Saturday 11th October:
Today, I decided to go to the parkour jam at the library and since I was at the library and had some time to kill, I went on the internet to send a few emails and what not. Then I went outside and met a few guys and hung out with them for a while. On of them took charge a bit and took it upon himself to show me around to different spots. That was cool, he just started about a month ago, but is from Leeds so knew his way around. We hit up a lot of spots for a bit and the last one is kind of funny. It is a set of scaffolding that is set up next to the police station. They say they go there a lot and have gotten kicked off maybe once. That made me laugh.
After that, I caught my train up to York. I got in around 4pm and started to look for a place to stay because I didn't have a bed booked for that night. I wasn't too worried and thought that if I couldn't find a place to stay, I'd just stay up all night on the streets. I walked all around the city and every guest house and B&B were full because the parents of the students at the University were in town for something. I dunno. And I couldn't find a hotel that wasn't £50+. So after walking around for a few hours, I thought I'd just stay up so I was gonna spend my time in a pub for as late as they would let me. I found one and had dinner there. Then decided I didn't want to stay there until 2am went out and talked with the bouncer. He told me that it probably wasn't a good idea to camp out because of the druggies and muggings and stuff, so I was like, ok, I won't. And went back on my search for a roof. I walked to the hostel that I was going to stay at the next night to see if they had anything for me, even a couch. They didn't. But they did call around for a place which was very helpful. Ended up finding on for £25 which I took and was lovely. Nice place with its own bathroom. I'm glad I took it because otherwise, it would have been a very long night...
Sunday 12th October:
Today I got up and went back to the YHA so I wouldn't have to carry my backpack around all day again. That thing gets heavy! After that I went back into town and walked the wall around the city. It is a medieval wall surrounding the city to protect it. It is about 2 miles long and was really cool. It was a strange sensation to be on something that was that old.
After walking around for a bit I found a Pret (yes, they are everywhere!) and ate lunch while watching a Mayan (I think) band, sort of, play. I thought it was strange because we were in York, no where near the southern part of the Americas. Whatever, good lunch time entertainment.
After all that walking, I went back to the hostel and booked a plane to Dublin for the 13th. A couple of sucky things happened with this. I used Ryanair because it's the only airline with a flight from Leeds to Dublin. The ticket cost less than the taxes and fares. £29 for the ticket and £34 for the fees, plus £16 for checking luggage and another £12 to get to Leeds from York. This trip was stressing me out because I didn't want it to cost that much.
THEN, I woke up at 3am and realized that I had the hostel booked for the night of the 13th and that when my plane left! Uh oh, double booked it. Fortunately, I was refunded for the night I missed, so it all worked out in the end.
Monday 13th October:I got up today and packed all my stuff again, but I had a lot of time to kill because my plane didn't leave until 10:30pm. At the front desk, they told me a few things I could do. I ended up going to the Jorvik, a viking museum. It ended up being very Cheesy. It was like a Viking version of Epcot. First, we went back in a "time machine" and then got on a little car the drove us around through a viking village. Whatever, it was alright I guess.
After that, I really didn't know what to do so I went back to the hostel and got my stuff and caught the bus to Leeds Bradford Airport. I got there at about 4pm so had many hours to kill. It's kind of a small airport and like most, not much around it to do. So I read, wandered, and sat around a lot. Finally it was time for our flight to leave and it did so without too much hassle, always a good thing when flying.
Ok, now I'm gonna stop with the date thing, ok? Whatever, you don't have a say in this anyway.
So I got into Dublin and left the airport at 1am. I am currently staying an a town called Maynooth which is about 15 miles outside of Dublin. Because I got in so late, there we no longer any buses or trains out there. So I had to cancel my first night at Maynooth and find a hostel in Dublin. Fortunately, there was one in town center that was 10 euro a night. Nice and cheap. So basically, I got there and went to bed.
That morning I found a bus that went to Maynooth for 2 euro. Much better than a possible taxi ride that would have cost around 50 euro. So I got to Maynooth and checked in without trouble. And they were kind enough to refund my money for the first cancelled night.
After getting myself acquainted with the town, I met up with my mom's (former) boss' cousin, Gerry. He is a really nice guy with a very Irish accent so it was fun to hear him talk. We went to a pub and got a bite to eat and talked for a while. After being in Leeds without too many people to talk to, this was really nice. He has also done a lot of work for me in finding contacts and possible places to go. Don't worry, I have thanked him many times for this.
After dinner (second dinner for me :D) we met up with his son who is 19 and I hung out with him and his friends for a while. We went to a different pub and did the quiz. We didn't win. I only got 11/20 questions right. But they were pop culture and stuff. I did get the question "which US city do they call the windy city?" right, I better have at least. So that was a fun night. Nice to get out and do something with people ever once and a while, right?
Today I am going to check out a few of the places Gerry suggested I go. And the nice thing about being in a college dorm is I can get on the internet for as long as I want (well until 11pm and while being considerate of others who want to get on) and for free. I like free.
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