Comhaltas

Monday evening a big group of us ventured to Dalkey with the intention of climbing Killiney hill. Andy, Brady, and I fell behind what with trying to take pictures and all. We ended up on a path going around the hill, seems to be my trend as of late, and then we asked some locals for directions back into town. Once in town we met up with the rest of the group and it took about half an hour of indecisiveness before we decided to eat at an Italian restaurant. The majority of us headed back home but some of them stayed to go to a pub.


This past Friday a group of us was going to get on the DART and go to Greystones today. It ended up pouring down rain and Casey and I were the only
ones who made it, or so we thought at the time. We waited around the
station for a little bit thinking maybe Toby would show up, but as he
doesn't have a cell phone we weren't sure if he was coming or not.

We ended up running through the rain and then walking through the small
town area in it until we found a coffee shop where we sat and talked
for about two hours. Mainly we discussed home and friends but we spent
a good chunk of time discussing people here.

Once it stopped raining so Casey and I decided to go for a walk
along the beach and it was absolutely gorgeous. It is just amazing to me how close we are to the
Irish Sea and I love it so much. The beaches here are obviously a lot
different than back home, but I kind of like them better. They are the
type you put on a raincoat and hat to go walk along, dogs are frequent
as are parents with cameras. We saw a guy fishing with a huge pole; I
took a picture of him it made my day at that particular point in time.

After a bit we wandered back into the town to catch the DART to Dalkey
where Charity lives. We drank hot chocolate and talked to her host
family for a bit. A girl from Clarion named Constance came over about
a year and a half ago and they hosted her, so we had fun talking about
how amazing she is. After watching a couple episodes of The Office the
three of us headed to the DART station. We incidentally met Toby there
who was in fact in Greystones today and didn't believe that Casey and I
had been there until I threatened to show him pictures.

Aside from that, we took the train to Monkstown where we went to a club
I guess you could call it? There was a pub area and then a dance floor
where they teach you how to do Irish dances. A bunch of European kids and the few Americans
there, we were all tripping over each other but it was a blast. I only
danced two as we got there late and I wanted to get back into the city
before it got too late. The music was wonderful though and I really
wish I had the money to buy an Irish flute. So after sweating to death
dancing, I ate my complementary scone and left to make my way back to
the station.

I, with my mother's keen sense of direction (sarcasm implied), got
terribly lost by going in the opposite direction of the station, mind
you this is at 10:30pm. I asked a couple for directions and after
speed walking so far, I knew I was never going to make it to the
station in time to get back to catch my bus. I hailed a taxi and paid
the 4.80 euro to get to the station.

Once on the train typical me kicked in and I kept checking the time
knowing that the last bus would be around 11:30 and it was 11:07.
I managed to get into Tara St Station at 11:22 and I ran the two blocks
down to my bus stop. I'm sure I looked ridiculous but I didn't want to
have to pay a taxi the 12 euro it costs to get out of city centre. I
managed to catch the bus, many prayers brought me to that moment
because I started praying as soon as I left Comhaltas (the pub/club?).