Once again, we have this talent for waking up before our alarms are set, something that's nice to know that we can do, but annoying to actually deal with. On this morning, our sleep was interrupted by one of the other Americans in the room, whose phone went off at about three in the morning, and who then proceeded to have a full-blown conversation with the mother of one of the other girls (who was asleep), trying to convince the worried parent that everyone was fine. These girls were about twenty-three/twenty-four.
After getting up by 8, we breakfasted (we're so under budget with food, it's a constant morale lifter), and then packed up everything before the 10:00 check out. BUT...we had three and a half hours to burn, so we wandered around Kilkenny. We found cool cathedrals, forgetting that people actually use them on Sundays, and various other churches, ending up back at the hostel to grab lunch and take it to the park in front of the castle (we ditched getting the tour because it definitely wasn't up to our Castle standards).
Getting back to the hostel, we waited for the taxi to come, complaining when it was 15 minutes early. Thank God it was though. We arrive at the bus station and Katie has a heart attack, thinking our bus was the one pulling out. After a mad dash (by Katie carrying luggage--a site that I certainly will not forget), she stopped the bus and begged the driver to let us on....wrong bus.
Heart attack number one over, we were then informed we had 15 minutes until the real one we wanted--this was still half an hour earlier than what we had thought it was meant to be. Thankfully we're a wee bit keen (read: perfectionists) and had gotten there early.
The ride was amazing, though it was a grand total of 7 hours and 3 or 4 buses. Second heart attack came when we had 2 minutes to catch the next bus. This time I had the honour of dashing across the terminal to find it while Katie brought the bags....only to turn the corner and see a line of people waiting for the same bus, which was running slightly late. The sight of the Atlantic ocean materializing out of the fog made up for it though, as did the hills and mountains that sprung out of nowhere, along with a pretty sunset to complete the matter.
Once in Killarney, we dropped our bags and immediately look for dinner, as it was about 9 p.m. Most places had food until nine, but it magically all disappears by 9:10. We finally got to a place that has the bar downstairs and restaurant upstairs where we split a meal in silence. Why the silence, I hear you ask? Well, because once again we managed to find the most obnoxious Americans in the town and be seated near them. They were apparently with a tour and proceeded to complain about it, as well as comparing tax evasion stories and being audited. In very loud voices.
Once finished, we went downstairs and sighed that it was a shame that the live music was not coming from some fantastically fit 22 year old, but rather a grey haired man in his fifties at least. He could sing well, but we instead bailed and went to the pub that was quite literally under our room in the hostel. There, while I was waiting at the bar, some guy beelined it to Katie (who already had a pint and was waiting for me near the far side) and proceeded to chat her up. Using well-honed defensive skills and a telepathy link with me, she got him away as I came over and sat down. To my surprise, some guy magically appeared next to me; I have no idea where he came from (K has informed me that he had been at the bar on the side near her). Long story short, we (he and I) are now in a long distance relationship and provided good protection for Katie when the original odd guy attempted to come back. Evidently “no, I have a boyfriend” only has a momentary impression. (sidenote: he said he played football for County Kerry and Katie definitely looked up the roster today and a guy with the same does play for them)
But basically it was the three of us chatting for a long time. And by chatting what I really mean is attempting to decipher what exactly he was saying. It was loud and his accent was pretty thick.
Quotes/moments from the night:
After Katie mentioning that I don't like beer but she does, the footballer saying “Ay (because he sounded like a slurring pirate), I thought she looked like a pisser.”
Me, after getting to a second pub: “Oh! I really like this: we get a free pint (note: this is around 4 or 5 Euro. I said we were awesome at staying under budget) and he talks to her. This is how it should be.”
The guy, Dennis, introducing us to the same musician who we had been lamenting about before, back at the original pub we had been dining at. According to him, Dennis dated his daughter for four years. But he and the dad are still chums.
The singer guy serenading Katie whilst holding her hand, singing a song with the name Katie in it, while Dennis joins in for the harmony. He apologized later that there were no songs with “JJ” in it...I did not mind so much.
Meeting an Irish girl while in the queue for the bathroom who wanted to know if we were from New Zealand. This is after the girls from the night before (the American ones) said our accent doesn't sound right. I guess we just sound wrong to everyone.
I was given his bracelet...and I think I may have offended him by not taking it.
I was then given his watch...which I also eventually gave back.
Mine and Katie's personal favourite, which I definitely walked into: “What position do you play?” “Center forward.” “Oh, do you score loads then?” “Yeah. And hopefully tonight.”
Sitting there defining our new long distance relationship and how it was going to work out between Ireland and England...not to mention the States.
The fact that we were in bed by half twelve makes it memorable too.
Of course this is a very slanted story and here's Katie's version:
I don't have much to say, except a few pointers that clarify JJ's claims:
-I'm not sure how much effort went into the planning of this long distance relationship beyond JJ stating “Yeah, this isn't going to happen.” Key to this statement was the lack of remorse following.
-There are a lot of bars that need to learn how to properly carbonate beer, and Guinness in Dublin tasted much better than in Killarney.
-My favourite point in the evening was the mortified look on JJ's face and the joy in Dennis' face when I asked to get a picture of the happy couple.
-It was definitely a two person conversation between JJ and her man. Partially because I couldn't hear due to the noise in the bars, partially because I wasn't included.
-Being the third wheel wasn't half bad, since he bought me drinks as well.
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