In Transit

Ireland was awesome.

Here is a view of Dublin at night, on the River Liffey.


Some quick lessons I learned:

1. In countries where they don't have fountain pop, getting a hi-ball means paying for the alcohol and the bottle of pop, which means one prohibitively expensive drink.
2. It is fun residing at the break hotel. Especially when you don't break.
3. The tallest building in Dublin is the Guinness tower. The Guinness factory is also the subject of a 6000 year lease.
4. The oldest pub location in Dublin existed before Canada was discovered. One can sign currency and put them on the walls of the modern pub that stands next to the remains of the original pub.
5. White shoes are never a good idea.
6. In Ireland "black gold" refers to Guinness, not oil.
7. Canada produces some amazing debaters. Congrats to all!
8. Booze-2-Go is the best named liquor store ever.
9. Watching Guinness being poured is a good experience. Drinking it isn't.
10. Two Brits judging for Alaska can indeed represent the "Dominion of Canada" in the world's masters competition and win. Yay for Toques, maple syrup, and "something like Ice Hockey."
11. Lanyards ruin black tie outfits. But one must ensure they have their accreditation at all times.
12. Emergency exits can look like a man in a hurry.
13. Sugar fights are dangerous.
14. One should beware of the South Africans, they have a malarial-meningococcal-influenza-contagious bug thing and an amazing ability to confuse doctors trying to make a diagnosis.
15. Cribbage is fun. Cribbage between debate rounds is extra fun. Girls versus Boys cribbage between debate rounds defies probabilities.
16. Quarantining people to differentiate between hangovers and illnesses results in heightened hypochondria.
17. When fitting 100,000 books into one room, arranging bookshelves according to book size makes space usage more effective, and helps people carrying books down a ladder.
18. Four people easily fit on a single bed.
19. Pajama parties in Jones' room are awesome.
20. Erin really liked her Irish hat.
21. Doors are meant for shorter people in Ireland.
22. Pantomime is French for "musical written by 1000 crackbabies typing on 1000 typewriters for 1000 hours with a bit of LSD added."
23. Driving on the wrong side of the very narrow and crazy roads in a vehicle with a standard transmission, relying on maps written by monkeys is an adventure. Erin is a pretty good driver.
24. Cork is pretty.
25. Blarney Castle has a murder hole. The grounds of the castle have a druid circle, a sacrificial alter, wishing steps and more.
26. Kissing the Blarney Stone is awesome fun, but requires flexibility.
27. Fermoy, home of the Charlie Brown pub, needs a by-pass.
28. In Ireland, everyone says "thanks a million."
29. The line "so long as we're not dead, we might as well be wed" seemed to really offend me.
30. Cork really was 17 shades of green, none of which were jaded.

The problem with traveling is that the period of time it takes to recover after the trip is brutal. Instead of 36 hours in transit (which is long, but included a night in London), it feels like I'm spending a week in transit trying to get things back to the way they were before I left.

More stories and pictures to follow.