SCRAPING OFF THE BARNACLES IN DUBLIN
Five nights in the heart of Temple Bar have me spent. I've renamed it “Dublin's Mardi Gras” as every single night is as crazy as New Orleans on Fat Tuesday. I decided to move hostels and stay my remaining four nights at Ashfield House, just down the way a bit and a stones throw from O'Connell Bridge and the River Liffey. Ashfield House is more like a small hotel without the price. Hotels in Dublin are VERY expensive. The Clarence Hotel just down the street, owned by U2’s The Edge and Bono, costs over $500 per night. The Ashfield House is a real bargain at $40 per night and I shared my four bed dorm room with some very lovely folks, more mature and educated. One is a psychiatrist from Buenos Aires, who in town for a large conference. The other, a couple from Sweden, are both post doctorates who will stay in Dublin for one year, one to do an internship with the Irish Immigration Council. Ashfield House has breakfast included and (hurrah) they serve real French Roast coffee--not the Nescafe crap that Barnacles did. It's also way less crowded here and the TV actually works too. Last night I ventured down to a pub near the Christ Church Cathedral. It was packed with football fans as Ireland played to a draw against France in the ongoing World Cup Games. As in all of Europe, "football" rules here. I met a funny old man who tried to hit on me and another really nice guy , way into cycling, who was impressed that I knew a bit about the Tour de France. Tomorrow, I'll celebrate my birthday (and my last night in Dublin until the end of the trip) with two Irish lads, John Downes and Dara O'Dubhain, who have offered to take me out to dinner.