Surprises always help so I take somebody home.

May 18, 2006

On the way to Derry, we stopped at an old stone fort which was fenced off, so I climbed the wall to see inside and almost got blown off the top. Once we got to the hostel, everyone pretty much crashed to recover from last night. Around 6, the cooking began! A few lovely chefs prepared pasta with veggie sauce, salad, and garlic bread, and we all sat down to watch the world cup final Arsenal vs. Barcelona. The shitty sattelite kept spazzing out in the most unopportune times, so after I helped clean up the dishes, we went to the pub to watch the rest of the match. The local fans were hilarious, jumping out of their seats, "Fook that! What kind of fooking call was that!" and so on. I had a beer, and when the game ended (Barcelona won), we went to Paddy O'Donnels for some more pints. The locals sure are friendly around here, I had about four of them begging for attention, hahaha. Talked mostly to Jamie the Hawaiian chick, she's very cool. Down to Earth, knows what she's talking about. The Guiness is bloody brilliant here, I had aobut 5 pints, most of them bought FOR me, and listened to a great traditional band. We shut the bar down yet again, and stumbled home. Mandy took off with driver Joe and the rest of us went to bed! Just visited Drumcliffe Church and W.B. Yeats' grave, then we walked through a wee art gallery and had some coffee and a scone. Now we're fucking about on the bus waiting for Joe to get the hell out of the loo.

Just came from Strandhill Beach, outside of Sligo, where we all had traditional Celtic seaweed baths. Bloody unreal. You get your own room, with a tub and a steam room. I stripped and went into the steam room first, my lungs instantly siezing against the hot, thick air. Then I relaxed and breathed slowly, feeling every inch of me melt with prickly sweat. It was heaven, but the best was yet to come. After the steam bath, I got into the HUGE tub full of piping hot water and slick, smoky-green strands of seaweed. Fucking brilliant. I closed my eyes and rubbed seaweed in my hair and sunk into the tub. I felt drugged, it was indescribably. After 20 minutes of pure bliss, I had a bit more steam, then towelled off, dressed, and walked around the massive, gorgeous beach outside. The sun managed to sneak out for a but, and the wind churned the sea and tossed sand across the beach, shaping ripples beneath my feet. I couldn't ask for anything more. Back on the bus, sorry, PADDYWAGON now, with David Gray and full-blast heat lulling us all to sleep. Luxury.

Just visited Ashford Castle, a very posh hotel with wonderful architecture and stunning gardens. We weren't supposed to be on the grounds at all, but this is the Paddywagon, we do whatever the fuck we want. A small group of even discovered a back door, and I pulled it open from the bottom and we all tip-toed through the halls and down into the dining room and game room where smartly-dressed rich folk blatantly avoided looking at us. Good fun! Feckers.