I have had a crazy, whirlwind last few days....leaving Dublin, flying to NYC (landing at Kennedy airport, then getting stuck in traffic for a high cost taxi to a cheap hotel near LaGuardia. I'll be staying in the Flushing/Queens area, or so I thought, but once i arrived I seemed to have landed in the middle of China, so full of frenetic market shoppers, Chinese restaurants with its signs written only in Manderin and Cantonese and thousands of people cramming the messy, smelly streets. I survived the 7 hour flight and 5 hour time change. I wandered a few blocks until i finally found a store that was open, the Hong Kong Plaza store. Once inside, the first thing I saw in the beer section: GUINNESS! But I know i'll be disappointed with its stale taste (Guinness doesn't travel well) so I opt for one Heineken and head back to the Best Western Queens Court. Time enough for about 5 hours of shut-eye and then....The marathon home begins. I'm heading all the way west for the next 20 hours (NY to Minny to Seattle to Maui). I held up pretty well on the first two legs, but by the halfway mark in the seemingless endless flight from Seattle to Maui, i hit the wall. We were cramped like lemmings into this shiny sky-bottle rocket and no amount of position shifting felt comfortable. Finally, after over 6 hours, the glowing lights below me show promise of Hawaiian land. Once earthborn, i get out, stretch my body, smell the fragrant tropically-flowered breezes and head for home. Another version of it, anyway.

Today, Saturday, Oct 30, is my last full day in Ireland. I'm spending it where I began, nearly a month ago, walking around Dublin's streets. This time, however, I'm much more oriented and don't even bring my map or my guide book with me. I cruised through Grafton Street, Dublin's premiere shopping avenue (and one of the world's 5 most expensive according to a recent news article), then over to St. Stephen's Green, now alive with rich yellow, orange and red folliage. On the way back there was a flurry of police car action, as they pulled over a car whose two occupants had been seen bilking unsuspecting foreigners by offering cheap laptops and mobile phones and pulling a switch at the last moment after taking their cash and instead, giving them bags filled with liters of soda or rocks (according to an Indian gentleman who witnessed it). I'm heading down soon to visit with John Downes and Dara O'Dubhain, have a "doblo espresso" this afternoon....(kind of like in Seattle where the weather is similar too), then hook up with another Dubliner, Saundra Stephen, who i met through my good friend Roberta, while visiting Boston some years back. Then, off to enjoy my last evening cruising around and do my own version of a literary pub crawl. It's been a very entertaining and enlightening month here and i vow to come back again very soon, having embraced (Cead Miles Failte)- A hundred thousand welcomes"!

A friend can be made just about anywhere in Ireland. Even the dogs are welcoming!

Today, i had thought about hopping on a bus and seeing Newgrange, but the weather was more aligned to staying in bed and reading a book. Apart from the weather, i'm kind of feeling over the top about seeing more sights, so decided not to bother. Instead, i had a low key day, just walked around Temple Bar, ate a very cheap lunch (and my stomach now tells me how cheap it was....ugh, the Sheppard's Pie had mystery meat in it), and got my laundry done. At 4:30 on a Friday, i realized that i still had the 200 Euro check given to me in Killarney by pub owner John Lyne, to purchase red and white Hawaiian shirts for him on my return to Maui. (He's a huge Manchester United Football fan, and those are the team colors). It still amazes me that he gave me a guaranteed bank cheque for that amount, without even asking me for any details about my ID, address, etc. But that's the Irish honor code at work. The banks were closed already though, and i wasn't sure if my little ol Maui bank would cash a check drawn from a foreign bank on foreign currency, so I coughed up a 20 Euro charge and got it cashed at one of those "we don't ask questions, but we will hose you to cash it" type places....got the euros converted to American dollars (losing about 50$ in the conversion/cash charging scheme). Hopefully, John Lyne will appreciate the effort involved and wear the red and white Hawaiian shirts in my honor upon receipt. Tomorrow's my last full day in Dublin, and i'll spend part of the afternoon with John and Dara, my newly adopted Irish brothers. Maybe the weather will even clear up. It's all good.

I'm back in Dublin, after a slightly hellish trip back from Belfast. Even though i'd organized my return bus trip with Tir Na Nog tours weeks earlier, they forgot and their bus was full....so i had to buy a train ticket (but due to a "security alert"--read as...bomb threat) the tracks were shut so I had to get on a bus half the way, then change back to the train....all in a full-on downpoar. Most of Ireland got hit hard with heavy winds, and Cork, Galway and Waterford suffered heavy flooding. I've actually had the luck of the Irish on my side with weather this month, and have managed to avoid most of the rain on my day trips, hiking, bus touring, etc. I checked back into Ashfield House Hostel, and now that i know my way around Dublin, it's great to just cruise around. I'd have liked to go up to see Newgrange, famous site of ancient stone remains from pre-Celtic times, but i'm feeling a bit more like just hanging around and not playing tourist much my last two days here. Today, i met a young Irish girl, Aisley, who goes to Trinity College and she allowed me into the computer room to upload some of my pics. As always, the Irish are friendly and helpful. Their country is beautiful, charming, and of course, full of history both good and bad. I plan to come back again, in the not too distant future and explore more of the country. I encourage everyone to come here, you won't be disappointed (even braving the weather, October is a great time to see it with colorful foliage, and not as crowded with tourists).

Last night, i had a great conversation at Doyle's pub with Lorcan Keogh, a really sweet guy, who works as an audio engineer (toured with Oasis and U2 among others). We had a fantastic evening of conversation about life, love and the pursuit of passions. I met another kindred spirit and hope to keep in touch with him.

An ancient site, on Inishmor, in the Aran Islands...barren and beautiful area off the western coast of Ireland. I took a ferry from Galway and spent the day touring the island.

Some folks here would rather do without Peace, it seems. Belfast is a city with divided passions.

John Downes and Dara O'Dubhain help me to celebrate my birthday. Outside the Clarence Hotel in Dublin, owned by U2's Bono and The Edge.

All other beers pale in comparison!

Doing this is supposed to give you the "Gift of Gab"....though I already had that!