Ireland 2016

[Drunk Monk]

Dinner was lovely.  I ate a lot of oysters, scallops and salmon, so many, so good.  Matt insisted on picking up the tab.  We had a rollicking conversation about so many things, but finished early as he has to get up tomorrow at 4AM for set call.  Turns out he lives really close to my hotel.  Ah, the Kilronan. This hotel has had great access and the workers here are very helpful, but being in the single closet has been surreal. I'm grateful for my own bathroom, but it's tiny.  The toilet requires multiple flushes and the shower has three temps: 3 red lines is scalding, 2 red lines is cold and 1 blue line is freezing.  I have to keep flipping it back and forth to wash.  The body wash/shampoo is blue, like hand soap in a public restroom.  I really really regret not copping the products at the last hotel because they were top shelf and there would've been plenty for three nights.  I usually do that - not sure why I didn't - but that was my major fail.  The TV LCD screen only works from one angle, when my head is up at the end of the bed.   I have to climb over the bed to get to the coat hanger. There's a random chair in that nook that I use for my backpack, but no desk (i just put everything on the floor).  There's a low shelf, like a foot high, with a glass and a cup with tea and instant coffee, but no way to heat water.  Maybe I should get it from the shower?  But if I go downstairs to the cozy lobby adorned with images of Irish writers and their quotes, the staff brings a lovely pot of tea with matching cup, saucer, sugar bowl and cream bowl.  Breakfast has been good, lovely salmon and yogurt although the fruit isn't great and the brown bread is like what we have back home, but there's plenty of butter.  It's been a surreal place to stay all alone, but the access to the strip is great and it's pretty cheap compared to other hotels in the area, so I can't complain.  I wouldn't've noticed so much if I wasn't tweakin on Cali time.  Anyway, I strolled about after dinner - it was warmer and clear - no rain - but too cloudy to see the supermoon.  There was a major homeless giveaway where Grafton meets St. Stephens - food, hot drinks, clothes - several hundred homeless had gathered. Aside from that the streets were pretty empty, but the pubs were still lively.  It's Sunday night, after all.  Even Irish need to work.  I went in search of one last pub and found myself back at the Dingle Whiskey bar, and had the bartender take me on a short tour of nitecaps.  Now I'm packed for tomorrow, watching Tv & surfing the net.  I'm sad to leave, but ready for the journey home.