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Dublin, day two
Apr. 29th, 2006 09:52 am20 April:
The music last night at O'Donahue's was excellent: there was a guitarist, a guy playing the uillean pipes and then one of those hand drum players -- I don't know what the drum is called (the infamous Brian told me what it was later but I forgot again): it's small and roundish and you hav ethat little wooden barbell thingy to bang on it. Anyway, I really liked the music: it's so easy to just get lost in it and space out. The old guy who sat really close to the band must have thought so as well: he was really quiet, except at certain parts where he'd clap his hands together once and make a "woo!" sound, usually throwing back his shoulders at the same time, as if he was shivering involuntarily. He had a fisherman's/bucket hat on and had bleach white hair (both on his head and his moustache). The musicians were interesting too -- so engrossed in their playing. The Uillean pipe guy had a wandering eye it seemed that scanned the room in a certain formation and then went back to its center starting position where he'd close his eyes for a moment before repeating the same roving pattern. Maybe his eyes were on auto pilot.
Today we went up to Howth (eventually...we got off at the wrong station and had to wait 20 min for another train to come by): it was really pretty -- the sun was just coming out. Howth faces both the Irish Sea and Dublin Bay. We walked around the spot facing the Irish Sea (figure 1): there was this teeny little island with an interesting rock formation (figure 2) not far from the beach. Someone also put in some rocks or wood off the beach that looked like the famous Nessie photo (figure 3). I thought this was hysterical.
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We walked to a small cafe and ate lunch, not before being stopped by a two-toothed old Irish man who wanted to know what Kirsten was filming. The men are very friendly here, and apparently have had their guinness already, possibly for breakfast, because this guy gave the beginnings of a strip tease before he walked off when he realized he was on camera. Sara remarked that maybe all old Irish men think that home videos equal porn videos. It was probably just the guinness though. At the end of our time at Howth, we walked up to one of the lighthouses and I took this awesome picture of Sara:
Saw the book of Kells too, which was a bit overpriced, but still cool. Now we're at the Brazen Head (the oldest pub in Ireland: figure 4) and are just chillin'. I really like its atmosphere. Btw, apparently "calming traffic ahead" means "speed bumps ahead." O rly? They are calming?
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The music last night at O'Donahue's was excellent: there was a guitarist, a guy playing the uillean pipes and then one of those hand drum players -- I don't know what the drum is called (the infamous Brian told me what it was later but I forgot again): it's small and roundish and you hav ethat little wooden barbell thingy to bang on it. Anyway, I really liked the music: it's so easy to just get lost in it and space out. The old guy who sat really close to the band must have thought so as well: he was really quiet, except at certain parts where he'd clap his hands together once and make a "woo!" sound, usually throwing back his shoulders at the same time, as if he was shivering involuntarily. He had a fisherman's/bucket hat on and had bleach white hair (both on his head and his moustache). The musicians were interesting too -- so engrossed in their playing. The Uillean pipe guy had a wandering eye it seemed that scanned the room in a certain formation and then went back to its center starting position where he'd close his eyes for a moment before repeating the same roving pattern. Maybe his eyes were on auto pilot.
Today we went up to Howth (eventually...we got off at the wrong station and had to wait 20 min for another train to come by): it was really pretty -- the sun was just coming out. Howth faces both the Irish Sea and Dublin Bay. We walked around the spot facing the Irish Sea (figure 1): there was this teeny little island with an interesting rock formation (figure 2) not far from the beach. Someone also put in some rocks or wood off the beach that looked like the famous Nessie photo (figure 3). I thought this was hysterical.
1
2 3 We walked to a small cafe and ate lunch, not before being stopped by a two-toothed old Irish man who wanted to know what Kirsten was filming. The men are very friendly here, and apparently have had their guinness already, possibly for breakfast, because this guy gave the beginnings of a strip tease before he walked off when he realized he was on camera. Sara remarked that maybe all old Irish men think that home videos equal porn videos. It was probably just the guinness though. At the end of our time at Howth, we walked up to one of the lighthouses and I took this awesome picture of Sara:
Saw the book of Kells too, which was a bit overpriced, but still cool. Now we're at the Brazen Head (the oldest pub in Ireland: figure 4) and are just chillin'. I really like its atmosphere. Btw, apparently "calming traffic ahead" means "speed bumps ahead." O rly? They are calming?
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