Dublin, briefly

My brain feels foggy, and has felt so all day. Despite the haze, I managed to get out for a bit of a walk earlier today and run a few errands. One errand was successful - adapter to charge my computer; the other was not. My glasses broke on the plane - one arm just fell right off. I can still use them, but I look ridiculous with them just propped on my nose and nothing on one side. I was directed by a nice lady at a pharmacy to a little store called Spec Savers, which I had high hopes for, but alas, a lady there looked at them sadly and said there was nothing she could do. So I'm trying to figure out where one buys superglue in Ireland, and hope that will fix the problem. Stay tuned for an exciting update on that.

Meanwhile, here was a very touristy Irish scene - notice good old Molly Malone there with weird, shy leprechaun in the background:

And here's a sign that made me think of my sister, who hates litterbugs:


On several buses, I also saw the phrase "BIN YOUR GUM, NOT €150", so apparently there's a real crackdown going on here, Singapore style. I made every effort to keep my gum safely in my mouth - so far so good. Another street sign in the "not-in-CA-anymore" genre: large posters all up and down the main street advertising a pro-life rally tomorrow, ending with "Keep Ireland Abortion-Free".

I met a nice girl on the plane - Irish, returning home for the first time in a year and a half, lives in Vancouver. We sat next to each other and endured a family behind us that consisted of a constantly coughing, frustrated dad, an increasingly agitated mum, and a very naughty little girl named Erin who whined and cried whenever she was awake. There was a slightly older, well-behaved sister, but I don't even know her name since I didn't have as many opportunities to hear it urgently hissed. Not all Erin's are so lovely as yours truly, sad to say.

I shall close with a little video of O'Connell Street taken during my walk. This was taken before I got really sleepy and konked out in St. Stephen's Green, which is how I spent a few hours this afternoon. Tomorrow early I catch a plane to Edinburgh - more from there!