of hugs from all sorts of people; old, young, foreign, local, attractive and smelly. But every hug was a good one.

After that I went to visit my niece and nephews and got to run around in a field like a fool with an excuse. I always like taking care of the kids. Sure its tiring but what I get out of it makes up for that 10 fold. They show you a new way of looking at things and a new way of doing things. I would love to still be able to be fascinated by a blade of grass for fourty minutes. Sadly i cant so i spend as much time with the kids as possible to see if i can learn how.

After the kids and the organ festival and sleep, we got a lift from my dad to Roslare in time for the ferry so we could get to Wales and start the next leg of our adventure.